By Carol Tice

Have you ever pitched an editor a story idea, only to read that publication a few weeks or months later and discover someone else has written your exact topic?

It’s a fairly common experience for freelance writers, especially new writers.

I recently got a mailbag question about this problem from KT. She writes:

Recently, one of the blogs Media Bistro follows discussed the issue of a freelance writer who had pitched a political expose to his hometown paper. They passed – then proceeded to assign the story to a staffer.

It seems that once you trust an editor, this is less likely to happen. But, if pitching to an editor you know not, how do you help ensure that your crackerjack pitches aren’t assigned elsewhere — because, after all, they’re only ideas.

Here’s my answer:

There is absolutely no way you can ensure your “crackerjack” pitches are not assigned to other writers. I know, because I’ve had some of those assignments sent to me to write on occasion! And I’ve certainly seen publications write stories similar to ones I pitched that carried another writer’s byline.

I believe most editors are ethical and will assign a story to the writer that brought it to them as much as possible.

But ideas cannot be copyrighted. If you suspect your idea was stolen, there’s really nothing you can do about it, except not pitch that editor again.

Before we assume an editor is a thief, though, let’s examine a couple other possibilities:

1. The editor may have already assigned a story on your topic. If there’s a sleazy political figure on the local scene, a writer can hardly think they’re the only person who will have the idea of looking into the person’s background for a story. This is one reason many magazines have boilerplate in their writer’s guidelines to the effect that they receive many submissions, many ideas are similar, and you can’t sue them if you think you’ve been ripped off.
2. The editor thinks you don’t have the experience or skills to execute the idea you pitched. If you haven’t made a strong case in your query letter or phone pitch for why you are the person to write the story, your idea may well float off to another writer. Be sure to mention any special expertise you have, technical abilities such as online database mining, or knowledge of where the experts are for your topic.

The one weapon that fights idea theft

I’ve seen my story ideas pop up with someone else’s byline. Here’s how much time I spent fuming, fretting, or otherwise feeling pissed off about it:

Zero.

Why doesn’t it piss me off? Because I have a lot of story ideas. So when faced with a possible idea ripoff, I can simply move on to one of my dozens of other ideas. Trust me, this is the most emotionally healthy way to handle it.

Generating many potential story ideas is your most potent weapon against editor ripoffs. You move on and don’t care because you have many other query letters ready to write.

If you’re feeling like your one, precious idea has been stolen and now your career is ruined, then you’re not developing enough ideas.

If I thought an editor really ripped off my idea, I might not pitch them again. That’s about all you can do.

But you can also turn this around and consider it another way. Maybe seeing your idea in print in the publication you pitched it to shows you have a good sense of what that publication needs.

You might try pitching them a few more ideas in queries that make a stronger pitch and a better case that you’re the writer for the job. Maybe you’re getting close, and a little persistence and stronger query-writing would land you an assignment.

Photo: Flickr – richt-what

By Carol Tice

Have you ever tried to buy something from a blogger, only to find it’s difficult to accomplish? So many bloggers want to use their sites as a way to earn. But often, without even realizing it, bloggers create obstacles that discourage readers from buying.

I had a frustrating experience recently when I won a coupon in an auction for some doll clothing my daughter wanted. It illustrated for me how easy it is to drive potential buyers away.

Here are some of the roadblocks I encountered as I tried to buy my daughter these doll clothes:

• No electronically delivered coupon code. If you do promotions for your blog, make sure you can deliver them via email or right on your blog. When I paid for my coupon, I was told I had to come pick it up in person — pretty inconvenient. Then when I got it, it had no coupon code. It just said “good for $40 at my store.” I was stumped on how to use it! If you want to have sales or offer discounts, you need a flexible cart system such as e-junkie where you can easily provide discount codes.
• Not enough contact information. If your contact page only has a fill-in form, that can be a big problem. Many people hate filling those out, and sometimes they don’t work. Which is what happened to me — I filled in the form, but there was no response. I scanned the site and found no street address, email address, or phone number. I had to do some Google searching to find a phone number to call, which I only did because I knew it was a local entrepreneur. Ordinarily, this problem probably would have spelled the end of my attempt to buy on this site.
• Confusing store layout. If you offer a store on a blog, it should be well-organized within a single tab or two or visible in a prominent sidebar box. Instead, this doll-clothing seller had about 20 different tabs for clothes, including a slew of categories that were hidden under a drop-down menu under one main tab. We almost missed seeing over half her items as a result.
• No About page. A strong About page warms buyers up and makes them feel welcome by showing a picture of you and telling your story. It was discouraging the see the About page for the doll site was blank. If I hadn’t already had the coupon in hand, I probably would have gone elsewhere right off.
• The mystery email. When you’re sending email from your blog, it’s important to have an email address that includes your blog name, and a subject line that alerts the reader that you’re writing about their order. Eventually, this seller sent me an email — but I never saw it, because her email didn’t have a useful address, and the subject line didn’t jump out at me. Her message was lost in the hundreds of emails I get every day.

Eventually, I spoke to this seller on the phone, went to her house, and picked up the doll clothes. This is not the way ecommerce is supposed to work.

My daughter is heavy into getting new outfits for her dolls, but we’ll likely try some other seller in the future after this experience. It only takes one negative experience to send a possible shopper away.

By Carol Tice

Less than a year ago, this blog had fewer than 300 subscribers. As I write this, it’s headed toward 2,500

This is the story of how I skyrocketed my blog subscribers — and how you can, too.

I tried a lot of strategies — and some of them worked. The good news is, the things that worked for me are things any blogger can do to grow their audience. You’re pretty much guaranteed you will add subscribers.

How many subscribers you add depends on how well you execute your plan — and definitely on a little bit of luck! — but your numbers will definitely go up.

Before I start, I just want to say that growing an email subscriber list should be the first goal for any blogger with dreams of earning from their blog. A lot of new bloggers are unaware of this — I know I was! But without a list, you cannot easily market and sell things to your readers.

I agree with Naomi Dunford of ittybiz — when you don’t have a list, you’ve got nothing. You can be doing a lot of awesome stuff, but at the end of the day if that stuff doesn’t build your list, it’s a waste of time.

Here are the 10 most important things I did to grow my subscriber base:

1. Make celebrity friends. A few years back, this wasn’t so important, as it was easier to get noticed in the blogosphere. Now, as Jon Morrow of Copyblogger tells in a great video on his GuestBlogging site, it’s mandatory. You can do all of the other steps below, but it’ll be slow going if you can’t get a link or mention from an influential blogger. Just like a Hollywood starlet, you can spend years touring in dinner theater and eking out a living, or you can sit at the drugstore counter on Hollywood Boulevard and get noticed by a big movie-studio producer right away.

When top bloggers notice your work, they can spread the word to everyone else and send a flock of readers over to your blog. Some will subscribe. You’ve also then made a great connection you can ask about guest-blogging opportunities on their blog, to gain even more exposure.

There are lots of ways to connect with top bloggers. The first way I did it was just by putting my blog post links on Twitter. One was spotted by Jon and he asked me to guest post on Copyblogger. A lot of good stuff rolled from there.

2. Listen to your readers and meet their needs. You may think you know why readers visit your blog and what they want to read about, but take a poll and ask them. The answers will probably surprise you. If you only have a few readers now, email them individually and get their thoughts. When you write more extremely useful posts on exactly the topics readers want, more readers will subscribe.

3. Post frequently and consistently. Initially, I posted sporadically, then progressed to once a week. I gradually upped that to twice a week, and then three times, which seems to be a good level for this blog. More posts mean more visits — it’s just that simple.

I also set my posts to all go up at the same time of day, and on the same days of the week (holidays excepted). I found readers like to be able to rely on you for a fresh post at particular times in their week. People are creatures of habit, and regular posting will make your blog habit-forming.

4. Write amazing headlines with key words. Regular readers are probably sick of hearing this from me, but most blog-post headlines aren’t drawing readers the way they could. If you improve only one thing about the posts on your blog, let it be the headlines. When I learned more about headlines and wrote stronger headlines, I got noticed by a lot more influential people.

5. Give away great free stuff. So many bloggers complain they can’t get people to subscribe, but they don’t offer any incentive to do so. Put together a short, useful free report and you’ll be amazed at how many more subscribers you get. People love free stuff! When I did my first guest-post on Copyblogger, I was so excited — I thought I would rack up hundreds of new subscribers right away. But I didn’t have a free-giveaway offer, and I really didn’t get many subscribers. So you can drive a crowd to your blog, but if you don’t make them an enticing offer, you still won’t gain many subscribers. I definitely learned this one the hard way.

6. Ask for the subscription. Back when I had about 250 subscribers, I did a consulting call with Jon Morrow. I complained about my low subscriber rate, and he said, “Well — do you ask readers to subscribe?” I countered that I had a signup box.

“No,” he said. “Ask them. On the bottom of your posts write, ‘If you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing,’ and give a link to sign up.” Sure enough, making that “ask” got a steady trickle of signups going, right away.

7. Make it easy to subscribe by email. I’ve looked at more than 100 startup blogs, and a common problem new bloggers have is not making it easy to subscribe by email. Often, there’s only an RSS signup, or the email signup is buried inside the RSS signup sheet.

I used to have a similar problem — I had a small text-link you clicked to subscribe, which took you another place where you filled out the subscription form. In other words, it was a 2-step process. When I fixed that and made it a one-step process, subscriptions rose. Lesson: You can never underestimate how lazy people are when they’re reading websites. Every step they have to take gives them a chance to lose interest and wander away without subscribing.

8. Remove the clutter. Last summer, I got approached by Derek Halpern of DIYThemes and Social Triggers to do a guest post for DIY. He told me my site was too cluttered and I should delete many sidebar widgets. When I did, I got more subscribers. It’s because my site became less confusing and it’s more obvious to readers what I want them to do — subscribe.

10. Market the #%(@*! out of your blog. When you write a blog post, you have created a marketing tool. Next, you have to get out there and use that tool to help people discover your blog. Retweet your content, post links on Facebook, LinkedIn, or wherever else your crowd hangs out. Comment on other blogs. Invite readers and experts to come guest-post on  your blog — it’ll make them into big fans and promoters of your blog.

By Samar Owais

You hear it everywhere: Writing for content mills is bad business. If you do it, your freelance writing business won’t grow and you’ll forever be stuck in a rut.

Granted, writing for content mills is bad for business — in the long term. However, there is nothing wrong with writing for them in the beginning.

The secret to making content mills work for you

Content mills can give you samples, experience and your first few clients. The secret to writing for content mills is to have an exit plan. Take the time to mark out your strategy.

When I started freelancing, I wrote a few articles for Helium. Then I used those articles to get accepted into Bright Hub, which paid $10 an article at the time. From there, I used my Bright Hub articles as samples whenever I applied to writing jobs.

Proactively look for work

I didn’t want to write for content mills forever so my strategy was simple: Find client work – any work, even if it was low paying.

I blogged regularly to get more samples and would spend an hour every day scouring Craigslist and various other job boards. I applied to every job for which I was qualified. If I didn’t have a related sample, I wrote one tailored specifically for the job.

Another thing I was very careful about was not linking to my content-mill articles in the applications. I would either paste them in the email body or send them as Word, PDF or text documents, depending on the job specifications.

My first client was a small plumbing company that paid me $10/article. I applied to their ad on Craigslist with a sample written especially for them.

Don’t let low-paying clients define your freelance writing business

I’d like to tell you I was very business savvy. That once I got clients, I started raising my rates. The truth is, raising my rates didn’t even occur to me for six months! It wasn’t until I landed another gig (through Craigslist again) that paid $15/article that I realized I could earn more.

Raise your rates to attract the clients you want

Soon after, I applied for a blogging gig that asked for a quote. That’s when I realized I could be charging more instead of just accepting the rates clients set! I decided to double my article writing rates, quoted $30 and was accepted! I slowly raised my rates to $50/post.

My clientele changed with the change in my rates. Now instead of writing for plumbing companies, I was writing for solopreneurs and other freelancers who subcontracted their work.

One thing I always did was quote $15 above my rates so that even if the client negotiated, I could give them a ‘discount’ and not go below my actual rates.

Turn prospects into clients

With every job application, rejection and job I got, I learned the art of turning prospects into clients. I learned that for a prospect to think of you when they need a freelancer, you have to

• Stay in touch: Even if you’ve been rejected, stay in touch with the prospect so that the next time they need to hire a freelancer, they’ll think of you. I follow my prospects on Twitter and send occasional emails.

• Follow up: If you haven’t heard back from the prospect, follow up after a week. Quite a few times a client has told me that my application got lost in their inbox.

• Provide value: Every time you contact your prospect, go out of your way to provide value.

Writing for content mills gave me an entry in freelancing world and gave me a safety net while I searched for clients.

You can successfully use content mills to get started in freelance writing — as long as you have an exit plan.

Samar Owais is a freelance writer and blogger. She offers rock-solid tips for freelancing success at The Writing Base, along with a free 58-Page Guide to Turning Prospects into Clients.

By Carol Tice

When freelance writers tell me they’re having trouble finding gigs, I often find what they really mean is “I’m sending out lots of resumes to online job ads I find on Craigslist and not getting any bites.”

But there are many, many other ways to land a freelance-writing job.

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you are likely to get the same result you’re getting now. If you want to find more clients, it’s time to get proactive and try new marketing strategies.

Here are 50 suggestions for other ways to market your writing:

1. Ask friends if they know anyone looking for a writer
2. Ask former coworkers if they know anyone looking for a writer
3. Ask former bosses if they know anyone looking for a writer
4. Find former editors — reconnect and see if they have any current writing needs
5. Find former editors and ask them to refer you if they hear from other editors who need a writer
6. Call all your previous clients and see if they have any writing needs now
7. Check in with previous clients and ask them to refer you business
8. Ask current clients to refer you business
9. Ask current clients if they have any additional writing needs
10. Analyze what your current clients are doing and actively propose new projects
11. Bid for jobs on freelance bidding sites — especially on jobs that seem high-quality and have few bidders
12. Put your profile on freelance bidding sites, then just lurk and let clients find you
13. Have a profile on MediaBistro, the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, or other professional sites prospects might check to find writers
14. Develop story ideas and send query letters
15. Make cold calls — identify prospects, call them on the phone and simply ask, “Do you use freelance writers?”
16. Send a direct mail pitch to prospective businesses
17. Drive the industrial parks of your town and write down business names — then check out their websites and call them.
18. Go to in-person networking events
19. Create a new in-person networking event and serve as the host
20. Go door to door on your main street and meet business owners
21. Send InMail on LinkedIn – they have a high average response rate, and LinkedIn now guarantees you’ll get a response
22. Troll the full-time jobs on LinkedIn and apply, asking if they might also need freelancers
23. Check “Who’s viewed my profile” on LinkedIn and reach out to people who’ve looked at your site
24. Hold a free or paid in-person class about how writers can help businesses succeed
25. Hold a free or paid webinar or teleclass for prospects
26. Do a podcast about the benefits of your type of writing to clients
27. Start a blog with tips for your target audience
28. Create a free ebook or report that can be downloaded or emailed to prospects
29. Make your website rank high on Google for key search terms, ie “freelance writer + your city”
30. Take out an ad online — on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or a popular site for your niche
31. Take out a print ad in a publication your prospects read
32. Place ads on Craigslist (instead of just answering ads on Craigslist)
33. Find niche job boards with better-quality jobs you can apply for
34. Look at newspaper classified ads
35. Send an unsolicited article to a magazine or online publication
36. Inquire about guest posting on prominent blogs your prospects would read
37. Send an unsolicited guest blog post to a prominent site
38. Write promotional articles on Biznik with useful tips for your prospective audience (they can be emailed to everyone in your market) or offer a free or paid event for members only
39. Refer other writers so that they in turn refer you
40. Tweet about the type of work you do
41. Look through the job offers on Twitter
42. Use the Writer’s Market online to identify new markets you could approach
43. Join business and writing organizations and take advantage of their events and forums to find new prospects
44. Call relevant organizations your prospects might belong to, and ask if you can be listed in their online resource guide for members
45. Join writing communities such as A-List Blogger Club, where lots of other writers will get to know you and might refer you
46. Put a bumper sticker or door sign on your car that says you’re a freelance writer
47. Wear a button everywhere you go that says you’re a freelance writer
48. Create business cards that make a special offer for prospects and hand them out everywhere you go
49. Put a tagline about your writing business in all your outgoing emails with a link to your URL
50. Write a substantial ebook or print-on-demand book that would build your authority as a pro writer

By Carol Tice

One of the most frequently asked questions freelance writers had on my teleclass earlier this month was, “How can you tell if an online writing gig is legitimate?”

Funny story — I got a very strange email earlier this week that I think illustrates how difficult it can be to tell very solid opportunities from bogus ones. Here’s the story:

I got this email at 10:30 pm. The sender name and the company names involved are disguised, but otherwise this is letter for letter how the email looked:

hi Carol
My name is (person’s name) and I’m looking for a writer for a project I’m managing.  I’m not sure if you are available but thought I would reach out.  The project is really to create an annual report for a few business programs for my large client in the SEattle area.  I need someone to work with me better now and May 5th.  Not sure if you are available but i’d love to chat.  all teh best (name).

Kind of suspicious-looking, huh? Looks like someone typing on their mobile device or something — someone who doesn’t care how their message looks. And they’re sending me an inquiry at a pretty weird time for doing business.

In general, when I get feeler emails like this that don’t include a company name and phone number, and the email doesn’t reveal a company name — which this one didn’t — I tend to be extremely wary.

I often fire back an email saying if they’re from a real company to please reply with their company name, address, phone and URL. I have a habit of never wanting to spend time discussing projects with anyone who won’t give me those basic pieces of information.

But there were a couple things that made me give this email a second look.

The first was the mention of a big client. The second was the fact that her email did end in a name that I knew was associated with a service offered by a big local company. That gave it enough chance of being a real offer that I wrote back:

Hi (name) —

Thanks for reaching out to me! Annual reports are definitely up my alley — as a longtime business reporter I’m very familiar with that format. I’m pretty slammed for about the next week, but after that my schedule should get better. Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow to discuss your project?

In the meanwhile, maybe you could send me a bit more contact information for you and your company so I can take a look online?

Also would love to hear how you found me — thanks!

After I sent this inquiry, I decided to run the sender’s name through LinkedIn with “Seattle” attached. Bingo: The sender was affiliated with a very large company. I wasn’t surprised when I got her response below. Marketers, note the interesting way she found me:

hi Carol
I’m with (major project management agency)  and we are working with (Fortune 500 company) on a large project for the office of the CTO.  I found you through linked in online to be honest and was looking for someone with adequate experience.  This is a huge project and I need someone for 80hours between now and May 5th.  Let’s chat tomorrow

I also need to know if you can help me with interviews and a few client meetings to review documents once we are done or are you jsut remote?

thanks much

(name)

All of which brings us back to our question: How can you tell if a writing gig is legit?

Answer: You have to do some sleuthing. Don’t take prospects at face value. Start researching and find out if they’re who they say they are.

My experience with this prospect shows how hard it is in our casual-email era to tell good from bad. So you really need to look hard at the prospect before you leap.

Ways to investigate a prospective writing client:

1. Get their contact information and look them up online. Have they been around a while? Do they sell a real-world product or service — or magazine — with a proven track record of success? If they won’t provide a street address, run.
2. Ask around your writer forums on LinkedIn or wherever you hang out — has anyone worked for this company? If so, what are their impressions?
3. Poke around in social media to see what this company is saying…and what others are saying about them. Also try the contact person’s name on Twitter and Linked In — does their bio say they work for the company they told you they represent?
4. Try Googling that company’s name + lawsuit and see what you turn up. Use the Google News tab to see if there are news stories about the company.
5. Ask the prospect: What is your business model? (If it’s “we get you to write tons of content cheap or free and then we put ads next to it,” run.)
6. Ask: What are your pay rates and your payment schedule? You want to know up front if they pay on an instant bank transfer or take six months.
7. Be on the lookout for obviously scammy propositions — it they ask you to write a bunch of free samples, or to write for peanuts because they might be able to pay more later on, or if you get enough pageviews…run.

By Sean D’Souza

The root of all trouble in your headlines is understanding that headlines aren’t some fancy words strung together. On the contrary, they’re simple words that are put together with a clear thought. But the point where it all goes kaput is our thoughts are kinda too vast.

What do we mean by vast?

Let’s take a topic such as: ‘Why article writing is the key’

But the key to ‘what?’

Most writers leave out the core detail. They miss out telling you where the article is going. And these writers don’t leave out the core detail on purpose.

They just don’t realise the importance of the core detail. And the core detail should usually contain what we’d loosely call a ‘target.’

A ‘target’ is simply ‘who or what are we speaking about?’

Let’s me demonstrate what I mean, by doing a little addition.

So instead of: Why article writing is the key…

We say: Why article writing is the key ‘to getting strategic alliances.’
We say: Why article writing is the key ‘to getting clients.’
We say: Why article writing is the key ‘to getting paid.’

Notice what happened when we put in that ‘target’?

First, it actually gave your article a solid direction. And hey, it did even more. It created curiosity.

Your la-la topic suddenly spruced up, brushed its hair, and put on a tuxedo.
And if you’re amazed at what adding a ‘target’ could do, let’s now add a ‘specific’ to that headline.

I’m going to replace just one word/one phrase at a time. And you watch.

Watch how the article literally swings from one side to another.

Example 1:
Why article writing is the key.
Why article writing is the key to getting strategic alliances.
Why article writing is the key to getting ‘active’ strategic alliances.

Example 2:
Why article writing is the key.
Why article writing is the key to getting clients.
Why article writing is the key to getting ‘higher-paying’ clients.

Example 3:
Why article writing is the key.
Why article writing is the key to getting paid.
Why article writing is the key to getting paid ‘in advance.’

So you see what we did?

We took the core topic.

We added a target.

We added one specific such as ‘active’ or ‘higher-paying’ or ‘in advance’.

And we instantly intensified the power of the headline.

Not surprisingly, the change in the headline did a lot more. It made the article easier for you to write. Without the ‘target’ and the ‘specifics’, the headline was weak, and the resulting article would be a soggy waffle.

But as we put in the ‘target’ and the ‘specific’ it actually forced you to focus on that specific, thus resulting in a mucho superior article. Instead of the article being general and vague, it’s now specific.

You’re either going to be writing about ‘article writing’ and ‘active strategic alliances.’

Or ‘article writing’ and ‘higher-paying clients.’
Or ‘article writing’ and ‘getting paid in advance.’

You’re most certainly not going to write about all three (not right today, at least!)
Because as you can plainly see, they’re three completely different articles, going in three completely different directions.

But when you have a vague headline, it’s almost impossible to keep the content of the article focused. When you have a specific headline, it’s darned impossible to go off track.

What’s more is that your audience is more focused too, because the rest of your article is delivering exactly what the headline promised. The specificity of the headline is what drew the reader in, and it’s the specificity of the rest of the article that will keep the reader reading.

And if you don’t believe me, remove those measly words…

Remove the specifics. Chop off the target.
Then write your article.
The headline loses power.
The article weaves, then stalls.
What’s worse is that the entire article becomes so much harder to write.

And even if you were to actually complete and publish the article, your reader would not experience a sense of clarity.

And you get that clarity with just two measly words.

The addition of just a measly word or two, and your article is vrroooming down the road.

And hey, in the right direction too!

To sum up:

Your initial thought is incomplete, because it’s too vast. It’s not easy to write about a whole topic. You have to get more specific.

You get more specific with two simple tweaks:

First you add a target. Then you add a specific. And tah, dah, you’ve now clarified the thought process.

As a result your headline will be stronger, and your entire article will be focused instead of rambling all round the countryside.

If you want more goodies just like this, there’s a report on Why Headlines Fail at Sean D’Souza’s site, Psychotactics. Get your own copy (yes, it’s free) and start to write headlines that really get attention.

By Carol Tice

Here’s an experiment I want freelance writers to try: Go into any independently owned retail shop in your town. Find the owner, and ask them, “What are you doing to market your business?”

Most likely, they will rattle off a long list of things — they place Yellow pages ads, buy Google Adwords, send out postcards or an email newsletter, put on events, have sales, go to networking events, use a Facebook fan page, and so on.

If they said, “I don’t really do anything to market my business. I just sit here on a stool behind the counter and hope customers come in,” you’d laugh, wouldn’t you? That would be ridiculous! Nobody expects their business to happen without marketing.

Or do they?

So often, when I talk to writers in my mentoring program, or just freelance writers I’m chatting on Twitter or on this blog with, and I ask them, “What are you doing to market your writing?” a typical answer is, “I’m not doing anything, really.”

And then writers wonder why they’re not earning as much as they’d like.

Here’s the missing link to ramp up your earnings: You need to market your business.

I don’t mean doing one thing a year, either. Good marketing plans are multi-faceted, consistent, and done on a regular basis. Personally, I use social media, my website, and in-person networking as my primary marketing methods right now. I promote the business of helping writers earn more — what I’m up to on this blog — through social media, including Facebook ads.

This is the reality of life as a freelance writer: Marketing is how you find good clients. Crappy clients you can get by answering job ads

When you do no marketing, there’s a missing link that’s keeping you from connecting with well-paid clients.

Marketing helps top-drawer clients discover you. I’m thinking here of optimizing your website for key words that help you get found.

Why do writers skip marketing?

Two reasons, I think:

1) Many writers are shy about blowing their own horn.

2) There’s a myth out there that freelance writing is a no-cost business, once you’ve got a computer and a ream of printer paper. It’s not expensive, but it does have costs, if you really want it to succeed.

I think that goes double for writers who’re trying to earn from a blog. The popular belief seems to be it should happen by magic. But in my experience, there’s plenty of work involved learning how to create a blog that will keep readers once you lure them to the site…with your marketing.

No matter what kind of writing you’re doing, unless you have an employer handing you a paycheck, there is no escaping the need to market your writing business.

Really, you’re not any different from that shopowner. If you want to move your writing business to the next level, you’ll need to invest — your time, your money, and your creativity — in a marketing effort.

By Carol Tice

I recently did a free blog-review day on Make a Living Writing.

It kind of gave me flashbacks.

See, less than three years ago, that was me. I really didn’t know a blessed thing about blogging. I just had the idea that I knew a lot about how to earn from freelance writing, and that maybe I could share it with people to help them grow their income. I had a vague thought maybe I’d write a book.

At first, I posted about once a month. My site had no photos. It was dark green.

Slowly, over the course of many months, I learned about what makes a nice-looking, compelling blog. It took a long time to figure it all out. This blog is definitely not one of those “Wow, I started blogging six weeks ago and now I make six figures from it!” type of success stories.

Here’s what I know about blogging now that I wish someone had told me at the beginning:

1. Design really, really matters. I thought, “I’m giving out this awesome knowledge. I’ve been writing professionally for a long time, and I’m pretty good at it. People will visit because of my beautiful, beautiful words.” Here’s what I’ve learned: If your site is easy to understand and use, people will read it a lot more.
2. Headlines are super-important. This is the single biggest problem I see when I look at startup blogs. Headline writing online is an art form that few seem to be taking the time to learn. At first I didn’t know the difference between writing a newspaper headline and a blog headline, and I’m sure that cost me some readers until I got the hang of it.
3. If you don’t have a list, you have nothing. When I first started my blog, there wasn’t a way to subscribe to my blog by email, even if you wanted to! Then I put up a pretty useless box. It took a while for me to understand how to invite people to subscribe in a way that’s compelling. You can see my current theory on that up in the sidebar there.
4. Images make posts way more interesting. I didn’t have any photos when I started, and didn’t really understand why I needed them. But a big fat photo does make that writing so much more enticing, doesn’t it?
5. Everything on the blog needs to be simple and easy. I had a conversion expert take me to task about my subscription box at one point. He showed me that I had a two-step process — readers clicked on a link, then had to go to another page to fill in the signup form. “That’s too many steps,” Jon Morrow told me. “Make it one step, and more people will subscribe.” And they did.
6. A blog is not an article. I got this by osmosis eventually, but blog format is really different from writing a print article. Posts are short, make one basic point, and link to other useful information. Period. You can push that envelope, but that’s what works reliably. Took me a while to learn to love 300 words (though I still love to blow it out with something bigger…like this post).
7. Nobody cares about you. People don’t come to your blog because they think you’re fascinating — unless you’re Charlie Sheen or something. They don’t want to hear what your kid said this morning, or what you thought about last night’s Glee eiposde. In general, people visit because they think you can give them information they need. Your stories are great, as long as they lead to useful posts that help readers.
8. Your blog design is never done. Someone asked me after the call, “How long did it take until you were satisfied with your blog design?” I’m still not. Did you notice what I changed this week? Because there’s always something.
9. Learning the technology can save you a bundle. At first, I just wanted to outsource the whole technical thing. But frustration with waiting for others to fix stuff — and the cost of using help — made me plunge in and learn all I could. Now, I can do about 85 percent of the work around here.
10. Once you’ve created the blog, you have to go out and market it. Like many, I thought a blog was a magical device that would draw people on its own. Then I met Twitter and learned how it really works — you get out and promote your content if you want it to get discovered.
11. It takes time to build a successful blog. You hear stories about people who start blogging and — poof! — three months later they’re getting a book deal. But for 99.9 percent of us, that’s not what’s going to happen. You will gradually improve your blog, build a subscriber base, and at some point you get some traction.
12. You can meet amazing new people blogging. If I’d known how many fun people were waiting out in the blogosphere for me to connect with, I definitely would have started circulating in social media a whole lot sooner.
13. Your blog can change lives. With our words, we can help people find work, find hope, find themselves. Self-publishing a blog is an incredibly empowering experience. I love it!
14. It’s never too late to start. I figured I was hopelessly behind and could never catch up when I started, and I hear that same song from a lot of wannabe bloggers now. All I can say is, get started! There’s always room for a fresh voice with a new approach to a topic.
15. You can accelerate your progress by investing in training. When I joined A-List Blogger Club, I couldn’t believe how many tips I got in a short period, and how much progress I was able to make in just the first couple months. If only I’d figured this one out sooner.

by Victoria Mixon

Write for a living!

Great salary, great benefits, professional editors at your beck and call, and a long-term career track. A dream come true: technical documentation.

I’ve been involved in tech documentation in the computer industry for over 20 years, which is a good long chunk of time. I remember the launch of certain technology now on display in the Silicon Valley Tech Museum. Many of my closest friends are tech writers—even my husband is a tech writer. We live pretty darn well!

So what does it take to break into the industry?

1. A college degree. When I worked for IBM back in 1992, it didn’t matter what your degree was in—my writing partner had a PhD in anthropology. But times have changed, and now managers expect you to have a degree in a writing-related field like English or Journalism. So get that one under your belt.And think about whether you’re interested in working in computer technology, medical, biotech, legal, or some other industry, and take a few classes in that subject while you’re at it. You’ll need them to make yourself attractive as a newbie to prospective employers. You’ve got lots of competition—some of it from folks with actual technical degrees who just prefer the writing.
2. Being in the right place at the right time. This means living where technical companies congregate. When I started out in the computer industry that meant Silicon Valley, but the industry has expanded quite a bit since then, and now the top companies have offices all over Southeast Asia and Europe. And the industrialized world is simply littered with start-ups, some more profitable (and therefore able to afford tech writers) than others.Computer documentation took a hit in 2008, but the imminent retirement of Boomers means the medical field is expanding fast. Talk to the folks teaching the technical classes you’re taking in your chosen field. Find out where the companies are.
3. Desire for a career. Technical companies hire new college graduates for tech writing positions all the time (because they’re cheaper than experienced writers), but they’re less likely to hire a professional writer who just happens to have turned their sights on tech documentation. If that’s you, be prepared to try harder to impress them with your dedication. They don’t necessarily trust you to stick with them if your sights land on some more attractive job later. You can’t breeze in and out of tech writing on your way to bigger and better things.If you want to be a tech writer, count on being a Career Tech Writer.
4. Flexibility. The giants of any industry have quite specific corporate cultures. At IBM we used to laugh about the image of IBM suits with their shiny wingtip shoes, but when I started wearing a nose ring to work I got frowns from management. They also might claim the right to review what you write for publication apart from work and may very likely demand drug testing. Those guys aren’t messing around.Start-ups are a lot looser, and their corporate cultures can be pretty fun, especially if they let the maverick engineers out of their cages on Friday afternoon. Start-ups are terrific places to make idiosyncratic friends—unfortunately, they also tend to go bankrupt once in awhile. Tech writers typically circulate in the industry, so your resume will always be very important to you.
5. Pragmatism. The money sounds good. . .and it is. A brand new tech writer can expect to be offered around $50k/year plus stock options, and an experienced writer will break $100k plus stock options and some very nice bonuses. Contractors can make significantly more—although you won’t get stock options, bonuses or maybe benefits—but you’ll need some regular salaried experience before they’ll take a chance on you. Still, a lot of even the smaller corporations offer perks like free chow in the break room, on-site pool tables, ping-pong and gyms and travel expense accounts.Be prepared for the fact that technical industries are built around the technicians—the computer, medical, or biotech engineers, the lawyers or other specialists—and you’re only there for support. This means your department is in line for the chopping block whenever the company tightens its belt, either for economic reasons or to attract a prospective buyer. It also means you and your peers are going to spend a certain amount of time sending each other emails about how you can’t get no respect.I hope you have a sense of humor!

If you’ve got the attitude, qualifications, and personal stability for a salaried career in writing, then technical documentation is an excellent choice for you. It’s nothing like certain writing careers, such as English professorships or publishing acquisitions, which focus entirely on the traditional publishing industry. And, while it has a lot in common with other nonfiction areas such as journalism or ad copywriting, which focus on producing lots of clean, clear copy on deadline, it’s not only about the writing but also about understanding technical subjects and using specific software to create books.

Ask yourself if this sounds like the dream job for you. And if it does. . .well, pull up your socks and do what you’ve got to do to get yourself there!

A. Victoria Mixon is a professional writer and independent editor with over thirty years’ experience in both fiction and nonfiction. She is the author of  The Art & Craft of Fiction: A Practitioner’s Manual. She can be reached through her blog, Victoria Mixon, one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2011.