How to Become a Successful Freelance Writer in 2013

Ever wish you could get seasoned freelance writers to help you with your career?

If you’re wondering how to find the great-paying writing clients and get them to hire you…

Learn from two freelance writing pros how to skyrocket your income.…

In an intimate, small-group coaching program at an affordable price!

Freelance Writers Blast Off Class

This class is now full!

To learn when we will open the next Blast Off session, join our waiting list.

What’s the Blast Off?

The Blast Off Class is our core marketing intensive course.

It’s designed to quickly show you your best freelance writing opportunities — based on your unique knowledge and experience — and how to land great assignments.

Leave with a marketing action plan and kick your freelance writing career into gear for 2013!

The details…

Here’s what we’ll cover week by week:

WEEK 1: Meet fellow students and set your goals. Complete introductory exercises to uncover your strengths and interests and find a support buddy.
WEEK 2: Custom marketing plan. We email you with insights on your best markets, niches, and industries.
WEEK 3: Your writer website. Weekly live Q&A calls begin with a review of participants’ websites that will show what makes a writer site an effective client magnet.
WEEK 4: Markets. Learn about little-known, lucrative markets and discover the full spectrum of paid-writing opportunities.
WEEK 5: Query letters and letters of introduction. We’ve got a 1-week intensive on this critical marketing skill.
WEEK 6: Marketing. We’ll spotlight 10 marketing techniques that are getting results today.
WEEK 7: The business of freelancing. Contracts, invoicing, negotiating — the biz basics you need to know.
WEEK 8: Live reviews of your query letter/LOI and final questions in our final Q&A call.

Coaching in all the formats you need:

Full written transcripts of all recorded trainings and the 6 live Q&A calls
Tip handouts stuffed with resource links
All calls and presentations are recorded. Participate live, or view/listen when you can.
On weeks 3-7, you’ll receive a training recording ahead of time to watch at your leisure.
Then, we’ll follow up with a live Q&A call to answer all your questions.
3 months free in Freelance Writers Den are included — (a $75 value!)
Class limit is 30 (20 3 seats left!) — enjoy an intimate environment and plenty of individual attention!

Grads Earn More

More than 200 writers have been through this program, and e-mails are flowing in from our grateful students – like the one who earned more than $5,000 using advice she gleaned from the course. Or the writer who received her first $1/word assignment. Not to mention the writer who went from writing for $100 per month to commanding $1,000 per feature article. (Read more below!)

Who is the Blast-Off for?

Brand-new freelance writers
Writers looking to move up from content mills
Experienced writers who need to learn marketing to get better clients

What grads say about the Blast-Off class:

Thanks for the great advice — I just landed my first client. Being a content-mill survivor, it was really weird for me to quote $50 a blog post, but they accepted my rates and I will now have $1300-$1500 of work from them every month!

I used my last bit of money to sign up for the Blast-Off class and had $8 left in the bank. Now, I’m hoping to earn $2000 my first month. Thanks for all the help — and the support in Freelance Writer’s Den. —Robert Drake

“It’s an understatement how valuable this training has been for me. I just started freelancing this past January, so I am fairly new to this industry. After last week’s letter-of-intent/Query lesson, I put one together and sent it off (via email) to a few publications this week. I received a response immediately from a large technology magazine who wanted clips and my resume. A conference call this morning with 2 editors and bam! I’m now getting my largest assignment to date at $1.00 per word. I am still shaking in my boots!

I am ecstatic over the short timeline of LOI submission to assignment. But I know it was what I’ve been learning in class, and more importantly applying it that made the difference. Now I have a better idea what to say to actually get my foot in the next door. Thanks Carol and Linda. —Rose McNeill, RoseWrites

“I’ve been working as a professional writer and editor for nearly a decade, but this class has opened my eyes to new and expanded possibilities for my career. I feel more hopeful and confident with every class session. Carol and Linda are knowledgeable guides with an engaging style. What a wonderful investment in my career. Is there a part 2? Sign me up!” —Sarah Tieck

I’ve recently encouraged several friends to enroll in the Blast Off, which gave me a hugely helpful jumpstart. Update: In the past couple months, I’ve picked up a freelance marketing gig and a tech company client — I’m blogging for them and would have had no idea what $$ to ask for if I hadn’t taken your course. That in itself more than paid for the class. I also launched my Plan B Nation blog–which in its first two months has been featured on New England NPR and named Website of the Week by SecondAct Magazine. —Amy Gutman, PlanB Nation.

Starting a career from scratch as a freelance writer without formal training in marketing or journalism feels like cliff-diving while you still need water wings. Since taking the class, I’ve gained one client and upgraded another from a $100-a-month blog gig to a contract for three features at $1,000 each. My new website was noticed immediately. Financial return: 1,600%. Confidence dividends: Priceless. —Christy Corp-Minamiji, Vet-Writer.

“I have taken many online and in-person workshops on freelance writing, but by far the best one I have taken was the Blast-Off course Carol Tice and Linda Formichelli offer together. Talk about a tag team! Two different styles of working, two different success stories – one serious “how-to” with some great direct answers and feedback about what has worked and not worked for them. It’s live, it’s interactive, and I made sure I didn’t miss a minute–it was that good. During the class, I recontacted an editor about a query I had sent — and got the assignment. It’s with a national magazine and my check from that will more than pay for the course. This class was the confidence boost that I needed, with the advice that got me to tweak that query and land that assignment.” —Rosa Lee Jude

Why did we create this program?

Mostly because you told us to.

We’re passionate about helping freelance writers grow their earnings, and we want to help as many writers as we can, as fast as we can. Our individual mentoring programs are helping some writers, but many writers let us know the $400 price tag was beyond their budget.

At the same time, we’ve learned something from one-on-one coaching: Support is important. We found writers who bonded with a support group tended to be more successful in pursuing their dreams of achieving better pay.

So we’ve created a course that lasts longer than 1-on-1 mentoring, costs less, and provides better group support.

Did you miss out on past Blast-Offs? Here’s your chance to kick off 2013 with the tools to grow your income.

We’ll be offering the Freelance Writers Blast Off class only twice this year…so if you want to get the knowledge and skills to land more good-paying writing assignments and earn more doing what you love — invest in your success today.

Meet the presenters:

Linda Formichelli is a longtime freelance writer and the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. Linda has written for more than 130 magazines — from USA Weekend to Redbook — and two dozen corporate clients, including Pizzeria Uno, OnStar, and Sprint. She teaches an 8-week course on breaking into magazines and also offers phone mentoring. Her blog is The Renegade Writer.

Carol Tice is a longtime freelance writer who’s earned more each year straight through the downturn. Her clients have included Alaska Airlines Magazine, Seattle Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, FreelanceSwitch, Costco, Lending Tree and many others. Her Make a Living Writing blog was named one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers in 2010 and 2012, and she recently opened the support community Freelance Writers Den. Carol’s e-book is Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide.

Early registration bonuses!!

Bonus 1-hour recording: Story idea lab — learn how Linda and Carol develop tons of salable story ideas! ($47 value)
Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide: Carol’s 200+ page ebook guide to earning from writing today (currently not available for purchase anywhere, but went for $36 when you could get it)
The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock: Another 200+ pages of vital help getting the gig!
13 Ways to Get the Writing Done Faster — our co-written new Kindle ebook!

Register Now

You could spend years earning peanuts while you figure out where the real money is in freelance writing. Or, take a shortcut and let two pros save you a ton of time, mistakes and heartache.

If you need 2013 to be the year you grow your freelance writing income, join us for the Spring session of the Blast Off!