VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2 – FEBRUARY 2017
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. APPETIZER: ARE YOU PURSUING THE RIGHT THING?
Quote Underscores the Power of Being Valuable, NOT Successful
II. “FIELD” GREENS: GOT “CONTENT MARKETING” MOJO?
CO FLCW Serves Up Resources to Move Beyond the CM Copywriting Herds!
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: BUSTING THE LOW-PAY MYTHS!
Author & Writing Maven Shares Top 3 Beliefs That Keep Writers from Earning Well
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
WA FLCW Lands Gig with a Little Knowledge, and a LOT of Confidence!
TIP: 2 Steps from So-So TV Sales Rep to Copywriting Princess! (Book Plug)
I. APPETIZER: ARE YOU PURSUING THE RIGHT THING?
Quote Underscores the Power of Being Valuable, NOT “Successful”
A friend of mine recently sent around a pithy quote (source unknown) to a group of ours. It struck me as a truism that gets at the heart of what we should aspire to, but don’t always. It said…
“The goal is not to be successful. The goal is to be valuable. Once you’re valuable, instead of chasing success, you’ll attract it.”
One of the things I love about it is its clarity. If you say, “I want to be successful,” not only is success an exceptionally nebulous concept that means different things to different people, just as importantly, how you get there isn’t at all clear.
It’s this vague state of being, akin, in many ways, to saying, “I want to be happy”—also a vague state, with vague path to completion.
But say, “I want to be valuable,” and well, that’s a LOT clearer, no?
And if you know you want to be valuable as a commercial freelancer, then it’s just a matter of figuring out which skills and expertise you need to gather and develop in order to be valuable—to be someone that high-caliber, well-paying clients want and need to hire.
And once you’ve developed those skills—skills that make you more valuable than the average writer—assuming you do a decent job of letting the world know about you and your above-average abilities, you’ll indeed attract success.
Again, it’s like happiness. Trying to figure out what you should do in order to “be happy” can be a frustrating and circular process.
And…come to think of it, becoming a useful, and yes, a valuable person—in many arenas of life—might just have you attracting happiness as well as success.
And I can tell you this from plenty of firsthand experience: Being valuable is a LOT more fun than fighting it out with a bunch of other writers, when all of you have equal (low) value. On that “set-yourself- apart-from-the-herd” note, let’s eat!
A BIG THANK-YOU & AN APOLOGY…
Speaking of learning the skills to make themselves valuable, a BIG thank-you to all of you who stepped up last month and purchased Well-Fed Craft, my new self-paced program on how to write the most popular commercial-writing projects.
And the Apology: Because of the success of the program, I ran out of the custom-designed flash drives (the delivery method), and had to steer buyers to DropBox to download the program. While most had no problems, more than a handful ended up with a frustrating experience (and I ended up sending generic flash drives to many).
My sincere apologies for the hassles. It is NOT how I like to do business. I genuinely appreciate the patience, understanding and good spirits shown throughout the process by those affected. Rest assured, before the re-release, I will make certain that what happened the first time doesn’t happen again.
II. “FIELD” GREENS: GOT “CONTENT MARKETING” MOJO?
CO FLCW Serves Up Resources to Move Beyond the CM Copywriting Herds!
Great piece from Ft. Collins, CO FLCW Michael Harrington on some resources to get up to speed and polish your Content Marketing/SEO chops. Piggybacking on the piece above, sounds like a wonderful way to set yourself apart from the crowds who can write content, but perhaps lack the deeper skills of the craft.
“Content Marketing” – Unless you’ve been in a cave for the past few years, you can’t have missed that buzz phrase being bandied about in freelance circles.
What is it? Content marketing is the creation and distribution of relevant, value-oriented content to a specific target market.
The driving idea behind the concept is to attract, nurture and retain customers.
Content marketing can be very profitable to commercial freelance writers who understand and position themselves as a content creator well versed in how to attract, convert and keep customers returning.
But what if your SEO and marketing skills need a little help?
Thankfully, there are a variety of good resources on the web to help you along—from books to paid courses.
One resource I consider an absolute must for anyone serious about upping their content-marketing game is the Hubspot Academy. Hubspot offers free high-quality certification courses in Inbound, Email Marketing and Content Marketing as well as others.
Once you’re certified, you can display a badge on your website and/or social media profile to alert potential clients as to your expertise.
I recommend starting with the Inbound Certification. This cert gives you a good overview of the philosophy and methodology of content marketing and the buyer’s journey.
Following Inbound certification, move to the Content Marketing certification as it complements the Inbound certification.
If you plan on offering email-campaign writing services to clients or will be working on your own email marketing, the Email Marketing course may be a great way to round out the training.
Content Marketing and Inbound are here to stay and savvy freelancers can capitalize on the trend to take build their business to new levels.
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: BUSTING THE LOW-PAY MYTHS!
Author & Writing Maven Shares Top 3 Beliefs That Keep Writers from Earning Well
Got this solid, succinct chunk of wisdom from veteran scribe, Linda Formichelli (author of The Renegade Writer), about the mindsets that keep writers from earning what they’re worth.
Since 1997, Linda’s written for hundreds of magazines, corporate clients and blogs. Thanks, Linda!
Are your earnings as a freelance writer just “meh”? It could be that you’re blocking your income potential by believing in one (or more) of these common money myths.
Myth #1: When a prospect asks me what I charge, I have to figure out a price that’s not so low I look desperate, but not so high they can’t afford it.
BUSTED: You need to figure out the price that will let you do your best work.
Your job is not to be accessible to everyone who might want your help; it’s to charge prices that will keep you in business and out of desperation mode so you can offer the very best service to the prospects who fit your price range.
Yes, that means you’ll be culling out a wide swath of prospects, but that’s okay. There are plenty of clients out there willing to pay top dollar for writing.
Myth #2: Writing is so much fun, no one would be willing to pay to have it done.
BUSTED: Writing is horrible, difficult work for a lot of people.
You’ll pay a plumber top dollar to unclog a toilet because it’s hard, nasty work, and the plumber has the training, tools, and experience to take care of it so you don’t have to. Believe it or not, many people feel the same way about writing.
While you’re all starry-eyed over the idea of turning the perfect phrase, for them, crafting even one compelling tagline is a sweat-inducing task that usually ends up in failure—and they’re only too happy to pay someone else to take it off their plate.
Myth #3: If I set a high price, that means I’m greedy.
BUSTED: You’re helping your clients by charging more!
You have an awful toothache, and it’s a front tooth! You find two local dentists online and know nothing about them except that one charges deep-discount rates, and the other, high-end rates. Which one would you feel more comfortable entrusting the fate of your smile to?
Your clients don’t just need great writing; part of what they’re paying you for is to give them a sense of confidence and assurance that you’ll make them look good to their boss, help boost their flagging sales, or get them out of a deadline crunch. If that’s your goal as well, then bargain-basement pricing is not the way to go.
These three myths are excuses that will save you from the discomfort of raising your rates and going after better-paying clients. Banish these beliefs and watch your income soar.
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
FLCW Lands Gig with a Little Knowledge, and a LOT of Confidence!
TIP:2 Steps from So-So TV Sales Rep to Copywriting Princess! (Book Plug)
Got this inspiring success story from a Midwest FLCW who prefers to remain anonymous. As she shows, you don’t necessarily have to be an “expert” in some arena to land work there. Remember: Clients don’t have the time to hunt for a writer, so just getting in front of them gives you the edge.
After that, a great story and book recommendation from St. Cloud, MN FLCW Natalie Rotunda, that can absolutely help you get into the mind of buyers, and, as a result, make a big difference in the effectiveness of your writing. Thanks, Natalie!
I met a new client by commenting on one of his articles on the investment website I used to work for. We began a rousing conversation about social media and its applications in the financial industry.
That evolved into several private messages, and then into phone calls. He owns an educational publishing firm, where the target audience is mostly financial professionals.
He’s re-branding and re-launching his website this fall, and he’s hired me to manage his social media strategy and online marketing. I negotiated a nice project fee for the initial strategy, and then a sweet ongoing monthly retainer for executing that strategy, monitoring the results and shifting the strategy as needed based on the outcomes.
The goals are driving traffic to their new and improved website, and increasing the number of subscribers to their educational products. Secondary goals are brand awareness and reputation building.
But, get this—and it might be a good lesson/takeaway for novices: I’m not necessarily an expert in social media (in truth, this is my first social strategy gig), but my confidence has taken me all the way through to the sale.
So it’s possible to land work and learn the skills along the way, even if you’re not 100% sure what you’re doing at the outset. I know enough to be dangerous, and I’m confident I’ll be able to deliver and execute on a quality strategy when all is said and done.
It’s not hard; you just use your resources and acknowledge what you don’t know so you can figure it out and apply it to the project you’re working on. And I have 20 years of marketing experience, so that helps.
Back in the day, I was a so-so TV advertising account exec. I hadn’t minded cold-calling potential advertisers, or warm-calling existing ones. But, I lost sales when I had no convincing comeback to, “Hey, I like you, but your rates are too high…”
I simply didn’t “get” why people buy. And buy more frequently. Then a hunch was born: I was missing something huge and, when I found it, I would rock at selling anything.
Learning TV ad sales from a dynamite sales manager was invaluable. Learning to write copy from successful professionals equally so. But neither taught what was the crucial missing piece for me: The psychology of selling.
Serendipity struck in the form of a book from the ‘30s by a guy named Harry Browne. In The Secret of Selling Anything, sales pro Browne simply and clearly lays out the principles—the psychology—of selling.
I devoured and re-devoured his 141-page book. The principles and his examples dripped into my psyche, word by word. And formed this simple 2-step action plan.
Step 1: Learning WHY people buy is the Golden Tool in our writer toolbox. Read Harry Browne’s book, or another great book on that exact subject. AND study ads already out there. Do they sell you? Analyze why, then do likewise. Rinse and repeat. Now you’re ready to start…
Step 2: …Earning—after you’ve helped your first client: YOU. Write copy that sells Mrs. Business Owner on why you’re who she needs to write HER copy.
Copywriting is selling. If we don’t know the answers to “Why Do People Buy?” can we ever be more than so-so writers?