“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” – King Solomon

One thing you can count on from me, when it comes to giving you freelance writing advice, is that I’m going to tell you hard work pays off. Freelance writing isn’t for the weak or the faint of heart; you need to plug away, every day, if you want to succeed. That’s a mantra I’ve recited since day one on this blog.

But sometimes, even when you do everything right, things don’t go the way you want them to go. A client goes out of business, or you get sick and can’t write for a week. Time and chance happen to us all.

It’s little comfort to know that this isn’t just the fate of the freelance writer. When you’re the one that chance and time are unkind to, it doesn’t matter that everyone else from the CEO to the street cleaner is susceptible to them, as well.

Time and chance can be more devastating to the freelance writer than to other folks. Most folks can miss a couple of days of work without worrying about losing their job; when a freelance writer misses a couple of days of work, they can lose clients, which has a direct impact on their bottom line.

Still, I wouldn’t be a writer if it weren’t for time and chance. I’ve been broadsided by fate too many times to count, in hundreds of little events, that have pushed me to the place I am today. It hasn’t always been wonderful; at times it’s been downright painful. But it has also made me who I am, and it has brought me some measure of success.

Success as a freelance writer has little to do with being fast or strong or wise or wealthy. Success as a freelance writer comes by meeting the challenges of time and chance head-on. It means taking the bad along with the good, taking the famine alongside the feast.

There is an advantage that freelance writers have over some other careers, however. As a freelance writer, I have a heck of a lot more flexibility. It’s easier to make adjustments when life happens. That’s the trade-off.

OK, I’ve got three quick housekeeping issues today. If you’re not interested, skip down to the header below and get right to the good stuff!

1. First, get on over to my post at Freelance Writing Jobs Business Tips on 53 Sure-Fire Ways to Lose Clients. That, or just subscribe to the feed and keep update on all of the useful tips and advice for your freelance writing business.




2. You should also vote for Angie’s Pangie’s blog over at CD Kitchen. If you don’t know, Angie Pangie is my beloved wife and an amazing cook. Take my word for it, she deserves your vote.




3. I also wanted to remind you that Thursday is the last day to secure your seat at Copywriting Success Summit 2009 at the early-bird discount rate (a $200 savings, 40% off the regular price!).
   
   

   This is the premier online event for writers (from beginners to veterans) who want to generate better-quality leads, win higher-caliber clients and earn more.
   

   If you want to grow your writing business, you’ll want check this out. Grab your seat at this online event before the $200 discount ends. And don’t forget they’re also including all of the sessions from the 2008 summit at no added cost.
   

   Go here now: Copywriting Success Summit 2009

All right, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Michelangelo and Freelance Writing

You probably don’t realize it, but Michelangelo didn’t want to paint the Sistine Chapel. You see, the artist who created the Pieta and David saw himself as a sculptor. Like any artist at the time, he knew how to handle a brush, but his passion (and most of his income up to that point) had been due to his proficiency as a sculptor.

Not only did Michelangelo see himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, he’d never attempted painting a fresco.

It wasn’t Michelangelo’s idea to paint the chapel. It was a scheme, initiated by Michelangelo’s enemies, to trip him up. They thought he’d do a bad job and be discredited. At the very least, they knew his work would be off the market for several years while he worked on the Sistine Chapel. They managed to convince the Pope that Michelangelo was the right artist for the job.

Now, if you lived in Rome in 1508, you couldn’t tell the Pope, “No thanks, I’m a sculptor.”

Inexperience wasn’t the only obstacle Michelangelo faced, however. To paint a ceiling, the artist has to be positioned on his back on top of a scaffold, for hours on end. The scaffold raises the artist within just inches of the ceiling.

For four years, Michelangelo painted in this way.

The details of Michelangelo’s ordeal were chronicled by Ascanio Condivi, one of Michelangelo’s students, and eventually his biographer. For more from Condivi (and the source material for this article), check out Eye Witness to History. Here’s a bit of what Condivi had to say about what happened after the Sistine Chapel was done:

“After he had accomplished this work, because he had spent such a long time painting with his eyes looking up at the vault, Michelangelo then could not see much when he looked down; so that, if he had to read a letter or other detailed things, he had to hold them with his arms up over his head. Nonetheless, after a while, he gradually grew accustomed to reading again with his eyes looking down. From this we may conceive how great were the attention and diligence with which he did this work.”

What does all of this have to do with freelance writing? I don’t think I have to paint you a picture. Here are the lessons I walked away with from Michelangelo’s tale:

• Expanding beyond our comfort zone just might open up new opportunities. Don’t be afraid to try new kinds of freelance writing, especially if you’re new to the game.
• Don’t let your enemies or detractors get to you. Chances are, history will forget their names anyways.
• Being the best freelance writer you can be sometimes means keeping your gaze upward, whether you want to or not.
• Dilligence in the face of difficult or tedious work often yields amazing success. Don’t believe me? Just take a look:

If you’ve spent any amount of time online looking for writing tips, you’ve probably come across the essay 13 Writing Tips by  Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club (and several other novels, as well). In that essay, Palahniuk offers some excellent advice for writers. As with many novelists, however, much of his advice is aimed at the budding novelist, such as tip number ten: “Write the book you want to read.”

However, I’d like to take a look at his first writing tip and tell you how I apply it to freelance writing. Here is that first tip:

Number One: Two years ago, when I wrote the first of these essays it was about my “egg timer method” of writing. You never saw that essay, but here’s the method: When you don’t want to write, set an egg timer for one hour (or half hour) and sit down to write until the timer rings. If you still hate writing, you’re free in an hour. But usually, by the time that alarm rings, you’ll be so involved in your work, enjoying it so much, you’ll keep going. Instead of an egg timer, you can put a load of clothes in the washer or dryer and use them to time your work. Alternating the thoughtful task of writing with the mindless work of laundry or dish washing will give you the breaks you need for new ideas and insights to occur. If you don’t know what comes next in the story… clean your toilet. Change the bed sheets. For Christ sakes, dust the computer. A better idea will come.

As much as I love my business, there are times when I don’t feel like writing. There are times I downright hate writing. I don’t hate it the way that I hated configuring Cisco routers near the end of my IT career, but there are moments when I’d rather be doing just about anything else.

So, I do what Palahniuk recommends, after a fashion. When I’m really struggling with staying on task, staying motivated or just keeping from being totally perturbed at what I’m writing, I write in shifts. I set the timer to write for 90 minutes, and i plow through. When my 90 minutes are up, I stop for fifteen. It’s sort of my reward for being a good little writer.

During my free time, I might read a book, play on Facebook, play a video game or even take a 15-minute catnap. The important thing is to disengage – get free of my writing for a few minutes – so I can come back recharged.I’m not looking for “new ideas and insights” in the way that Palahniuk talks about. I’m just looking for a distraction – something to take my mind away from the writing for a little bit.

I guess there’s one more thought to add to this mix, too. I’m at the place in my writing business where I don’t have to take every project that comes along. I can turn down a project, or pass it on to one of my writers, if I think it’s going to be too monotonous or boring.

So, what about you? Do you use built-in “egg timer” breaks in your day? Do you need them with every project, or just with certain ones?

Today’s post is a guest post from David Gurevich. David contacted me with this post idea a while back. I think it’s a good addition to my 178 Ways to Improve Your Internet Writing post. Enjoy!

When we write, we leave the clutter and junk of our lives behind, and enter a world of possibility, where anything can happen.  Yet our words are ultimately for other people.

Now matter how beautiful the dream, the original vision, it must be clearly communicated for other people to experience it.

Here are 50 tips to improve your writing. If followed, your writing will drastically improve.

1) Have a trusted editor.

This is number one on the list because it’s that important. An editor takes the decent stuff you throw at them, cuts out the words that aren’t 100% effective, and adds their perspective.

It’s like taking a diamond to a specialist for cutting.

2) Use the active voice.

For the most part, say what people do. Don’t say what is done. John plowed the field, not, the field was plowed by John. Active phrasing keeps your prose alive and interesting.

3) Know grammar – that way, you’ll know exactly what rule you’re breaking.

Read one of the books that make grammar fun like Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. It’ll make you laugh and teach you something, too. If you want to break the rules, just first make sure you know what they.

4) Always think twice when you use a big word.

It doesn’t matter if you know what eschew means, and it doesn’t matter if your audience might. Use the simplest words you can. It is easier to read and it’s more interesting.

5) Know your audience. Coal miners are very different from astrophysicists who’re different from High Schoolers.

Writing is meant to be read. Make sure you know who your readers are, how they think, and what they like. Write to meet their needs.

6) Keep paragraphs short and to the point.

Simplicity.

It’s effective.

7) Don’t use colloquialisms needlessly.

It’s tempting to include slang or new phrases to make your work sound hip and relevant.

But you risk a lot. First, you stand to alienate those who don’t understand. Second, it can lower the quality of your writing. And finally, with the rapid pace of change, a phrase everyone knows now may be archaic in a few years.

8.) Edit. Always edit.

Write something, then edit it, then edit it some more.

9) Focus on writing. Turn off the cellphone – no multitasking.

If you want to produce great writing, then dedicate time to doing just that – writing.

A little distraction is OK. Some people, after all, work better with music playing or other stimuli. What you need to avoid are things that require a significant amount of your attention, and so distract you.

Music, OK. Instant messaging? Not so good.

10) Adverbs are OK, but like fatty food, cut back on them.

Don’t substitute adverbs for effective description. Things can be done quickly, furiously, happily, whatever. The problem arises when you rely on those adverbs to describe things that are better shown.

For instance, you might write, “He furiously shut the door.” That gets you a B. It’s decent writing. But if you want to make it A level writing, you might want to describe with verbs and nouns what happened.

Adverbs are also a problem when they become too excessive in and of themselves.

11) Use imagery and central metaphors to build emotional impact.

Have themes to your work. Use powerful images and metaphors to build a lasting emotional impact.

12) Break up long sentences with short ones. And vice versa.

13) Write in a natural tone. Nothing stilted that would make your friends give you a questioning look.

If anything you write would make a close friend break out laughing – and not at your wit – then there’s a problem. Think of your poor reader. Now go, make your writing simpler. Use as few words as possible to say as much as possible.

14) Join a writing group. Group pressure means results.

15) Hold yourself accountable. Make goals and meet them.

Start small. Promise yourself that you’ll work at least 10 minutes a day on that big project you’re passionate about but never do. Then meet that goal. Before you know it, 10 minutes – which you can easily do – becomes 20, then 45. And at that point you’re making real progress on your dream of writing.

16) Know when you’re done.

Orwell thought his book 1984 wasn’t edited well enough. If he had listened to himself, he’d have kept working on it, and we wouldn’t have a classic. Now, you absolutely need to edit your ass off and make sure everything is great.

But there also needs to be an ending.

17) The vast majority of writing doesn’t use swearwords.

18) Cut out any unnecessary words.

Read a paragraph you’re not happy with. Find every single word that doesn’t need to be there and delete it. Readability will skyrocket.

19) Feel free to disregard your first draft. It’s just paper or kilobytes.

You don’t need to stick to your first draft. Feel free to start all over again.

20) Using “I” is OK if done correctly.

You’re taught as a kid that “I” shouldn’t be in your papers. That’s not always true. When you have a relevant opinion, it’s not a sin to put yourself in the paper. You’re the one writing it after all.

21) The more you write, the better you become.

I swear that I used to suck at writing. Teachers told me I had to redo work. I might still suck – that’s your call – but hours and hours of practice writing have improved my ability a lot.

Even if you’re not happy with your writing as it is, it will get better. Just work at it.

22) Read great literature.

23) Give yourself a writing space.

24) The best way to succeed is the Butt in Chair method. You sit, you work. No questions.

25) Realize that a critic may be wrong.

26) Have a consistent writing schedule.

27) Favor the most concise style, but you don’t have to be Hemmingway.

28) Don’t betray the readers trust with something absurd.

29) In writing, you first create a world – then have to follow its rules.

If casting a spell requires an animal sacrifice in chapter 1, then requires herbal potions in chapter 4, and finally in chapter 10 doesn’t require anything (George, our beloved protagonist, just starts slinging fireballs with no explanation), you’re letting your readers down.

Follow the rules that exist in your world. Consistency!

30) Have a writing ritual. Myself, I always have a cup of tea first.

31) Avoid cliches.

Cliches are best avoided. The problem with them is that they are too easy, and that they don’t necessarily add a lot to your writing. You want to be original.

32) Avoid excessively witty, self-serving in-jokes.

A witty self-serving in-joke would have been to write “avoid cliches like the plague.” There is, as always, a fine line, and err on the side of respecting your readers.

33) When being creative, suspend your inner critic.

You want to try something new? Cut off the electricity to the inner critic center in your mind, and start writing! Magic is happening.

34) Listen to your inner critic after being creative.

After you have a creative breakthrough, you then have to take the hard road of editing and revision.

35) Know the difference between British and American style.

36) Whatever you write about, do your research first. Know what you write about.

If you want to convincingly write about a car salesman, learn how they think. What phrases they use, what makes them happy. Knowing those details will shine through your writing and give it authenticity.

37) Show don’t tell for the most part.

38) Tell, don’t show, when doing otherwise would be boring or plain stupid.

39) Make your writing have an exciting, forward pace.

40) Don’t overuse ellipses or dashes.

Some authors liter their writing with… way too… often. Or – they uses dashes far too often – making things that don’t deserve it have it. Ellipses and dashes can be very effective. Just don’t abuse ‘em.

41) You start writing to please yourself, but succeed by pleasing others.

42) Don’t be afraid to describe something that has to be described.

43) Fancy fonts, underlining and bolding work – in business writing. Not fiction.

Different genres have different stylistic rules. Always write stuff that works without highlighting, italicizing, or whatever. But remember to take advantage of the presentation options you have.

44) Always prefer the word “said.” Grunting, snorting and chortling gets old fast.

45) Believe in yourself.

46) Be dramatic by being subtle.

47) Write for your readers.

Mentioned several times, but explicitly said here. Don’t write for yourself. Write to help your reader out, to entertain them, or to inform them. Their needs must be met, and you need to meet them.

48) Use punctuation appropriately.

49) Mix long paragraphs with short paragraphs.

50) Keep things moving along.

Take pride in your hard work, and reward important landmarks. Keep working hard and having fun. You’re the most amazing person, even if only to those who love you. You owe it to them to write your best!

David Gurevich is chosen by companies to make abstruse issues simple. You can check him out at his blog, Health and Life, a Medical Blog , where he blogs – logically enough – about health and medical issues.

I’m happy to announce that today is my debut post over at Freelance Writing Job’s Business Tips for Writers.

In recent months, FWJ has expanded from a single blog into a thriving blog network, and I’m excited to be part of the team. I’m taking over duties for Men with Pens’ own James Chartrand, so I realize from the start that I’ve got some seriously big shoes to fill. I trust you won’t be disappointed.

If you’ve never been to FWJ, make sure you stop by the main site and familiarize yourself with Deb and the crew. Also make sure to subscribe to the Business Tips for Writers feed while you’re at it. I’ll be posting twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Thursday.

I haven’t done a links post in quite a while, so I thought I’d give you a little glimpse at where I’m spending my quality time online these days. I think you’ll enjoy each of these links:

• Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers has opened up nominations for the Top 10 Writing Blogs of 2009. The Writing Journey made the list in 2008, which thrilled me to no end. Make sure to get over there and nominate your favorite writing blog today – the deadline is next Friday.
• Speaking of Michael, he and Peter Bowerman have an amazing free webinar called Generalist vs. Specialist: Which Is Better in a Tough Economy? coming on September 17, 2009. This is going to be a head-to-head debate between two copywriting superstars—one who is the king of a big niche and the other who is a very famous generalist. You need to register, and there are a limited number of spots, so get over there today.
• Jennifer Mattern over at All Freelance Writing has an interesting post on residual article income. As you may remember, I experimented a bit with residual income-based article directories in the early days of this blog, with relatively poor results. Jennifer offers some excellent thoughts on the promises and disappointments involved in these kinds of sites. Not sure I agree with all of it, but it’s still a good read.
• Do you read Seth Godin? Not everyone’s a fan, I know. He’s got some terse and insightful thoughts on Positive thinking this week. Take a look.
• If you haven’t been to Freelance Writing Jobs in a while, you should visit. Deb Ng has expanded the site into a full-blown blog network, and it’s seriously sharp. Check the Business Tips blog at FWJ on Tuesday, September 8. I have a reliable source that says the day’s post will be interesting.

There you go. That should keep you busy for a while.

Do you know what you would do if your freelance writing business tanked tomorrow? Chances are you’ve thought about it. Every small business owner, somewhere in the back of their mind, has a Plan B. Maybe you figure you’ll go back to school and finish your degree. Maybe you figure you’ll take a job in your former career (if you have one).

Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of this, of course. But there’s another kind of contingency planning that’s worth thinking about:

What will you do if you succeed?

I’ve written many times before about the fact that this business can have its ups and downs, and that you’ve got to refuse as best you can to participate in the downs. That’s essential if you’re going to stay in business. But this other aspect – the up times – deserves some attention, too.

Strike While the Iron is Hot

Here’s a good example of what I’m talking about. Maybe August was a slow month for you. Then, BOOM! September 1st hits and you land a gig that will carry you the rest of the way through the month, and make up for August’s leanness. You jump into the project, fat and happy.

Something happens, though. Plugging away at this new gig, you back off on your marketing efforts. You slack off on follow-up sales emails, or you leave off checking the freelance web sites for a week. Human nature is such that success brings contentment, and contentment can, unfortunately, sap your motivation.

Being prepared for success means not being lulled into complacency by your success. It means working just as hard every day at growing your business, whether you’ve made gangbusters that day or whether you’ve made bupkus.Take advantage of your success and keep the momentum going.

Today’s Success is Tomorrow’s Seed

There’s another aspect to this idea of planning for success, one that’s much more concrete. The fact is this: a successful business knows where it wants to go. Whether you want to be the Queen of Long-Form Sales Pages, Bloggerman or CEO of Web Writers Inc., you’ve got some idea of what ultimate success is going to look like.

If you’re going to hit the big time and really reach those goals, however, you need to have a pretty good idea of how to get there, and it should involve being successful today. Today’s successes are the seeds from which those goals will ultimately grow. Leverage today’s success to make tomorrow even bigger.

You can do this in many different ways. Maybe you can actually shave a little bit of money off the top of a payment to do some advertising. Maybe it’s as simple as adding a particularly good piece to your portfolio. Whatever it is, you need to be always thinking about “how can I use this success to power the growth of my business?”

The Inner Monologue

There are enough other folks out there writing about the power of positive thinking, the dangers of negative self-talk, and how you can’t let fear hold you back. These things are all true, and you’ve heard them before; I don’t need to rehash it here.

I will say, though, that you need to let success increase your confidence. Just as much as losing a sale is an ego blow, making a big sale can pump you right up. When you experience some success, be OK with it. Accept it. Let it work against all of that self-doubt you’ve got going on. Don’t get cocky or arrogant, but allow yourself to take credit for your success.

It takes work to become a successful copywriter. You’ve got to put in plenty of time and hard work to not only become good at it, but to get more clients and grow your business.

There are three essentials, I think, to becoming a successful copywriter. While you can get by and even make a living without following all of these things, once you really grasp them and put them in place you’re going to find success is chasing you, rather than you chasing it.

Over the past five years, as I’ve built up my copywriting business to a stable and successful enterprise, there are three basic ideas I keep coming back to, over and over again.

Hone Your Craft

Becoming a successful copywriter means being a good copywriter. By the time you’ve been in the writing business for a couple of years, a healthy percentage of your business should be repeat business. When I look at my books for last month, for example, I can see that 60% of my income came from previous clients.

You don’t get repeat business if your work is crap, if you don’t meet the client’s expectations or if what you write doesn’t give your client the desired results. Sometimes, this is as simple as taking the time to review and edit your work before you send it to a client. In other cases, you might need to spend some time learning more about the particular type of writing you’re wanting to do.

Being able to identify the areas you’re weak in is essential here. One of the best ways to do that is to take a look through your list of past clients. For example, do your blogging clients keep coming back while your sales letter gigs seem to be one-offs? Then maybe you need to spend some time getting better at writing sales letters.

Build Your Portfolio

One of the biggest assets you have in terms of getting new clients is a strong portfolio. When you’re first starting out, your portfolio is probably going to be pretty thin. It’s important, as you go through those first couple of years, that you set aside some of your best work and include it in your portfolio. Make sure, of course, that the client for whom you did the work is all right with you using the piece for your portfolio.

I don’t advise writing material solely for your portfolio, unless you really want to break into one type of copywritng and can’t seem to land any gigs in that area without a sample. The reason is simply this: it’s untested. Until you’ve given the work to a client who has said, “hey, this is exactly what I was looking for,” you can’t be sure it’s enough to entice a new client.

Learn from the Experts

One of the reasons many of my readers visit my humble little blog is because they want to learn something from someone who’s already in the field and doing well. Spending time reading writing blogs and books can only help you improve your craft and get more sales. You might even benefit from a writing coach, or a mentor of some sort.

In 2008, one of the most amazing experiences I had was going through the material from the Copywriting Success Summit. There was so much here that I could barely digest just a small percentage of it, but what I learned has been invaluable.

The 2009 Copywriting Success Summit is coming up in just a couple of months. This live event is being held in October, and is something you must not miss. I promise you that attending this summit and putting the things you learn into practice will add fuel to your copywriting fire and help you grow your business.

None of these three things are easy, and none can be done overnight. That’s why they pay off so well. In the end, a copywriting business is only as successful as the hard work you’re willing to put into it.

It’s one of the most basic principles of the market, and it’s no different for freelance writing than it is for anything else:

You get what you pay for.

What made me think of this? Last week I received a Facebook friend request. I didn’t recognize the name, but an email came along with the friend request asking if I could take a look at this person’s site and quote some prices for content writing.

Over the course of communicating with this client, I discovered that he originally found out about my freelance writing services via one of the freelance job websites. I’d bid on a project of his, and he liked what he saw in my portfolio. Unfortunately, my rates were out of his range and he went with a lower-cost provider.

You can guess what happened next. He was unhappy with the other provider, so much so that the content was, in this client’s words, “unusable.”

Now, after throwing away some of his money, he decided it was time to do things right. So, he contacted me. He still has the same budget, so he realizes that he’ll have to do things one piece at a time. A few pages of well-written content are worth a hundred pages of useless content.

If this were the only time this situation ever came up, I would chalk it up to bad luck on the client’s part. Unfortunately for buyers, it’s not. I’ve had many clients tell me this same story, over and over again.

There are a lot of freelance writers out there. There are a ton of good ones, too. But there are plenty of bad ones. And yes, some of the good ones work too cheaply, not getting paid what they’re worth because they are afraid they won’t get enough work if they raise their rates. Eventually, though, they come to their senses. They recognize the value of their work, and they adjust accordingly.

No, price isn’t the only indication of quality. A really crappy freelance writer can set a high price tag. You still need to consider the portfolio and, in some cases, references or recommendations. Smart clients, however, will look at price as one warning sign that the writer may not have the level of talent that the client is looking for. If the portfolio is weak and the price is low, chances are you’re not going to be satisfied with the end product.

The challenge for freelance writers, then, is trying to make this case to potential clients before they blow a bunch of money on substandard work. It’s not particularly easy, and the good news is that, like my Facebook friend, they will come back after the fact to ask you to clean up the mess.

Today’s recommended writing resource:

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

This is the updated version of William Zinsser’s classic tome on writing. If you want your writing to be stronger and clearer, check this one out. There isn’t much here for Internet writing in particular, but most of the basic principles still apply.

You might not realize it, but Internet writing is a lot like earning a PhD in History. Now, I know that grad school isn’t the first thing you think about when you think about Internet writing, but bear with me for a little while.

The best way to explain to you what I’m talking about is to tell you a story about my friend, Phil. Phil is a nurse in the real world, but in his spare time he likes to study history. He’s what you’d call an “armchair historian.” He reads books on history, watches the history channel, and is, in many ways, very knowledgeable about a great number of historical subjects.

Because I have a graduate degree in History, Phil likes to ask me questions. For example, just a few weeks back he posed this one:

“Do you think the economic devastation in Germany after World War I helped to create the environment that allowed Hitler to come to power?”

To which I answered, “I really have no idea. I’ve never given it much thought.”

“But you’re a historian!” Phil replied. “You’ve got the degree and everything. You write a history blog. You’ve even got a bumper sticker on your laptop that says ‘Everyone remain calm… I’m a historian.’ How can you not have any idea?”

This part is always a little difficult to explain to folks. “My area of study is pretty narrow, Phil. I’m into 19th-century U.S. History. Specifically, my research has been in Antebellum Southern intellectual and social history.”

To which, as usual, I received a puzzled look. I continued: “You’re a nurse, right Phil? You work in the Infant ICU. I bet you can tell that a preemie is in distress almost before the machines tell you. But do you think you could do the same with a geriatric patient?”

“Well, yeah,” came the answer. “I mean, it might take me a couple of weeks in that unit to get the hang of it, but yeah.”

“And it might take me some time studying German history between the World Wars to answer your question.”

———

In the world of Internet writing, there are countless opportunities. There is web copy, keyword articles, blogging, sales page writing and white papers just to name a few. In my business, I’ve done each of these types of writing. Some I enjoy more than others. Some pay better than others. Some I’m better at than others.

At some point, however, you have to pick a specialty. What will your bread and butter be when it comes to your Internet writing? Michael Stelzner knows his specialty: it’s writing White Papers. That’s even the name of his site. James Chartrand knows, too. He writes about the writing business, whether he’s doing it at Men with Pens or whether he’s doing it at one of the many other sites he writes for. When the Pen Men ran a contest last year, it even focused on business. That’s James’ Internet writing specialty. Sure, Michael and James do other writing and they do it well, but you can tell where their passion lies.

For me, it’s blog writing. It’s writing content for people that is conversational, authoritative and still packs a punch. Yes, I do a lot of other writing, but that’s where my passion is and where my greatest talents lie. When I get an order in, that’s the writing I keep for myself rather than passing along to my writing minions.

So, what about you? What’s your Internet writing specialty?

As I’ve taken on writing coaching clients these past few months, it’s been really interesting to talk with aspiring writers, and watch as they try to wrap their heads around the business of writing. I’ve found that most folks only need a very little help when it comes to the technical side of writing. Most of my coaching clients wind up learning a lot in two specific areas.

How the Writing Business Works

I recall, before I started writing for money, how I had this very distinct image of the professional writer. Like most people, I thought of the novelist. I pictured a cabin in the woods, overlooking a crystal clear lake, with a dedicated artist furiously banging away on her keyboard, creating the next bestseller.

It’s funny, because that image really isn’t what most writers’ lives are like. Oh, sure, there are some successful novelists who live that way. But most of the people who make their living from writing do it in a home office, at their kitchen table, or at a local coffee shop. In my case, it’s all three.

So, one of the things that happens in my coaching is that the illusory wall comes down. My clients get a chance to look behind the scenes, to see what the writing life is really like. I’ll walk them through a particular project, from start to finish. And more often than not, their reaction is one of surprise as they see that the writing business is a lot like many other small businesses.

The Characteristics of a Successful Writer

The other thing my clients often experience first-hand is a realization of what it takes to be a successful writer. They learn things about themselves, about what it would really take to make their living by writing. While working on a project together, one of my coaching clients described it this way:

Before this project, I would sit and write as my schedule allowed, and if I did not feel like producing much, I did not. This project made me realize that when there is time, there must be productivity. For me, transitioning from working a “day job” to being a productive writer is about being able to “turn on” the switch when I have the time to sit at the computer, focus on results, and produce.

And that, truly, is one of the first lessons you learn when you begin writing professionally. Back when I worked as a Network Administrator, I could blow off a Friday afternoon if I wanted to, usually with very little consequence. Today, if I blow off work time it has to be made up, and sooner rather than later. While it’s true I have more flexibility working for myself than I did when I worked for someone else, I also have to take things more seriously.

Today’s post was inspired by a piece from Jonathan Morrow, associate editor at Copyblogger. The piece, entitled how 2 blog if u suk at writin, is a motivational, feel-good article aimed at bloggers who are less than confident in their writing ability. While I encourage you to go read the entire article, I’ll sum up Morrow’s main thesis here:

If you’re a poor writer, don’t worry. Not everyone is born with the gift of writing. You can still be a successful blogger. You just need to work hard to keep things interesting and unique. Play to your other talents, and the writing won’t matter.

Now, it’s been just a year and 12 days since I took Skellie to task for suggesting that great writing doesn’t matter online. Nothing has changed since then. I’m a firm believer that content is king, and that good writing is the premier form of content online, and in blogs specifically.

Look. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman didn’t win Blog of the Year by having mediocre writing. Yes, Pioneer Woman’s pictures are great. But she’s a good writer, too. She keeps readers coming back, in part, because of her ability to turn a phrase.

The same is true for Darren at Problogger, Dooce and Morrow’s own Copyblogger. Even Cake Wrecks wouldn’t be as hilariously funny if Jen were a sucky writer. It also holds true for Hugh MacLeod at Gaping Void, the only solid example Morrow uses of a highly successful blogger whose main attraction isn’t his writing.

Good writing hooks the reader and keeps them coming back for more. Conversely, poor writing detracts from the blogger’s own message.

I like the spirit of what Morrow is trying to do here, I really do. He wants to encourage bloggers who may not be the best writers, or who may not have confidence in their writing ability. In some ways, that’s exactly what I try to do here with every post. I want to help other Internet writers improve their craft (and their business).

But Morrow and I disagree about how best to serve other Internet writers and bloggers. Rather than encourage them to hone their craft, Morrow seems to be suggesting they develop a catchy gimmick. This is somewhat surprising, given that Morrow himself says that, rather than being born with a pen in hand, he devoted years to honing his craft. So, why wouldn’t he encourage other writers to do the same?

My message, instead, is this:

If you’re a poor writer, don’t worry. You can still be a successful blogger. You’ll need to work hard to hone your craft so that your writing accents and supports, rather than detracts from, your blog. The good news is that just about anyone can become a good writer with a little bit of hard work.

So, what do you think? Is good writing really necessary to have a good blog?

When I started The Writing Journey just over a year ago, this blog was something of an experiment. I’d run several blogs before, with relatively little success in terms of garnering subscribers. Some were personal blogs, devoted to a particular hobby. Others were attempts to blog in a certain niche area, in hopes of generating revenue via advertising or affiliate income.

The Writing Journey was different. Sure, I ran Adsense in the early days. And yes, I’ve found a handful of affiliate programs that I can really believe in to promote over time. But this blog was more about giving back: sharing my experiences as a professional writer, and helping other Internet writers achieve their dreams.

Through this blog, I’ve met many other Internet writers. I’ve formed business alliances, landed writing gigs, had the privilege of mentoring several writers, and just had an overall good time.

Unfortunately, late last year I let the passion slip a bit. Writing my regular blog post became something of a chore. I found myself struggling to find something more interesting, more useful, more inspiring than what I’d posted before.

A day or two without a post turned into a week, a week turned into a month, and a month turned into three. I broke the number one rule of blogging.

And what is the number one rule of blogging?

To blog successfully, you have to post consistently.

Now, I don’t feel too terribly bad about all of this; after all, this blog has primarily been a labor of love. Not blogging hasn’t horribly impacted my bottom line. Still, I’ve missed it. And, I’ve missed you, my readers.

I’ve also realized something: not every post has to be profound. Well-written, yes. Useful in one way or another, of course. But some of the most important lessons about being a professional writer are the simplest. It’s not nearly as important that I be clever in a post as it is that I post to begin with.

At any rate, without making any grand pronouncements of broad commitments, I do want to let you know I’m back. It’s been a long, cold winter, but I’ve missed you all. I hope to get back into the habit of consistently writing here, of interacting with you and helping you achieve your dreams, even as I’m living mine.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of the folks over at Men with Pens. One third of that dynamic trio,James Chartrand, is one of the hottest name in the freelance writing business right now. He’s featured regularly on Copyblogger, and is also a regular contributor at a number of other sites.

One of those sites is Freelance Folder, where I’ve also been a regular contributor. Freelance Folder is for us one of the hottest sources for advice and information for the freelancer, whether you’re just starting out or whether you’ve been around the block.

Well, I’m excited to let you all know that James Chartrand and Mason Hipp, the current brains behind Freelance Folder, have joined forces to put together an indispensable book. If you want to:

• Overcome your limits as a freelancer
• Discover your true freelancer potential
• Grow your business
• Land more clients
• Add value to your services

Then this book is for you.

I’ll be offering a review of this book within the coming days, but I wanted to get it out there right now so you can have quick access to this awesome book. If you enjoyed Write for the Web, you’re going to absolutely LOVE The Unlimited Freelancer.

Happy new year to my freelance writing friends, old and new. I trust the holidays have found you well, and wish you success in 2009.

I have to say, I’m excited about what the new year is going to bring. If 2008 was any indication, 2009 is going to be the best year for my freelancing business yet. While there may be some tough economic times in the world, there’s no business I’d rather be in.

Why am I so optimistic? There are a bunch of reasons, but I get the most encouragement by looking back over the last year. In the past 12 months, here are some of the amazing things that have happened for me:

• I started this blog, which has grown my freelance writing client base by leaps and bounds. It’s also allowed me to meet so many interesting people, network with other writers and given me the opportunity to help other writers achieve their own dreams.
• I began my coaching program, which has allowed me to help a great group of writers get their start in the business.
• I’ve grown the business to the point where I’m regularly outsourcing work, allowing me more time to focus on the business itself.
• I’ve increased my business revenue, as well as my personal revenue, by a significant factor.
• Ive been able to work together with my wife, bringing her in as a partner behind the scenes of the business.

There’s plenty more, too, but those are just the things that come to mind.

2009 promises to see all sorts of new and exciting things. While I’m still in the process of refining my business (a process that truly never ends) I am thrilled to think about some of the irons I’ve got in the fire, and some of the projects that are yet to come.

I also want to take a minute to thank everyone who has regularly read this blog, and helped me reach each milestone. As of today, I’m happy to have just shy of 1,000 RSS and email subscribers, and I’m happy that you’ve joined me on this journey.

Here’s to hoping we all have a very bright future in 2009:

photo credit: Shermeee

There’s money in SEO writing. If you can do it right, you can make a killing. Understanding the inner workings of search engines, knowing the right keywords to pick and being able to insert them into your writing is a valued skill.

If you write on the Internet at all, chances are you do at least some SEO. If you surf the Internet at all (who doesn’t) you’ve seen perfectly-optimized SEO pages.

You’ve probably also noticed that, in many cases, perfectly-optimized SEO pages suck. The writing is contrived, sentence structure is awkward and those keywords – usually in various formats – are repeated ad nauseum. In other words, good SEO is often terrible writing.

Now, this isn’t always the case. You can optimize a page without having to make the SEO so in-your-face noticeable. (If you want to know more, go to SEO School. Naomi will tell you all there is to know about good SEO.)

What happens, though, when your client wants the SEO to be so thick you can cut it with a knife?

You have two choices: take the gig or don’t.

If you take the gig, you’re going to have to get pretty damn creative. Chances are you’re still going to wind up with a piece of work that’s less than stellar, at least in terms of its readability. But, hey, you’re not an artist, right? You run a business, and businesses need to make money. Besides, if you don’t write it, someone else will.

If you don’t take the gig, you can go on with your own writing integrity. You can take satisfaction in the fact that you’re not contributing to the wealth of crappy writing on the Internet. By keeping your high standards, you help raise the overall quality of information on the Internet.

A few months ago, I took a gig that had some very specific SEO requirements. The keyword density was very high, so much so that I’m pretty sure Google won’t catch the page on those keywords (although MSN or Yahoo search might). I went along my merry way, wrote the article, and sent it to the client.

The client loved the article. Unfortunately, I hadn’t hit the SEO requirements, so the client bounced it back to me for a revision.

I realized, as I began writing the revision, just how intense these SEO requirements were. The client wanted specific word pairings that just didn’t work linguistically. (A similar example would be the keyword, “Tobacco Virginia.”)

At this point, though, I didn’t have much of a choice. I reworked the article, trying to preserve the quality as best I could. The result wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either.

After finishing the work, it occurred to me: there was a third option I’d missed. I could have challenged the client’s requirements from the start. I could have pointed out the difficulty of the awkward word pairings, and offer other suggestions. Maybe the client would have taken the suggestions and let me do the work, maybe not.

I’m not an ar-teest, not by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do believe that great writing matters online. Just because we web writers don’t have the kind of editorial gatekeepers that print writers have doesn’t mean we can just let quality go. There has to be some kind of middle ground between using the tools we need (like SEO) and creating something that’s readable, clear and correctly uses the language.

Today, I’m hesitant to work gigs with more than just basic SEO.

What do you think? Am I being a snob here? Am I being unrealistic? Or is it sometimes worth it to sacrifice a sale in favor of the quality writing principle?

Image by elblogdeffuentes

In this age of instant connectivity and social media, there really isn’t a good reason for freelance writers or other web workers to become isolated. Truly.

Still, it happens. You can become so involved in your work, in producing the content you need to produce, in dealing with clients, paying bills, hiring writers and everything else involved in the business that you wind up spending a majority of time on your own.

Is this isolation a bad thing?

Experts tell us it is. Depression is one of the most common conditions affecting web workers, according to studies. As a freelance writer, you can easily go a full day without hearing a single other person’s voice, and that can become a problem.

I’m at one of those places right now. Business is, well, busy. I’ve got lots of irons in the fire. I’ve got projects left and right. I’m pounding pavement constantly to find new clients as the economic downturn claims old clients as victims. The business is humming along fine, but it’s taking more hours to produce the same results.

What that means is I spend no time on Twitter. I comment less and less on other blogs. I log out of Google Chat, knowing that it’s all too easy to become unfocused and distracted.

Distracted, that is, by social interaction. You know, that stuff that makes life worth living. The stuff freelance writers need to keep from going loopy.

Now, I consider myself lucky. I’ve got a family that I can socialize with in the evenings, and I’ve got friends I can enjoy as well. That’s enough, for now, to keep my minimum social needs met.

In the long run, though, I think we all need that interaction that comes from interacting with our peers. At some point, we need that give and take. Not only does it keep us sane; it also helps us sharpen our skills.

You see, the more you interact with other writers, the more likely it is for you to become a better writer. We freelancers tend to be “as steel that sharpens steel.”

So, how do you address the problem? In concrete terms, on a personal level? Well, here’s my approach:

Pick a certain amount of time – maybe 15 minutes, 3 times a day – that you’ll get outside of your work and outside of your head, and connect with other freelancers.

Pick a medium. Whether it’s Twitter, chat, blog commenting or whatever method you usually use to interact with your peers, get going with it.

Don’t stress about missed opportunities. Do you have unanswered emails sitting in your inbox where you’ve dropped out in the middle of a conversation? Pick up on them if you want, but don’t beat yourself up. We all do it, and anyone else in the business will understand.

Be ready to explain. The minute you go active again, you’ll have folks who’ve missed you call you out. “Where you been? Are you hiding from me? Are you alive?” that sort of thing. You don’t have to go into detail. You can just say, “been horribly busy” and send them a link to this post. They’ll figure it out.

So, what about you? Have you had this sort of thing happen to you?

(On a side note, this post was inspired, in part, by Losing Your Sense of Self Because of Your Business over at Men with Pens. Thanks James, for making me think!)

Photograpy by by rephotography

I don’t know about you, but I’m about done with all of this talk about a “faltering economy,” “economic downturn,” and, worst of all, “recession.”

My state, Michigan, hasn’t really ever recovered from the hard times that started after 9/11. Back in 2005, I recall newspaper headlines declaring that Michigan was in a “one-state recession.” Times are tough here, and have been for a long time.

Am I worried about this situation? Sure. I’m worried for my friends, my extended family. I see people around me getting laid off every day, and my heart goes out to them.

But I’m not worried for myself.

The thing is, you see, I choose not to participate in the recession.

What do I mean by that, exactly? I mean, simply, that I’m not going to allow the recession to affect my income or my lifestyle. You see, there are a few facts about running a freelance writing business that can, if you’re smart about it, make your business recession-proof.

Freelance writing clients are worldwide

Right now, my biggest clients aren’t based in the United States. While I have clients in the U.S., my client base spans the globe. I haven’t had a client in Michigan in some time – further proof that my state is in dire straits.

Unlike my good friend who runs an appraisal business just down the road, the local economy doesn’t affect me as directly. If the local market dries up, I can get work from Aussies, Canadians, Brits and lots of other folks. I like working for local clients, but they aren’t my bread and butter by any means.

Freelance writing gigs aren’t tied to a specific industry

I have the same sort of flexibility when it comes to industries. Michigan is, of course, tied very closely into the auto industry. If you’ve been watching the shenanigans in Washington as of late, you know the auto industry is in trouble. That makes for a lot of economic devastation in my community.

Here again, though, I don’t work with just one industry. I have clients in real estate, technology, food service and even some related to the auto industry. But should any one of those areas take a dive, I have plenty of others to choose from.

A freelance writing business model has to be flexible to succeed

Now, I don’t want to paint some kind of rosey picture here. Hard economic times do affect the way I do business. I may have to spend more time searching for clients. I might have to chase down a client or two for payment. I might have to offer deeper discounts than I’d like.

But the business I’m in allows me the flexibility to do those things. I can make adjustments, on the fly if I need to, to insure that my business continues to be healthy and to thrive.

Freelance writing is about creating opportunities

Even when the markets all dry up, there is still potential for success. As a freelancer, I can use my ambition, imagination and creativity to come up with new ways to succeed. The possibilities are endless, it’s just a matter of identifying the ones with the greatest potential for success and then executing them effectively.

This is what being a freelancer is all about, folks. Expanding your horizons, breaking into new markets, adjusting your business to the times and making your own way is how you get ahead as a freelancer.

Freelancing not for the faint of heart. It’s for those folks who are willing to do what has to be done in order to come out ahead, recession or not.

photo credit: eob

Something has occurred to me recently that has really changed my perspective on communicating with my freelance writing clients.

Before I tell you what it is, though, Let me start off by telling you a story.

When I was a younger man, I was horribly shy.

No, strike that. Shy isn’t the right way to say it. I had plenty of friends, and was pretty outgoing in most social situations. I was very involved in student groups, even taking leadership roles.

My problem was that I couldn’t seem to talk to a pretty girl to save my life. I’d get all nervous, tongue tied. I’d be scared to death that I’d say something stupid, embarrassing or awkward.

And then I would say something stupid, embarrassing or awkward.

It was 1994, and the Internet was still a young pup (at least, the public side of the Internet was). Everyone that was on the Internet was on AOL or, like me, Prodigy. The web was still fairly new and something of a novelty; online services were where it was at.

Now, today we take for granted the online dating services. Match.com, eHarmony and all the others hit us with TV and radio ads. Back then, however, the best you could find was a sort of “classified ad” section on your online service.

And I did find it. And I used it. You see, I discovered that I could write to pretty girls all day long. I never had to worry about getting tongue tied, or that my shirt would be buttoned wrong. To make a long story short, that’s how I met my wife. If I’d have had to meet her in person first, chances are I’d have chickened out and we would never have met.

(And, yes, I know the whole “we met online” thing is old hat today. But, in 1994 it was still a bit of a novelty. It was fun to watch, as the years went by, the changing reactions people would have to us “meeting online.” In the early days it was a confused “huh?” After a while it became “ooh, that’s interesting. How do I do that?” Eventually it was “I have a friend who met her husband that same way.” Finally, today it’s “You got lucky. She could have been an ax murderer!”)

At any rate, here’s my point: I’m much better at writing than I am speaking. When I write, I can carefully craft what I want to say into a cohesive whole. I’m much more likely to close a deal in writing than I am in person or on the phone.

What does that have to do with clients? Plenty.

You see, most of my writing clients aren’t writers themselves. I realize that’s pretty obvious in itself, but hear me out.

At times, it’s easy to become frustrated with clients. Communicating with them about specs, project details and even costs can be challenging via e-mail. So, some clients prefer to talk on the phone or meet face-to-face.

I don’t mind face-to-face meetings or phone calls, especially when they result in more business. But I also know that my strengths aren’t in those situations. My strength is in writing – which is why they’re hiring me in the first place.

So, I naturally prefer to negotiate on my terms – in writing. But I realize that this, in many cases, puts my clients at a severe disadvantage. So anytime a client requests a phone call or meeting, I try to accomodate it.

And these days, I try to be more understanding of those requests. After all, some clients probably feel about written communication the way I used to about verbal. They’re not sure what to write, and when they do write it comes out awkward. In other cases, they’re just playing to their strengths, and I can’t begrudge them that.

So, what do you think? I know freelancers on both sides of this issue. There are some who will not – under any circumstances – take calls or meetings. Others prefer it. How about you?
photo credit: Foxtongue

I’ve been struggling a bit with how to end this series.

You see, it isn’t that I don’t have any more writing advice; I’ve got plenty of ways to help you supercharge your writing. I mean, that’s what this blog has always been about: helping Internet writers reach their dreams.

But so much of what I could tell you from here is very specialized. I could tell you how to make your writing pop. I could tell you how to blog with passion. I could tell you how to bid for work at specific freelance sites. While all of this is useful, though, I don’t think you need it in order to start your freelance writing business.

There’s really only one more thing you need from here.

You need to jump in.

You see, the best teacher in life, whether it’s in your freelance business, as a parent or even playing poker is experience. We human beings tend to learn best by doing. Yes, there are certain big-picture principles you need to have in mind; that’s what this series has been about. But until you apply them, until you actually get out there and start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) you’ll never really make any progress.

So, let me give you a simple roadmap from here, incorporating the ideas from the rest of the series. If you want to start your freelance writing business today, here’s what you need to do:

1. Make a plan for your education. Buy Rockstar Freelancer and Write for the Web. Subscribe, at a minimum, to Copyblogger, Men with Pens, Freelance Folder and, of course, The Writing Journey.
2. Start to improve your writing. Invest in a mentoring relationship, or join a writing group.
3. Make your business plan. If you need help, Sign up for Online Business School.
4. Create your portfolio. Do it like I do, with my blog. You might even be able to make some money blogging on the side.
5. Get out there and look for work. Get to Freelance Writing Gigs and, bid on some projects at sites like Elance.
6. Be ready to spend some money. Yep, you can start your business for next to nothing. But the more you can invest, in the above components and in things like marketing and equipment, the faster your business is likely to grow.

I’ve said it before: writing is a skill that can be learned. You don’t have to be naturally gifted to have a successful freelance writing business. You just need to have the desire, some know-how and be able to put those things to use in an efficient way. These six steps are the best way I can think of to get started on that path to a successful freelance writing business.

photo credit: Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek )