VOLUME 19, ISSUE 10 – OCTOBER 2020
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. APPETIZER: FOCUS ON THE TINY “SLIVER”
Focus, Not on How Slow It Is (IF it is…), But on How Little You Need to Do Well!
II. “FIELD” GREENS: GOT “:50/:20”? IT’S ABOUT TIME…
Yours Truly Falls Hard for Small-Biz Coach’s Savvy Time-Management System
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: 98-YEAR-LONG CLIENT (IN DOG YEARS…)
IN FLCW Starts Writing About Dogs in 2006, & is Busier Than Ever Today!
IV. DESSERT: COMBO SUCCESS STORY & TIP
OH FLCW Keeps Eating Hours, Creates Process, Boosts Happiness & Profits!
I. APPETIZER: FOCUS ON THE TINY “SLIVER”
Focus, Not on How Slow It Is (IF it is…), But on How Little You Need to Do Well!
I got an email from a coaching client of mine, a relative newbie, who, like most of us, has been navigating a strange new writing landscape for many moons now. She wrote:
I admit I’m very confused from what I’ve been reading online. I have not been able to glean any real picture of what writing-job prospects are out there these days, and whether I’d be nuts to even try finding work through cold calls or any other prospecting method. Can you provide me with a reasonably coherent and real picture of the current freelance writing market?
My .02 (and worth every penny): You’re liable to find wildly divergent perspectives online, and, as such, you can end up more confused than ever. Or, worse, the pervasive “doom-‘n-gloom” talk becomes contagious (like we need more contagion…).
Remember: As long as a business wants to stay in business, it has to market. Marketing involves writing. They only have several options for getting those writing tasks done, and we’re a particularly good one right now. Why?
For those watching their money (like many companies are right now), outside freelancers like us can make a lot of economic sense, versus a pricey ad agency or marketing firm (as I discussed in the May 2020 E-PUB Greens Course).
Moreover, I’d avoid discussions of the “current state of the market.” Why? Because the operating assumption around that inquiry is that, whatever that “state” is, ALL freelancers are subject to its effects. And nothing could be further from the truth.
As I’m fond of reminding, you need an infinitesimally tiny sliver of the unfathomably vast (even in a downturn) overall copywriting “pie,” to make a really good living.
Think about “The Economy.” What is it? According to Investopedia.com,
“The economy is the large set of interrelated economic production and consumption activities.”
And at any given time, there’s a VAST array and spectrum of “economic production and consumption activities” going on. Focus on THAT fact, NOT on what some expert says about the relative health of the ginormous “Economy.”
Fact is, that “Economy” has little bearing on ONE person’s quest for self-sufficiency. All that matters is your own current economy and “state of freelancing,” and what YOU are doing to land the aforementioned “sliver.”
That realization leads reliably back to those activities that have successfully landed you work in the past—whether cold calling, direct mail, email marketing, networking, LinkedIn, or some combination (ideal).
No, it’s not easy, and certainly not much fun, but if you love your freelance life (and who doesn’t?), just keep it simple. The fundamentals are just that because they’ve worked forever, and in good times and bad. On that back-to-the-basics note, let’s eat!
II. “FIELD” GREENS: GOT “:50/:20”? IT’S ABOUT TIME…
Yours Truly Falls Hard for Small-Biz Coach’s Savvy Time-Management System
Can we agree on this? THE biggest obstacle to increasing our productivity (and we all have tons of empirical evidence to back it up) is distraction. Getting knocked off track by anything and everything that crosses our field of vision at any given time.
Back in June, I ran a tip from Minnesota FLCW Natalie Rotunda about her experiences using a pretty ingenious time-management system by none other than friend, colleague and small-business coach, Ed Gandia. And now, you’ll hear my experiences…
It’s called The :50/:20 System, and it’s simple. You set a timer for 50 minutes, and for those 50 minutes, you hunker down and focus on a task at hand. At the end of the 50, you get a 20-minute “recess”—time you get to use however you want. Read, take a walk, go down a YouTube rabbit hole – your choice.
That’s the best part of it—the simplicity. Nothing complicated, no logs to keep, just a timer set for two different stretches of time. Period.
I decided to try it, and, in short, I love it. By artificially but definitively carving out a block of time, Natalie and I both realized that the timer is your accountability partner. Because you know it’s just 50 minutes, and you set a timer for it, it somehow makes it a lot easier to stick to it, and more importantly, to let nothing intrude on that time.
I know how easy I can get distracted, especially during periods when I don’t have any super-pressing tasks—just things I should get done “sometime soon.” Sound familiar?
While the system works wonderfully during busy periods, where real client deadlines loom, these days, a lot of folks like us are using slower times to spiff up/beef up web sites and LinkedIn profiles, and do more marketing in general.
During these potentially “drifty” periods, the structure the timer provides introduces a sense of urgency to the process, making it far more likely that I’ll focus and finish (especially when I know my 20-minute reward is next).
Do three or four :50/:20 combos daily (the suggested limit, according to Ed), and you WILL get far more done, while still having plenty of “rabbit-hole” time.
Seriously, it’s almost like an optical illusion, or an Escher print. How can I get so much MORE done, while still having plenty of time to indulge my lazy side?
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: 98-YEAR-LONG CLIENT (IN DOG YEARS…)
IN FLCW Starts Writing About Dogs in 2006, & is Busier Than Ever Today!
Love this niche success story (but cool enough for a feature) from Carmel, IN FLCW Sally Rushmore. In addition to landing the client from a historically unpromising source, it’s fascinating to see all the myriad directions it’s gone in, AND for how long.
Though it’s definitely a niche, check out all the different projects Sally’s done for the client within that niche. IMO, this is the ideal niche: industry-specific, with copywriting needs spanning the gamut, so you’re meeting many client needs. Great retirement income, indeed. Here’s to another 14 years, Sally!
About six months after I’d read The Well-Fed Writer, an article in the E-PUB showcased a gal who made a grand living freelancing while traveling the world year-round in her RV or boat. She used Elance (now Upwork) for all of her jobs.
Peter cautioned against such sites for the low rates (like $5/page), but given my life circumstances, I needed to find work I could do wherever I was.
After spending hours studying the bidding process (and what others bid on certain projects), I began to bid. My first bid in March 2006 landed me a job I’m still doing every month, and during COVID, it’s paid more than ever!
The client wanted “someone to write about pets.” I told her about all the pets my family’s had, all the ones my kids have shown in 4-H, and that I’d started the Indiana 4-H Dog Training program in 1964 (!) and was still active, helping nearly 100 kids learn to train their dogs every year.
The client, Nipa, replied in minutes, saying she wanted someone to help her put together a dog-training website.
She’d purchased three dog training books for re-sale, and wanted a sales letter to go with each, and wanted it specific to several breeds. I told her I couldn’t do that without reading the books and if I didn’t agree with the training methods, I wanted to be able to re-write the books.
That led to my writing several books for her, along with multiple sales letters and weekly blog posts. Plus, she hired me to write breed information for about 150 dog breeds. Soon we started doing conference calls, where people could call in to talk with me. Then we did 2-3 new articles a month along with two videos a month to showcase what was in the articles.
Since then, her project (TrainPetDog.com) has evolved into a $37/month, content-heavy subscription website, giving members access to all the content, and allowing them to sign up for one-on-one calls with me (or two other trainers) and to ask questions online.
Plus, they get a weekly email appropriate to the age of their dog and their needs, and pointing them to useful and relevant articles, videos and podcasts.
When one of us comes up with something else we need to add (this year we added content for about 25 mixed breed dogs (some known as “designer dogs”), I quote her a price, she okays it and then I bill it on my monthly invoice when it’s accepted as done.
It’s provided a good income every month for over 14 years. But now, because of COVID, people have adopted dogs like crazy. So many shelters are empty, and we can hardly keep up with the requests for online help and our one-on-one calls, so I’m making double what I normally make.
Hardly what I expected of commercial freelancing, but it’s really good retirement pay!
IV. DESSERT: COMBO SUCCESS STORY & TIP
OH FLCW, After Eating Hours, Creates Process, Is Now Happier and More Well-Paid!
A great combo success story/tip from Cincinnati, OH FLCW and editor,
Holly Helscher. Tired of spending too many unpaid hours delivering more than clients paid for, because she wouldn’t put her foot down, she finally improved her process, and it’s yielded better client communication, greater job satisfaction and higher profitability.
Maybe you’re not doing much ghostwriting or editing work, but regardless of your copywriting mix, it’s critical to be clear, in writing, about what clients get for what services they purchase. If you’re uncomfortable talking about money, it’s even more crucial that you contractually spell things out.
When I first started as a freelancer, I reviewed the established rates and was terrified. How could I charge fees similar to established copywriters? Was I worth that much?
So, that first year I charged 50% of recommended fees. I learned a lot about clients and the content I preferred to write. But the most important lesson was discovering the difference between what a client requested and what they expected after the contract was signed.
As a ghostwriter, most people ask me to write their book or to edit one already written. At first, I’d sign the contract for editing, do the editing, but would realize along the way that their manuscript needed rewriting, not just editing.
So, I’d tell them what needed to be fixed, and they’d say, “I don’t want you to tell me what to fix. I want you to fix it.” Well, obviously, rewriting takes longer than editing, but because I was too timid to renegotiate, I’d do the rewrite, even though it was far beyond the scope of “editing.”
Realizing I needed to change my approach, I developed a process. If they wanted editing for a finished book, I asked for a sample chapter. I’d edit a few pages, return them, and ask if that work met their expectations.
Even if it didn’t, we could continue talking use the same vocabulary. Taking that step before quoting a fee has saved me hundreds of hours, enabled me to charge appropriately, and reduced misunderstandings between the client and me.
Next, I made a detailed sheet of services. It includes the definition of ghostwriting, rewriting, light editing, heavy editing, etc.
In addition to helping clients understand what I do, it allows for a more productive conversation when discussing what they want, what they need, and what they may be able to do themselves.
Today I rarely have a problem. I’m open to some negotiation, but turn away clients who want big price breaks. I don’t even discuss it; I just move them along. I’ve learned that if I stray too far from my fees, I resent the work.
I see too many freelancers undercut their value, which opens the door for substandard writers. That hurts the entire industry because clients don’t know what they’re really buying. Some clients I’ve lost come back to me with, “The one I hired was awful. Can you fix it?”
Of course, I’ll fix it. But like the home improvement professional coming in after a DIY job, I tell them, “But it may cost you more.” Reduce your fees if you have to, but be confident in your work and charge what you’re worth.