Getting The Guidelines

When you are writing for print, the guidelines for the publication are the golden rule you need to follow. Problem is…not every magazine puts these on the web for you. So where do you find them?

Here are the two things I do most often:

+ Send an e-mail and ask for them.

Keep this simple. Don’t go on about yourself or send half-baked pitches. Simply request guidelines and thank the person for their time. Don’t get sent to the spam folder by trying a clever subject line. Just put something in there like “guidelines request” or “guidelines for writers”.

Who do you send the e-mail to? Depends on who is available. An editorial assistant is fine, but you can also ask for them from a managing editor, or an editor. Don’t try an editor-at-large (they may not even work directly for the publication), and if there are many choices, it’s probably a good idea to avoid the top editor position.

+ Google.

Not all guidelines can be found this way, but many can. Also, if you are looking for one magazine, you might also find related publications that you can pitch an idea to if you’re lucky. For example, if you are searching for guidelines for “Chicago Magazine” you might also find info on the “Chicago Reader”.

Getting A Response

Once you send in a query, the next step is waiting for a response. This can be a maddening experience. Here’s how to survive it:

+ Wait the amount of time the guidelines state before following up.

Don’t be pushy. If the guidelines say that you should receive a response within three months, don’t follow up in two. Respect the time-frame. If you don’t, you might blow it.

+ Send a gentle reminder.

If you have followed the previous step, follow up–but gently. (And wait two weeks or so before you do for good measure.) Send the original e-mail with a brief follow-up, and don’t write too much. Simply state you are checking in on a query submitted (add the date) and request an update.

Getting Paid

When the article has been submitted and you are ready to get paid, there are some things you should be aware of first. Some publications require you to invoice them, others do contracts and still others simply send a check. If this is your first time working for the publication, just ask what they prefer if they haven’t already made it clear.

If you have worked with them before, be sure to follow the protocol. Some things to keep in mind if you invoice include:

• Dating the invoice
• Submitting all of the information for payment (name, address or PayPal addy, SS# or EIN# if applicable)
• Describing the work completed

For contracts, be sure to:

• Know what you are signing
• Do the best you can to protect your rights to sell the piece again
• Keep a signed copy for your records
• Send them in immediately

Do you have any suggestions for getting the goods in print writing? If so, please share them here!

I’m a Mystery to Advertisers Everywhere

I don’t know why, but it cracks me up when I realize that once again I’ve fooled Google. I use Gmail to consolidate some email accounts so that I can check everything no matter where I am or what computer I’m using. That means I’m getting writing emails, mom emails, teacher emails and extended family emails in the same place. Quite a hodgepodge, in fact.

The funny thing is that Google can’t figure out how to target me with the ads I’m not ever going to click on. In a given day I’ve been encouraged to lose weight, buy better lesson plans, vote for various presidential candidates, hire a new SEO write and purchase new faucets and toilets.

And that’s before I start opening specific client emails, which opens me up to any number of additional advertisements including pet shelters, games for children, baby items and plastic surgery. It’s a good thing I know myself well or I might be having an identity crisis (and a damaged ego – really? I need a boob job? You don’t even know me!)

I Can Write Nothing and Make It Sound Good

Have you ever been typing most intensely and then realized that you aren’t even thinking anymore? My fingers and brain are so well trained that I can type without looking at the screen, the keyboard or the computer in any way. I can type reasonably well with my eyes closed for long stretches, but that’s a party trick for another time.

This write-nothing-but-sound-great phenomenon is akin to reading a book quite diligently and having no idea what you just read a few pages later. I’ll be thinking about oil and gas production and writing all about fracking, for example, and then realize that I’ve written something that seems to make sense, and sounds really nice…but actually means nothing at all.

I tuned out what I was typing, but the pattern was there to just keep on typing important sounding words without my brain being engaged at all. Normally, when I catch something like that (in my defense it doesn’t happen very often) I just have to laugh. I sound like an pompous idiot usually, and fortunately I’m able to delete my important sounding gibberish, go to bed for the night and start again the next day with a clear mind.

A small confession: I do use my write-well-say-nothing-real skill in my other career. We have so many teacher forms that have to sound important and use the right words just so they can be filed away by administration. I’ll readily admit I’ve enjoyed my wordsmith skills there for pure amusement. In fact, I just remembered I have another form due tomorrow where I can use them again! What fun that will be!

What strikes you as amusing in this crazy career we all enjoy?

Happy reading!

From the Writing Forums

• How do You Set Your E-book Prices?
• Business Bank Accounts
• What Accounting Software do You Use?
• What Gets You Through Your Work Day?
• How do You Approach Website and Blog Design?

From the Blog

• Freelance Writers: Stand Up for Your Rates – by LaToya Irby
• Messy Subjects and Verbs – by Rebecca Garland

From the Web

• Fair Wages for Freelance Writing – Melanie Brooks at Freelance Switch
• 6 Freelance Writing Fears and How to Overcome Them – Anne Wayman at About Freelance Writing
• You Are a Better Writer Than You Think You Are – Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts
• Plan a Marketing Strategy for Your Freelance Career – Jake Rocheleau at Freelance Folder
• How the 80-20 Rule Affects Freelance Writers – John Soares at Productive Writers
• 5 Steps to Freelance Awesomeness – Steph Auteri at WordCount
• Putting the Customer Back into Customer Service – Lori Widmer at Words on the Page
• 10 Ways to Ensure No One Will Read Your Blog Content – Ali Luke at Daily Blog Tips

From the Archives

• Free Business Resources for Freelance Writers
• How to Build a Writer Platform and Make Jobs Come to You
• 3 Types of Business Writing That Pay Big Money
• How to Insulate Yourself From Bad Freelance Clients
• Think Twice About Writing for Revenue Share

I’m not sure yet how it happened. But I suspect it’s a result of a new plugin here which I’m using to clean up dead links throughout the site. I’m assuming it updated a URL and somehow altered that post date when the linked info was changed. I’ll look into it further and will hold off on using the plugin again until I can figure out what happened.

My apologies. If you see anything else that looks strange around here, don’t hesitate to let me know so I can fix it. I won’t necessarily see everything that you see, and things like this occasionally happen when plugins are involved.

Are you comfortable with “face to face marketing?” In short, this is the act of marketing your services to potential clients in person. No matter the setting – from conferences to chamber meetings – you need to be comfortable selling and marketing yourself in a face to face environment.

Here are several tips to keep in mind:

1. Rather than brag about your accomplishments, detail your past work and explain how it can benefit the client in the future.

2. Let the other person do the talking. When selling your services, you may have the urge to do all the talking while letting the potential client do nothing more than listen. While there is nothing wrong with carrying your part of the conversation, don’t go over the top. Instead, let the other party speak so that you can better craft your responses.

3. Ask questions. Not only does this open up the conversation to both parties, but it will give you a better idea of what the person is looking for. You can then use these responses to better focus the conversation on the right details as you move forward.

At first, you may be intimidated by marketing your services in a face to face environment. However, once you become confident in yourself this can be a lot of fun.

If you’re about to launch a “commercial” writing business (writing for companies, and the subject of TWFW), or are 1-2 years into one that’s plateaued, you need to check out this program. It’s solely focused on commercial writing, NOT magazine writing.

As I told Peter directly, I think he offers some of the best resources around for freelancers. His products and services are always top-notch, and judging from the testimonials from past series’ participants, this is no exception.

Details and testimonials can be found at http://wellfedwriter.com/groupcoaching.shtml. (Note: This is the first series he’s done since May of last year and he says he likely won’t have another for at least 6-8 months).

There aren’t many available spots, so sign up now before the coaching series fills up!

What sets you apart from other writers? Why should I hire you instead of another freelancer?

These are legitimate questions – and you need to have legitimate answers.

If you are unprepared for the above questions, you may be taken off guard and subsequently lose out on a project. There are several basic answers you can use to address this common concern.

• Experience. Do you have a lot of experience in a particular field? If so, play this up as you negotiate with a potential client. By showing success in their field, you are doing your part in showing how you are better than other writers.
• Rates. This subject can be touchy but it is a definite selling point in many cases. If you know that your rates are lower than some or most of the competition, you can use this to your advantage. Of course, you don’t want to lower your rates beyond acceptable standards just to win a project.
• Communication. Let the client know that you will be available from the start of the project through its completion. This is one area in which many freelance writers suffer. By showing that you excel in this area you can get a leg up on other writers.

Before you are taken by surprise, make sure you know what sets you apart from other writers.

It’s hard to believe it’s another new year already. I usually have my goals and resolutions set by late October or early November. But I’m a bit late to the game this year. In fact, I’ve been somewhat absent here for months. I had a crazy year in 2011. My guy and I started looking for a new place around May. That hunt, move, and settling in dominated the majority of my year and took a lot of time away from other things — mostly the time I could spend on my own sites and projects (hence the absence). I also got engaged. And then the holiday season hit with far too much travel and party hosting. I spent a great deal of my time last week sleeping out of the sheer exhaustion of it all.

Now it’s time to get back on track. And like I do every year, I’m going to share my business goals with you. Here are my 2012 New Year’s resolutions for my business.

1. Get back on schedule with my sites, books, and other projects.

I need to get myself back on a regular posting schedule on my blogs. That starts this week for this blog and a couple of others, and I’ll work my other blogs into that schedule over the next several weeks.

On the recommendation of Sharon Hurley Hall, I recently upgraded my version of Dragon, Naturally Speaking. I didn’t use it before because the accuracy was pretty terrible for me. But 11.5 seems to have fixed those issues. Even with just moderate training the accuracy is great. I’ve already used it to speed up some article writing for clients, and I’m hoping it will keep me more productive with my own blog posts as well.

My book manuscripts also took a back seat last year, which was incredibly frustrating. I’m looking forward to diving back into them shortly — editing the Query-Free Freelancer manuscript and finishing the first novel in my Murder Scripts murder mystery series.

2. See a Minimum 20% Increase in Gross Income

I screwed up in 2011. With all of the moving and other distractions, something had to give. Like I said, it was my own sites and projects. Income on that side of my business dropped dramatically last year, and it made 2011 my first year where my overall income dropped. Not much, but a decrease. Fortunately, my business expenses also dropped quite a bit, so my net income wasn’t affected very much. But it’s still disappointing.

As a result, I’m setting a goal of at least a 20% gross increase. That would get me back in line with past earnings increases. That said, I’ll certainly try for even more than that.

3. Finalize My Business Name Change

As announced last year, my base business is changing. The name will be changing from J.H. Mattern Communications to 3BeatMedia. My websites and freelance writing services will fall under the primary business name. A publishing-oriented division name of 3BeatBooks will be used for branding my books and e-books a little later this year.

This won’t take long to finish up, but I still need to put time into the new websites and then incorporating the new branding on all of my sites. Expansion to two other divisions is planned, but probably not in 2012.

4. Finish Setting Up My New Office Space

Even though we moved in mid-October, my new office space still isn’t completely set up and unpacked. It’s not a comfortable work environment, and getting this finished is a priority for me. In fact, I expect to reach this goal by this time next week at the latest. I have three work areas there — my desk, a standing desk setup, and a large chair with ottoman for longer writing sessions such as manuscript work. I can’t wait to finally be able to use them all on a regular basis.

5. Publish at Least 5 Short E-books

My longer projects this year will be the print book manuscripts. So for e-books I’m going to keep things short. I’m planning to release five shorter, lower-cost e-books (mostly released here through All Freelance Writing). Outlining will be finished this week, and the first should be out before the end of January.

6. Finish Editing the Query-Free Freelancer Manuscript

I mentioned this one previously, but it’s a big enough goal that I think it deserves to stand on its own.

7. Finish Drafting the First Murder Scripts Novel

This one is another big goal I mentioned before, but it also deserves its own spot here. This is the project I’m most excited to work on — the first under my Aria Klein pen name.

8. Release the First Murder Scripts Game

The Murder Scripts series has a natural tie-in to games. And I plan to release a few of them as ancillary products to this novel series. While I hope to release a few this year, it’s a completely new experience for me so I’m setting a goal of just releasing the first.

9. Get to $500 per Month Earnings on my Genealogy Site

Last year I started a genealogy site called Climb Your Family Tree. I originally intended to keep it quiet here and use it as an experiment to show earnings for a new site. But yet again, life distractions got in the way. That experiment is obviously off (for this site at least). But I fully intend to grow it and focus on increasing its earnings.

That will include a new design, new resources (some free and some for sale), building affiliate relationships for products I’ll review, and more. Genealogy is a huge passion of mine, and I’m excited to have it take a more prominent place in my work. I consider this to be one of the best parts of working for myself — being able to integrate passions and hobbies into my business.

10. Find Uses for at Least 3 of my Unused Domain Names

I have quite a few unused domain names — over a dozen at least. I have plans for several of them, but I haven’t had time to do the development work. But those domains aren’t earning me any money just sitting there. Even if it means setting up a few starter sites until I can pursue some of the larger projects, I’d like to get at least three of those domains in-use and earning money for the business. Ideally I’d like to have this done in the first quarter, but I’ll be happy just getting them set up this year.

What are your goals in the New Year? Are you hoping to reach new clients? Earn more money? Branch out beyond freelancing, perhaps by writing your first book? Share your goals with us in the comments below and see what your fellow freelancers are hoping to achieve.

There are all sorts of writing – and all sorts of good writing.

Once upon a time I felt like the world was ending if I got caught in a grammatical mistake. I worked hard to separate myself from writers at a level I considered less capable, although as a teacher I tried not to look down on abilities (since I see a range of talent every day in emerging minds), but rather on how niches of the marketplace are set up and the lack of business aplomb some would-be master writers lacked.

Over the years, it’s become more and more obvious that there are tiers of writing. I don’t have to be at the very tippity top and I don’t need to criticize those closer to the bottom. I’ve found a comfortable place for now.

Cheap writers are cheap for their own reasons and they have nothing to do with me or the market as a whole. Likewise the very expensive copywriters or print writers for major publications – not my thing, so I don’t think much about it anymore. Those writers have a set of clients of their own, and often my clients use their services, too – I can’t be everything to everybody after all. I refuse to have my feelings hurt because a client wants killer sales letters or super cheap keyword stuff that I choose not to write.

Is there competition out there? Of course. Just be sure you’re focusing on the right competition and leave the rest alone to write well in a different kind or level of the industry.

The writing market is not stable, nor will it be.

Once upon a time I earned a business degree and one of my favorite lessons I still watch in action was about the business cycle. Every industry has ongoing cycles and there must be constant change and growth to keep the industry and individual companies or providers employed. In the growth part of the industry, money seems to be readily available.

Then, once the market is saturated, there’s a sort of shake out and the stronger players emerge to stick around, but only by changing and adapting to the needs of the market. The weaker companies/writers/employees shake off and go and find new jobs or opportunities.

As a writer, I started online more than six years ago, and I still consider myself a relative newbie to the game. A lot has changed in six years, and part of riding the waves is watching the industry and adapting to it with new offerings, new clients and new marketing angles to stay above the fray. I would argue we’re in a form of shake-out now. The game changed and the stronger players will come out ahead, but only by streamlining and evolving. You might be a casualty of the streamlining in the industry, but it’s just the way the game is played – either drop out of the market or evolve to stake a new place within it.

Always earn more than you need – and save, too.

I made a huge mistake one year. I planned a budget based on future income and I paid for it dearly in the end. What should have been a great year staying home with my babies and writing became a nightmare of bills coming due and some serious cash flow problems. I should have stayed put in my steady job stockpiling cash before making a big leap. I should have eliminated expenses. I should have budgeted in a totally different way, because you’ll never earn enough, especially when you seem to need it the most.

Not surprisingly, about the time we climbed out of that hole and back on top of the personal finance hill, my husband’s business went under and we were right back in cash flow problems and financial stress. I make it a policy now to always market, pitch and gather work that exceeds what I need each month, because there’s always something that comes along to throw me off.

Bottom line: make a budget based on what you’ve earned on average, not on what you think you can earn. Oh, and make a regular savings plan although I’ll be honest – every time I start trying to really save, I get wiped out by some sort of household emergency or a client’s sudden disappearance. But then, hey! It’s all part of the freelance adventure!

Once you have a freelance writing specialty in mind,  it’s time to move on to the next steps — market research and creating your marketing plan.

Market Research for Freelance Writers

Freelancers are notorious for jumping into work without realizing that freelancing is really running a business. Many freelancers fail because they don’t have a realistic plan in place or because they don’t understand the competition (like assuming extremely low rate writers are your competition when they have nothing to do with markets you should be targeting). But you can’t come up with that plan if you don’t conduct basic market research first.

What is Market Research?

As a writer you’re likely intimately familiar with research in general. Market research is much like researching a story. You’re digging for background information to help you determine the most important things to consider (in planning a business in this case rather than what to cover in an article).

Market research involves figuring out who your target market includes. Hint: it’s not everybody. It’s not everybody hiring writers. It’s not even everybody within a vague group (like newspapers).

Example: You want to be a professional blogger.

Bad target market: People who own blogs. Even “businesses that own blogs” is a bad target market.

Better target market: Owners of blogs covering a specific niche or reaching a specific audience, with a particular audience size, in a particular region of the world, with an adequate budget to cover a professional blogger’s rates for at least X posts per month

Market research goes beyond identifying your target market. It also helps you research your competition and set appropriate freelance writing rates. We’ve talked about setting your rates extensively here before, so rather than repeat myself I’m going to link you to an article that will walk you through the process.

How to Set Your Freelance Writing Rates the Right Way

Below you’ll also find a link to our free online freelance writing rate calculator. It features a basic mode and advanced mode to give you some flexibility in how you can use it. These two resources will help you set realistic target rates. Don’t be surprised when considering all important factors leads to higher target rates than you might have expected. This is exactly why undercharging is such a problem for so many freelance writers.

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

You can find other free tools and calculators by exploring our additional exclusive free stuff for writers.

How to Conduct Market Research

How can you actually conduct this kind of research, learning more about opportunities available in different markets and how your competition behaves in each? This can vary greatly depending on your specialty area. For example, you would learn a lot about magazine markets and what they’re looking for by reading the magazines themselves.

With business writing, you would research things a bit differently. For example, if you wanted to write white papers for small B2B software companies you could search online to create a master list of those companies and then sort them by which ones already use white papers and which don’t. Each group has different opportunities where a white paper writer might come in handy.

Competition can be easier to research, especially if you already have a strong network. You already know your colleagues. If you know writers who share your specialty, review their websites. What specific services do they offer? What do they charge? What kinds of clients are represented in their portfolios? Do they work with small businesses or larger corporate clients for example? How much experience do they have compared to yours?

Even if you don’t have a large writer network yet, you can find other specialists with a simple online search. Get a better feel for other options your prospects have. If you don’t know what competition exists, you can’t come up with a value proposition that convinces clients to choose you over them.

Here is another article from our archives that gives further information on conducting market research:

4 Tips for Better Understanding Your Target Market

When you find information about the competition, it’s a good idea to complete a SWOT analysis to look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the current market. Here is a free downloadable template you can use to do that:

Free SWOT Analysis Worksheet for Freelance Writers

After you’ve conducted some basic market research, it’s time to put together a freelance marketing plan.

Freelance Writing Marketing Plans

Your marketing plan will serve as a road map for growing your freelance writing business. This is another step many freelancers skip. If you feel like you’re wandering around aimlessly trying to figure out what’s next, you need to step back and come up with a plan.

While you would ideally create a comprehensive business and marketing plan, I know many freelancers won’t. With that in mind, I created some simplified planning templates to help you out. Below is a link to my one page marketing plan template.

One Page Marketing Plan Template

You can also find a one page business plan template on our Freebies page if you’d like one.

As you can see, this abbreviated marketing plan serves as a snapshot. You’ll list some of your biggest competitors, industry trends that will affect your business, your goals and strategies for achieving them, and larger marketing tactics you’ll use throughout the year.

If you want a guide to help you fill out that marketing plan template, you can find one at my small business blog.

If you prefer to use a traditional long-form marketing plan to figure out your strategies and next steps in growing your freelance writing business, I suggest reviewing the marketing plan outlines and marketing plan templates available at Mplans.com.

Hopefully these resources will point you in the right direction as you begin to research newer (and better) freelance writing markets and develop your plan to grow and thrive as a freelance writer.

As always, you’re invited to share your thoughts, questions, or other recommended resources in the comments below.