Fab Freelance Writing Ezine Archives

Take Action - Issue 43 of Fab Freelance Writers’ Ezine

August 7th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

This week we discuss the importance of TAKING ACTION for your freelance writing career. Many (if not most) freelance writers have failed careers because they’ve never discovered the importance of taking action.

This issue has the potential to change your writing life, if you’ll follow the advice given.

Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is now published in beautiful PDF every week.

Subscribe here to have Fab Freelance Writing Ezine delivered free to your Inbox. In addition to the subscriber bonus, you receive bonus issues, which are for subscribers only.

Includes:

* Editorial: The importance of taking action - even when you don’t know what you’re doing

* Article Recipe For Freelance Writing Success - Take Massive Action

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Get Copywriting Clients In Seven Days **

Seven-Days-Copywriting

My ebook/ course “Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success” has been taking the mystery out of copywriting for new copywriters for five years.

I love it when writers call me and say “I got a client!” or “I’m booked solid for three months” - I expect that, so it’s very satisfying.

The fact is - if you can write copy, you can write your own ticket. You WILL get clients, you WILL make as much money as you want to make. Copywriting is a necessity for every business. In just a week, your life can change.

“Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success” is your key a great lifestyle and security for you and your family.

Of course, for a limited time, the ebook course comes with FREE coaching, so that you begin making money right away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Editorial] The importance of taking action - even when you don’t know what you’re doing

This week, our theme is taking action to boost your writing career… even when you don’t know what you’re doing. And you often don’t know what you’re doing.

This is because all writing is exploration, and no matter how many articles, books, brochures or Web sites you’ve written, every project is different. You can never relax and fall into a rut.

For many writers, this leads to procrastination, especially if they don’t treat writing as a three-fold process of planning, writing and editing. (I wrote about this process here.)

It’s very easy to become overwhelmed with a writing project. This is even true of articles - I’ve had several magazine editors tell me that their pet peeve is writers who are commissioned, and then never send the article they promised to write: they became overwhelmed.

So even if you have no idea of what you’re going to write - write. Take action. Taking action is always the answer, no matter what the situation.

I published a version of “Recipe For Freelance Writing Success - Take Massive Action” in 2006. It drew a great response - several writers emailed me with their own success stories. I hope it inspires you, too.

Affectionately,

Angela

P.S. On writing more than you think you can, my ebook the ‘Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More” will help you to do that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Imagine… $1,000 A Week For Just Ten Hours **

Blogging

You can get paid to blog. The current rate for experienced bloggers is around $1,000 to $1500 a week for from two to five posts a day - VERY nice writing income.

Find out how to blog with the blogging best-seller “Blogging For Dollars: How to become a career blogger — in your PJs, if you want”. It’s my complete new ebook package, with free coaching/ consultations as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Article: Recipe For Freelance Writing Success - Take Massive Action

(Originally published in 2006; revised and updated.)

Do you have more writing gigs than you can handle? I hope you do. If you don’t, the answer lies with you, and the action you’re willing to take. I discovered this first-hand for myself.

In 2000, when the dotcom boom turned into a bust, I watched as my writing income as a tech journalist dried up literally overnight. It was amazing, rather than scary. Magazines cut back on their editorial because merchants stopped advertising. Less advertising means fewer editorial pages.

I went from working twelve-hour days to just a couple of gigs. I couldn’t believe the change. And I didn’t know what to do, because I hated to market my writing and writing services.

How to market when you hate to market

Paradoxically, it turned out that the bust was the best thing that ever happened to me, because it forced me to grow as a writer. Before 2000, I rarely marketed my work. There was no need, I could send out a few queries and get work. I had steady magazine and copywriting gigs.

Although I knew how to market others’ businesses by copywriting, I never learned to market my own business. Like many writers, I HATED marketing. I couldn’t do it. The idea of an intensive marketing campaign made me physically sick. However, like it or not, I knew I had to market.

The answer? Take massive action

I started to do some self-therapy to try to get at the roots of my marketing aversion, and I also began reading marketing books by people like Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy.

The experts advocated “take massive action”. Well, I was unwilling, but prepared to try. I couldn’t let 20 years of writing slide into the dust: I had to get writing gigs to replace the ones I lost. Because magazines were cutting back on editorial, I decided to focus on copywriting.

The fastest way to get results is telemarketing, so I got out my Yellow Pages, my lists of previous clients, and started pushing buttons. I committed myself to 50 calls a day, for two weeks.

Did it work?

You bet. By Day Two of my two week campaign, I had three clients, and couldn’t continue, because I had a 32-page newsletter to write, as well as a major publicity campaign to organize. There was no time for more phone calls. And my bank account looked pretty healthy, because both clients dropped half the fee into my account as a retainer without so much as a single quibble.

Those two clients soon developed into ten clients. I didn’t solicit those clients, they contacted me.

It’s all about the numbers

From reading Ziglar and Tracy I knew that my telemarketing results matched the numbers. If you make 100 contacts, you can expect to get anywhere from one to five sales, or have a 1% to 5% success rate.

These numbers don’t vary, ever. You can take them to the bank. That’s why call centers and junk mail advertising (copywriters call it ‘direct marketing’) are so successful. That’s why your Inbox is crammed with sp@m. The numbers.

Remember: it’s all about the numbers, which is why “take massive action” works.

So, how do you apply the numbers? You prepare yourself to take massive action, just as I did with my telemarketing campaign. I was prepared to make 500 calls over two weeks. Although I had to stop the campaign, I was prepared to persist for the full two weeks. And of course, for longer if necessary.

You can apply the massive action formula anywhere, at any time. It always works. It will work for you.

The biggest benefit of the massive action marketing campaign for me was that it dealt a death blow to my fear/ hatred of marketing. That single campaign removed any inhibitions I had about marketing. Some seven years later, I LOVE marketing, and consider it the most enjoyable part of writing.

How will you apply the “massive action” formula

You can apply the Massive Action formula in any way you like. You can commit to sending out ten queries a day to magazines; to making 50 phone calls a day to boost your copywriting business; or to sending out 12 book proposals in a year.

This formula always works. Decide. Commit. You can make it work for you, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You Can Become A Web Publisher Too: Become A Web Mogul

Web-Sites-For-Writers

For the past year, I’ve been receiving messages from writers who want to create their own Web sites. They’ve heard how much money there is in Web publishing, and want a piece of the action.

So, I’ve written a new ebook, “Super-Fast Money-Making Web Sites For Writers: Join The Web-Publishing Bonanza” .

The ebook (and its fabulous bonus ebook) outlines step by step, with images, how to create Web MONEY-MAKING sites fast. What could YOU do with an extra $300 a day?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** New Writing Opportunity “Beat Your Paycheck! Web Writing SECRETS” **

“How Make More Money With Web Writing Than You Ever Will With A Paycheck… In A Month Or Less”

Even if you’re a new writer, you can make enough money from Web writing to leave your day job - fast.

As a writing teacher, I work with new writers every day. Many would love to leave their day job, but they don’t yet have the skills to write copy for corporate clients, or for national magazines. Writing in your home office seems like a dream. Many promising writers give up writing because their lives are too busy - with a full-time job and family, they’re too tired to write.

If this describes YOU, I’ve found a solution. I asked a new writer who’s making great money writing for the Web to share his secrets. He’s happy to do so. Read my new ebook.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cash For Content - For New Writers

Cash-For-Content

Enjoy Writing? Fast And Easy Cash In Your Pocket - Write From Home

The Web has opened up unlimited markets for writers, both new and established.

But if you’re completely new, the Web can seem like chaos. How do you find the Web sites which pay you just to write? These sites never advertise, because they don’t need to. So how do you find them?

I’ve got the solution for you.

Imagine being paid to write: $10 to $50 and more per article

Details in my new Cash For Content package.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** ANGELA’S BLOGS**

Fab Freelance Writing Blog: fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/

Fab Web Writer: www.fabwebwriter.com/

Top Ebook Writer: www.topebookwriter.com/

Angela Booth’s Writing Blog: copywriter.typepad.com/