Sunday, January 13, 2008
10 Strategies in 30 Days to KickStart Your Writing Career in 2008 Part 1
So are you feeling optimistic about 2008 or are you still licking your wounds from 2007?
I would like to make the case if you follow these ten strategies you will have work begin to walk through your door. Not immediately perhaps, but sooner than later.
So get out your calendars. You have the rest of the week/weekend off but starting Monday, January 7 the clock starts ticking.
Even if you are making buckets of money and are happy with the type of work you are doing - consider it a challenge to reinvent yourself. In these uncertain economic times you might to do exactly that.
Number 1
Pick a Passion if one hasn't already picked you. Unless you are among the walking dead there must be a few things that hold your attention with some constancy. If you gave up the luxury of a steady paycheck working for the dark side to freelance - make sure you make choices that quicken the pulse a little rather than going back to the comfort zone of the familiar. If you hated writing communication plans at your old job why on earth would you choose to offer those services as a freelancer just because you were pretty good at it? That's the worst of all worlds.
So is it a subject matter that excites you? Biotech? The environment and global warming? Things financial? Doesn't really matter what it is just as long as you find it absorbing. Then set about becoming an expert at it or interpreting the expertise of others and putting it in words that most everyone else can understand. If you tend to be more eclectic in your interests, then pick a genre that you really enjoy. In my case it has been speech writing. For you it might be annual report writing, or brochure writing, or press releases.
The need for the passion is not just for your own sanity. I know I repeat this ad nauseam but if have a passion for what you do, you will already have an advantage over your competitors who are not so similarly enthusiastic about what they do. And believe me from the number of reports I get from my clients about lackluster performance they see from freelancers, I can only conclude there are unhappy campers out there.
In all your efforts to sell yourself as "the one" freelancer that will fill the bill - other than core competency and a reputation for utter reliability - nothing will sell yourself with greater efficiency than your passion for the job. It is something you can't fake, and it is absolutely infectious. Those potential clients will quite rightly believe that you will bring the same enthusiasm to their project and that is exactly what they are looking for.
Incidentally, in the process of picking a passion you become a specialist writer which means you will be seen as an expert, which means you will be in demand, which means you will get paid more. Not a bad deal.
So go on. What do you want to be when you grow up?
So is it a subject matter that excites you? Biotech? The environment and global warming? Things financial? Doesn't really matter what it is just as long as you find it absorbing. Then set about becoming an expert at it or interpreting the expertise of others and putting it in words that most everyone else can understand. If you tend to be more eclectic in your interests, then pick a genre that you really enjoy. In my case it has been speech writing. For you it might be annual report writing, or brochure writing, or press releases.
The need for the passion is not just for your own sanity. I know I repeat this ad nauseam but if have a passion for what you do, you will already have an advantage over your competitors who are not so similarly enthusiastic about what they do. And believe me from the number of reports I get from my clients about lackluster performance they see from freelancers, I can only conclude there are unhappy campers out there.
In all your efforts to sell yourself as "the one" freelancer that will fill the bill - other than core competency and a reputation for utter reliability - nothing will sell yourself with greater efficiency than your passion for the job. It is something you can't fake, and it is absolutely infectious. Those potential clients will quite rightly believe that you will bring the same enthusiasm to their project and that is exactly what they are looking for.
Incidentally, in the process of picking a passion you become a specialist writer which means you will be seen as an expert, which means you will be in demand, which means you will get paid more. Not a bad deal.
So go on. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Over the next three days (January 7, 8, 9) your only job is to find that passion. Now don't make in an anxiety producing exercise. You aren't giving up the next seven years to become a heart surgeon only to discover you don't like the sight of blood. You are just picking some topics or genres of writing that you feel some enthusiasm for. If it turns out to be a wrong choice, you get to try again.
One last thing - write your choices down.
Number 2
Now was that so hard? Beginning to get excited about possibilities yet?
In the next three days you have the simple but tricky task of taking your choices and translating them into something your potential clients can relate to. You have to be able to tell them what you do in a way that won't sound like every other sales pitch out there. That's why the first exercise was so important.
Whether you are at an information interview, a networking event, or in the elevator, your first two or three sentences can make or break you. When you are asked "what is it exactly you do?", you bloody well better know what you are going to say.
No here's the critical part. Statements that you are a freelance writer, or editor, or communications consultant say absolutely nothing. You have to couch your sentences in terms that mean something those listening. How are you going to make life easier for them? What problems are you going to solve?
In the next three days you have the simple but tricky task of taking your choices and translating them into something your potential clients can relate to. You have to be able to tell them what you do in a way that won't sound like every other sales pitch out there. That's why the first exercise was so important.
Whether you are at an information interview, a networking event, or in the elevator, your first two or three sentences can make or break you. When you are asked "what is it exactly you do?", you bloody well better know what you are going to say.
No here's the critical part. Statements that you are a freelance writer, or editor, or communications consultant say absolutely nothing. You have to couch your sentences in terms that mean something those listening. How are you going to make life easier for them? What problems are you going to solve?
And it can't sound like PR gibberish. So vision/mission statements don't cut it. If your first two sentences prompt a dialogue that centers around their issues, you are about to land a client. Or at the very least plant a seed in their brains for future reference. And for gosh sakes, now that you have made such a great impression, make sure you have your business card with you so days or weeks later, they will have your coordinates on hand. Remember that having a business card will not land you work. But not having one can kill you.
So tell me, my subscriber colleagues, "What exactly is it that you do?"
If you feel particularly inspired and come up with a few great lines you are pretty proud of, I will be glad to publish them in the next newsletter (with or without attribution, your choice). Alas, no door prize.
So you have January 10, 11, 12 to come up with two or three sentences.
Get that done and you can have the Sunday off.
So tell me, my subscriber colleagues, "What exactly is it that you do?"
If you feel particularly inspired and come up with a few great lines you are pretty proud of, I will be glad to publish them in the next newsletter (with or without attribution, your choice). Alas, no door prize.
So you have January 10, 11, 12 to come up with two or three sentences.
Get that done and you can have the Sunday off.
Strategies 3 and 4 will be in the next issue during the week of January 14th. Don't let the first two get ahead of you. If they do, you find yourselves well into February and you are doing the same old same old.
