Fifteen Rules for Successful Self Promotion

~~~ Notes from Minnesota ~~~

Hey Freelancer!

Oh my. This new year is gearing up to be an interesting one.

1. Bob Bly (one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet) graciously allowed us to release his incredible ““Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success: How to Make $100,000 a Year as a Freelance Writer and Have the Time of Your Life Doing It” as an economical ebook. I’m beyond excited to hail its praises… in fact today’s feature article is a fast excerpt I hope you’ll enjoy. (You can check it out here.)

2. My podcast, Notes from Minnesota, is growing and now available at iTunes. Very cool. A huge thanks to everyone who has taken a listen, downloaded, and recommended it. I’m humbled (yet very pleased) that so many people have emailed to let me know they found it useful. Yay! If you haven’t checked it out, here’s the video link. The audio link. iTunes.

3. I’ve got some great articles on tap in the upcoming weeks. Keep your eyes open for a number of content-heavy mini issues of Writing Etc. to hit your email box as early as next week. I’m really looking forward to releasing this new idea. Squee!~!

4. Reviews on my novels have been coming in strong. I’m pretty thrilled about that. Thanks for your support. Get free excerpts of all my books, both fiction and nonfiction, here.

5. Finally, and this is fairly sobering news… I haven’t revealed much about this part of my life, although I’ve talked about it in the Podcast. My dad was just categorized as stage4/terminal lung cancer. It’s been a rough couple months with lots of hospital visits and ambulance calls. My only advice concerning this situation is to embrace your mortality, chase your dreams, and write. Life is brief and precious.

Onward and upward!

Beth 🙂

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Fifteen Rules for Successful Self Promotion
Robert W. Bly

1. Never tell anyone that you are not busy and that you are looking for work. (Clients want to hire those who are successful, not those who are hungry.)
2. Always put your name, address, and phone numbers on every piece of promotion you produce. This makes it easy for potential new business to reach you.
3. Write a book. It positions you as an expert.
4. If you don’t have the time to write a book, write an article.
5. When you write that article, try to sell it more than one publication. (You can change the title and a few of the examples to tailor it to each publication’s readers.)
6. Regularly mail reprints of your articles to your prospects and clients. Attach a note or short cover letter to personalize the mailing.
7. Advertise your services in magazines aimed at advertising professionals. Try a variety of journals and different ads until you find which ads give the best results. Also, try both classified and display formats.
8. Use direct mail to generate new business leads. A successful mailing of only a hundred letters can often yield five to 10 highly qualified new prospects.
9. Create a package of literature describing your services, background, fees, methods, clients and so forth. Mail the package to people who request more information in response to your ads and mailings. Such a package is extremely useful in prescreening leads.
10. Some copywriters, such as the late Paul Bringe, have had great success using self-published newsletter to promote their services. Newsletters help build recognition and establish credibility with a select audience (the people who receive the newsletter) over an extended period of time.
11. Don’t skimp on letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. The letterhead design and paper quality can convey an image of class and success.
12. Package your copy so that it looks expensive. Type on high-quality paper, mail flat, and protect copy with cardboard, tissues and so forth. You can charge more if the product looks better.
13. Use a word processor. It will allow you to produce flawless manuscript as well as dramatically increase your productivity.
14. Offer to speak and give seminars before trade associations and professional groups. Make sure potential clients will be among those in attendance.
15. Teach a course in advertising, marketing or writing at a local college or university-day school or adult education. This establishes you as an “instant expert” in the field.

NOTE: Bob’s got dozens more immediately useful techniques for successful self promotion in his book, “Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success: How to Make $100,000 a Year as a Freelance Writer and Have the Time of Your Life Doing It.” It’s available as an economical ebook here.

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You can use any of these articles free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes and be sure to include this byline:

This article is courtesy of Filbert Publishing. Make your writing sparkle, write killer queries, get published. Subscribe to Writing Etc., the free e-mag for freelancers and receive the e-book “Power Queries.” http://filbertpublishing.com

Enjoy!

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