Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Ezine: promote your writing

In the next issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine (out tomorrow) we discuss promoting your writing services.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

Don't want to promote your writing? Do it anyway!

Yes, I know. Promoting your writing is a drag, and if you're new to it, it can even be scary. Here's my own guarantee to you: if you persist with promotion, a six-figure income becomes not simply a dream, but a certainty… moreover, sooner or later, promoting will become FUN.

You must promote your writing.

Promoting your writing isn't optional, it's essential if you want to make a decent income. In fact, you'll be able to see your income increase, every month, if you take promotion seriously.

There are many ways you can promote your writing. Keep it simple. Start by creating a website and/ or blog, add article marketing, and send out news releases occasionally.

Every bit of marketing you do builds on everything you've done before. If you're just starting out, this can be depressing, because you're starting from nothing. However, remember that every writer started where you are, and be assured that if you keep at it: writing, and promoting, you'll be amazed at the change in your circumstances. They'll come. One day not too long from now, you'll look around and wonder… "what happened?!" because your life will have changed so much.

If you're not a subscriber, subscribe now and discover how to make promotions easy and fun. Enjoy the issue. :-)

Ebooks: yes, you can make money

Yes, you can make money writing ebooks and selling them online...

I do it, and thousands of other people do it too.

I get lots of questions about HOW you do it. My answers boil down to: just start writing, and you'll figure it out as you go.

I'm not kidding when I say that that's about all there is to it. Writing is what counts. There's plenty of information around which will teach you how to do everything else, but without an ebook you've already written, you'll only confuse yourself if you try to work it all out beforehand.

Some people send me long lists of 20 or 30 questions, all of which could be answered once the ebook's written but since it isn't, please WRITE it first. Then ask. :-)

By far the top ebook questions I'm asked relate to money. Just how much can you make? Some authors on ClickBank make millions. One top-selling ebook made over two million dollars last year. So, there's lots of money in it, if you choose the right topics.

Here's a great tip. Target your audience as precisely as you can. An Ebook On Birds Made $500,000?! The Bob Dunlap Interview — Mixergy.com says:

"Many of the people I interviewed on Mixergy have told you to find a niche–target bird-lovers, for example. Bob says go one niche deeper–target humminbird-lovers. ClickBank has found that getting more precisely will help you increase sales. So, instead of selling products that help your customers get fit, for example, show them how to get tighter abs."

Will you make millions with your ebook? There's only one way to find out: write it. :-)

Want to make $500 a day WRITING... from your home office?

Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products

Are you make as much money as you could be making? Chances are that you're not. There's no shame in this. Writers often struggle to find their own special niche.

If you love to write, then you'll love the information in my new ebook/ coaching package, Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products.

Write what you like, when you like, and make an income you've only dreamed of.

Enjoy. :-)

Writing, and getting well-paid for it

In next week's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, we discuss getting well-paid for your writing. How do you get paid $250 an hour and more?

All will be revealed. :-)

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

This week, we discuss the contentious issue of getting paid well for your writing.

Contentious? Yes. However, the contention comes NOT from others… it comes from YOU. That's right. YOU are all that's standing between you getting $7 an hour for your writing, and $300 an hour.

There's one proviso here. If you're a new writer, please understand that you need to be worth $300 an hour to your clients before they'll part with huge chunks of cash.

That said, I know many writers with a dozen and more years of experience, who get paid a miserable $5 an article, simply because they're standing in their own way. They can't pay their utilities, they can't afford a new computer, and they live from pay check to pay check in their day job, all because they've never learned to value themselves and their writing, and to present themselves well.

Getting paid well starts with YOU

One of the most common sentences I hear from writers is this one: "I don't want to get rich from my writing."

Whenever I hear this, because it's a very, very common attitude among writers, I'm tempted to say: "If that's your decision, you will always struggle." Sometimes I do say it, because that writer needs to hear it – they especially need to hear what they're saying to themselves, because they've never thought it through.

Read the rest in next week's issue of the ezine. Enjoy. :-)

Subscribe to Sell Your Writing Online NOW (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.

Writing Web sites: great cash for writers

Want to make great money from your writing, with a residual income?

Here's one of my favorite ways.

In Super-Fast Money-Making Web Sites For Writers: Join The Web-Publishing Bonanza I wrote:

"Write Web sites and make money 24x7x365

How much money?

Let's see. A small simple site can begin earning money for you very quickly.

As a rule of thumb, if you've created a site in an area in which there are advertisers you can start earning five to ten dollars a day per site. Now $10 a day isn't much. But what if you had ten sites all earning $10 day?

That's $100 a day, which is $36,500 a year, just from ten simple sites. What if you had 20 such sites, all earning you $10 a day - or even more - in fact, some sites will earn you $100 a day?"

I have many, many sites. Although some of these sites are writing-related, most are not. I make much more income from my sites in other areas -- arthritis, photography, technology...

You can create a site about any topic you know well. Visit a magazine stand or bookstore for topics, or just write about what you love. If you love fashion, for example, that's a HOT topic on which to create several sites. I'll eventually create a site about designer handbags, because I have a bad Coach habit... :-)

Creating websites is easy, because so many of the tools you need are free, and if you can write an email message, you can create a site.

Don't believe me? Posterous will turn your email messages into a website. I wrote about my own Posterous site recently.

Look around you. What could YOU create a website about, which earns daily income for you?

Why write and sell ebooks? (Tomorrow's ezine)

In tomorrow's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme is starting your own ebook business.

Why would you want to do that?

Well...

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

In a word, MONEY.

Think about it; you don't need to sell many copies of an ebook to make money. Let's say you're selling an ebook for $27. This is at the lower end of ebook prices. Say you sell 1,000 copies. That's $27,000. Selling 1,000 copies is easy, but you need to advertise. So let's say that advertising costs you $1000, you've still made $26,000 in profit… and your ebook can go on selling for years.

Of course, you shouldn't stop at ONE ebook. Once you finished the first, and are promoting it, start on the second. In one year, if you put your mind to it, you could write and sell ten ebooks, and you'd have made $270,000.

Please don't think I'm whistling in the wind here. Selling 1,000 copies of an ebook is easy. If you promote an ebook diligently, you'll be able to sell many thousands.

It's not just the money…

Read the rest in tomorrow's issue.

By the way, if you're ready to start your information product empire, Info Product Maestro gives you everything you need.

(Mac) Nifty Twitter search client

I've been whining about the woeful state of Twitter search for months, and while Twitter's own Search may be fine for most users, it's horrible for people who want to research, namely writers.

Thank heavens there's now an application (Mac) which is focused solely on Twitter search.

Incoming! New Twitter App for Mac That Only Lets You Search reports:

At no point during any of this do you log into your Twitter account or post any tweets of your own. Some users will no doubt find this bothersome, and question the app’s usefulness, but if you use Twitter for research as much as I do, the arm’s length passivity of Incoming! is just what the doctor ordered. It might also appeal to people who don’t yet want to take the Twitter plunge themselves by signing up for an account, but want access to all the content that’s available via the service, in a much more manageable package than Twitter.com’s own search page.

Of course, the first search I did was for "freelance writing", and I'm ultra-pleased with the no-frills, workable results.

So if you're a tweeting writer, and you own a Mac, check out Incoming! It's sure to save you time and frustration.

New to Twitter? Follow me for daily writing tips.

Today's writing tip: Make Money Writing Success -- Challenge Yourself

Although it's very easy to make money writing online, for best results you need to challenge yourself. This is because you're working alone, you don't have anyone to push you. The more you write the more you earn, so get into the habit of challenging yourself.

Let's look at this simple method for doing this.

1. Set One Writing Goal

I like to challenge myself by creating goals, and achieving them. Tip: every goal you achieve gives you an instant boost of confidence.

Start by setting a simple goal. Perhaps you want to get more clients to buy your articles. So create that as a goal.

Write it down: "I will get five more clients this week".

2. Create a Plan to Achieve That Goal

The more simple you make your plan, the more likely it is that you will achieve it. Your plan can include various items, and you need to chunk that plan down into a list of daily tasks.

For example, your plan could include items like: bidding on writing jobs on the outsourcing sites, advertising, and staying in touch with clients by sending out regular mailings.

3. Create a List of Daily Tasks You Know You Can Achieve

From the list of items which will help you to achieve your goal, create a list of daily tasks. I like to keep all my tasks short, so that each takes no longer than half an hour. I find I'm more productive this way. There's no time to dither on a task when you know you have just 30 minutes to complete it.

How it works: if one of your items included advertising for example, then one of your tasks could be to create a couple of ads which you will post on one of the free classifieds sites. (The posting of the ads deserves its own task.)

4. Put on Blinkers: Be Single-Minded and Complete Your Tasks

Make a commitment to yourself to a complete every task on your daily task list, every day.

Making a commitment is freeing -- you know what you'll do, and you do it.

Tip: your commitments must mean something. Make a list of benefits to you in completing your daily task list. The benefits could include: being your own boss, tripling your income this year, and going on that European vacation you've planned.

You can make money writing, and your success is in your hands. Just reach out and grab it.

Image: Blackadder -- his best quote "I have a cunning plan..."

Writers using Twitter: do you use it? How?

I've found that I'm becoming quite addicted to Twitter, the micro-blogging site.

How about you -- do you use Twitter? What for?

Do you use it:

* For fun

* As a research tool

* To find writing jobs

* As an alternative to regular blogging

Please share how you use Twitter, and I'll write a blog post about tweeting writers. (Please include your Twitter link, and a link to your blog or Web site, so I can include those.)

Here's my Twitter link.

Today's Writing Tip: Write ebooks, make (great) money

Creating an ebook and selling it is EASY… there are very few steps, and once you’ve done it once, you’ll get faster each time you do it. I’ve written so many ebooks on so many topics that I no longer think about the process; it’s automatic.

However, one thing never changes, and that’s the fun and excitement of creation. I started my writing career writing romance novels, and enjoy writing long projects so much that I get depressed when a book’s complete.

via fabfreelancewriting.com

Want to make great money online? Create your own ebook empire.

I love writing and selling ebooks, and I've been doing it for years -- here are some of the writing info products I've created.

Read my article (follow the link above) to find out how you can write ebooks fast, and start building your own ebook empire.

Discover how to make money online in your spare time with Angela Booth's Sell Your Writing Online NOW training Not only will you discover how to write and sell ebooks, you'll get complete training in how the Web works, so you can take advantage of the unlimited opportunities.

For free weekly writing tips sent to your Inbox, subscribe to Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report" immediately.

Today's writing tip: write now, research later

Sit down and write -- research later

Write first, research later. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it helps you to write more and sell more. It's easy to get caught in the quagmire of research. You can collect so much material that you lose all enthusiasm for the project -- the more you collect, the more overwhelmed you feel.

For example, let's say you're writing a novel. Your hero is a cop. You don't need to know that much about his day to day working life. Write your story. Either research as you go, or research after you've written the first draft. 

If you're writing a magazine article about a topic you know nothing about, create an outline before you begin to research. Your outline can be as simple as: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. As you research, write a first draft of your article.

This tip is from my ebook "You CAN Sell Your Writing Now: Marketing Skills For Writers".

Create your own Mad Men avatar

If you love the show Mad Men (who wouldn't LOVE a TV show about copywriters?) You can get your own Mad Men avatar/ wallpaper with MadMenYourself.com.

Share a link to your creation in the Comments. :-)

Today's Writing Tip: Write articles, make money, and develop a sunny career

Want an easy way to make money writing? Start with article writing. 

The big benefit of writing articles is that you earn while you learn. You certainly don't have to be a great writer to write articles, you simply have to provide useful information. Hundreds of thousands of websites pay for articles. Mostly, the pay is abysmal, but that shouldn't concern you.

No, I'm not suggesting you settle in and make yourself comfortable with sweatshop writing. :-) 

I am suggesting however, that you can EARN your way to a high income. When I started writing, way back in the 1970s, you had to pay your dues as a writer. You could count on at least five to 7 years of writing every day, without making a cent. 

All that's changed. 

Nowadays, you can write short articles and can get paid for it. As your skills increase, you can write for larger sites, and larger clients, and can earn a very nice living indeed... and you won't have to wait five years.

There's never been a better time to be a writer -- every day is a sunny day, when you work from home writing articles.

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Today's writing tip: develop a successful writer's mindset

In next week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme is Freelancing for Profit.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial, in which we discuss a successful freelancer's mindset.

Success or failure? It's all in your mindset

Your mindset will determine your success, or your failure in any activity. 

Many writers make writing too complicated. There's nothing complicated about writing – if you can talk, you can write, and if you can write a letter that gets a response, you can make money writing. 

The only thing that stops you is you. Here's how to develop a successful freelance writer's mindset:

1. Stay positive

Staying positive is all about where you put your attention. Everyone has problems. If you put your attention on your problems, you'll get more of them, and the problems you already have will get bigger.

Here's how to deal with problems. You're a writer, so this should be easy. Describe your problem in 25 words or less. 

Now make a list of solutions -- be creative here, make your list as long as possible. Now forget about the problem.

Tomorrow, you look at your list. Choose one solution and work out how you can put it into action -- then do it.

From now on, whenever you find yourself mentally occupied with any problem, start thinking about solutions.

Successful people have as many problems as you do. However instead of focusing on the problems, they focus on solutions, and only solutions.

There's more on developing a successful writer's mindset in the issue. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today, it's free. This issue is out next Tuesday.

Posted via email from Angela Booth's Life Stream

Today's writing tip: your (writer's) website: WHO are you?

Start by adding content to your site which tells your visitors what you do, and for whom you do it. Describe your products and services, and the benefits they provide. Tell site visitors how long you’ve been in business, and who past customers are.

via angelabooth.com

Your About page is the most important page on your website. You've got mere seconds to establish yourself in your visitor's mind. Think about how you want potential clients and others to see you.

Vital: be honest, be genuine, and above all, be enthusiastic.

Today's writing tip: play!

Are you having enough fun with your writing?

Yesterday I received a message from a newish writer: "I never seem to finish anything. I've started dozens of writing projects. Why do I lose interest in them after a few pages? All these false starts make me feel so guilty."

Here's my response:

You sound as if you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Remember that your creative self is very child-like (not childish, however). Your creative self likes to PLAY.

Starting a project, and telling yourself: I'm writing a book, or even I'm writing an article for _________ can be enough to squelch your enthusiasm and child-like creativity.

Why not put all your start-up projects into the same file, or box, if you will? Think of that box as a planter box full of project seeds. Starting off new projects in your planter box keeps them all in the same place. Since you're only playing, there's no pressure; it's guilt-free.

You can create a "box" out of any file, in any program, or in a notebook, or in index cards. Call it your Play Box, or Toy Box if you like, and take your box out when you're ready to play. Once a project takes off -- it's sprouted in your planter box so to speak, you'll know -- you'll remove it to its own file automatically, without thinking about it.

If you keep all your new projects together, you'll find they'll cross-fertilize. :-) As you're reading through one, you'll get ideas for another, and can play with that one for a while.

Useful programs for your writing Play Box on your computer include: Curio (Mac) and OneNote (PC). Here's a great article Is Curio the answer to no OneNote on the Mac? 

I cover growing your writing organically in the Top 70 Tips to Help You to Write More.

FWIW, I start all my projects in my Play Box in Curio -- I must have around 100 mini-projects, and I enjoy playing with them.

Try this simple idea to help you to have more fun with your writing, and be more productive: PLAY. :-)

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