Full-Time Freelancing

Increase Your Creative Writing Skills – Start Your Story From the EndBy Marjorie J McDonald

See if you can create a story going from the end back toward the beginning. Let me explain how you might do that. Select the ending you want. Next, move to thinking about what might have been going on right before the result you wrote down as your ending for your story. Choose from your story idea stash or create a new idea and have that be in place as the part of the story that led to your ending. Next, move back one step further. What might have been going on in this part of your story to flow to the last two parts you selected.

Let me put this in another way so you can get a better idea of how to do this.

Pretend you needed a birthday cake for a special person and you were not going to stop by the store and buy one. The last thing you might put on the cake would be candles. Moving back, the cake would need icing. Moving back one more step, the cake would need to be put on a plate. Moving back one more step, the cake would be taken out of the baking pans. Moving back one more step, the cake would be cooling after coming out of the oven. You can follow the process all the way back to when you decided to make the cake. When you have completed this exercise, you can read through the steps, from beginning to end this time, and see if the steps are in order and exactly what was needed at that time to reach the outcome you were headed for, in this case, a birthday cake with candles on it.

Do you see how you could use the process in reverse in your writing? It is a fabulous way to create a story and be sure you have put in all of the details for your reader to follow so the story comes together. It is also a way to use the creative part of your brain to set up the sequence and make sense of the movement and flow of the material you are writing.

When moving backwards you will immediately be aware that there is something missing if you have left out one of the steps. When you are moving forward with your writing it is more difficult to catch that a detail that is very important might have been overlooked.

Another thing that is great about writing this way is that your inner critic will have quite a challenge trying to find something to point out to you about what you are doing. It is so refreshing to quiet that inner critic, enjoy the process and create a story that you can use. When you are not second guessing and questioning everything you write it removes a great deal of pressure. You may find that if you have writers block it may help you to get past that. Repeat the process as often as you like by making this a tool for you to use as needed.

I personally find it is so much fun to write in this way it often is my choice when asked to write for someone else or for a publisher. I can go about it knowing that the potential to have a good article or story is very high. That allows me to relax and write. I find I can complete my story more quickly and I feel more confident when I present the story. All of these things can change your sense of accomplishment and satisfaction about how to write and I find every use of this tool to be of value. See what you think after you try this writing method and approach.

And now I invite you to join me for a series of writing exercises to help you discover your areas of interest in writing as well as increasing your creativity. You may access these exercises by visiting http://www.freecreativewritingstrategies.com.

You also may enjoy visiting my blog at http://www.creativewritingmadeeasy.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marjorie_J_McDonaldhttp://EzineArticles.com/?Increase-Your-Creative-Writing-Skills—Start-Your-Story-From-the-End&id=1822385

Author: Linda A Lavid

When I decided to write a novel, I had the impression that writing fiction would be easy, a winsome process that would fly on the wings of creativity. What fun to let go and free myself from the objective to the subjective. How exhilarating! Well, sort of, for a while. Fact was it took me three years to complete my first book-length manuscript that was, in the clear light of day, unreadable. During those early years, I did two things: I read books on writing, and I wrote. Neither was a bad thing, but besides taking an inordinately long time, I kept making the same mistakes over and over again. And when it came time to rewrite, I didn’t know where or how to start. The writing books were clear, concise and redundant in what they had to say. I poured over them with gusto and did a lot of highlighting. But the wisdom that spewed forth never seeped into my brain for any practical purpose.

The tasks of writing and publishing are rife with fits and starts. Some aspects may come easily, while others will prove more trying. Looking back I can now identify three critical activities, that once incorporated into my writing life, were and continue to be, of immense help.

Join a writer’s group. In the absence of attending a writing program (an option not available to most of us), the advantages of joining a writer’s group are tremendous. It is in this environment that craft can grow and flourish. Often, members in a group are diverse, not only in what they write but where they are on the writing-publishing-marketing continuum. Put all the members together and a synergy takes place, whereby a wide base of skill level and experience can be freely shared. Besides having your writing reviewed, critiquing other people’s work is likewise helpful. Figuring out what works and why is a critical developmental step in learning how to write well. And there’s also the commiseration factor. Like babies to new mothers, writing is fascinating to writers, but in the company of non-writers such discussions may leave you standing alone, drink in hand, looking furtively to where your friendly listener disappeared. Writers’ groups can be found in bookstores, continuing education programs and on-line. It’s been my experience that libraries have the space and are amenable to having community meetings. Membership can be open or restricted, receptive to all genres or focused on a certain kind of writing. No matter how the group is configured, there’s gold in ‘them thar hills’.

Write daily. Yeah. I avoided the daily quota for years: too much pressure, performance anxiety, fear of failure, you name it. Finally one summer I took on the challenge, stuck with a minimum of 250 words and kept track of my daily progress. Some days I easily surpassed the quota. Writing daily keeps the story fresh and continuous. Start out small if you like – one hundred words. Double that and you’ll have a novel-length manuscript in one year. It’s crucial to choose a word-count quota that is doable and measurable. Be realistic and don’t set yourself up for failure. I also found Ernest Hemingway’s advice helpful – keep water in the well. In other words, once you’re done writing for the day, have a sense of where you’ll be picking up the story the following day. For illustrative purposes, this paragraph runs 138 words.

Analyze Story X. Immerse yourself in a novel or short story that you wish you had written. I believe subconscious formatting occurs when a person reads and the more one reads, the better she is able to write. There is also a state of natural selection and what you hold up as your favorite book or story, most likely reflects the kind of writing you want to take on. Immersion into a story is done by reading it, speaking it, and deconstructing it. To deconstruct, write an excerpt in longhand and pay careful attention to words, sentences, paragraphs. As you develop craft, this book/story will hold many answers to your questions, i.e., How does the author handle description, backstory, transitions? My Story X is Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride. I still marvel at how she plays with tense, description, characterization. I have referred to this book endlessly in learning how to write. For example, when my characters were doing an inordinate amount of walking and turning and looking, I referred to a random page of Atwood’s Bride and found some fixes. By the way, I do not write like Margaret Atwood . . . yet.

For more info: Linda’s Website

About the Author:

Linda Lavid is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book is Composition, A Fiction Writer’s Guide for the 21st Century. Reviewed as a “priceless gem”, this book discusses the craft of writing fiction and the art of self-publishing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fiction-articles/how-to-keep-writing-540534.html

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

Copywriters are hardly immune to the financial crisis. Current, and future, economic events threaten the livelihood of almost everyone – whether they’re employed, self-employed, or own a business.

Fortunately, however, you have advantages as a copywriter that allow you to protect yourself. It’s an edge most people lack.

Trust me; I know. For more than 30 years, I was a freelance copywriter. I discovered a strategy that helped me survive and prosper in all sorts of markets and economic conditions.

You see, in addition to writing, I had several lucrative sidelines:

• Public speaking: I spoke at industry conferences, professional seminars, trade lunches, and similar events.
• Corporate training: I taught and coached at client companies, helping staffers sharpen their copywriting and marketing skills.
• Consulting: I showed publishers how to get better results from their direct-mail campaigns.
• Critiquing: I evaluated companies’ advertising and suggested ways it could be improved.

For each assignment – and most didn’t require a lot of time – I charged between $2,000 and $10,000.

You, too, possess knowledge about copywriting and marketing that is of potential value to others. You may be able to communicate it in any or all of the above ways – and make money in the process.

So what does all this have to do with protecting yourself in this painful climate? The answer is simple …

By diversifying, you can boast a wider portfolio of skills and services. You have not just one source of revenue, but multiple streams of income. If one declines, another can take its place. This strategy gives you an “insurance policy” of sorts against a recessionary economy.I confirmed this while researching The Versatile Freelancer, my new AWAI ebook. I wrote the book this year, during a period of economic gloom, unemployment, bank failures, foreclosures, plunging stock indexes, and fears of recession.

Yet all the people I interviewed, copywriters included, told me their businesses were unaffected and that they were doing as well as ever, or even better! Many attributed that happy situation to their versatility: their services and specialties include some or all of those cited above. 

The experience of Barbara Kaplowitz, a veteran copywriter, is typical. Her primary work keeps her busy in prosperous periods, while consulting and critiquing assignments pick up in bad times, such as those we’re living through now.

Just yesterday, October 23, I asked her how the most recent financial disasters were affecting her business. Here’s her response:

“Tough economic times are not necessarily bad for consultants who are proven performers. Although a number of my clients are holding off on new product launches, they’re still trying to make current marketing efforts as strong as possible. Surprisingly, in the past few weeks, inquiry calls have been more related to ‘old school’ direct-mail copy.

“On the consulting side, I’m seeing the focus on improving communications plans for an integrated, multi-channel world, and on retaining customers – whether through improving renewal series or creating value-added items.”

This helps explain why career diversification can work so well in a down economy.  

During tough periods, companies trim their staffs or don’t hire as they normally would. An outside consultant or trainer, a one-time project, a lower-priced service – these can be appealing options. You’re also in an ideal position to promote yourself by speaking at business conferences and other industry events. When people are desperate, they’re eager to hear solutions.

You say you’re not equipped with terrific public-speaking abilities? No problem. To do these things, you don’t need to be a spellbinding speaker. I’m not, yet my presentations are always well-received. What’s most important is the quality of the content you deliver.

How do you begin? Try this three-step procedure. For best results, do it in writing …

1. Take an inventory of your background, experience, skills, and achievements. Do you have a track record of proven accomplishments – for instance, writing copy that pulls and beats controls, increasing revenues and profits, cutting costs, solving problems, coming up with innovative ideas? These are all “bottom-line” benefits that companies value, even – or especially – in tough times.
2. Determine who might pay you for that knowledge. Consider firms or organizations where you have contacts, or others you can research. Hidden opportunities lurk in the most surprising places. Think creatively.
3. Match your expertise to the market’s needs and approach your targets. Submit a proposal. If you know the appropriate executives, you have an edge. Cold calls are more challenging, but not impossible.

Aside from money, these “presentation activities,” as I call them, bring you numerous other rewards. I can testify to that from my own experience.

First, don’t forget that whenever you speak, train, consult, or critique, you enhance your reputation and boost your credibility as an expert. That, in turn, helps you land new clients. In fact, speaking may be the single best self-promotional and business-building strategy.

In addition, you win applause and acclaim. You have the satisfaction of helping people, especially younger colleagues in your field. You’re stimulated and energized, especially if your regular work has become boring or routine. You might have opportunities for expense-paid travel, possibly worldwide. You benefit from all sorts of valuable contacts and synergies.

Let’s say it again: Whether from your copywriting work, or the career you had before you made that transition, you have a great deal of valuable knowledge and experience. You can share what you know – and get paid for it. In the process, you create a form of insurance against difficult times.

Of course, limits exist. According to a Wall Street Journal article, no industry or profession is 100% recession proof. But expanding the range of skills and services you provide may come as close as possible to the perfect strategy for protecting yourself in all types of economic climate.

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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

When we interviewed Gary Scott last year, he shared an unbelievable amount of information about how copywriters can build their own self-publishing business and make a very nice living.

Today, he’s back, and he shows you exactly how to build a small but highly responsive list that you can market to, promoting information you’ve written.

CI: A lot of people are concerned about the economy. Have you and Merri seen a slowdown in your income?

Gary Scott: Actually, we’ve had a tremendous increase – up about 45 percent year-on-year over the last six months. In fact, we’re thinking about increasing our staff just because we’re so busy.

The important lesson there is that when the economy slows down, not all of the economy slows down. And one of the beautiful things about having your own small, self-publishing business is that it is so flexible. You can easily shift into areas that benefit from a slow economy.

Now, I didn’t have to shift. The information we publish has always been about how to beat inflation, how to live in low-cost places, and how to invest in currencies all over the world. Those are all hot, hot subjects right now. So the slow economy and the inflation caused by a dropping dollar pushed our business right up.

But if our business had been slowing down, I would certainly be asking myself, “Okay, who’s benefiting at this stage? What are the problems? How do I help people learn about the problems and then find solutions?” As we say all the time to our readers … problems are opportunities.

CI: That’s a good point. The self-publishing industry, especially when you do it online as you and Merri do now, gives you a lot of flexibility …

GS: It’s phenomenal. You can go in fast, do some research, find out what’s going on, come up with an understanding of the problems that people are facing, and then come up with solutions.

For example, we’ve been writing about investing in green companies and alternative energy and water purification for years. Even with the market down, those types of companies are doing much better than the general market. We are running out of oil and running out of clean water. Those are huge problems, and, consequently, they create huge opportunities. It’s obvious when you really think about it.

CI: In a recent article on your website, you talked a little bit about the size of the list you market to. Compared to many publishers, it’s quite small, but very responsive. How do you build a small, responsive list that you can depend on for income?

GS: When Merri and I decided to make a lifestyle change, we had a list of about 23,000 readers of our print letters. Though that list was very small, we had made millions of dollars off of it. So, I wrote to everybody on the list. I sent them a letter saying, “I’m not going to send any more print letters. If you want to continue reading what I have to say, you’re going to have to go to my website.”

At that stage, about 2,000 – maybe 2,500 – readers switched over. So that was a start. And we grow a lot as a result of referrals.

We now rely on four different methods: PR, search engine rankings on Google, my free daily e-zine, and pay-per-click ads.

CI: Tell us a little about how those methods work to build your list.

GS: The trick with PR is very simple. When you’re reading a publication that has information in an area you’re focusing on with your publishing business, and a reporter or editor writes something that makes sense, send them a letter of praise … and always put your website’s name beneath your name. The person you wrote to is likely to print your letter, and that will attract people to your website.

I not only try to do a lot of PR, I do what I can to have my name rank very well on Google, so it’s easy to find me. If someone searches for “Gary Scott” on Google, they’ll get my website. If they follow the Google link to my website, there’s another link right there where they can sign up for the free e-zine that I send out every day.

This is perhaps the most important aspect of my list-building program. I send out an email message to my list seven days a week, 365 days a year, and then I post it on my website. And that helps my rankings on Google … a lot. Google likes websites that consistently post fresh content.

The Internet makes it easy and efficient for me to send messages to my list regularly. And I have my list split into people who are interested in living in Ecuador … people who are interested in being multi-currency investors … people who are interested in global health secrets. So when I have an idea related to one of those subjects, I can email those particular readers who will be interested in it.

I always send my emails as plain text, so it doesn’t take a long time for people to load on their computer if they don’t have broadband. Then I invite them to go to my website and read it with pictures added.

Having lots of visits to the website and having fresh content posted to the website every day allows even a little one-man operation like mine to rank well on Google.

On many days – probably three out of every seven – the text of my message, the heading of my message, will rank very high on Google. For example, I wrote a message about essential oil mists and their healing properties the other day. The head of my title was “essential oil mists.” On Google, a search for the words “essential oil mists” ranked my site number six.

As I said, when a particular search phrase brings people to my website, we offer them a free report or a free e-zine to get them to sign up and find out more about who we are.

The miracle of the Internet is that it enables you to come into people’s homes as often as you want and gain their trust and confidence. For me, the Internet is not about developing a huge list. It’s about developing an intimate relationship with people who have a very specific interest in things that I have some expertise in – and then communicating with those people day in and day out so that they come to trust me. Then when the time comes for them to act on that interest that we share, they’re going to act via me. I find that those people also give me many referrals.

CI: How does your pay-per-click program fit into the picture?

GS: I do that for my Ecuador business. One of the things we publish is called Ecuador Living. It’s all about living, owning property, making investments, and traveling in Ecuador. I have an aggressive pay-per-click program for it that brings about 20 to 30 new people to my list every day.

CI: In your business, you stick to things you love … things you are passionate about. Some of our readers are still searching for a business idea that lights them up. What advice do you have for them?

GS: The foundation of a successful business is to do what you love. Turn your passion into profit. (That’s a phrase I started using 18 years ago.) And there’s a practical reason for it. Because when we do things that we enjoy and that we find fulfilling, we put more time and energy into them. And I promise you that if you want to have a successful, small business, even if you operate from home, you will need to put a lot of time and energy into that business.

Don’t get caught up in thinking that you have to find the one perfect thing that you want to do all the time. There are aspects of any business that you’re not going to like to do. In my case, it’s accounting. I hate doing accounting. I hate doing my taxes. I’m not an administrator. I like to write. I like to market. So I do writing and marketing most of the time, and I do the stuff that’s drudgery for me only when I finally simply have to do it.

When searching for the right business idea, ask yourself this: “If I were going to retire tomorrow and could do any one thing that I wanted to do, what would it be? Would I travel? Would I ride horses? Would I go fishing? Would I paint pictures? Would I go to concerts? If money and time were not an issue, what would I do?

Getting the answer to that question is step number one.

CI: And what’s step number two?

GS: Recognize that what you end up doing may not be anything like what you thought it would be. But once you get going, nature will lead you in the right direction – to where you really need to be in order to feel content. Our publishing program with AWAI is called Self-Publishing – Your Complete Business Plan for Creating a Life Without Borders … because the self-fulfillment aspect of being in business is so important. Being in business isn’t about “Hey, I’m cool, I’m having fun. This is all one great big, jolly trip.” It’s about feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, when your head hits the pillow. It’s about feeling good, even if you had to do a lot of the things you didn’t want to do that day.

So just go ahead and get something small started.

What do you feel enthusiastic about right now? That enthusiasm will help you turn your passion into a business. If, for example, trout fishing is your passion, you will want to learn more about which lures work best. You will want to learn more about which rivers are best. You will want to learn more about all the best gear to take and where to go and when to go and so forth. What you learn will lead you to take action. Whether that action creates profits or loss, the process will generate more information, which will lead you to new business ideas.

This May was my 40th year in business … and when I look back at what I was doing 40 years ago, in some ways it’s the same, but in other ways it’s very different. I’m living in a different place in a completely different way. And the message I’m sharing with my readers is completely different because I’m different at 62 than I was at 22. I’m still writing about the things that I’m doing and enjoying and that I’m enthusiastic about, but it’s continually evolved over the years.

First, I ran my business while living in Hong Kong, then while living in London, and then while living Naples, Florida. I’m doing it right now from up in the middle of nowhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, and shortly I’ll be heading down to Ecuador where I have a hotel. Running a hotel in a little Andean village may seem crazy, but Merri and I are having a ball doing it. We actually gave the hotel away to a charity, so we don’t make any money from it. But we write about the process of running it. We love writing. That’s what we do. We’re publishers.

CI: Let’s go back to the nuts and bolts of an Internet publishing business. You start with an idea that you’re enthusiastic about. You build your list and develop your products. What about marketing?

GS: When you are doing what you love and you have a really focused market, your product becomes your best marketing vehicle.

I have three e-zines that I publish – one of them every single day and the others four or five times a week. And they are, first of all, search engine optimized a bit. Let’s say I do an article about real estate in Ecuador. In the past, when I was writing my print newsletters, I would try very hard not to repeat words. But for my e-zines, I do everything I can to repeat the key phrases without sounding like a total idiot. So I may have the words “Ecuador real estate” in the first four paragraphs of my message eight times. That message will be providing valuable information related to something that I’m selling. Then I invite my readers to buy that thing and give them a link to my promotional copy. But my promotional copy is minimal. I have about 20 products. So there are 20 pages of promotional copy at my garyascott.com website, though the site has almost 2,000 pages of content in total.

Most of those 2,000 pages will kind of sell something a little bit. For example, I just wrote a page about essential oil mists. I get a commission of 15 percent on any essential oil mist that I sell through my website – but I can’t just send my readers hard marketing every single day. They will become suspicious, and I will lose my intimate relationship with them. They will stop trusting me. So I write an article about how good essential oils are, and provide useful information about how to use them. Then, at the end, I say, “By the way, I use this … and here’s a special being offered by my friend who I’ve known for 20 years.”

Doing it this way fulfills our mission statement, which is to give people valuable, interesting, usable information that makes their life better. So with every message I send out, I make sure I do that. And then I give them links so they can buy something. If they’re interested, they can go on to that link. But there is no pressure.

I’m sure that a strong copywriter could do much better at marketing. But when you are a small two-person operation – it’s just Merri and me here – you can’t do everything perfectly. This is where enthusiasm comes into the equation again. If I’m enthusiastic about these essential oils because I like them and use them and really think they’ve helped my health, I believe that enthusiasm will carry through to my readers. The product itself actually becomes the marketing message.

It’s kind of like Oprah. The reason so many people follow her is because her lifestyle is a huge part of her marketing message. She promotes things that she uses herself and sincerely likes.

There have been times when, writing to my investing list, I’ll talk about something that I’m buying myself … and it’ll tank. It’ll lose money. So I go back to my readers and say, “Boy, I really goofed up on that one, and this is what it cost me.” And I’ve found that readers don’t dislike you or lose confidence in you if you honestly make a mistake – especially if they see that you are suffering from the mistake as well as they are. In fact, showing that I’m sharing their pain probably even strengthens the relationship.

CI: You mentioned you have about 20 different products. Do you use any strategies to make those products appeal to different audiences?

GS: Most of the things I do get used in a variety of ways. When I put on a seminar, for example, I will then write about what I talked about in the seminar in my e-zine … and then invite people to come to another seminar. So the text and the visuals from the initial seminar become my editorial, and my editorial becomes my marketing for the next seminar.

Here’s another example of how I turn a product into marketing …

Our Ecuador Living subscribers pay us $119 a year. They get an email every other day about some Ecuador real estate that’s for sale or about some idea or information that’s about Ecuador. They also get discounts if they come to Ecuador and stay in certain hotels that we’ve organized for them. And they get free broadband while they’re in Ecuador and the use of a free office. But the main thing is that email they get every other day.

Then I have a list of Ecuador Living prospects. These are people from my pay-per-click program that have shown an interest in Ecuador. They gotten a free report from me, but they haven’t bought anything. I send them an email every one to two weeks.

Today, I sent my Ecuador Living subscribers a long report about Ecuador visas. It told them about seven different kinds of visas that they can get if they decide to come and live in Ecuador. The first one covered in the report was the Ecuador tourist visa.

So I took the first part of the report – the part about the Ecuador tourist visa – and sent it to my Ecuador prospects. And I told them, “If you are an Ecuador Living subscriber, you can get the entire report, which tells you all about six other types of visas you can get. For more information, go to …” and then there’s a link.

So part of that report was repackaged and used as a marketing piece. (Actually, it was hardly even repackaged, it was just stripped out.) And the only thing that changed it from being a pure product to a marketing piece was a link at the bottom.

Another way that I leverage my products is through strategic alliances. I work with AWAI, I work with International Living, I work with Taipan, I work with Sovereign Society, I work with many of the Agora publications. The understanding we have is that they can take any of my articles and send them out to their readers as informational postcards … as long as they put in my email address. And that turns those articles into prospecting tools for me, making it possible for me to reach out to their huge mailing lists. I can usually tell when they’ve mailed one of my articles, because my reader list will usually pop up 20 to new 30 subscribers in a day.

CI: Before we wrap up this interview, is there any final advice you’d like to give to copywriters who are thinking about becoming self-publishers.

GS: Being a copywriter is a great place to start. Because the first thing you learn in copywriting is how to communicate. Plus, as a copywriter, you already like to write. And once you’ve got that, all you need to do is focus on a subject you’re passionate – one that you can turn into a profitable business by sharing information about it with other people.

Some people worry that they won’t be able to come up with enough ideas to write about. But the opposite is true. The more you write about things that you care about, the more ideas will come to you.

My best advice to you is to open your mind to new ideas by writing about things that really interest you … every single day. I get up in the morning and I do a meditation, and then I go sit out on the front porch. I have a beautiful view in front of me and a cup of coffee – and so many ideas pop into my head that I can’t possibly write about them all. I go into town, I pick up the newspaper, I sit and watch a couple of deer frolicking in a field – everyplace I go and everything I do inspires thoughts about things that I want to share with my readers.

It’s easy. Just write about things that you’re interested in – and gear your marketing to attract people who are interested in those same things. You’ll see.

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

AWAI Wall of Famer Jim Turner is a popular guy.

As of today, he’s got 4,944 people following him on Twitter.com, wanting to see what he’ll say next … and about another 5,000 friends on Facebook.com.

This popularity has had a huge impact on Jim’s success as a professional copywriter. Because the majority of his clients have come as a result of his social media marketing efforts. (To learn more about social media, read yesterday’s issue of Copywriting Insider.)

Like Jim, you too can use social media to your advantage and gain copywriting clients.

It takes time … both to land paying assignments and to stay on top of today’s hottest online marketing trends. But the effort is worth it.

Here’s Jim’s advice on exactly how to do it:

1. Join social media websites. Sign up for an account on social media sites like Twitter.com, Facebook.com, MySpace.com, LinkedIn.com, and Ning.com. It doesn’t cost anything. When you go to these websites, the actual sign-up process is self-explanatory. Once you’ve set up your account, fill out your profile.
2. Start following others and what they’re saying. Social media is born out of the human need to communicate with each other. It’s good to follow people who have a very large audience. And as a copywriter, you’ll want to follow people whose audience consists mainly of entrepreneurs who may at some point need your services. Here are some people Jim recommends you follow, that fit this very criteria:
   • Barack Obama
   • Guy Kawasaki
   • Leo Laporte
   • Chris Brogan
   • Amber MacArthur
   • Mari Smith
   • Sherman Hu

   “Following someone” means requesting to be their friends on Facebook, signing up for any e-letters they may have, reading their blog posts, and following them on Twitter. Simply put, it’s using every avenue available to stay on top of what they’re saying, the ideas they’re espousing, etc.

3. Make yourself known. You can do this by leaving comments on the person’s blog. Also invite others to join your social network and follow what you’re saying on a day-to-day basis. For instance, Jim will regularly post comments that demonstrate his knowledge of marketing and copywriting. He’ll also let others know about valuable resources that may help them out.
4. Build relationships. Once you’ve got some friends and followers, certain people will start dialogues with you. Because of the nature of the social networks you’ll be joining, many of these people will be entrepreneurs with businesses that can greatly benefit from your copywriting services. After about a month of communicating with these people, you’ll start to build trust. It’s at that point that you suggest you talk on the phone. Usually by that point, it’s to discuss a potential copywriting/marketing project.
5. Wash rinse and repeat. Keep doing this on a consistent basis, and you’ll start forming many relationships with business owners who need your services. In fact, according to Jim, many of these solo-entrepreneurs don’t even have time to get on the phone, but they will take the time to see what people are saying on social sites like Twitter and Facebook, and post comments on blogs.

To make social networking an effective way to get clients, you’re going to have to get big numbers of people on your social networks. So follow the steps above, and with time and consistent effort, you’ll get to that point.

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

Not too many years ago, most employers preferred a snail-mailed or faxed resume over one submitted via e-mail. Today, however, it is a different story. According to a recent article in the Freelance Work Exchange, only 4% of employers said they preferred to receive resumes by e-mail in 1999. By 2000, the number had skyrocketed to 48% – and you can be sure this year’s number will be even higher.

Given this trend, it’s not only new graduates who are currently in the market for help in writing eye-catching resumes that stand out amongst the competition.

Could resume writing turn out to be a lucrative side business for you while you’re building your copywriting career? If you’re interested, you might want to e-mail Louis Hart at memberservices@awaionline.com for information on AWAI’s Resume Writing Program (which comes complete with resume-writing software and a comprehensive instruction manual).

Meanwhile, here are a few tips from the AWAI Resume Writing Program that you can use when preparing your own resume to go after new clients …

When Writing Your Resume, Remember the No.1 Lesson You Learned About Copywriting: Know Your Prospect

In this case, you are not pitching a sale to a prospective buyer of a product/service. Your audience is the editor, publisher, or marketing director who is looking for a piece of copy or an article that will get the most attention or bring in the most money. Your potential client/employer – be he a CEO or Mr. Perkins at the corner bakery – wants to know what YOU can do for HIM.

In order to write an effective resume, you have to put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and think like him. Ask yourself what he would be looking for in a copywriter. Ask yourself how you can make yourself stand out and look unique.

Have you written articles or successful sales letters in the past? If so, list them and (if you’re sending your resume by fax or snail-mail) include copies. Do you have an impressive education? Make sure you mention it.

Here Are Some Other Important Things to Keep in Mind While Putting Your Resume Together …

1. Keep your job objective focused. If you want to write copy for a health, travel, or financial publication, say so. Avoid listing a number of different interests. If you have too many, you cannot be considered an expert in any of them.
2. Use bullets to help zero in on your accomplishments and achievements – and use specific numbers and details to add to your credibility. (Sound familiar?) These are the types of things a prospective client/employer wants to see:
   • You increased a company’s sales by 53%.
   • You authored 5 published articles in ABC magazine on hidden hot spots throughout Europe.
   • You increased a renewal rate by 37%
3. Make sure your contact information (name, address, phone/fax/e-mail numbers) is at the top of the page.
4. List your most impressive (relevant) accomplishments first.
5. If copywriting is a career change for you and you feel that you don’t have enough experience to create an impressive resume, don’t worry about it. Experience isn’t a “must” to land a job. However, that doesn’t mean you should try to fill up your resume with other irrelevant things. Instead, you might want to structure it this way:
   • Objective
   • Summary of Experience
   • Accomplishments
   • Professional Background
   • Education
   • References
6. Never, EVER put the following things on your resume:
   • your salary expectations
   • personal data (age, sex, marital status, etc.)
   • cutesy gimmicks
   • your photo
   • your reasons for leaving your previous job
7. If you’re going to submit your resume via e-mail, the best way to do it is to cut-and-paste it into the body of your message instead of including it as an attachment. Attachments are too-often filed and lost instead of printed and read. Also, a potential employer might delete your attachment rather than risk getting a virus by downloading it. (Don’t forget that your e-mailed resume must be formatted like a plain-text document. Boldface, italics, underlining, and color will be lost during the cut-and-paste process.)

The Best Spare-Time Business

In just 6 hours and 35 minutes, you can be in business earning $60 – $150 an hour writing simple resumes. That’s how long it takes to “create” what is without question the world’s easiest spare-time business.

It’s a great way for you to earn additional income while getting another freelance business off the ground … or anytime you just want a little extra cash! Learn how you can become a resume writer today!

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