Notes from Minnesota

Hey Freelancers!

Wow! Talk about a busy winter! I just got back from Canton SD. It was at least 500 fricking degrees below zero, I'm sure. My poor little car barely turned over each morning.

But I'm back in my warm office. The dogs are happy. The pet rat has a huge tumor on his hind leg.

So... does the old guy (he technically should have died a year ago according to his life expectancy chart) go in for surgery or do we wait it out? He's happy as a clam, just looks real “hip-ish.”

Dunno.

Nobody tells you these things when you adopt a rat.

And there's a ton of stuff you'll run into as you proceed through your freelance career. That's why I love the Internet so much... much less isolation.

And today's feature article is all about the Internet. I hope you glean some fab information from it.

Onward and upward,

Beth

P.S. Be sure to check out our awesome resources for writers. You'll be amazed at what you can get your hands on. :)

Beth's Hot Pick of the Week

I've got a hum dinger for you this week!

I teach a local class called “How to Get Published (Without Falling For Scams, Hooks, Lines, or Sinkers). Up until now, I haven't made a big online brouhaha about the text I use for various reasons.

However, with Valentines day approaching I thought I'd give you guys something mucho special:

Pick up your copy of Filbert's Fast Guide to Getting Published (Without Falling for Scams, Hooks, Lines, or Sinkers) and I'll toss in my second meditation CD called Dissolving Blocks.

Yup. There's a catch. I have 20 copies of this title on my desk. I have 20 CDs. The minute they're gone, I'm pulling the “Free CD” link from the site.

So, have at it and good luck! I know you'll l-o-v-e each resource.

Click here

January Events for the Creative Mindset Community

The Creative Mindset Newsletter has grown and is now the Creative Mindset Community. Here are the latest events to get your keyboard humming and profits rising:

This month you'll receive our second meditation CD called Dissolving Writing Blocks. Watch for it in your regular Creative Mindset Newsletter.

We're planning our February Call: Our Freelancer Round Table Discussion will cover more Internet marketing techniques. You can get all the call-in information at our private Yahoo Group. If you're a member of the Creative Mindset Community and haven't gotten in, surf here:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CreativeMindsetCommunity/

Remember. You must be a member of the Creative Mindset Community and receive the print newsletter the Creative Mindset Journal to join this group. If you'd like to join us, we welcome you. You can get all the info you need at the following link.

When you join us, you'll receive monthly Round Table Discussions, CDs, books, a top notch newsletter, a private discussion group, and much more... click this link: http://filbertpublishing.com/creative.html

Want to get published? Do this.

The numbers are staggering.

According to self publishing guru Dan Poynter, 195,000 books were published last year (2006). That’s around 500 released each and every DAY.

Talk about overwhelming numbers, eh?

Now, I’ve got to make a couple things clear. Of those 500 books, most are utter crap. Seriously. They are. One quick surf to some of the for-profit POD “publishers” should verify this.

Of the remaining titles, you can count on a number that are pretty good, but the authors don’t know word-one about marketing. These titles will simply die a very quiet death.

The titles left standing will be those (both good and bad, mind you) whose authors know how to market.

You see, success doesn’t come to the author who writes the best. No-siree-bob.

Success comes to the best marketer. Period.

Just ask Madonna… the uber-super-star who can’t sing, dance, or write very well.

But boy can she market.

Which brings me (oh so eloquently, I might add) to today’s topic: your website.

You see, the difference between an unsuccessful writer and a successful one can be as simple as the website they create and how well it conveys their USP.

(If you don’t know what USP, or Unique Sales Proposition is, don’t worry. We’ll cover that in depth later on. In a nutshell, however, you can define your USP as that aspect of your freelancing style that makes you unique from every other writer on the planet.

Do you come from a particular background that’ll give you an edge in a particular market? How ‘bout your education? Anything special about it? Sky’s the limit. Claim your particular USP and run with it…

But I digress. We’re talking about websites today. So back to it.)

Let’s begin by talking about why you need a website in the first place.

Your website will build credibility. Believe it or not, just maintaining an active website presence places you as an expert in your field. A writer who takes the time to write and update a website is a writer who takes their career seriously. When you take your career seriously, so will your prospective clients.

Not only that, having a web address on your business cards looks impressive. Hand your card to an editor and they’ll instantly know you’re web-savvy. I’ve received more than one writing assignment because the editor/publisher/client knows they can easily contact me via e-mail.

Your website is a wonderful place to house clips and writing samples. Every query you send out can provide a simple, easy-to-remember URL (that’s your website address) along with links to your clips. Your web site is like a billboard advertising your writing services, selling your books, generating credibility with everyone who visits. It’s a silent sales person, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, plus it provides more information about you and your writing than any query could possibly hold.

Owning a website makes applying for online writing assignments a breeze. Keep an updated (and benefit-oriented) resume on your site. “Benefit Oriented” means that instead of talking about your skills, your qualifications, you always keep your message zeroed in on your reader and what your skills will do for them. The difference between a traditional resume and a benefit oriented one is that rather than convince someone to call you for an interview, as a freelancer, your resume must entice a potential client to hire you for a specific freelance project. You’re in the driver seat and whether or not you get the job is entirely dependent upon the way you describe your skills. Again, I’ll cover this in more depth in an upcoming issue.

This website will make it a snap to contact online publications. Just place a hot resume URL in your query so they can click right to it. Always make every action on the part of your reader utterly simple. Any time you complicate the process, you lose more sales.

Be sure to include your home page addy. Then allow your well-written, effortless to navigate, and thought-out, thoroughly tested website do most of the marketing work for you.

Here’s a cool hint: Keeping a separate page on your web site for various resumes gives your assignment searches flexibility. Create one URL for your resume that focuses on your article writing abilities. Create another one for your fiction pursuits. Maybe you want one web page solely for your copywriting achievements.

Each page can hold links for corresponding clips. Creating multiple resume pages focuses your querying efforts like a laser.

After all, if you’re querying a dog-training publication and you can provide a separate (benefit-oriented) resume and clip file highlighting all your dog-training abilities, who do you think that publication will hire? You or someone who has provided generic information that may or may not have anything to do with that particular subject?

It’s really a no-brainer. I’d hire the specialist… or at least the person who appears to be an expert in that subject.

Owning a website is inexpensive. You can easily find a reliable hosting company for as little as six bucks a month. Plus, the cost of owning it gets lower when you consider that the cost is tax deductible (if you use it solely for business purposes).

You can sell some of your minor writing projects on your web page. Once you have a nice flow of traffic visiting your site, you can diversify your income by writing booklets, articles, reports, books. You can even sell e-books and forgo effort of packaging items, or running to the post office.

One of my great joys in life is waking up in the morning, checking my Paypal account and finding out I sold a buncha books overnight. All without a stitch of effort on my part. I personally enjoy making cash in my sleep, and I’m sure you do, too.

Maintaining a website creates a hub where clients, other writers, and potential customers can congregate and “meet” you. When you have a website, I’m sure you’ll create an e-mail link on every page so visitors can contact you. Answer as many e-mails as you can. You’ll find that as time passes, you’ll soon receive more e-mail than you can hope to answer in two lifetimes. But do your best because when you take the time to do this, you’ll make invaluable contacts, you’ll network with other writers, but most of all... you’ll make friends. Writing can be a lonely profession. But not so when you have your own “cheer leading section.”

A website may make you newsworthy. When you get your name in front of your potential customers on a regular basis, you’re more apt to obtain their writing assignments. What’s newsworthy? The answer to that question is only limited by your imagination. Make your site the best source of information your clients need and you’ll find yourself newsworthy.

If you write books, using your website to create a message board, “e-mail list” or e-mag may make finding a publisher easier. Showing a potential publisher that you’ve taken the time to create an audience for your subject, telling them that you’ve got a few thousand potential readers waiting for your messages just may tip the scales in your favor when it comes to considering your proposal.

As a publisher myself, I carefully research any prospective authors who contact me. If I’m remotely interested in their proposal, I’ll Google them. I check out their website. I want to find out what kind of marketers they are.

If I find a website that sucks, if they aren’t in Google, if I get the “vibe” that they’re not comfortable with self promotion, I nix the query.

It’s a sad commentary on the state of the industry that we must keep one eye towards profitability at all times, but that’s reality.

If we take on too many titles that don’t sell, we won’t recoup our costs. If we don’t make even an modest profit from a title, we don’t stay in business. It’s that simple.

And writers who don’t understand marketing enough to create a decent website won’t receive as many writing assignments. It’s that simple.

Owning a website and attracting traffic towards it is a big step in acquiring a readership. Fiction writers will find attracting that readership invaluable. Post chapter samples of your newest project online. Request feedback. REALLY get to know your audience. You’ll be surprised how your perception of your reader differs from reality.

When you know your audience, inside and out, you can tailor what you write to fit their needs. Then everyone’s the winner. The reader receives something they need. You’ll sell your writing.

You can anticipate the questions potential customers will ask and provide answers on a FAQ page. You’ll save a ton of time if you don’t have to repeat the answer to the same questions over and over.

This is an especially helpful website page if you sell any of your own products. It’s also a handy-dandy way to introduce yourself if you’re not a big-name writer yet.

Just post an interview-type FAQ and you can allow your reader to have a peek into your life. It’s a compelling, interesting

You can stay in contact with your readers. Have an area where readers/clients/visitors can sign up for updates, news, etc. Then keep in touch with them on a regular basis.

In this business, the worst thing that can happen is that you’re forgotten. Between assignments, between book deals, between article publications, you can keep in touch with your readers and keep yourself in the forefront of their mind.

This is imperative. With those 500 books released each day, I don’t have to tell you that there are way too many distractions that can attract your readership’s attention.

With continual reminders that you’re alive, kicking, and writing up a storm, you can avoid falling into the abyss of oblivion.

After you’ve written a while, you may acquire international clients. I live in Minnesota. I’ve written articles for people in Europe. Folks from Africa have purchased my books. I know I wouldn’t have met these people without my web site.

It’s true that you can live absolutely anywhere and work as a successful writer.

All courtesy of the Internet.

I’ve heard that the Internet is the mid-list author’s best friend.

As readerships decline worldwide, as major publishing houses slash the number of authors they take on, as economic conditions tighten and the dollar continues to fall, reaching beyond your little neighborhood to snatch readers becomes imperative.

The Internet (and thus, your website) will make all this a reality.

You can convey the image you want to project on your web site. Want to look like a small company? Fine. Create a page that makes you look warm, cozy, and local. If you want to compete with the “big guys” make your page slick, professional, and concise. It’s completely up to you.

Good or bad, you can make your webpage reflect you in any way you want.

I know writers who create such a compelling online presence that after I’ve met them in person, I can’t believe I actually met them.

They look nothing like their picture. Their personality doesn’t match what they’ve written at all.

This is where I warn newbie writers to always think ahead to the day when they begin to gain their readership. Make sure you’re recognizable from your picture. Allow your writing personality to reflect your real one.

Make yourself instantly recognizable when your readers meet you in person.

That means you don’t use your “skinny” picture unless that pic is a reflection of who you really are.

Honestly. I mean this.

I once met a fellow writer who was a full 50+ pounds heavier than his pic reflected. I didn’t recognize him.

It was quite awkward. Don’t make your readers go through this.

But I digress…

Finally, your competition probably has a website and is already landing assignments. Know your competitors. Study their websites. (I’ve provided a few of them on the accompanying CD.) Write better than they do. Design a better website. It’s easy to do, once you finish reading this.

But most of all, squeeze everything you can out of every dime you put into your promotion efforts. Creating and maintaining a web site is a wonderful way to reach as many potential clients for just a little investment of time and money. Your competition already knows this. You should too.

Onward and upward. Now that you know why it’s so imperative that you have a website, next time we’ll get down to the nitty gritty.

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Beth Ann Erickson is the “Queen Bee” of Filbert Publishing. She’s also the author of numerous titles including “101 No Cost and Low Cost Secrets To Turbo Charge Your Freelance Income.” Pick up your copy today at http://filbertpublishing.com/101.html She’s also a busy copywriter, speaker, and publisher of Writing Etc., the free e-mag for writers. 

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I Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*-

http://www.WritingForDollars.com

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