Writing Etc. Make Your Writing Sparkle. Write Killer Queries. Get Published.  www.FilbertPublishing.com

 

Notes from Minnesota

Woo hoo! Spring has sprung and I'm sooooo excited.

I spent the last two weeks criss crossing Minnesota and I'm more than a little fatigued. I love to travel, but the down side is trying to catch up with everything once you get back to the office.

Wow... things pile up fast! :)

I've got Peder (my beautiful son and trusty summer assistant) working his tush off counting inventory and getting all my messy files re-organized. It's almost embarrassing listening to him tsk tsk all morning. :(

Oh well.

Rudie my little Doxie Cross pup traveled with me and is more than exhausted. Sadly, Jake the Min Pin won't leave her alone. Guess he missed her.

I hope this little update finds you well, happy... and writing!

Best,

Beth

P.P.S. Be sure to check out our best sellers.

 

A Mindset Moment

Hey Freelancer,

I know life can get overwhelming at times. You've got to make a living. Writing assignments don't always flow the way you expect. Sometimes you just get tired.

It's in these moments that you must slow down long enough to realize you have all of heaven and earth supporting you in your writing goals.

The universe possesses infinite resources to charge your battery, ignite your creativity, and help you feel fulfilled.

Take care of yourself this week.

Grab a book. Take a walk. Pet your dog. Whine. Laugh. Cry.

Live.

(Mindset Moment)

Beth's Hot Pick of the Week


Without a doubt, one of my favorite freelancers is Bob Bly. In many ways, I've modeled my freelance career after his. His writing style, his marketing techniques, his tenacity despite so-called economic conditions have always been an inspiration to me.

Bob Bly's Guide to Freelance Writing Success” is just one of his dozens of titles available today (all highly recommended, by the way) that I consider an essential part of my freelance plan as well as my marketing strategy.

I'd suggest you pick up your own copy today.

 

Easy Market... Little To No Rejection Part Deux :)

Beth Ann Erickson

Last time, I talked about using your writing skills to write for small businesses. This time, I'm going into a little more detail on how to target your prospective clients.

I use a very scientific process to do this: I dig through the local yellow pages and…


  1. Target an industry I find interesting.

  2. Choose all the businesses within that category that have large ads.

  3. I then choose businesses without a big ad that may interest me anyway.


It’s really that simple. (And not very “scientific,” eh?)


If I’m particularly daring, I’ll select a few businesses as I read the morning newspaper and shoot a letter to them as well.

I most certainly tweak each letter to reflect each business I’m contacting. I personalize the salutation and add any pertinent information that may apply.

I’ve had fantastic luck using this process, despite the fact that I live in a very rural area.

You may enjoy working for local clients as well. I’d suggest you give it a shot.

However, if you want to really ratchet up your income, the time eventually comes to stretch into larger markets.

You can shoot for regional clients, then state-wide, national, then eventually world-wide. The Internet makes all this possible.

First things first: You need a website.

Never fear, I don’t know of any writers who have enjoyed writing their own website. But you still have to do it. Non-negotiable.

I may get into the nitty-gritty mechanics of writing a great sales piece some day. But for now I want to talk about your site a bit:

Before you write word one, you’ve got to get into the mind of your prospective customer.

What do they want?

What do they think about their current marketing plan?

How can you help them achieve their boldest goal?

What’s on their mind? How can you properly address what they’re thinking about?

It’s not a complex process if you simply take some time to slip into the skin of you potential reader and find their hot buttons. Address these concerns in a compelling way and you’ve got a sale.

So… you know who your ideal customer is. What next?

You start writing, right? Nope. You research.

While still channeling your ideal reader, read you need to thoroughly research the product you’re selling. Start with everything your client gives you; every piece of documentation, specs, the product itself… everything. Then study the competition’s marketing efforts.

Print everything and highlight every interesting tidbit of info you find.

After this, you should dig through your swipe file (hopefully you do have one of these) and find marketing pieces that could possibly serve as a jumping off point in your writing.

Read what your potential client reads. Surf to the same sites.

Dig deep.

If you don’t do this, you run the risk of not connecting with your audience. And if you don’t connect, you definitely won’t make the sale. It’s really as simple as that.

OK. You’ve researched your audience. You’ve got a few swipes to glean information from. You’ve read so much about your audience that you can actually transfer their speech patterns onto the written page. (This means you’ve mastered communicating to your audience using their language… not some high-brow literary style that will bore them to tears… unless they’re of an academic bent and actually speak in that manner. But I digress.)

Fabulous! Now you can start writing!

Not so fast, Grasshopper.

Now it’s time to re-read.

If you’re a smart reader, you’ve made notes, highlighted, and basically chewed through your papers. Now’s the time to organize.

Pull out some note cards and start transferring all your nuggets of gold onto the cards.

As you do this, form bullets in your mind. Perhaps a few subheads. Maybe a few headlines’ll pop out at you.

It’s amazing how the letter basically writes itself when you’ve got a ton of information to work with.

Just keep making notes and tossing them into various piles. I use one for potential bullets, one for headlines, subheads, interesting tidbits, crucial information… you get the drift.

So, if you’ve done everything I’ve suggested up to this point, you’re ready to start the easy part. Writing.

I know. This process sounds like a lot of work.

But your other option is to pull your information out of thin air, cross your fingers and hope for the best.

I never said copywriting was easy. Nor did I say it was for the faint of heart.

However, if you truly want to make all your marketing efforts worthwhile, there simply are not any shortcuts.

This is why many copywriters find it lucrative to specialize in a particular niche. Writing to the same, or similar, audiences day in and day out really cuts the learning curve.

But no matter what you write, you most certainly need to research, understand your audience, and speak their language.

This is best illustrated by this: supposed a client called upon you to write copy for an e-book.

Client one: advice to senior citizens on burial plots. Client two: vacation hot spots for spring break.

I’m sure you can imagine that your use of language would be very different for each project.

I’m also sure that any research you perform for client number one will not transfer to client number two.

I’m also very positive that the mindset of these two audiences will be quite different.

As you work on each sales letter, everything you write will completely and totally reflect your audience, their values, their language style… everything and I mean EVERYTHING is written to and about your reader.

You never sell a product or service. You sell a solution to your reader’s problem.

You never “talk” about your company, you always talk about your reader and how your company can help them.

Big difference.

In fact, miss this point and (again) you’ll lose readers. And when you lose readers, you lose the sale.

~~~

Beth Ann Erickson is the “Queen Bee” of Filbert Publishing. She’s also the author of numerous titles including “101 No Cost and Low Cost Secrets To Turbo Charge Your Freelance Income.” Pick up your copy today at http://filbertpublishing.com/101.html  She’s also a busy copywriter, speaker, and publisher of Writing Etc., the free e-mag for writers.

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I Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*-

http://www.WritingForDollars.com

 

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