HOW TO WRITE AND GET PAID FOR IT.

overview:

Have you ever heard the expression, "everyone has a book in them that’s trying to get out? What does this really mean? Not everyone writes books, do they? No, not many attempt the long, difficult process of writing a book-length manuscript. But a growing number of individuals are being paid for their writing; and, they’ve never attempted to write a book! Why? Think about it! When you’re driving to work in the morning, listening to the radio, what do you hear? People talking, right? It may surprise you that very little of that talk is spontaneous.

The radio people work from written material, which means ? Yes, someone has to WRITE the information down to be read over the airwaves. Here’s another example. Your mother’s birthday is coming up. What do you do? You buy a card.

Did you ever wonder who wrote the cards you look through when you’re searching for the right message? Well, it’s not a big company where people sit around all day writing cards. The writers of greeting cards could live next door to you since most of the material is submitted on a freelance basis.

How about your mail? Do you have days when you receive an endless amount of junk mail? Letter after letter of come-ons trying to get you to respond; these are not always thrown out. Some people read them and do inquire about the product or service mentioned.

More importantly, those letters and flyers are written by someone! You’re getting the idea. Writing is a common part of everyday business life. From the brochures telling you about savings accounts down at your local bank to the billboard you drive by every morning on the way to work to the bumper stickers you read on the back of the cars in front of you. All of this is written by somebody. Why couldn’t it be you?

Writing is an essential part of everyday life. There are scores of opportunities waiting out there for anyone interested in making some money through the written word. It’s not just Stephen King and Danielle Steele. Many of today’s successful freelance writers are completely unknown simply because their name doesn’t appear on their work. Yet you see it every day from television commercials to newspaper advertising.

 Don’t have any experience? Nonsense! Everybody writes, from the notes you send with your holiday cards to lists you make before grocery shopping. You probably don’t realize how much you write in a given week. In so doing, you are likely adjusting your writing depending on the subject or audience. 

When you send a note to school with your child, you’re writing in a certain style that’s likely different than a note you’d send to a relative. This is exactly what writers do they alter their writing content based on their subject or audience. So who says you can’t write for a living?

There’s no end to the kind of writing you can do. However, we do have a few suggestions for you to

consider in getting started thinking about a career, part-time or full, in the writing field.

As you review these pages, some idea may jump off the page as something you could do. Great! 

More importantly, don’t think because you’ve never had a writing lesson that you can’t do it. All it takes is practice, practice, practice and a determined desire to get it right. If you’ve got the drive, writing could well be your next career.

Resume writing- for others!

Nearly everyone, at one time or another, has written a resume in preparation for a job search. So why not start there? How many times have you done your own resume? If you’ve written it at least once, think of all the other people who have sat down to attempt it.What an endless list of possible clients! No matter how large or small the town in which you live, hundreds and even thousands of people are in need of resumes.

 People change jobs a lot today, through their own wishes or due to circumstances beyond their control (like a downsize, merger, buy-out or similar business adjustment). Besides, people don’t often keep their resumes up to date. So, we’ve established the need- resumes for people. Now, can you write them? Why not? If you haven’t done your own lately, do it now! Practice on yourself.

 There are a number of books you can check out at your local library or bookstore that offer help in formatting a "Modern" resume. There are employment resumes which list your experience by positions you’ve held. There are also functional resumes which list your qualifications by skill. Your employment history listed at the end is of lesser significance to the overall message you’re trying to send, which is "hire me!"

The business world is increasingly competitive in the number of positions available, as modern

technology has eliminated some positions while creating a need for others. The key today is specialization and a well-written resume can help you "stand out" in a potential employer’s eyes.

Since many individuals are either unaware of a resume‘s importance or lack the confidence in their ability to write a competitive resume, a resume-writing service can address both needs.

 Proper advertising of the service can educate people as to the resume‘s importance, while advertising alone may well generate more calls than you can handle from people who know a good resume is crucial and want some "expert" help in constructing their "masterpiece".

Employers use resumes today to narrow down the list of people they want to bring in for an interview. Specialization has employers looking for particular talents, but often a memorable resume can help get an interview even if all of their "requirements" for the job aren’t present.

You don‘t need much to get a resume service off the ground. First, you should study the various books on how to write a good resume.

 Practice a few formats and have samples ready for potential customers to review. Second, you will need a computer with a word-processing program or even just a good memory typewriter. If you have a computer and can afford a laser printer, all the better. But remember, you’re not in the printing business, you are simply creating the resume for your client.

Finally, this is an easy business to operate out of your home. If you have an area sufficient to put a

computer or typewriter, you can start. Pick up a file cabinet, or the smaller, plastic file boxes to store

client files. Your client’s need for a resume probably won’t end with one effort. Another job search is

likely to occur down the road and the client will probably come back to you for an update, especially if they were successful getting a job the first time around. Keeping a client’s past resume on file can assist you for further work later. As you research your resume writing, make a list of verbs that are common for resume writing, such as:

administered, managed, analyzed, operated, completed, organized, coordinated, prepared, created, started, designed, supervised, developed, trained, evaluated, wrote.

These lists will assist you in writing your resumes very quickly without constantly referring to a thesaurus. Time is of the essence to a freelance writer; there are shortcuts to producing quality work without spending hours and hours on a given piece. You’re ready to start. Now you must attract clients. Put together a business card and a flyer and start tacking them up on every community bulletin board in town. Send them to large company personnel departments who may refer employees who are being laid off. 

Advertise in the classified of your local newspaper and in the smaller, often free, publications that are circulated around town like the "Pennysaver". Tell friends and family members and give them your card/flyer. They can spread the word among friends. Someone’s bound to need help. What should you charge? A simple one-page resume could be priced as low as $25. The more complicated the resume, the more you charge. Much depends on the amount of work you have to do. Keep track of the time it takes you to complete a resume- the more work, the longer hours, the higher your price.

working with local businesses

Now that you understand the idea of the versatility of freelance writing, let’s turn our attention to

organizations you will come in contact with through your resume services business.

As individuals come to you with resumes, make a list of all the local company names you write on the resumes. This is your next prospecting list. Companies, particularly small ones, have a great need for writers. Think about it! Every day, a business is corresponding with a customer, a potential customer or a supplier.

 That correspondence often takes the written form. Well-written correspondence can make the difference between getting a job, landing a customer, increased growth in the business or not. The importance of writing can never be overlooked. Yet the majority of people, even business people whose prosperity depends on customers, place little emphasis on good writing and spend very little time at it. Your opportunities here are many. Businesses write letters, create brochures, advertise their services, send out direct mail to potential customers; in short, they WRITE!

You’ll have to alter your Resume Services business card or, better yet, create a new business card to

advertise your "all-purpose" writing services. Prepare samples of different types of writing you can do. Instead of throwing out that junk mail, save those letters and practice perfecting their idea to get a

potential customer to respond to what’s in the letter. Have a family member of a friend bring home

samples of correspondence from their places of work. Read them and practice writing business letters. Go to the library and check the reference works on writing good letters. Read newspapers and magazines for sample advertising copy. Take a product you like and write an advertisement for it. Practice! Practice! Practice!

Correspondence

Your best clients here are small businesses, sole proprietors or partnerships who may not have the time to spend on their correspondence. Contract with them to do their written work. You can probably charge $25-100 for a letter. Businesses may have form letters they use, and you can redesign them for the better. The quality of correspondence is often an indicator, to a client or a potential client, of the company’s professionalism. You can help businesses increase their sales simply by improving their correspondence.

Brochures

Most businesses try to sell their services through the use of a brochure. Brochure writing and design is not something that takes ages to perfect. The most important consideration is identifying the purpose of the brochure. Is it to sell a client on the company itself, or a specific product or service? Once the subject is identified, then you can pinpoint the key features of the specific idea that should be emphasized. Keeping brochures simple is important. 

Writing everything there is to know about a company, product or service may seem great, but it is usually ineffective because it’s too much for a casual reader to take in. Simplicity, on the other hand, can trigger a potential client’s interest and have them seeking out the company to ascertain more about the product or service identified within the brochure. Once they call, the company has a better chance of transforming that curiosity into a new customer.

 As you begin to do writing, you will work with other professionals in the field such as graphic artists. These are individuals whose artwork can help create a terrific brochure. But, for small businesses, it is often convenient to find the copywriter and graphic artist in one person. For that reason, the use of a computer has great potential rewards. There is a wide variety of "desk-top publishing" software that can be used for both writing and graphic design. 

There are specific programs that design a brochure. Being able to offer the whole package will be a great advantage to your business. Brochure writing can bring you a nice paycheck per piece, as high as $500-1000 for some elaborate pieces. As a writer, your objective is to put the message within the brochure effectively. Remember- keep it simple. The easier to read and comprehend, the higher the response will be to the piece.

Advertising

The art of advertising is only slightly different from the brochure. In a brochure, you have more time and space to put your message across. In advertising, only a few words are used.

Advertisements must stop the reader and thus need a "grabber" headline. You must always remember the purpose of the advertisement. It’s not to SELL anyone, but to attract enough INTEREST to get the person to call for more information. Then the real selling can start!

There are words that are consistently effective in pulling in an audience and initiating a response. Here‘s a short-list: 

Amazing, profitable, easy, secret, free, simple, now, privileged, special offer, win, incredible, don’t wait, make money, startling.

Businesses need to attract clients. Advertising will do that if it‘s done well. This is where you come in. Read advertisements! Which ones do you respond best to? Try this: cut out a few of the advertisements you like best and show them to several friends. Record their level of interest and rank the results. You’ll probably see a pattern where one or two of the advertisements emerge at the top of everyone’s list. Study those to see why. Very likely, you’ll see that the use of a few key words and the message they imply will prompt people to respond positively to those ads.

Direct Mail

Many businesses do direct mail as a method of acquiring new customers. These works must be written well to achieve the type of response that will make the effort worthwhile, especially financially, since postage and printing costs make it an expensive method of advertising.

But it works! Well-written direct mail can bring in hundreds and thousands of new customers . Your

writing efforts are not merely a cost in constructing a direct mail letter; in fact, you can help a company earn substantially more as a result of a successful direct mail campaign.

Effective direct mail creates an image in a client’s mind. That vision is primarily one in which the

person’s life will be enhanced by the purchase of the product or service being advertised. This is your

goal- to help the potential customer see how much better things will be because of what you are

"advertising" in the letter. Here are ways to make a direct mail letter effective:

1. The opening of the letter should be treated with the same reverence as a headline. You have to grab the reader’s attention quickly and make them want to keep on reading. It may be the outside of the direct mail envelope that starts the process. If it’s good enough, the person tears open, the envelope and begins reading. Then the headline/first paragraph of the letter must create the same effect- to keep the person reading.

2. There must be reasons to keep reading, usually in the form of some benefits. Because the

 person opened the envelope, there is a free offer. Then, when reading the first paragraph, more benefits jump out; the value of the service or product, perhaps. Put in a good benefit with each paragraph and keep the paragraphs short!

3. Don‘t offer benefits that aren‘t believable. Don‘t make promises you can‘t keep. The idea is not to

make people skeptical, but to make them see the tangible benefits that you offer are valid. To this end, be specific. General terms usually provoke disbelief, while actual specifics are shown to have more honest-sounding appeal.

4. Understand the product or service yourself. Would you buy it? If so, why? If you understand why you‘d buy it, you can set about convincing people using those same thoughts.

5. Use third party affirmations, if available. If it‘s only your copy, it won‘t leave as good an impression as the insertion of a few outside quotes from others, testifying to the effectiveness of the product or service.

6. Simplicity sells! Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Easy words. You‘re not out to win the Pulitzer

Prize. You only want individuals to respond to your letter. They will if they understand the benefits of

doing so. Keep it simple!

7. Be explicit with your instructions. The letter must not only detail the great benefits, but tell the person exactly what they must do to obtain them. Be specific and make it easy to respond - including a postage-paid card or a toll-free number are usually great methods.

8. Freebies earn responses. Giving something away usually helps the response dramatically.

9. Convince the reader that the product or service being advertised is backed up by a strong company that guarantees the results and benefits detailed in the letter. Readers must be convinced of the authenticity and the ability to back up the strong comments within the letter.

Letters can be two to four pages in length or even longer and you can probably charge $50-100 per page to write the copy. This is a small investment for a business in exchange for the sales growth direct mail can achieve.

In summary, small local businesses are a great source of writing work for you in a variety of forms.