Progress Report - Week Two

My week was spent crafting a viable feasibility plan for a grant committee connected with a class I took.  By going through the process, I came up with a great idea, but not in time for the deadline.  Shame, that.  It was a great opportunity, but I have since learned not every opportunity I see is an opportunity for me.  Mine is coming.  I just need to give it the hard work it deserves, first.

So what are my goals for this week?  Well, as everything last week ground to a halt for the Plan, now I get to pick up the pieces while fleshing out my idea.  Which means, today I resume work on my blogs and my ebooks.  Oh, and once the Plan is finished, I'll share tips on its creation on this blog.  Stay tuned.

Progress Report - Week One

If I had one word to wrap up the last week it would be tough.  A second word?  Doable.  Sun Tzu once wrote "according as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans."  That is exactly what was needed and I found a new foundation for my writing career.  Self-published, nonfiction ebooks.  Originally that was a sideline project, but it makes more sense to approach them first and work on nonfiction articles for magazines on the side.  Why? 

Because writing is like exercise.  You can't expect to be at your goal on day one.  Instead, you have to practice and work hard at it.  Writing nonfiction articles for magazines is unlike anything I have done before.  It is unrealistic to expect day thirty quality out of day one work.  But in the meantime, I don't want to be idle in the market.  That is where the ebooks come in.  I have about ten years of experience with book length works in fiction.  But more importantly, book length works--albeit short book length works--feel like a more natural fit.  So, that is why, instead of magazines articles, ebooks will be the foundation to my writing career. 

Where does one start?  With outlines--to be covered in different blog post.

Day One: Accomplishments

Ever feel like you are going backward.  Between other things I squeezed in two drafts of articles and this morning I know one for sure will not work.  I am disappointed, but at least, looking back at what I did do (see post), I still consider it a day well done, albeit not greatly done.  Let's see if we can't change this day around.

Day One of a New Life, New Job: Task One - Web Page and Twitter

Although, I started freelance writing earlier than November, today is my official day to make it a full-time occupation.  I planned on having things set up so I could start doing real writing, but I am behind on that.  I had to start with crafting a web page.  Mommy Millionaire Kim Lavine wrote that

"your Web site [is] your virtual storefront.  It's the door your customers come into on their way to meet you.  It's probably the single most important factor prospective customers and vendors alike will use to evaluate you."  

Even though I am freelance writing, this still felt true.  But to follow that advice, I first needed a logo, for my site Chiaroscuro House.


LOGO

Originally, my logo was going to look a little like the Euro symbol, but with the "H" on the lower curve of the "C".  To incorporate the C and H of Chiaroscuro House.

That is ok but not quite what I want.  Then I created one by accident where the C looked like a eclipse or crescent moon, with a circle inside with the "H".  But that looked like the 8-Ball when I darkened in the weird "C".

Finally, I hit upon something that looked like the cent sign and that used black, white, and shades of grey:

 

 All of this was done in MS Paint.  I believe MM Kim Lavine used Microsoft  Power Point.

WEB PAGE

I had a logo, but I was not yet done.  I needed a web page, or rather a new one.  But I am running low on time.  So, I took MM Kim Lavine's advice on keeping it simple.  I made it look like a business card.  I plan on doing more of these for different markets and contacts, but for now I have a general one.  It has my blogs, my contact information, my tag line, and sample writings.  You can find it here:

http://www.chiaroscurohouse.com/businesscards/general.htm 

TWITTER

I am a Twitter virgin, but I do have library book on Twitter for Dummies, which is due back on the 4th no matter what.  So might as well use it.  I already had the tools necessary to set myself up:  My logo, my tagline, my general business e-card mentioned above.  I used these in my profile.

http://twitter.com/#!/jodiralston

Ta Da!  Although I had a late start on freelance writing setup due to my business class and a late start on setting up today due to my desire to start my nano project at midnight (read more here), I managed to get something done.  After a tweet and a break, I am going to get some actual writing done.

Writing Tip #2: Title Mania

Titles are hooks in and of themselves.  They attract our attention, especially on e-readers like nook, where there is little else to go by.  So it pays to create a title that invites clicks and further looks.  How?  By practice.  Today, come up with 5-10 titles and choose one to place on your To-Write List.

Writing Tip #1: Your To-Write List

You have heard of To-Do lists, where the tasks pile up faster than you can cross them off, and it all feels like a chore and a bore?  Well, this is a list with a twist.  This is a To-Write list:  a list of story, article, and book ideas that you want to do, but don't have the time for yet.  On this list, let your manuscript ideas pile up, cross them off as you write them, and while the rest of your ideas wait for you, let them carry on like all items on To-Do lists do:  that is, breed like bunnies.  This way, you'll never run out of nor forget your writing ideas.

Cool Marketing Idea: Spray on Clothing

Check out this article and video on the latest in fashion science--clothing that can be sprayed on.  The material turns into a shirt.  It doesn't look like body paint in the end.  And the material can be re-used and sprayed again.

But the really cool thing from the article is this: 

The Guardian says [. . . ] the ultimate goal is a sanitary spray-on bandage system to instantly deliver medication, dress wounds or soothe burnt skin.

If the article and exhibit would have focused on that instead of clothes-in-a-can the only ones saying "Cool" would be the tech, medicine, and science aficionados, because they would have been the only ones to read it.  Instead, the developers of this product gave it a far broader appeal and reach in the form of a cool marketing idea.

The lesson writers should take from this?  Approachability.  How do you take your idea out from its original scope and reach the public?  I'm not advocating changing your ultimate goal any more than these scientists did; I'm talking about your marketing technique.  I'm talking about thinking outside the box.  What can you do to increase your appeal and reach by using what you've already got in a cool way?

That is an idea worth reflecting on.


Source:  Popsci (article) and Guardian (article). 

Law of Fandom

BookEnds wrote about how to make your readers work for you in a recent post. Using readers as a marketing device reminded me of something else I read in my studies of Sun Tzu and the Art of War for my Campaign for E-Literacy. That is the following "constant factor":

The MORAL LAW causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

That is the first constant factor Sun Tzu mentions. So, if it is mentioned first, there must be for a reason. That is, this advice is of a great importance. And it can be of great import for freelance marketing as well. Try reading the Moral Law as follows:

The LAW of FANDOM causes the readers to be in complete accord with their writer, so that they will follow her regardless of their lack of free-time, undismayed by any change in genre or style or series.

Actually, there are quite a few ways to play with Sun Tzu's wording. But all oddball fun aside, fans are everything to a writer. To succeed as a writer, a writer must find success with her fans. The trick is to find and keep those fans happy, and that takes time, effort, and thought, but the victory is well worth it in the end.

A Day in the Life of a Happy Freelance Newcomer

BookEnds wrote about a day in the life of an agent. That made me think, what about a day in the life of a happy freelance newcomer?  Well, here it goes:

• Go over article and blog post notes. Easy, peasy.
• Compose next draft of articles and blog posts. Not bad, needs work.
• Post articles and blog posts. Formatting blahs.
• Develop some more ideas. Some promising, some so-so.
• Check email. Read little, delete less.
• Hound unemployment office to see if I can take a business workshop. Line busy. Surprise.
  
• Entrecard explorations and blog submissions. My old social network, revisited.
• Tidy up primary blog. Delet-o-rama.
• Check markets. Love the new birthday present, Writer's Market online. Not loving its organization.
• Compose draft of article for market. Pretty near done.
• Hand-fed chickens. A new form of stress relief.
• Hound unemployment office to see if I can take a business workshop. Line busy. Surprise, surprise.
  
• Check snail mail. No acceptances there, but dogs happy.
• Exercise brain through Wii game. Brain lost weight; sad.
• Hound unemployment office to see if I can take a business workshop. OMG, a twenty-five minute yes.
• Sent application for workshop. Crossing fingers and toes it's not too late. Getting hard to type.
  
• Headache relief. Exploding zombies' heads.
• Check email. Acceptance, yah!
• Walk dogs. Headache.
• Check writing forums. Headache.
• Check blog-o-sphere. Headache.
• Headache. Headache. Headache.
• Wrote this post. Headache.

Besides a recurring theme of mold allegy-induced headaches, today was a fairly frustrating day. I am beginning to sense I am blahville once I cross the magic line from AM to PM. That wouldn't be so bad if I'd wake up before mid-morn. Something else I sense I must work on.  Hmmm.........

Anyway, all you freelancers out there, how did your day go? Less moldering than mine, I hope.

I am officially a Freelance Writer

The other day, I joined up at a couple of content writing sites and submitted my first article on July 31st to Associated Content.  I received an offer on my article yesterday August 6.  I'm so happy!  I'm officially a freelance writer.  The perfect solution to anger or bitterness, is success in a new venture.  Especially one you love.

To find out more about the site I am talking about click on the picture below.