Articles in the Markets and Marketing Category

Growing up, I imagined that my writing would, one day, make a difference in the lives of others. People would come to me on the street, and say “You wrote that story, it changed my life.” It was a great feeling; a feeling that fueled my writing dreams through the years.

Somewhere along the way, that dream slipped into the background of my subconscious. My inner idealist still wants to change the world, but the realist within asks “how,” “when,” and “at what cost?” Real life practicalities force me to wonder if writing can still change the world.

How Writers Have Changed the World

Great writing has changed the world. Writing down a language, whether in pictographs or actual words, increased communication between people. Today, the internet allows instant transmission of our writing. We can share our experiences, thoughts, and causes with the world.

Ancient texts, from sacred religious tomes to classical fiction and non-fiction literature, opened the realm of conscious thought and discussion to countless people throughout the ages. Hundreds of years later, we still turn back to these masterpieces to learn about the past, and let ourselves be carried away to a different time and place.

The printing press made writing accessible to the common man. Over time, publishing has allowed writing to flourish everywhere, with flyers, newspapers, magazines, books, and now, internet publishing. Never before has our writing had a chance to influence so many, so quickly. We can promote any worthy cause, personal philosophy, or intellectual discussion, and rally the support of thousands of people all around the world.

We are at a prime time in the course of civilization to make a difference with our words. And therein lies the obstacle as well.

Why Making a Difference Writing can be Difficult

So much information is available to us. It quickly becomes buried in search engine archives, under the stack of magazines by our coffee table, and within our bookshelves. Great wisdom is at our fingertips, but without proper publicity, it’s just another list of words to be filed away and lost. No one will know what you find important, unless you share it with them, personally. You must be a champion of your own writing, and the great writings of others, before your ideals and causes will ever be read and noticed.

Many of us aren’t adept at promoting our work. We may use the latest fads to get our message out, but snagging the attention of others is increasingly difficult. Our beliefs about self-promotion and modesty are obstacles to increasing awareness. There is a fine line to walk, between influencing others and becoming overbearing sleazy salesmen, and it is easy to avoid that line completely in the hopes that our writing will speak for itself.

Champion Your Writing, and Make a Difference

As writers, we need to be bold supporters of our work. We have to let the world know that we have something vital to say that will change their lives. No matter what other causes we support, our writing must become our first cause. Believe in yourself, the validity of your thoughts and words, and share your writing with anyone it may influence. Never hold back from letting your writing lend someone a helping hand.

Have you given your writing a chance to make a difference to someone else? How do you make writing your “First Cause”? Are you comfortable with traditional marketing techniques, or have you blazed your own trail?

Photo Credit: Ginnerobot

You know the saying “Love makes the world go round? ” Writing  from experience and imagination can wager a pretty penny for those looking to grow and prosper from their creative writing …The language of love is alluring. Speaking from a woman’s perspective, the very idea of love harbors some fantasy of a Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, minus the tragic ending of course.

Feburary 14th is Valentine’s Day. It is on this day that women look forward to the reminders from their mate; that they are loved and desired. Loving verse from a greeting card, penned by an ambitious writer, conveys this message quite well. In Roman Times, a young priest named Saint Valentine was jailed and ordered put to death. This is where love gets tricky.

Valentine, as the tale goes, fell madly in love with the jailer’s daughter. He wrote her love letters from his jail cell on a regular basis… love letters written from behind walls of separation and signed “from your Valentine”. Saint Valentine’s expression of love via letters survives to this day. The oldest known love letter was a poem written by Charles of Valois, Duke Of Orleans, to his wife, Bonne d’Armagnac, after he was wounded and caught in 1415’s Battle of Agincourt. That manuscript can still be found (reportedly) at the British Library in London, England.

I believe that writers are true romantics at heart. Whether they’re penning a love letter to a one and only, a new love interest smoldering with possibility, or reaching into memories of past loves, writing sentimental stories and poems can lead to an increase in cash flow for the freelance writer in 2010. Love rocks!

Some sites to consider when researching where to send your sentiments of love :

1. Anthologies:

Contributing to anthologies might not pay highly, but, it does offer greater exposure and networking opportunities. There is a market for anthologies in all freelance writing genres, particularly romance. To find anthologies seeking love stories, poems, and essays, go to AnthologiesOnline.com

2. Lyrics/Songwriting:

There are many writing competitions that require a small entry fee to judge your work and perhaps award you the prize. In 2005, I entered the VH1 Song Of The Year Competition where I’d written lyrics to what I thought was a lovely remembrance of a soft/melodic love (at a price)… To make a long story short, I didn’t snag the big prize but my son was nominated as “Selected Artist” for that year. That nomination is a fantastic reference.

While you might not always win, writing lyrics and songs for competitions builds your experience and in time you might consider entering the song writing industry. Many talented writers earn their bread and butter writing the words to songs sung by popular artists. Interested in this field? Have you seen Coyote Ugly or Music and Lyrics?

3. Poetry/Prose:

April is National Poetry Month and poetry writing is on the move. Making a profit from poetry can be challenging but is still possible. Every year new poetry is published across the world in many different forms. I have a friend, Mark Anthony Hall, who made his career writing romantic poetry. An Author of several books of romantic poetry/prose and essays, he’s a success in writing letters from the heart.

Mark Anthony also publishes a newsletter, “For Romantics Only”, that takes submissions of romantic short-stories, cartoons, and poetry. I was one of his very first submissions back in the 90s. Visit his website and read excerpts from one of his books, ”Romantic Bedside Stories”, to jump-start your own romantic juices and spark a creative flow.

The possibilities for publishing and profiting from romance writing are endless. From greeting cards, Ezines, and eBooks, to CDs, audiotapes, and books; Writing about love in any art form can be fun and lucrative. Who knows, your work might label you a” Love Guru”!

As Valentine’s Day approaches, writers should take the initiative, write those letters in whatever shape, form, or fashion; Stakeout, identify and bombard your market with submissions and get in on this lucrative boom promoting the essence of love!

What has been your experience with romantic writing?

Photo Credit: ildalina

*jaw drops* Ok, my head must have been in the sand yesterday because I didn’t hear about this until late this afternoon (5 hours ago). It’s taken me that long to read, let it sink in, ride the comment wave through 343 amazing, deep, and emotionally motivated comments, and still get kids fed, bathed, and into bed.

So, the Men With Pens James Chartrand is actually a woman…

My initial reactions were heartbreak, anger, and frustration. Like others have mentioned, my anger wasn’t directed at James for any sense of ‘deception’. Writers use pen names all the time. I have another name, another persona for a different aspect of myself, there is nothing wrong with choosing to put a different label on one compartment of your life.

What I was angry about is the “need” to use a MAN’s name and the YEARS I’ve put into building my business under my own name. I had no idea that my being a woman could play a significant role on how others treated me. Blind, naive, and perhaps just a little stupid. I let it sink in. I let myself feel the anger and resentment and yes, even jealousy that James had figured out that key early on and found success by presenting an alternative image. I let myself feel it and examined those emotions and motivations.

I pulled out a notepad and wrote angry and heart broken rants. I snagged comments that I resonated with as I read down through them all. I examined my feelings and the reactions of others.

James has always commanded my respect but even I am guilty of gender bias. I held off reaching out to establish a more personal friendship with James because I thought he was a man. I don’t feel as confident of myself when I deal with men, and I often feel a sense of resentment when I consider men doing what I do. Freelancing men.

In one comment, Andrew Lightheart said, “Why should it matter to me that you’re a woman? But it does – I’m amazed at my hidden sexism. Not in a ‘I’m never going to read her writing again’ – more that it changes the way I read it.

And not in a bad way, but it *shouldn’t* make *any* difference.”

Me too. And I’m disappointed with myself for the same reason. Gender shouldn’t matter, but it does. It completely changes our perception. It even changes each word she’s ever written. We see it differently. That fact, underlines exactly why we need to be aware of this issue. It SHOULDN’T be so, but it is.

I have this insidious voice in my head that says, “Men have it so easy.” Some of that comes from having been raised by a mother who struggled to make it in a man’s world. By having a father who paid lip service to parenting, who barely acknowledged me as his daughter and instead gave his all to raising someone else’s children. By being divorced, having an ex-husband who rarely bothers to contact his two children. By having experienced in my own life men who “had it easy”, walked away from responsibility, and accomplished in stride what I struggle to achieve every day.

But not ALL men are like that. On a conscious level I know that. On a sub-conscious level “knowing” doesn’t silence the voice.

James followed up with: “This was very often one of the reasons I *hated* telling people who I was. I didn’t change, my work didn’t change, NOTHING changed…

Except *their* perspective of me. And I disliked becoming someone else in their eyes in that way. I wasn’t that person. You know?”

And yet, the person James DID appear to be created an image, a perspective too. I’m not the only one who mentioned that ‘his’ being a man, influenced the way I treated him.

I think we all have our little voices. We all react from the prejudices and imprints our personal experiences have left on our soul. We all treat people differently, even when we “know” we shouldn’t.

How important is gender for freelance writers?

Would being a man, improve a female writer’s chances of success? If she were a man would she have landed that gig?

It’s scary to wonder the implications. What do you think?

I mentioned before how important Social Media is, and that you can Ping Your Way to the Top, but how exactly do you do that? How do you find the courage to put yourself “out there” and what exactly, and how much, should you share?

I have some advice for you…

Wading out into the Social Media waters can seem scary. It almost feels like the first day as the new kid on the block, or like that haunting peer pressure we experienced in high school—and, for some of us, it was horrific!

If you’re caving under the pressure from Social Media invites, or have already jumped into the Social Media pool but aren’t sure exactly how to go about getting started, you might be wondering things like: What will people think of me? Will I say something stupid? What kind of things should I say in my updates? Why would anyone care about what I have to say?

The fear of fitting in seems to follow us throughout our lives, doesn’t it? From the first day of Kindergarten, we struggle to fit in—often worrying what others will think of our every move.

These are all legitimate worries but you’ll soon see that if you follow the tips I’m about to share, you’ll fall into a Social Media groove you’re comfortable with.

Five Tips for Social Media Success:

1. Honesty is always the best policy.
   I was raised by these words. I’m glad. There’s nothing worse than lies and falseness. The truth may hurt, it might be ugly sometimes, but it’s real. It’s who you are. No, you don’t have to tell 100% of every minute detail of your life, but you can approach your business and Social Media with honesty. You don’t want to end up with 20,000 followers all based on a lie. Start with a solid foundation, who you truly are. Be yourself. No, not everyone will like you, in fact, some people may despise you. But if you’re just YOU, you’ll end up networking with like-minded people and will be much happier with the direction your network takes.
2. Be sincere and genuine.
   This is similar to being honest, but goes a little further than that. If you aren’t sincere in your Social Media updates and responses, people will eventually pick up on that. Just because you’re behind a computer screen, doesn’t mean that you should put up a false front and post fake responses. If you don’t care that someone’s in the hospital, or you don’t care about breast cancer awareness, don’t act like you do.
3. Learn the ropes.
   It doesn’t take too long to pick up on how the various Social Media sites operate. Some pick up quicker than others but we can all learn new things—even if we only have small spurts of time to dedicate to learning, here and there. Give yourself some time and have an open mind for catching on to various techniques (such as #FollowFriday on Twitter, where you share people you enjoy following with others—on a Friday).
4. Figure out what is unique and different about you and your business, and use it to your advantage—in a positive way.
   Do you have a unique product or a special talent? Do you provide services unlike other businesses out there? Is the name of your business different? Is your location odd? What’s your story? Once you realize what it is, if you don’t know already, share it with the world! Mesmerize them. Excite them. Make them crave more of your product, or your services.
5. Share your personality.
   Without YOU, your business is nothing but an idea. You make your business happen. You’re a real person. So, don’t be a robot. You laugh, you cry, you get angry, you mess up, you have epiphanies, you forget things…. Show snippets of your personality. You don’t have to curse when you’re mad or tell the world you just went to the bathroom but you can share milestones, struggles, or a funny thought you just had. Be warm and inviting and people will want to friend/follow you!

Social Media is an amazing marketing tool. Used correctly, it can bring you business success beyond your wildest dreams–and friendships you’ll cherish, that can last a lifetime…

Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to visit the other articles Michele has written for Writer’s Round-About–or contact her to write for you.

You can also find more tips in part one of Rebecca Laffar-Smith’s 3-part interview with me: On Social Networking Success.

What are you waiting for? Come on in, the water’s fine!

Are you active in Social Media? Have you been holding off because of fears I’ve mentioned today? Has anything I’ve said swayed your decision and prompted you to run and sign up for the Social Media sites you’ve avoided? Start the conversation, somebody, I’m itching to discuss!!!

And be sure to subscribe if you aren’t already. I’ll be sharing do’s and don’ts of Social Media in an upcoming post!

Photo Credit: lusi

If you currently market your writing online through sites such as Associated Content, Constant Content, or Triond, you know there’s an enormous demand online for information of all types. One of the most powerful strategies for multiplying earnings from your writing is to recycle non-exclusive articles you’ve written for the various online submission sites into a larger scale work such as an ebook that can be sold online. It can be very exciting to be an ebook author and you’ve already done much of the work by writing your own original articles. Why not use your articles to write and sell an ebook to enhance your online writing income?

While many people think the task of writing an ebook is a monumental undertaking, the truth is if you publish articles on a narrowly defined group of topics, you may already have the material for several ebooks on your computer just waiting to be organized and compiled. An ebook can be as simple as a group of articles grouped together with some added writing between articles to bridge the gaps and make the book flow better. To write and sell an ebook is not such an overwhelming endeavor after all.

For example, suppose your favorite topic to write articles about are fly fishing techniques. You’ve written over twenty articles on that topic and consider yourself to be somewhat of an expert on fly fishing. Your articles get lots of page views so you know there’s significant interest in the topic. Since you wrote these articles as non-exclusives, you’re free to use the material you already have to write and sell an ebook.

Why not gather together those already completed articles and formulate them into groups based on subtopic? These could form the main topic headings for your first ebook. Once you have the articles grouped, you can outline your table of contents. Now that you have your table of contents and subject headings, it’s a simple matter of using your articles to fill in the body of each subject heading and manipulating the wording so it flows more smoothly. An ebook will come together more quickly than you ever dreamed possible and you’ll have spent little time on the actual writing.

Once you have your ebook organized, it’s time to come up with a compelling title. The title needs to solve a problem, be compelling, and arouse emotion in your reader. Which title would you rather read?:

The Online Guide to Fly Fishing
Conquering the Waters: The Complete Novice’s Guide to Fly Fishing Like a Pro

The second title packs more emotion punch and will probably compel your reader to want to purchase your ebook more than the first one. Remember, a title can make or break sales of an ebook.

Once you’ve completed your ebook it’s time to put it into ebook format. Most successful ebooks are published in pdf format which makes it capable of being read on both PC’s and Macs which widens your potential customer base. There are a variety of free software programs that will convert your document to PDF format. One such free one is Open Office. You’ll also want to design an eye catching ebook cover to grab the potential reader’s attention. Once you’ve completed your book, there are a variety of ebook directories where you can promote and sell your book.

And you thought it would be hard to write and sell an ebook? Nothing could be further from the truth. Why not gather together those non-exclusive articles and get started today?

Dr. Kristie is a medical doctor with a concentration in family practice. She also has an undergraduate degree in both Biology and Psychology as well a master’s in Clinical Pathology. Dr.Kristie has been a published writer for the last two years and was named one of Associated Content’s top 1,000 writers for 2007.

Every person has a style of writing that is completely unique.  The education received and language heard while growing up plays an important roll in the structure of sentences and construction of paragraphs.  Knowing your personal style will offer an edge in marketing yourself to the right publications.

Humor

Are you able to turn a serious subject into an easy reading and roll on the floor laughing piece?  Do you find politics the root of all jokes?  If you can answer yes to either of those questions, anthologies or politically geared websites and magazines makes a great starting point!

Sales

Have you noticed a trend in your writing that leaves the reader wanting to know more about the subject?  Are you able to entice a person with a small number of words?  It’s high time to be looking into product descriptions and copy writing!  There are numerous companies in need of your skills.

Descriptions

Do you describe scenery so vivid the mind can see?  Are you quick with flowing analogies and find writing lengthy stories a piece of cake?  Fiction magazines and short story compilations are one way to go.  Shortening your word count considerably while providing an amazing story could be an option too!  Flash fiction is fun and pays decently, too!

Emotional

Are the words you share connected with powerful emotions?  Are you able to describe physical reactions to difficult situations by showing your readers?  (Tom faced the firing squad.  As the blindfold was placed over his eyes, he wiped his hands along side his ragged pants.  Showing nervousness by the sweating palms.)  Looking into life-story websites and columns for a steady income is wise.

Analytical

Do you understand pie charts, graphs, figures and instructions?  Are you up to date in medical or scientific terminology?  Are you able to work through a project step by step and accurately explain how to make it work?  Writing instruction manuals doesn’t typically offer a by line, but the pay as a technical writer is nice.

Conversational

When writing, do you feel as though you are carrying on a conversation with your intended audience?  Are your paragraphs short and concise?  The art of web logging or blogging is right up your alley.  The ability to carry forward with conversational pieces draws in a reader and keeps them hooked.  Some of the popular bloggers maintain this same style of writing.

Know Your Style!

Knowing your style and understanding the types of publications geared towards brand you will help eliminate the guess work of which direction to take.  Eliminating certain genres will help narrow the type of writing gigs to search.  You are left with a solid beginning for your writing career and brand.

Is your writing style a combination of these?  If so, you will probably be one of the many who is able to bridge the gap between different markets and truly persevere with your writing goals!  Now to ask, what is your favorite style of writing to read?

Can you think of other writing styles? In what other markets could each of these styles excel? Which writing style dominates your own writing?

Are you a person who’s skilled at creating witty quotes and sayings? If so, you can make money with your talents. The internet has opened up a variety of ways to make money from short quips and quotes that inspire people or cause them to smile. If you want to make money selling sayings, consider these options:

Sell sayings: Sell your quotes on Café Press

CaféPress is an online site where you can sell your original sayings or artwork to be placed on t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, and a variety of other items. You simply upload your saying or artwork to the CaféPress site and it will be displayed on their marketplace or you can set up your own CaféPress store selling your pithy quotes and sayings. Each time an item sells, you get a percentage of the profits without having to do a thing except make up more clever sayings.

Sell sayings: Publish an online saying of the day

Why not build up an email list of people who want to receive your witty saying of the day? You can profit by including a link to a related affiliate program with each email. A certain percentage of the people who read your daily mail will click on the link and purchase the product. When they do, you’ll receive a percentage of the sale. To have the best chance for success, design your quotes for a niche audience such as witty sayings about bulldogs or motivational sayings for sales people. Choose your affiliate products carefully and you can build up a nice business using this method for selling sayings.

Sell sayings: Publish your sayings on greeting cards

Greeting card companies are always looking for interesting sayings and poems to print onto greeting cards. In fact, most of these companies use freelancers in some form or other. Why not gather together your best sayings and turn them into greeting card material? It’s best to start your submissions by approaching small to medium sized greeting card companies where the competition is less. Write to each company and determine what their submission guidelines are and what they’re looking for. There’s no point in submitting religious sayings to a greeting card company focused on humor. Buff up your sayings and quotes to correspond to what each particular greeting card company wants. Expect rejections at first until you better understand the market, but if you persist and adapt to the market, you can find success selling saying to the greeting card market.

As you can see, something as simple as a witty saying can be marketable. Selling sayings can be a fun way to exercise your creativity and make money at the same time.

Dr. Kristie is a medical doctor with a concentration in family practice. She also has an undergraduate degree in both Biology and Psychology as well a master’s in Clinical Pathology. Dr.Kristie has been a published writer for the last two years and was named one of Associated Content’s top 1,000 writers for 2007.

From novice to experienced, writers all need certain items to market themselves more efficiently.  It is a digital age, but there is much more than email and websites to sell yourself and your abilities.  The following items cover some basics when you are out around town.

• Dedicated Phone Line
  • A continuous means to be reached by editors is important.  For new clients as well.  Emails are quick and impersonal.  A phone conversation to clarify one or two facts can mean the difference between an acceptance and a rejection.  When working with new clients, clarifying a bid or story idea makes the difference in continued work or sending out more query letters.
• Business Cards
  • I’ve heard (and read) about writers who feel there is no use in business cards.  I disagree.  The ability to professionally pass on your contact information leaves a better impression than someone who scribbles down a phone number on a piece of paper.  If you feel you won’t use many cards, simply having your name, phone number, website address and position will suffice.  They will also last many years!
• Portfolio
  • As I stated before, it is a digital world, but a physical portfolio can be carried in a small bag or in the car.  It’s quickly accessible and a great reference for anyone interested in your writing.  Going out to lunch with friends or family is a great opportunity to discuss your writing projects.  People in restaurants naturally eavesdrop and their interest is piqued.  Having a quality portfolio to show can lead to more writing gigs.
• References
  • Letters of recommendation are an amazing asset to include with a portfolio both online and off.  Placing them after an article sells you with very little effort.  All you need to do is ask.  Most editors will gladly pass on a letter for your portfolio.

If you are just starting out and question your ability to build a portfolio, take the opportunity to invest in non-paying gigs.  You can build a rapport in the writing market this way.  Pitch a blogger!  If you find that there is a blog that your idea will contribute, send off an email with word count, story idea and ask for a recommendation once the piece is published with credit given.  Include the article and letter in your portfolio.  Keep in mind that most blogs maintain a 300-700 word post count.  If your piece would be much longer, trim it down or break it into multiple posts for a series.

Working through the nervousness of asking is the first step.  You can do it and if you know you can write, you can accomplish anything!

Editor’s Note: If you’re looking for publishing credits consider contributing to Writer’s Round-About. While many of our writers are established professionals we welcome seeing writing through fresh eyes and would love to experience your perspective. Find out more.

Queries. The lifeblood – and bane – of many freelance writers. We conceive an idea. Find experts to quote. Do market research. Then send our best pitch to the name at the top of the masthead of the “perfect magazine” for our story. Then we wait. And wait.

Wouldn’t it be nice to build a freelance career without having to enter query letter purgatory? You can. Use these four techniques to find new clients, land recurring gigs with well-paying magazines – and leave the story pitches for other people.

1. Word-of-mouth – Anybody who’s ever read a book about marketing knows the importance of word-of-mouth. Its significance is enhanced in Web 2.0, where word-of-mouth extends to social networking. I’ve landed several assignments through my social networks on Twitter, Facebook, and various forums. But my favorite story about word-of-mouth relates to a long-term client I began working with about 5 years ago. While shopping for paintball gear, I revealed to the marketing director at one of the top paintball distributors in the country that I was a freelance writer. He immediately hired me to write press releases. That job turned into a position as Editor-in-Chief at a leading paintball magazine. I share the story here, on one of my favorite sites for writers.

2. Assignments – My cash cows as a freelancer are regular clients who give me assignments every month. They generate the ideas in-house and, in most cases, provide sources. Since coming up with unique ideas perfectly slanted for a target market and finding sources are two of the biggest challenges in freelancing, this makes my life a lot easier and my business more lucrative.

3. Ads – Sure, responding to ads takes time, and you’re up against intense and copious competition. But if you craft a basic letter that you can tailor to each specific ad, you’ll save a lot of time. The site Freelance Writing Jobs is a great place to start, but you can have even more success by mining sites that aren’t regularly visited by every other aspiring freelancer on the Web. A word of warning: There’s never any need to pay for job listings, you can find plenty of work without shelling out any money. I avoid absolute statements as a rule, but I believe this one. There’s never a need to pay for job listings!

4. Letters of Interest – Want to write for a specific publication but don’t have an idea on tap? You can save time and capture the interest of an editor with a Letter of Introduction. LOIs, as they are known, work best if you have some credentials and quality clips. In this letter, rather than presenting an idea (as you would in a query letter) you sell YOURSELF as a writer. Start with a strong lead, emphasize why you would make a positive addition to the magazine’s team, and end with a call to action, asking for an assignment. Include clips and possibly your resume in the body of the e-mail (never send attachments).

I’m not saying you can easily break into a national magazine without a query (although it could happen) but you can build a successful freelancing career without spending hours on query letters!

In my past articles here at WRA, I’ve shared ways you can give back to your blogging community, how you can find your writing zone, tips for getting those writing gigs without an English degree, and have hopefully inspired you to find the courage to sell yourself—even if you come from a background overflowing with very low self-esteem.

But today I want to talk about how to sell yourself—outside of your comfort zone; meaning that you’re not hidden behind the safety net of your computer screen with all the time in the world to think up a smart response or sales pitch, meaning that you’re not cozied up in your favorite comfy chair with a giant mug of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate; meaning that you don’t have the familiarity of your home, your refuge, to calm and reassure you.

No, what I’m talking about is actually opening your front door and leaving the premises of your beloved home; getting out there in person and having face-to-face conversations with potential clients, editors, and even those entrepreneurs who have their own business but maybe aren’t Web savvy enough to even realize they should have a website and blog to help promote themselves to the world. I’m talking about real people, real experiences.

How can you sell yourself outside of your comfort zone?

1. Think about your dreams, visions, goals. Are you stuck in a rut? Do you–and your freelance business–seem to be at a standstill? Use your desire to succeed (or succeed even further) to push you outside your comfort zone!
   
2. Carry business cards wherever you go. When you do this, you’re guaranteed to look professional when you bump into someone while waiting in line (or whatever). Perhaps you start some chit-chat and realize they’re a business owner or someone needing the services you just happen to offer. Whip out those sharp cards and leave an impression they won’t forget!
3. Just be yourself. A lot of times we forget that it’s exactly who we are as a person that makes our editors and clients love our writing. It’s our passion, our talent, our love of what we do that draws people in and makes them want more of our work. So, just act like yourself out in public. And be who you are on those social media circuits when you’re so chatty, funny, and caring.
4. Go to writing, blogging, or business conventions. You’ll meet all sorts of people at these things and not only will you end up with new, like-minded friends, you may just end up meeting editors, publishers, or land an awesome blogging or writing gig! (Remember to pack lots of business cards!)
5. Help someone out with their booth, or business. Yes, that’s right. I personally go to outdoor markets with my mom to help her with her herb business. That’s what I was doing here. I can’t count how many business cards I passed out or how many people I promoted myself to while I was promoting my mom’s business–and I got to wear an old-fashioned bonnet and pioneer dress, too. That was FUN!
6. Believe in yourself. Even if editors and clients don’t believe in you. Even if your family and friends don’t believe in you. Believe in yourself. After all, you were given a priceless gift: the ability to create, have visions, dream, share your talents. You are blessed, believe it!
7. Just do it. Sometimes you have to buckle down, dig your heels in, and just go for it. Stick your neck out on a limb, take a chance, venture out into deeper waters, go places you’ve never gone. How will you expand your business if you don’t expand yourself? Face your fears and go for it!

Whatever you do, get out of the house. Get out there and show off your sparkling personality that shines through in your writing. Share your passion for words by actually speaking them instead of just writing them. Allow yourself to have some fun, feel human, and detach from the virtual world that beckons to you, that comforts you, that keeps you home and inside those familiar walls you can’t seem to leave.

What motivates you to get outside of your comfort zone? How often do you pry yourself away from the keyboard and meander out your front door and into the real world? Spill the beans; let’s talk!

Photo Credit:
saavem