THE WELL-FED E-PUB

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 6, ISSUE 7 – JULY 2007 – HAPPY 4^th OF JULY!

HERE’S TO YOUR OWN “INDEPENDENCE DAY” FROM THE 9-to-5!

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“WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER” WINS Georgia Author of Year Award! http://georgiawriters.org/43rdwinners.htm. Check out book at www.wellfedsp.com

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NEW! “The BODACIOUS Banquet” – Issues 1-52 of The EPUB! Just $10.95!

Limited Time! Details: Dessert and http://wellfedwriter.com/thebodabanq.shtml.

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NEW: WHITE PAPER INDUSTRY SURVEY (50% OFF FOR EPUB SUBSCRIBERS!)

Details in Dessert and at http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?af=348539.

MAKE BIG $ WITH WHITE PAPERS: Grab a seat in July class with WP guru Michael Stelzner. Details: Dessert & http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=1997982

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MISSED JANUARY’S TELECLASS? “Thriving as a Freelance Commercial Writer”

38-PAGE instant download just $12! www.wellfedwriter.com/jan07tstranscript.shtml.

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I. APPETIZER: WHOA! BACK UP! NOW!

Friends Don’t Let Friends Forget to Back Up Their Computers Regularly!

II. CRISP “FIELD” GREENS: EX-AERO ENGINEER TAKES FLIGHT AS FLCW!

Quebec FLCW Burns Out, Reads TWFW, Returns to Job for 90 days, Then Splits!

III. MAIN COURSE: CLIENT CRITICAL MASS, THE CURE FOR COLD CALLS!

Bay Area FLCW Shares Strategies for Long-Term Financial Success (Minus Cold Calls!)

IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips

NJ FLCW’s Cold Call Result Bounces Around Before Coming Back to Him – with Work!

TIP: A Cool & Easy Way to Make You More Efficient and Productive!

V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS

- NEW! The BODACIOUS Banquet – Issues 1-52 of the EPUB; Just $10.95

- White Paper Industry Survey (Half Off for Subscribers!) + July WP Class!

- MISSED JANUARY’S TELECLASS? Full 38-PAGE e-Transcript – Just $12!

- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge!)

- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!

- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?

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APPETIZER: WHOA! BACK UP! NOW!

Friends Don’t Let Friends Forget to Back Up Their Computers Regularly!

As some of you know by now, I learned an exceedingly painful lesson a few weeks back about regularly backing up your computer. The short version (any longer is too painful to relive): In mid-April, after 14 years on a PC, I switched to Mac. I’d had it with viruses, spyware, and general system instability. The Mac platform, my story notwithstanding, has none of those nasty afflictions, not only because their approximately 10% market share makes them less of a target for nefarious cyber-scum, but also because they’ve apparently been at the Internet security game longer than the PC folks.

Along with my new MacBook, I purchased an external hard drive (EHD) and scheduled weekly backups (now twice-weekly) of my entire hard drive (data, programs, email, music, everything). About three weeks into it, the EHD failed. Off it went to the manufacturer for replacement, during which time I backed up ONLY my data with a thumb drive. I got the EHD back the week I was headed out of town for a conference and didn’t MAKE the time (HUGE mistake) to do a full backup before I left.

That Friday, on the road at my hotel, I set up my computer, did a little work, took a shower, and when I came back to my desk, one dead MacBook awaited me. No lights, sounds, power, nada. Final verdict: total hard drive failure (btw, as the Mac folks explained, there’s no such things as “Mac hard drives.” All HDs are made by several third-party companies, and all are capable of failing anytime, so I’m not blaming Mac.

I only had my data on the thumb drive – and it’d been two weeks since I’d backed up. And get this: the ONE data directory I’d done the most work on in the prior two weeks, for some unknown reason, wasn’t on the thumb drive and I had to access a two-month old version on my old PC (still running, thank goodness) to reconstruct it!

So, we’re talking odds no Las Vegas bookie would give you: failed EHD, failed HD in a brand new Mac, and partially failed thumb drive. But, it happened. Yes, my negligence contributed mightily to the severity of the outcome. Had I done a full recent HD backup, rebuilding the new Mac would have been one “drag-and-drop.” Period. Old email on my web guy’s server and LOTS of “please-resend” emails to folks who’d sent me stuff in the past two weeks slowly helped me put Humpty-Dumpty back together again.

Names in the external HD biz: Western Digital (http://westerndigital.com) and Toshiba (try www.toshibadirect.com). And thanks to FLCW Jacque Riley for suggesting www.mozy.com, a no-charge (up to 2G or unlimited for $5/month) secure, remote data (only) backup option. It’s just for data, but as redundant protection, why not? Enough of this gloomy subject. Just read and heed. Let’s eat!

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II. CRISP “FIELD” GREENS: EX-AERO ENGINEER TAKES FLIGHT AS FLCW!

Quebec FLCW Burns Out, Reads TWFW, Returns to Job for 90 days, Then Splits!

Got this cockle-warming note from relatively new Quebec-based FLCW Jules-Pierre Malartre (jj8326@sympatico.ca) about his flight from stressed-filled aeronautical engineering to commercial freelancing. Enjoy!

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I purchased your book a few years ago and it ended up on my pile of books to read. At the time, I was working as an aerospace engineer making an excellent living but getting increasingly fed up with the increased workload (thanks to an industry downturn) – a workload that eventually lead me to a burnout. The one good thing about the burnout (aside from being paid to stay home for close to a year) is that it allowed me to catch up on my reading. That’s when I read TWFW and it opened up a world to me that I had only dreamed about before. By the time I was fit to return to work, I stayed on for a few months only. By then, I had enough customers to launch what had until then only been a sideline into a full-time freelance writing career.

I had been thinking about becoming a freelance writer for quite a while, but your book gave me the extra push to actually do it. I became seriously infatuated with the idea, and the book gave me the fuel and the tools to take the plunge.

It has not been a year yet, but I’m already close to having to turn clients away, and I’ve matched my income as an engineer. The difference now is that a lot of what were living expenses when I was a working stiff are now company expenses that I can claim on my tax returns. The result: not only am I happier, less stressed (actually, zero stress!) and now my own boss, I also earn a higher net income. Thanks!

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III. MAIN COURSE: CLIENT CRITICAL MASS, THE CURE FOR COLD CALLS!

Bay Area FLCW Shares Strategies for Long-Term Financial Success (Minus Cold Calls!)

Successful Bay Area FLCW (and author) Kathy Steligo (kathy@steligo.com, www.steligo.com), sent me this excellent primer on how to turn small one-job clients into long-term partners (translation: steady, lucrative work), and in the process, eliminate the need to ever cold call again (THAT got your attention). She’s walked the walk for many years, so listen up.

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You’ve often talked of the bounty of work from your graphic designer. I’ve had a similar experience. In fact, about 40-50% of my work now comes directly or indirectly from Michael, my graphic designer.

I’ve always enjoyed a wealth of work, but the past three years have been great, primarily because I no longer need to cold call. In the beginning, I beat the bushes for work, but fourteen busy years later, I’ve hit critical mass: about 90% of my clients find ME, mostly from word-of-mouth. Many are referrals from Michael or his clients (now MY clients).

What started as single small jobs for three referrals from Michael has blossomed into larger, steadier, and more lucrative projects. The three clients—a specialty food developer, a mortgage financer and a web development company—now consider me their “in-house” writer. I develop all their training documents, marketing materials, web content and whatever else comes along. When one project’s done, there’s always another one waiting. The work is varied and interesting, the pay is great, and the steady influx of work gives great peace of mind and wallet. The upshot: I don’t need to market unless I want to. I occasionally approach potential clients if it’s someone I particularly want to work for, but generally, I have more than enough work to keep me busy.

So, how did I get to this point? Simple. When I get a new client, I always find ways to create and sustain a long-term working relationship. It involves understanding their business and what they need. When I complete one job, I pitch another. It’s a strategy that’s really paid off. Here’s how I got myself into this happy position:

1) I worked with several local designers before aligning myself with one who shares my work values and is always busy. Like most designers, he gets plenty of client-written materials in desperate need of a professional hand, so it wasn’t tough to convince him to offer more robust service to his clients through writing services (me) as well.

2) I view ALL clients as opportunities for future work. Once I get my keyboard in the door, I mine every opportunity. For example, three clients who hired me to write one press release now pay me to develop and execute their year-round PR schedule. Writing direct mail pieces for the web design firm led to writing content for their clients; in 14 months, I’ve done 12 jobs for them – with an endless stream of work ahead.

3) I never “just do the work.” I learn how I can give the client more than he expects. I want to wow him with my suggestions for his business and then build a relationship.

4) I always express my appreciation to clients for referrals. It’s a policy that’s paid off.

Critical mass doesn’t happen overnight, but neither do rock-solid careers. Build relationships, take advantage of opportunities—better yet, MAKE oppportunities—and one day you’ll wake up and realize you’ve achieved professional critical mass: no more cold calling or searching for work; it just flows to you. Less marketing, more money. What a concept.

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IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips

NJ FLCW’s Cold Call Result Bounces Around Before Coming Back to Him – with Work!

TIP: A Cool & Easy Way to Make You More Efficient and Productive!

Got this cool story about cold calling and how you never know where it can lead from New Jersey FLCW Steve Sears (sea598@aol.com, www.SGSWrite.com). The contacts we make OFTEN don’t pan out in a linear fashion. And stories like this remind us not to judge any individual one. Following that is a tip on improving your productivity by upgrading your monitor.

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Hi Peter: 18 months or so ago, my wife and I made quite a few cold calls, and many of the folks we called requested general info (phone number, address, website, etc). Well, a few months back, out of the blue, I got a voicemail from the head of a financial firm who needed a website written. When I called him back and asked how he got my name, he said he got it from “John."

Okay, now who was this John? Well, as it turns out, John worked for the same firm as the financial advisor who needed the website done, and was actually the Dad of a gentleman who owned his own communications firm in town. When he heard that his colleague needed a website written, he remembered, thru his son (who’d visited my site after our cold call to him), that I had written a few and that his son had complimented them. You never know where things will lead!

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Cathy Dold of Boulder, CO (cathy@catherinedold.com, www.catherinedold.com) offers up this great tip for boosting work efficiency:

“Get a widescreen monitor. It allows you to put two documents side by side, greatly easing research and writing tasks. No more flipping back and forth between materials; it's all right there. I have a Dell 20" widescreen and love it. I’m currently working on something that requires having six documents open at a time, and I've easily lined up three on one side and three on the other. I can have a web browser window open on one side and a document on the other. It’s also makes incorporating edits from a bunch of reviewers into one master document a snap. Plus, it just looks really cool!

(PB Note: I recently got a 22” Acer monitor for a mere $300, and it’s great for this!)

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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS

- NEW! The BODACIOUS Banquet – Issues 1-52 of the EPUB; Just $10.95

- White Paper Industry Survey (Half Off for Subscribers!) + July WP Class!

- MISSED JANUARY’S TELECLASS? Full 38-PAGE e-Transcript – Just $12!

- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge)!

- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!

- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?

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NEW! The BODACIOUS Banquet – ISSUES 1-52 of the EPUB; Just $10.95

Every strategy, technique, tip, and success story from May 2002 to August 2006 in one KILLER easy-to-use 280-page ebook resource! New to the commercial game? Behind on your EPUB reading? Catch up fast at http://wellfedwriter.com/thebodabanq.shtml.

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NEW! White Paper Industry Survey (HALF-PRICE FOR EPUB SUBSCRIBERS!)

There’s BIG money in white papers! Check out the latest industry survey from WP guru Michael Stelzner. And at 50% off to WFW readers! (Plus a great bundle on all his stuff!) http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?af=348539.

MAKE BIG $ WITH WHITE PAPER WRITING!

White papers are super-profitable forms of writing. And there's no one better skilled to train you about these high-demand products than my friend, Michael Stelzner. People rave about his teleclasses because they’re affordable AND he's a great teacher. Grab a seat at http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=1997982.

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MISSED JANUARY’S TELECLASS? “Thriving as a Freelance Commercial Writer”

38-PAGE e-Transcript! $12: www.wellfedwriter.com/jan07tstranscript.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.