Make A Living Writing

It’s confession time. This past week, I made a tragic error.

I washed a pair of my husband’s pants.

No, I do laundry around here. It’s not that.

It’s that inside a small side pocket of the pants, it turned out, were about 30 business cards my hubby had collected at a big networking event several days before. It was a multi-chamber, all-county networking event at a local casino. Sort of a once-a-year opportunity.

The cards were turned into mush in the wash. Totally unreadable. I should have checked the pants more thoroughly before washing.

I felt so bad! After all, I had been the one encouraging him to get out and more aggressively network to find clients for his new Web-video business.

What allowed this mishap to occur was…it had never crossed my mind that the business cards would still be in the pants! Because what was the point of collecting those business cards?

So you can follow up right away with all your new leads! This is the missing link in networking, the critical step so many new networkers — freelance writers and all other types of freelancers, too — so often overlook.

When I get home from a networking event, before I even put my purse down, I get out the business cards I’ve collected from wherever I’ve squirreled them away. Then I walk them straight over to my desk and put them down right next to the monitor. That way, they’ll be the first thing I see when I’m next in the office, and I’ll get straight to my followup.

Those leads are gold. They represent thousands of dollars of potential new business. Great new relationships. Fun new friends.

You’d be crazy to leave them lying around, or shoved in a pants pocket.

Without followup, networking is often a total waste of time. The people you talked to also spoke to dozens of other people. It’s all a blur! You need to make another connection and start building the relationship.

Connect with them on LinkedIn. Start following them on Twitter. Send them a quick “Nice to meet you!” email. Send them a contact for someone you know who might fit a need they have. Email them an interesting article, your resume, or whatever other followup is appropriate to the conversation you had. Update your marketing calendar to get in touch with these new leads again in a month or two.

Sometimes, prospects need a while to come around to the idea of working with you. I’ve had networking connections take a full year of development before they offered me a gig.

So follow up. Get in touch. Or your networking is as useful as that soggy stack of unreadable business cards I sadly fished out of the laundry.

Photo via Flickr user PolandMFA

I heard from two different writers last week who had a similar quandary: How to earn well from writing, even though English is not their first language. Obviously, this poses an additional challenge beyond what most U.S. writers face. But I know it’s still possible to carve out a successful freelance career.

Since I’m afraid I’ve forgotten almost all of my college German and have never tried to get paid writing assignments in another language, for help on this question I turned to a bilingual writer-friend of mine from LinkedIn Editors & Writers who has a thriving career, Randy Hecht. She speaks fluent Spanish, and has written for such cool publications as National Geographic Traveler Mexico, the Spanish-language version of the AARP magazine, and Colombia’s El Tiempo.

The first question is from a journalism student, Aline Barros, who is from Brazil:

I live in Maryland. I found your blog through research on Google. Here is my story: I used to be a student in Brazil and my major was journalism. I am completely passionate about it.

However, I moved to the USA and because at that time (6 years ago) I did not know how to speak English, I decided to give up journalism. Do you know when you do not feel good enough for something? That is what I felt.

Thank God that feeling passed and I am in school again, and pursuing journalism. My biggest problem is that I do not know what to do after I graduate. Should  I just be a freelancer? I just want to write. Writing is what I love. Could you give me some advice? I just feel a little lost.

Even if you do not reply, thank you so much for reading. Your work is amazing and I love the way you write.

Thanks for writing, Aline! Here’s Randy’s answer:

Bilingual skills are always a plus, but Aline has an extra edge as someone who has native knowledge of Brazil’s language and culture. Global-minded businesses and the publications that cover their interests are paying close attention to the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—all regarded as having growing importance in the global economy. The US consumed 14% of Brazil’s exports in 2008, and Brazil in turn consumed 14.9% of US exports. That’s not as huge an exchange of goods as we have with our biggest trading partners, but it’s a good base with lots of growth potential. And that, er, translates to a big opportunity for a journalist or business writer who is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and immersed in both Brazilian and US culture.

I speak from experience. Although my company, Aphra Communications, works predominantly in Spanish and English with a strong focus on Mexico and Spanish-speaking South America, we include a few Brazil specialists in our network to handle interest in that country’s business practices. Several magazines, research companies and trade associations have asked for our help in gathering business intelligence about Brazil, and that’s not even our primary area of expertise. If Aline is interested in business writing or business journalism, her timing couldn’t be better.

Here’s my other question, from Nisha, a writer in India:

As a Freelance writer who couldn’t even break the barrier of $10 per article, I would like to hear from you.

1 – The majority [90%] of the buyers on forums and bidding sites are not ready to make a decent [NOT a high] payment simply because I’m not a ‘NATIVE’ speaker. How can I fight back on this discrimination?

2 – When we are competing with the ‘craps’ who are more than happy to work at rates, say $2 per 500 words, tips to outperform?

3 – Do you have any tips to get rid of this ‘Nativity’ syndrome?

While I didn’t pass Nisha’s letter on to Randy, I think the advice here is similar. Like Aline, Nisha needs to better leverage her knowledge of one of the world’s largest, fastest-growing economies!

One clue to the strategy is in Nisha’s response — “Buyers on forums and bidding sites are not ready to make decent payments to non-native speakers.” So…stay off the forums and bidding sites! That’s not where the good-paying clients are, even for native English-speaking writers.

Instead, you’ll need to prospect actively for markets where instead of a negative, your knowledge of another culture and language will be considered a big plus! It could be publications looking for writers with an understanding of both languages and cultures. It might be an English-language publication in India or Brazil, where they might appreciate your U.S. knowledge enough to mentor you a little on your English. Or perhaps an American paper for Brazilian or Indian expatriates, written in their native language or a mix of Hindi and English (or Brazilian Portuguese). Network with other bilingual writers for leads on publications that might be appropriate. Aline could also work with professors while she’s still in school to get help developing some solid prospects to call.

Or, as Randy suggests, research companies that have strong export or import relationships with the U.S. Perhaps they need marketing help from someone their executives can relate to because they speak the managers’ home-country language fluently?

Do a little research on their existing marketing and see where you might spot a void you could fill. Maybe they need a newsletter, product descriptions, some Web content in English, to help them find American buyers? Call or email them and introduce yourself and your services.

One other suggestion: Consider finding a native English speaker to team with for bilingual customers. Randy works in a team environment in her agency.

Overall, you’ll need to look for situations that turn your bilingual and non-native status into a plus, rather than a minus.

I’d love to hear from other non-native English speakers with any other tips they have for Aline, Nisha and other ESL writers! Leave a comment below.

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Photo via Flickr user jammick

Earlier this week, I described how to find lucrative Web content clients. Now, we’ll assume you’ve gotten a client. The next step is to write Web content the client loves.

How can you make sure you do that? Here are three simple steps to writing killer content:

Ask a lot of questions. Bad Web content happens when writers rush off to write with only a vague idea of what should be on the Web pages they’ve been asked to create. Don’t skimp on research! The more you learn about your client company, the better they will like your Web pages. Once you’ve defined page lengths and deadlines with your client, here are some key questions to ask:

1. Why is this content being created? What is the goal here?

2. Who is the target audience?

3. What points of difference make this company stand out from competitors that I can describe in the content?

4. What similar company Web sites do you think do a good job in your industry, that I should look at?

5. Are there existing company marketing materials these Web pages should relate to in terms of style and content? If so, may I have copies?

6. Who else should I talk to at the company to learn more?

7. Are there customers I should get testimonials from for these pages?

8. Should I tour the plant, visit the store, drive around with a sales rep, or take other steps to gather more details on what you do?

9. What do you see as the ‘voice’ of your site? Is it friendly, authoritative, approachable, casual, funny, businesslike? Name three adjectives that describe the company personality you’d like to see expressed in the tone of your site.

Does this sound like a lot of work? It often is! But talking to an expert in a product or service, and gathering a lot of company background, will make the actual writing so easy.

Listen to their language — then, use it. Listen carefully to the exact words your company sources use as they talk about their products or services. Take detailed notes. Do they talk about “providing expert guidance” a lot? Say their toys are “the best-made in the industry”?

When you go to write, use exactly these phrases. Don’t get all cocky and “creative” and think your job as the writer is to come up with other ways to say what they just said. Instead, make the site sound just like them. Clients will be blown away. “That’s exactly what I was looking for!” will be a typical comment. Sure, you may need to vary these phrases so you’re not saying the exact same thing 10 times on a page. But stick to the spirit of what they told you as you craft the content. Get out a thesaurus if need be to find other words that are close to their favorite phrases.

Capture their tone. If the CEO is a pretty straight-arrow, formal, suit-wearing kind of guy, don’t use contractions.

Imagine the head of the company is going to read your page out loud to prospective customers. Create something that would work for that.

Deal with rewrites professionally. This is the stage where many new writers run into trouble. You thought your first draft was amazing…but your client may want lots of changes. Several different company teams or individuals may separately make suggestions. You may want to limit the number of rewrite rounds you allow before charging more in your contract.

The key at this phase is to stay calm, open-minded and professional. Remember, ultimately, it’s their Web site. They’re the boss.

Especially when you’re starting out, don’t be too worried about how initial projects break out in terms of hourly wage. They may not pencil out well, as you’re learning how to do great Web content here. All that really matters is that the project is a big success, the company is thrilled, and you get a sample you can proudly show your next crop of prospects.

Do you have any other tips, or questions about how to deliver great Web content? Leave a comment below.

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Photo via Flickr user Digital Markketing

In the big discussion of Demand Studios’ IPO last week, some questions came up about how to find better-paying clients. It’s something I’ve discussed before, but we can never talk enough about the many ways you can move up and earn more money here on MALW. So today, I thought I’d tackle one of the easiest types of clients to find — businesses that need Web content.

This niche is really like shooting fish in a barrel. Why? Because you can just look on the Internet at Web sites, find the ones that suck the worst, and call the company.

It’s really that simple. Here are some steps to take to identify good Web-content prospects:

1. Find local companies. Possible strategies for finding prospects: Get a Book of Lists for your town. Grab your local Chamber’s business directory, or visit the Chamber and grab one of every brochure in the rack. Or just drive through a local business park or your nearest downtown shopping district, and make a list of local business company names.

If you’re just starting out in copywriting, or in Web-content writing, I recommend focusing on companies in your town. You’re more likely to be able to make a connection with a company you can come down and meet with in person. If you have a special knowledge area — legal, retail, nonprofit, accounting, whatever — further narrow your search to companies in that industry. You may not have Web content samples, but maybe you have articles, brochures or other work in their industry, which would help pave the way to convincing them you’re the writer for the assignment.

How can you zero in on better-paying clients? Try to get a sense from their site of the value of what they sell. What do you think this company makes in a year? A medium-sized law firm, for instance, likely has a very healthy cash flow. A successful, growing retailer with multiple locations — same. You can also do Google searches to see if the company has gotten any press, and if so, if they mentioned company revenue. In my experience, business-to-business companies are more desirable targets than consumer-focused companies…it may be me, but they seem to more often have substantial marketing budgets. If a company sells $500,000 engines to automotive companies, they’re probably a better target than one that sells $5 toys at craft fairs.

Prioritize companies that are good candidates for ongoing work — they constantly introduce new products, or want to keep a blog updated weekly. Steady clients that will have work each month are always more desirable — and end up generating more revenue — than those seeking to simply add a few new Web pages to their site and call it done.

2. Look online. Now take your list and find all the company Web sites in your target geography and industries. Take a browse through them. Shortly, it will become clear to you that some of their sites are awesome and detailed, while some have real problems. The losers have important pieces missing — no strong “About us” page, no team bios, no details on what their products or services do and how they benefit customers. Reading the site, you can’t figure out what they do, how long they’ve been in business, who their clients are, who the people are running the company. These are your prospects.

3. Prepare a pitch. Take notes about the state of the Web sites. ABC company has no verbiage whatever on their home page, just a list of links! XYZ company has no media page with press contacts. RFQ company has a blog set up, but it hasn’t been updated in three months. And so on. Create a pitch tailored for each one that goes something like this:

“I’d like to introduce myself — I’m a local freelance writer. I was looking at your Web site recently, and noticed it doesn’t have ______. I’d be happy to take a few minutes to talk with you about how adding a ___ to your Web site would help drive more traffic to your site/get your company noticed/build your reputation and bring you more clients.” (If you haven’t pitched companies before, know that everything you say should tie in to the company finding more business. That is why they hire writers — they’re hoping your words will attract more customers.)

4. Call or email prospects. I’ve had good luck with both methods of reaching out, but do whatever you feel suits your personal communication style. Some writers give great phone, while some craft really catchy emails that get results. To start, identify the businesss owner (if it’s a small biz) or the marketing manager (if it’s a medium to larger one). Find their phone number or email address, and get in touch.

5. Have examples. If you don’t have examples of your own Web content work, just find a few sites that you think are well-done (by competitors of your target, ideally) so you can show them what effective content looks like and point up how their site is lacking in comparison. Business owners don’t like to feel they look lame when compared with similar businesses.

6. Be prepared to build a relationship. In my experience, your first contact with a small business about writing Web content will often not result in an instant sale (though sometimes it does!). More often, you may need to have several conversations that may string out over weeks or months as the company decides exactly what new content should be written. Start a tracking system for staying in touch periodically with these prospects. Send them interesting articles about why adding a blog would help their business…don’t necessarily hard-sell them every time you chat. Don’t invest a ton of time, as this may or may not pay off, but show you’re a useful resource who knows about how to use the Internet to help businesses grow. This week, I’m finally signing a lucrative contract with one financial-services consultant who I’ve been speaking with all year.

7. Quote a decent rate. Web-content rates are all over the map. If you’re new, start at $100 a page at least. And know that Web pages should be short — 300-400 words is plenty. If they have more to say, they should create subpages (which you should also charge $100 for!). They want blogs? Think $100 per. Pay can range up to $1 a word, $150 an hour, and more in my experience. Rates will depend on the complexity of the information you need to convey on the company site. Need to write about foreign currency trading or actuarial consulting? It’s probably going to pay more than writing about a pizza parlor.

But remember: If you quote a lowball rate, you’ll write for low rates. Try to get the client to mention a budget first, and then negotiate from there. Stick to your guns on what you think is fair pay. Tips about negotiating good rates can be found here, here and here.

Later this week, we’ll talk about what happens after you land that Web-content client: How to reliably deliver powerful, effective Web content that will turn your client into a raving fan who’ll recommend you to others…so subscribe to Make a Living Writing, and you won’t miss it!

Photo via Flickr user nickHiebert

I recently got a question from MALW reader Dan Smith. He’s a cool guy (his URL is itsdansmith — great solution for someone with a common name!) living in the UK 300 miles from London, who’s built up a substantial freelance writing business on the side, while his full-time job is in business consulting. Here’s his story:

I’ve been a freelance writer for a few years now and I’m developing my career, so that the income I receive from writing can support my girlfriend and I comfortably, as well as in the future, any children we have.

Me and my girlfriend have been thinking about moving to London.  We have family in the city and every time we visit we love it and don’t want to leave. The problem is that with the cost of living substantially higher in London (for example, our mortgage on a 2 bedroom house is just short of £400 a month – the 2 bedroom apartments we’re looking at in London are around £300 a week), I need to increase my income.

I think ideally I’d like to carry on freelancing.  I’ve spent the past few years developing my career (although it has only been the last 8 months where I’ve really took a grip of it and pushed it forward) and it would seem a waste to slow this progression right down. However, doing a quick search on some job websites there’s a whole host of full time writing jobs available in London with salaries around the £30-35k mark (roughly $46-54k?), which would be a enough to live on, especially if my girlfriend got a job of around the same salary.

Yes, I could do what I do now and work during the day and freelance evenings, but the reason I’m moving to London is to enjoy the city.  I’ll probably still do some freelance work, but I don’t really want to be working from 9am to 9pm.

I’m just looking for a bit of advice really, Carol.  Should I develop my freelance writing career (I’d need to double my earnings) or should I take a full time writing role (and still freelance a little to supplement my income)?

Whew, lots of questions in there! But basically it boils down to: freelance, or full time? The answer depends a lot on your personality type and your ultimate goals for your writing career. On the freelance side:

Do you enjoy the hustle of finding clients, tracking down payments, the thrill of landing new accounts, the variety you get as a freelancer? The freedom to earn an unlimited amount and keep your own hours? Do you love working in your shorts?

Or do you hate networking, feel lonely in a home office, and feel nervous about finding enough work? Does the idea of getting out there and finding twice as many clients seem doable and exciting to you, or overwhelming? When you think about having kids around, would you like to be able to make your own schedule with them, or are you cool seeing them for dinner and on weekends while you work in town long days? Your gut reactions to these questions will give you some clues.

Also, could you maybe supplement your freelance writing with some freelance business consulting work like you do in your current full-time job? Maybe between the two you could have a full income from all freelancing?

On the full-time staff-writing side, my thoughts come from my experience having had two full-time staff gigs that lasted a total of 12 years.

First off, just because you see a bunch of full-time writer ads doesn’t mean you can get one of those jobs. Every employer I talk to who’s looking for full-timers tells me they get 200 resumes for every job. So odds are probably long on landing one of the gigs. Definitely secure a job before moving to London, rather than moving to London in hopes of lining one up! (And then your girlfriend also needs a good-paying a job in London, too, so there are a lot of ifs in that equation.)

A little insight on staff writing jobs: In my experience, they usually involve something like coming up with four story ideas, reporting them, writing them, and turning them in, each and every week, week after week, year after year. And all the articles are about one select beat. Or on the copywriting side, researching and completing a large volume of assignments each week for the company, about the same basic stuff.

I found over the years that there were a select group of people who could really hack it. Many came and went quickly, as they didn’t have that many story ideas, or lacked the work ethic and discipline needed to be that kind of reliable workhorse.

At one of my staff jobs, we were never fully staffed, and we even had one person go AWOL in the middle of a trade show the staff covered, who was never seen again. People with master’s degrees in journalism regularly threw in the towel.

Guess I’m trying to say: It can be a very intense grind…or you could love the challenge and the adrenaline of always having those deadlines looming. Your editor could be a screamer, or they could be an awesome mentor who’d take your writing to the next level. They could also be the type that thinks everybody should work 9 to 9. I had one editor who liked to begin ripping up the front page again around 6 pm and was never happier than when the whole staff stayed until 10. So a full-time writing job doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have so much time to enjoy the city!

Finally, ask yourself which sounds more secure to you — locking in one full-time writing job at a set salary (which may rise over time gradually, but generally won’t shoot up skyward)…or having a diverse portfolio of freelance jobs, no one of which represents a majority of your income, which give you unlimited earning potential, but likely fluctuating monthly revenue?

For me, in this era of outsourcing, layoffs, and economic uncertainty, I think having one employer sounds scary. They have all the power over my life. They fire me and poof! I’m losing my apartment in London. They also only pay so much.

I may be biased toward freelance in part because I earn substantially more now as a freelancer than I did as a staffer — and I was a well-paid staffer. Maybe you’re the kind of hustler who’d have a better income freelance…or maybe a staff job would pay more bills. Depends on how much energy you’d be willing to put into marketing.

If you take a staff job, I’d think of it not as losing your freelance momentum, but of that freelance work having paved the way to that point where you could land a full-time job in your new field. It built the experience and clips you needed to move ahead to the next part of your career. And as you say, you can freelance on the side, or can pick up freelance writing again later in your career if you hit the point where you want out of the staff-writing life.

For every writer, there are stages to their career, and different situations may be right at different times. You can learn a heck of a lot as a staffer, and it can reliably pay a lot of bills if you find a great situation. It might solidify your transition into writing as a career.

I had one full-time stint that was so awesome, such a great learning experience, and so much outright fun, that when they handed me my pay envelope I’d always say, “All this and a paycheck too!” (Thanks Don & Rami!)

Ultimately, Dan, trust your gut about which is the right way for you to go — and best of luck getting to London! Stay in touch and let us know what you end up doing.

What’s your thinking on which road is best for you right now — full time or freelance? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to Make a Living Writing to get free tips twice weekly on how to earn more from writing. You can also send me a question about your writing career, and if I think it’s of interest to my readers, I’ll answer it here on the MALW blog.

Photo via Flickr user foundphotoslj

Longtime MALW readers know that in general, I have a pretty laid-back attitude about my articles getting ripped off online. Since I have well more than 1,000 articles bouncing around out there, I see it as sort of inevitable that at some point, one or the other of them will end up being reproduced without permission. I aim to breathe and let go. I’m making a good living. In the great scheme, I feel, it’s not worth getting worked up about.

Or at least that’s how I felt until last week.

I do run a Google alert on my name, but I’ve found it only turns up a some of the mentions of me that happen in a day. And I’ve pretty much vowed not to worry about it too much. My energy is better spent writing more articles.

It hasn’t been a huge problem. It does happen occasionally, and I contact the blogger or Web site in question and gently let them know: Hey, this isn’t OK. Thrilled that you like my article, but you’re infringing the copyright. To be legit, you need to introduce it, then use perhaps a paragraph (considered “fair use” under copyright law), then link to the rest of the story back where it was first published.

I find most infringers are simply ignorant of the laws. They just wanted to share this great content! When asked, they are happy to take the article back down or turn it into a link to its publication site.

Then last week I found a mention in my Google alert on a site I didn’t know, clicked the link and…discovered one of the articles I wrote for Yahoo!Hotjobs was being ripped off by a free-article site. Below the article was an HTML-coded version ready to one-click free download the story to other sites, too! With a little quick search, I found it had spread to half a dozen different sites, several of them similar article databases which offered to share it with others free. I found yet other sites that had clearly copied the story from that site.

This pissed me off.

This was not a young, naive blogger who didn’t know the rules. This was a serious ripoff, and it was set to go viral.

I was surprised at how mad this made me. After all, this wasn’t even my copyright! It was Yahoo!’s.

But my name was still on some of the versions that had been mixmastered into junk and then posted on these sites. Some were titled “7 Great Job for Working With Your Hands,” while others had become “7 Great Jobs for Working with Your Hand” (which sounded vaguely porno to me). Some had chopped off the introductory paragraph. Some had no byline, some had someone else’s. I wasn’t sure which made me madder — the sites where I wasn’t credited, or the crappy sites where my name now appeared — places I wouldn’t ordinarily be caught dead writing for.

A lot of top bloggers take the attitude that obsessing on who’s plagiarizing from you is unproductive and generates negative energy. Some openly invite people to just rip them off, because they’ve made a decision not to care. And I thought, “Right on.”

Until this. I wanted these ripoff versions of my article taken down so bad!

I began contacting all the sites and asking them to take the post down. Some did. Some sent insulting messages back. Those that didn’t comply, I sent on to my editor. One by one, most of the sites have since taken the article down…though researching to write this, I found one more! This story may ping around the Internet in various permutations forever now. Even Yahoo!, with all the staff at its disposal, may not want to devote the energy required to stamp it out. They’d have to contact the Internet Service Provider of each site and make their case for getting the site shut down, which could be a lot of work in this situation.

So what did I learn? I found what happened deeply disturbing — it showed me the potential the Internet has to rip off writers and mess with their reputations.  It made me hope any business thinking about using article directories for cheap or free content to help drive traffic to their sites will look a little closer at those sites and make sure what they’re downloading is really available for their free reproduction. Do a quick Google search on some key phrases in that story, and see where it might have originated…you may be surprised.

And now, once again, it’s time to breathe and let go. This article may be ripped off 500 times, and there isn’t going to be a lot I can do about it — except go out and write more great articles. So that’s my plan.

Have you been plagiarized, or had your copyright infringed online? If so, how did you handle it? Leave a comment and add your perspective.

If you enjoyed this post, tell a writer friend…and then subscribe so you don’t miss any tips on how to earn more from your writing.

Photo via Flickr user Horia Varlan

So I’m back from my vacation in the San Juan Islands now. As regular readers of this blog know, I believe writers should plan carefully so that they actually get to vacation on their vacation, so I took my own advice and worked ahead. I turned on my ‘out of the office’ notices, carefully managed my schedule, informed clients of my absence, and had nearly all my accounts tied up with a bow.

The problem was my blogs. This one in particular, and another one for a large client. For the client, I get paid in part based on how frequently I post, and found myself needing to do three more posts to make my nut…so that crept into the first three days of my vacation. Missed it by THAT much.

But even worse was this blog. I’d pre-written my posts and they were scheduled to go up twice a week as normal. But the comments have to be moderated. Why didn’t I think of this when I planned my vacation!

If I don’t moderate the comments, no comments go up, and then visitors feel ignored. I made it about three days before sweat beads started to form on my forehead. My blog! What’s happening on my blog? I couldn’t stop wondering what comments might be coming that weren’t posting because I was out. I always think it’s rude when I post a comment and days later, it’s not visible.

With help from my husband’s smart phone, I learned how to check email on a phone for the first time. It was kind of hellish, but I finally got onto my dashboard and was able to look through all the comments there. It was the usual — about 100 pieces of spam a day (thanks, robots!) and then the handful of actual writer comments and pingbacks.

I was glad I checked email, too — I ended up accepting $1,000 in assignments that I might have lost if I hadn’t responded for a whole week, plus got a lead on another $1,200 assignment I’m hoping to nail down shortly. Really helps pay for the vacation if you don’t lose too much work while you’re gone!

Then, I kept my blog going. I didn’t realize how loyal I felt toward the community that’s built up around Make a Living Writing until I tried to leave it behind.

So what did I learn on my vacation? A quick email check every couple of days is probably smart. Even with the email bouncer on, you may be missing out on some key messages. Some assignments won’t wait a week to get assigned — editors will move on and find another writer. But this sort of thing could be kept down to a few minutes every other day or so. The blog is what sunk my plan to really unplug.

Next time, I’ve decided I’m hiring someone to moderate my blog while I go on vacation. It would have been a lot more relaxing if I’d had this task truly off my plate while I was away.

Have you been on vacation this summer? Got any tips on how writers can really get away? Leave a comment and tell us how you managed it.

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Photo via Flickr user Akuppa

In case you haven’t yet heard, content farm Demand Studios is planning a $125 million initial public offering. This was not unexpected. We’ve already got the drill down — content mills pay freelance writers peanuts, and then go public or get acquired for $100 million-plus.

But there’s a difference here from Associated Content’s recent acquisition by Yahoo! An IPO requires a hefty public filing, in which the company has to disclose tons of facts about their business. (Since Yahoo is so big and AC so relatively small, Yahoo didn’t have to disclose much about the acquisition to its shareholders.) The IPO filing, known as an S-1, is long. But here in brief are a few important things the filing reveals about Demand Studios’ business that writers should know:

DS is losing money. That’s right, they pay you only $15 for an article, and they still haven’t figured out how to make a profit off you! Can you believe it? They’ve got 10,000 writers creating 5,700 pieces of content a day, but that apparently isn’t enough critical mass to make a profitable business model.

If I were staking my income on what DS does, I’d be seriously worried about that. Unprofitable companies eventually go bust, for the most part. Essentially, DS needs the IPO money to stay afloat! After all their executive talk about how they’re the new media model that’s going to flatten traditional media. Yeah, we’ll see about that. A lot of print publications are still making money, you know.

DS’s markup is 260 percent. DS pays you $15, and the filing reveals they make an average of $54 per article. Yet, they are still hemorrhaging cash. The company lost $14.2 million on $170 million of revenue in 2008; in 2009, it was a $22 million loss on nearly $200 million in income. They seem to have improved a bit in the first half this year, only losing $6 million on $114 million. Wow, I bet if you put content up on your own site and sold ads against it, you could figure out how to make a profit…and you could keep all the profit for yourself!

I’d love to know, with what DS pays editors, where the fat is in this business model that’s making it unprofitable. It’s kind of stunning that they’re trying an IPO with this profitability record, but surprisingly, about 40 percent of companies trying the public markets right now aren’t in the black. Sort of a weird return to the dot-com days going on.

DS is in danger of being branded spam by Google. They disclose this in the section on the possible competitive threats to their business. Hmm, if that happens and Google decides to screen DS out, poof! No more Demand! A lot of Internet-watchers believe at some point Google has to find a way to screen out these sites or users are going to turn to other search engines in their search for better-quality content.

DS makes much of its money from domain-selling and domain-squatting. Turns out more than 40 percent of its revenue is from eNom, not even from the content mill. People buy domain names from eNom, and eNom runs Google ads on empty Web sites to get revenue. Weird, huh?

DS’s timing shows it’s desperate. The IPO market has perked up a bit this year from its dead stop last year, but most IPOs aren’t doing very well. The majority have gone down after issue, which is bad news for company founders and backers. The down market means only companies that HAVE to get some money right now are trying an IPO. DS could no doubt get more money if they waited a year or two. But apparently they can’t wait.

The upside here — founders and investors may not end up with much. They have to wait three months after the IPO before they can cash any of their shares, and the way the market’s been going, they may not do very well.

As many people know, I have never written for DS or any of their ilk. But I still think it’ll be pretty sweet if we can watch the folks who perpetrate this crime against fair wages get hosed on their big IPO payday.

The other thing to know is just because a company’s filed an IPO doesn’t mean it’ll go — they still have to get enough big investors interested to price it and make it go. We’ll see, given its unprofitability, if DS can sell investors on the deal.

What do you think about the Demand Studios IPO? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Photo via Flickr user Tjeerd

Carol is on vacation. This week, she’s reprinting a couple of posts from the early days of her blog, back when it was on her writer site. Enjoy!

Earlier this week, I wrote about my rules for time-efficiently finding good-paying writing gigs through online job boards. I wanted to extend this topic to discuss some of the creative ways I use job ads to prospect for freelance writing jobs.

Besides simply responding to ads for freelance writers that you find on the big job boards, there are a few more creative ways to use job ads to reach out and find good-paying publications and copywriting clients. Here’s what I do:

1. Look at the ads for full-time jobs. Yes, I’m not really looking for a full-time job. But when a company is advertising for a full-time person, that usually means they have a vacancy. Which means work isn’t getting done.

Maybe they need someone to fill in until they complete their job search? Maybe they also use freelancers as well as in-house writers? You won’t know unless you ask.

For me, journalismjobs.com, Media Bistro, Morning Coffee, and my Gorkana alerts are all good places to troll. Depending on your writing specialty, there may be other full-time job boards that suit your needs.

The job ad simply provides me with a good contact of someone who hires writers. So if it’s a company or publication that fits my expertise, I go ahead and apply. I say, “Hi there, not looking for full-time, but I have the skills you need. Do you use freelancers?”

I’ve scored several great new editor connections this way over the years, including one this summer for a terrific business-finance publication. It’s a great way to get your name in front of people that use writers, at a time when they may well need help.

2. Look at site-specific job ads out of your area. I’m selective here — if it says anything like “meet with us weekly at our Akron offices,” I move on. But if the ad title mentions a city, but the ad text doesn’t describe anything that needs to be done in person, and it mentions my expertise, I go ahead and apply. Just ask right up top if they’d consider someone working remotely. Play up your expertise both in their field, and your expertise in working remotely.

3. Use social media If you’re not looking at the jobs on LinkedIn, I highly recommend it — many of them are exclusive to the site. It’s a great place to find full-time job ads you can piggyback on, as per #1. You can also try to use your connections to get a referral attached to your application, which I’m told greatly increases your odds of getting the contact’s attention in the pile of 500 resumes they are likely receiving.

Twitter is also a growing place for freelance gigs. Not only can you tweet about the work you’re looking for (same goes for Facebook status updates, etc.), but you can use Twitter’s search feature to troll for jobs. Some of the sites mentioned above are on Twitter tweeting about listings, so you could get a jump on the masses this way.

There are an increasing number of job-related tweeters — I’m following @WritersDigest, @FSsJobs (that’s Freelance Switch), @tweetajob, and @Jobsonica, among others.

In this market, it pays to get creative when you’re looking for clients! If you use any of these tips successfully, leave a comment and tell me about it — love to hear success stories.

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Carol is on vacation. This week, she’s reprinting a couple of posts from the early days of her blog, back when it was on her writer site. Enjoy!

Back when I first started out as a freelance writer, it was tough to find writing jobs. I’d either have to look in the Writers Market, or get in my car and go down to the library and get out the Gale’s guide to research possible article markets. Next, I carved my articles on a rock…OK, I’m not that old, but there was a lot more legwork involved!

Nowadays, you can see lots of writing jobs online without moving from your living room. Personally, I like to look at Freelance Writing Jobs or About Freelance Writing. Between the two of them, they seem to digest all the major job sites around, so you don’t have to look at a lot of individual sites.

The catch is, most of the job ads you see online are a big waste of time for anyone who’s serious about making a good living from writing. They’re no substitute for in-person networking, asking current clients for referrals, cold-calling copywriting prospects, or any of the other tried-and-true methods of finding good clietns.

The key is to save time and not waste hours online looking at job postings. Over the past year, I’ve developed some rules for cutting through the junk and only responding to what seem to be viable, good-paying clients. I try to send out several resumes each week…but I’m pretty selective about who I take the time to develop a submission letter for. I try not to spend more than a half-hour a day online job-hunting.

My rules:

1. Skip the scams. Avoid anything that contains phrases such as “you’ll get good exposure” or “we pay on revenue share” or “pay for page views.” None of these pay anything that will even buy you a gallon of milk.

2. Skip all Craigslist ads. Especially the sketchy, two-line ones. The vast majority of Craigslist posters are either scam artists outright, nightmare clients with only a vague sense of what it is they actually want, or $10-an-article types.

3. Skip all “lots of topics,” “we need lots of writers” or “pick your own topics” assignments.Any ad that says they need lots of writers to write about lots of topics is unlikely to pay much. These are generally content portals where they make a fortune putting ads against your content, while they pay you nothing. If you can write about your dog, well, anyone can do that. So it’s not going to pay much.

4. Skip ads that ask for a sample article. These are all scams — they just take the sample articles, rip them off, post them, and don’t hire anyone. Or even if they do hire someone, odds are low it’ll be you. If you already have two clips, you don’t need to enter any of these article ‘contests.’

5. Skip anyone who says they pay by PayPal. Some may disagree with this one, but I consider this the hallmark of low payers and bogus companies, particularly U.S.-based ones. Any real company can write you a check, or use auto-deposit and toss that payment straight into your account. The reason they use PayPal is they’re planning to pay you $1.95 and want to save a stamp. If they’re going to pay a substantial amount and it’s an ongoing account, you stand to lose hundreds of dollars of income in fees over the course of a year.

6. Skip any ad that doesn’t tell you the company name or Web site Blind ads are a hallmark of scammers. Sane, functional companies tell you where to find them online so you can research them and send them an appropriate query with relevant clips. Those are the ones I want to work for.

7. Skip any ad you see frequently. If this ad agency, Web site or whatever is constantly advertising, there’s a reason. They are probably a nightmare to work for, or pay nothing. I’m looking for people who are a pleasure to work for, and pay well.

8. Target ads that ask for your specific expertise. For me, when an ad says applicants must have extensive experience in business reporting, financial, real estate, legal, tax, accounting, insurance or public-company coverage…they have my full attention. Niche expertise pays better. I’m probably going to send these folks a query.

9. Know when to break the rules. Sometimes, an ad will catch your eye even though by all the rules above it should be skipped. This happened to me recently with a Craigslist ad. Ordinarily I would automatically skip…but before I could hit the “back” button, I started to read the ad, and it asked for deep small-business newspaper or magazine experience. Which I have. The company listed their site so I could research what they needed.

I sent them a query and landed a two-month project worth several thousand dollars, which may lead to ongoing work…my first ever good-paying job off a Craigslist ad. I’ve since landed a couple of other very solid clients through Craigslist.

So rules are good most of the time, but remember to keep your mind open a crack for interesting exceptions to the rules.

Next time: how to use the job ads creatively to find more job opportunities.

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Photo via Flickr user dbdbrobot

NOTE: I’m on vacation this week, and co-founder Angela Atkinson of the WM Freelance Writers Community offered to supply a guest post to keep you amused in my absence. I didn’t know it would be all about things she learned from a little informal mentoring I gave her (in exchange for a Facebook fan page for my Make a Living Writing e-book soon to come!). It was thrilling to me to see how my tips helped Angela increase her writing income — and now you can be a fly on the wall and hear about them, too.

By Angela Atkinson

Before I became a full-time freelance writer, I lived in the corporate world. While I made some business decisions, mostly I carried out the decisions of other people. And, though I did some negotiation, it was always within the confines of the standards the company had laid out for me in advance.  So, when I ventured out on my own and had to start making deals without these pre-set standards, I often floundered and ended up getting the short end of the stick.

After arranging a meeting with a client who proposed a big project, I knew how I wanted to pitch the project itself, but I was really intimidated by the negotiation process.  In fact, I almost felt guilty asking the client to pay fair market prices—even though I knew that my work was worthy of at least that much.

I approached Carol Tice for a little advice on the negotiation part of the meeting, since she was clearly an expert on the topic. She was happy to help, and not only did I successfully negotiate the contract, including the highest rates I had been paid up to that point, but I held on to Carol’s advice and have used it in every contract negotiation since.

So what did Carol teach me?

Know What You’re Worth

I had this idea in my head that I needed to undercut the competition in order to successfully pick up clients and projects. What Carol taught me is that I must set and maintain my own business standards, and that I should not accept projects that pay below my “bottom line” prices (which, conveniently, I could set at whatever I liked—within reasonable market prices, of course.) This made it easier to negotiate, because like before in my corporate job, I had pre-set rates to work with.

Don’t Be Afraid to Turn Work Down

Before I met Carol, the idea of turning down work turned my stomach a little. What if I turned down a project and then no other ones came my way? What if there was some underground client network and they reported me as someone who refused perfectly good jobs?

Carol taught me that it’s ok to turn down a project that doesn’t meet my standards in any way—whether it‘s because the project pays too little or because it doesn’t feel right in some other way.  And, she taught me that there’s always another gig around the corner.

Ask the Right Questions

While I knew that I needed to ask clients questions about their projects so that I could understand exactly what they wanted, Carol gave me some pointed questions to ask that would help me to better negotiate my rates. The best one?

“What is your budget for this project?”

With this simple question, I can get a feel for what the client expects to spend on my services. (Of course, sometimes they ask “Well, what do you charge?” In that case, I just quote them my top level rates and work from there.)

And another favorite Carol-ism is this one, used when a client refuses to pay reasonable prices:

“I understand that you don’t have the budget for a professional writer just now. Feel free to contact me again when you do.”

Shut Up

By nature, people are wired to “fill” silences in conversation. So, Carol said, once I quoted my price in a meeting with a client, I should keep quiet and let him speak first. Before, I found myself sometimes quoting lower prices if the client didn’t respond right away—because I thought the silence meant the client wasn’t happy with the price I quoted. In fact, when I learned to shut up for a minute, I found that most clients will either accept my price or come back with a reasonable counter-offer.

Take a Leap of Faith

Turns out, when you quote crazy-low rates, many clients are turned off because they figure that you’re not a professional and that you don’t think you’re worth any more.

The fact is that if you’re willing to hustle a little, there’s plenty of freelance writing work out there.  You don’t have to accept crappy gigs just to get paid. Take a leap of faith, set your rates and stick to them. If your work is strong and your customer relations skills are sharp, you’ll find plenty of work—and you’ll get paid what you’re worth. Personally, when I started employing this rule, I found myself nearly overwhelmed with legitimate jobs.

Be Confident

Before, I felt like I needed to be sort of “humble” about my abilities and my pricing, and I’m sure that clients could see and feel that during a negotiation. Now, thanks in part to Carol’s coaching, I recognize (and acknowledge to clients) that I have a valuable service to offer—and I very openly explain to them why they want to hire me for their project.

Bottom Line

Thanks to Carol, my negotiation skills are ever-improving.  Negotiation success lies in understanding that you’re offering a valuable service, not being afraid to quote and stick to competitive market rates, and in feeling confident enough to walk away if the client is not willing to pay a reasonable amount. Plus, to achieve a successful negotiation, it’s imperative to fully understand what the client expects from you so that you can accurately determine your quote prices.

What are your best client or contract negotiation tips? Leave a comment and let us know.

Angela Atkinson is a freelance writer and editor, as well as the co-founder of The WM Network. Learn more about Angela at her website.

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There are so many types of writing gigs out there, it can be confusing for new writers. Which are the best opportunities to pursue? This is one of the questions asked me recently by budding freelance writer Barry Weymouth. He wrote:

I am currently about to finally get my degree in business finance, but I was a journalism major when I first started college years and years ago.  I have been in real estate and financial services for years now, but really looking for a new lease on life and never let go of the writing bug.  I do have a financial blog that a started [up] again just this week and now I want to take it to another level.

There seems to be so many opportunities out there, but how do you land them? Which ones are the best to go after and what are the ones to stay away from?

Is it best to work for one entry-level type job at a company (kind of captive to them I would say), or is it best to stay freelance?  It all seems a bit confusing and I just want to focus on the things that will be fruitful and not so much on anything out there that will be a waste of my time.

There are so many opportunities out there, Barry! It’s not your imagination. And as the economy recovers, there will be even more.

How do you land them? First, you find them — by networking, trolling online job boards, cold-calling, knocking on doors.  Once you’ve found opportunities, you land them by auditioning for them.

How can you audition for gigs? Many ways. Send writing samples. Send copywriting samples. Send your resume. Send a link to your blog. Pitch story ideas on the phone. Or build your blog audience, find advertisers for your blog and earn that way.

Which are the best kind of writing gigs to go after? The kind that are really well-suited to your writing experience, life experience, and interests. When I work with my mentees, this is basically what we focus on: What have you written before? Where have you worked? What types of writing do you like best? What industries did you find fascinating? What hobbies do you love?

Once you’ve answered those questions, you can seek out publications or companies that are a fit for you. Notice I said “seek out.” Yes, that’s right. You are the driver of your writing-career success. You will need to aggressively market your writing services to make a living.

You can avoid being overwhelmed by all the possibilities by focusing on writing opportunities that make sense for who you are. Don’t randomly apply to every writing gig you see. Pick a couple-three niche areas and focus on them.

If you don’t get results in a few months, try a few other niches that also relate to your experience and interests. But trust me, if you have a real-estate and business-finance background, you’re far more likely to find writing opportunities that have something to do with those fields than you are to find lucrative writing jobs about healthcare or horse grooming. If you love white papers, don’t apply to blog.

Why? Because when you do what you enjoy, you tend to do better. And better clips mean better future gigs.

Which are the types of gigs to stay away from? Writing assignments that pay slave wages — $10 a blog…you know the type. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Writing assignments you’re not interested in and eager to write. Also avoid.

I wish I could give you a magical answer to how to break into writing without wasting your time, Barry. But here’s how you’re going to find out what types of writing you like, can get gigs in, and pay well enough to be worth your while: Trial and error. Sometimes, you’ll try to go in a writing direction — for me last year, that was trying to crack the business-plan writing market — and it just won’t pan out. So you’ll try something else. Lather, rinse, repeat.

You can create a shortcut by focusing on what you’re best qualified and suited for, but you’re still going to have to experiment to find where you fit.

As far as full-time versus freelance…right now I’d say that full-time writing jobs are in very short supply. The woods seem to be full of laid-off journalists. But by all means, if you need the security of a steady paycheck, look for a full-time gig — or maybe a job within your fields of experience that involves some writing, and could serve as a bridge into writing as a career.

Personally, I had my highest-earning year ever in 2009, including the 12 years I was a staff writer for two different publications, so I may be biased toward freelancing! But as a brand-new writer, freelancing may also be a better way to go because there’s less deadline pressure and you can learn at your own pace.

Are you ready to come up with three or four great story ideas, report the stories and file them, each and every week? Or crank out polished white papers in short order? That’s the typical workload of a staff writer. When I started, it took me about six weeks to write one feature story! I would have washed out as a staffer.

To sum up: Look in the mirror. Who are you as a writer? What do you need financially? Answer those questions, and there’s your answer for how to become a freelance writer.

Got any time-saving writing-job-hunt tips for Barry? Leave a comment below and tell us about it.

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Photo via Flickr user karendalziel

Earlier this week I related the story of how I first blundered into my career in freelance writing. I eventually used my freelance clips to get a full-time, staff-writer job at a trade publication.

I worked there for five years, then at a business weekly here in Seattle for another six and a half. But after all the editors who’d hired me there left, the party was really over. By fall of 2005, I was ready to try freelancing again.

Only unlike when I was starving teen songwriter, the stakes were higher. I had three kids! And my husband wasn’t earning so much since our move to Seattle. I really needed to replace my full-time writer salary through my freelance work.

Here’s how I did it:

1. I had a couple of small freelance gigs I’d done on the side while working my full-time job. One was writing for a sister publication to the trade-pub I’d worked for, and they paid quite well. These became my initial earning base.

2. I called all the companies I’d covered at my business-journal job. I wasn’t looking for work, I just wanted to say hey, thanks for the memories, and the help, and for being a great source. To my surprise, several of them referred me work! One of them asked me to ghost-blog for him and write some advertorial articles for his company’s Web site. I hardly knew what a blog was back then, but I gave that a whirl. I didn’t know it yet, but that blogging skill was going to come in real handy.

Without hardly realizing it, I had become a copywriter. Once I figured out I was a copywriter, I started learning more about copywriting from Peter Bowerman‘s free Well-Fed Writer e-newsletter, and from others. Soon, I had a $1 billion private company as a copywriting client. I started to make more than I had as a staffer.

3. I networked with previous editors, including those ones I loved back at the business journal. They connected me with The Seattle Times and other publications that became major new accounts for me. When those editors went to new publications, I connected there, too.

4. I learned how to work the online job ads, only taking the time to target ads that were really perfect for me. This paid off in some great new clients. In-person networking at Media Bistro events in Seattle paid off well, too. I learned which events worked for me and which were a waste of time.

5. I turned every new article assignment into an ongoing relationship. When I turned in stories, I was always ready with more pitches. So I got more assignments. If a publication I wrote for was a sister-publication to other magazines, I wrote for those, too.

6. I thought big. When I ended up interviewing the editor of a national magazine for a local Seattle publication, at the end of the interview I just flat-out asked her if her magazine was looking for freelancers. I’ve probably earned more than $50,000 over the past five years from my willingness to ask that one question! I connected with her publication and was soon getting $2,000 article assignments.

7. I never stopped marketing. I found new networking forums to belong to, I went to Chamber of Commerce events, I checked online job ads, I asked around. Even when I’m fully booked, like I am now, I never stop sending queries and resumes out.

Some lessons here for other writers contemplating going freelance:

Start freelancing before you leave your job, so you have a base.

Tell everyone you know you’re freelancing.

Be willing to try new types of writing.

Get advice.

Never stop marketing.

Don’t waste time online.

Be brave.

Aim high.

Have you started freelancing in the past few years? If so, how’d you do it?Share the lessons of your success in the comments below.

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Photo via Flickr user = Bruce Berrien =

When I asked new writers for their biggest questions back in May, one of the responses I got was that readers would like to hear “what it was like for successful writers early in their career.”

So here’s the story of how I became a freelance writer. It happened in L.A.

In the beginning — like when I was 14 — I was a singer-songwriter. Banging away on my parents’ black baby grand, scribbling lyrics in notebooks and taking them to school to throw out so my mom wouldn’t read my rejects out of my trash. I dropped out of college halfway through to hang around Hollywood Boulevard and go to songwriting workshops, where I eagerly awaited a chance to have my work shredded by my peers.

Songwriting involved starving. It cost money to pay band members, to rent halls, to promote my group.  I needed a day job, so I worked as a secretary at movie studios and talent agencies. There, I learned to stay calm and poised while movie stars asked me questions, or big agents barked orders. I learned to have a snappy comeback. Eventually, I started my own script-typing business, feeding off my show-biz connections, and worked for myself.

Around the time I was nearing 30 — the age at which songwriters have to ask themselves whether they’re up for a lifetime of this starvation or they want to move on — the alternative paper L.A. Weekly was celebrating its 10th anniversary. So they had an essay contest.

It was like they created it just for me. I had moved back to L.A. to pursue songwriting ten years earlier.

So I wrote an essay about what coming to L.A. to be a songwriter was like for me and my friends — namely, like slowly being crushed between two large rock walls. They printed it and paid me $200.

I pretty much never looked back. I had discovered a kind of writing where you got paid. And didn’t have to worry about whether the drummer was going to decide to take psychedelic mushrooms and the overnight party bus to Vegas to put in 12 hours at the blackjack tables instead of showing up for the gig. I literally called friends over and handed them my four-track recorder and my microphones and said, “Here — take this stuff away. I don’t need it anymore.”

Writing prose was empowering. I didn’t need anyone else to do it! I could execute this all by myself. I had all the intruments I needed inside my head. I thought it up, I talked to people, found facts, worked on it, went down to the mini-mart on Thursdays, and boom, there’s my name. Wow! I was a byline junkie from day one.

From there, I got another assignment from the Weekly right away. But then I took a third assignment I got in over my head on, and bombed.

I then pitched their rival, the L.A. Reader (now dead) about some protest I was going to. I ended up writing for the Reader for years, reviewing books, writing cover features for $300, community news for $50.

All the time learning, learning, learning. I’d haunt my editor’s office, latest issue of the paper in hand, saying, “I noticed you changed my first sentence from this to that. Why?” I got better. I wrote faster. I started to earn more from articles, and type scripts less.

Soon, the Los Angeles Times had a contest in the real-estate section. They wanted do-it-yourself fix-up stories. Again, tailor-made for me — my husband and I had just spent several years camped on our living-room floor fixing up our charming hovel in Culver City. I wrote a humorous, “our hearts were young and dumb” tale of our remodeling mistakes.

I won, they printed, I got paid. The editor there said, “You’re funny! I want you to write for me all the time!”

I’d been writing prose for about nine months, and I was writing for one of the largest daily papers in the country.

I was massively intimidated, felt hugely inadequate, and as a result it often took me six weeks to write a feature for them. But my editor put up with it and took the time to mentor me, because my writing was fresh, and honed, and really brightened up their section covers. And I was willing to work hard, beat the street, and find great stories.

Around this time, it started to dawn on me: I am a freelance writer.

Maybe I should take this freelance writing thing seriously! I love this, and it could be a career. So I took some classes through UCLA Extension in journalism, magazine writing. I learned more. I got better gigs.

One day, my husband said, “Why don’t you stop typing scripts and just write articles?” And I did. Not long after that, he was losing his job, and I applied for this weird full-time writing job I saw advertised, for a trade publication based in New York. They looked at my Reader covers, my L.A. Times covers, they gave me a writing test, and told me of 24 writers they auditioned, I was the only one who wrote something they could publish. The job paid $45,000 to start. And so began my 12 years as a staff writer, in which I learned many new skills, filed three or four stories every week, and laid the ground work for my second stint as a freelancer, which I’ll write about later this week.

Looking back over this, I see some defining points to why I was able to build a successful writing career, basically from scratch. I think these traits would be helpful to anyone looking to get into freelance writing.

1. I  didn’t develop a lot of writer insecurities, because it didn’t dawn on me that I was a freelance writer. I was just having fun!

2. When I hit roadblocks, I immedately looked for a workaround. It never occurred to me to stop because of one “no.” I liked being published too much!

3. I was willing to study my craft, both with my editors and by going back to school.

4. I got a lot of positive early feedback that encouraged me. I entered two contests, and won them both. This made me feel, “I must be good at this!”

5. I looked for opportunities that were a great fit for my background.

6. I developed a thick skin early on and was open to criticism of my writing.

7. I had run a home-based business before, so I had some knowledge of the hustle and administrative skills required to make that work.

That’s the story of how I wrote my way into a career as a writer. How did you get started? How did you keep going? What skills did you bring to it that made you successful?

Leave a comment and tell us your story. Later this week, I’ll tell you how I broke into freelance writing all over again, 12 years later, in 2005.

If you liked this post, subscribe to Make a Living Writing, so you don’t miss any free advice on how to earn more from writing.

Photo of singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards via Flickr user ibm4381

When writers think about pitching magazines, many tend to just think about well-known newsstand magazines. But there are a lot of hidden writing opportunities at magazines and other periodicals.

I first got exposed to this hidden world when I got an opportunity to write $1-a-word advertorials that went in a trade publication I was working for as a staff writer. It was news to me that I could write those, too! That became a nice little side income for several years.

Over the years, I’ve discovered many national magazines are merely the best-known flagship of a larger enterprise. Many publications sell annual guidebooks, subscriber-only bonus issues, or they put out books of lists that may need freelance articles.

Some magazines don’t just have the flagship pub — they have additional magazines that aren’t as well known. Entrepreneur, for example, also publishes a newsstand-only quarterly, Entrepreneur StartUps!. And the company also publishes business books. They buy online-exclusive articles and have a blog, too. I’ve written for all of those except the books arm, adding many thousands of dollars in revenue beyond what I would have earned if I’d just stuck to the main magazine.

Some publications have college editions that include special content for students. For instance, some years back, I wrote an article for a college edition of the Wall Street Journal. AARP has its magazine, but also a newsprint bulletin.

Regional magazines may be owned by a corporate parent that publishes similar magazines in other markets, to which your article might possibly be re-spun and resold for an additional fee. For instance, Tiger Oak, for whom I’ve written at Seattle Business (which led to writing for sister-pub Seattle Magazine), also publishes five bride magazines in different markets, and eight regionals in the meeting-and-events niche. Get in the door with one of those, and that could allow you to rework and re-source stories to quickly resell them to sister books that come out in other cities.

In this age of consolidation, many publications are part of a publishing family. Conde Nast, for instance, has about 30 magazine and online properties, and several trade publications as well. Once you’ve written for one book in a family, it’s often easier to get a warm referral to an editor at another.

After I wrote as a staffer for one trade pub that covered a niche in retailing, and later freelanced regularly for a sister pub in another retail niche. The editor there knew my name and the awards I’d won during my tenure, and was thrilled to have me write for them, too.

When you’ve scored an assignment from a publication, don’t sit back and think “I’ve arrived!” Instead, think of it as a starting point in your relationship with that organization.

Once you’re in, start looking around and see if you can discover other pieces to their little publishing kingdom. Ask your current editor about the organization’s other writing needs. You may discover lucrative new writing opportunities. You’ll have a leg-up on getting assignments, and usually, these more hidden parts of the beast get fewer pitches, upping your odds of success.

Know any other hidden writing markets? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

If you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing to Make a Living Writing for more free tips on how to earn more from your writing.

Photo via Flickr user House of Sims

Note from Carol: I am not necessarily the world’s most highly organized person. I have to admit I’m still tracking my jobs and payments in a Word document…works for me, but I’m sure there are better ways. (I use a Google calendar for my personal life…but somehow, my writing assignments just work for me in a list with deadlines. Weird.)

Turns out there are some great cheap and free time-management tools out there — and U.K. writer James Adams knows about them. Here he is with some tips on time-management programs! (And that’s his gravatar over there — conclude what you will.)

Freelancing can be compared to looking at the menu at a sushi bar — there is plenty of variety in which one may indulge. A freelancer lives each day working on many different projects at once and may find solace in proven techniques to effectively manage their time.

Everybody has a different habit of work that they follow, so it can be a great help to have access to a simple and free time management application. If you find yourself missing deadlines a few too many times, get yourself organized by using one of these top tools for time management. All of these tools are free or have free trials, and they all work cross-platform.

1. Toggl ($5 – $79 per month):This tool allows you to manage your time, create reports with a single click and create numerous tasks. Signing up for this service is free, which allows up to five users on your account, or you can purchase a plan for something more user-friendly.
2. Todoist (Free):This is completely free and is a simple tool to use. Use keyboard shortcuts, set your deadlines and see works that are either about to be overdue or currently are. It is a web based tool that can also be integrated directly into your Gmail account.
3. Get Harvest ($12 – $90 per month):This is a sleek tool that offers style that integrates well for micro or small businesses. This tool tracks time and also comes with the ability to easily invoice clients, and you do not even need to deal with making the invoice itself. You can try its services for 30 days before having to purchase a plan.
4. Google Calendar (Free): Sign into your Gmail account (signing up for one is free if you do not already have one) and use the free services of Google Calendar. Track everything you need to in a single place and allow clients to share in your set schedule. Reminders can be set and customized, and you can even have alerts sent to your desktop, email or by way of SMS – this is especially useful for folks on the go.
5. Tickspot ($9 – $79 per month): Not only can you track your time, but you can also track your budget with this service. You may sign up for a free 30 day trial of this simple, easy to use interface, and later on upgrade to enjoy the rest of its service.
6. Rescue Time ($6 – $15 per month): This tool is very helpful for those who are helplessly addicted to social media and similarly useless browsing. It does not technically manage your time so much as it tracks it, working in the background and graphing the way you spend your time on the Internet while you work. You can use the free version, but more features come to you with a purchased plan.
7. Remember the Milk (Free): All cheesy names aside, you can sign onto this website for free to manage your tasks wherever you go, whether through your iPod Touch, iPhone, Blackberry, Gmail account or computer. This is definitely a capable rival for Todolist as it offers numerous outstanding features for easy organization.
8. NowDoThis (Free): If you find yourself confused about all of the features in the previous mentions, this is the polar opposite. Click “edit” to make your list and keep clicking “done” when you are… well, done.
9. Ta-da List (Free): Folks who have heard of Highrise and Basecamp may be pleased to know that the brains behind the two have created this tool. It works as a free online wall of post-it notes. Create your necessary tasks and simply check off the ones you have already done.

Working as a writer at an ink cartridges store in Manchester for the past 18 months, James Adams has written everything including product reviews, trend stories and news releases for their design blog.

This is the story of the greatest freelance writing gig I ever turned down. It happened just last week.

About a year ago, I met an editor at a MediaBistro networking event who develops online content for a very large software company. Based here in Seattle. Yeah, that one.

In shmoozing him up, I discovered that he was best friends from childhood with one of my past editors…an editor who’d loved my stuff. He also knew another beloved editor of mine as well. To sum up, he was my dream prospect!

He didn’t have anything immediately, so for once I did a really good job staying in touch and following up.

And last week, he finally called me with an assignment. He needed someone to write a half-dozen articles, one a month, over the next six months.

The catch: It was on a brand-new version of one of their software programs. Hmmm…I’m not much of an early adopter, so I wasn’t using this new program yet. Small, dim alarm bells began to chime in the back of my head. But I was so psyched to work with this client!

We investigated a little more, and discovered the program doesn’t run on Macs, which is what I use. I’d have to buy a computer to do the gig!

My husband was in favor of buying the new computer and taking the gig. But he’s always in favor of buying new toys.

At this point, the alarm bells were louder. In reality, the assignment would be for me to buy and break in a whole new computer AND software, and quickly become an expert in using it so I could write about it. I don’t ordinarily write a whole lot about tech.

I was starting to get the ugly, real picture. I wasn’t actually a fit for this gig.

If I took it, I’d stand a decent chance of sucking at it. And that is the one thing I don’t ever want to see happen. The last thing I need is to disappoint a client at a major corporation.

So I passed.

My hope is another assignment may come along from this client that’s a better fit for my background, which is mostly writing about a range of other business topics. Maybe I’m nuts and should have bought the computer and given it a whirl. But my feeling was the huge ramp time that would be involved to essentially acquire a whole new expertise area probably would have meant I earned less net in the end, as I’d have less time for other clients.

I’d also run the risk of alienating an editor and never getting any future assignments from him.

The whole experience was a reminder to me that writers need to not jump at every offer that comes down the pike, no matter how great they may sound at first. Ask yourself, “Is this assignment really me?” I try to stay with assignments where I can answer that with an enthusiastic “yes.”

Ever turn down a major gig? If so, leave a comment and tell us about it.

Photo via Flickr user roland

I recently did my half-year analysis of my writing business. Earnings are looking good for ’10, and one reason is that over the past year or so, I have acquired some new technical skills. Those skills, combined with my writing portfolio, have led to some great-paying online writing opportunities. I think this knowledge really made the difference in getting me fully booked with lucrative writing jobs.

Now, those of you who are longtime readers of my blog know that I am not a naturally tech-inclined person. Tech malfunctions make me cry. I pay a Webmaster to create my Web sites.

So believe me when I say that all of these tech tools are easy to use. I didn’t spend more than 10 minutes or so learning to use any one of them.

In this Internet age, having some technical ability is a great way to set yourself apart as a writer. It’s a value-add — something you can offer clients that saves them money on the back end, so it supports your earning a higher rate.

Here’s a look at the tech tools I think writers should be getting to know if they want to position themselves for higher earnings. Right now, I’m finding companies are fairly open to training people up a little on these, if you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the tools already. A year or two from now, I think knowledge of these tools may well be required to get many better-paying online writing gigs.

1. Basic HTML coding. If you don’t know how to code a link (that’s <a href=http://www.yourwebsite.com> words you want to enliven </a> except without the spaces), well, that’s how you do it right there. Know how to code to bold, underline and italicize words. That’s about all I’ve needed to know, but you can learn more about html at the handy free site W3Schools. In many platforms you don’t need to know HTML anymore, but it’s useful for adding links in blog comments, so great for those who are pitching writing packaged with social media marketing.

2. A blog program. I was thrown into this arena on Movable Type, which is pretty clunky, but have since learned Blogger, WordPress and most recently Joomla. Blogging programs are very easy and intuitive to use, and all the popular programs are quite similar to each other, so learn one, and you pretty much get the drift. I acquired this skill just in time to use it on my major gig blogging for BNET (part of CBS!). I’m not sure I could have gotten the tryout there if I hadn’t been able to say, “Yeah, I’ve used WordPress before.” I’d used it for about two weeks, and still didn’t know a lot of the features…but they didn’t need to know that. Blogging basics you need include how to enliven links, schedule posts, and add photos.

3. How to add free photos to blogs. In June, I signed a big ghost-blogging and Web content client who hired me an hour after I sent my resume, and deposited a $300 up-front payment directly into my bank account before the end of the day. Why? I was able to solve a big problem he had — this marketing-agency owner was way behind in blogs for his clients. When I told him I could write posts directly on his clients’ Joomla blogs and have them ready to post, complete with photos, he was sold. He’s paying me $100 a blog, a rate he let me know he had not paid previously. The technical skill made the difference and supported my rate. I know I should know how to add videos too, but so far that has kind of eluded me…still working on it.

There are several sites where you can get free photos to use — I like Flickr Creative Commons, which I’ve used for this post you’re reading right now. It’s easy to add them to a post two ways: either right-click on “Save image to the desktop” or “Copy image address.” Then click whatever the ‘add media’ icon is in the blog program and fill out the little menu to select and download the .jpg file off your desktop, or put the image URL directly into the address line. Ta-da! An illustration to enliven your post.

4. Virtual team software. Right now, I get my BNET blog ideas approved in a virtual newsroom on Campfire, where we all crack wise, support each others’ efforts, and stay off email for all our BNET doings. I also work in a virtual team for that ghost-blogging client above on Basecamp, posting and updating files and getting information about my projects. These virtual-team platforms are so easy it doesn’t take five minutes to learn how to use them. They’re only a half-step above the Yahoo! Groups or BigTent forums you may be using in your personal life. If a prospect asks if you know about them, just nod your head.

What tech tools are you using to earn more with your writing? Have I left any good ones out? Leave a comment and let me know.

Photo via Flickr user Andrew Abogado

There’s a lot of discussion online about writers’ rates. What’s the best way to bid a project — by the word? By the hour? By the project?

They all have their uses, especially since some publications and businesses are kind of in the habit of using one or the other of these methods for deciding what they’ll pay.

But which is the best way to price jobs? To my mind, it’s by the hour.

Time is your most precious resource. You only have so many work hours in the year, so you need to make as much per hour as you can. Which leads me to my one important rule of pricing jobs:

No matter how you price the job, track your hours and figure out your hourly rate. Because if you don’t know your hourly rate, how can you work on raising it? How can you compare clients and know which to keep and which to drop?

Now, if you’re working for an ongoing copywriting client, I personally believe bidding by the project is best. Your client is happy because they know exactly what they’re going to pay, and you can budget for the amount you will earn.

The trick is creating a flat fee for that project that will give you the hourly rate you want.

You can only do that by getting some experience with how long it takes you to do things. Obviously, this setup rewards efficiency. If you’re unusually fast, you can bid on a par with other writers, but end up with a better hourly rate, and earn more over the course of the year.

Before the downturn, I thought high per-article fees were the answer to maximizing earnings. But I’ve learned that’s not always true. When I was scrambling around for a few new clients in late ’08/early ’09, I got an offer from an old editor friend to write some quick articles for $100 apiece, just based on my knowledge of business topics, supplemented with a little online research. (Hey, it’s above my $50 an assignment limit, people!)

At first I was appalled. Prior to this time period, about the very lowest article rate I took was $300. Then I thought what the heck, and gave them a try.

I found I could write them in an hour to 90 minutes. A little quick math and hmmm…that’s $70-$100 an hour. Not too shabby. I’ve kept this work as good occasional filler projects — a quick scan of my bills for this year shows I picked up $1,700 this way so far in ’10, in maybe 20-22 hours. So the lesson is: Any work that earns a high hourly rate is good writing work.

Of course, getting a client where they’ll let you simply bill for however many hours you’re spending on their projects each month is the ideal. Then you know you’re getting paid for every hour you work. I had a client like that at $95 an hour for more than a year, sending me work every month. I think right now, those gigs are harder to come by.

But billing hourly protects you against the evil that is scope creep — the situation where you bid a flat project fee, but then the parameters of the project keep growing, as does your time spent. Been lots of discussion of how to handle this sticky problem on LinkedIn recently.

Most publications tend to assign a price per word or give a flat article price. In which case, you may need to work on your efficiency to make sure your rate stays as good as possible.

But you can always ask for more money — I’ve gotten companies to add $50-$200 to an article assignment or more if they ended up wanting sidebars, or a longer length, or I knew they were a slow payer. More about screwing up your courage to ask for more pay over at my latest post on WM Freelance Writers Community.

What do you prefer — billing by the project, the hour or the word? Leave a comment and let me know. Also, have you asked for more pay lately? If so share your strategy!

Photo via Flickr user zoutedrop

Earlier this week, I wrote about the many ways being fully booked helps your writing business. Obviously, I had a decent stable of clients…but I wasn’t at capacity. Finding a few new clients put me there.

Several readers asked if I could discuss the marketing strategies I used to help fill up my schedule. I’m happy to do so. I think many writers are wondering what the best marketing methods are, particularly what Web sites and online strategies are really useful.

So I will now reveal the single best place online for freelance writers.

First, the raw data: Below is a look at how I got each of the new clients I’ve landed over the past six months or so, which led to my being fully booked.

1.  Major TV network’s business blog — I found this gig through my weekly Gorkana alert, which offers job listings for a few specific areas in business, including finance and healthcare.

2.  Agency through which I blog and develop Web content for lawyers — I answered a Craigslist ad… I don’t exactly recall where, but I must have either seen it on About Freelance Writing (thanks Anne!) or on Writer’s Weekly (thanks Angela!).

3. Two small-business blog clients, both in business finance niches – These both found me through reading my blog for Entrepreneur magazine.

4. Fortune 500 company — They found me on a Google search for “Seattle freelance writer.”

There you have it. Have you guessed what the best place is to be for freelance writers? That’s right — it’s everywhere. As many places as you can be. Each place you are, each strategy you use, increases your odds of success.

Niche job lists are good sources of leads for specialized writing jobs.

Craigslist is full of junk, but if you keep scanning those ads, every once in a while you can find a very solid client.

Your great bylined work online is out there, marketing your business, 24/7.

Companies are finding writers through natural search on Google.

If I hadn’t had a broad-spectrum approach to marketing online — checking a lot of places, and really making the effort to make all my current online clients’ work shine — I wouldn’t have found all these clients. Just one important caveat: Be a skimmer, and don’t spend all day poking around the Internet looking for leads. I try not to spend more than 2-3 hours a week looking for job leads online.

I’d also make the observation that four out of five of these clients are on the copywriting side. My observation is that while publications are still tough to break into right now, copywriting is booming…so it’s not just where you’re looking online, but what you’re looking for, that’s important. Keep an open mind. Try new types of clients — you may find whole new areas of writing you discover you really like. That’s definitely my story.

Where are you finding good writing-job leads? Leave a comment and let me know. I’m sure I haven’t found all the great ways to market online yet!

Photo via Flickr user jared

It’s been a long time coming…nearly two years. But last week, it happened.

A prospect called to see if I could do some writing work for them. I took a deep breath, and then I uttered three magical words that unlock the key to making more money as a freelance writer.

Do you know what those words are?

“I’m fully booked.”

That’s right. At the moment, I am not spending time sifting through online job ads, obsessively trying to make new LinkedIn connections, or beating the street at networking events. I only had time to blog once for MALW last week, because I’m so busy. I have all the work I can handle, nearly all of it at very nice rates. I’m really overbooked, but I’m  hoping I can somehow figure out how to make the workload manageable again in July, once a couple of big new clients ramp up and get going.

It took a heck of a lot of marketing to get to this point, and later this week, I’ll tell you about what worked for me in marketing my freelance writing business. But for now, let’s return to the three magical words, and why they’re so important and magical.

What happens to your business when you’re fully booked?

You relax. The anxiety of starting each month with open time still on the planner is gone. I’m now starting each month with enough work booked to be confident I can pay my bills, and even take my family out for an occasional meal. Being more relaxed makes you more effective and creative, so your work gets done faster, allowing you to make more.

You gain confidence. It’s an ego-booster to realize you are in demand.

You get picky. In the depths of the recession, I took a lot of crazy assignments. One-off projects. Small-business clients with not much money. Quickie articles that paid $100. Stuff I never would have considered in 2007. Now, that’s over. If someone doesn’t fit my image of an ideal client, I can pass.

You start dropping clients. Now you can look at your client list and identify your biggest problem child — you know, the client that pays in over 90 days, is a whiner, never satisfied, wants a committee to edit your work, won’t return your emails for two days, or simply doesn’t pay enough. The next good client that comes down the pike, it’s time to swap that loser out. Repeat this process until you have only top-drawer publications or companies on your roster.

You become more valuable. When you’re fully booked, it’s like smoke signals go up. You start to attract great new clients. When you tell some prospects you can’t take them on because you’re too busy, they are impressed. You must be a good writer! They want to hire you even more. Sometimes, they offer you more money in hopes of getting you to kick someone else off your schedule to make room for their assignment. Sometimes, you say yes.

Your rate starts to rise. Besides all the reasons already stated above, your rate starts to go up when you’re fully booked because you don’t have to spend as many hours marketing (but don’t stop!). You have more productive, billable hours, so that translates to more income.

Are you fully booked? If not, maybe you want to take a look at my mentoring page and think about whether you could use a boost to get your freelance writing career moving forward. There’s a lot of work out there now — the economy is thawing, new magazines are starting, companies are ramping up marketing budgets, and now’s a great time to make new connections and find  new clients.

Photo via Flickr user Bohman

Well…it finally happened. I sat down with my designer today and the Word files for my e-book and we began the process of getting it ready to publish.

This project seemed to take forever! In fact, it took about 18 months. I’m so excited that it’s finally coming into the home stretch.

I learned a lot in the process of writing Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide. If you’re thinking about writing an e-book — and everybody should be! — here are some of my tips on the e-book writing process:

1. Start small. Why, oh why, did I think my very first e-book should be a broad-spectrum, comprehensive guide to everything you need to know to earn well in the writing biz today? If I was doing this over again, I would have found a chunk to publish first as a stand-alone, smaller first e-book to get something out there while I finished the larger book. As it is, I’ll probably be doing that — I plan to pull out the copywriting section and offer it later as a separate product. But part of this information could have been out there helping writers already — and helping me earn — while I finished the bigger book.

2. Chunkify. This is a phrase I learned from one of my Seattle Times editors. Especially when people are reading online, they need information broken up into small bites. So most of my sections are short or broken out into bullets or numbered items to make them easy to digest.

3. Listen to your audience. If you’re writing any sort of nonfiction, how-to e-book, don’t sit in a vacuum in your office writing what you think people want to know. Find out what they really want to know! I’ve gotten great feedback from my mentees and readers of this blog about exactly what they wanted to know about traditional markets today, emerging writing opportunities and new techniques for finding good-paying clients. The e-book would not be nearly as strong without that critical feedback.

4. Think landscape. E-books lay out in landscape format, not portrait — that is, 11″ wide by 8 1 /2″ high, not the other way around. When I started out, I wasn’t thinking about this. I ended up reorganizing and editing a lot as a result. Landscape format is the shape of  most computer screens (though not e-readers like the one above!) — so it helps to think about that shape while you’re writing and looking at how much will fit on a page.

5. Think about structure and style. One of the toughest challenges for me as someone used to writing articles of maybe up to 3,000 words was organizing so much material. I should have spent more time up-front working with my table of contents to figure out where topics would fit best — would have saved a lot of reorganizing on the back end. On the style side, I kept doing things differently — how to put dashes, how to format lists. Think of a style and stick with it to avoid lots of combing through to change little format problems later.

6. Let it go. At some point, it’s time to call the e-book done. But I found it hard to get there. I got great advice from my online buddy Robert Earle Howells of Write Where the Money Is, who told me to just press “send” and move on to the next e-book. It doesn’t have to be perfect,  he said — it’s an e-book. Nonfiction e-books are meant to be timely and produced quickly. He told me he still sometimes goes back in and changes something in the PDF of his book, and that it’s no big deal. That helped me a lot…I probably would have kept tinkering with this forever, until the recession was long over and a lot of it would have needed revising! Wish I’d heard his advice six months ago…probably would have the e-book out already!

Have any questions about writing an e-book? Let me know — if I think the readers would benefit, I’ll answer them here on the blog.

Photo via Flickr user cloudsoup

Earlier this week, I shared the table of contents for the first half of my upcoming e-book, Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide. Below is the second half, covering copywriting and earning from your niche blog. Some of you may recognize a few of these headings from previous blog entries I’ve done here or on WM Freelance Writing Connection. They’ve been revised and in many cases expanded for the book, which also includes a lot of new material I have not blogged on before.

Please feel free to leave comments about any topics you don’t see included that you would like to see covered in the book.

Thanks all –

Make a Living Writing: The 21^st Century Guide

By Carol Tice

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART II: THE COPYWRITING CRASH COURSE

An Introduction to the World of Copywriting

Choosing a niche

Use your life experience

My breaking-in story

Is copywriting “selling out”?

Getting Copywriting Assignments

Seven ways to find your first clients

A sample opening pitch

Two more strategies for getting those first samples

Blogging for business—a great new break-in opportunity

Five signs of a good business-blogging prospect

How to create a great business blog

The mechanics of business blogging

Break in with crowdsourcing contests

What to Charge

Why I don’t have a rate sheet

What to do if a prospect requires a quote

Sample copywriting client questionnaire

Negotiation tips for getting the best rate

Listen in on a client negotiation

Completing Your First Copywriting Assignment

Client meeting 101

Writing your assignment

Submit your work and deal with edits

Turn one assignment into a regular gig

How to Gain Confidence and Move Up

Social media + copywriting = good pay

Team with a graphic designer to earn more

Copywriting for nonprofits

Learn more about copywriting

PART III: MAKE A LIVING WITH YOUR BLOG

Blog vs. Article: What’s the Difference?

Why Your Blog Needs a Niche

Best Traits of Successful Niche Bloggers

Nine Ways to Monetize Your Blog

Advice from Successful Niche Blogger Nathan Hangen

Conclusion: Making it Happen

You Gotta Believe

Make a Living Writing: The Sequel

Some of you may have seen me mention that I’ve been writing a comprehensive how-to e-book about breaking into paid writing. Well, about a year later than I imagined it would happen, Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide is shortly headed to the designer for layout.

Wow, am I thrilled to be saying that! What a slog it’s been, trying to get this material written and organized inbetween all my regular writing assignments and all that other life stuff that happens when you have a family with three kids.

But I’m pleased to say the e-book table of contents is ready for review. I invite MALW blog readers to take a look at the table of contents this week and leave comments about any topics they don’t see being covered in the book that they’d like to see me add.

Please keep in mind this e-book is intended mostly for new or low-earning writers looking to learn how to break in and start earning well. I’m planning a sequel with more advanced tactics for moving up to higher-paying writing work, so if I think a topic doesn’t belong in this e-book, it may end up in the sequel.

Today, I’m sharing the table for the introduction and part one, which is all about breaking into writing for publications, either print or online. Later this week, I’ll share parts two and three, which are on copywriting and earning from your blog.

Appreciate your feedback, readers! And hope to have the book ready for purchase soon.

Make a Living Writing: The 21^st Century Guide

By Carol Tice

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction-

Let’s Get Started

Who am I to give advice?

Freelance writing today

Myths about getting published

Three ways to make good money from writing

What’s your goal?

Watch for unexpected opportunities

The 7 Habits of Successful New Freelance Writers

PART I: Writing for Publications

Get Ready to Write

LOOK IN: What do you know?

Choose a focus

Finding the time

LOOK OUT: 7 Steps to Your First Paid Writing Assignments

1. Identify your writing type

2. Find your rung on the ladder

3. Start marketing your writing

A baker’s dozen ways to look for writing work

Research and The Writer’s Market

4. Use social media to build your writing career

Social media do’s and don’ts

5. Find places to get your first few clips

All about writing for Internet content sites

Six problems with content-mill writing

6. Find editors to pitch

7. Create your pitching toolkit

Your resume

Your bio

Your Web site

Three reasons to organize your clips on your own site

What if I don’t have a Web site?

Your blog

Your in-person pitch

Get Set to Pitch

Finding and developing story ideas

Evergreen article ideas

Submitting unsolicited, completed articles

Preparing your query letter in three easy steps

Step one: Know your publication

Writer’s guidelines and editorial calendars

A look at an editor’s life

Step two: Define an angle

Step three: Match your pitch to the right publication

Online articles vs print articles

In the back door: Online articles for print magazines

Crafting your pitch

Two foolproof approaches to writing queries

Query don’ts

Case study: Pitching Kiwanis

Send the most queries in the shortest time

Three ways to pitch editors

1. Pitching via email

Don’t help your editor rip you off!

2. Pitching on the phone

Sample script for a phone pitch

How to leave a voicemail for an editor

3. Pitching via snail mail

Should you nag that editor about your query?

Go: Writing your first assignments

What to know before you start writing

What determines writer pay?

Finding sources and interviewing

Twelve interview tips

How to find facts for your article—fast

Timesaving tips for fast article writing

Seven tips to beat writer’s block

Making your article great

Getting paid

Final thoughts on writing for publications

Image via Flickr user Ivan Walsh

Earlier this week, I talked about the opportunities out there now that the economy is finally starting to recover. Today I want to talk about one really cool niche I think few writers even consider that could bump up your earnings: Company magazines.

Many big companies put out magazines. Some are for their own employees. Some are for various segments of their customers.

In some professions, there are magazines they can get customized for their business — you’re looking at an example in healthcare in the photo above. That’s a customized healthcare magazine hospitals are buying a template of, and then inserting a bit of information about their facility and bingo, they’ve got a magazine to send to everyone who lives near the hospital. Somewhere, there’s a company creating that magazine and hiring writers to write those articles.

My experience is company magazines are decent- to very-good-paying markets. In part because the knowledge is a bit specialized, and in part because company magazines are just not considered a sexy, glamour place to write like a national newsstand magazine. They have to pay a bit more usually to get quality talent. They also pay well because often their circulations or viewership is HUGE!

You might be asked to write about a company product or service in your article, but many times I’ve found the requirements are no different from articles I might write for a consumer magazine in the same niche. The company just wants to build customer loyalty by providing useful information for their type of customer.

Note that some of these magazines are online. Corporations including Dell and American Express have huge online magazines, for instance. Many have multiple online magazines for various audiences — for instance, here’s Microsoft’s magazine just for professionals who’re certified in Microsoft software programs, MCP Magazine.

My advice: Any time you’re in a store of any kind, look around at the reading material and see if they put out a magazine. You might just turn up a great new possible market to pitch. If you can’t find a masthead, just contact the company’s corporate communications head and ask who to pitch. If you see a company with an online magazine, do some sleuthing and try to find out who’s in charge. These don’t tend to turn up even in the Writer’s Market and other guides, and they don’t tend to post writer’s guidelines, so you’ll have to be a little enterprising to connect with their editors.

Pitching the magazine of a company you patronize gives you an immediate inside edge — you already know their stores or products and like them!

Here’s some information on just a few company magazines below:

Curves gyms: Diane is their magazine all about exercise and healthy lifestyles. Looks like it comes out four times a year.

Costco: This is probably one of the best-known company magazines around — Costco Connection has a circulation of 8 million, making it one of the most-read American magazines! You can scan their issues online to get an idea of the content.

American Express OPEN Forum: Their online small-business magazine is one of the most highly regarded business Web sites on the Internet. Highly retweeted. And I don’t just say that because I’ve written a few things for them.

Tractor Supply Co: Out Here. If you live in a rural area, check out the lumber and farm-supply chain Tractor Supply’s high-quality magazine for its customers, which is all about rural life.

Best Buy: @Gamer is a new magazine they’re just launching for their game-buying audience. Word is it launches this month, so be on the lookout.

Have you noticed any interesting company magazines? If so, leave a comment and let us know about them.

Photo via Flickr user pr1001

I hate to get cranky on everybody, but I’ve had it with the whining about  how hard it is to find good-paying freelance writing assignments in this terrible, down economy. The fact is, there are a lot of signs of recovery out there. A couple of them:

Retail sales have been rising for several months now.

I’ve had about 10 really solid leads turn up in the past two weeks, way more than I’ve been seeing in recent months. My own personal economic-recovery indicator.

Do you know the first things that happen at the beginning of a recovery?

• Savvy companies start to ramp up their marketing — a recent FedEx study showed 42 percent of small businesses said they were contemplating increasing their marketing budgets. FORTY-TWO PERCENT! Know how many small businesses there are in the U.S.? Oh, more than 20 MILLION.
• Magazines begin selling more ads and adding pages or expanding their number of annual issues.
• New magazines are born — I counted six of them in just one week in my recent Wooden Horse newsletter.

My point: It’s time to stop using the recession as your excuse for not earning.

There’s plenty of writing work out there right now, and there’s going to be more. You can get in on the start of this up-trend, or you can be one of the last to jump on the bandwagon. Put it out there now, because the universe is starting to respond.

I got an email out of the blue this week from a Fortune 500 corporation looking to start a new e-newsletter for its customers. I would bet that this sort of thinking is taking place at many, many big companies right now. They all want to be first in line to get their share of the recovery. And they’re going to need skilled writers to help them achieve that goal.

It seems like twice a week now, I’m talking to some small business person who needs social media explained to them. They’ve heard they need a blog or articles on their site, but they have no idea how they promote that online and use it to drive traffic. The opportunity in this niche alone — presenting complete social-media proposals that include promotion and blogging or article-writing — is huge.

I speak from experience, since 2009 was my best-earning year ever — you can defy the downturn. And now, it’s not even as much of a downturn anymore!

So it’s time to stop moaning about low-paying content sites that rip you off, rear up on your hind legs, and start marketing your writing business. Send queries. Meet prospects. Use LinkedIn or Biznik. Put up a billboard. Whatever’s your speed.

You’re out of excuses, so get out there and find clients who’re willing to pay you a living wage. More and more of them are out there every day, now that the economy is finally thawing.

Later this week, on this blog and on WM Freelance Writing Connection, I’ll be talking about a couple of specific niche opportunities for you to think about as you make your marketing plan for growing your business in 2010.

What will you do to capitalize on the recovery? Leave a comment and let us know your strategy.

Photo via Flickr user psd

I often hear from freelance writers who say they suck at marketing. They hate cold calling! They’re too shy for in-person networking! Prospecting — ugh! Social media marketing — who has the time!

They look at online job ads, and then complain about how crummy most of the advertising companies pay. They’re stuck writing for low-pay content sites…because, well, they just hate marketing.

Recently, I realized there’s one form of marketing these writers probably already do very well. Here’s how you do it:

Do an amazing job on every assignment you have, for every client you have right now.

Your best form of marketing is always creating really stellar writing, each and every time out. Some important reasons why:

1. Repeat business. Exceed expectations and be ready with more story ideas or copywriting project proposals, and your existing clients will keep using you. That’s a lot less work than having to pitch and get one-off assignments from a long string of different clients. Who needs to prospect when you’ve got a steady stream of work coming from current clients?

2. Referrals. Editors get together and dish about who’s a great writer. They ask each other who to hire. Small-business owners go to chamber networking events and talk about tradespeople they use. If you’re outstanding, you’ll get mentioned. Presto! New clients without you having to cold-call anybody.

3. Better clients. Your awesome clips are your ticket to the big time. Write a sharp advertorial article for a startup, you could be writing one next for a $1 billion company. As it happens, that exact thing happened to me, so I know it works. I also got my first staff writing job for a trade publication — at a really substantial salary — off $100 article clips I wrote for the L.A. Reader. Every once in a while, I meet a writer whose strong clips on a content site got them a good-paying private client. Even in an environment that has a generally bad rep, outstanding work can take you places. That’s what I love about this career — you can literally write yourself to where you want to go.

4. More free time. As much as I’ve come to love the thrill of the hunt in active marketing, if you’re fully booked with lucrative clients and don’t need to block out time to write queries, call prospects or attend networking events, well…that’s more time you can spend with the family.

My work is out there online, marketing my writing services, every minute of every day. So is yours. What’s it saying about you? If it’s powerhouse stuff, it’ll be your marketing machine. If it’s mediocre, it’ll send a string of loser clients your way. You can shape your career direction just by delivering big on what you’re writing today.

Final note — my online buddy Jenn Mattern of All Freelance Writing is the guru on this passive-marketing lifestyle — if you’re interested in this type of marketing approach, you might want to check out her book, The Query-Free Freelancer.

Photo via Flickr user Intersection Consulting

Hi all –

Today we take a break from our usual straight-up advice here on MALW to throw out a question: What do you want to know about the business of writing?

I ask because my writer-friend David Volk is organizing a Society of Professional Journalists conference in the early fall, and I said I’d help him shape the agenda by asking my readers what they would like to learn about at such an event.

So here’s your chance to penetrate the mysteries of writing success. Leave me a comment and tell me:

If you went to a writing conference, what topic would you most want to see a session about?

What do you find most baffling about the process of earning a good living from writing?

What writing question have I not addressed here on MALW that you’d like me to answer?

Is there something you just don’t get about the business of writing that you’d like explained?

If you were here in my home office right now, what one question would you most want to ask me?

To grease the wheels here a little, I’ll offer a $50 discount on my mentoring service to anyone who participates in the poll. If you’ve been wanting to work with a writing-business coach, now you can get your questions answered on the blog AND get a deal on personalized one-on-one coaching! Which comes with ongoing followup email support, by the way.

The discount is good only until the end of May 2010, for new mentees only. Leave your question, all!

Photo via Flickr user Matt From London

I was asked recently to write about the art of scheduling a vacation as a freelance writer. (Have to apologize that I can’t remember who asked me!) But it’s important to take breaks from the writing grind, especially in this new-media world where so many of us have daily blogging deadlines.

Personally, I’m supposed to post like 7-8 blogs a week for one business Web site client alone!  So I know how hard it can be.

But writers can and should break away — and when I say vacation, I don’t mean the kind where you lug along your laptop and hole up in your hotel room while the rest of your family members swim with dolphins or hit the bike trails. The time spent away from your ordinary writing routine is critically important and can be transformative. For me, it’s my time to think about the big picture — where is my writing career going? Where do I want it to go?

The change in my mindset starts right away. Even as our car is pulling out of the driveway, I’m usually scribbling down new story ideas, thoughts about new markets to query, marketing techniques I haven’t tried…I come back with a whole fresh list of action items. It’s amazing the insights you can have when you’re not locked into your usual deadlines.

Here are my tips for creating a truly refreshing vacation:

1. Plan far in advance. Taking off for a week on no notice isn’t going to work. I rarely plan a vacation less than two months into the future.

2. Start notifying clients early. As soon as you know when you’ll be gone, start prepping your ongoing clients for the reality that they will not be able to contact you for a period of time. As in, “I’m going to be turning this piece in a few days early, as I’ll be gone starting on X date and I want to make sure you have a chance to ask any questions you might have before I go.” Or “This will be the last piece I can do until September, as I’ll be out the last couple weeks of August. I’ll pitch you some ideas before I leave and you can get back to me on them when I return.”

3. Work ahead. Unless you’re writing breaking news that must post the day the news breaks, you can work ahead on all your assignments. I’ve noticed some of my fellow Entrepreneur magazine Daily Dose bloggers writing and pre-scheduling posts up to three months ahead of when their blogs are due!

4. Save money. Unless you are a really good planner, it’s likely the month you vacation in will see an income drop. So on top of the vacation expense, try to sock some money away to cover that loss.

5. Set automatic notifications. Most email programs will allow you to auto-respond to messages to let folks know you won’t be responding right away. Make sure you turn those on and change your voicemail message before you go. I’ll often send a message to all my editors before I go to start them thinking about assigning me when I return, by letting them know when I’ll be back and how much open time I’ve got.

6. Really unplug. When you go on vacation, try your best to stay out of those Internet cafes. If you must, maybe take one hour at some point in the week to just clear out email. But otherwise, don’t just be physically away from your desk — remember to really let it go mentally and enjoy every precious moment of your vacation time.

Photo via Flickr user epSos.de

I have a writer friend I’ve stayed in touch with over many years. We recently met for lunch and caught up on who we’re writing for these days. She’s always struggled to earn as much as she needed to support her family, and our lunch reminded me of why.

She rattled off a list of very interesting prospective projects that seemed to be waiting in the wings. Some were potentially very lucrative.

The problem? I’d heard about many of these same projects months back. She was still in a holding pattern, waiting for them to materialize. In the meanwhile, she hadn’t earned much.

“I’m still waiting to hear,” she told me of many of the projects.

Which reminded me of one of my rules of earning well as a freelance writer: Be a writer, not a waiter.

My mentees bring this home to me as well. Often, they’ll get a nibble from a prospective client or editor…and then…paralysis. Weeks of waiting. And maybe that nibble turns into a client…but often, it doesn’t. Personally, I got four really awesome-sounding emails from four different, new possible copywriting clients late last week. I was kinda stoked! And then Monday came, and none of them got back to me. This happens — it’s just a reality of life as a freelance writer. There’s a lotta flakes out there.

To avoid wasting time on prospects that don’t pan out, here are my rules for coping with prospective projects that aren’t confirmed yet:

Don’t get excited about them.

Don’t “leave room” on your schedule for them.

Don’t stop marketing your business.

Don’t turn down other firm assignments, even if they’re not as good as the nibble.

Don’t expect them to pan out.

In my experience, many businesses that explore copywriting don’t ever end up doing their projects. Editors who make vague noises of interest but never translate that into an actual assignment are also not uncommon. So don’t get your hopes up prematurely, as it can put you into a deadly waiting game that costs you big money. This way, if a new client actually inks a deal with you, it’s an exciting and pleasant surprise — as opposed to the disaster that occurs when you pencil in a chunk of pay and mentally count it as income you expect this month…and then it gets delayed, or never happens.

When you have a signed contract, a confirmed assignment, and/or a deposit check in hand, then put the article or copywriting project on your calendar and consider it a “go.” Until then, remember — writers earn from writing, not from waiting.

Photo via Flickr user batega