Well, as I alluded to yesterday, an incredible career opportunity has come my way. The owner of an architecture firm I've been consulting with has offered me an editor-in-chief's position, with ownership stake.
I would have equal input on the content, design, marketing, staffing, etc.
So, why my hesitation? It's a start-up industry magazine. If you know anything about publishing at all, then you know that it's a lot of work -- and risk -- up front, with no guarantee of a payoff. I'm just not sure if I'm up for that kind of challenge at this point in my life.
I'm thinking about it -- and will make a decision in two weeks.
Advice? Feedback?
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Editor-in-Chief Position
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
E-books: Charge for Them, or Give Them Away -- Which Makes You More Money?
I wrote my first e-book a few years ago, and was instantly hooked on this easy way to get - and dispense - information. I've since written 7, and an e-course. As I said, it's addictive.
While I knew I was going to sell the first few I wrote, with others I thought, "Hmm, should I use this as a free giveaway, or charge for it?" Well, as with most things in life, I learned that - it depends. On what?
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What Do You Want to Accomplish with Your E-book
Quite simply, it depends on your goal. Is your goal to increase your subscriber list, qualify your prospects, make immediate money, etc.
An e-book can do all of this - it depends on how you market it.
Marketing for Subscribers with an E-book
Almost every online marketing guru will tell you that e-books are a great way to increase your subscriber list. Use your e-book as a giveaway.
Eg, subscribe to my newsletter and receive a free copy of the article marketing e-book, Everything You Wanted to Know About Article Marketing! which will tell you how to increase your sales by distributing free articles.
Qualifying Prospects With Your E-book
E-books can also be great qualifiers. What do I mean? You can separate the tire kickers from the serious inquirers. While some will always just want a freebie, the vast majority of prospects who request a free, informational product are those who are really interested in making a purchase.
Think about it, the more serious you are about something, the more time you're apt to spend researching it. So, after a speaking engagement, for example, you might say, "If you're interested in learning more, email me to request a copy of the free e-book, The Small Biz Owner's Marketing Kit!
Those who are really serious are much more likely to follow up with you than those who just had a passing interest in what you had to say during your speaking engagement.
Making Direct Sales with Your E-book
Creating an e-book to sell adds to your bottom line in a multitude of ways: i) it enhances your credibility within your field, which eventually leads to more clients; ii) it puts money directly into your pocket via direct sales; and iii) it gives you the opportunity to create a line of products around the e-book (eg, t-shirts, pins, coffee mugs, etc.).
No matter how you use e-books, they are a great marketing tool every freelancer should utilize.
Tomorrow's Post: A career-changing opportunity -- it's big, but I can't decide. What is it? I'll tell you tomrrow.
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Copyright Notice: 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.
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Monday, March 26, 2007
3 Reasons Freelance Writers Are Underpaid & What They Can Do About It
If you're a freelance writer, then you are probably abhorred at the rates offered nowadays - especially for web content.
BUT, as I advise freelancers all the time, what clients are willing to pay you is based on your value to them - not your talent.
Following are three reasons freelance writers are underpaid, and what you can do to turn the tide.
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1. Everyone Can Do It: "If you know your ABC's you can write, right?" This is the attitude of many when it comes to freelance writing.
"What's so hard about it?"
"Why does it cost that much for a simple brochure?"
"My secretary can do that for me."
You may have run across these - and many other sentiments - about freelance writing.
So, how do you combat this "anyone can do what you do" attitude?
Solution: Do a freebie. I know many freelancers are against this, but when I say freebie, I don't mean an entire project - but a sample version.
Clients with this type of attitude are ones you've probably solicited; they probably haven't sought you out simply because they don't realize how much they need your services.
As for doing a freebie, you might take one page from their website and rewrite it. There's nothing like comparing a professionally prepared piece of copy to a amateur's version. The difference will be clearly visible.
I've gotten many clients this way. I'd approach them about redoing their web copy, for example and have gone on to rewrite a lot of their sales aids - primarily brochures and direct mail pieces like postcards.
Even if they don't realize the value of your work right then, trust me, they will store that nugget away for future use. I've been contacted by clients two or three years later who've kept my samples on file.
2. Misjudging Projects: As in, most freelancers don't know how to judge a project, so they make the mistake of undercharging - usually for fear of losing the assignment altogether. This happens to experienced and inexperienced freelancers alike. Why?
It can happen for a myriad of reasons, eg, because clients sometimes change the parameters of a project in mid-stream; it's a type of writing you've never done before in-depth; clients request add-ons (eg, a newsletter in addition to the brochure), etc.
Rather than offend a client, risk losing a project or stopping to renegotiate mid-stream, many will just finish the project and vow never to work for that client again.
Solution: Get as many details about the project up front. For years I used a spec sheet for my projects. What is a spec sheet? Simply a questionnaire for each type of project that comes in.
If it was an editing project, I might ask the following:
What style of editing?
How many pages?
Are changes to be made on hard copy or right into the electronic document? If on hard copy, should they be transferred to the electronic copy?
Due date?
This is a basic, general overview. Some projects can be really detailed, especially writing projects. So you want to find out as much as you can.
Sometimes you'll get a client who has no idea what he wants, so ask for samples of sites/writing/graphics, etc. that they've seen that they like.
TIP: Let clients know that while your intake may seem a bit tedious, you've found that the m ore information they provide up front, the better you can deliver what they want without a lot of back and forth.
I've found that pre-qualifying clients in this manner does three things: i) it lets them know that you're a professional; and ii) it helps them clarify what they want; and iii) it shows (without you saying a word) how much work actually goes into what you do.
3. Fear of Losing a Client: As I alluded to above, many freelancers fear that they will lose a job if they quote a price too high, so what they often do is undercharge.
Most small business owners suffer from the same problem - this is not a freelance writing problem, it's a small business problem.
Solution: Show clients your worth. How? For example, if they contact you and want a brochure done, you might ask:
"Will this also be in downloadable form on your website? The reason I need to know is that writing for the web is different than a direct mail piece. Knowing how you plan to use the piece will help me optimize its uses to fit your purposes."
It's up to you to prove your worth to clients, not for them to be intrinsically aware of it.
This means constantly selling you and your worth -- which has less to do with your writing ability, than your sales ability.
Good luck!
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Copyright Notice: 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.
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Friday, March 23, 2007
Debt-Free Living: A freelancer's Personal Tale of Getting -- & Staying -- There
Sorry this post is a day late -- I had internet connection problems yesterday. Enjoy!
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
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I got my first credit card at 18 and have been in credit card debt ever since - sometimes severely. That's over 20 years of a love-hate relationship with the plastic.
Over the holidays, a friend loaned me the book, The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey. The book is about getting - and staying - out of debt. Excellent book by the way whether you have bad credit, good credit and/or no credit. Following is my story.
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One of the credos the author lives by is that you don't need credit to get ahead in America. This was a radical notion for me because we are a society that thrives on credit.
It's people who don't have debt who are anomalies, not the other way around. So, this got me to thinking, can you advance in America without using credit? And, I think Mr. Ramsey is on to something. You can - if you do the following:
1. Delay purchases: Most of what we charge are things we could (or should) wait for until we have the cash in hand.
I looked around my house and took a mental tally of things I'd paid cash for and things I'd charged. I bought the house in 2004 and furnished a good portion of it on credit. My car, bought on credit. My yard supplies, bought on credit.
NOTE: I long ago gave up making stupid purchases like clothes and eating out on credit.
So, I thought, what if I truly gave Mr. Ramsey's system a try and delayed buying stuff until I could pay cash for it. I probably would have gone to the thrift store or pawn shop to look for a cheaper mower; I definitely would have outright bought a $2,500 car instead of financing a $14,000 SUV; I would have had an empty living room and downstairs bedroom for a while, or bought everything from the thrift store.
Now, I do okay financially. I paid off all of my furniture before the finance charges kicked in, and my jeep payment is the lowest it could be because I have good credit and got a good interest rate.
Just taking the above into consideration though, I could have avoided approximately $20,000 dollars of debt by going the cash route and/or waiting to buy until I could afford to pay cash. Two and a half years later, I still have about $8,000 to pay off.
2. Say no to friends and family: Once I started paying close, close attention to where my money went, I realized that a lot of it was spent socializing with friends and family, eg, those last-minute margarita nights out, meeting a friend for lunch, throwing an impromptu get-together where I provided the food and some of the drink.
Just one to two of those a month set me back anywhere from $50 to $200. So, I started saying no to invitations. And you know what, it hurt like heck the first few times. I really wanted to go out with my sister and my girlfriend to our favorite Mexican restaurant for some margaritas.
I rationalized, "I'll only have one and I won't eat." But, I clamped down and said, "No, I'm not going to go."
It took probably four or five times of saying no before it started to get easier. I explained to them that I wanted to get out of debt once and for all this year and that I would be turning down a lot of invitations that involved spending money.
While it bugs them occasionally, now my sister wants to read the book and she's started to make some changes in her spending habits!
3. Plan: One thing living without credit thing has taught me is to plan. For example, my fianc� and I are going on vacation in August. I've already started to put money aside for this. Before, I wouldn't have even thought about it this far in advance. I would have just whipped out the card and paid it off later.
NOTE: I always try to pay off my credit cards in 4 months, or less when I take a trip. But, sometimes it doesn't always work out and there'll be a few hundred to a few thousand bucks outstanding that just lingers. Only when I feel a crunch would I wish the debt wasn't there.
This will be the first trip in almost twenty years I've taken that will be paid for BEFORE I leave. It's a freeing feeling and it makes it easy to deny myself the little things along the way, because I know that my big reward is my upcoming trip.
Delayed gratification - how sweet it is.
While I don't agree with Mr. Ramsey that credit is not necessary to function in society, I do agree with his sentiments that we don't need it to the degree that we use it.
I think we need credit to finance major purchases like a home and in certain cases, a vehicle - although if your house cost $150K and your car $30K, I think that's excessive. And, as for buying a house, forget no-money-down programs; save a down payment and get a 15-year mortgage - and work your tail off to get it paid off as soon as possible.
I'm spending this year getting rid of all debt except for my house and my car (which will be paid off next year). Debt-free living is freeing - I may only be able to do a quarter of the things I used to do, but getting only a mortgage bill in the mail makes up for the sacrifice.
In light of all of this, my question to you is - can you live without credit? Is it a lifestyle you can subscribe to for the long haul?
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Copyright Notice: 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.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
How to Get Out of Debt on a Freelance Salary
The number one problem most freelancers have is that their income is inconsistent. This makes it hard to plan. As a freelancer with some financial savvy, I've noticed some things that have helped me keep the debt monster at bay.
NOTE: Notice I wrote "at bay"; I haven't completed escaped him, but he's not an all-consuming threat either.
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1. Get a job you hate: Why? A little story:
Jerry Seinfeld said that he sold light bulbs before he became rich and famous. He said he hated it, but he did it because it made him work that much harder on his comedy. His thinking was, "The sooner I succeed, the sooner I could give up selling light bulbs.
I thought this a brilliant concept.
Moral of this story: Complacency kills and this is kinda like reverse psychology. Imagine if you hated what you were doing. You'd work much harder to not have to do it and put every penny you earned towards the debt you owe so you could quit - as soon as possible.
2. Save ONLY $1,000: One of the things I learned from Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover, is to have an emergency fund.
Hold on, don't tune out. This is not having 3-8 months of expenses in the bank, like most financial gurus will tell you. Dave says to start with $1,000. Why this amount, and why is it so radical?
When you hear, save 3-8 months of expenses, most of us turn a deaf ear. If you're struggling just to keep up with the bills as they come in, putting $5,000, $10,000 or more away seems impossible.
But, most of us can imagine socking away a grand.
Mr. Ramsey's theory is that it's the little emergencies that cause us to constantly whip out the plastic and before we know it, we're a few thousand in debt. He says, if you have an emergency fund of $1,000 and the transmission goes on your car, you won't have to finance it with plastic.
You pay cash for it and therefore you haven't created more debt at a time when you can least afford it - when things are going bad.
I'm a big believer in the universe talking to you. Some may call this presence God, Buddha, Allah; whatever you call it, I'm a big believer in a higher power. Around the time I read this, three things happened that added up to almost exactly a thousand dollars.
My car needed new rotors (I still don't know what they are, but apparently my jeep was in bad need of them); my fiance's car needed new tires and the thermostat in our house went kaput - in the dead of winter.
Now, we were lucky enough to be able to pay for all of this without charging any of it, but it didn't come out of an emergency fund; it came right out of earned money, which really put a crimp in the holiday budget.
Moral of this story: Put away funds for Murphy's law because when you least need something bad to happen, it will. Do this BEFORE you start paying off debt. Mr. Ramsey says it kind of inoculates you against ole man Murphy.
NOTE: There is a point where you do build up the 3-8 months of living expenses, but it comes later in his plan.
3. Chunk pay: What I mean by this is, when you get a chunk of money from a project, close your eyes, write out the check and just pay a darn bill.
I know from my own personal experience that when most of us get a chunk of money at one time, we want to treat ourselves a little, pay only what's due (maybe a little more), and "save" a little.
The reason save is in quotation marks is because eventually that gets eaten up by those expenses that we can never seem to account for.
Another of Mr. Ramsey's philosophies is that money you don't have a plan for will find a way to leave you. So, if you know you're getting a check in two weeks for $1,748.32 for a project you just completed, look over your bills and assign a debt to it. While it may bug you to do it, you'll feel so much better once the check is in the mail.
Moral of this story: You can track where your money went; you can see the progress. This is important because when you remember that client who drove you bonkers and the project took you 8 more hours than you billed, at least you can say it was worth it because Visa is finally paid in full.
And you know what, I've taken on projects this year that in the past I would have passed on because I have a goal. Getting out of debt takes laser focus - and it gets addictive. But, since I've been on Dave Ramsey's plan, I've made more progress in three months than I made all of last year - and I'm not THAT bad with money.
I've found that it's those little things that get it in the way of success. By chunk paying, getting an emergency fund in place and doing jobs I don't necessarily like, my debt-free goal is within reach - and yours can be too!
Tomorrow's Post
Debt-Free Living: A Freelancer's Personal Tale of Getting -- & Staying -- There
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Copyright Notice: 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.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Blogging Cash in Your Pocket!
Blogging has brought me many benefits - many which have led directly to cash in my pocket. Following are the things that have led directly to more income from my blogging efforts:
a) Wholistic Body of Work: I recently picked up a client who came across my blog while surfing the web.
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Without even asking, he told me that he liked by conversational style of writing and could tell that I "knew my stuff." He was talking about my marketing ability.
No marketing, no persuading, no samples - he handed me a project right off the bat. All because he was able to read through almost two years of blog posts, which gave him an idea of what I could do for him.
b) Better Writing Style: This kind of ties into the aforementioned point, but blogging has made me a better writer. Before I sweated over every word and really didn't have much confidence in my ability as a "saleable" writer.
I thought copywriting was some type of rocket science that I just didn't do well. But, the more I did it and the more clients were pleased with what I turned in, the more confidence I gained.
I've written e-books, postcards, web copy, newsletters and sales letters - and almost everything in between. Blogging has innately given me a "feel for the right words." It's hard to explain. But, I no longer feel intimidated or panicked by a project.
Because I write a lot, I'm confident in my ability to do a project.
2 Tips To Better Writing Skills
Write Headlines: What do I mean? Many times, I will write down just a headline without having any idea of what type of copy I'm going to write. But, 99% of the time, I am able to come up with copy to fit that headline.
I think this comes from working the old brain muscle. Eg, the more you write, the more ideas you will be able to flesh out.
Write Tight: As in, develop the habit of saying what you want to say in as few words as possible. Cut, cut, cut! While this skill may take some time, it will pay off when you have numerous projects on your desk that have to be done, and/or if you work in advertising.
Many commercials (radio and TV) require tight copy. When the client is paying $250,000 for a 30-second spot, they're not going to want Shakespeare.
c) Speed: When I first started blogging, I would spend anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours on a post. Now, I knock it out in 30 minutes or less - without sacrificing quality.
This has increased my income because I apply the same rapidity to rote client projects (eg, those projects I consistently handle for clients). Again, without sacrificing quality.
d) More Self-production: Blogging forces you to focus. When I sit down to write a post, I almost always finish it because I have in my head what I want to say and I want to get it out before it disappears.
I apply this same intensity and rapidity to client projects wherever possible. While it's not possible to finish all client projects in one sitting, I do focus more when I am working on them and am able to get more done in one sitting than before I started blogging.
Again, I think it's a matter of working some portion fo the brain. Like any muscle, the more you use it, the better it performs.
e) More Product Sales: This is kind of obvious, but I sell more stuff (my e-books) because I've cultivated a loyal readership who trust my opinion. So, when they need the type of info I offer, they purchase from me instead of the gazillion other freelancers on the web.
Blogging is not an immediate way to make money. And, it's hard work. But it's those who blog consistently, write well and become an authority of sorts, who turn blogging into cash.
Tomorrow's Post: Not exactly regular blog fodder, but equally important: How to Get Out of Debt on a Freelance Salary
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Copyright Notice: 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.
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Monday, March 19, 2007
I want to apologize for the delay in getting to this post. I was recently in a car accident and suffered severe whiplash; am getting better with the help of a wonderful chiropractor.
Sincerely,
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
Now, on to the much-delayed Part III of this post, Lessons Learned from Two Years of Blogging.
Lesson 11: Reference other blogs. Referencing other blogs means that you must read other blogs. Much like reading a newspaper to know what’s going on in the world, read other blogs to find out what’s going on in the blogosphere.
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Lesson 12: Stay on top of blog technology. Referencing other blogs benefits you in numerous ways, namely:
i) Updates you on new blog technology. Want to learn which technology allows you to blog faster, make more money, advertise your blog better, etc.? Like all mediums, blog technology changes rapidly. Consult other blogs to stay abreast of it.
FYI, Darren Rowse’s blog, problogger.net, is a great one to consult about all things related to blogs – software, increasing income, pervading opinions on blogging, etc.
ii) Increases your blog’s rank. Especially if you link to high-ranked blogs like http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com, http://www.thegoldenpencil.com, and http://www.writersweekly.com.
Lesson 13: Copyright your material. Many blog without ever thinking about how they might earn income from it down the line. Most think in terms of making money from the ads that appear on their blog.
When Whitney Houston recorded I Will Always Love You (yes, that was written as a country song by Dolly), she said she made a mint. Her songs have been sampled, re-recorded used in movies (she wrote the hit, Working 9 to 5, for the popular movie, in which she starred), etc.
Every time any of these happened, she was paid.
So, while it may seem like your copy is disappearing into a black hole on the net and no one cares about it but you, you never know who is reading it and may have a valuable use for it.
Lesson 14. Make your blog posts serve double duty. What do I mean? Each entry I make into my blog serves three purposes:
iii) sell it whenever possible.AssociatedContent.com pays for content – whether it’s been published before, or not. It’s a nominal payment (pay ranges from a low of $3 up on up to $40), but I figure, as long as I’ve written the material, I might as well get paid for it.
You can also do a web search for an article I wrote entitled, Why Longer Articles Make You More Money. It’s found on several sites on the web.
However, many times I’ve written a post and wanted to learn more about a subject in order to sell the piece, which I go on to do. This brings me to my next lesson:
Like soap opera cliffhangers, series not only allow you to break longer posts into smaller ones, it gives readers a reason to come back. If readers think enough of your writing to return again and again, before long, you will build a loyal readership who come to trust and rely on your blog.
If you’ve written a body of work that is so valuable that readers can find useful info in posts from a year ago, then you’re on your way to becoming more than just a blog; you’re building a resource – with you as the “expert.”
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Thursday, March 01, 2007
Lessons Learned from Two Years of Blogging (Part II of III)
Today’s post is a continuation of yesterday’s post entitled, Lessons Learned from Two Years of Blogging. Without further ado:
6. Use Photos: This is something I very recently started doing. It makes sense as, as human beings, we are visual beings.
A photo works much like a great headline/article title – it draws readers in.
Tip for selecting photos: Of course, make it pertinent to the story. Also, make it funny if you can. Making people laugh is almost never a bad idea. (Image courtesty of ChrisAbraham.com)
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7. Don’t Be Afraid of Running Out of Things to Say: I wish I had a dollar over the last two years for everytime someone has written to me, “If I update my blog more often, I’m afraid I’ll run out of things to say.”
This is particularly true if they blog within a niche.
All I can say is, don’t be afraid of this. LIFE will provide you with topics to write about. Once you start to write regularly, strangely enough, you will have MORE to say, not less.
A prime example -- this list. When I first sat down to write about what I’d learned over the last two years of blogging, I had five initial points that I wanted to make. BUT, once I started writing, the ideas kept flowing.
And, as I’ve said elsewhere, when you write on a regular basis, you will pick up topic ideas from everywhere – eg, watching the news, talking to friends, reading other blogs, reader queries, etc.
You’ll just have to trust me on this point – you will not run out of things to say.
8. Longer Posts Fare Better: In my post, Article Marketing: Long or Short Articles -- Which Is Better?, I explain this in detail, so I won’t rehash it all here.
The gist of it is, shorter articles don’t explore a topic in enough detail to be beneficial. And, as you’ll remember from Part I of this article (Point 6), I advise all bloggers to respect their readers enough to give them useful information not found anyplace else.
Post Continued Below
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ARTICLE MARKETING E-BOOK: I conducted a month-long experiment on article marketing and published an e-book on the findings. Is article marketing profitable; how it works; which sites work best; how often to submit; what to submit; how much money will you make, results to expect; etc. All of these questions – and more – are answered! Learn more.
If article marketing is part of your promotions arsenal, this is a must-read! Click here for ordering info.
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9. Don’t Stress about Feedback: I’ve been blogging for two years now, and only get a few comments on my posts. Does it mean that my blog is not popular, or that nobody’s reading it?
Not from the amount of email I get. If your blog is but a slice of your marketing efforts, then whether or not you receive massive amounts of feedback shouldn’t bother you. That’s why I advise bloggers to figure out why they blog (Point #1 in Part I).
If your blog is your living like Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger.net, then if you know that going in, then you can start marketing it like the from the beginning.
As my blog is only a part of my marketing plan, it serves its purpose just fine. Massive amounts of feedback/interactivity is not what I need from my blog.
10. Clearly Define a Niche for Your Blog: Some may disagree with what I’m about to say, but I’m a firm believer in niche marketing. Why?
According to the CNNMoney.com article, Getting pizza coupons by text message:
The average customer is targeted with more than 3,000 marketing messages a day, so people have developed a resistance," says Erik Hauser, CEO of Swivel Media, aWe are inundated. One of the most effective ways to get through is target marketing – ie, target people who have a pre-disposition to hearing what you have to say. How do you do this?
creative agency which has done mobile marketing work for clients like Wells
Fargo.
Become an “expert” in your field (eg, niche it) and build up a relationship of trust over time with a highly targeted market. In the October 2003 article, Calling All Marketers, on FastCompany.com, Bill Blundon, chief marketing officer of Extraprise, a consulting firm in Boston says:
It's time to get back to understanding your customers . . . When I get a callWhile some blogs achieve popularity without being niche blogs, eg, Kottke.org, these are rare. Jason Kottke, the owner of Kottke.org, had been blogging for years as a hobby before he tried to make money off his blog. According to his site, he has updated his blog almost every day since 1998 – that’s 9 years.
from American Express, I always listen to what they have to say. I have a
23-year relationship with them.
How many blogs do you know that have been around that long?! Most flame out after four or six months because there’s no immediate payoff. Blogging is no easy road to riches. Anyone who has a successful one will tell you that.
Blogger Makes History! Jason Kottke has quite an interesting story – in 2005, he quit his job as a web designer to blog full-time. While this may not sound like news now, it was big back then -- he was among the first to do this.
To this day, his full-time job is writing his blog. Tool around his site – interesting stuff (much of which I don’t understand or have an interest in; but, the simple breadth of material is impressive).
Tomorrow: Part III of this post.
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Labels: blogging advice, monetizing your blog, tips for bloggers
