Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!

The companion monthly ezine to the quadruple-award-winning how-to
guide, “The Well-Fed Writer.” 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”—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 14, ISSUE 1 – JANUARY 2015 - HAPPY "WELL-FED" NEW YEAR!
Publishing the first Tuesday of every month since May 2002  
Read it online at HERE.

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2014 EDITION OF “THE WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER” NOW AVAILABLE!
And it’s a TRIPLE award-winner! Check out various book AND ebook
(multiple formats!) products/bundles HERE!

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ARE YOU PARTNERING WITH DESIGNERS? IF NOT, YOU’RE MI$$ING OUT…
Get the real-world scoop on a low-effort flow of writing jobs
(AND at 25% Off Retail through January, HERE!)

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NEW 1-ON-1 COACHING PROGRAMS: SAMPLE/SITE REVIEW & “SIDECAR”!
Low-cost peace of mind and guidance. Details HERE.

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WANT TO BUY “THE WELL-FED WRITER” IN BULK (AND SAVE BIG)?
Buy for writer’s group, class or workshop! Details HERE.

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THE WELL-FED WRITER BLOG! Weigh in on “Why Writers Don't
'Deserve to Make More than $5 to $10 an Article;" "How Long Did It
Take You to Become a Profitable Commercial Writer?”; “Is Your Web
Site Bio Creating Trust or Indifference?; & More!

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THIS MONTH’S MENU:

I. APPETIZER: Resolve to Boost Skills and Partnerships in 2015
Sudden Burst of Work Points to Two Key Freelance Strengths

II. “FIELD” GREENS: REFERRAL GROUPS WITH A TWIST
OH FLCW “Works Smart” and Gets the Most from His Networking

III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: (REVIEW) DRAGON NATURALLYSPEAKING/DRAGON DICTATE
Aussie FLCW & Moi Share Good/Bad News About Leading VR Program

IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips
AZ FLCW Calls, Mails, Emails, Posts & Affirms Her Way to Financial Self-Sufficiency!
TIP: 40 Incorrectly Used Words that Can Make You Look Dumb!

V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? Ebook (at 25% OFF!) Serves Up “How-To”!
- GOT ANY SUCCESS STORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE? Email ME.
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is Rockin’!
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get Bonus CD!
- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?

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I. APPETIZER: Resolve to Boost Skills and Partnerships in 2015
Sudden Burst of Work Points to Two Key Freelance Strengths

So much for quietly winding down 2014 and easing into 2015. Not that
I'm complaining, mind you, but in the last two weeks of 2014, I landed
a flurry of new clients (and new work from existing ones), most of
which promise ongoing work well into the new year. I took a closer look
at how I landed those jobs…

1) An annual report for a non-profit. Source: Existing graphic-design partner.

2) Phase 2 of an ongoing non-profit campaign. Source: Same partner as above.

3) Another annual report for a new non-profit. Source: Referred by above partner.

4) Copywriting for four websites. Source: A different long-time design partner.

5) Ongoing email-blast campaign for a software company. Source: A third
long-time design partner—now creative director at the above company.

6) Two book titles (through my “Title Tailor” specialty) and company taglines.
Source: Client is a reader of The Well-Fed Self-Publisher (TWFSP)

7) Two more book titles plus promo copy. Source: Existing book-titling client.

8) Two “Sidecar Coaching” clients. Source: Readers of TWFW and TWFSP.

As you can see, a huge chunk of the work comes from partnerships with
graphic designers, a subject I cover in depth in my e-book on the
subject (on sale for 25% off through January HERE). And the others
come from skills (book titling, taglines, etc.) I’ve honed over time.

But make no mistake, even all the designer-sourced work has come my
way because of general marketing-copywriting skills developed over
time, to a point where those partners keep coming back.

So, keep building those skills and partnerships, both of which will build a
reputation that precedes you, and ensure that the phones keep ringing
with work you never actively sought. On that happy note, let's eat!

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II. “FIELD” GREENS: REFERRAL GROUPS WITH A TWIST
OH FLCW “Works Smart” and Gets the Most from His Networking

Great idea from Toledo, OH FLCW and friend, Michael Temple
about an intriguing approach to maximizing the potential of his
networking-group membership. I like how Michael thought this
out. It all comes down to making it easier for others to help him
by being as specific as possible. Good stuff, Michael!

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I’ve been a full-time freelance web designer, copywriter and marketing
consultant for over a decade. For that entire time, I’ve been a member
of BNI, a networking group with chapters all over the world and multiple
chapters in most cities. BNI’s premise? Only one person per profession
per chapter. Most good chapters have between 35-45 members.

The group meets weekly for the stated purpose of passing referrals to
members. The meeting is tightly structured and gives you an
opportunity to deliver a “commercial” about your business and ask for
specific referrals. I’ve put my own spin on it, and it’s really helped
grow my business versus just waiting for referrals to come to me.

First, I go get access to the Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Rolodex
from my local library. Many libraries maintain a subscription to this
service, which is free for cardholders to use, and accessible from
your home-office computer over the Net.

Once logged in, I create a prospect list using a variety of filters
(i.e., industry, size, number of employees, sales, geographic
location, etc.), depending on what I’m looking for.

I usually create specialized lists for different industries. For example,
I may target law firms so I’ll create a list of law firms using industry
or SIC code. After you create a list, you can export it into Excel and
save it to your computer.

I’ll print out one of my lists—a geographically local one. When I
deliver my commercial, I’ll pull out my list and ask for specific
referrals to, say, three companies on the list.

No vague requests like, “I need someone who wants a new web site.”
I’m asking for a connection to a specific company another member
may do business with. The cool thing? Once you work through the
list, you can always go back and start over because your fellow BNI
members could have made new connections in the meantime.

Over time, this strategy has worked really well. Sure, some weeks, I
may get no referrals or cold referrals, meaning the person who passed
me the referral doesn’t have a great relationship with them or hasn’t
had contact with them in a long time. But, sometimes I hit the jackpot
and get some really solid referrals that lead to new projects.

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III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: (REVIEW)
DRAGON NATURALLYSPEAKING (PC) & DRAGON DICTATE 3 (Mac)
Aussie FLCW & Moi Share Good/Bad News About Leading VR Program

A fun tag-team review of THE name in voice-recognition software.
Aussie FLCW Mark Schneider originally contacted me with his great
take on Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and after I tweaked how I used the
Mac version (Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac), and got better performance,
we decided to share both sets of experiences. I love the whole idea of it:
Being able to lean back in a comfy chair and dictate versus sitting and
typing for hours, is a beautiful thing.

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Software that promises to change the way you write by turning talk
into text sounds like a godsend for slow-typing freelance copywriters.
That’s what’s on offer from Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS), the
world’s biggest selling speech recognition software package. So does
Dragon deliver?

Yes and no. Yes, there’s no doubt the Windows version of DNS is
impressive and useful. It’s remarkably quick, accurate and easy to
learn. Speak clearly into the microphone and it has little trouble
with word recognition, regardless of your accent. It’s even
intelligent enough to pick up apostrophes and insert them in the
correct place most of the time.

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome in using it was having to talk,
rather than type (and having to dictate punctuation: “comma, period,
open quote, close quote, etc.). It’s a bit weird and in many ways, harkens
back to the era when businesspeople dictated letters to secretaries.

It provides comical moments, too. While proofreading a piece for a
dance school, I found the words “hop down, darling” in the middle of a
sentence! My cat had jumped up on the desk to give me a hand. She’s
a lousy typist and an even worse speller, so I’d asked her to get down
without turning off the microphone. And recently, I dictated the words,
“an enthusiastic…” and it decided what I’d really said was “in Pewsey
ass stick…”!

As for the No” part? While the Windows version shines, the Mac version
(specifically Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac) is an absolute stinker. One huge
bug renders it useless for many users: The Curse of the Jumping Cursor.
Start talking and you’ll suddenly find your cursor jumping all over your
text and inserting itself anywhere and everywhere.

Online research I’ve done suggests the problem may be Dragon
misinterpreting words for commands. It seems to be worse for some
users, rather than others, so perhaps it has something to do with
accents; if so it seems to dislike my Aussie drawl.

The Windows version, however, is so useful that I now use it on my
old Mac Mini running Windows through Boot Camp. If you do that you’ll
need to replace the microphone headset– the one that comes in the box
won’t work on a Mac.

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PB Notes: Thanks, Mark! I agree wholeheartedly that DNS for Windows
(when I was on a PC many years ago) was nothing short of miraculous. I
also agree—now that I'm on a Mac—that Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac, if used as
suggested, is awful. The jumping-cursor thing is beyond maddening.

In addition, I noticed that the program, when running (or even when
turned off, but still open), really beats up my whole system’s performance:
everything slows down, programs start acting weird, etc. That said…

I discovered two things that dramatically improve its performance on
my Mac. First, when you're not actually using the program, close it
completely; don't just turn it off, while leaving it open. When I
started doing that, my system-performance issues vanished.

As for the program's actual performance (specifically, the jumping-cursor
thing), note the "if used as suggested" verbiage above. The program
instructions (and those of a computer expert I asked) strongly recommend
you dictate into their little window that automatically pops up when you
activate the program. As opposed to dictating directly into programs
(i.e. Word, email, etc.).

BUT, it was actually when I used their window that the jumping-cursor
issue was at its worst. When I started dictating directly into Word (or, say,
an email text window), that issue virtually disappeared. There’s still a
hiccup now and then, but absolutely nothing like before.

In fact, I dictated this whole section of mine (~seven paragraphs) with
only two stumbles. AND, with no headset; I just sat fairly close to my
laptop and talked—which will generally work fine if you're in a fairly
quiet setting. Add a lot of ambient noise, and the errors will rise
(as they no doubt will as well with the Windows version).

Strap on a Bluetooth headset, and you can roam your office while dictating.
Anything that can replace unhealthy sitting time is a plus in my books.

Bottom line, with minor adjustments, the program can be a winner for
either platform.

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IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips
AZ FLCW Calls, Mails, Emails, Posts & Affirms Her Way to Financial Self-Sufficiency!
TIP: 40 Incorrectly Used Words that Can Make You Look Dumb!

Got this fun success story from now-financially-self-sufficient (Yay!)
Tucson, AZ FLCW Martha Retallick (also a designer and photographer;
I like how she covered a lot of marketing bases (cold-calling, direct mail,
email, social media) to make it happen. Congrats, Martha!

Following that is a link to a cool and quite useful article I came across
that will keep us looking brilliant and our writing grammatically pristine. Enjoy!

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I first read TWFW a few years ago, and again in 2012. Second time, I
tried some prospecting calls. I was blown away by how interested
people were (never happened when I was prospecting for web-design
gigs). But no work followed.

In early 2013, I sent a postcard to people I'd contacted the previous
fall, and followed up with an e-mail blast. Still no work. An e-mail
exchange with Peter yielded news I wasn't ready to hear: I wasn't
making enough calls.

Back to the phones for another round of prospecting, this time focused
on graphic designers. One is now a client. Last winter, I found
another client while seeking design work. He's the communication
director for an engineering college, and was looking for a writer who
could make techie subjects sound fun and interesting.

That’s precisely what I did in my last job as copywriter for the fundraising
arm of the university that’s home to this engineering college.

Come HOT summer in Tucson, AZ, and I was inside on the phone. TWFW
had become my manifesto. Between mid-May and mid-November, I made
more than 2,000 contacts. I kept my social media friends updated on the
outreach blitz. One Facebook friend noticed, and she is now a client. Her
company produces continuing ed courses for teachers, and I've written
quite a few of them.

Financial self-sufficiency came in late October. Now, I'm working on
increasing my income. My guide and prod? This, from page 25 of TWFW:

$100,000 a year
$8,000 a month
$2,000 a week
$400 a day
Where's the $400 coming from today?

Update from Martha (proof that she’s keeping the pressure on): I'm
enjoying a mid-winter vacation knowing there’ll be plenty of work when
I get home. The continuing ed company is keeping me BUSY! Plus, I have
a list of ~100 people (from my 2014 prospecting) who need follow up.
Also, I re-joined the local AdFed. Need to call that list, too.

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Now, I KNOW that, as professional writers, NONE of us EVER make the
elementary, newbie errors outlined in the article linked below. But,
for that seriously rare instance when we slip up (purely by accident,
of course; after all, we know this stuff like the back of our hand,
right?), good to have a guide handy. More likely, it’ll just be fodder
to impress people at cocktail parties.  

“40 Incorrectly Used Words that Can Make You Look Dumb.”

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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? Ebook (at 25% OFF!) Serves Up “How-To”!
- GOT ANY SUCCESS STORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE? Email ME.
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is Rockin’!
- 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? Ebook Serves Up “How-To” (@ 25% Off!)
That’s not hype. It’s 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 HERE,
and for 25% OFF retail price through January!

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GOT ANY SUCCESS STORIES YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
While my call for submissions netted some things a few months back, I’m
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 FLCW’s), send it on to ME.
100-300 words is great.    

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I’M (STILL) 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 (500-600 words;
query first). ALSO, send your “GREENS” (200-400 words), TIPS (100-200)
and SUCCESS STORIES (150-300) to ME. Archived issues HERE. 

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The WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is Rockin’!

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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!

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HOW CAN MY MULTIPLE MENTORING PROGRAMS SERVE YOU?
For details and testimonials, visit HERE.

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