Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!
The companion monthly ezine to the
quadruple-award-winning how-to guide, ÒThe Well-Fed WriterÓ (http://www.wellfedwriter.com). Serving up food for thought and tasty tips for the
prospering FLCW*. Come on in, sit anywhere and bring your appetite!
*FLCW, peppered throughout the ezine, stands
for ÒFreelance Commercial WriterÓ – anyone who freelances
for businesses (vs. writing magazine articles, short stories, poetry, etc.),
typically earns $50-125+ an hour, and is the sole focus of this
e-newsletter.
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VOLUME 11, ISSUE 8 – AUGUST 2012
Publishing the first Tuesday of every month since
May 2002
Read it Online at: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/aug2012.html
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PARTNER WITH DESIGNERS FOR A LOW-EFFORT FLOW OF
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ÒTHE WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER BLOGÓ IS NOW LIVE!!
Long overdue, but finally up and running. To weigh
on the welcome post and subscribe, visit http://www.wellfedsp.com/blog
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MISSED THE COLD-CALLING TELESEMINAR WITH WENDY
WEISS?
Mp3 + 38-pg. transcript - $25! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/coldcallingteleseminar.shtml
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Check out The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG! Weigh in on ÒStriking a Balance
Between a Serious Writing Business and a Generous Spirit?Ó;
ÒAre Long-Term, On-Site Gigs (Even in Hawaii!) Worth It?Ó and more! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog.
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I NEED YOUR SHORT (100-200 words) SUCCESS STORIES for the E-PUB!
Landed a great client? Had a successful marketing campaign? Done
something else that boosted your FLCW income? Send them to peter@wellfedwriter.com.
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THIS MONTHÕS MENU:
I.
APPETIZER: ATTENTION EX-JOURNOS TRANSITIONING TO FLCWÕing
Former
Journo Says Commercial Work is ÒCleanerÓ than Journalism!
II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: SKIPPED THIS MONTH DUE TO OVERSIZE MAIN COURSE!
III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: THE ABCÕs OF EMAIL PROSPECTING
Toronto FLCW/Copywriting Guru Compares Both Good and Bad Examples!
IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and
Tips
FLCW Far Exceeds Mid-Year Goal – Sets His Income Sights Even
Higher!
TIP:
Chicago FLCW Serves Up the How-To on the ÒDouble-MonitorÓ Strategy!
V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New
Ebook Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other)
Courses: Register Here, Get Bonus CD!
- How Can My Mentoring Service
Serve You?
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I.
APPETIZER: ATTENTION EX-JOURNOS TRANSITIONING TO FLCWÕing
Former
Journo Says Commercial Work is ÒCleanerÓ than Journalism!
Got a cool
note from a FLCW recently, who wrote:
ÒPeter: Loved
your book. As a former journalist, you helped me sever from that preconceived
notion of Ôdirty writingÕ in the commercial world. Come to think of it, writing
about murder, prostitutes and other newspaper-related material is pretty dirty
work, and, in the end, those stories are written to sell the newspaper. In
reality, freelance commercial work is a whole lot cleaner.Ó
Well.
THATÕS a refreshing change of pace. Usually, IÕm dealing with current or
ex-journalists who just canÕt shake the notion of the ÒsubjectiveÓ nature of commercial
writing (i.e., in many cases, youÕre Òwriting to sellÓ and companyÕs
product/service, or, at the very least, painting it in the best possible
light). Versus its – ahem – purer, more
high-born, and certainly more objective cousin: journalism.
Okay, so thatÕs
a bit snarky, but in this polarized day and age of ours, the phrase Òobjective
journalismÓ is rapidly approaching the level of oxymoron. And as our friend
above notes, journalism is selling something as well – the newspaper
itself.
For those
hailing from the Fourth Estate who still struggle with this, who still believe
that being a FLCW is tantamount to going over to the dark side, consider this:
Writing effective marketing copy (whether a brochure, ad, direct mail piece,
white paper or case study, for startersÉ) is nothing more than helping to put
your clientÕs best foot forward.
ItÕs about
figuring out what makes their product or service special, and crafting
materials that reflect those conclusions. ItÕs not about lying, stretching the
truth, wildly embellishing or any other similar nefarious tinkering.
In 19+
years of doing this, IÕve never been asked to write something untrue or grossly
exaggerated. To be sure, IÕm not encouraged (in the interest of objectivity) to
include all the downsides of the product or service, but hey, newsflash (as
noted in my book): marketing copywriting isnÕt journalism; itÕs not supposed to
objective. Precious few things are objective these days, but what we do never
claims to be.
I choose to
see what we do as a pretty worthwhile (and arguably, noble) endeavor: helping
decent and legitimate businesses – both established and struggling to be
so – powerfully articulate what makes them special in the marketplace.
LetÕs eat!
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II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: SKIPPED THIS MONTH DUE TO OVERSIZE MAIN COURSE!
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III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: THE ABCÕs OF EMAIL PROSPECTING
Toronto FLCW/Copywriting Guru Compares Both Good and Bad Examples!
Got this
great piece from Canadian FLCW and copywriting guru Steve Slaunwhite
(http://www.forcopywritersonly.com/) about crafting an effective email
pitch to a prospect. While itÕs not hard to get this wrong, itÕs easy to get it
right as well. Enjoy!
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I received
an email a few weeks ago from a representative of a PR consulting firm. He was
obviously trying to solicit my business. But instead of sending me a ÒrealÓ
email message, he instead cut and pasted this awful, ÒsalesyÓ
form letter that he has probably used a hundred times before.
It began
with ÒDear sir,Ó because he didnÕt know my name. It made some vague reference
to having visited my website, although it was doubtful that he did.
His email
then proceeded to pitch me on scheduling a free consulting session with his
firm, which I had better book right away because ÒThere are only a few spots
available.Ó I felt spammed. And, in fact, I was.
The only
reason why I didnÕt push the delete button is that I wanted to keep his
prospecting email as an example of what NOT to do!
Now, in
fairness to him, his firm may very well provide an excellent service. Maybe I
should be speaking to him. But his email did nothing to convince me of that.
So how do
you write an EFFECTIVE prospecting email? One that actually
makes a good impression and really works?
This is a
case where showing you is better than instructing you. HereÕs an example of a
prospecting email that, in my opinion, is well done.
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Subject line: Getting your case studies done
Hi Mark, IÕve been meaning to contact you.
Because I do so much work with companies in the enterprise software
industry, IÕve come across your companyÕs website on several occasions. And,
recently, I noticed that youÕve begun to use case studies in your marcom mix.
Do you find it time-consuming to develop this type of collateral?
I ask because I create case studies for clients like Hewlett-Packard
and Sage. On average, I save them 10-15 hours per project - compared to doing
the work themselves, in-house.
IÕm not sure if saving time, in regards to case studies, is an issue
for you. But if it is, IÕd be happy to send you an example of a recent case
study I wrote, along with a general idea of my turnaround times and pricing.
Just let me know and IÕll email you that information right away.
All the best,
Robin Chadha
Copywriter & Consultant
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Now, this
prospecting email is far from perfect. There are all kinds of ways it can be
improved. But it works. Why?
1) ITÕS NOT
A TEMPLATE. Robin composed this message specifically for the prospect she was
targeting. She thought about how best to introduce herself to this person, and
then wrote the email accordingly.
2) ROBIN
OBVIOUSLY TOOK THE TIME TO LEARN A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE PROSPECTÕS COMPANY. She
discovered that theyÕre using case studies more often and, since they only have
one marketing manager (Mark), she speculated that the time required to develop
case studies was becoming an issue.
3) SHE
ESTABLISHED A CONNECTION. Everyone is suspicious of an email from a complete
stranger. So Robin reminded the prospect that sheÕs done work for several other
clients in his industry. That makes her part of his industry. A colleague.
4) SHE
DIDNÕT TRY TO LAND A PROJECT, OR EVEN A MEETING, WITH THIS FIRST INTRODUCTION. She simply offered to email more
information on her services, turnaround times, and pricing. If I were a
marketing manager that needed some case studies done, I wouldnÕt hesitate to
take Robin up on her offer.
So if you
want to reach out to a new prospect, donÕt email a Òcut-and-pasteÓ form letter
-- no matter how well written it may be. Instead, send a personalized email
that focuses on introducing yourself and building the relationship. It may take
you a while to craft such an email, but youÕll get a much better result if you
do.
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Steve SlaunwhiteÕs new program for freelancers, ÒPRACTICALLY
PAINLESS PROSPECTING,Ó is getting raves in the industry. It teaches you how to
Òwarm callÓ using email, phone and social media, and in a way that's easy and
effective. You get instructions, scripts, tracking sheets, everything you need.
To learn more, visit http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4791620
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IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and
Tips
FLCW Far Exceeds Mid-Year Goal – Sets His Income Sights Even
Higher!
TIP: Chicago
FLCW Serves Up the How-To on the ÒDouble-MonitorÓ Strategy!
Got this
upbeat update from a FLCW whoÕd like to be anonymous (to avoid appearing to
brag!). Exciting stuff. After that, a cool tip about the power of using two
monitors!
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Peter: My
biz is booming. I'd set a pretty ambitious income goal for the year, and well
exceeded the halfway point of that target in the first six months, so I have a
new goal for the year! I continue to get a steady stream of good leads from the
SEO work done on my site. And one of my best clients is passing my name around
internally and I'm getting great work from various departments (kind of like
the woman in Denmark you discussed in the July issue). My biggest problem right
now is trying to get everything done before vacation next week!
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A great tip
from Chicagoland FLCW Beth Carter (http://freelancewritingsolutions.com), Beth@FreelanceWritingSolutions.com), which first appeared as a comment
on a recent blog post gathering FLCWsÕ best tips for writing ergonomics,
aesthetics and functionality. For the full discussion, plus a bunch of other
really cool workspace concepts, visit:
Beth had
offered up an explanation for why she loved using two monitors:
To PeterÕs
question, I use this primarily for having multiple screens open while working
on a project, rather than switching between projects. Specifically, I use the
two screens a TON when IÕm editing. A client might email me feedback on a first
draft, and I can open the email in one screen and open the document in the
second, making it very easy to make the edits without having to print out the
comments and then make the edits or having to toggle back and forth between the
comments and the document.
ItÕs also
incredibly helpful if IÕm doing research while IÕm writing. I can have a
document AND a web browser open and visible at the same time. Or I can open and
view two Word documents simultaneously, etc., etc. This setup might not sound
terribly revolutionary, but it consistently shaves a few minutes here and there
off the time I need to complete a task, and by the end of the day, those
minutes all add up.
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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New
Ebook Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other)
Courses: Register Here, Get Bonus CD!
- How Can My Mentoring Service
Serve You?
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MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New Ebook Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
ThatÕs not hype. ItÕs how my business has worked for the
better part of 18 years, thanks to some juicy partnerships with graphic
designers. The result? 1-2 jobs virtually every month with little or no effort
on my part. And I put all the how-to details down on paper. Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/partnerwithdesignersebook.shtml.
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IÕM
SERIOUSLY LOW ON ALL WELL-FED E-PUB COURSES!
Got a great strategy,
approach or specific expertise youÕre willing to share? Turn it into a Feature
(MAIN COURSE) for the EPUB (500-600 words; query first). ALSO, send your ÒGREENSÓ
(200-300 words), TIPS (150-200) and SUCCESS STORIES (100-300) to peter@wellfedwriter.com. Archived issues at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml.
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The
WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
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AWAI COPYWRITING (& OTHER) COURSES: Register Here, Get Your Choice of Bonus CD Program! Six-Figure
Copywriting, Graphic Design, Internet Writing, Fundraising, Health Market and
more! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/awai.shtml.
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HOW CAN MY MULTIPLE MENTORING PROGRAMS SERVE YOU?
For details and testimonials, visit http://www.wellfedwriter.com/mentoring.shtml.
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