Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!
Serving up food for thought and tasty tips for the prospering writer. Come
on in, sit anywhere and bring your appetite!
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VOLUME 5, ISSUE 8 – AUGUST 2006 – NEW BOOK RELEASE!!
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“THE WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER”: NOW AVAILABLE!
Book (hard copy and ebook versions) and phenomenal companion ebook (“The Well-Fed SP Biz-in-a Box”) available ONLY at www.wellfedsp.com (purchase here for no-charge shipping and complimentary ebook bonus!)
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NEW RELEASE! “The BIGGER BANQUET” Ebook: Issues 1-39 of THE Well-Fed EPUB! Just $11.95!! Details: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/thebiggerbanquet.shtml
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FINAL CLOSEOUT!! WELL-FED WRITER SEMINAR (6 CDS) – Just $79.95!!
Includes NO-CHARGE shipping, the BIGGER Banquet ebook, AND your choice of teleseminar CD. Details below and at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/cdseminar.shtml.
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LET’S HAVE A BOOK RELEASE PARTY!
This month’s EPUB is a little different. Since I’m releasing a new book, we’re going to have a virtual “Book Release Party.” You know, those events where people stand around, ooh and aah over the new book (AND buy it, of course), sip their Shiraz, and nibble cheese, crackers, and crudite. So, c’mon in, grab some wine, mingle and “graze” on a bunch of tasty success stories (and a bit of “how-to,” too!).
APPETIZER TABLE
- UK FLCW SNAGS WORK FROM INTERESTING DIRECTIONS
- MI “RETIREE” FLCW BUILDS CONFIDENCE, PORTFOLIO, BANK ACCOUNT
- MEDIA PRO SERVES UP SIX STEPS TO “VALUE-ADDED NETWORKING”
- MI FLCW PRIMES COLD-CALLING PUMP WITH MAILING & HITS PAYDIRT!
- AUSSIE FLCW HURDLES HIS LACK OF SALES/MARKETING BACKGROUND
- CA FLCW SHARES PLUG-IN TO HELP CREATE “NO-BS” COPY
COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- FINAL CLOSEOUT!! The Well-Fed Writer Seminar (6 CDS) – Just $79.95!!
- The BIGGER Banquet Just Released! (EPUB Issues 1-39; JUST $9.95!!)
- Getting Ready To Launch Your Biz? Check Out AWAI’s “Making The Leap”!
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge!)
- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!
- Want Some Well-Fed Business Cards To Spread The Word?
- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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UK FLCW SNAGS WORK FROM INTERESTING DIRECTIONS
Got this from Oxford, England FLCW Wendy Knerr (wendy@thewriteeffect.co.uk, www.thewriteeffect.co.uk) who’s come a long way, in more ways than one, from when we last visited her in “Back For Seconds” (p. 210). Wendy was responding to a few pieces in the most recent EPUBs. Cool stuff.
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Thanks again for the inspiring EPUB. Two things came to
mind. I agree about websites: I've never used mine to get business, only to
make me look established and provide easy access to my portfolio. That said,
last week I sealed a deal to rewrite/edit a UN document after an organization
in Amsterdam found my website. The client was
looking for info on a particular topic, and she found a link to one of my
writing samples on that topic. Then she contacted me. I agree that my website
is not intended to bring in business (and I've never optimized it for that) but
this was a nice surprise!
Also, regarding work "Americanizing" text, I've been doing work
"internationalizing" text: turning very 'British' language into
something less colloquial and more suited to an international or
English-speaking European audience. An interesting niche in a country of
language-lovers, and especially in Oxford!
On a personal note, my husband, Jon, has joined The Write Effect. His marketing
background and impeccable English skills have made us a writing/editing
powerhouse! And we’re flooded with work right now, mostly editing for NGOs
(non-governmental organizations) and UN-affiliated organizations. My NGO
contacts are remarkably easy to work with remotely, and though the work pays
less than regular copywriting, the projects are bigger (20-40 day projects).
We've only just begun working as a team, but we’re already building up our
regular copywriting gigs while continuing to land NGO-related projects. We've
had some very-nicely-paid projects working with some U.S. consumer
product (and household name) companies. Nice work to get!
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MI “RETIREE” FLCW BUILDS CONFIDENCE, PORTFOLIO, BANK ACCOUNT
Got this great note from “retired”
Higgins Lake, Michigan FLCW Nancy Adams (naadams@writemind.net,
www.writemind.net), about cutting the
government job apron strings and working up to financial self-sufficiency. Note
that Nancy started out at 53 with nothing in the way of a portfolio,
and, 18 months later, she’s doing just fine.
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A few years back, I wrote you letting you know that I enjoyed your books, and now, as a compliment to your excellent advice, after a few fits and starts, work is coming in fairly regularly, and I am gaining some awesome experience, as well as “meeting” lots of interesting people (I’m almost 100% Internet-based).
I’ve been freelancing for 18 months, since “retiring” at age 53 from a government job in northern CA that was killing me. In September of 2005, bolstered by a nice bit of equity from our CA home, we moved to northern Michigan (my home state and with a lower cost of living). I started out as a slave to guru.com and elance.com, accepting the low pay for two reasons: 1) I was remotely located, and 2) my fear of in-person marketing. I had no portfolio, so I needed to build one quickly. While my assignments have varied from editing books and scholarly papers to writing articles for print and electronic media, press releases, etc., the majority of my work is writing for the Web.
I continue to use elance and guru, but only when work is slow. Through the projects landed on those sites, I’ve cultivated a small core of regular clients, one of whom is a successful copywriter who’s become a mentor of sorts to me. She started out hiring me to help her with overload, but now refers clients directly to me. With elance and guru, I’m still working for $30-$35 an hour, but for my own clients, I’m getting roughly $75 an hour. I’m not always as busy as I’d like to be (yet), but I have no fear that I’ll ever have to return to “working for the man.” What a great life! Thanks for showing the way.
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MEDIA PRO SERVES UP SIX STEPS TO “VALUE-ADDED NETWORKING”
Got this great primer on networking from friend, fellow writer, author, media pro, and master networker Marisa D’Vari. It’s adapted from her latest book, Building Buzz: How to Reach and Impress Your Target Audience (www.buildingbuzz.com).
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SIX STEPS TO “VALUE-ADDED NETWORKING”
How far would you go to build your business? Most of us might get up at the crack of dawn to attend an early Chamber meeting, but how many women would sell their wedding dress? When Mary Lou Andre first started her wardrobe consulting business, she lacked the most crucial component: an attractive, well-fitting networking suit.
So she sold her wedding dress and bought two suits. At each event, she’d network with two people, give them her full attention, then rush home, add them to her database, send them her newsletter, and stay in touch. Today, Mary Lou Andre is a nationally recognized wardrobe consultant, speaker, and author (www.dressingwell.com). For most of us, keeping the pipeline full means attending events and handing out cards.
But be careful to avoid "drive-by networking" – just passing out cards minus the crucial follow-up contact. Here are some tips to keep in mind at your next event.
1. Prepare your intro (or “verbal tagline”) – something short, pithy, and bursting with color. If there are other copywriters at the event, figure out what sets you apart and highlight it in your intro.
2. Ask in advance if you can bring marketing materials.
The best are reprints of articles about you, which give you automatic
third-party credibility.
3. Keep in contact after the event. Consider investing in a card scan reader.
4. Look beyond physical events to new social networking venues like myspace.com and small business blogs. Let people get to know you. Keep your own blog updated frequently and post on others’ blogs so people in the blogosphere get to know you.
5. If you’re shy in networking situations, realize that you’re not "selling” the people you meet – simply helping them improve the look and perception of their businesses. AND realize that a lot of others are shy, too! Good luck!
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MI FLCW PRIMES COLD-CALLING PUMP WITH MAILING & HITS PAYDIRT!
Here’s a juicy entry from regular EPUB contributor Birmingham, MI FLCW Alan Stamm (astamm@comcast.net) that I got last year.
Inspired by the cold-call encouragement (P.S. It works!) from you and your readers, this WFW is better-fed and much busier lately. After just three issues of the newsletter, I'm supplementing PR agency assignments with direct clients by making at least one marketing contact daily. I developed a one-page summary of services for cold mailings before phone follow-ups, and just landed an annual report project from a social service agency (which had received a mailing) a day after meeting with the president.
Other business has been generated from contacts made through a church PR project and even at social events, including a monthly book club! As others have affirmed, most every business – particularly small and mid-size ones without communication specialists – can benefit from compelling, polished, targeted brochures, web content, marketing kits, cover letters, remarks for public appearances and other materials.
Our challenge is to demonstrate how professional writing can lift a company’s image and support its mission – an easier task than I realized before the EPUB nudged this former newspaper editor to do more outreach. As my account files increase, so have my fees. So add another name to the list of True Believers in the power of self-promotion.
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AUSSIE FLCW HURDLES HIS LACK OF SALES/MARKETING BACKGROUND
Attention: All of you who think your lack of a sales/marketing background is fatal to your prospects for success. From relatively new UK FLCW (Kimpton, in Hertfordshire) Doug Jenner (doug@bestwords.co.uk, www.bestwords.co.uk), comes this great note. Doug, who went from teacher to PT journo to copywriter, is originally from Australia but moved to UK (in his words: “English wife; love/sacrifice, etc.”). All together: Awwwwwwwww.
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You may recall that after reading TWFW, I wrote to you with some concerns about my lack of a sales and marketing background. Your encouragement back then got me through the difficult weeks when a writing gig seemed as elusive as the Holy Grail.
My career is now well on the way. Since early May, I have written five brochures, three sales letters, several websites, and a speech. And the work is still coming in. You and your books got me feeling that I could crack this copywriting business. I’m still learning (currently reading Bob Bly’s “The Copywriter’s Handbook”) and I’m heading in a general direction – and excited by the fact that I don’t have a specific destination in mind! Thanks again, mate. As we say in Australia, “your blood’s worth bottling!”
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CA FLCW SHARES PLUG-IN TO HELP CREATE “NO-BS” COPY
A fun tip to ensure that your copy avoids the corporate jargon trap comes from CA FLCW Chris Williams (Chris@blue-ferret.com, www.blue-ferret.com). Enjoy!
I found a small tool called Bullfighter: http://www.fightthebull.com/bullfighter.asp. It’s a no-charge plugin for Word (Windows only) that detects and reports “corporate bull” in your document. And it’s ruthless. Don't use if your feelings bruise easily. There are two parts: a quick once-over for picking out BS terms (Bullfighter), and an indexer (Bull Index) that makes an overall report using an ease-of-reading score. Make Bullfighter the first editing step, and it’ll help tighten up your work. Cut out that bull!
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COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- FINAL CLOSEOUT!! The Well-Fed Writer Seminar (6 CDS) – Just $79.95!!
- The BIGGER Banquet Just Released! (EPUB Issues 1-39; JUST $9.95!!)
- Getting Ready To Launch Your Biz? Check Out AWAI’s “Making The Leap”!
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge)!
- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!
- Want Some Well-Fed Business Cards To Spread The Word?
- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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FINAL CLOSEOUT!! WELL-FED WRITER SEMINAR (6 CDS) – Just $79.95!!
Check this out: For just $79.95, you get the WFW Seminar on 6CDs (with 40-page Course Materials guide), shipping’s on me, and I’ll throw in a copy of the BIGGER Banquet ebook (http://www.wellfedwriter.com/thebiggerbanquet.shtml), AND your choice of teleseminar CD. I have just a few sets left, and they won’t last. Details at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/cdseminar.shtml.
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“THE BIGGER Banquet” EBOOK JUST RELEASED, and For Only $9.95!
Fallen behind on EPUB reading? New to the field and want to read tons of success stories from those doing it? Here’s the latest in the series, the BIGGER BANQUET: EPUB Issues 1-39 (5/02 – 7/05); http://www.wellfedwriter.com/thebiggerbanquet.shtml
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GETTING READY TO LAUNCH YOUR BIZ? CHECK OUT “MAKING THE LEAP”!
AWAI just launched a new ebook, “Making the Leap,” geared to the writer launching a freelance copywriting biz. Regularly $79, promo price $59. Order through this link (http://www.awaionline.com/leaptofreelance), send me your confirmation, I’ll send you one of my teleseminar CDs (choose at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/teleseminar.shtml).
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AWAI COPYWRITING (& OTHER) COURSES: Register Here, Get 2 Extra Bonuses!
Six-Figure Copywriting, Graphic Design, Internet Writing, Fundraising, Health Market and more! TWO Bonus CDS: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/awai.shtml
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WELL-FED E-PUB Needs ALL COURSES!
“GREENS” (200-300 words), MAIN COURSES (400-500; query first), TIPS (150-200) and SUCCESS STORIES (200-300) to peter@wellfedwriter.com.
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HOW CAN MY MENTORING SERVICE SERVE YOU?
For details and testimonials, visit www.wellfedwriter.com/Mentoring.shtml.
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NEW Subscribe/Unsubscribe feature. To Subscribe (YAY!), Unsubscribe (boo!) and/or update your address for the E-PUB, visit: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml.
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BIG THANKS!
THANKS again to Susan Cochran in Atlanta for her great editing/proofing prowess on the E-Pub. Need a good editor/proofreader? susan_cochran@mindspring.com, www.cochrancompany.com.