How do you prospect for potential clients? Or perhaps the more targeted question is, “Do you prospect for potential clients?” It is my experience that far too many freelance writers wait for referrals or “word of mouth” connections to get projects and assignments. If you’re happy with your results, don’t read today’s post because my intention today is to talk to those of you who struggle to find great projects that you choose and love doing. If that’s you, read on… Read the rest of this entry

Ready for a raise? If you’re a freelance writer, getting one can be a challenge.

After all, as freelancers, we’re trading hours for dollars and there are only so many hours in a day that you can spend on projects and assignments. Sure, you can work 15 to 18 hours a day instead of 8 or 10, but that’s not really giving yourself a raise, now, is it? That’s just working overtime. If you’re like me, you’ll quickly discover that all work and no play makes you dull, less creative, and absent from living your life. Work you love suddenly becomes work you hate and you have no one to blame but you. You cheat yourself, your family and/or friends, and your clients from having someone who is fully engaged.

If you want to give yourself a raise that doesn’t include slaving over an already overused keyboard, it’s time to start treating your writing business as a real business. Here are three small steps you can take to scale up your income by scaling up your freelance writing business: Read the rest of this entry

I spent a lot of years as a copywriter. I wrote ads, brochure copy, website content, direct mail campaigns and developed a host of other marketing materials that informed, enticed and invited potential customers to notice the client company and its services and/or products.

When I first started, I agonized over what to say and how to say it. I met with the client, took notes and spent countless hours – days even – investing “think time” to craft just the right mix of words to represent the company to its audience.

It wasn’t until I was assigned to a creative team, led by a project manager who was a former (and in demand) copywriter for Fortune 100 companies, that I learned the secret to writing copy quickly, in the client’s voice, and on target with the audience. Here is what I observed—and learned—in that one, single meeting: Read the rest of this entry

Andy Rooney, best known as the 33-year veteran commentator on the CBS Sunday night “60 Minutes” news program, died this past Friday at the age of 92. Less than a month ago he delivered his final essay on the show and headed into retirement.

If you have never seen or heard Andy deliver his commentary, or read any of his essays, you’ve missed out on experiencing one of the most relatable curmudgeons of all time. He commented on a wide range of topics, from wondering why so much cotton is stuffed into medicine bottles to telling us why he likes things you can put things into, to serious criticism of war and politics. Sometimes the things he said got him into trouble but most of the time viewers watched because he was able to weave the slightest of observations into interesting commentary.

And that’s the writing lesson I want you learn from Andy Rooney—that observation is at the very core of finding writing ideas.

Whether you write for yourself or write for others you are expected to have an unending stream of ideas—creative, provocative and just downright GOOD. Clients expect magical prose to entice clients and customers to their products and services. Magazines want fresh perspectives that will attract and keep their readers coming back for more, and publishers want a hook for your book that seemingly snatches readers from thin air just by hearing its title. And if you have a blog, well, you know how demanding the schedule—and readers—can be.

You can meet and exceed those demands by using your powers of observation.

Here are three ways to “observe your way” to uncovering winning writing ideas: Read the rest of this entry