Weekend Writers Cafe - Hot Air Hypothetical
Welcome all. Grab a coffee, and some yummy snacks and settle in.
Chat about anything to do with writing, blogging or business.
The Writers Cafe is a great place to network. Toss around ideas, share successes, recommend jobs, get feedback, spread the word about projects or ask questions.
Drop a useful relevant link if you like, from your own site or someone else’s.
At b5 media where I blog at Home Biz Notes, we have a simulated business scenario where Kay, a fictional business owner encounters a series of challenges.
We band together and give her advice. Collective wisdom is a wonderful thing, so I thought I’d bring the concept here.
Writers Cafe Hot Air Hypothetical
In Australia, we have a TV series called Hypothetical, along the same lines.
There is a lot of hot air, a lot of fun, but a lot of learning and wisdom.
Let’s kick off the first Weekend Writers Cafe Hot Air Hypothetical.
What Advice Would You Give Our Fictional Freelancer, Jason?
Jason works 4 days per week at a sports store, and has been doing freelance online writing and blogging for 18 months. He’s a skilled writer and blogger.
He’s also had some travel and sport articles published in a local magazine. He didn’t really enjoy this as there was a lot of back and forth with the editor.
Challenge 1: From Low Pay To Higher Pay
Jason wants to specialize in online writing, but has had enough of low pay. He’s getting burned out with low paying SEO articles, Pay Per Post and Associated Content type articles. He’s decided that writing higher paying articles and posts, but fewer of them, may be the way to go. He searches the job boards but is feeling overwhelmed.
Challenge 2: Marketing Himself
He’s not confident with marketing himself and putting himself forward, and needs some tips on this too.
Can you give Jason any tips on how to move from the low paying web jobs to higher paying online writing? What can you suggest to him for addressing his marketing dilemma?
Anything goes. Blow all the hot air you like. Make all the assumptions you want. There’s no right or wrong. Let’s see where the discussion takes us.
Remember, you’re welcome to chat about anything to do with writing, blogging and business, not just the Hot Air Hypothetical topic.
End of November Link Love To Recent Grow Your Writing Business Commenters & Supporters
Joanna Young at Confident Writing
Amy Huang at Travel String
Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts
Princess at The CooknTchr Mom
Genesis at At Home Mom Blog
Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words An Editor’s Eye
Denise Grier at Internet Marketing Review
Jeanne Dininni at Writers Notes
Lori Widmer at Words On The Page
Rach at Heart of Rachel
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz
Marcie Pickelsimer at My Two Boys
Lisa Vella at Getting It Write For You
Matt Keegan at The Article Writer
Teresa at Write About Everything
Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
Sharon Hurley Hall at Get Paid To Write Online
Legbamel at One Step Forward
Mary Emma Allen at Home Biz Notes
Scot Herrick at Cube Rules
Mihaela Lica at Ewritings Online Public Relations
Alina Popescu at Words Of A Broken Mirror
Toni at Wifely Steps
Glenn Nicholas at Online Marketing Strategy & Tactics
Phil Butler at Phil Butler Unplugged
Corney Vanhelden at Business Writing Courses
Edward Mills at EdwardMills.com
Suzanne Wells at Ebay Selling Coach
Am I first?
Wow! I can’t believe you posted this case study today. I just reviewed a book on my blog,6 Figure Freelancer that is designed to help freelancer writers increase their income.
Hi Laura
Yep. You’re first!
I’d love you to jump in and put in your 2 cents worth (or should that be your 6 figures worth?) he.. he…
Look forward to hearing your insights. I read your review too.
Hi, Yvonne,
I can now heave a sigh of relief. I’ve overcome my blog bug problems the reason why I missed the Thanksgiving weekend. It’s nice to “read” you again.
My advice to Jason - read Laura, get tips from Mihaela, and hang around your Writers Cafe!
Have a great weekend…….
Princess
Wow! Thanks so much Princess. You should leave more comments on my blog. (-:
Hi Princess
Pleased your computer woes are over and that you’re back at the Writers Cafe.
What great advice to start the ball rolling with our Writers Cafe Hot Air Hypothetical!
Laura’s Writing Thoughts and Mig’s eWritings Onine Public Relations are definitely blogs Jason could learn a lot from. I hope they will have a moment to weigh in here with some advice for Jason too.
Many of our Writers Cafe visitors offer a wealth of information for freelance writers at their blogs. I feel privileged that all of you share ideas here at the Writers Cafe too.
Princess - How is your writing going these days?
Thanks, Yvonne, for mentioning me and Home Biz Notes (where we’re co-bloggers) in your Love Links.
I’m not sure how much advice I can give Jason as most of my work is offline rather than online and editing rather than writing. But I think any writer will be more likely to get higher-paying jobs if he finds a niche.
Since this is all hypothetical … Jason works in a sports store. Let’s assume that he likes sports and is knowledgeable about them. Sportswriting might be a good niche. I don’t know - or care
- anything about sports, but I’m sure there are lots of Web sites that cater to sports enthusiasts. Those would be the first places he could look as they will need fresh - and good - content to keep visitors returning.
When I started my freelance career, I took any kind of work I could get. I still do a wide range of work for a few clients who have been with me from the beginning. However, now I’m narrowing my focus. I’m turning down jobs that don’t interest me and trying to specialize in editing and consulting for self-publishing authors. I’ve toyed with the idea of calling myself a “book midwife” because I help writers with everything it takes to give birth to their published book: editing, laying out the book, choosing a cover designer and printer, building a Web site …
If sports isn’t the right niche for Jason, he should try to find a subject area or a type of writing that he likes and does well. Writers who have a reputation for expertise in something are usually more successful than those who try to be all things to all clients.
That’s my hypothetical advice to a hypothetical writer.
Hi Yvonne, just maybe Jason needs more confidence and he should read Joanna Young’s blog.
Thanks for the shout!
I can always tell Jason to do “personal branding” - I left a comment earlier too, thanking Princess for her kind words, but it disappeared somehow.
Anyway: nothing helps better than personal branding. Jason should do anything in his power to make his name known on the web. And there are many free resources for this purpose. I do have some listed on my blog, but it would be much better for Jason to simply type into the evil Google “personal branding blog” and he will find on the first page the results he needs.
Mary Emma - You’re welcome.
Lillie - Great that you are able to pick and choose now. That’s rewarding. I like your term “book midwife”.
Thanks for your insights for our Hot Air Hypothetical. Specializing or having a broad spectrum is an interesting dilemma. You mention a subject area or style of writing as a niche.
Once you get known, this does become easier.
Does anyone else have thoughts about whether to specialize or whether to take an “I can write on most topics” approach?
Some niches are lucrative. I wonder if the lesser paying jobs are also the most competitive?
Robyn - You can count me in as a Joanna Young fan.
I second your recommendation of Joanna’s Confident Writing blog.
Mig - Ah yes… personal branding. We’re doing this even when we don’t realize it, so thanks for highlighting that this needs to be done on a conscious level as well.
I guess there are a number of aspects to this. Marketing yourself as an online writer is about getting out and about on the web and connecting. Then there’s also the one on one marketing when putting yourself forward for a job.
Writers Cafe Questions
-
There’s some great info in this thread as usual…
What marketing and personal branding strategies have worked for you - informal, formal, strategic, accidental etc?
How about the specialized niche vs general freelancing? Any thoughts?
Hi everyone
Thanks for the link love Yvonne - I realised yesterday that the end of the month is like bloggers pay day as we spread the thanks and link love around…
And thanks to Robyn and you for the votes of confidence in my site - I am blushing here!
I will pick up on one of the confidence issues facing your hypothetical writer. He’s not confident marketing himself and putting himself forward.
I might ask him to think about the kinds of writing - or activity, or advice giving, or teaching or coaching (with friends, family, people who come into the shop) where he ‘knows’ that he is adding value - maybe he gets more animated, or his writing becomes a lot more punchy, or he feels flushed when he’s talking about the subject - those are all areas where he is a natural expert and enthusiast.
I’d encourage him to build on them.
He’ll be on strong ground which will be good for his confidence, writing about stuff he enjoys (and knows about) which is good for his motivation, and it’ll reduce the awkwardness he feels about promoting himself. Because he’ll know he’s the best - and he’ll want to go out and write about it.
Other things…
I’ve been blown off course the last few weeks by a friend in need arriving at my door. Hadn’t factored this into my home business plans… Although on the upside it meant I was able to offer a lot more help than I would otherwise have been able to do.
On a more practical point I’ve just started using co.mments as a way of tracking conversations I’m taking part in. It’s fantastic! I tried coComments once before and didn’t like it - only worked on some blogs and it slowed my machine down too much. This seems to work easily and well, and it means all my comments are in one place, making it easy to go and check if there are replies or updates.
Anyway, that’s me for now, I’ll keep tracking the conversation and pop back later
Joanna
Hi, all. Late again, thanks to technical difficulties and tons of article assignments.
My advice to Jason would be to stop worrying so much and start trusting that his work is worth more. As long as you take low paying jobs, you are really telling yourself and everyone else that you don´t feel you´re good enough to be paid properly.
That´s what helped me anyway. I just decided one day that enough was enough and that my writing was good enough to pull higher wages. And I quit taking on the cheap SEO articles. It´s worked just fine so far, I´m earning more money for less work, so I would have to say just stop taking low jobs. They waste time anyway that you could be using writing spec articles for bigger sites or looking for a higher paying job.
Hi, Yvonne!
Thanks for the November link love!
As far as whether to specialize or write about a variety of topics, Jason will have to understand himself: his own abilities, tendencies, strengths, and preferences. Some writers are more comfortable sticking to a single topic, and others thrive on the intellectual diversity of writing about many different things.
Personally, everywhere other than my blog, where I focus on writing-related topics, I’m one of those writers who tends to cover a very broad range of subject matter. (If you were to go to my Author page at Constant Content and look at the articles I have for sale there, you’d probably be amazed at the variety of topics they cover.)
I find it intellectually stimulating to do very varied writing and consider researching new topics to be a fascinating exercise. In fact, it’s something I often do on my own even when I’m not preparing to write an article.
This is one way Jason can know whether or not he’s cut out to write about multiple topics: Does he tend naturally toward research about different subjects, and does he enjoy the variety? Does he like writing about many different things?
Answering these questions will give him a good idea about what type of writing will work best for him. He can then concentrate on finding better paying markets based on whether he’s cut out for niche writing or multi-topic writing.
That’s my advice!
Take care!
Jeanne
Joanna - What a wealth of wonderful advice about building confidence. I can see how your writing clients must benefit enormously from your coaching approach.
What are some of the most common issues that you work with writers on in your coaching practice? I’d love to hear more about it.
Maybe if you have time, I could do an interview with you?
co.mment sounds interesting. Thanks for passing it on.
Genesis
You said “As long as you take low paying jobs, you are really telling yourself and everyone else that you don´t feel you´re good enough to be paid properly.”
Genesis - Thanks for reminding us about the importance and power of mindset in marketing yourself and running a writing business.
I’m so pleased things seems to be ticking along nicely for you in your writing jobs.
Jeanne - As an avid researcher myself, I can identify with the quest for knowledge and learning… the thrill of the chase.
It sounds like you have found your preferred approach.
I guess each freelance writer neeeds to find their own direction, depending on personal preferences and strengths (and opportunities).
They need to decide if you want to be seen as a generalist freelance writer or as a niche expert. I guess you could also specialize in more than one niche.
This is why I love the Writers Cafe so much. We can all learn from each other and explore different perspectives.
Writers Cafe Sidenote
Is there anything you’d tell Jason NOT to do in his quest for higher paying jobs and in marketing himself?
Well, do you remember our “Blogging Tips: How to be Cocky and Vexatious” idea? I say we publish it before Xmas and the imaginary Jason will get the chance to learn what not to do in no time!
On a separate note, can you please email me? I don’t have your email address on this (new) PC and the old one is at the service now.
Hi Mig
The ebook sounds great. I’ve emailed you.
Hi Yvonne. How are you? Hope you’re doing great. I miss your cafe and happy to be back. It’s getting cold here and a mug of hot cocoa is so tempting.
I’m fairly new in sponsored writing and like Jason, I would like to learn more about how to find more substantial writing assignments. I’ve been greatly saddened by the sudden drop of my Page Rank. I know it has happened to many people but after the drop, I have received less blogging opportunities. I hope somehow there can be a solution to this.
Going back to Jason, I wish him good luck and hope that he can achieve his goals in blogging.
To Laura, that’s an interesting book. I’ll check out your post. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Yvonne for including me in your Link Love. I really appreciate it.
Hi Rach
Pleased to hear your sponsored writing is going well - except for the dreaded Page Rank drop.
I wonder if this will affect companies like Pay Per Post which seem to set great store on Page Rank.
Yvonne, make a badge 125×125 for the writers’ cafe - I will put it on the sidebar of my blog - hope to send you some traffic too.
Dec 1st, 2007 at 6:01 am
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