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 12, ISSUE 8
– AUGUST 2013
Publishing the first
Tuesday of every month since May 2002
Read it online at: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/aug2013.html
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ATTN: OREGON AND
CALIFORNIA FREELANCERS & PUBLISHERS!
I've got four events in
the next 10 days, including one TODAY
(Tuesday, 8/6) in
Portland, OR, and three more in the Bay Area
starting this Saturday.
Details: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/seminars.shtml
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2014 UPDATED EDITION OF
ÒTHE WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHERÓ NOW AVAILABLE!
Check out all the book
AND ebook (multiple formats!) products/bundles!
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WANT TO BUY TWFW OR
TWFSP IN BULK (AND SAVE BIG)?
Have a writerÕs group,
class or workshop? Buy at a discount, add a
profit center to your
group! Buy more, save more. Details:
http://www.wellfedwriter.com/bulk.shtml
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PARTNER WITH DESIGNERS
FOR A LOW-EFFORT FLOW OF WRITING JOBS!
Details here: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/partnerwithdesignersebook.shtml.
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NEW 1-ON-1 COACHING
PROGRAMS: SAMPLE/SITE REVIEW & ÒSIDECARÓ!
Low-cost peace of mind
and guidance: http://wellfedwriter.com/mentoring.shtml.
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Check out The WELL-FED
WRITER BLOG! Weigh in on ÒWhy ArenÕt You B2B
Writers Doing More of
these Lucrative Projects?Ó; ÒInstead of Just
Sharing What You Do with
Clients, Share Who You AreÓ; ÒWhat You Do
When You Do What You
DoÓ; & more! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog.
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THIS MONTHÕS MENU:
I. APPETIZER: THE FLCW
SECRET—WORKING SMARTER AND HARDER
This Issue Showcases the
Difference Between Serious Writers and Hobbyists
II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: TALK
LESS, LISTEN MORE, AND KEEP GOING!
IL FLCW Revisits Writing
Dream, Fine-Tunes Approach, Builds Biz!
III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE:
GETTING YOUR FILL OF WRITING REFERRALS?
WI FLCW Serves Up
ÒHow-toÓ Blueprint for Landing More Work From Your Network!
IV. DESSERT: Sweet
Success Stories and Tips
Newbie TN FLCW Lands
Big-Name Gigs (like CapÕn Crunch!) with High-Quality List!
TIP:
Freelancer-Friendly, Low/No-Cost, Online Time-Tracking Tool from Australia!
V. COFFEE, MINTS AND
TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS
EFFORT? New Ebook Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- GOT ANY SUCCESS
STORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
- 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: THE FLCW
SECRET—WORKING SMARTER AND HARDER
This Issue Showcases the
Difference Between Serious Writers and Hobbyists
As I was noodling over
what my Appetizer message would be this month,
it hit me: the stories
in this issue are a testament to what it takes
to make more money as a
writer. And why we commercial writers do
better than the typical
Òstarving writerÓ out there ÒwhinderingÓ (thatÕs
whining and wondering)
how one can possibly make a living at $5 an
article (hint: you
canÕt).
As the following stories
show, making a good living as a writer
demands we go way beyond
just bidding on some project on an online job
board (along with dozen
of other desperados, ensuring rock-bottom
rates). In one story
(next up), it means thinking and strategizing the
best way to leverage a
previous background, making a plan, working
that plan, correcting
course when it doesnÕt work, and not stopping until it does.
ItÕs about (in our
feature) about getting more creative about how you
pull more business out of
your network of prospects, clients and
creative partners. That
takes planning, execution and follow-through,
not a
ÒletÕs-hope-for-the-bestÓ attitude. In our Dessert course, itÕs
about (in our success
story) going against conventional wisdom, taking
massive action, and
again, fine-tuning to work smarter and make even
more money.
Even our tip is about
being a serious enough businessperson to seek
out the tools to help
you maximize the income from your existing
workload. Each one of
these showcases people treating writing as a
serious business. Not as
just a semi-serious hobby that should pay
them a great living
simply because theyÕre doing what they love. The
world doesnÕt work that
way, and these warriors of ours know it. LetÕs eat!
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II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: TALK
LESS, LISTEN MORE, AND KEEP GOING!
IL FLCW Revisits Writing
Dream, Fine-Tunes Approach, Builds Biz!
Got this inspiring story
from Darien, IL FLCW Kim Schure
(http://www.write-world.com), about a
dream pursued, abandoned,
rejuvenated, and finally
fine-tuned for success. Lots of good lessons
here, especially about
leveraging past career experience; about
talking less and listening
more (hint: the old proverb about two ears,
one mouth, etc.); and
most importantly, about sticking to it, when
things seem grim. Good
for you, Kim!
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I always wanted to be a
writer. Soon after college, I worked for a
small newspaper, though
far from working on any of the interesting
breaking stories, I
spent most of the time writing obituaries. After
seven years there, I
told myself it was time to grow up and get a real
job to pay the bills.
I buried my writing
dreams and went back to school to become an X-ray
technologist. After all,
we all know the healthcare industry is
Òrecession proof,Ó
right? Wrong. When I graduated, there were hardly
any jobs. All I could
get was a registry position at a hospital, which
gave me maybe four days
of work a month.
I was pretty depressed,
but then my dream of a writing career
resurfaced, as I
searched for ways I could write for a living. I even
wrote for content mills
for a few months before I discovered
copywriting. It then hit
me: I could use my knowledge as an X-ray tech
to break into a very
specialized copywriting market.
I attended the
Radiological Society of North AmericaÕs big conference
in Chicago—a huge
trade show for radiology equipment and
manufacturing. My first
few pitches were an absolute disaster. I
mostly talked about
myself and showed my portfolio to uninterested
vendors. Then I changed
my approach. I listened to the vendors, asked
about their products and
whom they were marketing to. I also looked at
their brochures and
asked them if they were interested in improving on the content.
I ended up landing my
first few clients from that show and gained many
useful contacts. The
most important thing to remember is not to give
up too early when
starting out. It can be very discouraging at first,
but hang in there! I
must have heard at least 200 ÒnoÕsÓ before I
received my first Òyes.Ó
Now after six months, IÕm getting steady work
as a healthcare
copywriter. My writing career is no longer a dream.
ItÕs a reality!
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III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE:
GETTING YOUR FILL OF WRITING REFERRALS?
WI FLCW Serves Up
ÒHow-toÓ Blueprint for Landing More Work From Your Network!
An exceptionally useful
piece on the how-to of generating writing
referrals from
Forestville (near Green Bay), WI FLCW and author Roy
Rasmussen (http://businesscommunicationtrainingacademy.com).
Roy has
two decades of
freelancing experience, with 600+ articles and four
books to his credit,
including ÒPublishing for PublicityÓ and ÒCloud
Computing Simplified for
Small Businesses.Ó He is currently writing two
books on sales and
business management. Thanks Roy—great stuff!
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Referrals are one of the
surest sources of business for any
freelancer, but
surprisingly few writers have a systematic
referral-generation
strategy. Most wait for referrals to fall into
their lap. While it may
work, when it doesn't, you can end up
scrambling. Avoid the
anxiety by following these simple steps to
implement a
referral-generation system:
1. Cultivate a
referral-generating mentality. Many people don't ask
for referrals because
they subconsciously feel guilty asking others
for favors. Instead,
start thinking of referrals as a way to deliver
value to people who
would benefit from your services.
2. Define your ideal
referral. You'll have more luck finding referrals
if you know what you're
looking for. Define your ideal referral by
narrowing down their
demographic characteristics, their business
needs, what type of
writing services they need, and their income
(revenue) level (make
sure itÕs a match for your services).
3. Partner with ideal
referral partners. Define your ideal referral
partner. WhoÕs already
in contact with people who fit your ideal
referral profile? Peter
has an excellent program for partnering with
graphic designers, which
is one way to implement this strategy.
Expand on this by
identifying other ideal referral partners. For
example, I've gotten referrals
from educational professionals, health
care professionals,
publishers, blog administrators, IT professionals,
accountants, social
media consultants, and sales trainers. Given your
niche, whoÕd be ideal
referral partners for you?
4. Build a referral
database. Creating a contact list of prospective
referral sources and
contacts will help you focus your referral
generation efforts on
the right targets. It will also help you manage
your activities for
greater efficiency and productivity.
5. Create a referral
incentive. What do people get out of referring
others to you? Can you
offer a tangible incentive, such as a discount,
a commission, or
cross-promotional support? If not, maybe an
intangible
perk—perhaps the positive feeling theyÕd get from helping
you or their friends
whoÕd benefit from your services?
6. Write referral
scripts. Asking for a referral is the same as
extending any other type
of sales offer, and the same copywriting
principles apply. Create
referral scripts you can deliver via
face-to-face networking,
phone calls, email and mail.
7. Set referral goals.
How many referrals does it take you to get a
client? Make an estimate
and use this as a basis for determining how
many referral prospects
you should strive to connect with on a weekly basis.
8. Take action and track
results. Start deploying your referral
scripts on the schedule
you have set as your goal, and track the
results. Start small by
asking your current network for referrals,
giving you something to
build on. As you gain confidence and refine
your tactics, branch out
and start prospecting for referrals from
other sources.
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IV. DESSERT: Sweet
Success Stories and Tips
Newbie TN FLCW Lands
Big-Name Gigs (like CapÕn Crunch!) with High-Quality List!
TIP:
Freelancer-Friendly, Low/No-Cost, Online Time-Tracking Tool from Australia!
More inspirational
successes, this one from Memphis, TN FLCW Andrea
Price (http://www.compasswriting.com), a
relative newcomer (two years
in) to copywriting. And
she built her biz using that allegedly
outdated gizmo called
ÒThe Phone.Ó Just sayinÕÉ (in case youÕve bought
into the silly claims
that ÒCold-calling is dead!Ó Tell that to herÉ).
But, take special note
of how she (like Kim earlier) analyzed her
results and fine-tuned
her approach for even more success. After that,
a great (and possibly
free—read on) time-tracking tool from Down Under
brought to us by Aussie
FLCW Sarah Mitchell (http://www.globalcopywriting.com).
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As a relatively new FLCW
(full-time for just two years), IÕve managed
to land gigs with some
pretty big names—3M, Tropicana, Case IH,
Quaker, and CVS
Pharmacies, to name a few. My main marketing method is
cold calling (IÕm
approaching my 3000th call!)
I collect email
addresses and keep in touch with prospects regularly.
Sooner or later, my
phone rings and itÕs somebody who needs, say, a
presentation written
thatÕll be given at every McDonaldÕs across the
country. My prospecting
lists—which I get from the library—contain
info like industry,
revenue, credit rating, etc. My first lists
contained designers and
ad agencies chosen solely based on geography.
After making several
hundred calls, I took a look at my results. It
turned out that the
people who indicated a need for my services had
some things in common:
they made more than $500,000 in revenue and had
an excellent credit
rating. From then on, I only pulled prospects who
met these simple
criteria. The result was a list of high-quality
designers and ad
agencies who also happen to attract big clients.
I land plenty of less
glamorous work, too. And I make far fewer calls
because I don't waste
time on prospects who won't need me or can't pay
me. I've already brought
in more work in the first half of this year
than I did all last
year.
P.S. The Cap'n Crunch
box I worked on should be in stores any day now.
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My resolution for 2013
was to improve the admin side of my freelance
copywriting business. I
knew that meant sacrificing writing time but
was certain I was
undercutting my own invoices by not keeping accurate
records. A friend told
me about 88 Miles, (http://www.88miles.net/for-copywriters),
an online time tracking website
developed in Australia.
IÕve used different time
tracking tools over the years with varying
success. 88 Miles got my
attention and kept it. Like the rest of them,
itÕs easy to use. It
also has terrific reporting features allowing you
to slice and dice
reports according to projects, tags, and date
ranges. It can track
projects against a budget so you know immediately
when youÕve gone over.
You can get ÔsnapshotÕ reports displayed on
your screen. The
technology is rock solid and always available.
IÕm actually spending
less time on admin than before I started using
88 Miles. ItÕs
incredibly affordable at only $5 per month and thatÕs
for the complete
product. You donÕt get continually nagged to upgrade
to a better version.
AND, if you log 40 hours a month or less, itÕs
free of charge. As
suspected, I wasnÕt billing my clients enough but
now I am. Meaning that
the program not only isn't costing me anything;
it's actually making me
money!
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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND
TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS
EFFORT? New Ebook Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- GOT ANY SUCCESS
STORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
- 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?
****************************************
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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GOT ANY SUCCESS STORIES
YOUÕD LIKE TO SHARE?
While my call for
submissions netted a TON of stuff a few months back,
IÕm still a bit lean on
success stories. Whether starting out or
experienced, if you
recently had a noteworthy success (i.e., landed a
new client—perhaps
in an unusual way—a new gig, new work from an old
client, or anything else
that has a good lesson for your fellow
FLCWÕs), send it on to peter@wellfedwriter.com. 100-300
words is great.
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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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