I constantly meet writers and wanna-be writers who are stressed and anxious. They never have enough time for their writing. They are unhappy with their lives and their life’s work. Plus, they can’t wait to be published, or they feel they’ll never make a living from their writing if they don’t accept any and every little job that comes their way.

I feel bad for them because I can honestly say that I wake up excited and happy every day.

When the weather is as glorious as it has been here for the past few days, I start the morning outside in the backyard, enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck as I write in my daily journal, my two dogs sleeping at my feet.

I used to be like those other writers, always accepting any and every little writing job, packing every day with so many activities that there was no way I could possibly keep up with them all.

But now, here’s what I do:

I treat my life like a closet.

If I keep it jam packed with things - most of which I probably don’t even need anymore - then there is little, if no, room for new stuff.

Plus, I waste time just trying to locate something that I have jammed into the back or top of the closet in order cram even MORE stuff in there.

But, if I keep my closet cleaned out, I can see everything I have at a glance and easily remove it from the closet when I need it.

I also have room to put new and more exciting things into the closet.

It’s fun to wake up each morning and anticipate something delightful to add to my closet; some new writing project, a new coaching client, or an opportunity to speak at a writer’s conference.

That anticipation helps me continually weed through my closet, picking and choosing what to keep and what to let go of, so there is always plenty of room in the closet.

Try it yourself and see what happens.

Happy writing!

Suzanne

The Working Writer’s Coach

I’ve said it many times before - even coaches have coaches.

My own coaching business has already started to grow by leaps and bounds this year, and I’ve found myself wondering, “Gosh. How can anyone afford NOT to have a coach if they want to be successful?”

Sure. Most of us could work without a coach.

But why would in the world would we want to when a great coach can help us move ahead at such a faster rate?

It always puzzles me when people who say they want to become fulltime “working” freelance writers choose to go it alone and not work with a coach.

That coach doesn’t have to be me.

But, I sincerely think every writer and business person who wants to become successful in the shortest amount of time possible needs a coach.

It’s that simple. A good coach is not an expense, it’s an investment in you and your business.

I just got off the phone with one of my coaches.

I’m always so energized after our online coaching sessions, and so thankful that I have a team of highly qualified professionals who help me move ahead with both my writing and my coaching business each and every month.

For me, a great coach is something I simply can’t afford NOT to have.

What do you think? Do you have a coach?

If not, why are you choosing to work without one?

One of the most important activities that participants in my 8-week coaching program do each Sunday is complete their marketing plan for the coming week. I help them with this. Sometimes, beginning writers don’t understand how they could possibly develop a marketing plan. What they come to realize is, today’s freelance writing market is very competitive. Anyone who hopes to make a living at freelance writing needs to market himself and his writing services each and every week - even when just starting out.

Here’s an article that is contained in THE WORKING WRITER’S MARKETING PLAN - a planning guide that each student in my coaching program receives. This article is also included in my free ebook for writers - GET YOUR FREELANCE WRITING CAREER STARTED. I’ll be checking in with my current coaching students this afternoon to make sure each of them has his week planned out as far as marketing activities and writing projects are concerned.

If you’re a freelance writer, yet your writing career isn’t at the level you would like, then take some time this afternoon to sketch out your marketing plan for the week. Here’s how:

FREELANCE WRITERS: YOU NEED A WEEKLY MARKETING PLAN
by Suzanne Lieurance

Most freelance writers who make a living from their work will tell you they are usually doing one of two things. They are either working (on a writing assignment) or looking for work (more writing assignments). That’s the only way to keep both the work and the money constantly flowing in so they can pay their bills on time.

One way to make it easier to keep new work coming in is to develop a weekly marketing plan. A good day to develop your plan for the week is either Sunday evening (when you’re getting ready for your work week), or Monday morning (before you actually start working). It isn’t difficult to develop a marketing plan for the week. The key is to do it each and every week.

Your weekly marketing plan should consist of a list of the following:

1. Editors and other contacts - These are the people you plan to call or email during the week. This may include an editor you wish to query, or one you need to follow up with about an assignment or contract, or it could be an editor who requested a resume and writing samples and you need to get them out to that editor this week.

2. Job Boards or other job listings - These are sites you plan to view to see if there are any new job listings that interest you. If you know certain web sites post new jobs for writers on Tuesday, then put that down on your plan for Tuesday. If you don’t have a list of online job boards, then plan to spend an hour or so in the coming week searching for some. Also, sign up for ezines for writers (that include job ads) if you don’t already subscribe to at least a few.

3. Promotional activities - You must constantly promote yourself and your writing in order to be a working writer. If you have a web site or blog, updating it each week is part of this promotion. If you don’t have a web site or blog to promote your writing, then you need to create one, so “start on website” or “create blog” would go in this category of your marketing plan.

Writing press releases about your business or for a new book you have coming out, or getting contracts to schools or other organizations that want to book you as a speaker, are other activities that come under this category. Writing free articles for article directories might also be included here since these articles will help promote you and your writing services.

4. Networking activities - This category is a bit different from contacts or promotional activities. If you belong to any community organizations, or groups for writers, jot down how you plan on using these groups for networking this week. You might plan to join a listserv for writers and then introduce yourself to everyone on the list this week, or you might want to attend your local business association meeting to let other business owners in your area know about your writing services. Just make sure you have at least a few plans for networking with other writers and/or businesses each week.

You can make your weekly marketing plan as general or as detailed as you like. But once you have written down all your marketing plans for the week, you will know how much time you should have available to work on your current writing assignments. Generally, working writers weave their marketing activities in with their writing activities each day. But some writers prefer to do all their marketing on Mondays, so they have the rest of the week to work on assignments. This is a good plan, but if you’ve applied for various writing assignments, you might get a response from an editor during the week and you’ll need to follow-up with him immediately instead of waiting until the next Monday when you try to do most of your marketing activities. In a case like this, it helps to be flexible.

One of the big payoffs in consistently developing a weekly marketing plan is that you will begin to receive more and more job offers. In fact, sometimes you will receive offers for jobs you haven’t even applied for. Editors will simply find your web site or blog and will call or email to see if you are available for an assignment. When this happens, you will realize just how important a weekly marketing plan can be.

So, no matter what day of the week it might be right now, if you don’t have a marketing plan for this week, get busy and develop one. You’ll be glad you did.

In real estate it’s all about location, location, location!

If you’re a freelance writer, it’s all about promotion, promotion, promotion!

Yet, if you’re like most freelance writers, you don’t have a lot of money set aside for marketing and advertising.

So, what do you do to get the word out about your writing and writing services?

You learn all you can about article marketing.

To help you do that, freelance writer Kristen King, Jeff Herring - the Article Guy - and I have set up a site to help you learn all you need to know to start promoting yourself and your writing through article marketing - which is totally FREE, by the way.

Visit the Lieurance-King Article Challenge.com and sign up to accept our Summer 2008 Article Challenge.

If you’re serious about your writing career, then you can’t afford NOT to promote yourself through article marketing.