Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!
The companion monthly ezine to the quadruple-award-winning how-to guide, ÒThe
Well-Fed WriterÓ (http://www.wellfedwriter.com).
Serving up food for thought and tasty tips for the prospering FLCW*. Come on
in, sit anywhere and bring your appetite!
*FLCW, peppered
throughout the ezine, stands for ÒFreelance
Commercial WriterÓ – anyone who freelances for
businesses (vs. writing magazine articles, short stories, poetry, etc.),
typically earns $50-125+ an hour, and is the sole focus of this
e-newsletter.
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VOLUME
11, ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2012
Publishing
the first Tuesday of every month since May 2002
Read
it Online at: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/mar2012.html
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ÒTHE
WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER BLOGÓ IS NOW LIVE!!
Long
overdue, but itÕs finally up and running. To weigh in on the welcome post and to
subscribe, visit http://www.wellfedsp.com/blog.
And,
of course, ÒThe Well-Fed Writer BlogÓ at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog!
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CATCH
ME AT ÒEXPAND YOUR INFLUENCEÓ VIRTUAL (+F.R.E.E!) CONFERENCE!
March
19-23. More in Appetizer & at http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1437118
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SOCIAL
MEDIA SUCCESS SUMMIT 2012 – GRAB YOUR SEAT at 50% OFF!
Michael
StelznerÕs events are some of the most recommended in
the industry. Check out his latest (+ save BIG) at http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=4646054.
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PARTNER
WITH DESIGNERS FOR A LOW-EFFORT FLOW OF WRITING JOBS!
Details
here: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/partnerwithdesignersebook.shtml.
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NEW 1-ON-1 COACHING PROGRAMS: SAMPLE/SITE REVIEW
& ÒSIDECARÓ!
Low-cost peace of mind and guidance: http://wellfedwriter.com/mentoring.shtml.
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THIS
MONTHÕS MENU:
I. WELCOME APPETIZER: A
SAVORY SPRING SAMPLER!
Affirming
Our Value; Catch Me in Upcoming Conference; Social Media Summit!
II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: GOT A BLOG? THEN YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BOOK.
WA Designer/Ex-FLCW Builds
Cred-Building Book from Blog Content, Boosts Biz
III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: ELANCE AS BUSINESS INSURANCE? (Part 2 of 2)
FLCW Makes Serious $ on Often-UN-Serious Online Site, Suggests It As Biz
Insurance
IV. DESSERT: Sweet
Success Stories and Tips
Vancouver FLCW Reads TWFW, Boosts Rates, Refuses to Drop Them,
Lands Jobs!
TIP: F.R.E.E. Web Site Analysis Tool Serves Up Tons of Stats on
Any Site!
V. COFFEE, MINTS AND
TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New Ebook
Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB
NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER
BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get
Bonus CD!
- How Can
My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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I. WELCOME APPETIZER: A
SAVORY SPRING SAMPLER!
Affirming
Our Value; Catch Me in Upcoming Conference; Social Media Summit!
Good friend, fellow writer, and fellow Atlantan,
Hilda Brucker sent me a link to a great (and short) article
worth passing on: ÒMarketing Emergency: Nobody's Making Content Worth ReadingÓ
by Francine Hardaway. If this doesnÕt underscore, not only that big companies
DONÕT have it all figured out, but also the vast opportunity that lies before
us, in spades, IÕm not sure what does. Some highlights:
ÒHave you looked at the number of white papers out there
lately? And how they all suck? At the collateral? At the websites? At the press
releases and the fatuous corporate blogs? At the 178 social media sites per
company—few of which offer much relevance or are of interest to
customers, shareholders, suppliers, or even employees.Ó
ÒLong, long ago, when I was teaching English, I belonged to
a group in the National Council of Teachers of English called the Committee on
Public Doublespeak. We professors were committed to wiping out jargon, bulls--t,
unclear writing, and all the ways people obfuscate rather than clarify. Thirty
years later, I look around me and the amount of content has proliferated, but
the quality of it has gotten even worse.Ó
http://www.fastcompany.com/1808462/how-to-make-your-marketing-content-better
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IÕll
be one of the interviewed presenters in an upcoming (and fr.ee!) online
conference entitled: ÒEXPAND YOUR INFLUENCE: A Virtual Conference on Turning
Big Ideas into Brand Extensions.Ó Event runs March 19 – 23, 2012.
According
to Judi Ketteler (www.judiketteler.com), copy strategist/writer, and the eventÕs creator, ÒEYI is an interview
series all about brand extensions—larger projects like books, eBooks,
videos, and TV shows that help you get your BIG IDEA out there into the world. I
created this energetic, multidisciplinary virtual summit to get a chance to
interview superbly cool and extremely brilliant people who are doing inspiring,
revolutionary, and/or intriguing things with their brand extensions.Ó
Hmmm.
Me? Superbly cool? Hey, who am I to argue? ;) Seriously, JudiÕs assembled a
solid lineup of folks. Check it out at http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1437118.
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My
good friend Michael Stelzner keeps organizing and
executing stellar events considered by many to be the best in the industry, and
which ARE some of the most recommended. HeÕs doing another Social Media Summit
this coming May, and tickets are 50% off for a limited time. Check out all the
details, the ÒguruÓ lineup and the topics covered at http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=4646054.
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II. ÒFIELDÓ GREENS: GOT A BLOG? THEN YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BOOK.
WA Designer/Ex-FLCW Builds
Cred-Building Book from Blog Content, Boosts Biz
Got this great piece from Ferndale,
WA-based former copywriter and now-designer Mike Klassen
(http://mikeklassen.com). Always appreciate MikeÕs wise words! I DO feel, just as a minor
caveat, that you shouldnÕt do a blog just because you Òthink you should do a
blog,Ó but if you have a good strategic reason for doing one (LIKE building
content for a book, or because youÕre building a specialty in a certain niche,
which can ALSO yield content for a book to establish your creds
in said niche), then go for it!
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I'm big on content recycling, especially my blog content. I
hate the thought of great blog articles slowly slipping into the archives,
rarely seen again as new articles get top billing.
I realized that many of my articles had a common theme. So
much so that I took the best of the group and put them into a PDF book that I
offer for free as a bait piece on my site.
In its third edition, the book is now up to 130 pages and
was easy to write. After all, I had unknowingly been writing it bit by bit on
my blog over a couple of years.
What can a book do for your business?
1) It gives you a great marketing tool for prospects. It's
rare someone will bother to read every blog article you've written. Presenting
the best material in a book is easier to read through, and has a greater
perceived value.
And if youÕre into cold calling, offering someone a free,
helpful book is a great introduction to what you can do for them.
2) A book positions you as an expert in your niche. While
anyone can write a book, only a relative few do. If youÕre being compared with
competitors for future projects, a book helps you stand out in the mind of your
prospect.
3) A book positions you as an expert with other potential
business partners. Last year, I traveled to Australia to speak at a business-building
conference. I met the organizer through my book (heÕd found it on my site). He
liked what I had to say, saw me as an expert, and invited me to speak, not
unsurprisingly, on content marketing and recycling.
Look at your blog content and see if you have articles that
can be packaged into a simple book or at least short reports. If you donÕt
have a blog, my advice is to start one today and begin leveraging that content.
(If your readers want to see how I put together the book or
the short reports, they're all here: http://mikeklassen.com/resources/)
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III. MAIN ÒMEATÓ COURSE: ELANCE
AS BUSINESS INSURANCE? (Part 2 of 2)
FLCW Makes Serious $ on Often-UN-Serious Online Site,
Suggests It As Biz Insurance
FLCW Trish Lambert sent me this great two-parter about Elance. Trish first
hit my radar some years back as someone making $75-$100+ an hour on Elance, a site notorious for criminally low-paying writing
projects. As a rule, I consider the online job sites a waste of time, but
TrishÕs accomplishment impressed me enough to include her in the updated
edition of TWFW as a notable exception to the rule.
Her message here is sound: get set up on Elance
for those times when things get slow or when established clients drop you. In
last monthÕs issue (archived at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/feb2012.html), she laid the groundwork, and here
she serves up some juicy how-to detail. Enjoy!
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In last monthÕs issue, I discussed the wisdom of getting set
up on Elance as business insurance for slow times, or
when you lost a big client. But, thereÕs a caveat: to use Elance
as your Òalways-onÓ marketing channel, you must be firmly established on the
site. This means:
1) You have a complete and compelling profile on the site.
2) You have a good portfolio of samples you can attach to
your bids.
3) You already have a track record on Elance
with feedback posted from clients.
4) You have a bidding process that allows you to post the
most bids for the right jobs in the least amount of time without sacrificing
quality of bid.
Note the key word in that last bullet: RIGHT job. The vast
majority of projects posted on Elance arenÕt a fit for
professional FLCWÕs. There are ton of Òbottom-feedingÓ buyers expecting
top-quality output for costs approaching zero. Picture Elance
as a flea market: you go there knowing that most of what youÕll find is junk,
but there are some gems hidden in the rubbish. And there really are gems.
Elance
is like hiring a sales rep, and the terms of your agreement are:
1) Elance will uncover leads from all over the world, and
bring them to you 24/7/365.
2) Elance wonÕt qualify those leads in any way; you will
handle that.
3)
You will pay Elance a base monthly fee for this
service (i.e., your subscription fee).
4)
YouÕll also pay Elance 8.75% commission for any leads
that convert to paying work, upon payment by the client.
If you look at the relationships this way, itÕs a pretty good
deal. You get an unending stream of potential projects for less than the going
rate for sales rep assistance. ItÕs your job to sort the wheat from the chaff
and sell your services.
Elance
helped me quickly pull out of my revenue nosedive and get things back on track.
But you canÕt wait until emergency hits to race to Elance
in search of work. If you are not
already established there, the next time you hit a valley in your project load,
get set up on Elance. Then:
1) Create a Òsearch and bidÓ routine that works for you.
2) Tweak your approach until you find the approach that wins
work.
3) Deliver on the projects you win.
4) Make your bidding routine part of your daily business
activity.
Based on my own experience, I highly recommend you cultivate
Elance as a revenue source for lean times, even if it
isnÕt your source of choice. Consider it business insurance to cover unexpected
income disasters.
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Trish Lambert is a commercial freelance writer, marketing
consultant, and business coach to solo business owners. She started her current
business in October of 2004 and, due in large part to Elance,
hit the 6-figure revenue mark in less than two years. Trish teaches Freelance Express, a
one-on-one coaching course that gets participants up, running, and winning bids
on Elance and other freelance boards, in a very short
time (and for competitive commercial writing rates). Learn more about Freelance
Express at
https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=229389&c=ib&aff=56896&cl=55825
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IV. DESSERT: Sweet
Success Stories and Tips
Vancouver, BC FLCW Reads TWFW, Boosts Rates, WonÕt Drop Them,
Lands Jobs!
TIP: F.R.E.E. Web Site Analysis Tool Serves Up Tons of Stats on
Any Site!
Love getting notes like the one below
from Vancouver, BC FLCW and SEO pro Holly Klaassen (hollyklaassen@me.com).
ItÕs great when people wake up to the reality that they really CAN be making a
lot more money then they think, act on it, stand firm and get their new rate.
Think that didnÕt change her thinking for future bids? Following that, a great tip about a nifty (and fr.ee!)
web site analysis tool. Enjoy!
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IÕve been a freelance web-content writer for several years,
and while I had a feeling I was selling myself short, in terms of my rates, I
kept them the same. The night I read ÒThe Well-Fed Writer,Ó I had a classic
case of entrepreneurial insomnia. I knew I needed to raise my rates, and be
prepared to start turning down jobs that paid less.
The next day, I bid on a small project (with the potential
to turn into multiple projects), and gave them a quote much higher than my
typical rate (still low by industry standards, but a decent rate in this
niche).
I heard back from the CEO the next day, and she said,
ÒYouÕre among the highest in terms of rates. Would you be willing to come
down?Ó It took everything in me not to cave, but I simply replied, ÒNo,Ó
offering no explanation. The next day she told me I got the project, and IÕve
already done another project for them since.
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Peter: I wanted
to share a very useful site: http://www.statmyweb.com. It provides detailed stats about websites (i.e., when
it was created, where is it hosted, how much is it worth, where it ranks on the
web, and a lot more).
These detailed
stats are displayed in both graphical and text formats. Plus, there are 15+
tools to help in specific analysis of any given site. And all provided at no
charge, and in a clean and professional layout.
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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND
TOOTHPICKS
- MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New Ebook
Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
- THE WELL-FED E-PUB
NEEDS ALL COURSES!
- The WELL-FED WRITER
BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get
Bonus CD!
- How Can
My Mentoring Service Serve You?
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MORE WORK WITH LESS EFFORT? New Ebook
Serves Up the ÒHow-ToÓ!
ThatÕs not hype. ItÕs how my business has worked for the
better part of 18 years, thanks to some juicy partnerships with graphic designers.
And I put all the how-to details down on paper. Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/partnerwithdesignersebook.shtml.
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IÕM
SERIOUSLY LOW ON ALL WELL-FED E-PUB COURSES!
Got a great strategy,
approach or specific expertise youÕre willing to share? Turn it into a Feature
(MAIN COURSE) for the EPUB (500-600 words; query first). ALSO, send your ÒGREENSÓ
(200-300 words), TIPS (150-200) and SUCCESS STORIES (100-300) to peter@wellfedwriter.com. Archived issues at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml.
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The
WELL-FED WRITER BLOG is RockinÕ! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/blog
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AWAI COPYWRITING (& OTHER) COURSES: Register Here, Get
Your Choice of Bonus CD Program! Six-Figure Copywriting, Graphic Design,
Internet Writing, Fundraising, Health Market and more! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/awai.shtml.
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HOW CAN MY MENTORING SERVICE SERVE YOU?
For details and testimonials, visit http://www.wellfedwriter.com/mentoring.shtml.
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