Full-Time Freelancing

[Every writer’s had to face what William Faulkner called the tyranny of the blank page. You’re ready to write, but nothing seems to come. Writer’s block. We asked AWAI Board Member Don Mahoney – who is also one of the fastest copywriters around – how he deals with writer’s block. Here are his “14 Tips.”]

In this case, you probably don’t have enough information about your project. You will probably fix that when you …

1. Identify your creative time – early a.m., late night, whatever. That’s when to attack your work.
2. Study what’s working and, if possible, what’s not working. Sometimes your client’s marketing director can give you copies of promotions that flopped or competitors’ promos that mailed only once.
3. Research, research, research. Read promotions and immerse yourself in the product, whether it’s intellectual (written material) or physical (vitamins, gold coins, air filters, whatever). Google everything that’s related to your subject.
4. Identify the “point of maximum anxiety” of your prospect: what keeps your prospect up at night.
5. Identify the USP (unique selling proposition), the big idea of the main promise of your product.
6. Make an outline and begin filling it in.
7. Start ANYWHERE! If you can nail the headline and lead first, great! If not, write anything – the offer, the reply, the back cover, the close (think of the last thing you’d say to someone to get them to buy this product, then start working your way toward that line), sidebars, centerfolds, flyers, bios, premium copy, ANYTHING!
8. Set some reasonable goals for what you want to achieve each day in your writing.
9. “Almost cheating”: Type the name of the project, the date, and your name in the upper left corner. Then type a page, something like a memo to yourself and other readers. Describe what you see as the core message of what you’re about to write. Include a rough idea of how you expect it to look when it’s done.
10. “Cheating”: Jot down notes and ideas as you prepare. Then transfer them to your computer, punching them up as you go. Guess what? You’re already past the “empty page.”
11. “Advanced cheating”: If you know you always tend to have a problem with empty pages, record your first conversations about the product with the marketing team. You can use a little handheld recorder to do this. Transcribe the recording, and delete any fluff and irrelevant material. Start organizing any useful material into notes and/or sections of your project.

This should help you get out of the funk …

1. Take a break. Run, walk, meditate, go bicycling, listen to music … then come back to it.
2. If that doesn’t work, you need to do more work. Go back to your research and dig some more. Go back to your outline and see if some part doesn’t jump out at you as ready to go.
3. Brainstorm with another writer.

If you use these 14 techniques, you should have banished writer’s block. If it persists, put your work away and get a good night’s sleep. Start fresh in the morning and, in all likelihood, you’ll nail it.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

I used to make them every year. But like most people, I made them unrealistic and immeasurable, and often tried to achieve too much too fast. Then a few months into the New Year I’d realize I’d already missed at least one of my resolutions, and shortly thereafter, would simply forget the rest.

But about five years ago, I learned a lesson from Michael Masterson when I first started working with AWAI that changed everything. And I’m not longer an “oh well, maybe next year” kind of gal.

Instead of making New Year’s resolutions … I now set goals.

Rather than making empty general resolutions like I’m going to drink less, make more money, and exercise more; I’ve learned to develop an actual plan that’s designed to ensure I succeed. And you can too.

Instead of banking your success as a web writer on a New Year’s resolution, I’d like you to set a career-building goal to get you to that next level – whatever that “next level” is for you …

If you’re just staring out, maybe your goal will be to land your first paying client …

If you’ve successfully launched your web writing business, maybe your goal will be to land ten new clients …

Or maybe it will be to clear the six-figure mark, so that you can quit your full-time job.

Whatever it is, make sure your goal meets the following four criteria:

It must be specific … Instead of setting a goal to make a lot of money from your web copy, set a goal to land 5 clients worth at least $20K each.

It must be actionable … Winning $100K in Vegas is not an actionable goal. But winning enough projects to bill $100K in fees is.

It must be time-oriented … While landing five clients worth $20K each is a good goal … landing five clients worth $20K each by October 31st is a better one.

It must be realistic … Landing five clients worth $20K by October 31st may be an aggressive goal, but it’s possible. Landing those same five clients by January 31st is not.

Once you have a goal that meets all four criteria, write it down. According to successful people like Michael Masterson and Brian Tracy, this one simple step can spell the difference between achieving your goal, and failing completely.

Next break that goal down into small objectives, that each take you one step closer to your goal. Write the objectives in the order they need to be completed, and assign a deadline to each one.

Let’s say your goal was to land five paying clients by August 31, 2008. Your first couple objectives may look like this:

Objective 1: Complete phase one of my web copy training by February 28th. Objective 2: Send out 150 solicitations for prospective clients by March 31st. Objective 3: Write on spec for a client in each of the web areas I target by April 15th.

So on and so forth.

Then, break each of these objectives down into even smaller measurable tasks. Make sure you specify exactly what needs to be done, and once again assign a time frame.

Using the same example, let’s say you plan to specialize in writing website content and SEO (search engine optimization) copy, and area about half way through Nick Usborne’s Million-Dollar Secrets for Online Copywriting. You may break the first objective like this:

January 1-11, read pages 171-239 of the Usborne program and complete the exercises.

January 12–18, finish the Usborne program. Read pages 241-273 and complete the exercises.

January 19- 31, start researching potential web clients, and collect all relevant contact data. Write my self-promotion letter selling my website copy services, and practice my new web skills on spec assignments offered by AWAI and my own copywriting website.

February 1-14, learn how to write SEO copy by watching Heather Lloyd-Martin’s SEO Copywriting Success DVD homestudy program, and practice writing SEO copy on my copywriting website.

February 15-18, attend the Web Copywriting Intensive in Austin, Texas, learn the skills needed to be a working web copy specialist, and submit at least one of the spec assignments to Rebecca Matter.

February 19-28, contact 50 potential clients and offer my web copy services.

You’ll want to create a tracking system so that you can easily keep track of these tasks. I personally like to use an 8 ½ X 11 calendar that when opened, lays flat on my desk and shows me a month at a time. One of AWAI’s Marketers, Tammy Lawman, prefers to keep a single word document that she updates daily.

Whatever you choose, make sure you can access it easily. Then check your tasks daily, and your objectives monthly to make sure you are staying on task. If you need to adjust any deadlines, go ahead. But don’t let yourself make excuses for not sticking to your plan.

So what goal will you achieve in 2009?

Take 30 minutes right now, and write it down along with the objectives it will take to achieve it. Remember to be specific and realistic. And then get ready to achieve it!

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This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

Author: Eric Penz

I began writing my first novel in 1997. Six years, five drafts (give or take), two sons, and one major surgery later it was finally complete. Then it took another two years to get Cryptid published and on bookstore shelves. And don’t even ask how much Cryptid has earned me. The gravy train is certainly gaining speed, but don’t ever fool yourself that writing novels is a get-rich-quick scheme. Even the big boys like Crichton, Koontz, and Cussler will tell you that. The best-case scenario is a get-rich-slow—eternally slow—scheme. Which is to say, don’t quit your day job.

Ah, but then where does one find the time, resources, energy, and muse to write after coming home from slaving for the Man (or Woman) all day?

Well, that’s the million-dollar question. Actually, it’s only half the question. The whole question is where does one find the time, resources, energy, and muse to write after working all day… and then cooking dinner, doing the dishes, helping the kids with their homework, paying bills, cutting the grass, washing the cars, checking your email, doing your nails, going for a run, seeing a movie, getting the flu, finishing your degree… need I go on?

We all have twenty-four hours in the day, even the big boys like Crichton, Koontz, and Cussler. Life happens to us all. Just ask Stephen King what a crimp his car accident put on his writing.

We all have a list of reasons to not write. They’re not excuses, really. Life doesn’t leave much room for excuses. So don’t add guilt to that list. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve only written a thousand words in the past six weeks, does it? Then what’s the answer? How did I do it?

Well, it took me six years. So one answer is simply that I didn’t quit. Little-by-little, day-by-day, year-by-year I worked at it until it was done. But be more specific. Exactly how did I find the time? OK, well another answer is that I woke my computer every night at 9 PM, Sunday through Thursday, and worked until midnight or 1 AM. I did this religiously for six years, sometimes working seven days straight.

I took a two-year commercial fiction course at the University of Washington. I was part of a weekly critique group for three years. I immersed myself in the craft. I did everything I could to make myself the best craftsman possible. Does that help?

No, I’m sure it doesn’t, because you’re not me. You will not be able to work at the craft in the same way I do. You may work a double shift for the Man and the Woman and not be able to write from 9 PM to 1 AM every night. So here’s the answer you’re really after, though you’re not going to like it because it means there’s no short cut, no magic recipe that you can simply follow and be assured success.

You see, the million-dollar answer is that I quit.

Or at least I tried to; many, many times I tried to. But I couldn’t. You know why? Because writing is not something I do, it is something I am. I’m a writer. So there is no quitting. I cannot quit being who I am. I can only accept who I am. And once I did, I never failed to find time to write. My cars may not sparkle, I hired someone to cut the grass, and I often sleep less than eight hours a night, but I write.

So my advise to you is to quit. And if you can, then you’re not a writer. It’s OK. Not everyone is. Then find out what you are and do that, but don’t go back to writing. The craft is too hard and the rewards too slow in coming to labor at it unless you have to. And writers have to.

However, if you can’t quit then you are a writer. And once you realize that you can only find joy in life if writing is a part of your life, then you will find the time. I promise you. And it won’t be my way; it’ll be your way. Just don’t quit your day job. It may not be who you are, but it will pay the bills until who you are is a writer whose name is listed in the same sentence with the big boys.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/working-and-writing-fulltime-if-i-can-you-can-32135.html

About the Author: Eric Penz is the author of Cryptid: The Lost Legacy of Lewis and Clark. Visit his Web site to learn more, http://www.ericpenz.com