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.

Additional Tip: Once you’ve developed your marketing plan for the week, below the plan, list all the actual writing assignments and projects you also need to do during this time. You can even make a daily list for your writing projects, then incorporate aspects of your marketing plan into that daily list. For example, if you know you need to write a short nonfiction article for a publisher on Monday, and Monday is also the day you plan to make some of your contacts with editors, etc., group those activities under “Monday.” If Tuesday is the day you set aside for promotional activities, yet you also need to write a chapter of the nonfiction book you’re working on, group those activities under “Tuesday.

1. Check your email once in the morning, first thing. Then let it go until mid-afternoon when you can check it again. You can waste a LOT of time checking and answering emails all day.

2. Post to your blog(s) or other sites first thing in the morning. Then don’t check back at them every half hour so see how much traffic you’re getting, or to see if you’ve gotten any comments. This also wastes a LOT of time.

3. If you play online or computer games to warm up in the morning before you start writing - and many writers do - then give yourself a time limit to do this. A half hour is long enough to warm up. Beyond that amount of time, you’re just stalling to keep from getting any work done.

4. Set a daily schedule for yourself, then stick to the schedule. This might take awhile to get used to. But once you do, you’ll realize how helpful a regular schedule is in increasing your productivity.

5. Get enough rest at night. If you aren’t well rested, you just can’t be at your best, so you won’t be your most productive either. If you can’t get enough sleep at night, for whatever reason, plan for a short nap in your daily schedule. Then don’t feel guilty about taking that nap because it will actually make you more productive.

6. Get some regular exercise and try to eat right. Too many carbs will make you sleepy. Too much caffeine will make you edgy. Regular exercise will help you sleep better at night, so you’ll be well rested and ready to work once morning rolls around.

7. Take advantage of your own natural body rhythms. There’s no rule that says you HAVE to write in the morning. If your brain doesn’t click into full speed until noon, then spend your mornings doing household chores or go to the gym. Start writing at your most productive time of the day, whatever time that might be for YOU.

8. Take regular breaks from your writing during the day. Spend a few minutes outside, enjoying the weather, or take a short walk with your dogs. After a few hours of writing, your concentration will wane, so when you feel this starting to happen take a break and do something other than write.

9. Get out of your office to write. A change of scenery can be good for your writing. Take your laptop or pad of paper and pen to a local coffeeshop, bookstore, or even to the mall or the library and write there once in a while.

10. Break up larger writing tasks into smaller chunks. If you’re writing something fairly lengthy, like a novel, just work on a few pages a day. Each day, stop writing at a point where you KNOW what will happen next in the story. That way, you won’t have to wonder what you should write about the next day so you can quickly get started the next time you choose to work on this project.

11. Start your writing day with a few short, simple writing tasks. This will give you some momentum and you’ll continue to be more productive throughout the day.

12. Reward yourself for writing tasks you accomplish. If you love to check your email or look for new friends on MySpace.com, then save time at the end of the day for these activities as a reward for being so productive throughout the day.

Try a few or all of these tips and you should notice increased productivity immediately.

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Do you have a tip that helps you be more productive? Share it by leaving a comment.

How much you earn, and the types of writing assignments you accept, are all pretty much up to you.

But sometimes, in your quest for a little financial “security” as a freelancer, you probably take on too much work that pays too little.

When you do that, you’re locking yourself OUT of other better paying (and more interesting) possibilities.

If that describes your freelancing situation right now, it’s probably time for a change.

Time to “let go” of some of that financial security.

1. Look at your query letters. What sets them apart from the hundreds of other queries an editor will receive this month? A good query should show the editor (of the publication you are targeting) your unique writing style. If the writing in your query isn’t interesting and engaging, the editor probably figures (and rightly so) that your article won’t be that interesting or engaging either. Also, editors receive thousands of queries a year that start off with a question. Be a bit more original than that and you’ll gain the editor’s interest immediately.

2. Give the editor appropriate writing samples. If you apply for a freelance assignment you’ve seen advertised somewhere, and an editor asks for writing samples or an outline for the project advertised, make sure you really understand what he needs to see. Remember, this editor is just trying to figure out if you can deliver the type of work the project calls for. If you don’t already have a writing sample in your files (for the type of work this editor is asking for), take the time to craft a sample that will show this editor you can write about a particular subject in the style, tone, etc. that he is looking for. If the editor has requested a custom sample, and has given you guidelines for this, then study those guidelines carefully and follow them to the letter. If you don’t fully understand the guidelines, then ask the editor for clarification.

3. Make sure your cover letters aren’t including too much information, or not enough. A cover letter is simply a courtesy, a way of introducing yourself. If you’ve included a manuscript, resume, or writing clips, state that in your cover letter. Also, mention why you are writing - in response to his ad for freelance writers, etc. - but don’t go on and on about your writing background, the fact that your kids all love your funny stories, etc. Be cordial in your cover letter, but remember, this is a business letter, after all, so don’t get too chatty.

4. Don’t use a standard resume when submitting to publishers. Develop a “writer’s resume” that includes just your publishing credits, education, and writing related activities. Editors don’t care that you worked as a nanny for three summers, or you were a camp director to put yourself through college, unless those activities related to writing.

Follow these tips and soon you’ll be right on target to land more and more of those freelance assignments you’re aiming for.

As The Working Writer’s Coach, I always hope I’m making a difference (for the better) in the lives of my family, friends, coaching clients, and other people in my personal network.

Thanks, Hal, for letting me know that I AM.

I have so much to be thankful for this year - a loving family, great friends and fellow writers, wonderful coaching clients and former clients, and a way of life that I love because I wake up excited and eager to start each and every day!