Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!
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 "Freelance Commercial
Writer" – the designation for anyone who freelances for businesses
(as opposed to writing magazine articles, short stories, poetry, etc.), and
typically earns $50-125+ an hour.
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VOLUME 9,
ISSUE 1 – JANUARY 2010 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Publishing
the first Tuesday of every month since May 2002
Read it
Online at: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/jan2010.html
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"THE
WELL-FED WRITER," 2009 EDITION – NOW AVAILABLE!
FR.EE
e-Bonus & U.S. Shipping. http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ordertwfw.shtml.
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GROUP
COACHING FEBRUARY PROGRAM NOW FILLING!
Next session
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I NEED YOUR
GREAT STORIES FOR THE EPUB! I'm seriously low on ALL courses and would love to
get your success stories, strategies, tips and features. See
"Coffee."
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ONE SALES
LETTER, 77 RECIPIENTS, $80K IN NEW COPYWRITING BUSINESS??
All the
details: http://savagemarketing.com/64000/cmd.php?af=761186
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Check out
The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
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THIS
MONTH'S MENU:
APPETIZER:
ÒFREELANCE WRITINGÓ DOES NOT = ÒCOMMERCIAL WRITINGÓ
Email From
Reader Underscores the BIG Difference Between the Two Fields
II.
"FIELD" GREENS: THE $15,000 BLOG POST!
VA FLCW
Writes Article on Her Blog, Prospect Finds it, Hires Her for $15K Job!
III.
MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: REFLECTIONS ON COLD CALLING!
Subject
Sampler About this Oft-Misunderstood, Yet Reliably Effective Strategy
IV. DESSERT:
Sweet Success Stories and Tips
Part-Time
CO FLCW Starts Cold-Calling Campaign, Lands Project After 15 Calls!
TIP: THE
Ideal Music to Be Productive By – Get Into the ÒGrooveraÓ
V. COFFEE,
MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- THE
WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- GROUP
COACHING! Now Filling Slots for Its January Program: 4 Left!
- The
WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is Rockin'! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- MISSED MY
TELECLASS? Full 38-PAGE e-Transcript – Just $12!
- AWAI
Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge!)
- How Can
My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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APPETIZER:
ÒFREELANCE WRITINGÓ DOES NOT = ÒCOMMERCIAL WRITINGÓ
Email from
Reader Underscores BIG Difference Between the Two Fields
Ever since
releasing the original ÒWell-Fed WriterÓ in 2000, IÕve fought an ongoing battle
to differentiate between general Òfreelance writingÓ (especially as the term is
applied to writing Òonline contentÓ) and Òfreelance commercial writingÓ (what
we do). People read my book (or worse, just read about my book) and assume what
weÕre doing is just another arena of Òfreelance writing.Ó In a strict technical
sense, I suppose, theyÕre correct, but the similarity ends there.
TheyÕll
share some horror story from the online-content ÒcellarÓ of the freelance
writing world, like articles for $30, $20, $10 or even $5, and ask me about it
as if itÕs some aspect of our field – as if they have anything to do with
each other. They donÕt – beyond the fact that writing is involved in
both. Got such a sad tale recently:
ÒIÕm trying
to determine whether the following gig is worth it. HereÕs the description:
ÔYou would write 8-12 articles a month for $30 per article, each consisting of
one accident description (300 word) and one safety lesson (150 words). We
expect you to enhance every accident description with at least one image and an
external link which leads the reader to additional information about the
topic.Õ
Ò$30 seems
pretty paltry, but the word count is so low, I think I could pound these out
quickly. Is this a waste? Would they count as clips?Ó My reply?
As an
ongoing gig, itÕs beyond paltry, itÕs pathetic. And I suspect it would take
more time than you think. But as a way to start building a portfolio, it could
be worse (like no pay), and if it serves that purpose, fine. Though, in
our field, you need to show more skill that just writing some articles that any
number of thousands of others could have written.
But hereÕs
the key: that kind of work isnÕt part of our field. ItÕs a whole other world.
One where zillions of writers with interchangeable skills and little respect
for those skills fight over the scraps. You wonÕt make much money in this
business until you forget the online sites and online-content mills and follow
the strategy outlined in TWFW.
But thereÕs
something else: No one has trouble understanding why someone flipping burgers
earns $7 an hour while a skilled chef might make five to 100 times that much.
Plenty of people can flip a burger. But becoming a true craftsman at ANY
in-demand skill pays more because fewer people have that skill. But, the common
denominator of ÒwritingÓ in our arena and the above fools people into thinking
theyÕre the same.
If that
sounds elitist, T.S. ItÕs the truth. WhatÕs the point of all this? That this
field pays well because itÕs not easy (like anything else that pays well). It
demands far more skill, creative range, persistence, smarts, and resiliency
than the other. So, if youÕre succeeding at it (or getting close), my hatÕs off
to you. You should be proud of yourself. And, if the economy has rocked you
back on your heels, remember how hard you worked to get here in the first
place. You did it once; you can do it again.
If youÕre
spinning your wheels in the sad, sorry-paying world of our friend above, know
that thereÕs something more. But donÕt expect it to be as easy. How could it be
when it pays so much more? LetÕs eat!
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II.
"FIELD" GREENS: THE $15,000 BLOG POST!
VA FLCW
Posts Article on Her Blog, Prospect Finds it, Hires Her for $15K Job!
Got the
following great story from Ashburn, VA FLCW Kim Cornwall Malseed
(kcornwall@marcomink.com, www.marcomink.com), about how one unassuming blog
post attracted, via Google, a prospect with a mighty big job. Kim makes a great
point about the importance of showcasing our expertise in searchable ways.
Enjoy.
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Peter: An
entrepreneur starting a new company in my niche (B2B technology) just hired me
as a part-time marketing consultant, working 25/hours week for 8 weeks, for a
total of $15,000. The cost of acquiring this client? One blog post.
Two days
after publishing an in-depth article on my company blog (integrated into my
site), my client found the post when searching Google. He loved it and my
writing style, and submitted an inquiry via the site. After speaking to him,
sending a detailed proposal and having him speak with two client references, he
signed my statement-of-work agreement and I had a check for the first two weeks
of work on its way within four days.
Call it
inbound marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, itÕs all the same
to me: MONEY IN THE BANK.
I highly
recommend that FLCWÕs publish their knowledge and useful information for their target
audience via a blog, online article distribution, or similar platform. Not only
does it make it easy for prospective clients to find you online, but you begin
to gain their trust and build credibility before they even contact you, which
makes it a lot easier to convince them to hire you. Best of all, as writers
itÕs actually fun for us to do!
IÕm a huge
fan of The Well-Fed Writer book series, your e-newsletter and blog. So much
helpful information and inspiration when I started my biz three years ago and
it continues to be a favorite read. Thanks for all of the practical, useful
information!
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III.
MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: REFLECTIONS ON COLD CALLING!
Subject
Sampler About this Oft-Misunderstood, Yet Reliably Effective Strategy
The
subject of cold-calling has been popping up on my radar quite a bit lately, and
as we start a new year, I wanted to give this feared and loathed strategy a bit
of air time. Hate it all you like, but the fact is, it works. With a tighter
economy thatÕs making us all work harder, thereÕs something appealing about a
tactic, which, if done in enough volume, will deliver results every time. As
such, itÕd be wise to shake your fear of it.
Last
month, I ran a cool piece from Stacy Ranta about an interesting way to overcome
your fear of cold-calling (http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/nov2009.html
for archived issue). In the wake of that, got this follow-up comment from MD
FLCW Wendy Meyeroff (wendy@wmmedcomm.com, www.wmmedcomm.com):
Peter:
Loved the story by the lady terrified of cold calling. I've always had the same
problem, even after being tutored by Wendy Weiss, author of Cold Calling for
Women.
The fear
wouldn't go away, especially in this economy with so many clients cutting back.
One day, I was discussing this with a friend of mine – someone I greatly
respect, and who was a big success in a number of businesses – and he
said something that broke through the fear, and it's even easier than the
method Stacy offers:
I simply
posted this sentence in front of me: "All they can do is say
no".
Obvious,
right? But how many of us get our stomachs knotted up over a ÒfailedÓ
call? Yet, what's the worst that can happen? Get a voicemail and you've broken
even. Get a ÒSure, send something," and you're ahead. Get a
"No"? YouÕve lost nothing and you're actually ahead: now there's one
less company to worry about talking to!
ItÕs worked
for me (and by the way, it recently landed me an assignment from Sears!)
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Also, for a
cool, invigorating and exhilarating blast of optimism and positivity, check out
my latest blog post, ÒDon We Now Our Mental Armor for 2010.Ó You gotta read the
comments from some pretty amazing folks about why theyÕre so bullish about the
future. AND, in the post, I sing the praises of cold calling and several
comments pick up the thread. Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog.
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Finally,
check out this interesting (and recent) article about the subject at: http://salesopedia.com/index.php/component/content/2102?task=view&ed=138&Itemid=10479.
Entitled, ÒIs Cold Calling Worth It?Ó itÕs good food for thought. Oh, and see
the cool cold-calling success story in the Dessert section.
(P.S. If
youÕre wondering why I donÕt use a URL-shortener service like www.tinyurl.com or www.bit.ly
for unwieldy URLÕs like the one above, itÕs because such services are commonly
used by spammers, so using them will trigger spam filters.)
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IV.
DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips
Part-Time
CO FLCW Starts Cold-Calling Campaign, Lands Project After 15 Calls!
TIP: THE
Ideal Music to Be Productive By – Get Into the ÒGrooveraÓ
Got this
great note from a part-time CO FLCW (who prefers to remain anonymous). As this
writer reminds as well, we may hate the CCÕing process, but it works! Yes,
another serious blow to your efforts to rationalize not doing it, but hey,
sorry (not really). Enjoy.
Hi Peter:
The intense desire to resign from my part-time university job recently motivated
me to start a strong cold-calling campaign. And yes, even though we all know it
works, most of us dread it and procrastinate about it. But today gave me
renewed belief. I made about 15 calls in an hour or so – got mostly
voicemails, plus one potentially interested prospect. Then, I happened to come
across the name of a newly launched company in my region whose product is in
line with my science focus. Got their voicemail, then sent a follow-up email
immediately. TEN minutes later, the guy calls me back and says he was just
trying to figure out who could revamp the copy for their web site. So, my last
call today resulted not in a hot prospect, not in a request for info, but in a
PROJECT!
Moral to
the story: cold calling – no one loves it, few look forward to it, but it
works!
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Okay, this
tip may strike many of you as being pretty fluffy, but I say itÕs more
important than it may appear. OneÕs working environment is pretty important,
suffice to say. When IÕm in writing mode and trying to be maximally productive,
music is important to me. For me, that means instrumental jazz for the most
part. But recently, I came across a very cool music source, and itÕs right on
my computer.
Have
iTunes? Click on Radio, and youÕll be connected to a world of no-commercial
music (I swear IÕm not getting any commission; how could I when itÕs
no-charge?). My personal favorite? Click on ÒAmbientÓ and then ÒGroovera
Presents Jet City.Ó I say the steady, rhythmic beat gets me into a near-Zen-like
work state. I get SO much done when IÕm listening. See if you donÕt agree.
(Accessible through www.groovera.com as
well).
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V. COFFEE,
MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- THE
WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- GROUP
COACHING! Now Filling Slots for February Program!
- The
WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is Rockin'! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- MISSED MY
TELECLASS? Full 38-PAGE e-Transcript – Just $12!
- AWAI
Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge!)
- How Can
My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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I'M
SERIOUSLY LOW ON ALL WELL-FED E-PUB COURSES!
Got a great
strategy, approach or specific expertise you're willing to share? Turn it into
a Feature (MAIN COURSE) for the EPUB (400-500 words; query first). ALSO, send
your "GREENS" (200-300 words), TIPS (150-200) and SUCCESS STORIES
(200-300) to peter@wellfedwriter.com.
Archived issues at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml.
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GROUP
COACHING! NOW FILLING SLOTS FOR FEBRUARY PROGRAM!
In the
start-up stage of your commercial freelancing business? Looking for some
guidance, confidence and camaraderie? Check out Group Coaching! Series #3
begins on 02/08/10 and IÕve filled 8 of 12 slots already, so donÕt wait. For
full details and to register, visit: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/groupcoaching.shtml.
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The WELL-FED
WRITER BLOG is Rockin'! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
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MISSED MY
TELECLASS? "Thriving as a Freelance Commercial Writer"
38-PAGE e-Transcript! $12: www.wellfedwriter.com/jan07tstranscript.shtml.
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MENTORING SERVICE SERVE YOU?
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and testimonials, visit www.wellfedwriter.com/Mentoring.shtml.
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