If you’re a writer looking for ways to make more money from your writing, I’d like
to clue you in on one area you may not have thought of, let alone heard of: freelance
copywriting.

Copywriting is, basically, salesmanship in print. Copywriters create marketing pieces
for individuals and companies designed to sell their products and services. Copywriters
produce sales letters, websites, press releases, e-mails, white papers, case studies, articles,
books, and a wide variety of written materials that help companies sell and make money.

Copywriting can be very lucrative, depending on skill level and the kind of copy being
produced. The top sales letter copywriters, for example, make $10,000 to $50,000 or
more to produce a single sales letter. These fees are rare for most copywriters, however,
but a good copywriter can still expect to make $2,000 to $8,000 or more per sales letter.

Copywriting offers a lot of work flexibility. You can work as much or as little as you
want, from wherever you want. Whether it’s by the pool or at your cabin in the woods,
as long as you have a computer with Internet access, you can write copy. This flexibility
also gives you the time to spend working on that novel if that’s your thing.

What kind of clients and companies will hire you? The usual suspects include newsletter
publishers, mail order companies, direct response advertising agencies, marketing
consultants, and Internet marketers. I’ve written copy for authors, coaches, consultants,
and even other copywriters who outsource their client work to other writers.

What do you need to get started? You should have an interest in nonfiction and
promotional writing. If it isn’t fun, you won’t do it. You should also have a firm grasp
of language and a knowledge of, or the willingness to learn, copywriting. You should
also learn all you can about sales and marketing, because you will not only use those
tools in your client work, but in marketing yourself to potential clients and getting them
to hire you. You also need a good computer with word processing software and Internet
access. If you’re going to be working away from home you’ll need a laptop.

If copywriting sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to learn all you can about it.
Here are a couple of books to get you started: The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman,
and Secrets of a Freelance Writer by Bob Bly. These are arguably the best books in the
field on getting started as a freelance copywriter.

Good luck!

James Palmer is a freelance copywriter who has written websites, e-mail promotions,
books, and other marketing materials for Bob Bly, Jill Lublin, Early to Rise, Dr. Al
Sears M.D., and a wide variety of businesses large and small. For a free copy of his e-
book “21 Steps to Starting and Running a Six-Figure Freelance Copywriting Business”
visit www.jamesmpalmer.com/thesuccessfulwriter.htm.

–

Can you feel it coming … a fresh start around the corner? It’s natural to feel excitement about the new year and want to look back on the current year, assess it, and look ahead to what’s possible in the year ahead.

One of the most important gifts you will ever give yourself and your dream is to have a plan. I don’t mean a detailed project plan or to-do list. I’m talking about your internal plan and your external plan for making your dream a reality. Without a plan, even the most brilliant idea or passionate desire will end up on a shelf, gathering dust with all of your other unfulfilled desires.

Below are 12 questions you should consider asking yourself as a first step in the planning process.

1. What were your intentions for this year? What were the things that were most important for you to accomplish?

2. How would you say you did in achieving those? Which parts came together and which ones didn’t?

3. Where, if anywhere, did you fall short (we all fall short sometimes … just be totally honest with yourself without putting yourself down)?

4. What were the things that came easily to you this past year?

5. What things were your greatest challenges?

6. What would you need to do differently next year to reach your targets?

7. What do you most want to have happen in the coming 12 months? In other words, where do you want to be in one year? NOTE: It’s really important to set a target that, with a little help from the universe, is BELIEVABLE for you. Don’t set a target of making a million dollars if you’re currently making $50,000. Look at your capabilities, the time, energy and resources available to you, and your level of faith, and set something that’s a bit of a stretch, but also realistic for you.

8. Why do you want this? Be very specific.

9. What do you anticipate will be your greatest obstacles?

10. How will you overcome those obstacles, specifically?

11. Who is at least one person you can rely on to support you unconditionally?

12. How are you going to hold yourself accountable for the promises you make to yourself?

Your Dreaming Big! Creating Reality Assignment This Week:

Take an hour, and journal the answers to the above questions before you take any further action toward making your dreams or desires a reality.

Elizabeth Grant, “The Quantum Coach,” is a spiritual mentor and personal coach who specializes in helping people let go of the struggle. Clients learn how to integrate day-to-day the power of now and universal laws to achieve ease of life, deep happiness and effortless attraction of what they desire. More info: yourquantumsuccesscoach.com. To schedule media interviews email info@thequantumcoach.net.

© 2010 Elizabeth Grant. All Rights Reserved.

Many writers and educators and books  offer various ideas and methods to organize your essays.  There are rules, the authors and experts explain; writers should make meticulous outlines, create notes, organize, shuffle, and double down.

You remember these rules?  Or have you cleverly blocked out all that ponderous and repetitive advice on how to create a long essay?

Let me remind you then: A long time ago, in a land far, far away, the good essay – the essay that earned the A in the class – was the one written with an outline. The outline was a closed system; there was no room for creative interpretation. Outlines were all about the rules.

In the perfect outline, each topic was labeled with Roman numerals I, II and III.  Each sub-heading was listed with a capital Arabic letter A, B, C.  Then the sub sub-headings of the topic were created with those i , ii and iii, then if there was more to say, the lower case a., b. and c. I’d tell you what was supposed to be listed under a., b. or c. but I never, ever drilled an outline down that far.

The complimentary method to the elaborate outline was the three-by-five index card.  Each separate thought was to be written on those index cards. Then apparently, with the help of the cumbersome outline system, you shuffled the cards; labeled them with letters and roman numerals and voila your essay is complete. Now all you have to do is type it up.

The key word to this whole process and system is type.

The inherent problem with the outline/index card system is that it doesn’t address or acknowledge the reality of the current technology. The above ideas are linked to the technology of the typewriter not to the computer or even word processor.

Creating a final paper on a typewriter is fraught with drama and more often: frustration. There is one opportunity to get it right on a typewriter, to do so, all the required information needed to be complete, accurate and available. Even the most advance typewriter had limited back space/white-out capacity. It was possible, mind you, to use liquid white out to delete and re-type whole paragraphs, or so I’ve heard. But at that point, the whole page needed to be retyped.   Think of that, retyping a whole page, not just cutting and pasting to a new document.

Fortunately things have change. Correction fluid dabs much more smoothly on a computer screen.

In light of the current technology, to suggest that you work out your essay using three-by-five cards is analogous to suggesting that you catch fish using a spear. You can do it of course, and some people prefer to catch fish with a spear because that’s what they know (or you are part of the aboriginal spear-caught fishing movement where all fish needs to be killed by spear because it tastes better and is more humane for the fish. Movements like that always seem to start up in the Bay Area); but a modern fly-fishing system is more efficient and has different tools.

You have permission to dig out the last of your index cards and throw them at the fish.

Ninety nine percent of all writers compose on the computer – and if they don’t directly compose, they are just working on drafts in long hand, not organizing a final paper in long hand.

Composing on the computer is faster and more fluid. You can write as fast as you can and then arrange the paragraphs in the order that makes the most sense – there’s your outline.  You can pull your quotes and sources and cut and paste them into separate pages or paragraphs and store them in a labeled file on the desktop – there are your index cards and your notes.

So before you beat yourself up and worry that you never could figure out how to create an outline, know that you can compose without it.

And you can relegate the roman numerals to Super Bowl announcements.

—

From Don’t Write Like You Talk: A Smart Girl’s Guide to Writing and Editing (3L Publishing)

Catharine Bramkamp holds two degrees in English, published  hundreds of newspaper and magazines articles, a handful of novels and two essays in the Chicken Soup for  the  Soul anthologies. She is an adjunct professor of writing for two colleges and is a successful writing coach.    Visit her at www.YourBookStartsHere.com

For many freelancers, one of the most stressful aspects of their
business is quoting project fees to a new prospect. There’s a lot at
stake. Quote too high and you risk losing the project. Quote too low
and the prospect may wonder if you’re a newbie with little
experience.

The best solution to this dilemma involves the use of a “master fee
schedule,” which is nothing more than a list of the types of
projects you work on and an approximate fee range for each.

The beauty of a master fee schedule is that it takes the stress out
of the quoting process. That’s because when you’re confident that
the fees in your schedule are fair and reasonable (based on the value
you bring to the table and what other freelancers at your level are
charging), you no longer have to worry about quoting a fee that’s
going to scare the prospect away.

Sure, she may still decide that you’re too low or too high. But
that decision will be based on her budget — not your value.

How Do You Assemble a Master Fee Schedule?

#1: Ask fellow freelancers
Developing a reliable fee schedule takes time. You can start by
talking to fellow freelancers and asking them what they charge for
different types of projects. You should also factor in the feedback
you get from clients and prospects when you quote various projects.

#2: Scour the web
Many freelancers will also post their fees for a variety of projects
on their website. You can poke around and get a good feel for what
others are charging. However, be careful with those figures. There are
thousands of freelancers doing work for virtually nothing. That’s
not where you want to be.

#3: Consider the time and effort required
You should then compare this information with the time you spend on
projects. You’ll want to see if the fees you’re charging are
aligned with the time and effort you’ve been putting in. You’ll
also want to compare how your colleague’s fees compare to the
average time you’re investing in some of your projects. That can
reveal areas where you might be undercharging.

I use a tool called TraxTime to record the time I spend on every project
(For Mac users, you have other options. My friend and colleague Steve
Knapp uses “On The Job” from Stunt Software.

Every three months or so, I run reports in TraxTime to find out how
I’m trending in terms of time spent on different types of projects
and profitability levels with each of my clients. This information is
invaluable in helping me evaluate and update my master fee schedule.

#4: Books and Reports
Other good sources on fees are books and reports written by
professionals in your particular field. For instance, Steve
Slaunwhite’s Pricing Your Writing Services is an excellent resource
for freelance writers (Steve is a friend and co-founder of this blog,
so yes, I’m biased!).

So is Michael Stelzner’s White Paper Writer Industry Report. Also,
The Designer’s Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients and
What To Charge Them by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, has been
recommended to me by several graphic designers.

Whatever your field, you will more than likely be able to locate a
book, article or report on pricing for your profession via a quick
Google search.

How to Use Your Master Fee Schedule

Here’s how I use my master fee schedule to qualify a lead. Say that
I get a call from a company looking for someone to write three case
studies. My fee range to write a two-page case study is $1,500 -
$2,000. This includes an interview and up to two rounds of edits.

Once I understand the full scope of the project, the work involved,
the prospect’s needs, degree of urgency and other miscellaneous
factors, I pull out my master fee schedule and quote a range.

But I don’t quote the full range. Instead, I usually quote from
somewhere around the midpoint to the high point. So I may quote $1,500
to $1,750. Why? Because, invariably, if you quote from the low point,
the low number is the only number many folks will remember. Quoting
from the middle up avoids this problem. It helps you set the right
expectations. Also, it gives you a cushion that can protect you should
the project be more difficult than you expected.

Once I quote the fee range, I’ll ask the prospect, “Is this range
within your budget?” I find that this two-step approach (asking
first if they have a budget and then quoting a fee range) is more
effective than the more abrasive “What’s your budget?” question.

This last question is important because getting the “money” issue
out of the way as early as possible will reveal if the prospect is
viable from a budget perspective. In many cases, it will keep you from
having to spend a lot of time thinking about the project, drafting a
proposal and following up three or four times with a prospect who was
only willing to pay half of what you’re asking.

Finally, if the fee range fits within the prospect’s budget, let
the prospect know when he or she can expect your proposal. Even if
they ask for one, never give prospects a firm number during the
initial call. A fee range is as far as you should go. You need some
time to think through all the factors and arrive at a number that
makes sense.

Is this a foolproof system? Not at all. But it takes a lot of the
stress out of the process. It also saves me a great deal of time. It
impresses many prospects who want straight answers (rather than a,
“Well, it depends, Mr. Prospect. I can’t really say.”). And,
above all, it enables me to land more profitable work.

—

Ed Gandia is the co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle (Penguin, 2010). To grab a free copy of his “Freelancer’s Income Expander Kit” (a $126 value) visit http://www.TheWealthyFreelancer.com.

I read that phrase in a blog this week. It wasn’t the major point of the message, but it was the piece that caught my attention.

 
It’s human nature for us to compare ourselves, our talents, our looks, to those around us. We catch ourselves being smug as we recognize poor writing on a cheap website. Or we feel demoralized as an opening hook in a story puts ours to shame.

 
But what if we quit making comparisons and started seeking the take-away value of everyone in our writing path?

One reader placed me on her newsletter list. Her voice was clean, her message multi-layered and intellectually challenging. She shamelessly tackled social issues in her region, often recommending action others wouldn’t have the guts to stand up and endorse. Months later I learned she
lived on a fixed income in a trailer, struggling to make ends meet.

I know another lady who lost her job and opened a writers’ retreat. I purchase articles from writers for FundsforWriters, and many of them amaze me with their knowledge. A new writer can teach you how to be daring and disregard some of the old rules we think we can’t break. An established writer can show us the ropes.

 
As my sons grew up, as they compared themselves to their peers as all boys do, I told them that all of us have the same amount of talent. Imagine me holding my hands in a bowl fashion, as if holding that talent.
Some people use all their talent in one area, becoming gifted, even genius. They might perform their talent without effort, but they can’t balance a checkbook, keep a job or find a  girlfriend. Then there are others who distribute their talents across the realm, spreading it out and becoming
known as a Jack-of-all-trades. They perform decently at almost everything they touch, but aren’t exceptional at anything. Then there are all those in between, utilizing their bowls of talent in different directions and venues.
My point is that everyone is talented. No one can be grand at everything, meaning they have shortfalls and assets. That writer who critiqued your work might get under your skin, but a night’s sleep might make you
realize she was right on your page two. It doesn’t matter if she’s published, where she’s published or whether she’s self-published. Her voice deserves to be heard.

 
That editor who declines your work and makes a suggestion might not understand the point of your story, but he might have a firm grasp of marketing to his readership. He isn’t wrong because his opinion isn’t yours.

Everyone you run into has something to offer you as a writer, as a person. In them you find your best stories, and your best opportunities.

—

C. Hope Clark is editor of FundsforWriters.com, an award-winning newsletter family that reaches 31,000 writers.

If you want to be a successful freelance writer there are three things that you need to be doing on a regular basis.  These are:

• Promoting
• Networking
• Job Hunting

Promoting

Promoting yourself as a freelance writer is vital to your success.  There are a number of ways that you can do this.  You can use article marketing, post new articles to your blog or website or write guest posts for other blog owners.  Promotion is all about getting your name out there and having your freelance writing talents recognized.

Did you know that most potential clients will Google your name to find out more about you?  What does you name show up?  Have you ever actually Googled yourself to see what the results display?  You might be surprised at what you find.

Networking

Networking is all about staying in the loop and talking with other freelance writers.  Networking is a great way to meet potential clients too.  There are a number of ways that you can network and these include using websites such as Facebook and Twitter, following and commenting on other freelance writing blogs and participating in forums.  Networking is also a great way to meet other freelance writers and discuss issues or problems you might be having.  Networking also gets your name out there and to be a successful freelance writer people need to know your name.

Job Hunting

Let’s face it, without freelance writing jobs you are not a freelance writer.  Job hunting is essential no matter how busy you are.  By keeping an eye on what jobs are currently being offered along with the rates that clients are looking to pay you will know exactly what is going on.  You should be doing this on a daily basis because you never know when your dream job will be posted.

These three essential items should be part of your daily freelance writing ritual.  You should dedicate at least an hour a day to these items.  I would suggest that you leave the networking aspect till last as it is very easy to get caught up in the world of Twitter and before you know it you could have spent two hours tweeting and you haven’t even started your paying work yet.

Any successful freelance writer will tell you that promotion and networking are essential to their success and whilst they might have a full client list they still keep an eye on the freelance writing jobs that are being posted.

If you are serious about your freelance writing career then you need to focus on these three items and include them in your daily freelance writing plan.

 —

Discover how you can turn your writing skills into a fabulous ghostwriting career. Amanda Evans’s e book “Ghostwriting Uncovered: How I Quit My Day Job & You Can Too” at http://www.ghostwritinguncovered.com/sl.htm  takes you from novice to pro ghostwriter in step by step format. Packed with information, the e book also provides tips and advice that will help you secure endless clients. You could be signing up your first clients within two days.

There are dozens of viable niche markets for freelance writers and copywriters. You’re probably aware of most of them: white papers, healthcare, publishing, insurance, websites, software, technology.

But there are seven other niche markets that are particularly hot right now that you may not know about.

In fact, I’ve done several presentations on this topic recently and many audience members – some of them experienced freelance writers – have told me how surprised they were to learn these niche markets existed.

So if you’re thinking of focusing on a new niche this year, one of these seven might be worth considering. After all, they’re not crowded with other writers!

Here they are:

1. Ad Agencies & Design Firms

There are more than 70,000 advertising agencies, design firms, PR agencies and other creative services firms throughout North America. Almost all use freelance writing services; at least occasionally. In fact, just one or two clients in this niche can easily fill your schedule with good paying projects.

2. Online Video

Many companies are increasingly using online video on their websites and in banner advertising. If you have a hankering for scriptwriting, this could be a very lucrative niche market for you. (Who knows? It could be a stepping stone to Hollywood!)

3. Professional Service Companies

These are companies that sell services rather than physical products. Examples include architects, corporate trainers, real estate brokers, consultants, event planners and, yes, even copywriters!

Professional service companies need a lot of writing done to help attract clients and build those relationships. Typical projects include service descriptions, special reports, website pages, emails, newsletters, social media posts, and executive bios.

4. B2B Financial Services

Banking, insurance, succession planning, payroll management, debt collection and other financial services targeting businesses (rather than consumers) are booming right now. If you have a financial background, you might want to take a closer look at this growing niche.

5. Membership Associations

Many membership associations like the National Association of Realtors, for example, produce countless seminars, courses, webinars, conferences and other resources and events each year – and they promote those programs using websites, emails, ads, brochures and other marketing materials.

Someone has to write all that stuff!

6. Social Media

This niche shouldn’t be a surprise to most writers. After all, social media is the hottest topic in the internet these days.

But what might surprise you is how eager companies are to leverage social media to build demand for their products and services. As a freelance writer or copywriter, you can help these companies blog, tweet, post, update and otherwise “be social” with their target audiences.

I know two freelance copywriters who specialize exclusively in this area. And both are very busy!

7. Case Studies

You may have heard me talk about case studies before. It’s a great niche for freelance writers and copywriters for two reasons: One, case studies are fun to write. (Who doesn’t enjoy writing a success story?) And two, thousands of companies need case stu<br>dies done. So there’s a high demand.

Well, there you have it. Seven hot niche markets you may not have known about – but do now! If any seem like a good fit for you, explore the niche further. It just might be your ticket to more business and success in 2010.

—

Steve Slaunwhite is a marketing coach and award-winning copywriter.  Find out more about him in particular and copywriting in general at For Copywriters Only.

By Tom Terez

On August 22, 1741, George Frideric Handel shut the door, sat down at his keyboard, picked up a quill, and began to compose. Twenty-four days and nights later, he emerged with 260 ink-filled pages, some of them streaked from his own tears. The result came fully to life on April 13, 1742, at Dublin’s New Music Hall, with the debut of the majestic oratorio now known to the world as Messiah.

Recalling the creation of his two-and-a-half-hour masterpiece, Handel told a friend, “Whether I was in the body or out of my body when I wrote it, I know not.” He worked nonstop, frequently skipping meals. The effort so captured his heart that he often wept as the music flowed. After composing the section known as the “Hallelujah Chorus,” he wrote in his journal, “I think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself.”

What exactly happened in that room during those three weeks and three days in 1741? How did Handel create such a magnificent work in so little time? Are there things we can do in our own lives to create our own Messiah equivalents on a smaller scale?

Part of the answer lies in a concept called “flow.” Made famous in his book by that name, author and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains: “The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

Early in his research, Csikszentmihalyi studied photos of visual artists at work. The photos had been taken at three-minute intervals, allowing him to be a fly on their studio walls — a bit like watching Handel in his composing room. All the photos showed a stunning degree of involvement and absorption, with the artists intensely and exclusively focused on their work. The mental noise and distractions that afflict so many of us appeared to be absent.

Csikszentmihalyi looked beyond the art studio and found that this phenomenon exists elsewhere — among rock climbers, dancers, chess players, athletes, composers, musicians, and others. In fact, wherever he found peak performance, Csikszentmihalyi found “flow.”

Athletes refer to it as “being in the zone.” Basketball champions have left their best games saying that the basket somehow seemed to widen in diameter just for them. Baseball great Ted Williams reported after multi-hit games that he could see the seams on incoming fastballs. Gymnastics standout Carol Johnson once said that the balance beam would seemingly grow wider for her on days when everything came together — to such a degree that “any worry of falling off disappeared.”

Was Handel “in the zone” when he wrote Messiah? Pelé would likely think so. The Brazilian soccer star often experienced “flow” in his Messiah-quality performances on the soccer field. It’s a “euphoria,” he said. “I felt I could run all day without tiring, that I could dribble through any of their teams or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically. I felt I could not be hurt.”

Perhaps you’d like to run all day without tiring and achieve results like Handel or Pelé. If so, the good news is that you can. The bad news is that flow can’t be turned on like water from a faucet. In fact, thinking too hard about putting yourself “in the zone” is probably the worst way to go about it. That’s because the best performance is largely an unconscious proposition — something that emerges from deep within us.

But there are things you can do to create the right conditions. For starters, you need to like what you’re doing; if you don’t, you’ll never achieve flow. Try to stretch yourself, striving for a performance that is above your skill level but still within the realm of doability. Make a habit of this “stretch” process, always aspiring to a higher level as your performance improves. Remove all removable distractions — so turn off that cell phone and stop the multi-tasking.

As your work unfolds, stay in touch with the emotional feedback you’re getting from yourself. Monitor progress, enjoy the glow of achievement, and roll it back in so you can achieve even more. This is vital if you’re working on a big project that will span several weeks or more.

If it seems like a lot of work, go back to Handel. In the first half of 1741, the 56-year-old composer thought his best days were behind him. Chased by creditors, suffering from rheumatism, and coming off of two poorly received operas, he was planning to pack up and return to his native Germany. Then he received a letter with inspired lyrics. The writer was seeking music for his words and felt that only Handel could do the job. That’s when he picked up the quill and worked miracles.

What about you? Are you staying open to opportunity while exercising a Handel-like work ethic? Are you creating the conditions to turn work into flow? Are you transforming those mundane tasks into a meaningful mission? Are you doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways?

These are the questions that can turn ordinary notes on a page into beautiful music.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tom Terez (TomTerez.com) is an international consultant and frequent speaker on organizational performance (BetterWorkplaceNow.com) and personal excellence (InnerBest.com)

It’s become common practice to search for writing opportunities online. After all, it’s easy to do from the comfort of your own computer, and there are dozens of sites listing available projects. The trouble is that you’re usually competing with 20, 30 or sometimes hundreds of other writers from across the globe for the same
project. And, if you’re using a bidding site, it doesn’t take long before someone is bidding so low that you can’t AFFORD to win the project!

If you want to make more money, increase your chances of getting the work, and build potential for repeat business from the same client(s), then it’s time to shift your strategy and take your search offline. It is rare to find online opportunities that pay as well as offline work.
Here are three quick tips to get you started:

1.  Do your homework.

Choose a handful of local businesses –preferably those you already frequent – and conduct a little research. For example, let’ssay you target a small retail business. Check out the website. Browse the store. Make small talk with the owner. Then think of ways you can be of
benefit to that business. Is the website poorly written? Do they have a newsletter or ezine? If so, can it be improved? If not, determine how it
would benefit the business to start one. What kind of advertising do they do?

2.  Present yourself as an asset.

Good writers help businesses do better by producing materials like great ads, intriguing rticles, and informational newsletters, ezines,
or booklets that bring more people in the door. When you demonstrate how you can be an asset to the business, you increase your chances of getting work.

3.  Over deliver.

When you get the job, make sure you do the best job possible and strive to over deliver whenever you can. Small business owners talk to
each other. The potential for word-of-mouth referrals from a few happy clients—as well more business from them in the future—is the
jumpstart that can launch your writing career.

About the Author: Susan Carter is an author, editor and independent publisher of books to help small business owners and aspiring writers thrive in the competitive marketplace. Get more articles and tips like this by signing up for the weekly Monday Muse at www.writerprofits.com