The Power of Article Marketing

Publisher's Note: I'm a regular contributor to AssociatedContent.com. Sologig.com recently launched a news site for freelancers entitled SologigNews.com.

After reading an article of mine on AssociatedContent.com, a Sologig rep contacted me and wanted to interview me on a topic about which I'd written. The topic was the benefits of Chambers of Commerce for freelancers. The article I wrote which explores the topic is entitled, Why Every Freelance Writer Should Join a Chamber of Commerce, the October 17, 2006 blog post.

The interview can be found here. Established in 2000 and the exclusive contract provider for CareerBuilder.comone, Sologig.com is one of THE "go to" sites for freelance gigs, this type of exposure is exactly what you're after with article marketing. They average 10,000 job postings/day for freelancers.

My point? You just never know who is reading what you put out there, so keep on marketing with articles -- it's powerful stuff!

To your publicity,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
P.S.: Get a FREE E-Book on Article Marketing! My article marketing case study ended on 11/18. On Wednesday, Dec 6th, I will be publishing a FREE e-book detailing all the findings and how you can go about finding success via this free marketing tool.

EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about article marketing will be detailed. You won't find a more complete book on the subject -- and all of it is verifiable, first-hand information (I conducted a month-long marketing campaign). Read about this experiment from the beginning by clicking here. Subscribe to get your FREE copy.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!

Freelance Copywriters: How to Market for Immediate Results, Higher Paying Jobs & Long-term Clients

Publisher's Note: I apologize for being one day late with this post. I'm swamped after having taken the full Thanksgiving holiday off (something I rarely do, but have sworn to get better at (taking time off)). Today's article is posted below, after this memo.

For those who've inquired about my marathon results: I ran the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day marathon and finished in 4:39:06. I ran the entire thing -- only stopping to fully drink water/juice at designated stations along the way. I'd only trained up to 20 miles, so was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish in under 5 hours (the cut-off time for receiving a medal -- and boy did I want that medal!).

I was really sore for the next two days - but was able to dance my butt off at a party that Saturday night (funny how the body recovers when there's fun to be had). I was then sore again on Sunday, but by Monday felt like my old self. The weather was gorgeous (mid-60s, sunny, lite breeze).

Was it hard? Yes, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I've been a runner for over 20 years, but had never run a marathon. I can comfortably run up to 12 miles and trained for a year to do this marathon, even though I didn't get beyond the 20-mile mark in my training. However, other runners I'd spoken with said that if you can comfortably and consistently run 18 miles, you can do 26, even if you've never done it before. I sure was hoping that was true -- and it turned out to be so.

Would I do it again? Probably not. I enjoy running -- it's a form of relaxation therapy for me. But, when I get to 15-16+ miles, I really have to start concentrating on the running -- this takes the fun out of it for me because I can't think about other things, which is what I like to do when I run. I will be doing half-marathons though. I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the other runners and I'm now going to turn my attention to training for a half-triathlon.

Okay, enough about that -- on to today's topic: Freelance Copywriters: How to Market for Immediate Results, Higher Paying Jobs & Long-term Clients

Implement these three ideas to get immediate results, long-term clients and higher paying jobs from your freelance marketing efforts.

1. To get immediate results, pick up the phone: In the article, 10 Ways For a Freelance Writer to Make Money – Fast! (Part 2 of 2) (my Thursday, September 07, 2006 post), I detail exactly what to say on “cold calls.” Read Tip #6. Don’t cringe, tune out, or set your mind against doing this.

I know that this may frighten the heebie jeebies out of many, but trust me, once you do it 5 or 6 times, it’s old hat. You CAN do it and it will pay off big – almost immediately.

With the short, to-the-point script I laid out in the aforementioned article, you will see that it’s just like making a call to gather information, much as you would calling a restaurant to get directions.

Another immediate response marketing effort – email. Make sure you don’t spam though. How do you accomplish this? By actually taking the time to do some research on the prospect you want to email.

Your research doesn’t have to be in-depth, but does have to be enough to make the recipient feel like you’ve taken the time to get to know their product/service. Reference an article on their site, their current marketing campaign, marketing statistics pertinent to their sector, etc.

Your initial email should include the following: 1) evidence to prove that you know/are familiar with their product/service (eg, the research tip mentioned just above); 2) the reason for your contact; 3) why/how you can help them; 4) a brief professional bio; and 5) a link to your website (you do have one, right?).

Your website should include at least the following: a full bio on you, links to samples of your work and contact info. Testimonials, articles on/about your industry, a media page and a link to your blog (if you have one) is some other info you might want to add.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
****************************

2. To get long-term clients, think beyond the initial contact: I detailed how to do this in the article, Freelance Writers: How to Turn a Client Meeting Into a Windfall of Work (this blog's Wednesday, November 08, 2006 post).

To briefly recap, when a client contacts you, always, always, always think beyond the initial job. A personal story:

I recently did all the web copy for a client who is starting a title insurance company. When I sent in the final copy, I also presented him with three marketing ideas that help turn referrals into paying clients. Of course, they were all ideas that I could help with.

Why Proactive Marketing Breeds Success!

As I’ve mentioned before, being proactive in this manner helps in three ways:

a) it shows clients that you are professional and on the ball enough to be forward-thinking;

b) it lets them know that you understand their business; and

c) it gives them a reason to come back to you.

Many freelancers will simply turn in a project and say something to the effect of, “Keep me in mind if you have other projects I can help you with.” This is NOT effective. Be specific.

By offering specific ways in which you can help clients increase their bottom line, you become their go-to resource. This brings me to my last point:

3. To get higher-paying jobs, educate yourself: Freelance copywriters much be more than just proficient wordsmiths, they must be knowledgeable about marketing in general. This knowledge can easily be attained via trade journals, online reading, first-account articles, etc.

As a specific example of how this helps you make more money, I will use the recent client I mentioned above. This client had never had a website before and didn’t know too much about online marketing. I gathered this from our conversations about his web copy.

When I wrote his copy, I told him the reasons why I added, cut, embellished, etc., text. One specific exchange went like this:

“In marketing, it is a fact that if people are confused, there is too little info, or they don't fully grasp a concept, they rarely pursue it. Following this wisdom, it's always better to overstate an idea. Hence, the change I made was adding more of your ideas to this section, not cutting info.”

Explaining the reason behind your actions illustrate to the client that you are knowledgeable. Knowledge – especially when it is imparted in a manner that proves to the client that it helps their bottom line – is something that people are willing to pay more for because this, after all, must make you an “expert.”

Clients rarely question the fees of experts and are much more likely to feel that they’re getting more than “just” a freelance writer -- they’re getting a marketing expert who just happens to write.

Whether you are 3 months or 10 years into being a freelance writer, implementing these three ideas will increase your earnings for years to come.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.

How to Get Long-term Clients, Higher Paying Jobs and Immediate Results from Your Freelance Marketing Efforts

In the article, How to Increase Your Freelance Income During the Holidays, my 11/16/06 blog post, I talk about being proactive to bring in the business.

Next Tuesday's post (Nov 28th) will discuss in detail what what I call "Proactive Marketing Success." Although all marketing plans are ostensibly "proactive," in this post, I will be discussing how to go about getting: a) more immediate results; b) long-term clients; and c) higher paying jobs.

Get a FREE E-Book on Article Marketing! My article marketing case study ended on 11/18. On Wednesday, Dec 6th, I will be publishing a FREE e-book detailing all the findings and how you can go about finding success via this free marketing tool.

EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about article marketing will be detailed. You won't find a more complete book on the subject -- and all of it is verifiable, first-hand information (I conducted a month-long marketing campaign). Read about this experiment from the beginning by clicking here. Subscribe to get your FREE copy.

As this is a short, holiday week, I will not be posting again until next week -- I'm beat! So, for my American counterparts, have a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

Sincerely,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank!

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!

Sales Tip: How to Motivate Prospects to Buy from You

Okay, it's Friday and I'm cheating -- big time. How? By not writing an article today. According to my blog's statistics, most of you aren't even reading it on Friday anyway.

BUT, I did want to give you a little motivating tip, so I borrowed the following from the article, 7 Sales Skills to Improve On (by Shamus Brown) on a sales tip website. An excerpt:

Sales Skill #2: Motivating Prospects
Qualifying goes beyond budget, authority, and need. You want to sell to prospects who *want* to buy from you. Finding prospects that need our products usually is not difficult. Finding those who really want our products though can be very hard if we wait for them to come to us.

Prospects generally do not know they need such products[/services], until they first discover that they have a problem. This process can take seconds or years depending on the nature of the problem (and the prospect!). Prospects get motivated to work with you when you help them to discover that you solve their problem better than anyone else.

KEY TIP: Determine which problems that you eliminate or solve for your prospects. Plan and ask questions to uncover and agitate those problems. **END EXCERPT**

There are 6 other great tips, so click on over and read the entire article.

Until Monday,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
*******************************

How to Increase Your Freelance Income During the Holidays

This post can now be found at http://inkwelleditorial.com/how-to-increase-your-freelance-income-during-the-holidays in our new wordpress design.

Thanks for dropping by!

Poll Result: Should Freelance Writers Have a Minimum Wage?

Last Tuesday, I wrote an article entitled, Should Freelance Writers Have a Minimum Wage?.

When I posted it to the article directory, Buzzle.com, I included a poll with it (this is a neat little feature of this site - you can include a poll with your article if you want). FYI, following are the results to date.

Since 11/8/2006, 61 people have voted.

Yes: 50 - 82%
No: 8 - 13%
Don't Know: 3 - 5%

To vote on this poll, go to "Should Freelance Writers Have a Minimum Wage?".

Later on today, I'll be posting the article, How to Increase Your Freelance Income During the Holidays. Have to get some client stuff off my desk first.

Until then,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com

How to Make $50,000 in Your First Year as a Freelance Copywriter

When many think of freelancing, they think starving artist, low pay, no benefits, long hours, etc. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Following are 6 steps to ensuring at least $50,000/year in your first year as a freelance copywriter.

1. Do the Numbers: Believing you can do it is the first part of the equation. Once you break down the numbers, I’ll bet you’ll say, “That’s it? I can make that!”

So, $50,000/year divided by 52 weeks equals roughly $962/week. Easily achievable once you establish your going rate, which we’ll discuss a little later.

$962/week divided by 5 days (building in weekends off) equals roughly $192/day. Any determined person can make this. And, if you pile on education, experience and the Internet, you should be saying to yourself, “This will be a breeze.”

It won’t, but you should at least be giddy at the realization that this is a more than achievable goal.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
***************************
2. Charge Enough: Don’t go into freelancing with the attitude of I HAVE to take low-paying jobs. You don’t! My mother used to say, “How you begin is how you will end.” She wasn’t talking about jobs, but I take this advice to heart in almost everything I start.

A personal story: When I realized that I was going to run this year’s marathon (Thanksgiving Day, Atlanta, GA), one of the first things I did was print out a training schedule.

My point: I took my goal seriously enough from the beginning and figured out what I needed to do to be ready. In the case of figuring out what to charge, this means figuring out how much you have to make each day, week, month to achieve your goal. With your goal clearly mapped out, you will be much less likely to stray.

So, let’s do some hard numbers. Figure a 9-hour work day – in the beginning, you will much likely put in more than this (I never said it was going to be easy). That’s $21.33/hour you need to make.

When you consider that, on the low-end, professional copywriters make $50/hour, you can see how feasible it is to make $50,000 year. FYI, you may only spend 4 hours on a project, but 5 hours doing marketing work to bring in that project – but, it all evens out.

3. Target a Niche: The reason I believe in targeting a niche is that it is so much easier to promote your services – especially if you have some type of experience within that niche.

For example, I target realtors, mortgage brokers and insurance agents. In my professional career, I’ve been a real estate agent and a mortgage broker. These two industries get you highly familiar with the insurance industry.

No experience in your targeted niche? With the advent of the Internet, it is fairly easy to become knowledgeable enough about a sector to market to it.

How to Choose a Profitable Niche

a) Pay: Not only do you want to target a niche, you want to target one that pays well. This usually means turning to the business community. Again, the Internet makes it easy to service clients worldwide – not just those in your community. So, don't let living in a small town scare you.

b) Plentiful: Eg, there may not be enough organic gardeners to target, but real estate agents are vast and plentiful. Don’t have any ideas? Look through the Yellow Pages. Why? These are all the types of businesses you would find in any community. And, there may be businesses that you may never even have thought of in there who could use your services.

c) Evergreen: Try to choose niches that are evergreen – eg, those that will be around forever. Lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, auto dealers – these types of businesses aren’t going anywhere. Once you establish yourself as an expert, getting business will be easier and easier. Notice, I didn’t say easy, I said “easier.”

4. Prepare a Marketing Plan: It doesn’t have to be 30 pages. A basic one will do, eg:

Who: is your target market?

What: do they need? How will you reach them? This will also tell you where you will be spending the bulk of your ad dollars (online or off).

Where: as, in, what geographic area will you service (eg, will I target only a local market, or go national/international (eg, solicit business via the Internet?) )

When: is their season (eg, is it slow during the summer, busy during the fall, etc.)

Why: should they choose me (figure out your USP (Unique Selling Proposition))?

Put this where you can see it every day. I break my marketing plan into quarters. At the beginning of each quarter, I map out what I should be doing on a weekly basis. Sometimes projects interfere and I may not complete everything on my list daily, but I try to get all scheduled tasks done within that week.

Don’t forget to figure in startup costs – eg, primarily getting a website. A basic one will do. Just make sure that it is professional looking, grammatically correct and doesn’t have bells and whistles (eg, no flashing graphics). Most visitors will be looking for information – make it easy for them to get it.

A marketing schedule keeps you on point. Robert Collier, one of America’s original "success authors" said, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. . .” A marketing schedule does just this.

5. Prepare your Marketing Material: Get a website, get a website, get a website – this should be one of the first things you do! I think websites have progressed to the point where telephones used to be.

Ie, would you do business with someone who doesn’t have a phone? Probably not. Now, I think a lot of people feel that way about the internet. Further, how can you talk to someone about web copy if you don’t even have a website yourself? Ostensibly, this could be the only “promotional item” you need.

But, I would also do a basic introductory letter, a brochure, business cards (of course), a professional bio and a few samples. Don’t have samples? Do freebies until you get 5 or 6. All of this can be on your website.

Why different kinds of marketing material? Different situations call for different types of handouts. Eg, you may be at a Chamber of Commerce meeting one week (give out that brochure) and at the dry cleaners the next week (hand out business cards).

6. Implement & Follow Through -- Consistently: Many freelancers give up before they even begin. I look at freelancing as pushing a boulder up a hill – it’s hard going up (think of this as the ramp up of your business), but, once you get to the top, the ball rolls downhill by itself.

Freelancing won’t be that easy – and don’t believe anyone who tells you that it will. BUT, with sustainable effort, you will begin to get assignments, and then referrals will seem to come in effortlessly.

If you follow this plan, you should start to get assignments within 30-60 days. Good luck!
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.

Freelance Writers: How to Increase Your Business with a Simple One-Page Letter

When I owned my editorial staffing agency and would put out a job opening for freelancers, I would get a ton of responses. If I asked for work samples, I would get slammed – even if the ad specifically stated to send, for example, “one writing sample on real estate investing.”

To quickly get through the pile of resumes, the first thing I would do is weed out anyone who sent more than I had requested. The point of this little story – more is not always better.

BUT, you may lament, “I want to show the client what I can do for them.” You can do this very effectively via a simple one-page introductory letter.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
***************************

SECTION I: In this paragraph, you simply want to state your name and give a very brief background summary and niche specialty. Eg:

I am Yuwanda Black, the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com. A freelance copywriter for over 13 years, I specialize in increasing the referral rates of real estate agents, mortgage brokers and insurance agents via newletters, brochures, e-books, etc.

Whatever your written marketing needs, I can deliver measurable results. Samples of my writing/portfolio can be found at mywebsite.com (you do have a website, right?).

SECTION II: Illustrate to the client that you are familiar with his product, service, specialty, etc. and how you can improve it, supplement it, overhaul it, etc. for better results. Eg:

I noticed from your website (brochure, postcard, sales letter, etc.) that you have been in business for 5 years and service the XXXX market. I can help you increase your sales by at least 15% over a year’s time (maybe more). How?

Studies (cite a source) have shown that consistent contact is the number one way to get clients to call YOU – and not your competitor. According to xxx (here you would input a reliable marketing stat), in your industry, only X percent of mortgage brokers do this.

Imagine how many more clients you can add to your business by becoming the go-to expert in your sector? I can position you for this – bringing in referrals for years to come!

SECTION III: The wrap up: Repeat here their number one benefit of using you, eg, to increase their bottom line. Eg,

My job is to increase your bottom line. As a results-oriented professional copywriter, I know how to move prospects into your (not your competitor’s) paying customers when they’re ready to buy.

SECTION IV: The call to action. Ask them to do something – now!

Call today for your no-obligation consultation. I can be reached at:
PH: 000-111-1234
CELL: 111-222-3333
FAX: 222-333-4444
Email: info@inkwelleditorial.com
URL: InkwellEditorial.com

SECTION V: The P.S. (EVERY sales letter should have a P.S.). In this section, you can give a way a freebie (e-books are great for this) and/or reiterate a major benefit (eg, increase your bottom line by 15%).

Feel free to use a P.S. and a P.P.S. Eg:

P.S.: With your free consultation, you receive a free e-booklet, “For Real Estate Professionals: 10 Ways to Turn Referrals Into Paying Customers.”

P.P.S.: This e-book is FREE, even if you don’t use my services.

5 Copywriting Tips for Your One-Page Letter

a) Use lots of white space and bold headings. Eg, between each section, create a bold heading that clues the reader in to what they’re about to read. Most people skim copy – especially from unfamiliar sources – this makes it much more likely to get read.

b) Write from a “what’s in it for the client” point of view instead of a “what’s in it for me” point of view. At every turn, reiterate how you can help them make more money, save more time, reach more prospects, etc. In business, most people either want to make more money or increase their referral ratio – these are safe objectives to state that you can help them with.

c) Make a connection: Eg, I read on your website; I heard in your seminar; I see from your brochure – everyone likes to feel that you have at least taken the time to know their business.

d) Give stats: This lends credibility to your “sales pitch.” It’s not just you saying x, a noted source can back up your contention.

e) Use a call to action: If you don’t ask them to do something, they may do nothing. So, use phrases like call today, log on to our website, subscribe to our newsletter, register for your free gift.

I guarantee you, if you follow the format outlined above, your direct mail and/or e-mail conversion rate will be higher, garnering you clients for years to come.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.

Freelance Writers: How to Choose a Moneymaking Article Directory

I’ve been conducting an article marketing experiment for the last three weeks. It has taught me some profound lessons about increasing my freelance income.

Following are three ways I’ve learned to assess which directories add directly to my bottom line.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
***************************

1. Choose a directory that offers article stats: And, the more the better. In order of importance, in my opinion, are:

a) Reads/Views: Eg, how many times your article has been read/accessed;

b) Downloads: This stat is particularly important to me because it shows that not only has someone accessed your article, they were so enthralled with it that they took further action, they downloaded it.

If you know anything about web marketing, you know that it is hard enough to get readers to do one thing (eg, read an article). To get them to actually take two actions (eg, read and download) means your article is a “hit!”

Many directories won’t tell you who the article was downloaded by –eg, a casual reader, an e-zine publisher, another article directory webmaster, etc. BUT, this is not important in my mind. With so much competition on the web, the fact that someone chose YOUR article and thought enough of it to be moved to action is what’s important here.

c) Comments/Votes/Rating: Many article directories provide some form of one of these. Eg, whether someone left a comment on your article, whether they voted for it and/or rated it in some manner.

Rarely will you ever get any activity on this stat. In one directory I submit to, I have over 50 articles posted with them with almost 8,300 page views and I have only 3 comments. FYI, I’ve been submitting to this directory for almost 3 years.

So, why would you want to pay attention to this stat? One reason, personal connection. Eg, if someone has taken the time to leave you a comment – the most personal form of communication you can get on the web, then you can take this opening to invite them to subscribe to your ezine, buy your product, market you/your product to their database, etc.

The ways and reasons to approach a person who has initially contacted you are limitless. The point is not to squander the opportunity once it has been presented to you.

2. Choose a directory that is well ranked. The reason is obvious, you want to reach as many readers as possible in the least amount of time – especially if your time is limited and you are manually submitting articles (as opposed to using article submission software).

Two measurements I’m using in my case study are Alexa ranking and PR ranking. I wrote about this in another article in detail entitled, Case Study: How article marketing is significantly increasing my income (Part 1 of 5). See the October 26 post on this blog.

3. Choose niche directories, where possible: To piggyback on the above point, just because a directory is well ranked does not necessarily mean that it is right for you.

You will find that many, if not most, of the directories are general in nature. Meaning, they have many different categories under which you can submit.

While you will most certainly find a category to fit your article, target niche directories that may be lower ranked and/or obscure. This follows accepted marketing wisdom, ie, it is better to reach 100 well-targeted prospects than 1,000 general prospects.

Defining Your Bottom Line

At the beginning of this article, I refer to my “bottom line.” By this I don’t necessarily mean money. Getting subscribers to your list adds to your bottom line, having a major website want to conduct an interview with you adds to your bottom line, and getting queries for future work based on your niche adds to your bottom line.

To sum up, article marketing is a process by which you gain notoriety/publicity. This form of advertising adds to your bottom line slower than say, a cold call, but it pays dividends for years to come.

And, the best part? The more you do it, the easier the business flows in. It’s like putting your marketing on autopilot.

Free E-booklet

Author Note: A free e-booklet on this article marketing case study will be published mid-December. It will lay out the experiment from beginning to end and will include all of the information I gleaned so that you can assess whether this is something you can/should invest in for your freelance business.

If you’d like a copy, send your email address to info [at] InkwellEditorial [dot] com.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.

A Freelance Writer's Thanksgiving "Prayer"

CLIENTS
I’m thankful for clients.

I’m thankful for clients – who pay.

I’m thankful for clients – who pay on time.

I’m thankful for clients – who pay what I’m worth.

I’m thankful for clients – who pay their thanks to me.

I’m thankful for clients – who realize my value.

I’m thankful for clients – who have ideas.

I’m thankful for clients – who have no idea.

I’m thankful for clients – who know when to give up their ideas.

I’m thankful for clients – who know what they want.

I’m thankful for clients – who know when they don’t know what they want.

I’m thankful for clients – who let me do my job.

I’m thankful for clients – who realize writing IS a job.

I’m thankful for clients – who realize writing is MY job.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Learn how to Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back. Check out the details right now, then email your address to subscribe.
****************************
ME
I’m thankful for the gift of writing.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – for a living.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – words that matter.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – just for me.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – love notes to those who matter.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – editorials that change people’s minds.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – to help others.

I’m thankful for the gift of writing – down what I’m thankful for.

FRIENDS
I’m thankful for friends – who realize I write for a living.

I’m thankful for friends – who don’t ask me to work for free.

I’m thankful for friends – who don’t tell me to “get a real job.”

I’m thankful for friends – who pick up the tab during dry spells.

FAMILY
I’m thankful for family – who respect my working hours.

I’m thankful for family – who encouraged me to purse my dream.

I’m thankful for family – who ignore me when I’m on deadline.

I’m thankful for family – who know I love them, even when I’m on deadline.

I’m thankful for family – who realize that my computer really is a person to me.

I’m thankful for family – who know I’m a professional, even in my fuzzy slippers.

DEADLINES
I’m thankful for deadlines – that pass.

I’m thankful for deadlines – that pass with pay.

MONEY WISH LIST
I’m thankful for checks;

I’m thankful for checks – that come in the mail;

I’m thankful for checks – that come in the mail on time;

I’m thankful for checks – that come in the mail on time in my name;

I’m thankful for “notification of payment received” emails from PayPal;

I’m thankful for bank lines of credit;

I’m thankful for bank lines of credit – in my name;

I’m thankful for bills that don’t come;

I’m thankful for bills that don’t come – in my name;

I’m thankful for bills that are paid;

I’m thankful for bills that are paid – on time;

I’m thankful for bills that are paid on time – in my name.

WISH LIST FOR CLIENTS
I wish for vodka shots before talking to unreasonable clients;

bottles of tequila to share with good clients;

a moonshine hangover to nonpaying clients; and

a three-martini introduction to new clients.

WORK
I’m thankful for work.

I’m thankful for work – that matters.

I’m thankful for work – that I love.

I’m thankful for work – that I love that pays.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!

Freelance Writers: How to Turn a Client Meeting Into a Windfall of Work

Nowadays, many freelancers rarely meet their clients face-to-face. However if you do find yourself “taking a meeting” with a client, following are three guidelines that will ensure a constant flow of work.

1. Fight the urge to speak: My mother used to say, “The creator gave you two ears and one mouth. Now why do you think that is?” (I’ve always loved to talk, talk, talk).

Obviously, her point was, talk less and listen more. So, after the initial pleasantries have taken place, let the client do the bulk of the talking. If you let a person talk long enough, you will invariably get a feel for what they want – even if they keep sprinkling their conversation with phrases like, “I’m not quite sure which direction I want to go in.”

Should you take notes? I always let clients know that I will be jotting down notes as they’re talking. I’ve found that some people get nervous/take offense/feel like you’re not listening if you are writing while they speak. So, I just kind of put it out there.

Usually, I’ll say something to the effect of, “My job is simply to highlight the pearls of wisdom most clients don’t even realize they’re dropping. Taking notes helps me to do this.”

This does two things:

a) It puts the client at ease: After I tell them this, most realize that I’m not only doing my job, but I’m doing it diligently; and

b) It makes the client focus: I think this is an unconscious thing with most clients. When people realize that you’re really focusing on what they say, it makes them focus more.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
****************************
2. Clarify: Remember, most human beings just want to be heard, and possibly understood. So, resist the urge to give a “presentation.” This is not the time.

After you’ve listened to the client, repeat what they’ve said to you and ask clarification questions where necessary. To use an old shrink’s trick, something along the lines of, “Just to be sure I understood you, you said you wanted . . . Did I understand you correctly?”A short synopsis of what they’ve said will do just fine.

Let them know that you realize that the details need to be worked out, but you just wanted a clear understanding of their general idea/their general need.

3. Upsell: If the job entails working on their website, when you turn in the completed project, tell them about a monthly newsletter that you can provide, an offline brochure to hand out at trade shows, a line of thank you poems for past clients, etc.

This does two things:

a) It shows that you understand their business: If you truly listen to a client, quite a few ideas should come to you about how they can better serve their client; and

b) It shows that you are forward-thinking: Many times when you present an idea to a client, it will be something that they never would have thought of themselves. Or, if they had, they never would have “front-burnered” it until you presented it in such a way that it would be folly if they didn’t implement it sooner, rather than later.

Freelance writers have to be more than good copywriters, they have to be forward-thinking marketing and sales professionals. When you consider the old business axiom that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your client base, upselling should be a natural part of every client presentation.

I can’t tell you how many times clients have come back to me months, sometimes a few years later, ready to implement an idea I had presented that they hadn’t even thought of.

FYI, I call this my “LUCky” system: Listen, Upsell & Clarify. Doing these three things consistently will go a long way towards ensuring more work than that one project a client initially contacted you about.

Now, go create some LUC of your own!
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.

Should Freelance Writers Have a Minimum Wage?

With election season here, raising the minimum wage is a hot topic. This got me to thinking about freelance writers – severely underpaid professionals, in my humble opinion.

Freelance writing is a profession where competition is fierce – so much so that many of us work for far below the minimum wage. So, I want to propose a minimum pay scale for web writing, as this is one of the most severely underpaid niches in freelancing.

While I recognize that we live in a free market society, as professionals, I think we should at least have MINIMUM guidelines in place to begin to raise the pay standard across the board.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
****************************

Proposed Pay Scale for Web Writers

Following are minimums that I think web writers should accept for assignments. My hope is that a standard will begin to be developed for this field (and all freelance writing).

E-ZINE CONTENT: What is this? Content for online newsletters/e-zines. In the last 6-7 years, this form of marketing has really taken off. Some organizations have internal staff to handle this; many more outsource this job to freelance writers.

Many times you will find assignments like this posted on freelance bid sites. I’m astounded at how little some freelancers are willing to accept. I’ve seen bids as low as $2.50 for 500 words. Hence, I propose the following:

Proposed MINIMUM Pay Scale -- Up to 500 words: $10; 500-1,000 words: $17.50; 1,000-2,000 words: $25; $3,000+ words: $40.

SEO ARTICLES: What is this? SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. SEO articles are written to drive traffic to a website. How? By using certain key words and phrases to attract search engine spiders.

When a website is “spidered,” it picks up on those key words and phrases so that when a web surfer is looking for something, that website will show up in the searched results.

As an example, say you wanted to search the web for copyediting jobs and you used Google as your search engine of choice (does anyone use any other search engine?). So, you go and type in “copyediting jobs.”

In the list of results, InkwellEditorial.com is second out of over 1,100 sites.

The reason content is king on the Internet is that it drives visitors to a site – it gets you in front of potential customers. SEO articles are usually 250-400 words, and are “keyword rich.”
I’ve seen rates as low as $1.50 offered for these types of articles, which can be some obscure topic that you know nothing about and therefore have to research.

Even the best writer is going to spend at least 30 minutes on the simplest of articles that require no research. Doing two per hour is only $3.00. The minimum wage in this country is $5.15.

Taking this into account, why isn’t there more of an outcry against the wages offered freelance writers?

Proposed MINIMUM Pay Scale -- $8.00 (If you’re going to do an article, why not receive at least the newly proposed minimum wage ($8.00/hour)).

FORUM & BLOG POSTING: Now that blogs and interactive forums are so popular, many sites hire freelancers to monitor them and/or post content to keep it fresh. Fresh content is what drives traffic.

The word length of these postings is usually not stated. Most pay by the post. Eg, at least 5 posts a week.

Proposed MINIMUM Pay Scale -- $10/assignment (as this doesn’t go on word count, why accept an assignment like this if they’re not going to give you enough work that you can at least expect $10).

REVIEWS: Reviews come in many types, eg, restaurants, websites, movies, products, etc.. The pay can range from as little as 5 cents on up to $10 or $15. Most usually top out at a few dollars ($2-$3/per review). They are usually only a few paragraphs long.

However, you have to do the research (ie, eat at the restaurant, read the book, etc.) before you can write the review. This is time. Again, even if you only spend an hour between the writing and the research, how many do you have to do to make it worth your while?

Proposed MINIMUM Pay Scale -- $8.00/reviw (same argument as above).

Freelance Writers: The Education & Wage Gap

Consider this: According to the article, “Freelancers UNITE! Can writers get it together?”, (Clamor Magazine, Author: Nick Mamatas), “The average member of the Authors Guild earns less than $25,000 [annually] and one has to sell work pretty regularly to top markets to even qualify for Guild membership.”

The Author’s Guild is a “Society of published authors, an advocate for fair compensation, free speech and copyright protection.”

According to careeroverview.com, “most writing and editor jobs require one to have received a bachelor’s degree . . .” And, according to The U.S. Census Bureau, workers 18 and over with bachelors degrees earn an average of $51,206 a year.

While I couldn’t find stats that state exactly what percentage of freelance writers hold at least a 4-year degree, I know that when I ran my editorial staffing agency in New York, we REQUIRED that candidates hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. Most employers wouldn’t even consider candidates who didn’t have a degree.

So, if we consider even the possibility that many freelancers tend to be educated beyond the high school level – why are so many of us willing to accept such low pay?

Chasing the Freelance Dream & Bracing for Change

How do we turn this around? I think that many of us have to stop chasing the dream of “maybe.”

Maybe if I can get my foot in the door with this one assignment, then it will lead to others that will pay better; or

Maybe they won’t go that high; or

Maybe because competition is so stiff, I shouldn’t ask for that much; etc.

While there are circumstances under which all of these maybes can be justified, it should not be your norm. I discuss this in a past article entitled, Writing for Free: When & When Not to Do It.

We, the writers, are the only ones who can raise our pay standard. And, like voting, that means that we are individually responsible for casting our ballots; for just saying no to assignments that don’t pay enough.

This starts with adhering to a minimum pay scale.

Author note: The figures mentioned are nowhere near what I think freelancer writers should be paid. I stress that these are minimums I think we should begin to adhere to.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.

Article Marketing Case Study: Reader Q&A

An overworked freelancer, I decided to try and create more passive income. My mode of trying to accomplish this is article marketing. Why article marketing?

I’d read so much about it and had used it to promote past businesses with some success (a little bit of time yielded pretty good results). So, from October 18th thru November 18th, I decided to study article marketing in detail to learn as much about it as I could.

For details on the beginning of the experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com. Following are reader questions about my findings to date.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!****************************

QUESTIONS FROM READERS ABOUT ARTICLE MARKETING

Question: Since your site has been around a while, do you think that's why you've been so successful with your experiment. My site is new, what do you think my chances are?

Answer: I’m sure my site’s popularity has something to do with the success of the case study, however, I think it has more to do with the topic and the in-depth information provided.

I think the following three things have been the main reason for the success of this case study:

1. In my opinion, any time you undertake a venture that no one else has put significant time into – and it is a fairly popular topic that a lot of people want to know about -- it will garner interest.

2. The internet makes it easier to reach a wide audience quickly; and

3. It is a “live experiment with instant results.” We live in an information age where people want to know – and they want to know TODAY.

Question: How much money are you actually making? Can you give specifics?

Answer: The Google Adsense program prohibits giving specifics, but as I said in one of my recently published pieces, I was making basically entertainment money (barhopping with friends kind of cash), car payment money, etc. My earnings have a little more than doubled since I started this experiment.

What I want everyone to realize is that the more money you make, the harder it is to double that. So, it’s not like I what I was making was terribly difficult to double – I’m just surprised that by pumping in a few extra hours per day that I was able to see such a big difference.

The whole point of the experiment is to see if this was viable – if article marketing was really what the experts were touting. It’s taken a good deal of work, but I needed to know if it would be worth my time to pursue it to any degree. So far, I have to say that for me, it definitely is.

Question: Can you recommend any article submission software?

Answer: Nope, not at this point. I’m manually submitting articles to the directories. BUT, I will be purchasing some article submission software once this experiment is done. I have my eye on a couple, but as I haven’t used any, I hesitate to recommend any. Spend a few days researching this on the web before you put out any money. And if anyone has any feedback they can pass along, I’d be happy to share it.

Question: Are you consciously changing articles from posts on your blog to avoid duplicate content penalties?

Answer: No, I’m not. That would be way to time consuming for me. I queried Chris Knight, who manages perhaps the number one article directory on the net (EzineArticles.com), about duplicate content penalties.

My question to him was: **To Whom It May Concern: I would like to ask Mr. Knight a question about being penalized for submitting the same article to many directories. Specifically, if you do this, are you penalized by the likes of Google? Does it hurt your site's ranking?**

Christopher Knight’s response: To answer your question, unfortunately, I have no idea what Google will do or won't do. Me personally? I wouldn't submit to hundreds of directories because that doesn't seem like a good return on your time.

I know that it's better to submit 100 articles to 1 directory than submitting 1 article to 100 directories; especially when that 1 directory is EzineArticles.com! :-)

Try that experiment for yourself and I bet you'd find the same conclusion I did. The bigger issue is do you really want to manage 100 different trust relationships with your article or just a handful? Best of luck with the study. *End of response.*

I did a little more research and found arguments on both sides. All I can say is, from my efforts so far, the following has happened:

Google Search Results: A Google search of my name before this study returned 700-800 results. As of today, 11/6/06, it returns 15,100 results.

Alexa Rankings: My site's (InkwellEditorial.com) Alexa ranking was over 6,000,000 right before the beginning of this experiment (10/18/06). As of today, it’s 3,320,982.

PR Ranking: My PR ranking has stayed at 5, but I’ve gotten links from sites that have PR ranks of 6 (eg, www.entrepreneurs-journey.com) and 7 (http://problogger.net) – which, ostensibly, will only add to my PR ranking in the future.

Will I be penalized somewhere down the road for this? As I’m an SEO (search engine optimization) neophyte, I have no idea. I plan on doing a lot more in the way of SEO. This whole study has made me realize the importance of learning more about this.

Question: How do you decide what topic to write on?

Answer: I write what interests me, what others are asking about, issues I think need to be addressed, etc. I don’t have a process, so to speak, I just – write.

Q: An abbreviated version of a question a reader sent in is as follows: Wondering if I'd be able to pick your brains slightly. I write business plans for clients but at the moment it has been practically impossible for me to get any work . . . I would love to write articles but my problem has been:

Question a) Actually finding things to write about let alone a 700-900 word article scares me to bits! What sort of analysis tool do you use to find topics without much competition?

Answer: Angela, I don’t do any analysis to find topics to write about; I get ideas from reading other articles, questions from readers of my material, addressing issue that are bugging me (my reasoning is, if I’m having a problem with it, others are too – practically nothing under the sun is unique to only one individual); issues in the news; etc.

I don’t mean to be too vague or general – but I find that if you write from a position of truly wanting to help others – and not from a desire to optimize a site for "x" key word or to “just” make money – you will always have a wellspring of ideas from which to pull.

Question b) Writers block (I find it very difficult to write). I constantly rewrite my business plans. Any tips?

Answer: When I first started my blog, my fear too was that I wouldn’t be able to fill it with fresh, interesting content on a consistent basis. BUT, I’ve found that the more I write, the more ideas I flesh out. Focus on detailed articles (solving one problem of one issue), not general ones, and you will most likely find that you have to CUT your word count, not struggle to increase it.

As for your difficulty writing, my advice is – just write. Initially, don’t worry about grammar, word count, organization, etc. Just get your ideas down on paper. Then, go back and flesh out pertinent points. One written “rambling” may contain seeds for several articles.

Question c) I'd love to start a blog but generating content causes a) and b)!

Answer: Save a copy of your written ramblings. Thinking that you will remember an idea is folly – it will invariably escape you. I have a document on my computer entitled “Article Ideas.” I constantly add to this as new ideas pop into my head. On those days when the idea well runs dry (it happens to the best of us), it comes in handy.

Question c) Are there resources (a quick course in creative writing) that can help me?

Answer: There are so many on the web, they are too numerous to name. I hesitate to recommend one, because I haven’t taken any. But, go with recognized names in the freelance industry.

To research sources, go to noted sites like WritersDigest.com and WritersMarkets.com. Also, frequent writing forums. Ask questions and/or read feedback from those who have taken courses.

Shameless Plug! My e-course, Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! will be available in January.

FREE E-BOOK: There is so much more that I want to address about this topic based on the findings to date. I’m sure there’ll be more after this experiment ends on 11/18/06.

So, I will be doing a final, in-depth case study analysis. The findings will be published in a FREE e-book and will be available the second week of December. If you’d like a copy of this, subscribe by sending your email address to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com (replace [at] with @).

Tomorrow’s Post: A Proposed Minimum Wage for Freelance Writers (yep folks, we’re going to get political – after all, tomorrow is election day. Remember to VOTE and stay tuned!)
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe to this content.

Q&A on Recent Article Marketing Case Study

I will respond to the questions I've received about my article marketing experiment later on today. In the meantime, following is some general information I've been meaning to pass along.

The 7th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition is accepting entries! We're looking for fiction that's bold, brilliant ... but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or less. But don't be too long about it—the deadline is December 1, 2006. The Grand-Prize winner will receive $3,000 (that's $2—or more—per word).

FYI, most freelance writers know about this site. If you're one of the few who doesn't, get to know it -- it's a fabulous resource for freelance writers.

Writer's Market answers the age-old freelance question, "How Much Should I Charge?" Writer's Market (another must-know resource for freelancers) is most famous for the thousands of listings providing in each annual edition of the book.

BUT, there's another reason writers buy the book religiously every year, and that's for the "How Much Should I Charge?" article and freelance rates chart (document is a .pdf file). I've also answered this question in this blog before (2/28/05 post). Click here for my insight.

Writer's Digest Poetry Awards: Regardless of style—rhyming, free verse, haiku and more—if your poems are 32 lines or fewer, we want them all. Submit your entries by the December 20, 2006 deadline . . . and your words could be worth cold hard cash!

Remember, stay tuned for a post later on today addressing the questions I've received to date about my article marketing case study.

Hasta luego!
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditoral.blogspot.com
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: By year's end, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank! Stay tuned for affiliate details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!

How Article Marketing is Significantly Increasing My Income (Part 5 of 5)

Following is Part 5 of my case study on article marketing. Specifically, I’m studying the following topic – in detail: Article Marketing – Does It Work, Or Not?

Wanting to create more passive income, I decided to try article marketing because I’d always gotten good results with it getting the word out about my businesses in the past.

Following are more of the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to. I chose them because they have good PR and Alexa rankings. For explanations of these, as well as details on the beginning of the experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subsribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.

Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?

Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
****************************

21. AuthorConnection.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 278,391.
You must create an author account to submit. They assign you an author ID, which is a little annoying because I can never remember mine and have to stop what I’m doing, locate it and then log in.

It’s a minor inconvenience, but as I’ve said before, when you are manually submitting, anything that takes more time is just a pain. Another thing that is a little bothersome with this directory is their subcategory listing.

What I mean is, once you choose your main category, they ask you to select up to five subcategories to put your article in. While this may seem like a good thing, I find it too time-consuming.

I’d rather have the main and sub-categories listed together and be able to select right from the get-go where I wanted my article to go.

No article stats are provided here, but a tracking feature is available.

22. ArticleBeach.com: This directory has a PR rank of 5 and an Alexa rank of 47,816.

You must create an author account to submit. They assign you a password, which again is annoying. See review above as to why. Article tracking and stats area available.

One cool feature of this directory is that it shows you which category you submitted to (I sometimes forget and want to go back and see). FYI, you have to click on the author profile to see this; it won’t show up if you just click on the article.

23. BeezyMouse.com: This directory has a PR rank of 1 and an Alexa rank of 93,766.

You need to create an author account to submit here. Article stats and a tracking feature are available. The site doesn’t tell you how long they take to approve articles -- not all pieces I’ve submitted have been posted yet.

I was impressed by this site because it has only been online since July of this year, yet already has an incredible Alexa ranking.

24. ArticleCube.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 20,937.

You need to create an author account to submit. I love this site – it has all the bells and whistles (stats, tracking features) and it also has a link to two popular social networking sites (Digg and Del.icio.us) where you can add your content.

In my opinion, this shows the progressive thinking of the site owners, as social networking sites (eg, FaceBook, MySpace, etc.) are all the rage right now. This could account for its high rankings, as it’s only been around since October 2005.

25. ArticleOnRamp.com: This directory has a PR rank of 0 and an Alexa rank of 72,050.

I love this site because of its responsive webmaster, Jason. I suggested new categories and he added them and got back to me within a couple of days. Even if he had not heeded my suggestions, I just appreciated the “human touch” behind this directory.

You need to create an author account. Author stats and a tracking feature area available. Articles are approved pretty rapidly too.

Way to go Jason!

26. Article-Buzz: This directory has a PR rank of 3 and an Alexa rank of 80,757.

Easy to use: simply create an account and submit. Article tracking and stats are available. The approval process is pretty quick; tons of categories to submit to. Site’s cool feature: a blog that lists “feature articles.”

There are no specifications listed as to how to get your article on the blog, but it’s cool because it makes your article stand out if it does get published here.

27. AllFreelanceWork.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 50,575.

This is not a directory, but a freelance job listing site that has a ton of useful tools for freelancers – job listings, article submission, freelance software, posting of freelancer profiles, etc.

This site can be overwhelming because it offers so much. To make effective use of it, figure out which features fit into your freelance plan. I’ve been a user of this site off and on for the past 5 years or so and for my money, it is one of the best sites on the web for freelancers.

28. AssociatedContent.com (AC): This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 5,082.

This site describes itself as a “media community.” If you are a freelance writer -- or a business owner seeking a low-cost, effective media outlet -- this site is a must.

You must create an author account to publish and they take up to 8 days to approve an article. They almost always adhere this guideline. A few times they’ve taken as long as 10 days to approve one of my articles, but this is rare. On the flip side, they will rarely approve an article BEFORE this timeframe.

The best part of AC, they PAY for articles. So, if you’ve written it and are distributing it for free, why not pick up a little cash on the side. The minimum you can receive if they accept your article for publishing is $3 (payment can go as high as $40). They pay via PayPal and payment is prompt (within a few days).

I’ve made hundreds of dollars over the course of a few months submitting my articles here. AND, I’ve gotten tons of publicity, subscribers and e-book sales. As a matter of fact, this is what prompted me to finally decide to put my ebooks on ClickBank (the increase in sales once I started using AC).

Site I wished I’d discovered a couple of weeks ago: ArticleWheel.com: With a PR Rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 34,372, I will be giving this site a try.

One of the things that caught my eye about this directory is that they have a pretty low-priced article submission feature. Meaning, they will submit your article up to 300 directories for just $6. Again, as I’ve learned first-hand the horror of manual submission, I’m taking note of paid submission plans, in all forms.

When Choosing Article Directories, Which is More Important:
Page Rank or Alexa Rank?

In my non-tech-savvy opinion, page rank. Why? Alexa rank derives its results from those who have the Alexa toolbar installed. So, how do you know how many visitors peruse your site who don’t have the toolbar installed? You don't.

Also, who is more likely to know about, keep abreast of, and use, technology like this? Techies. One of the criticisms of the Alexa ranking system is that it is skewed toward tech-oriented sites – although plenty of non-tech savvy sites rank in the top 100,000 (the holy grail of positioning).

Conversely, page rank is somewhat of a community-driven response to a site. Eg, when users across the web find your site useful, they link to it, forward it to friends, etc. When enough people/sites do this – especially those sites with high PR rankings – then your site is considered important/relevant (hence, a rise in the rankings).

In my mind, this is more of a grass roots (ie, pure) response to a site. You don’t have to “do” anything (eg, install a tool bar), except produce good content that users will find useful enough to link to/tell others about.

So, that’s why I don’t give too much importance to the Alexa rank.

As you’ll notice from the sites listed in this series, not many rate above 5. When I started reading about page rank a few years ago, any site with a 4 or above was considered a good site to link to. Now, it seems to be a 5 or above. Again, in my humble opinion, if you’re a 4 or above, you’re doing good.

Dead Presidents Rising!

My earnings are starting to coo off – but I’m still averaging about twice per day what I was making before I started this experiment.

NOTE: After this experiment ends (11/18), I will be doing a final, in-depth case study analysis. Findings will be presented in an e-book.

Stay tuned for “Questions from Readers” about this case study on 11/06.
P.S.: Send in your questions. So we all benefit, I'm trying to wring every bit of useable data out of this experiment. As with any study, it's input from many sources that yield the best results.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subsribe to this content.

How Article Marketing is Significantly Increasing My Income (Part 4 of 5)

Following is Part 4 of my case study on article marketing. Specifically, I’m studying the following topic – in detail: Article Marketing – Does It Work, Or Not?

My desire is to create more passive income. An overworked freelancer, I decided to give article marketing a REAL try, as I’d read so much about it. Following are more of the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to. I chose them because they had good PR and Alexa rankings.

For explanations of these, as well as details on the beginning of the experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com.

POST CONTINUED BELOW
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subsribe to this content.
****************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.

At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!

Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?

Receive 7 EBooks in All!: Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
***************************
16. ContentTycoon.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 201,965.

You must create an author account to submit. According to the announcement on their site, they recently underwent an overhaul and the wait time to approve an article is less than 24 hours.

This is not the case with my articles. To date, they’ve approved 2 of the 8 I’ve submitted. Considering that some sites can take up to 4 weeks to approve an article though – I’m not complaining.

No article stats are provided here. So again, get out your article tracking log sheet.*

17. AfroArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 38,666.

This site has extensive category listings.

I had to smile when I read their submission guidelines because I wrote a couple of articles explaining why I believe that longer articles sell better. On article length, they state: An article length between 700 to 2500 words is desirable. Finally, somebody gets it!

This site is easy to navigate and once you create an author account, you can start submitting multiple articles immediately. Article stats and a tracking feature are also provided.

As an aside, being African American, I like that they have categories which focus on "Afro Issues" among the other categories you'd find at any article submission site. When I ran my ethnic online crafts business, I had a hard time finding enough outlets to submit articles to, so it's nice to see someone has recognized this void.

18. ImpactArticles: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 189,006.

You don’t need to create an author account to submit here. I tried to use their form to submit, but it didn’t work. So, I sent them the article via email, as advised on their site (eg, when the form doesn’t work).

This is a no-frills site (no tracking features, feeds or article stats provided). The only reason I chose this site is that it is updated daily and I recognized a couple of names of authors who have done well in Internet marketing (ie, Charlie Cook and Willie Crawford).

Google either of these names and you’ll see what I mean. I figured if their articles are there, then it’s a good place for mine to be.

19. Free-Articles-Zone.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 56,670.

You need to create an author account to submit. I’m a bit perplexed at this directory because I’ve submitted 8 articles here and according to my account, only one is showing up.

The others seem to have disappeared. Usually a site will tell you if an article is pending, or if there are problems that need to be addressed before it is published – nothing here. Just one article that was published on 10/19, which means it’s probably the first one I submitted.

HTML Note: This site uses what I call "alternative code" for common elements (bold, ital, underline, etc.). Eg, instead of *b*BOLD*/b* for bold, it uses *strong*BOLD*/strong*. This is the only site I encountered to use this type of coding.

I’m bummed that I’m going to have to go back and submit to this site. I really like their setup and the overall feel of the site – not to mention their very good rankings.

20. MainStreetMom.com: This directory has a PR rank of 5 and an Alexa rank of 200,721.

This is not a directory site. It describes itself as “The online magazine for modern mothers with traditional values.... See explanation below as to why I submitted articles here.

By the way, no need to create an account to submit here – they have an article submission form that you use.

When It’s a Good Idea to Use Lower-Rated Directories and Websites

Targeted Marketing: As I explained at the beginning of this experiment, I chose directories/sites based on their PR and Alexa rankings.

But, as you may have noticed, some of these sites are not exactly “top-rated.” So, why did I submit to them? Because they spoke directly to the audience I’m trying to reach.

This may sound a little elementary, but in the interest of educating, it is always more important to reach 100 people who fit your target market than 1,000 who do not.

Eg, MainStreetMom.com. While its Alexa ranking is below the much desired 100,000 or lower range, it speaks directly to an audience who show a great interest in my product (e-books on freelance writing – again, if I can ever find time to get them on Clickbank!).

So, as you prepare to market, write down the who, what, where, when and why as it pertains to your target market. Eg, who and/or what are they, where are they, when are they there and why are they there?

Answers to these questions will give you a pretty clear picture of where and how to market your product/service.

Article Marketing Tips Learned from This On-Going Case Study

a. Submit to the head of the directory: What do I mean by this? Many directories have sub-categories. Eg, a main heading might be “Writing & Speaking.” Under this you may find article marketing, e-book publishing, copywriting, etc.

From my article stats (where provided), I’ve noticed that the articles submitted under the main heading (eg, Writing & Speaking) get read more than those under the sub-headings.

I can only guess that many people don’t know exactly what they’re looking for, so will search under a main category heading first. As most surfers flit from article to article, they may never get around to clicking through to sub-categories.

Article directory owners may disagree with this, or move your article to a sub-category, but unless/until they say otherwise, I would submit under main category headings first.

b. Submit a series of articles: Over the last month and a half, including this series on article marketing, I’ve written two more series (eg, Part 1 of 2).

I don’t know if it was the topic or not (my topics focused on ways for freelancers to make more money), but articles as part of a series are getting more reads in a shorter period of time than single articles. They are also picked up by more e-zine publishers.

Mind you, this is a very limited study and a very narrow topic. Much more analysis over a longer period of time would need to be done to make definitive conclusions.

I’m just tossing out info as I notice it. If you can lend any insight into any of these observations, please do so. I’m as anxious to know as anyone.

c. Go minute! What do I mean? Give as much detail as possible. With online marketing being so competitive, implementing even the smallest change can mean a big return.

Readers pick up on and dissect the smallest details. In my opinion, this is extremely helpful because something that you might not think of as important could be the “clue that breaks the case wide open.”

Shake, Shake, Shake My Moneymaker!

My earnings are up a bit to almost 3 times overall what I was making (per day) before I started this experiment.

*Article Tracking Log Sheet: After this experiment ends, I will be doing a final, in-depth case study analysis. Along with this, I will provide an article tracking log sheet I fashioned to keep track of where I submitted articles.

Stay tuned for Part V tomorrow.
********************************
P.S.: Send in your questions. So we all benefit, I'm trying to wring every bit of useable data out of this experiment. As with any study, it's input from many sources that yield the best results.
****************************
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
****************************
Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subsribe to this content.