Writing for Money: What’s Profitable for Writers Today?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Angela Booth

If you’ve ever wanted to write for money, now’s the time to do it. There are many opportunities nowadays, far too many for any one writer to take advantage of them all. Let’s look at what’s most profitable for writers today.

1. Blogging: Everyone Wants and Needs a Blog

Businesses and publications are using blogs in many different ways. Someone needs to write those blogs. Yes, often companies will use their own staff as bloggers, but many companies soon find that it’s much more sensible to hire a team of writers.

Blogging can be very profitable indeed. I know several writers who are making double and triple what they earned at their previous day jobs in their new careers as professional bloggers.

Here’s how to get started. Create a blog. If you’re promoting your blogging services, you need a sample of what you can do.

2. Web Content: a Writer’s Goldmine

Businesses are investing in their websites, because they know that traffic equals sales. They need content to get that traffic. Content marketing has become a hot promotional strategy, and businesses who see the potential are hiring writers.

You need to be aware that some of these content jobs are very low-paid. If you’re a beginner, take some of these jobs so that you can get some experience. But don’t keep working at these jobs too long, you’ll burn out. Moreover, you won’t have time to look for more profitable writing jobs.

Highly-paid content writing jobs are available. Many writers are making a dollar a word writing content for large companies. These jobs are not advertised, however. You get them by making proposals to companies.

3. Writing Ebooks: Hello, Kindle

Amazon has created an entirely new business model for writers. Not only are authors making much more money than they ever thought was possible, but people who never considered themselves writers are deciding that becoming an author is a wonderful career choice.

Amazon changes its Kindle Direct Publishing program frequently. What worked yesterday, won’t work today. For example, there was a time when $.99 ebooks were all the rage, but that period passed quickly. Stay up to date with changes on KDP, and always follow Amazon’s Terms of Service for the site.

4. Online and Offline Marketing: Become a Communications Professional

Formerly, companies’ marketing collateral was created by copywriters.

However, nowadays companies are looking on content as a marketing opportunity. This means that if you have a background in business, marketing communications is an ideal opportunity for you.

Companies are devoting much more time to content, so if you understand marketing, this will be hugely profitable for you.

The above four opportunities are profitable for writers today. You can base your new career on any one of them.

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Professional Writer: Get Better Clients Today

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Angela Booth

Pro Writer Success Package

If you’re a professional writer, your income depends on your clients. The more your clients can afford to pay you, the more money you’ll make. This is self-evident, however few writers put their focus where it should be — on getting better clients.

Let’s look at four simple steps which will help.

1. Go Where the Money Is: Clients Must Be Profitable

Are you targeting hairdressers, restaurant owners, and other very small businesses? Many writers do this, and it’s a huge mistake. These clients can’t afford to pay you well. Indeed, most can’t afford to hire you.

Look for companies which have over ten employees. Ideally, your clients should have over hundred employees. The bigger the company, the more they can afford to pay you.

2. Introduce Yourself: Don’t Be Shy

The more people who know you, the better your chances of getting hired. Many writers are shy. Be brave, and remember that you’re providing a valuable service. You’re helping the companies, and the publications, which hire you to communicate. You’re helping them to make money.

If you’re not getting the quality clients you want, spend a little time every day introducing yourself to prospects. Start with local companies; you won’t have as much competition.

You can introduce yourself via letter, email, or on the phone. Busy professional writers do this consistently; it’s how they build large client lists and make six-figure incomes.

You’ll be amazed at how many clients you get just from sending out letters introducing yourself.

3. Encourage Others to Introduce You (Get Referrals)

These days, you have more networking opportunities than at any time in history. However few writers make the best use of these opportunities, by networking initially with the people who know them best.

Twitter, Facebook and all the rest are fine, but before you go there, let all your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family know that you’re looking for gigs. Ask them to refer you to their business colleagues.

Everyone knows someone. Until you ask for referrals however, they have no way of knowing that you’re looking for clients. Tell everyone that you’re trying to build your business. Be bold: pick up the phone.

Remember to follow up on your requests.

4. Get Visible: Your Blog Is Your Megaphone and Show Case

If you don’t have a blog, start one today. You’re a writer, therefore, anyone who hires you wants to know that you can actually write.

Look on all the writing you do on your blog and elsewhere, as a writing sample, because it is. The more visible you are, the more clients you’ll get.

Professional writers focus their focus on getting great clients. You can do the same. Start today.

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Clever: Publish Your Ebooks As Serials

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Angela Booth

Anything he wants

What a clever idea.

This article, Another ‘Fifty Shades’-like Self-Published Ebook Scores Major Publishing Deal – The Hollywood Reporter, reports on Sara Fawkes:

“She  self-published the first four installments of the story as ebooks, ranging in length from 28-52 pages. The initial installment was priced at .99¢ and the next three for $2.99″

Serials have a long history. Charles Dickens published his books as serials, as did many Victorian novelists.

So, could you publish your ebook as a serial novel?

Of course you could.

Let’s consider how you might do that.

Publishing your ebook as a serial — tips

1. Write at least the first draft of the book before you publish #1.

Aren’t I a spoilsport? Yes, I am.

The major benefit of having your ebook split into five installments as Ms Fawkes has done is that you get VOLUME on the Kindle book store. A reader who’s found one will quickly see that there’s installments previous to #3, or whichever of the books she came across first. So she buys #1. If you check out Amazon, you’ll see that Ms Fawkes is selling #1 for 99 cents. It’s a lure, a loss leader.

So, your reader buys #1. She loves it, and buys the rest of the installments.

Writing at least your first draft of the novel so that all installments are done (except for revisions) ensures that you’ll get your ebook’s installments published in a timely manner.

2. Create a publication schedule, so that readers know when to expect upcoming installments.
You don’t want readers waiting too long. If they have to wait, they’ll forget all about your characters and the fascinating story you wrote.

I’ve no idea what kind of publication schedule Ms Fawkes chose, but opt for a schedule of one week to one month apart. Any longer than a month, and readers will forget.

3. Promote your serial

Ms Fawkes created a blog on WordPress.com. It’s a free platform, and blogging builds YOUR platform.

Your ebook may never be picked up by a major publisher, but publishing in serial form has another benefit: you can charge more for your ebook.

With new writers selling their ebooks at $2.99 for a complete 60,000 to 100,000 word ebook, you can sell each installment for that amount. Publish five installments, and you’re making close to around $13, if you sell #1 at 99 cents… that’s a lot more exciting than selling your ebook for $3.

Clever, very clever… :-)

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Kindle Publishing: Yes, Writers Can Make Money Writing Fiction

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Angela Booth

If you’d asked me a couple of years ago whether writers could make money writing fiction, I would have laughed.

Times change, and we need to change with them. Fiction is the new frontier for writers who want to make money with their words.

Authors like E.L. James, of Fifty Shades of Grey fame, are making money… a LOT of money. According to Gawker:

50 Shades of Grey author E.L. James—Snowqueens Icedragon to her fans—is purportedly making an estimated $1.34 million a week off her quaint little country romance novel. Having sold 20 million copies and counting, the trilogy is calmly and methodically shattering every previous sales record in the world.

Yes, that’s $1.3 MILLION a WEEK.

There’s a lot of money in fiction, for some authors. Not for all. Many writers struggle to sell their ebooks in Amazon’s Kindle book store. There are two reasons for that; the most important one is this: readers can’t find their books.

I’ve just written this post, Kindle Publishing: 3 Simple Ways to Increase Your Sales | Write a Book: Just Write A Book Blog, to help authors with common problems:

“Remember that readers SEARCH: make your books easy to find

I’m a sucker for Westerns. Give me a book with a horse and a cowboy, and I’ll read it. I often spend an hour or two on the Kindle store, looking for Western novels I haven’t read — I read a lot, and I’m always looking for more books in my favorite genre.

So for heaven’s sake, remember readers like me, and ensure that your book’s description and tags relate to your book.”

Make sure readers can find your books on the Kindle store

I spend a lot of time (and money) on Amazon’s Kindle book store. I have an addiction to Western novels, and read other fiction as well. I’d would have many more books to read if only authors made their books easier to find.

Read that post on the Just Write a Book Blog to make your books easier to find. I just checked, and there were over 44,000 new Kindle ebooks released in the past 30 days. There are close to half a million fiction ebooks.

I’ve spoken to several writers who were upset that they weren’t making sales. That wasn’t surprising at all. I searched, and couldn’t find their books. Consider the size of Amazon’s database, which is growing every day, and do everything you can to help readers to find — and buy — your books.

Want to Write a Kindle Novel? Join the Challenge

A 30-Day Novel-Writing Challenge

You’ll receive my 32-page PDF ebook, Write Genre Novels (Commercial Fiction) For Fun And Profit completely free.

With 30 days of motivation and inspiration, you’ll get your ebook written, and you’ll have fun too.

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Write for the Web: Earn While You Learn

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Angela Booth

One of the big benefits of writing for the Web is that you can earn while you learn.

In this post, Writing for Fun and Money: Make Your Creativity Pay | Writing Hacker by Angela Booth I said:

“Instant Money? Earn While You Learn

Because the web is so new, and the demand for content is so great, even new writers can make a great income. This means that you’re earning while you’re learning.

However do realize that you need to continue to learn — the more you know, the more money you can make. Constant learning will enhance your creativity.”

There’s a huge demand for writers on the Web. All you need to do is show up. Remember however, that learning is essential. Things change quickly on the Web. For example, if you’ve been writing for content farms, you know that the rules have recently changed, and this places your income in danger.

Keep learning.

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Copywriting Power: Say It in a Sentence

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Angela Booth

advertising.jpg

Writing a sales letter? Great. Before you start however, write your sales message in one sentence. That single act will results in more sales for your client, or for you, if you’re writing your own copy.

Over the years, I’ve coached many business people and writers in copywriting. Here’s my best advice to them, and to you: “You don’t have to write amazing copy. You just need to be clear.” If you confuse the reader (or listener or viewer), you’re done. Confused customers don’t buy.

Of course, it’s a challenge to write your message in a sentence. You’ll need to think about exactly what you’re offering, exactly who it’s for, and exactly what the product will do for them… AND you need to address their primary concerns.

Here’s the payoff if you take ten minutes to do this: your sales copy will be clear, logical, and easily understood.

Using this simple technique, you can double the results you get from any copy.

Here’s how to do it.

Start by asking yourself these questions.

WHO? Who Does the Product You’re Selling Help?

The more narrowly you can define your audience, the more effective your copy will be.

Here are a couple of examples to start you thinking.

* “This product helps home owners in ________ (area) to avoid foreclosure.”

* “This product helps women 50 and over to prevent osteoporosis.”

HOW? How Does Your Product Help Them?

Again, ask yourself some questions. Express the primary benefit as clearly as you can.

Finally, you need to address the prospective buyer’s worst-case scenario.

In the case of our foreclosure example, the worst-case scenario might be that your prospect has tried everything he and his advisers can think of, and nothing has worked.

In the osteoporosis example, perhaps the prospect already has the early warning signs of osteoporosis.

Now that you understand exactly what you’re offering, put it into a sentence.

Don’t stop there. Try out the sentence on others. If they can understand what you’re selling, your buyers will too — and you’ll make sales.

By the way, this simple process will help you in all forms of copywriting, even if you’ve never tried to write copy before.

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I’ve just updated this blog to use the awesome TwentyTen theme. After wrestling with some commercial themes, it’s a breath of fresh air. I like the Asides too… now I’m going to relax and read Insurrection for half an hour… I’ve earned it :-) .

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Posted on November 29, 2010 by Angela Booth | Leave a comment

Copywriting Productivity – Get More Done, Make Money

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Angela Booth

If you’re a freelance copywriter, your income depends on your productivity. Over the past few years, David Allen’s “getting things done” strategy has become highly popular, and I commend it to you. But whether you follow that methodology or not, here are three tips which will help you to get more done, and make more money.

I’ve been a copywriter for some 30 years, and I’ve found that when I’m paying attention to productivity strategies I get much more done, and my income goes up.

Here are some tips to help you to increase your productivity and make more money from your copywriting.

1. Your Values Provide Motivational Fuel for Your Life

What are your values? If you’ve never thought about your values, take the time to think about them for a moment.

Common values include: freedom, compassion, kindness, generosity, responsibility, and self-awareness. There’s no right or wrong involved with your values. They are what they are.

Make a list of three of your values. For example, my own values include industry, kindness, and patience. I may not always live up to those values, but I try to.

So how do your values help you to become a more productive copywriter? My values help me to be industrious so that I don’t waste time, and I aim to be gentle both with myself and with others. Having patience as a value is very useful too, because I don’t get upset if my first drafts are less than perfect.

2. First Come, First Done: Your Clients Come First Each Day

You’ll get more done and you’ll make more money if you put your clients first each day. TThis means that you do your clients’ work before you do anything else.

If you’re not yet a full-time copywriter, you’ll do your clients’ work before you leave to go to your day job. If you’re working at copywriting full-time, you do your clients work immediately you turn on your computer in the morning, and you focus on that first.

3. Base Your Marketing on Your Values and Get It Done

Many copywriters dislike and avoid marketing chores because they don’t see the results immediately. Marketing usually takes time to become effective, especially if you’re a new copywriter and you’re starting from zero. This lack of immediate gratification convinces some writers that marketing is a distasteful chore.

There’s a simple way around this. Base your marketing on your values. Since your marketing must get done, when you base it on your values and connect it to what’s most important to you in your life, you’ll be much more motivated to do it.

For example, my values of industry, kindness, and patience help me to be a more effective marketer, both for myself, and for my clients.

So there you have three tips which will help you to become a more productive copywriter. Apply them, and they’ll increase your profits.

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If you’ve thought about copywriting and didn’t know where to start, my new package “Copywriting Supremo: A Complete Copywriting Package – Write for All Forms of Media, and Make Money Fast” shows you how.

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Ebook Formats – More Value Leads to Bigger Profits

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Angela Booth

Want to sell more copies of your ebook? Of course you do. You can sell more when you add value by offering your information products in additional formats, like audio and video.

Few people enjoy reading on their computer screen, so while ebooks in PDF format sell well, and will continue to do so, more people are reading PDFs on their mobile devices. My computer’s packed with PDFs, and I get much more value from them now that I can read them on my iPad.

Here are some format ideas.

1. Offer Your Ebook in Audio Format

Most computers these days are equipped with microphones. All you need to record audio is a software program like Audacity, which is free, and cross-platform. Just read your ebook aloud and convert the resulting audio file to MP3 format.

2. Create Your Information Product in Video Format

Video is a powerful format which buyers love. For example, if you’re offering an information product with recipes, you can offer videos of someone cooking those recipes. This adds to the perceived value of the product and also makes it more useful to your buyers.

Of course, you can also offer a simpler form of video like a screencast presentation. You can go through exactly the same material which you cover in the PDF version of your ebook during your presentation.

3. Consider Kindle Format

Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is becoming hugely popular on mobile devices. Not only can you read an ebook in Kindle format on the Kindle itself, you can also read it on other mobile devices like the iPhone and the iPad.

Amazon makes it very easy to create products for the Kindle. Just follow the instructions on the site.

So there you have it. You can add value to your ebooks, and increase your profits, when you offer your buyers additional formats.

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Enjoy. :-)

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Writing for the Web: Be Creative With Useful and Unique Content

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Angela Booth

If you’re writing for the web, you’ve got lots of competition. It’s a challenge to stand out. However, if you ensure that your content is both useful and unique, you will stand out, and the content you write will get traffic.

Content is king. Good content is what makes or breaks your blog or website. Good content will get visitors and subscribers, bad content or content that is exactly the same as everyone else’s will drive people away. What people want to see is that your content is useful and unique.

Ensure That Your Content Is Useful

Ask yourself what would be useful for the reader.

Let’s say you have been assigned to write about home automation for a home improvement store. Ask yourself what the store’s customers want to know. Do they want to know what types of home automation there are? Do they want to know how to install it? Do they want to know how to upgrade it? Do they want to know how home automation can cut their utility bills? Answer questions like these for your particular audience.

Depending on the assignment useful content can also mean that it is newsworthy, informative or just plain entertaining. How often do you click on a link or continue reading beyond a headline just because it sounds like it goes someplace fun or because it promises to tell you an interesting fact?

Promise to entertain and/ or be useful and your readers will follow you anywhere. Just be sure to leave out the flowery language and run-on sentences. When writing for the web to be useful is to be short and sweet.

Ensure That Your Content Is Unique

Your content is unique because YOU wrote it. No two people will write the same thing the same way.

For example, if you are young housewife assigned to write those home automation articles above, why not write the articles from your own experience. Write as if you are a young housewife who has managed to cut her utilities by having that home automation gizmo installed.

Pretend you are telling a friend about it and write it in the same conversational way. Of course, you’ll use all the technical specifications the client wants (perhaps in a sidebar article or chart) but you can present it in a way that will entertain the reader and keep him or her coming back to the site.

Being unique — in other words, being yourself — is critically important.

Most writers know that it is vital that your work is original and not copied from anyone else. Plagiarism is unethical and when it is discovered, it tends to cast a long shadow over the writer’s entire work. You may well get sued.

By using your own experiences, you can present useful information in an entirely new way.

Keep this in mind when writing for the web or anywhere else. Your clients will love how you keep their visitors coming back for more, thus improving their bottom line, and yours.

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SYWON190x85

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