You are here: Home / Archives for Business Services

The Pizza Hut Guide to Creating Your Unique Writing Business

May 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Who doesn’t love pizza?

More importantly, who doesn’t love building their own pizza?

I love pizza! And, I prefer to build my own.

Why?

A Pizza Hut Supreme pizza.

For starters, I’m a vegetarian. Buying a ‘Meat Lovers’ pizza doesn’t work for me.  However, buying a ‘Veggie Lover’s’ pizza doesn’t work either. I’m not a big fan of red onions on my pizza. And green peppers don’t agree with me. Plus, I prefer a hand-tossed or thin n’ crispy crust to a pan crust. Sometimes, I do have a hankering for the stuffed crust.

Anyway…

Starting a freelance writing or ghost writing business is no different than building your own pizza from Pizza Hut. When you build your own pizza you get to choose everything from the crust to the toppings. It’s the same with building your own freelance writing business. It’s very liberating.

How to create your own freelance writing business like a pizza from Pizza Hut

Building your freelance writing business is like creating your own ooey gooey mouthwatering pizza. You begin with the following ingredients.

The crust: Pizza Hut offers customers a pan, thin n’ crispy, hand-tossed, or stuffed crust. The foundation of a pizza is no different than the foundation of your freelance writing business. Building your business on a shaky foundation is like building your pizza on the wrong crust. For example, you pizza won’t taste great and you won’t be satisfied. If you build your freelance writing business on a cracked and unstable foundation, you won’t be satisfied and neither will your customers.

It takes confidence to start your own business.

How confident are you to start your own freelance writing business?

Do you enjoy marketing? Or, does it make you cringe?

Can you handle being the customer service and bookkeeping department?

Answer these questions before embarking on a freelance writing career.

The sauce and cheese: Pizza hut offers customers a marinara based sauce and Alfredo sauce (Ultimate Cheese Lover’s pizza). The cheese is skim milk mozzarella; at least this is what customers in the U.S. get. You may be able to get cheddar cheese if they have they offer a ‘Taco’ pizza.

The sauce and cheese are your clients…

  • Who is your ideal client?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • What industries would you like to write for?
  • Do you prefer writing for small businesses?
  • How about entrepreneurs?
  • Do you prefer writing for trade magazines?
  • Do you want to focus on consumer publications?
  • Are your clients local, national, global, or all of the above?

If you don’t know who your ideal client is you won’t be able to market to them.

The toppings: When you create your own pizza, you get to choose the toppings you want. When you create your freelance writing business, you get to choose the writing services you want to provide.

Writing services such as…

  • Blogging
  • Copywriting
  • Ghost writing
  • Creative writing
  • Newsletter writing
  • Article writing
  • Travel writing
  • eBooks
  • Academic writing
  • Technical writing
  • Song writing
  • White papers
  • Bios
  • Web content pages
  • Script writing
  • SEO writing
  • Other
  • All of the above

Discover which toppings you want to offer clients. Find out what toppings businesses need right now. You can always branch out if you feel you need to do so. However, if you’re just starting out, you may want to focus on specializing in one or two areas.

So there you have it.

You now know how to create your own, unique freelance writing business, start thinking about creating yours today.

Grab a piece of paper and start brainstorming about your freelance writing business.

Begin with the foundation (crust), followed by your ideal client (sauce and cheese), and finally add your toppings (writing services).

As for me … I’m going to create and order a pizza today.

Subscribe and receive Savvy Writing Careers via email: Delivered by FeedBurner
Related articles
Filed Under: Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Ghost Writing, Ghostwriters, Personal Development, Professional Development, The Business of Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Writers: Create Compelling Content When You’re Clueless

April 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Are you clueless when it comes to creating compelling content? Hey! Even writers have brain freezes here and there.

The infographic below is from Copyblogger.

Print out and hang it on your wall. Email to your freelance writing circle. Tweet it or post it to Facebook. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Personal Development, Professional Development, The Business of Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

7 Warning Signs That a Freelance Writing Career Isn’t for You

March 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

How’s your freelance writing career going? Are you rolling in the money? Is your email blowing up with leads and referrals? Is your voice mail filled with messages of potential clients begging you to help them with their copywriting or content writing? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Inspiration, Personal Development, Professional Development, The Business of Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Freelance Writers Are Great … When You Let Them do Their Job

February 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
PCG's National Freelancers Day event

Image by solobasssteve via Flickr

I read a post about how “Freelance writers are great … except when they’re not.” I agreed and disagreed with the author. Freelancers are great … when clients let them do their job.

Most freelance writers say the same thing … companies and professionals don’t know what they want. This is why it’s important for freelance writers to ask as many questions as possible before accepting projects.  If you’re unsure of what clients want, projects will be over before they start.

Don’t accept freelance writing projects because you need the money. If you do, it will be a disaster. Make sure you can handle the projects and clients before you say “yes.” Sometimes, it’s in your best interest and the clients’ best interest to decline projects.

Freelance Writers Are Great … When You Let Them do Their Job

Freelance writers may be limited as to what they can do if clients aren’t open minded. You can’t force clients to do something they’re not comfortable doing.  So don’t try. 

If clients say to you, “My budget is $1,000 for this project.” You probably won’t convince them of paying a higher price. When people make up their mind, it’s made up.

Freelance writers could set a ‘minimum’ thresh hold for projects. I wouldn’t post this on your writer’s website; however, if clients contact you and offer $50 for a 700-word blog post, and you charge $.50-1.00 per word, it’s best to pass on the project.

Don’t feel you have to accept every freelance writing project that comes into your inbox. There’s no rule that says, “Freelance writers must accept any and all projects.” 

Freelance Writers Are Great … When They Keep Up with Technology

Like it or not, SEO is not going away anytime soon. Freelance writers who think they don’t have to understand SEO practices may find their services no longer needed. Companies like to work with ‘well-rounded’ freelance writers. I’m speaking from experience. I had a client say to me, “Even though you’re self-taught with regards to SEO, I respect that and will take it into consideration.” I’m contemplating becoming certified in SEO, but I want to find the right program. 

Improve your writing by taking classes and attending conferences. Serious freelance writers understand the importance of continuing education. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to enroll in a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) or MBA (Master of Business Administration). However, if you’d like to venture into the world of technology writing, you may want to take some courses in computer programming or web design to understand the subject material.

Attending writers’ conferences is good way to meet editors and other writers. Not only can you exchange notes with other writers, but you could cultivate partnerships with other writers which can lead to creating a business together. 

Freelance Writers Are Great … When They Know How to Write

Huh? Most freelance writers can write and like to write. Some even have journalism or English degrees. Others have years of experience or a combination of degrees and work experience.

Some people think they can become freelance writers and earn extra income in no time. There’s more to it than that. If the thought of writing a 1,000 word article and turning it in within two-weeks makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you may want to find another career path.

Knowing how to write search engine optimized content and headlines is important. Sometimes, writing headlines can be tricky. This is where extra training comes in handy. Buying a bunch of magazines like Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Details, Wired, etc. can help you write winning headlines. Heck, you may even want to check out the tabloids!

Freelance Writers Are Great … When They Know How To Run a Freelance Writing Business

Freelance writing is a business. Like it or not, you’ll have to market you and your writing services. You’ll have to have contracts, proposals, and quotes. You may even want to have a logo and letterhead.

If the thought of being a business owner sends shivers down your spine, you may want to forgo becoming a freelance writer or do it part-time.

Running a business takes time, effort, and perseverance. Some freelance writers may not be overnight sensations. But with steady determination, all of you can become an award winning freelance writers. And most importantly, freelance writers who make a decent monthly income.

Amandah 

Enter your email address to receive Savvy Writing Careers:
Delivered by FeedBurner
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Professional Development, The Business of Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

To Get More Clients, Sometimes Less is More

November 18, 2011 by 5 Comments

This post is from the Success for Solopreneurs Newsletter and is used with  permission from:

Katy Tafoya is teacher and a coach who finds joy in helping women claim their passion and expertise. She guides solopreneurs to make their lives and their businesses juicier, more fulfilling and more successful. She also leads the Val Gal quarterly networking dinners which are always open to the public and in the greater San Fernando Valley. If you’re ready to identify, claim and leverage your expertise and live your passion you can sign up for a a F.R.E.E. subscription to her weekly ezine at SuccessForSolpreneurs.com.

“We are all experts in our own little niches.” ~ Alex Trebek 

Let me guess…you can help everyone and everyone is your client.

And yet with ALL those people that you can work with, you’re still not getting as many clients as you’d like or making the money you know you could be making.

Sound familiar? Sound frustrating?

So the question is…what are we going to do about it?

When my clients come to me complaining about their lack of income and clients, I’d say that many times it’s because they haven’t narrowed down their niche. Other times it’s because they don’t really know what they do for their clients, but that’s just the other side of the “niche” coin – and they go hand in hand (and we’ll talk more about that another day).

What exactly is a niche?

Now that’s the million dollar question. You see, your niche is a combination of the people you work with (your ideal client), the problems you can help them solve, and how you (and your unique perspective and experience) can help them gain something they really want (more money, more time, more balance, better health, new love, etc) with your special techniques, tools or systems.

Now look closely at what I just wrote and you’ll notice there no where does it even begin to imply that you can work with EVERYONE to help solve ALL their problems. You can’t. And you and I both know deep down, that you wouldn’t want to, even if you could.

What you really need to do is figure out what you’re actually in the business of doing.

Are you an organizer who helps people transfer all their past records into organized digital files? Are you a massage therapist that helps pregnant women feel relaxed and de-stressed throughout her pregnancy? Are you a therapist that works with families of substance abusers? Are you a nutritionist that teaches working moms of school-age children how to shop for and create healthy and tasty meals for her over-committed family in under 30 minutes a day? Are you a freelance writer who focuses on technical writing for health care facilities? (I added this one … Rebecca)

Figure out what you do and get specific.

Once you know what you DO (and you can clearly communicate that when you’re out and about networking and interacting), people will recognize themselves in the problems that you say you can help them with and the end result you they can gain. And when people recognize themselves in the problem, and know that you offer up a solution, they want to work with you…it’s as if you KNOW what they’re going through (and I’m guessing that you do since you’re the expert here).

And of course, this all supports YOU as the expert. When you’re known within your circles as the expert, the solver of X problem, the bringer of my Y, you become very sought after. Not only do people want to work with you and get your help, but they’re also willing to pay good money to get their problems solved and to obtain that coveted result.

And notice again, you’re not becoming the Jill of all trades. You’re not the solver of all things. You are the EXPERT who can help a specific group of people, solve a very specific problem…and achieve very specific RESULTS.

A word of advice…ask from help from an outside source to help you work through this. Ask your friend to tell you what they think you do. Ask them to ask you questions that you, as the expert know the answers to. The goal here is to get out of the box you’ve put yourself in and think differently. And yes, that typically takes an extra pair of eyes and a healthy brainstorm.

And don’t be surprised if your niche turns into something you never thought of before. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, that’s the good stuff. That’s what gets you excited to work every day and what thrills your clients because they can finally get the help they’ve been craving.

ACTION PLAN: What’s the first step you’re going to take to start working on fine-tuning and maybe even redefining your niche?

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? See Katy’s blog at SuccessforSolopreneurs.com/blog

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Freelance Writers, Freelance Writing, Ghost Writing, Ghostwriters, Inspiration, Personal Development, Professional Development, The Business of Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
Next Page»