Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Writing for the Web – Set up a Great Home Business in 30 Minutes or Less

1. Choose a Profitable Niche for Your Site

In marketing terms, a “niche” is a narrow market segment: people who are interested in a specific topic, and will spend money on their interest.

This is vital, so I’ll repeat it… The people in your niche must be online, and they must be willing to spend money. To check whether your niche audience is online, do a search for forums related to the topic. Forums show that your audience is online, and they’re interacting.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Several writers have asked me about turning their writing into a home business this week, so here you go. :-)

Writing to Make Money: Train Your Writing Brain

 

Want to make money from your writing? Many writers find that they freeze when they attempt this. If this is happening to you, you can overcome it very easily if you focus on training your writing brain.

These five tips will help.

1. For Whom Are You Writing?

Start by thinking about your readers. Nothing you write will ever be for "everyone." Your writing is always for a specific audience.

When someone hires you to write, they'll tell you who the audience is, and what to write. This is good practice at training your brain. However, before you're hired, you'll need to come up with ideas of your own.

Creating a blog, and blogging regularly, is the best thing you can do if you're new to writing for money. Study top blogs. These blogs are always for a specific audience. They know their audience well -- and they strive to know their audience better constantly.

Once you realize that everything you write is FOR a specific group of readers, you've made a huge step forward.

2. Study What Your Readers Read

Now you know for whom you're writing, study what these people read. For example, let's say that you've decided to write about weight loss. You know this audience well. You've either lost weight successfully, or you want to lose weight.

The easiest way to discover what this audience reads is to read magazines targeted at dieters. You can also read a couple of the many online forums for dieters. Over a week or two, you'll understand the audience much better.

Don't stop there, however. Train yourself to write for this audience. Dieting for weight loss is a billion dollar industry, so no time you spend on this is ever wasted. Get some writing jobs     writing for this audience. At this stage, while you're training yourself, your goal isn't to make huge sums. This is practice.

3. Train Yourself to Come up With Suitable Ideas

I've made a practice of "idea catching" for many years. Every day, I train myself to come up with five ideas. Each year, I've "caught" 1,800 ideas. This has not only fueled my writing, it's also trained my brain to think in terms of audiences and ideas.

Try it -- come up with five ideas every day. You may never use all of these ideas, that's fine.

4. Be Patient: Your Ideas and Writing Will Improve With Every Word You Write

Patience needs to be your watch word when you're writing for money. The difference between a writer who makes two cents a word and a writer who makes a dollar a word is patience. The writer who makes a top income was patient. He knows that his ideas and his writing improve every day, because he's training his writing brain.

 

Writing Challenges: 4 Ways to Overcome Them Fast

Writers are faced with challenges every day. No matter what you're writing, each project is different and presents new challenges. You're developing material for many different audiences, and markets. Experienced writers know how to get help; new writers tend to flounder.

Here are four ways to overcome your challenges fast.

1. Ask Questions

Many new writers are wary of asking questions because they don't want to appear unprofessional.

Experienced writers, on the other hand, ask as many questions as they can. They ask because they don't want to misunderstand the parameters of a project. They cheerfully nag their clients for information. Indeed, if the client doesn't respond quickly to requests for information, a professional writer will often refuse to take on the project.

2. Get a Coach

Writing coaches are popular because writers understand that that they can learn from someone else's experience and knowledge. It saves time.

A writing coach will also give you confidence. If you're stuck on a project, the coach will show you how to complete it. And if you're stuck with a client who's uncooperative, a coach will show you ways to get the cooperation you need.

3. Create a Plan

Writers are creative, rather than methodical, and few take enough time to plan. Creating a plan is vital for large projects and for small ones. A plan can break down a large project into easily doable tasks. When you add those tasks to a calendar, your plan will help you to complete projects easily and before deadlines.

Let's say you want to write a book. Writing a book is a long process. It can take you a year or even more. Obviously, you need a plan. Spend a couple of hours researching what you need to do, and planning, before you start writing. It's time well spent.

4. Find a Model

Let's say someone has asked you to write a brochure. Your first step might be to ask the client for other marketing material the company is using. Your next step might be to go through your archives, and find some projects you can use as models.

If you don't have any work of your own you can use as a model, you can use others' work.

For example, if you want to write a book, there are millions of books you can use as models.

The novelist EL James did this. She wrote her popular "Fifty Shades" trilogy as fan fiction, using the "Twilight" series of novels as a model.

The more experience you have with writing, the more comfortable you'll be. Try the above methods; they'll never fail you.

Words to Live by: "I Don't Know"

Writers feel vulnerable because our work comes from who we are. That's what makes writing a different occupation from, let's say, plumbing, or cooking. 

Not knowing, beginner's mind, is valuable. When you don't know, you can't dig your current rut any deeper.

Not unknowing is uncomfortable -- don't run away from this. Stay with the discomfort. If you do, you just may have a breakthrough.

Have Fun, Make Money: Write About Your Hobbies

Julie & Julia

Wondering what to write about? Why not write about your hobbies? Everyone has hobbies -- even if it's just eating.

Not possible, you say? Well...

Consider that Julie Powell devoted an entire blog to Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" She promoted it as: "365 days. 536 recipes. One girl and a crappy outer borough kitchen".

That blog grew into a book, which promptly developed into a movie...

Julie Powell is passionate about cooking; what are you passionate about?

I'm passionate about writing, and helping writers to succeed. You may be passionate about antique dolls, fashion, your hair... 

When you write about what turns you on, you always have something to write about. Yes, you can write about what you love and make money. :-)

The Path Less Travelled...

Writers have written about losing a job, and finding a new life, their pets, renovating a home -- think about what's happening in your life, and consider writing about it.

You can write about anything you please. A Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) student contacted me asking whether I thought she could write about her hobby, which is fascinating.

I told her "why not? Get started!"

She did, and her blog has not only developed a community, but she's also making a nice income from it. 

You don't need anyone's permission to do write about what fascinates you. If you're worried about what friends and family will say, don't tell them. Many young or new writers keep their writing a secret; you can too. 

Getting Started: You Get Inspired when You Write

Just get started. Write on an index card, in a computer file, or in a notebook. You'll get inspired when you do.

You could discuss: what you love about your hobby, what you dislike, your experiences -- just write whatever comes to mind.

Over the years, many of my longest writing gigs began when I started to write about a hobby. I wrote for one computer magazine for 15 years, and a client hired me to write his newsletter because he read an article I wrote.

The big benefit of writing about what you love is that you lose self-consciousness. Research is fun. 

This "easy writing" builds your writing muscles. 

You'll be amazed at where it can lead you.

 

End Writers' Procrastination Now

What could would you achieve in your writing career if you wrote more? I've had several questions this week about procrastination.

Believe it or not, eliminating procrastination is easy.

It takes just three words, as I pointed out in this article, "Kill Writing Procrastination for Good with Three Words":

Here they are: Do Your Best.

“Do your best” frees you from your tendency to procrastinate, because the operative word is: DO. Just do it. When you do – you write – you also commit to doing your best, in that particular moment.

Writing is both a discovery and a learning experience. The only way you learn how to write is by writing.

It’s both a craft and a skill. If you have innate talent, that’s good, but writing talent is useless without application.

Just get started. Stop writing in your head. Get something -- anything -- down on paper.

As soon as you're commissioned to write a project, spend ten minutes writing down some initial thoughts. This short session kills inertia: you've started the project. Overcoming inertia is always the hardest part.

Remember inertia each day. As soon as you sit down at your desk, write something -- again, anything at all -- for ten minutes.

If you remember to do this, you'll be a former procrastinator, and you'll get much more done. Your writing career will take off.

 

Niche Blogging: Your Key to Hands-off Income Every Day

Discover blogging the EASY way with created-for-you niche blogs. Creating niche blogs is fun, and very profitable. In the past, setting up a niche blog took me anywhere from a week to ten days, if I did it part-time. If I really focused, it took me as little as two days. Now I can do it in mere minutes. And you can too, with my brand new guide, Niche Blog Cash Explosion: Build Your Online Empire Today. This complete program builds your income step by step: create your first niche blog today.

Five Minute Writing, Revisited

In January 2006, I wrote a post, "Be a Five-Minute Writer", in which I talked about writing in life's stolen moments. 

I suggested:

decide what you're going to work on. If you don't plan to work on Project X or Project Y, you'll spend five minutes doodling. Take along a couple of projects. If you don't feel like working on an article, you may feel like working on a short story. Some writers simply designate "spare" writing as brainstorming time, or journaling time.

These days, writing in life's stolen moments is much easier, especially if you've got an iPhone or other smartphone -- or an iPad. 

You can just tap away, wherever you happen to be.

You can drop the documents on which you want to work into DropBox, and work on them in spare moments.

When you're prepared, you'll find the time to write -- anywhere.

 

"Go From Zero To Making $250 Per Hour For Web Writing - Kick Off Your Web Writing Career In 24 Hours!"

There's great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

Want to jump on this opportunity? No matter what your level of writing skill, you can make great money writing for the Web too.

Get a full year of weekly assignments; become a Web writing pro with Sell Your Writing Online NOW.

Become a Supremely Creative Writer in Just Minutes a Day

Writers often complain about having "nothing to write about".

Want to become more creative? 

You can, when you tap into into your innate creativity.

Your creativity is there, all you have to do is to become aware of it.

Last year, in the 100 Day Writing Challenge, I taught writers a very simple process to become more creative and productive.

Here's the process in a nutshell.

Firstly, decide what you want to achieve. Set a goal, or goals.

Remember, your goals must have a deadline, otherwise they're just wishes.

Set your goal(s) using this formula:

Intention (WHY you want to achieve your goal) => Goal => Daily tasks to achieve your goal. 

So start by setting an intention, and a goal. Then, working backwards from the date you've set for the achievement of your goal, create daily tasks. 

In the 100 Day Writing Challenge, I asked writers to do these three things:

1. I want you to do your daily Challenge Tasks which you set for yourself.

2. I want you to talk to yourself about your writing on the computer screen, or on paper.

3. I want you to document everything. (In a Journal.)

The process is amazing.

Try it -- it takes just minutes a day, and it will turn you into a supremely creative writer.

Make 2011 the year you break through as a writer

Discover how -- this is a time-limited offer.

Enjoy. :-)

How to Make Money As a Freelance Writer Even if You Hate Writing

Want to make money as a freelance writer? Oddly enough, you can do this even if you hate writing. You'd be surprised at the number of professional writers who dislike sitting at the keyboard all day. They do it because they like the freedom and money their career brings them.

Writing Anxiety: What It Is, and How to Overcome It
Writers often dislike writing because it makes them anxious. 

"Writing anxiety" is completely normal. It's a well known and researched condition. When you write, you're using both your left brain, and your right brain. 

Creative, right-brained people tend to be more anxious. The "creative temperament" is a cliche for a reason.

That sick, sinking feeling you get in your tummy when you sit down at your keyboard is completely normal. Over time, professionals realize this, and they write despite these feelings. Anxiety is just an emotion -- it fades surprisingly quickly once you become engrossed in what you're doing.

Rituals help. For example, I like to journal for half an hour before I begin my day's work. Not only does it help me to warm up, and mull over ideas and themes, but it also eliminates anxiety.

Create your own rituals: listen to music, take a shower, do some exercise. 

Then, sit down and create -- and count your words.

Set a Daily Word Count Goal
Professionals live by the number of words they create each day, and by the quality of those words.

If you're a novice, you tend to think that the words you read in magazines and books just leapt from the brain to the page. This isn't so. You're reading the results of several drafts -- at least two or three, sometimes as many as 30 or even more. 

Professionals expect their initial drafts to be garbage. They know that they discover what they want to say while they're laying down words. They have low expectations. 

It's hard work translating the ideas in your head onto the page. You'll dislike writing much less when you realize that it's a process, rather than a single event.

If you're meant to be a writer, you'll know it, somewhere in your soul. 

Just because you dislike it (or think you do) isn't a reason to give up. Scratch any professional writer, and you'll discover that while they may love it now, it's because they've found ways to conquer anxiety. And they've found processes which make the writing process less scary.

Get help: discover how to make professional writing exciting and fun

You can learn the tricks, strategies and processes which make writing huge fun in my "Write More" class. It's turned many novice writers into professionals who love what they do, and who make a great income doing it. Join me -- write with me, and I'll show you how it's done.

 

 

If You Do What Others Do, You'll Get What They Get

Nowadays, anyone with a computer keyboard can launch themselves on the world as a writer. That's fine. I'm not being elitist. I love the fact that writers can start earning quickly.

But quick money, even if it's a tiny amount, is dangerous.

Some 30 years ago, when I started writing, you served an apprenticeship. It took most writers three to five years to learn how to sell to magazines, and around the same period to learn business writing. 

If you wanted to write a book, the apprenticeship period was much longer. Of course there were blockbuster books, but if you read the details about an  "overnight success", the blockbuster writers were journalists, screenwriters  or copywriters. They had the background; they'd learned how to write. On the other hand, if they truly did jump from nowhere to bestseller status, it was rare that they could repeat the success of their first book, because they didn't have the background.

Here's what I mean by "If you do what others do, you'll get what they get."

If you've managed to get someone to pay you some small amount for an article or whatever, you'll get annoyed when you're stuck in the writing ghetto. And it's inevitable that you will. You just don't have the background to move up and out. You think that since you're making $5 an article, anyone who tells you that you could be making $1 to $3 per WORD is a liar.

You're doing what other writers do -- and you're getting what they get.

Every week, I receive messages from writers telling me they've been published on some content mill or other, so they're "experienced" writers. They're wondering why they're not making more money. They want a fast way to make more income. 

If you want to make more money than other writers who write for content mills, you'll need to do what they DON'T do. 

They don't:

* Learn writing skills

* Approach high-paying markets

* Build their writing inventory

* Create a website which sells their skills

* Etc. and etc...

There's a HUGE, unlimited world of writing opportunities out there for you. All you need to do have a huge writing career is do what successful writers do -- not what the unsuccessful ones do.

Does that make sense? 

Just model success, and stop doing what isn't working for you.

Writing: Give Up the Struggle, and Break Through

Struggling with your writing? 

Believe it or not, that's a good thing. Struggle -- and then give up. It can lead to a major breakthrough.

As I wrote in Top Ten Writing Tips To Help You To Write More:

In his book The Breakout Principle, Dr Herbert Benson (who also wrote The Relaxation Response) describes a struggle/ release process that leads to a new level of awareness. When you struggle, and then completely give up the struggle -- just give up -- there's a chance that you can achieve a peak experience which leads you to a new level of functioning.

That's counterintuitive.

But it works.

Try that the next time you're struggling with a writing project. Say to yourself: "OK. That's it. I give up."

Breakthroughs happen when you least expect them.

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100 Day Writing Challenge: Please take the survey

I'm having great fun working on our 100 Day Writing Challenge.

Enrollments will open shortly. I'll be announcing the enrollments in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, so do subscribe to that if you'd like to join us for the 100 days.

I want to make this program as practical, fun, and useful to YOU as possible, so I'll appreciate it if you'd complete this short survey.

Many thanks.

Freelance Writing for Money: Get Creative and Get Rich

Want to make real money from your writing? Here's the truth: the only thing that's holding you back is you. Yes, YOU are the only thing that's holding you back from being a $300-an-hour writer.

That being the case, you certainly can take the journey from making $30 an hour to making $300 an hour. It's up to you: how much you want it, and how hard you're willing to work for it.

Yes, there is that slight catch: you'll have to work a little harder than you're working now. When a project manager hires a $300-an-hour writer, he's expecting to get $300-an-hour's worth of value.

The big-money writer is good at what he does, and he didn't get that way by accident: he studied, he practiced, and he mastered his creativity.

Let's talk about creativity, because I think that's at the heart of lucrative  professional writing. If you want to earn big, you'll need to master the basics, and then become creative.

1. To Be Creative, Get in the Habit of Asking Questions
Here's an excellent technique to kickstart your creativity. Ask yourself a question, and then brainstorm 20 answers.

Write down your question, and then write down 20 answers. Don't stop until you get to number 20. Your first few answers will be trite, and often you'll feel like giving up: don't. Your best answers are usually four answers beyond the point where you thought: "I can't think of any more."

You can ask yourself questions about anything at all; use this technique on everything, not just on writing projects.

2. To Be Creative, Master Your Fear of Looking Stupid
Are you scared of looking silly, or even stupid? You'll need to make a choice between backing down in the face of your fear, or being true to your creative impulse.

The payoff for facing your fear is that you'll have a lot of fun developing your creative ideas on behalf of your clients.

So there you have it. If you want to become a big money writer, master the basics, and then get creative. You can do it, as long as you believe that you can.

 

Discover the world of Web writing - make a great income writing from home, or from anywhere

Sell Your Writing Online NOW

There's great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

Join the Web writing gold rush with Angela Booth's comprehensive training: "Sell Your Writing Online Now".

Do you feel like a failure? It's all in your mind

Writers tend to be quite negative, more often than not.

We're right-brained creatures, which means we're more inclined to negativity, because we spend much of our days living in our right brain. There's a fascinating story from Catalyst, LEFT BRAIN RIGHT BRAIN, which suggests that right-brain dominant people are more "emotionally negative, anxious and cautious." Does that sound like you?

If you're aware that your negativity is simply the result of your current mind state, you can change it.

Start by being aware that the ONLY reason you're feeling negative, stressed and anxious is because the right hemisphere of your brain is currently dominant.

Change to your left brain, because as the Catalyst article notes:

Across the animal kingdom, the left brain processes complex tasks, like collecting food. It’s the side of the brain that gets animals out and doing things.

The right brain deals with threats, like predators. It’s the defensive side.

The article suggests that you pull back your right lip, to switch to your left brain, and trigger a feeling of happiness... try it. It works. :-)

In the article "Freelance Writing Success: It’s All in Your Mind", I wrote:

If you’re not finding success beyond your dreams, there’s just one thing standing in your way: you.

Yes, your mindset is all that’s blocking your success. Seriously. I don’t care who you are, or how new you are to the writers’ trade, you can achieve success, however you define it if you have the right mindset. (Success for you may be $1000 a month as a side income, it may be quitting your day job, it may be paying off all your debts…)

So how do you get out of your own way?

Start by developing a professional writer’s mindset.

There’s an easy way to do that: model successful writers.

You'll find it much easier to model success if you take a moment to trigger your left brain if you're feeling negative. Your right brain is the fountainhead of your creativity, but be aware it it's also a dangerously negative mental state to dwell in.

Whenever you feel negative, just change your mind.

Use the simple grimace, as Catalyst suggests, or try yoga's Single Nostril Breath -- this works like a charm. Left brain, right brain... to stop feeling like a failure, just change your mind.

Writing: Get Excited About Your Writing and Succeed

Are you excited about your writing? I hope that you leap out of bed each morning, eager to get to your writing tasks, and that you think about your writing constantly when you're not at your computer.

If you don't feel this excitement, please take the time to do a short exercise to discover why that is. The enthusiasm you feel is the best guarantee you have that your current project will be successful.

As I wrote in Write From Home: Best-Ever Money-Making Tips:

Are you enthusiastic about a project or idea? Your
intuition is telling you to go for it

Your enthusiasm is an intuitive gift, so if you feel enthusiastic about a project or idea, your intuition is saying "yes".

Develop an enthusiastic mindset for your writing

Developing an enthusiastic mindset starts by asking yourself WHY... what will you get out of your writing?

If you're not excited about your current project, take a moment to take your emotional temperature. You may be blocking your enthusiasm, and it's vital to clear the blocks.

Close your eyes for a moment, sit back in your chair, and just breathe. Take four or five deep breaths (without straining).

Expand your tummy as you breathe in... Relax as you breathe out...

Next, keeping your eyes closed, breathe normally. Feel like sighing? That's great. When you sigh, you're releasing stress.

Breathe normally, and look for tension anywhere in your body. Relax the tension, wherever it is. It may be in your forehead, neck, shoulders... Take another deep breath and relax the area of tension as much as possible.

Now you're relaxed, think about your project. What emotion do you feel?

Open your eyes, and write down the emotion. It may be: fear, anger, disappointment, irritation...

Write one word to describe the emotion.

If you're the kind of person who customarily ignores their emotions, you may not feel anything. That's OK. Write "numb".

Close your eyes again, and breathe deeply. You feel the emotion somewhere in your body. Focus on that area, as you keep breathing...

There will be a change now. The emotion you feel will change to something else. Fear will change to anger, for example.

Stay with the new emotion for a couple of moments, as you keep breathing.

Then expand your attention and just relax. When you're ready, open your eyes.

That's all there is to the exercise.

If you feel like writing, write. If you don't feel like writing, go about your day.

This exercise is simple, but it's amazingly effective if you're distressed about a project. Just doing the exercise can release any negativity you feel, because you're allowing yourself just to feel whatever you feel. When you  acknowledge your emotions, they change.

Over the next 24 hours, watch how your thoughts about the project change. With luck, you'll start to feel enthusiastic. If you don't, you'll suddenly know what to do next... you'll get ideas on how to proceed.

Acknowledge negativity: it will dissipate

Writers love writing. Unfortunately that love can get buried under negative emotions. Do the above exercise whenever you feel negative.

Before you know it, you'll recover your enthusiasm for your writing, and you'll leap out bed each morning, eager to get to your computer.

Bonus: if you do this exercise whenever you feel negativity, it will boost your creativity... This is because you're expending a lot of emotional energy when you try to block negative emotions. Just allow yourself to feel, and you're releasing negativity. The result is that creativity bubbles up. 

Make money writing from home: ditch your day job forever

If you can write, you can make money writing from home. The Web has made it possible for ANY writer, no matter how new or inexperienced, to turn writing into a fabulous career. If you're stuck in a soul-destroying, or just boring job, writing is your way out.

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