Adventures In Freelancing

My colleagues Ed Gandia, Pete Savage and Steve Slaunwhite at TheWealthyFreelancer.com have just written an excellent book titled The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle (Penguin/Alpha).
Getting great clients and well-paying work is something that eludes many freelancers — especially in this economy. But this book is packed with the practical, hard-earned strategies Ed, Pete and Steve have used to consistently attract good-paying clients, earn high incomes and enjoy a great quality of life.
It’s is essential reading for any freelancer or solo professional who wants to enjoy a business and lifestyle that are “wealthy” in every sense of the word.
Here’s the best part. The book will only set you back 11 bucks and change. And as part of their launch effort, Steve, Pete and Ed are giving away $321 in fr*e instructional materials.
These aren’t “leftover” bonuses or junk items no one wants. They’re products for which people normally pay $39 – $97 because they’re designed to help you improve very specific areas of your freelance business.

The catch? You have to grab a copy of The Wealthy Freelancer by midnight on Friday (March 12).
To learn more about the book or the bonus materials Ed, Pete and Steve are giving away this week, visit www.TheWealthyFreelancer.com/amazon.

Ed is also offering readers of Adventures in Freelancing a special unadvertised bonus. It’s an e-book titled The Smart Mompreneur: A Step-by-Step Guide to Converting a Skill Into a Lucrative and Flexible Business, which he co-authored with Noelle Abarelli, a successful mompreneur and mother of two.
This e-book is an excellent and “meaty” (184 pages) guide that will help take you from where you are today to becoming a well-paid mompreneur…with more time and flexibility to be the mom you want to be.

If you’re currently employed, Noelle and Ed will show you how to make the transition without having to risk your paycheck. And if you’re currently a stay-at-home mom, they’ll show you how to get there as quickly and safely as possible.
The Smart Mompreneur sells for $39. But Noelle and Ed are throwing it in as part of the bonus package when you grab a copy of The Wealthy Freelancer.
Again, this is something they’re offering us “under the table.” You won’t see it listed in the list of bonuses. So, to claim your free copy, email your name and Amazon.com receipt number to mompreneur@thewealthyfreelancer.com once you’ve purchased your copy of The Wealthy Freelancer. They’ll email you back with a link to download your copy of the e-book.

UPDATE - In only its first week of launch, the book has already made Amazon's top 25 list of business books and are likely to sell out by Friday. While you may have to wait a few weeks for your book to arrive, the bonus materials can be downloaded right away. You definitely want to get in on this great deal that so many others have taken advantage of already!

Whew! It's been awhile since I've updated here at Adventures In Freelancing. My apologies, but the reason I've been absent has primarily been because I was out of town this week at an AMAZING social media conference. Social Media Today was held in Rochester, NY and was organized by Ana Castro of Premier Social Media.

The Back Story

My relationship with Ana is a case study in itself, which began on Twitter as I was preparing to launch this very blog. I wanted to make the launch big, by offering prizes that freelance writers could use. So I put out the word on Twitter, asking folks to reply if they had a product or service they could donate. Ana was one of the first to respond and offered some educational courses from her social networking site for families, Family Eden. After speaking on the phone, we just seemed to click. When Ana was looking for bloggers for the Family Eden blog, she included me.

The Conference

When Ana invited me to the conference, I was excited, but also a bit nervous. The nearly five-hour drive by myself to Rochester was not something I was looking forward to, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to network and to learn more about social media simply because of a little fear. I'm so glad I didn't let my nervousness hold me back! You can check out the conference site for a more in-depth list of speakers, but let me give you just a bit of the highlights.

Chris Brogan was there! Chris is well-known on Twitter as a social media guru. He's all about community and building trust. In fact, he and his co-author Julien Smith, wrote a book on the topic called Trust Agents, which is now a New York Times best seller. After his informative and entertaining speech, Chris took some time to sign our books. Here's a picture of us.

I had the pleasure of introducing Jeffrey Hayzlett, the Chief Marketing Officer of Kodak. What a knowledgeable, fun, and entertaining guy! I also got to connect with other great people from Kodak including Jenny, their Chief Blogger, and Shruti, Kodak's Community Manager. It was wonderful talking to them. I was able to get a view of corporate blogging and to have the opportunity to get involved in future Kodak campaigns, as a blogger. Very cool. Here's a picture of Jeffrey in action. You can see his energy!

There were so many other wonderful, insightful, and creative speakers. There were presentations on the use of social media in corporations, measurement of ROI, legal aspects of social media, and panel discussions giving personal answers to audience questions. Speaking of these panels, I've saved the best for last!

The Surprise

As a panel of bloggers was introducing themselves, I immediately recognized one of the names - Yvonne DiVita. "Wait", I thought to myself, "that's @y2vonne from Twitter!" I wanted to jump up out of my seat and shout to her. Instead, I turned to Ana's husband sitting next to me and tugged on his arm like a little kid, saying,"I KNOW her from Twitter! I talk to her all the time!"

Finally, when it was time for questions, I raised my hand. When I introduced myself to Yvonne as @marybabysteps, she got excited too. You see, Yvonne and I really connected through social media, and it was like seeing an old friend. Actually, she wasn't even supposed to be at the conference that day, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she was able to make it. You know I always say that things happen for a reason. I'm convinced Yvonne and I were meant to meet at the conference, if only for the brief time we had together. I so look forward to getting to know her more and to any future collaborations. Take a look at the marvelous conference recap Yvonne wrote on her blog and the touching things she said about me. Thank you, Yvonne!

The Takeaway

I could go on and on about the conference, but my hands are starting to hurt from typing. I will tell you that I came away with a couple of writing jobs and the opportunity to obtain others in the future. But that's not even the biggest thrill. Having the opportunity to connect with others who get what you do is beyond words. I highly recommend attending a blogging or social media conference if you get the opportunity. If you're unable to travel to a conference, look for local events as a means of networking and meeting people. Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau events are good ones to start with. You'll be surprised at the connections you can make, and you may even end up with some leads on writing gigs.

Do you have any examples of great networking experiences? Do tell; I'd love to hear your story!

As freelance writers, we often find ourselves stuck for ideas. It seems that every topic has already been covered. Finding a new slant is necessary if we want to get our articles published. Fortunately, there are always new developments and changes occurring in every industry. The problem is finding out about those developments.

We're busy people. We don't have scads of time to spend researching and hunting down the latest information in our area of interest. That's why you'll want to sign up for inclusion in the Cision database. Signing up is easy. Just fill out the form with your information and the topics you're interested in. You'll soon be receiving information and pitches relevant to all the subjects you cover. Not every email or press release will be useful to you, but I've found that much of the information I receive can be used in some way, either as blog content or to spark an idea for a freelance article.

Thanks, Jennifer James, of Mom Bloggers Club, for sharing this resource!

While surfing the net, I came across a link that led me to WritersWeekly. a very informative site with much to offer writers. There's a forum and articles on all aspects of writing. There are also warnings about markets to be wary of and lists of paying markets. I was extremely impressed with their search feature, in which you can enter specific terms to find markets in your niche.

I honestly don't remember how I was led to this site, but whatever the case may be, I found that by entering the search phrase, "welcomes new writers" I was able to generate a particularly extensive list of markets from their database that accept material from new writers. What a useful find for us newbies! This takes away some of the anxiety of approaching markets, I think.

How about you? Would you be more willing to query a market that openly says they are welcoming to new writers? Does it matter to you? I do intend to pitch all kinds of markets, even the national women's magazines, as I know what's most important is having a good, solid, well-researched idea and being able to articulate it. But it's nice to be aware of this method for getting my feet wet.

Photo by Sun Dazed

I just read about a fantastic movivational challenge at  Writing Spirit called The 100 Day Writing Challenge. The gist of the challenge is that you'll choose a writing goal or two and work for 100 days to complete them. You can keep track of your progress in a few different ways. I've thought long and hard about this and have decided that I plan to take this challenge and will be using the Box a Day method to stay on track. What this means is that I will keep daily inventory of whether or not I've met my goal. This way I can have a visual of how successful I am. There's even a handy chart you can use to keep track of your goals.

My Goals

My goals are to post on at least two of my three blogs each day and to send out one query or manuscript to a website or print publication at least three days a week. One thing I know about goal setting is that your goals must be specific, measurable, and realistic. I think mine are. I feel very empowered having shared my goals and commited to completing them.

Join Me!

The challenge technically began September 23rd and is to end December 31st, but according to the rules, you can start any time.  So what do you think? Will you join me in The 100 Day Writing Challenge? There's a forum at Writing Spirit to share goals and encourage others. I'd be honored if you'd share your goals and check in right here with me as well. What are your goals, and how do you plan to implement them? Is there anything I can do to help?

Happy writing!

I just wanted to take a moment to share a video with you all from Deb Ng of Freelance Writing Jobs. In it, she shows how she built her blog from a sole endeavor with few page views to a highly successful network. She tweeted it to me this morning just when I was struggling with where my priorities need to be. This is just another example of the amazing connections you can find through social media. Thank you, Deb, for being my friend.

Check out the video for yourself on YouTube. It's great motivation if you're struggling with where to go with your passions or are wondering if your efforts will pay off. They will. Just keep going!

I feel like such a suck-up, but I can't help it. I absolutely love Linda and Diana of The Renegade Writer. I know I've talked about them many times before on this blog. I know. I know. But I just have to share this exciting news.

Linda Formichelli is offering her freelance advice and experience for free. Yes, FREE! She'll be giving free teleclasses on topics like writing killer queries and being more productive. And did I mention she's offering her advice for free? Check it out for yourself over at The Renegade Writer Blog and be sure to sign up to receive emails about her future teleclasses so you won't miss a thing.

Are there any learning opportunities for freelancers you know of that are free or low-cost? Share them in the comments.

I read a recent post  on Meryl K. Evans' blog about organiziing your magazines. Freelancers are notorious for collecting magazines. I have tons. We study magazines to improve the chances of having our pitch accepted and to generate ideas. But this habit can get pretty expensive, in addition to taking up loads of space. Meryl has some suggestions on how to cut the clutter, but I have a way of getting cutting costs.

RewardsGold is a member program that rewards you for shopping, but it also gives rewards for filling out surveys. The website says membership is by invite only but that you can write to request an invitation. I honestly don't remember how I learned about RewardsGold, but I can tell you I've never spent a penny to earn rewards. The rewards I've earned are free magazines, simply for completing short surveys about my shopping habits!

You may want to check it out and request an invite. I can tell you it's worth the time. I've received Forbes, Business Week, Parenting, Interview, Prevention and American Photo all for free. And believe me, the surveys really are short or else I'd never complete them!

I just wanted to pass this resource along to you, Hopefully, you'll score some great free magazines of your own. Let me know if you do!

By the way, stop on over to Meryl's blog to nominate your favorite writing book for her list of the Top 25 Books for Writers. I know this will be a good one.

I've mentioned before that one of my all-time favorite books for freelancers is The Renegade Writer by Diana Burrell and Linda Formichelli. I've had the chance to interact with both of these women online, andI find them to be extremely knowledgeable and trusworthy sources of information on all things freelancing. They're just awesome!

Well, they're running a couple of great contests at The Renegade Writer Blog for a chance to win a seat in two of their popular classes. Magazine Writing Basics, taught by Elaine Grant, goes beyond the basics. You'll learn inside information about the publishing world as well as hands-on writing techniques for your feature articles. Also up for grabs is a chance to take Linda's class, Get Unstuck! for Freelancers, which is all about ways to organize your space and be productive so that you can put out more work in less time.

Good luck to you. I'll be entering as well! And thank you, Ami, from Writing My Life for the heads up on this contest.

As freelancers, we're so lucky to have so many resources at our disposal today. To write an interesting and salable story, it's imperative to include first-hand expert and anecdotal information. These kinds of sources are readily available to us by just sitting down at our computers. I've "met" so many fascinating people online through social media like Twitter and Facebook. Through these relationships, there are many people I could call on for a quote or to provide me information I need to enhance my story and to increase my chances of having an editor accept my pitch.

But for those times you just don't know where to turn for accurate information on the topic at hand, there's HARO - Help a Reporter Out. Many of you may have heard of HARO, but like me, you may not have taken the time to give it a try. Recently, I decided to use HARO for a post I've got in the works at my blog, Everyday Baby Steps, on fall fashion for plus size women. Writing up a simple query and submitting it through Help a Reporter Out brought me all the information I need for my post, and it ever provided me with ideas and contacts for future articles to pitch for publication.

The Process

Submitting your query is easy. Just head on over to HARO and complete a query form. Be as specific as you can. For example, I made sure to mention that I was targeting my article to moms and that I was looking for cute, comfortable clothing that would fit a busy mom's lifestyle. You'll also want to include information that might make people more inclined to contact you. For example, I mentioned that my blog has a Google Page Rank of 4 and that I have a wide online presence. This lets PR folks know that it's likely an audience will see my post, giving exposure to their product. You'll want to do this even if you're not reaching out to PR folks like I was because many sources are looking for some kind of exposure. Often times, professionals volunteer to be interviewed because it adds to their credentials or their resume.

Also, choose your deadline carefully. If you're really in a bind, be sure to indicate it on your form. Your query will then be sent out first as an urgent request. If you can wait, go ahead and allow a deadline of a week or so. My deadine was two weeks, and my query wasn't sent out for a while. From now on, I'll make my deadlines shorter.

The Results

I am very pleased with my HARO experience. I received a tremendous response from well known companies like Lee and Hanes and from smaller boutiques as well. I won't be including every company that responded in my article, as they weren't all a good fit for the audience I'm trying to reach. Take, for instance, the boutique that custom makes $700 dresses for their clients. I don't think the moms that read my blog would be looking for this kind of item!

I'm happy with the response I received, and some of the companies even sent me a review item, which is helpful. If you're hoping to receive items for review, you'll want to be sure your blog has a PR of 4. I was told a while back that (when my blog was a 3) that this is a requirement when asking for products to review.

I will definitely be using HARO in the future. As I mentioned earlier, this experience has generated a number of ideas for more articles, and now I've got sources to track down when I'm ready to write them. Whether you're interested in learning about the latest trends for your blog or in finding an expert to interview for that magazine piece you're working on, give HARO a try. And let me know how it goes!