The Easy Fifteen-Minute Marketing Plan

By on May 3rd, 2012

By: Lori Widmer

You wake up, get that cup of caffeine, go through your morning ritual, then work through your daily ritual of writing. Marketing? Yea, that doesn’t happen because you’re busy. Yet if you have fifteen minutes to play Facebook games, you have plenty of time to locate new clients and more projects.

Just fifteen minutes – that’s less time than it takes to run to the bank, get your mother off the phone, eat lunch, or exercise. With such a minimal investment in your career, why wouldn’t you make time for it?

Here are just a few ways in which you can spend that fifteen minutes:

Send a letter of introduction.

There’s at least one client you’ve always wanted to work with, right? That Holy Grail client, the one you think of as unattainable, is the first one your introduction should go to. Spend fifteen minutes writing a four-paragraph note.

The first tells that client why you’re writing – to inquire about using you for freelance writing/editing project. The second is your background (briefly—and make it relevant to that client’s business when you can). The third mentions something specific about that client’s business, website, communications, whatever. The fourth asks for the job.

Fifteen minutes later, you have the bones of some ongoing communications.

Find potential clients on Twitter and LinkedIn.

You’re spending time there anyway. Why not put that time to the best use? Use hash tags (#) in Twitter to find clients in your area of expertise. Join LinkedIn groups where those clients hang out.

Use something like a 15/2 rule – for every 15 messages you send, only two should be promotional. The rest should be interacting, retweeting others’ good news, and getting to know your potential clients.

Follow up on your most recent sales.

This takes less time – five minutes perhaps. Go back to those clients whose invoices were just sent and ask if there was anything else you can help with. You might even suggest projects, such as “Have you ever considered a blog to get the word out to your customers?”

Send a “thank you” note.

If you’ve finished a client’s project within the last month, mail them a handwritten thank-you note. Have your business anniversary coming up? Send a thank-you note to your regular clients and those with whom you’d like to work regularly. If you want to increase business, include a one-time discount in that note.

Add a signature line to your email.

How simple is this, yet how many of us include even the most basic contact information? Create a signature and add your slogan to it. One company I work with has their slogan as part of their email signature: “Enhancing your brand from every angle.”

How would you spend your fifteen minutes of marketing?

About the Author

Lori Widmer is a veteran writer and editor with over 15 years of experience in business and corporate writing. Her e-book, Marketing 365, is available at Smashwords. She blogs daily at Words on the Page.

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Posted in Marketing |

How Writers Can Prepare for the Perfect Interview

By on May 2nd, 2012

By: Andrew Kardon

Now you’ve done it. After  years of planning and negotiating, you finally snagged an interview with that reclusive semi-celebrity. Good for you! But… uh… now what? Lining up a key interview subject (whether for an in-person or phone interview) is just the first step. There are so many things that could possibly go wrong. Sorry, but it’s true! Fortunately, there’s a ton of ways to prepare. And I’ll even share them with you.

Do Your Homework

The most important thing about interviewing someone is doing your homework. That means reading up on the person (or brand, or company, etc.). If your interview is about their most recent work, then you better make sure to see it or at least read all sorts of reactions to it. But besides catching up on your subject’s latest goings-on, do a bit more digging. Learn more about them: Where did they grow up? Where do they live now? What hobbies do they have? Any family? If they’re on any social networks like Twitter or Facebook, start following them and see how they interact with their audience.

You can never ever be too prepared so do as much research about your subject as possible. That even means reading recent articles written about them by other writers. After all, it’s much better to be way over-prepared than under-prepared.

Questions, Questions, Questions

Once you’ve thoroughly researched your subject, it’s time to start compiling your questions. You probably have a standard list you use and adapt for most interviews. Good. Get those out of the way. Then add in any new ones pertaining to the recent project or your subject. All that research you just did will come in handy. Always try to come up with some fun, unique questions.

Chances are your subject’s been interviewed a number of times and answered at least half of your questions already. So changing things up for him will keep him from getting bored and he’ll hopefully give different and better answers this time around.

Besides listing out a slew of questions, you definitely want to put them in order. I always try to start with a few simple ones to basically ease into the interview. Put meaty/important ones closer to the top and middle, and then various others after. Make sure to put the least important near the end in case you run out of time and don’t get around to asking them.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

Whether it’s on the phone or in person, it’s annoying but worth it to tape your interview. I always prefer a micro-cassette recorder simply because transcribing is way easier than trying with a digital recorder. I have an old transcribing machine with the foot pedals and I’ve just got a great rhythm going. You may find a digital recorder much better and easier to use, or maybe you send your interviews out to be transcribed. Whatever works for you is great. But the key here is that it works…

Make sure your equipment is ready. That means your batteries are charged, your tape is empty, your phone is working, etc. I always do a quick trial run before every single phone interview, where I call my voicemail and leave myself a message, taping the entire thing. Then I do a quick playback to make sure it works. There’s definitely been more than a few occasions this saved my bacon!

Once you’re all set, try to find as quiet a place as possible and use a land line if you can, rather than a cell. You want the best available sound quality you can get so that it makes for the smoothest conversation and easiest transcribing later on.

Make sure you have everything available now, so you’re not fumbling around during the actual interview. Get an empty notebook and a few pens handy, as well as a glass of water.  I always have a printout of my questions handy too, so that I can cross each question off as I ask it. Just helps keep me focused. If there are samples on the Web you want to talk about, get those windows open now so you can quickly get to them later.

The Interview

When the interview’s finally upon you, it’s always good to start with some basic small talk. Again, your research could really come into play. See if there’s any common interest between you and your subject. Maybe you grew up in the same town or have a mutual friend. Or maybe you just read his latest book or saw him in a movie 10 years ago. Try to mention something that’s a bit out of the ordinary. Something that makes this guy realize you’re not just another reporter who Googled his name and is asking some questions. In other words, show you care. Just be careful not to overdo it on the personal side or he may think you’re a bit too stalkerish!

When your interview’s done, try to ask if you can contact him again if you have any follow-up questions. I usually ask if they mind me following up, as well as what’s the best way to follow up: phone, email, etc. Thank them for their time, wish ‘em luck and you’re done. It’s a great idea to shoot a quick email later on just thanking them for taking the time out to talk to you.

And that’s about it. Like I said, there are plenty of things that could go wrong (power failure, dog barking incessantly, you lose your tape recorder, etc.) so prepare as much as you can ahead of time. Life is certainly full of surprises, so you can’t prepare for every eventuality. But arm yourself as much as you can, and hopefully the only thing you’ll have to worry about is writing a strong lede when you’re done.

About the Author

Andrew Kardon is a professional freelance writer and editor. Over the years, he’s interviewed hundreds of people including Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee, wrestling superstar The Ultimate Warrior and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. He also runs JoeShopping.com, the friendliest coupons and deals site on the Web.

http://3bm.co/IEmWzC

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Posted in General |

Simple SEO Tips for Freelancers

By on May 1st, 2012

By: Josh Olswanger

As freelance writers, entrepreneurs and small business owners, we are constantly finding ways to effectively improve the marketing of our services and products online. Since most of us are not large corporations and cannot afford a team of marketing consultants and employees to do the groundwork for us, learning to formulate and execute new ideas on our own for as little money as possible, is essential.

Freelance writers are not web designers or SEO (search engine optimization) enthusiasts, but every freelancer has the ability to effectively improve his/her website’s performance, one step at a time. As writers, authors, editors, copywriters and anything else related to your services, the content on your website is your most valuable asset. The problem is, that as important as your content on your website may be, you may be overlooking some very fundamental aspects of SEO, that can dramatically impact the way your website is indexed and ranked by Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Here are a few quick and easy SEO changes that you or your web designer can easily implement to better your website’s exposure.

Pay Attention to Keywords and Keyword Terms

For those of you who are web savvy freelance writers, you probably already know that keywords in your content play a big role in user searches.

As an example: “We are a copywriting and marketing firm helping our clients achieve professional writing services.”

The simple sentence above includes keywords like “copywriting” and “marketing firm,” however they don’t pertain to any location per say.

- A simple easy fix would be adding a location you are trying to target.

The results: “We are a Boise Copywriting and Marketing firm helping small businesses achieve professional writing services.”

Now your keywords relate not only to your service, but also who and where you are trying to target. These tips are often times easily overlooked, especially when constructing your first website. And lastly, be careful not to get carried away and put too many of the same keywords in a paragraph or page, as Google will penalize your rankings. This is known as “keyword stuffing.”

Stay Relevant

Back in 2011, Google did a major search engine algorithm update, which put the importance of relevant and fresh content higher than ever before. What does this mean? All of those websites from 2002 that haven’t been touched or updated since then, will take a huge drop in rankings. Google continues to give higher-ranking power to websites that keep fresh and relevant content on a weekly basis. As writers, this means that now is the time to update your content and keep consistent with updates.

The best way to keep fresh content on your site is by utilizing a blog. For many writers, their website is a blog. If that’s already the case, try to always blog about useful and relevant information at least a few times a week. It is also important that whatever topic you find yourself writing about; make sure that it’s relevant to your online audience.

The most popular blogging platform available today is WordPress and is free to everyone. If you are using WordPress, be sure to take advantage of some free extensions that are available for you to download, including ones that help with the SEO of your site. These plug-ins are designed to do most of the in-depth work for you. They help optimize each post by allowing you to enter in the post title, keywords and a description of each page.

Relevancy of your content mixed with the importance of keywords will continue to play a huge role in your online marketing. Following these quick and easy on-page SEO tips will prove to make a difference with your website’s rankings.

About The Author:

Josh Olswanger is a web designer and owner of Thrive Web Designs, a Boise web design company who offers custom website design services, content creation and SEO for their nationwide clients.

http://3bm.co/IiQywf

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Posted in Web Writing |

Are you Prepared for Incoming Calls from Potential Clients?

By on April 30th, 2012

As you continue to market your freelance writing services, you will find that some people don’t have any need for you – at least for the time being. To give yourself the chance at a future project, it is important to provide any connection with both your email address and phone number.

The more times you give out your phone number the better chance there is that somebody will eventually call to discuss your services. With this in mind, you have to be ready to discuss business at a moment’s notice.

Since a phone call can come at anytime, you must make sure you are always prepared. What does this mean?

  • Have a “cheat sheet” at your disposal with information ranging from rates to past clients and much more
  • Have a list of questions that you will ask any prospect who calls on the phone
  • Answer the phone in a positive, friendly tone

If somebody calls you on the phone it is safe to say that they are interested in what you have to offer. As awkward as it may be on you the first few times, remember one thing: it is easier to take a phone call from a prospective client than it is to make a cold call.  Since the person is coming to you, you are the one in the driver’s seat.

Do I need a Dedicated Business Line?

This is a matter of personal preference. For many years, I have had a personal line and a business line. Personally, I would never go back to a one-phone setup. That being said, as long as you are willing to answer your personal line in a professional manner this should not pose a problem.

With this advice, you should find yourself better prepared anytime your phone rings!

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Posted in Marketing |

How to Know if You’re a Pro Writer

By on April 27th, 2012

By Carol Tice

Have you wondered whether you are making it as a freelance writer?

I hear a lot from writers who’ll tell me they haven’t “made it” yet. “I’m not a professional writer, like you,” they’ll say.

I know how they feel. As a college dropout, I was plagued by insecurity about my writing for years.

Even after I was a regular freelancer for a section of the Los Angeles Times — a gig I landed a big nine months after switching from songwriting to prose — I didn’t feel legit.

I wrote broadcast scripts that won awards, for shows that were syndicated and rebroadcast to millions. Still, I felt bogus.

My work was appearing weekly in the local alternative paper. And I felt like a fraud.

I got a staff-writing job for a Park Avenue-based trade publications company and wrote full-time for five years. One year, I won a $1,000 prize for writing the best article in any of the company’s publications that year.

But I kept waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and say:

“Hey. We’ve noticed you out there, trying to do this writing thing.

But you didn’t go to journalism school. You have no credentials.

And now you’re busted. You can’t join our club.

We’re not going to publish any more of your stuff.

We’ve told all the editors in America not to assign you anything.

So stop writing.”

But here’s the funny thing. It never happened.

So there’s a question I’d like to ask you:

Has someone paid you a dime to write something, ever?

Then guess what — you are a professional writer.

That feeling of not having “made it” is just in your head.

There is no arriving in writing. Comparing yourself to other writers is not a productive activity.

No matter where you get to in your career, there will always be somebody whose writing career is more awesome and together and lucrative than yours.

All you have to do if you want to make this your lifestyle and your livelihood is keep improving your writing. Keep learning.

Keep marketing your writing. Keep getting published.

Keep finding better-paying markets, and keep growing your income.

And don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a writer. Ever. Don’t buy in.

There is no secret grapevine where all the editors decide at once that you’re not a writer. It doesn’t exist.

Even if you totally screw up an assignment somewhere, you can find other markets to write for.

So what if you have a full-time job and write on the side? If you are getting paid to write, you are a professional. You may be a part-time professional, but you are a professional.

That judgment mostly comes from you. So look in the mirror and say, “I am a professional writer.”

And me? You may think I’m over my insecurities about my writing at this point, but I’m not.

It’s better, but they’re still around. Every article I write, I feel the fear and write it anyway.

I’m scared to pitch Parade, or Inc magazine, or my other dream publications. Or to write a government agency’s 200-page annual report. But I just go for it anyway.

That’s the only difference between you and the professional writers you admire. That and loads of practice.

Just figure out where you want to go, and write your way there.

Do you feel legit as a freelance writer? Leave a comment and tell us why — or why not.

Carol Tice writes the Make a Living Writing blog. Her writer’s learning and support community is Freelance Writers Den.

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Posted in Business / Career |