The Business of Marketing Yourself

As a feature writer, I haven't had to put a lot of effort into self-promotional materials. All that's required to land an assignment is a well thought-out query letter and a couple of quality clips (articles already published).  The magazines typically have pre-set payment prices or if a little negotiation is in order, it's handled quickly by phone or e-mail.

Recently however, I've been straying into work for businesses--writing web site copy, brochures, press releases, etc. Most of this work has come to me via friend or referral and so I still haven't had to worry about promotional materials. Yesterday though, a friend called wanting to refer me to someone who needed web site copy written and she asked if I could send her a brochure and price sheet. I scrambled and got something out to her but I didn't feel good about what I sent. It wasn't professional looking. It looked more like someone who opened Word, typed in a headline that read "PRICE SHEET" and made some columns. (Which is pretty much exactly what went down). No logo, no glossiness, no polish.  Yecch.

So I'm thinking it's time. Time to, as my friend Dreena likes to say, "pull up your big girl panties and get to work." (I do love living in the South).  I've decided I need to pull together:

• A glossy 4-color brochure listing my writing services
•  A price sheet
• Convert my best articles into PDF formats for easy sending
• Have a professional headshot taken
  
• Update or maybe revamp the web site (Ick. Hate to even think about the work involved in that one)
• Pull together a press kit, or maybe two. (One for the book and one for speaking engagements)

The funny thing is, I do this sort of work for other people and it's no problem. But I dread having to write my own brochure. I know a lot of writers who feel that way and actually I explain this concept to business owners that it's worth their money to hire me to write their copy simply because they're too close it. That makes it hard to see what needs to go in and what needs left out.

The question is WHEN in my happy little schedule am I going to have time to do all this? One step at a time. I think the brochure needs to come first.  I've got a brochure from a writer/editor friend of mine in CA that is top-notch, so I'll work off that and see what I can come up with. And I'll need the headshot/photos to include in the brochure so I'll book that soon as well. Any excuse to parlay playing dress-up into a work-related expense.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Cheers - D. 

No Time for Writer's Block

Someone asked me today if I ever get writer's block when working on articles. The answer is no--at least, not yet. Article writing is a lot like any other job. If it has to be done, it has to be done and there's no time to be "blocked."

Now certainly I have articles that come to me easier than others. In fact, I'm working on a marketing column and yesterday before I even wrote the first sentence, I was stuck. That's because my idea wasn't fully thought out and--the kiss of death--I was less than excited to write about the topic. I thought the topic was a snore which almost always will comes across in the writing.

This article is due in less than a week. So I called a friend yesterday and after ascertaining she was willing to take a break from her workday, begged her to brainstorm with me.  That's usually the best way to break through any "writer's block." I talked with my friend about 10 minutes and near the end of the conversation a way to restructure the article came to me. I'm  much more excited about the new format and will rough out the article today.

I think that's the secret of most writers. We don't actually figure stuff out for ourselves. Instead, we bounce ideas off friends and associates and take their knowledge and claim it as our own.

So today will be spent writing a marketing article. No time to be blocked.

Guru.Com - Part II

So I'm thinking it's time to leave Guru.  Aside from the low-quality jobs being posted and the frightening low rates being offered, the other point weighing heavy on my mind is that it's a time waster.

Jobs are posted frequently on Guru and aside from a good resume and low bid, speed counts when bidding. If you don't bid within 48 hours of a project being posted, there's a good chance the employer will assign it to someone else before they ever see your bid. So I log on to Guru twice daily and read the postings. This takes about 10-15 minutes. Then if I decide to bid, that's another 15-20 minutes, as I try to tailor my cover letter to meet the employers needs. That's all well and fine if I'm getting work, but makes me feel like I'm spinning my wheels if no work comes in.

And also, I've just felt it's time to let go. Guru, I told myself, has served it's purpose but it's time to let it go to make way for other things to come into my life.

This is where the Universe has decided to test me. I still think leaving  Guru is the right thing to do. But I just landed a huge project through  them--what will in fact amount to the most I've ever been paid for a single article.  So emotion kicks in and now I'm like, "What? Leave? Are you mad??"

Sooooo..... do I hang on or go? One thing I forgot to mention with Guru is the rating system. Every time you complete a job, the employer rates you on a five-star system that determines your "Guru Rank." Plus, Guru posts how many jobs you've worked on and money earned and employers consider all of this when looking to hire you. A freelancer with 30 projects and a solid 5 star rating from all employers is a much safer bet than a newcomer with no rating. And if I leave Guru, my almost 3 years of 5-star ratings disappear. And this new project will really boost my rating. Ack!

I still think I should let it go. I've been thinking of cutting back on my magazine writing work, Guru is a huge time waster for me and this last job aside, I haven't had work from Guru in almost 8 months.  But aaarrrghh--it's hard to walk away from something that just panned out big time for me.  Even if I only get one or two jobs a year from Guru, it's new clients and I more then make back my membership fee.  Yet this must be balanced against how much time I spend "surfing" guru and spend time bidding on work that never pans out.

I can't decide. You all tell me. What do you think I should do? Stay with Guru or ditch it? 

Guru.com - Part I

I've been a member of Guru.com for a couple of years now. Guru advertises itself as "The largest online marketplace for freelance talent." Freelancers such as myself pay a moderate fee to belong to Guru and post our resume, profile, and skills online. Employers post jobs and freelancers bid on the projects that interest us. The site isn't just for writers--there's graphic design, programming, illustration, engineering, photography, legal, accounting, fashion, sales, etc.

When I joined 2+ years ago, the site was a goldmine. I wasn't yet sure of my skills and was willing to work cheap. I got to work on some great projects and made some lasting contacts.  Lately though, Guru hasn't been panning out for me and I've been thinking that I'd let my membership expire in September.

For one thing, the quality of the writing jobs posted has gone downhill. The last year has seen a glut of keyword writing projects, which is basically when an employer hands you 30 keywords for SEO (search engine optimization) and they don't care if you use the words in complete sentences or in any way that makes sense. They're just trying to up their site's rating. I've never worked on one of these projects and don't want to.  They're considered rather sleazy in the writing world.

Then there are the employers who think writing skills are apparently one step up from flinging mud. The job postings from these people read something along the lines of "This is an extremely easy project for anyone with a brain." Riiiiight. I really want to work for you.

 But the most discouraging part is the prices employers are willing to pay and even worse, that freelancers are willing to work for. It's common to see a job posted that asks for twenty 300-500 word articles, all original content and turning over all rights, for $5/article.  And people are bidding on these things! I can't begin to imagine how they're turning a profit.

I have been bidding my little heart out these last 6 weeks, making one last run at Guru to see if it's worth hanging on.  It's understood I have to bid lower than my normal rates, but even at what I consider deep discount prices, I'm not getting work. Someone needed an article about cats, for God's sake, and I didn't get the job. And I bid as low as I could.  I've bid on probably 4 jobs a week for 6 weeks and got zero offers. Zip. I figured it was time to go.  

Continued tomorrow in Part II...