I had a pleasant surprise this morning when I checked my email.  I received a payment from Squidoo, a social media website that I have covered previously when looking at these sites.

I had forgotten completely about the financial side of Squidoo which shares advertising revenues with those who publish “lenses” on the site.  I use Squidoo primarily as a means to gain search engine popularity or “juice” as some SEO geeks call it, and from my experience it really works.  The site is the brainchild of Seth Godin who is a mega wealthy internet guru, and the site has generated a lot of traffic for my online presence and that of my clients.

If like me, you are using the web to gain exposure for your work, this should act as a salutary lesson that producing your written piece is only a part of the equation in being able to make money out of it.  Getting readers and marketing your work is probably more important than actually researching and writing if you, like me, rely on writing income to pay the bills.

Having a $500 Paypal payment notification dropping in has put a smile on my day and I shall invest the proceeds wisely as my daughter, Dizzy, has a birthday around the corner and is looking to see if Mum and Dad can ice skate as well as she can.  Perhaps losing my weight may not have been such a good idea if I’m going to be in need of padding on my bum!

It’s not a lot of money but then, as my ex wife says, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. This is the first such payment I have received and I had completely forgotten all about the revenue aspect of Squidoo; to put it into some form of perspective I have been posting up on there for the last six months so you can see that it is not “a big earner”. 

Nonetheless, as ASDA marketing keeps telling us - “Every little helps” - or is that Tesco?

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This post is not so much about writing per se as it is about taking control of your own life and work habits.  I’ve been working for myself for so many years that many things I do in my working day are simply taken for granted.  Work discipline is only a part of the traits that lead to financial stability in the work that you do to earn your way.  Financial stability is something we all need, irrespective of creative drive and urges, and working in a more certain environment is a prerequisite for success, financial and otherwise.

When working for yourself, there are no excuses.  There is only yourself and you are entirely self-reliant on how well you perform; clients may come and go, bills may be paid or not and you may deserve a well earned break at the end of the day or not - it is all up to you.

Writing is a pleasure for me, it also started out as an expedient way to make some money, any money, in a set of not very nice circumstances.  Today, writing is both my pleasure and my main source of income and I am not going hungry except because of my diet plans (I’ve lost a stone and half in the last month).

Here are some of the things I now take for granted but they are essential to gaining control over your working life as a writer or self-employed individual of any description.

Results matter not what goes into producing them

My first marriage ended in divorce because I was a workaholic - I would think nothing of putting in sixteen hours a day, six or seven days a week.  My income reflected the effort and my business grew rapidly until I sold it five years later.  My productivity was abysmal - once I had achieved a degree of stability in my income, I eased off the hours I was spending, mostly because my girlfriend post-separation would not let me get away with that nonsense and she was more successful financially than I was.  As much as I have a distaste for those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, she showed me how by disciplining my working effort and time, I could achieve far greater productivity than simply hewing away at the coal face.  A year later my profits tripled and I was working a basic forty to fifty hour week - working longer simply resulted in diminishing return.

Remember, it is only the result that matters in commercial terms not what you have to put in to achieve it - your customers will not give a hoot about anything else and neither should you.

Separate Private from Working Life

The two do not mix no matter what the justification.  I have a separate place to work within my home, a separate telephone line for clients, and a set time when I am going to be working unless it is for me and my pleasure.  Nothing imposes upon that unless it is absolutely necessary such as the sprog has been taken to hospital or a scheduled dental appointment appointment. 

Sort your schedule out and stick to it.  You don’t have to work nine to five, but you do need to work - writing is work; respect it as such and stick to your hours.

If you can’t or won’t do it yourself - pay someone else to do it

The thing that springs immediately to mind is the book-keeping.  I worked as an accountant many years ago and I hated it.  I dabbled with running Quickbooks to handle things but I would rather have my privates treated like a slab of cheddar with a cheese grater!

Outsource that which you cannot do yourself or will not do.  In either event, you need to ensure things run smoothly with your profit making activities.  The only thing that should stop you from making profit is your private, personal life when you are having “down time” - anything else is a waste.

Let people know what you do

If you are not going to tell people what you do, no-one else is going to unless you are paying them.  Even when you pay them, you are unlikely to recover your investment.  The best person to handle marketing is you so learn to market yourself and learn it well.  There are hungry writers and stuffed ones - in both cases, good and bad writers populate that classification.  The hungry, good writers are just no good at marketing themselves and are heading for a job at Sainsbury’s and repossession.

Learn from your mistakes but trust your own instincts

I once gave a speech on being an entrepreneur.  I said that every day I had to make decisions, some I took a lot of time over such as when deciding company strategy that committed my money to the cause.  Some I made instantly such as when chewing my rogue senior salesman out for not paying his parking fee that I got stuck with. 

How many decisions do you think I got right?

Most of them?

All of them?

None of them?

A few of them?

How many decisions I got right is immaterial - what matters is I actually took decisions and moved forward irrespective of the consequences.

Bad decisions do not exist.  You always can learn from screwing up.

The worst thing you can do is to make no decision but then you already know that or you wouldn’t be reading this.

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The art of writing articles has changed a bit due to the internet explosion. Yes, it still works the same way in many of the traditional venues. But, articles have changed mainly because of article submission sites and blogs.

Many people in the internet world consider blogs to be articles and in some ways they are. Blogs started as bits of information a writer intended to get across in an informal setting. Now, they are actually relied upon by many readers. If you Google a topic, you will find a hundred blogs compared to one authoritative site. And blogs have become very authoritative of themselves.

But, article submission sites such as EzineArticles and AssociatedContent have made it easy for anyone to write an article and get it published. I honestly love the internet and many of its venues for giving everyone the same leverage. There are things that need to be said and it’s critical that they get said at the right time. The internet offers everyone an instant voice for anyone who is willing to listen and I love that.

But, some art gets lost in the process. The years of college a journalist goes through and all the discipline that a writer suffers is thrown out of the window when just anyone can step up to the plate. People forget or were never taught the basics of article writing.

Who

Taking notes is the first step in article writing and the first thing that needs noted is who is involved. Now, not all articles are the same. But, “Who” is always a question that needs an answer. If you are reporting on an incident, who was involved? But if you are writing an article about the benefits of a new medical practice, who will it benefit? There is always a way to answer the “Who” part of any article.

What

The next question to answer is “what,” which can get pretty dynamic. What happened? What is the article about? What is the new medical practice you are talking about? “What” can get rather extensive, so you have to cover your bases to write a good article. Make sure you know every aspect about “What.”

Why

Some articles that are about an accident that took place or some incident in the news, people want to know the motivation. That’s the “Why” part of most articles. Why was the guy yelling in the Chinese parliament? Why is the lady biking across the country? But, “Why” for the new article writing direction is a bit different. Why would people want to read your article? You have to make it interesting and give them a reason, so that’s how you answer the “Why” question in most of these new article venues.

When

The “When” question should be rather obvious. But, there are several ways to answer this question. When did the incident occur? When should you start considering the new medical practice? The answer to both of these questions would be quite different even though the question is still the same. One might be at 11:00 pm on Wednesday while the other answer might be 3 months after you’ve had surgery. Either way, there’s an answer that is informative to the reader. They’ll want to know.

Where

Location, location, location. You’d be surprised how important the “Where” answer is in an article. When something happens, people want to know where it happened. If something is going to happen, your readers want to know where. It doesn’t do you any good to write an entire article and forget to tell people “Where.”

How

Just like the “What” part of an article, “How” can be the meaty part too. How did the car get up the telephone pole? Yes, it actually happened. A car up a telephone pole was in the news just as I was writing this and I thought it made a perfect example. And it does make a great example. People will want to know how it happened.

Those are the six questions that make an article completely informative. Now, you can simply cover the answers and wrap up your article or you can make it interesting. Getting the deep information and being really inquisitive is what makes a great article writer. Otherwise, you’re just telling people what they already know.

Oh by the way, in San Diego, California an un-named lady lost control of her car and actually drove up the telephone pole’s guidelines. I can see it happening…now that I know “How.”

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When you are talking to someone about what you want, what do you want to hear? You most likely want to hear that they know what you’re saying and they know how to get it accomplished. Doesn’t it make you feel better when someone can communicate those things to you?

When you have asked for a very technical process or you think it’s a very technical process, what do you want to hear?

“I no the job you ask and I can do. Luk at my resume. Give me a call.”

Note: Spelling errors were added for effect.

Or:

“I have worked as a business consultant for several companies and I understand that you need an expert in online promotion. There are several techniques I have mastered that will enhance your online promotion efforts. The first thing I would like to do is…”

Exactly! The second project proposal makes me feel like I’m in good hands. But, like I’ve said before that the hardest part of writing a project proposal is changing your mind around. When you wrap your brain around what the client wants and you learn to address those needs, now you are writing an effective proposal.

Acknowledge what you think the goals of the project are. What are the objectives? How does the client want them accomplished? Take a look at the timeframe too and make sure you understand exactly what the client wants as a finished project.

Most freelancers think that writing a project proposal is as simple as saying they can do the job and to get in touch with them. That’s not true at all. In fact, project proposals don’t fly when the writer doesn’t even acknowledge the final product.

For instance, a client who wants an e-book submitted in pdf format is being very specific about the finished product. Pdf is different from word doc and it used to be hard to put documents in pdf format. But, not anymore. Cutepdf.com will let you download software for free that allows you to convert your word documents to pdf format. Problem solved!

But, that’s just the final product. What if the client says that they need 30 pages with a TOC, appendixes and title page not included in the page count? In your project proposal, it’s a good thing to mention that you understand the page count exactly and that the TOC, appendixes and title page are not included.

What else does the project manager want? If the client mentions that they want cover graphics too, do you know anything about that? If you don’t address that you know anything about graphic design and can design a cover, you might as well not even submit the proposal.

It’s not hard to wrap your brain around what the client wants. Simply think about what you would like to hear if you had posted that project. Read it and put yourself in the potential client’s shoes. Once you have managed to see it from their side, you can write the perfect proposal. The only thing left is to make sure that it’s proofread. It doesn’t hurt to get a project proposal proofread if it means more business for you.

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When you walk into a job interview, I certainly hope that you don’t wear jeans with holes in them and your favorite tee shirt. I hope you don’t slouch and talk to the interviewer like you would talk to your friends at a party. If you get my drift, you have to carry yourself into an interview showing respect and that includes what you wear and how you act.

It’s the same game in this online explosion. Just because you might be sitting in your shorts and sandals writing a project proposal doesn’t mean your proposal can be lacking in professionalism. You have to put your best foot forward and there are definite signals that will have your proposal flagged for the can or chosen for further consideration.

Content

The first thing in writing a project proposal is to identify what the client wants. Freelancers make the mistake of thinking that a template project proposal is all they need. I have to admit that it gets tedious writing the same things over and over. But, a good client does not want a template project proposal. They want to see a proposal that identifies their needs.

It’s ok to have a well-written template in place. But, read over the project and identify the specific goals and strategies of the project. If they want a how-to manual on building shelves, it doesn’t do you any good to tell the potential client that you’ve written books about baseball. This by the way is first hand experience.

If you can make writing a book about baseball relevant to the potential client’s needs, then add it in that way. Don’t simply mention the fact. Make it relevant. Let the client know why you are telling them that you wrote a book about baseball. What does it have to do with building shelves? It’s not hard when you think about it. But, it is crucial. Modify your template so that it addresses every single need the client has raised.

Outline

After you have identified all of your client’s needs, follow the outline of your project proposal. There are different project proposal outlines and this isn’t the end all to be all outline for everything. But, it is a good outline to follow for your template and modify per proposal that you write.

First, introduce yourself and make it very clear what project your proposal is addressing. Some clients will have many jobs out at once and it serves you best to indicate which project you want. After you have introduced yourself start listing your experiences as they relate to the client’s needs. Every experience you have ever had will not be appropriate for every proposal you write. So you have to think it through.

List your best experiences that are relevant. Normally, a client will be happy with two or three jobs that you have done showing the experience you need. Don’t simply list them in order. Talk about them a little. Explain the relevance and the technical experience involved. Make the client understand your expertise.

Now, it’s time to tell the client how you will do the job. They like to know that they are in competent hands. They like to feel safe that you know what you are doing and you have a plan for them. Think about them. Quit thinking about yourself. That’s the toughest thing to do.

When you are writing a project proposal, it is all about the client. It has nothing to do with you. There are details that can be discussed later. So, they have no purpose in your proposal. Wrap your brain around your client’s needs and you will most likely write the proposal so that your words reflect that you understand what they want and you know how to give it to them. There is so much more about writing the dynamite project proposal, so I’ll see you next time and we’ll continue.

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