Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Hypnosis for writers - super-powers for your writing

Image via Wikipedia

In this week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our feature article is "Hypnosis for Writers - Get Inspired and Write".

Here's an excerpt:

Everyone gets hypnotized, every day. You're in a mild form of trance whenever you concentrate on something to the exclusion of everything else. When you're reading, for example, or driving, or watching a movie.

So hypnosis is a natural ability we all possess.

You can make use of that natural ability in your writing. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, gives the best explanation of the "powers" that hypnosis gives you that I've ever read.

He maintains that everyone can be hypnotized and gain these three powers:

1. Extra relaxation

2. Extra imagination

3. Extra focus

Subscribe now - the issue's out on Tuesday.

Discover Private Label Rights (PLR) , a sizzling HOT new way to make money as a writer

The basic idea of PLR content is that it's content which is sold to people to edit, mash up, or use directly on their Web sites. PLR content may be articles, ebooks, reports, or even audio. It's CONTENT - stuff for Web sites - in its generic form.

If you can write ten PLR articles in a week, you can make $4000 a week

Sounds weird, but it's true. Many writers are already cashing in on PLR, and you can too.

"Instant PLR Author: Make Money Writing Private Label Rights Products" shows you how.

Freelance Writing Home Business - 5 Tips to a Top Income

Image by thepyrokinetic via Flickr

Want to start your own freelance writing home business? You can. And chances are, if you go about it the right way, you'll make much more than you could at your day job.

How much, you ask? Six-figure incomes for freelancers are becoming common - the Web has a voracious appetite for words. However, to hit the freelancing heights, you'll have to treat your writing as a business, not as a hobby.

This means being business-like with your writing.

I'm often asked when you should consider going full time in your own writing business, so I've chosen five tips for you. If the tips make sense to you, and you take them to heart... you're ready.

Who writes, wins - become a prolific writer

Writers write. It's a given. If you're not writing, you're not a writer. Notice that we haven't said anything about "publication". Publication follows, when you write.

Publication's inevitable.

When you write, your skills improve, and sooner or later you'll get published. This by the way, solves none of your problems - it just gives you a different set of problems to deal with. You solve these new problems by... yes, by writing.

So how do you become a prolific writer?

I've covered "writing more" on this blog previously, so let's cut to the chase:

1. You trust yourself

You set goals. You have NO idea how you'll achieve these goals, but you trust yourself. And you start writing.

2. You realize that writing is just one word after another

Each day, at your appointed "writing" hour or hours, you sit down, and write. You write well, or badly, but you write.

You may have a migraine, a broken ankle, be in the middle of a divorce. Whatever. You write at your appointed hour.

Writing is just something you do: just as bakers bake, and candlestick makers make candles and sailors sail.

If you start judging your writing as you're writing, slap yourself smartly on the wrist and get back to writing.

3. You repeat the above for your entire life

Yes, you get to keep on writing forever. There's no end to it. Nothing will change: you still get to keep on writing. :-)

I've known writers who set out to achieve a particular goal - a six figure income, or a book on the NYT best seller list. When they achieved the goal, they thought their life would change. And yes, some parts of their life did change; one thing didn't however - they're still writing.

So that's how you become a prolific writer. You write - consistently and persistently. How much have YOU written today?

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

"Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I'm quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I've got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…"

"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you're writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.

Nothing matters... as long as you write

I get lots of questions every week, and 95 per cent of those questions can be answered with: "It really, really REALLY doesn't matter."

Your obsessions stem from a lack of confidence

Writers have many obsessions and all of them stem from a lack of confidence.

For example, it doesn't matter:

* How you format a magazine query; or

* What blogging platform you use - use WordPress, Blogger, TypePad; or

* What you charge - what you charge is up to you. Set a fee, and people will either pay it, or not. You can always change it later. Or -

* What your current credentials are. If your have no writing credits, that's perfectly fine. Everyone starts somewhere. Write some samples... Make it clear you're a new writer. Be honest. It also doesn't matter:

* Whether you've finished your book or not. Send off a query letter to a selection of agents. They'll respond, or not. If they respond, they'll offer suggestions. Accept the suggestions. Or not...

Nothing matters! Make a decision on how you want to do something, and keep writing.

Write more - the key to your writing success

Yes, you can write more - even if you're a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them - they're not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, "Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you're struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you'll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Just write, send your material out, and keep writing. If you will only write, nothing else matters.

Please believe this, because it's true.

Easy Writing Success - Dominate the Web

If you're a new writer today, the Web has smoothed your path to writing success. Not only can you make some money right away, you no longer have to spend years languishing in obscurity.

There are major benefits in Web writing for new writers, with one major pitfall, so let's get the downside out of the way first. The pitfall is this: when you write for the Web you'll usually get no professional editing, and this can lead you into developing bad habits which are difficult to eradicate.

So what can you write for the Web, as a bright and shining new writing star?

Here are three venues which require no experience: writing Web content in the form of articles, blogging, and the "exposure" write-for-us sites.

Let's look at these three venues in a little more detail.

Your writing success needs a PLAN

Image via Wikipedia

From my mailbag:

Angela, I'm trying to get writing jobs. Over the past three weeks I've created a one-page Web site, and placed a couple of ads on Craigslist as well as on two other Internet classifieds sites. No one's responded at all to the ads. I've also applied for several writing jobs and again no one's responded - what am I doing wrong?

Signed: Striving Writer

Dear Striving Writer

You sound as if you've made a good start with marketing your writing. However, you don't mention a marketing PLAN. A plan is vital for your success. With a plan in place, you're focused on the overall plan, rather than on each individual action you've taken.

Your marketing plan needs to include:

* The kinds of writing you're doing and the markets you're targeting: Web writing (content, articles, copywriting, with the names of sites), print writing (newspapers and magazines you're targeting with the types of articles), copywriting (types of businesses plus names of businesses and agencies, with the kinds of copy you're writing);

* How you'll approach those markets - queries, cold calling, advertising - both free and paid, press releases, article marketing... etc;

* The amount of money you have to invest in your writing business;

* Your projected income for the first year (and years two and three as well).

Then your marketing plan must be transformed into an action plan for the year, month, week, and day.

I'm sure you have a complete marketing plan in your head - you know what you want to do, and have some idea of how you'll do it. However, it's vital that you write down your plan, so you can see it in black and white.

With your plan written down, simply take action on the plan, and each day, perform your marketing tasks.

Can I guarantee your success? Of course I can. The demand for writers has never been greater. Your clients NEED you. However, they also need to be able to find you. And you need a plan for finding them.

Create a plan. Create it on the back of an index card if you wish. Your plan certainly doesn't need to be a 20-page documents (although creating such a document couldn't hurt.)

Once your plan's created, you'll know exactly what you're doing, and when. You can contact me for help  in creating your plan if you wish.

Plan first. Then act - and you'll succeed.

"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.

Related articles

• Article Marketing: How To Be an Article Marketer Like No Other! [via Zemanta]
• Content Is Advertising... In The Newspaper Industry [via Zemanta]
• Mini-Tidbits: Craigslist Revenue Growing Fast, More... [via Zemanta]

Promote your Freelance Writing Business and Get Clients in Five Simple Steps

Our article in this week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is "Promote your Freelance Writing Business and Get Clients in Five Simple Steps". It's vital reading for you if you want your freelance writing business to thrive... or if you're trying to get it off the ground.

Here's an excerpt:

Writers write. In these tough times however, that's not enough. You've got to get clients for your freelance writing business, or you'll starve.

If your writing's just a hobby you can take a casual approach to getting writing jobs, but if your writing's a business, you need a strategy to get a constant flow of clients.

So here's a strategy, in five simple steps. All of the steps are important. Just follow them to the best of your ability at the moment, and you'll be amazed at their effects.

The issue is out tomorrow. Subscribe now - the ezine is filled with strategies you can use to build an amazing career and business from your writing.

Subscribe to Angela Booth's fabulous free weekly ezine for freelance writers: get a free report just for subscribing. Even if you're a new writer, you can freelance your way to a fantastic writing career.

Join the thousands of freelance writers who are making great money freelance writing, using Fab Freelance Writing Ezine as their guide.

Your Squidoo lenses - send me the links

I've been urging Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) subscribers to create Squidoo lenses, in lieu of "real" Web sites, so you can get at least some presence on the Web.

If you're not au fait with Squidoo, I've created a couple of Squidoo tutorials to get you started.

So get your writer-related Squidoo lens online, and then leave a link to the lens in the Comments to this post. Every little link helps to get you traffic. :-)

Writing - Become a Magnet for Juicy Ideas

Writers thrive on ideas. I hope you've got more ideas than you could write in a lifetime. If you struggle to find ideas, this article will help. Over 30 years of writing, I've found that some ideas are made for you, while many other ideas are not.

Let's see how you can become a magnet for juicy ideas which are custom-made for you.

However, before we start, let's get one important, non-negotiable point out of  the way: you need to decide WHY you're writing a project. Everything starts with your intention. You can combine your goals for a specific piece of writing, but you must have goals.

For example, let's say you want some ideas for a novel. What are your goals? Your goal may simply be to get published. That's an excellent goal. Or perhaps your goal's to have fun with it - it's a hobby. Also excellent.

With that out of the way, let's find some ideas.

Writing - Become a Magnet for Juicy Ideas

Writers thrive on ideas. I hope you've got more ideas than you could write in a lifetime. If you struggle to find ideas, this article will help. Over 30 years of writing, I've found that some ideas are made for you, while many other ideas are not.

Let's see how you can become a magnet for juicy ideas which are custom-made for you.

However, before we start, let's get one important, non-negotiable point out of  the way: you need to decide WHY you're writing a project. Everything starts with your intention. You can combine your goals for a specific piece of writing, but you must have goals.

For example, let's say you want some ideas for a novel. What are your goals? Your goal may simply be to get published. That's an excellent goal. Or perhaps your goal's to have fun with it - it's a hobby. Also excellent.

With that out of the way, let's find some ideas.
      
1. Ideas are all around you - what intrigues you, and is easy for you to write?

If you're writing a novel, almost any news story or piece of gossip can provide a spark for your novel. However, keep the old adage "write what you know" in mind. A novel is a journey, and while you could write a novel set in 16th century Spain if you have no knowledge of Spanish history and have never been to Spain, the amount of research required could kill your inspiration.

Ideas may intrigue you, but they should be easy for you to write.

2. If you're excited, others will be excited too

An idea for a writing project should excite you. If the idea doesn't excite you, it won't excite readers.

"Exciting" ideas can be thin on the ground if you're not writing. So take this tip to heart: writing primes the idea pump not just for your current project, but also for future projects.

You'll get more and better ideas when you write every day - you've alerted your subconscious mind, and exciting ideas will flow to you.
   
3. Trust yourself

Sometimes you'll get an exciting idea, but you won't know what to do with it. Trust yourself, and start writing. The "huh?!" feeling you get is an indication that this idea is deep: it will be easy to write, because it comes from who you are.

These ideas are sheer magic: go with the flow, and see what emerges.

4. The best ideas will stun you

Occasionally you'll get an amazing idea which stuns you, it's that good. Just as with the "huh?!" ideas, thank your lucky stars, and write the idea down at once.
      
5. Look for ideas which are bigger than you are

The best ideas force you to grow. Your 16th century Spain idea may be a great idea for you. If it is, you'll know it, and the amount of research won't faze you in the least.

Again, trust yourself. Sometimes a big, juicy idea is just right for you, because it will develop you as a writer, whether or not you achieve the intention you have for the project.

So there you have five tips which will help you to become a magnet for juicy ideas. Start writing!

Want more ideas? You get more ideas when you write more. You can become a inspired writer with Angela Booth's writing class, "Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process"  This class is based on exclusive lessons she developed for her private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and to make more money writing.

Her ebook "Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More" shows you how to end procrastination for good and write more.

Be my guest... and blog here

If you've got a writing-related blog, here's your chance to grab some new readers.

Write a blog post for this blog, at between 400 and 600 words.

Your post must be writing-related - a how-to, or other writing tip. Check out the categories to see what topics might be suitable.

Provide a six-line resource/ bio note at the end of your post, linking to your own blog.

Send your post to me at angela.booth[AT]gmail.com with WRITING BLOG GUEST POST as the subject line.

Your post must be PLAIN TEXT, in the body of the email message. Please don't send attachments of any kind. If your message has attachments, it will be deleted unread.

I look forward to your post, guest blogger. :-)

Update - your guest blog articles

Updated on April 14, 2008

IMPORTANT points re content and style:

* Your guest blog article must be suitable for a general audience, including children. This means no profanity or anything racy at all. If you're in doubt, leave it out. I won't be editing your posts;

* Your guest blog article may NOT contain any adult content, and the links may not lead to sites containing adult content  - in ANY way, shape or form;

* Your guest blog article may NOT contain self-serving, promotional links within the body of the article;

* Your guest blog article should not be republished elsewhere (not even on your own blog) because of the duplicate content issue.

If you've submitted a guest post, thank you - please keep them coming, but also please take the audience of this blog into consideration. Many thanks.

Technorati Tags: blog your writing

Free and easy Web sites with Squidoo

Are you tech-phobic? Let Squidoo help you to get comfortable on the Web.

Once you have some experience, you'll be thrilled at the opportunities the Web gives you not only to be creative, but to make money with your Web sites too.

I'm creating a series of tutorials for Sell Your Writing Online NOW subscribers on Squidoo, the simple and free way to create your own Web sites. Here's the second Squidoo tutorial.

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".

Writing - Stop Procrastinating and Write More

One of the most common challenges writers face is procrastination. Since procrastination can destroy freelance writing careers, even before they begin, here are five tips which will help you to write more.
      
1. Plan your writing in advance

Planning is vital to your writing success. One of the most useful things you can do for a productive week of writing is to plan your writing on Sunday evening.

Here's what I do.

On Sunday, I list all the articles I intend to write in the following week in broad categories. These articles include articles I've been commissioned to write, as well as articles which I'm writing for my own websites. I then create titles from all the articles, and list three points under each article -- the three points are my article outline.

I also list all the other writing I intend to do during the week.

Then I transfer those lists to appropriate days, so I always know what I'm writing.

2. Write daily, and push yourself to write more

Of course, all your planning is worthless if you don't make a commitment to write daily. Writing daily is just a habit. You need to train yourself to write as soon as you sit down at your computer.

You do that by deciding that that is what you will do. The next step will help you with that.

3. Recognize mind states, and learn how to change your mind state at will

Remember a time when you were writing well -- when you were writing in a state of flow.

When you're writing in a state of flow, you are focused solely on the writing. You lose track of time. Your concentration is enormous yet also effortless.

I'm sure that you've had an experience of this particular mind state. Such mind states are common in children, but many adults forget how to access them.

If you've never experienced this particular mind state in writing, then I'm sure you've experienced a similar state when you were performing some other activity. Perhaps it was swimming, walking, or dancing, or even listening to music.

Try to recreate a mind state in which you are completely relaxed and yet  completely focused. This is the optimal state in which to write.

4. Learn relaxation techniques to develop focus

Spend 10-20 minutes a day using relaxation techniques. This time is not wasted time. It helps you to develop concentration and focus while you're writing.

5. Write for yourself first

Writing is creativity. The creative part of your brain is very childlike. One way to enlist its cooperation in your writing, is to make writing enjoyable.

This is why you should always do some writing which is strictly for yourself. That is, writing for which you won't necessarily be paid: writing which you're doing for your own personal enjoyment.

Some writers write journals. Other writers work on a novel which may never be published. It's just writing that they do for their own personal enjoyment to satisfy their creative spirit.

So there you have five tips which will help you to stop procrastinating and write more.

Write more - the key to your writing success

Yes, you can write more - even if you're a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them - they're not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, "Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you're struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you'll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Technorati Tags: be more productive

Your Writer's Web Site - Five Tips to Get clients and make Money

Are you making the most of your writer's Web site? Discover how you can use your writer's Web site to get clients and make money - never hunt for writing jobs again.

If you're a writer, you need your own Web site because it means that your clients will come to you, rather than you having to continually hunt for writing jobs.

More and more, editors, agents and other clients who want to hire you for a specific project (or, in the case of editors and agents are looking for new books to commission for their lists) are searching the Web.

They know that writers with initiative and creativity are posting their writing to the Web, and they want to work with writers who have those attributes.

So if you don't have a site, get one.

Now let's look at five tips which will help you to use your writer's Web site to get clients and make money.

1. Add pages to your site - from a tiny site to a large one

With millions of Web sites and billions of Web pages online, a single page site is not enough. The more pages you have on your writer's site the better.

Of course, creating a site with many pages won't happen overnight. However, be aware that additional pages to your site make you easier to find on the Web, and easier to hire. This is because the more pages, the more "presence" you have in the search engines.

2. What's it in for me? Your pages should be helpful and useful to your audience

Your writer's Web site needs to be more than an extended advertorial for your business. Add useful content to the site.

This doesn't mean that your content needs to be writer-oriented. After all, your fellow writers are not your target audience: they're not the people who will hire you.

Make your pages useful to your buyers, whoever they may be.

3. Page titles and descriptions: they're essential

Each page of your site needs to have a title and a description, because page titles and descriptions show up when people search for "writer" in the search engines.

This is easy to do. If you're not sure how to create page titles and descriptions in your Web editor, look it up in the Help file, or search the Web.

4. Promote your site

I've just searched for "writer" in Google. Would you believe the 214 million pages contain the reference?

You've got a lot of competition!

This is not as dire as it sounds. You can ace your competition by marketing your site. Do this by placing advertisements, by blogging - there are hundreds of ways you can market your site.

Be aware that you must do this; it's not optional.

Do some marketing each week; all marketing is cumulative - just like a snowball. Each little marketing task you do builds on the other marketing you've done.

5. Create a newsletter

So your marketing has brought readers and buyers to your site. But will they return?

You increase the chances that people will return to your site if you offer a newsletter. Your newsletter doesn't have to be long. Just a couple of hundred words a month mailed out to subscribers means that some will return to your site, and will hire you when they have work for a writer.

So there you have it - five tips to using your Writer's Web site to get clients and to make money. 

Subscribe to SYWON - it's a complete training in making money online

Want to make money online? You can, with Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) training. Join me, and develop your own home-based business, writing and making money on the Web.

Technorati Tags: Web writing

Web sites into Dollars – Make money writing Web Sites

In this week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine we discuss "flipping" Web sites. This is a completely new strategy to earn freelance income.

You can op for a fast sale, selling a brand new site for around $100, or you can let the site age, and earn considerably more. One writer sold a 15-page site for high five figures.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

If you're a new freelance writer, you have unlimited opportunities, particularly when it comes to writing for the Web. If I were starting out today, I'd focus strictly on the Web.

There are two primary reasons I'd do that:

1. All publications are moving to the Web – it's simply cheaper, and as the technology improves and with fuel price increases, plus global warming fears, making paper products less profitable and ethical, the rush of publications to the Web will speed up; and

2. I like to get paid fast. :-) Fast payment is essential for freelancers, because we're always worried about our cash flow. When you write for Web sites (or write Web sites in order to sell them, as we're discussing in this issue), you get paid as soon as you complete the article, report, or Web site.  In the print world, you can wait months for payment; this is great for magazines, but it's a real pain for writers.

So this week our article is "Write and Flip – Create a Web Site and Sell It", which discusses creating Web sites in order to sell them immediately, or after they've started making an income.

Subscribe now - I'll be posting the issue to subs on Monday.

Subscribe to Angela Booth's fabulous free weekly ezine for freelance writers: get a free report just for subscribing. Even if you're a new writer, you can freelance your way to a fantastic writing career.

Join the thousands of freelance writers who are making great money freelance writing, using Fab Freelance Writing Ezine as their guide.

Technorati Tags: Web publishing, Web writing