VOLUME 18, ISSUE 6 – JUNE 2019
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. APPETIZER: WHAT’S YOUR THRESHOLD FOR TEDIUM?
A Trip to Lap Pool Reveals Insights into the Nature—and Demands—of Success
II. “FIELD” GREENS: 5 REASONS I LOVE INDUSTRY CONFERENCES
NM FLCW Taps Industry Conferences for Fun, Profit, Connection & More!
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: HIRE THE WRITER FIRST!
CA SEO Writer Highlights the Reasons Why Writers Come Before Web Designers
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
FLCW Taps LinkedIn, Lands Trade Article & Possible Book Ghostwriting!
TIP: UK FLCW Uses Low-Hassle, Lower-Paying Client to Cover Slow Periods
I. APPETIZER: WHAT’S YOUR THRESHOLD FOR TEDIUM?
A Trip to Lap Pool Reveals Insights into the Nature—and Demands—of Success
I was recently at my county aquatic center to do my 45 minutes of laps. No checking my cell phone. No music to keep me amused. Just me and the water, lap after boring lap.
And it occurred to me (I did have a chunk of distraction-free time to ponder…) that achieving success in any undertaking—whether an athletic endeavor, a business, mastering a musical instrument or artistic pursuit—consists primarily of a whole lot of boring, repetitive actions over a long period of time. A slog. A grind. Little glamour. No shortcuts.
We typically just see the final result: the Olympic athlete (or in my case, the reasonably in-shape guy trying to outrun Father Time); the acclaimed artist’s gallery opening; the pianist at Symphony Hall; and yes the commercial freelancer with the thriving practice.
What we don’t see are the vast and solitary efforts invested over years, yielding few noteworthy results, before finally arriving at their respective pinnacles—however modest or grandiose.
On the heels of that thought was this logical conclusion: your chances of success in any venture you’ve undertaken will depend, in large measure, on your threshold for tedium and hard work. If you have a little patience for long stretches of mind-numbing and seemingly fruitless activity, chances are excellent you’ll never accomplish the goals you say are most important to you.
And one reason I say that happens to so many people is because they see those periods of big effort/little results as wasted time and pointless exercises, as opposed to an essential part of the journey. I can see you established FLCWs out there nodding…
Remember the great “Wax On/Wax Off” scene from “The Karate Kid”? Perfect example: Daniel’s railing on about all the time he’s wasted doing Mr. Miyagi’s chores for days, when Mr. M was “supposed” to teach him karate. Until he’s shown that, in fact, none of it was a waste.
After finishing my swim, back in the locker room, I was listening to a bunch of young “in-training” military guys, all with Special Operations T-shirts. Not your garden-variety training, I’d wager.
They were talking about a certain type of trainee, and one said, “I just love those guys who want to know the ‘secret’ to making it in the program. They just don’t want to do the work.”
They just don’t want to do the work.
How positively refreshing. Especially in these strange times of ours, where the prevailing happy-talk message seems to be, “Find your passion, and ‘work will become play,’ and then, lickety-split, you’ll start making the big bucks for doing what you love.” Yeah, take a number.
As such, it’s lovely to hear people (and particularly young people!) demonstrate an intimate understanding of what it takes to succeed: A lot of hard work, and no way around it. On that “can-I-get-a-witness” note, let’s eat!
II. “FIELD” GREENS: 5 REASONS I LOVE INDUSTRY CONFERENCES
NM FLCW Taps Industry Conferences for Fun, Profit, Connection & More!
Got a copywriting niche serving an industry that holds regular conferences? Listen to Los Lunas, NM FLCW (and CPA) Liz Farr share the five reasons why industry conferences are solid investments of time and money for her. Thanks, Liz!
Liz also contributed a great article for the September 2018 issue on a successful strategy for landing work through trade journals.
Do you write for a particular industry? I’m a CPA and I write marketing content for accountants and those who serve accountants. I just got back from my fourth accounting conference in the last 12 months. It’s not cheap, particularly when you add in a hotel room in a pricey city like Boston or Atlanta.
So why do I fork out the cash a couple times a year? For 5 good reasons:
1) Find new work: I love meeting with thought leaders who either hire me themselves or refer me to people who need my writing skills. Getting a new gig from a trade show often requires consistent follow-up over weeks or months. It’s rare that they have something right then.
I’ve found that the exhibitors at these events are often the best sources of new work. I touched base with one software-company contact at conferences in Atlanta, Boston and San Jose, and finally, there’s something on tap.
2) Networking: Meeting people in person who work in your field can give you insights into what makes them tick and what keeps them up at night. These insights can help you write better content for your clients. Plus, it’s just nice to make new friends from all over the country or world.
Being a commercial freelancer and a CPA gives me a different status, so when I meet industry leaders, they treat me as more of an equal. Several even introduced me to key people who later hired me to write for them.
3) Education: As a CPA, I need to take continuing professional education every year to keep my license, and a couple conferences gives me all I need for the year. Plus, I stay on top of the latest trends, which helps me serve my clients better when I have fresh ideas for content.
4) Meet Clients: My clients are scattered around the globe, and meeting them in person solidifies the relationship. At the most recent conference in San Jose, I got to hang out with the contacts for five of my current clients.
I’ve also written about various thought leaders in the accounting space, and it’s amazing to meet them in person. They always greet me with a hug when they see my name tag.
5) FUN! Many conferences have free food, free drinks, happy-hour receptions and parties. And then there’s all the swag. I got a perfect laptop-sized messenger bag at one conference, a nice daypack at another and always come home with water bottles and notebooks.
Plus, the exhibitors often throw private invitation-only parties, which are well worth seeking out. My status as a writer in a crowd of accountants is generally enough to score an invite or two.
So, consider adding a few conferences to your marketing budget. You won’t regret it!
Got this cool update from Liz: I’m heading to my fifth conference in San Diego in June, and just got some good news: Because of my status as a commercial freelancer, the organizers of the San Diego conference decided I qualify as “media.” That means I’ll get access to a special quiet room for writers, introductions to representatives from accounting trade publications (who are great prospects for me), plus other perks I’ll discover when I arrive!
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: HIRE THE WRITER FIRST!
CA SEO Writer Highlights the Reasons Why Writers Come Before Web Designers
This great piece, from CA SEO writer Katherine Andes, originally appeared on her site and was geared to copywriting prospects. But, I liked it for two reasons. It’s a potent set of talking points writers can use when speaking to clients in the early stages of a project, about why the writer should be hired first.
Not to mention, it’s a powerful reminder of the enduring value writers bring to the table. Won’t always work, and we might still only hear from a client after they’ve had a designer start building the site, but she shares ideas worth keeping front and center in our minds.
I spoke with a business associate in the Fresno area not too long ago. He mentioned that he was rebuilding his website and then said, “I’m working with the Web designer right now. I’m not ready for the writer yet.”
That’s crazy. The writer of your web content is critically important. Web sites designed to sell products and services are content-driven. Your web designer can’t possibly know how to build the architecture of your site if he doesn’t know its content. Consider…
- Will your Web designer help you decide your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
- Will he come up with your product benefits list?
- Will he know how a page will be developed with appealing words to keep the visitor interested and moving onto other pages on the site?
- Will he know what pop-ups will be needed?
- Will he know what side bars will be needed?
- Will he know the best layout for lead generation?
Without a copywriter working with your Web designer, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
All too often, I meet with clients who have spent a ton of money on their sites, which have essentially been loaded up with print-style materials. Although print materials are great aids to your online copywriter, they simply cannot be effective when thrown onto a web site.
One reason is that print copy (brochure, magazine, etc.) is designed for more leisurely reads. When folks come to a web site they are on a mission. The pace is fast. Web visitors want to scan and quickly find exactly what they’re looking for, or they’re gone.
Good web copywriters can save you tons of money. How?
- They’ll prevent you from making mistakes that will cost you in lost sales.
- They’ll ensure every page is useful and geared toward your selling and reputation-building goals.
- They’ll ensure that every page ends with action items for the visitor.
- They’ll ensure your pages aren’t over-designed. An over-designed page may look great, but it may also be impossible to read and can distract from your sales message. (Look at Google, Yahoo and Amazon—all clean-looking with no fancy design elements. Yes, design is important, but the words are even more important. Remember, search engines don’t “search” for design or even images.)
- They’ll ensure that your web copy is written with keyword phrases (provided by them or the client) that will attract customers to your site.
- They’ll ensure the copy still sounds natural and appealing. Text with keywords “artificially” included will numb the mind of the reader and might even get you punished by the search engines, resulting in lower rankings.
- They’ll write the title and description tags in a natural and compelling manner to match their respective pages.
Ideally, the web designer and writer should work together. But, if I had to choose, I’d hire the writer first!
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
FLCW Taps LinkedIn, Lands Trade Article & Possible Book Ghostwriting!
TIP: UK FLCW Uses Low-Hassle, Lower-Paying Client to Cover Slow Periods
Cool success story from a mid-Atlantic FLCW who prefers to remain anonymous, and about some promising initial success with LinkedIn’s ProFinder service. After that, an eminently sensible tip from Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK FLCW Hannah Giles, for keeping income steady (even if lower) during slow periods.
After reading about another FLCW’s success with LinkedIn’s ProFinder service in a past E-PUB, I decided to give it a shot myself. You have to apply to the program, but once accepted, LinkedIn will send you leads from clients seeking services in your specialty (writers set the criteria for the types of writing-project leads they want to receive).
During your trial period, you can respond to 10 leads for free, and after that, it’s $60 a month. With my limited experience during the trial period, seems like several clients were small-budget entities, but not always. I responded to one gentleman seeking a ghostwriter for a business book he wanted to write, but had no time to do it. BUT, he definitely understood typical ghostwriting fees.
We met, meeting went well, and we’re now in the process of hammering out the details for the book. In the meantime, he hired me to write an article for a trade publication, at a nice fee, with other articles possible as well. And he’s hinted at some copywriting projects with his company. It’s already been worth it, but it has the potential to go a lot further.
Don’t shun the lower-paying client: While it’s tempting to always chase the high-budget clients, sometimes there are considerations that go beyond money. I have a client who pays on the low end, but he’s always polite, contactable if I have questions, grateful for my efforts and regularly pays on time.
The work itself might not be well paid, but it is regular, varied and takes relatively little time to complete to a high standard. I might not ever be able to retire on what this client pays but working for someone who is reliable and pleasant to deal with can make up for a lack of income.
Develop a good long-term relationship with a lower paying client and you might even be able to negotiate a higher fee—something I did with this client: when I mentioned I might move on, the client raised my rate!
PB: Yes, this might seem to fly in the face of the “well-fed” philosophy, but you might consider cultivating a few clients like these to fill in the slow patches. Sure, ideally, you want ALL high-paying clients, but sometimes, given our life circumstances at a given point in time, that’s not always possible.
And until it is, low-hassle, low-effort (even if lower-paying), grateful clients can be a welcome part of a work mix. As confirmation of that, I recently got this update from Hannah: “My lower-paying client was always a ‘side gig’ and I’ve actually now moved away from that client thanks to landing consistent, better paid work.”