Yuwanda Black: Scam Artist of InkwellEditorial.com, SeoWritingJobs.com, FreeAdsSell.info, NewMediaWords.biz and SeoRealEstateWriter.com
June 30, 2011
Success Breeds Contempt
One thing my mom used to say is, “The more successful you become, the more people will try to tear you down.” Hence, the following is kind of funny to me. I’m posting this so that if it ever happens to you, you’ll know how to deal with it, and why you should really rejoice in it, especially as it’s amazing how easy the web makes it for people to try and harm your reputation.
I, Yuwanda Black, am a Scam Artist Y’all!
A couple of articles have been posted accusing me of scamming others. And apparently, I’m pretty good at it because I steal people’s credit card information, when I never even have access to it because I use PayPal (see Article #2 below entitled, SCAMS: INKWELLEDITORIAL.COM, NEWMEDIAWORDS.BIZ, SEOWRITINGJOBS.COM, FREEADSSELL.INFO, FREELANCE WRITERS SCAMS – BACKPAGE AUTOPOSTER SOFTWARE BAIT & SWITCH SCAM).
FYI, one of the reasons my companies use PayPal is that it protects the buyer and the seller. Why/how? Because neither party has to reveal confidential financial information like credit card numbers, bank account info, etc.
In short, when someone purchase from one of my sites, me and/or my staff never even see your payment info. PayPal handles all of that – and it’s one of the reasons many online merchants use it. We DON’T WANT access to any customer’s credit card, banking, checking acct, etc. info. So you’re always protected.
Yuwanda Black Scammed Me for $75
I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993 and I apparently scammed Mr. Brad Parks out of $75 on a writing project and he wanted to do the “right thing” by informing others not to use my services or pay me until work has been completed (see Article #1 below entitled, SEO REAL ESTATE WRITER (SEORealEstateWriter.com), Scam Site …)
FYI, the site he’s referring to is not mine. And I assure you, if I was going to go risk damaging my reputation of almost 20 years as a freelance writer, it would certainly not be for $75, when I’ve gotten SEO article writing orders for 30 times (or more) as much.
But, maybe I was hard up for the cash, ya know?
If Mr. Parks had provided contact info, I would have posted it so you could contact him directly to find out why I apparently scammed him out of his hard-earned $75. But alas, he didn’t provide any so I can’t pass it along.
Anyway, pasted below is the lastest round of libelous content about me. I’ll be keeping a running tab here, just to remind myself to:’
Go girl! You’re on the right path is if someone is taking time out of their day to write about lil’ ole you.
Why You Should Rejoice When Someone Slams You – Even If It’s a Blatant Lie
Don’t let negative press interrupt your flow, ie, don’t let it cripple you, make you mad or stop you from what you’re doing. In fact, Jeremey Schoemaker from ShoeMoney.com (one of the most successful “online marketing/make money online” sites on the web by the way) says you should really kind of be glad when people slam you online.
In his post, Why You Should Embrace Negative Press, he writes:
I can’t tell you how impressed I have been with how hard some people will work to try to discredit you. . . . Its [sic] truly amazing. They are the best PR ROI you will ever see. . . (emphasis added) there is no such thing as bad press when you have a quality product. And when you have a quality site with quality content… that’s the win.
Thanks for this reminder Jeremy. 
Aliases & the Anonymity of the Web: A Coward’s Best Friends When You Don’t Have the Balls to Publicly Confront Someone
It’s so easy to post something on the web anonymously. If you had a problem with a company, wouldn’t you have the balls to say:
This is who I am, this is what my business is, this is how they scammed me, this is my direct contact info and “Oh yeah, here’s proof in the form of emails, payments made, screenshots, etc.?
In light of the lack of this, think aliases are being used by “someone” to post libelous content about me all over the web because of the info in this post: http://inkwelleditorial.com/backpage-poster-software-scam, which shows up on the first page of Google when you type in keywords related to this software?
One of those things that make ya go “Hmmmm” (or maybe, “Not so muccchhhh.”)
Article #1 Where I, Yuwanda Black, Am Accused of Being a Scam Artist
SEO REAL ESTATE WRITER (SEORealEstateWriter.com), Scam Site …
Posted On Sunday, 03 Jul 2011 By bradparks. Under Business Articles; Article Source: Hunt4Money.com (and a whole bunch of other sites)
I am posting here as this is general marketing and I want to make sure other DP’rs do not fall for the same scam I did.
The website SEO REAL ESTATE WRITER (SEORealEstateWriter.com) by Yuwanda Black is scamming people. Please be careful if you decide to do any business with her. I lost $75 dollars to her SEO REAL ESTATE WRITER (SEORealEstateWriter.com) scam and want to make as many people as I can aware of what they are doing. Do not pay up front, only pay after work is complete.
SEO REAL ESTATE WRITER (SEORealEstateWriter.com) also run under these names which are SCAMS as well: INKWELLEDITORIAL.COM, NEWMEDIAWORDS.BIZ, SEOWRITINGJOBS.COM, FREEADSSELL.INFO, all FREELANCE WRITERS SCAMS so be careful there as well.
If you have been scammed by Yuwanda Black as well please let others know.
##
Article #2 Where I, Yuwanda Black, Am Accused of Being a Scam Artist
SCAMS: INKWELLEDITORIAL.COM, NEWMEDIAWORDS.BIZ, SEOWRITINGJOBS.COM, FREEADSSELL.INFO, FREELANCE WRITERS SCAMS – BACKPAGE AUTOPOSTER SOFTWARE BAIT & SWITCH SCAM; Article Source: HotArticlesOnline.com (and a whole bunch of other sites); By chriswilliams on March 22nd, 2011
(What Not To Do When You Are Part Of A Affiliate Program If You Want To Get Paid)
Fellow Writers,
Beware of the “Bait & Switch” BackPage AutoPoster Software SCAM being perpetrated upon you by Yuwanda Black the WebMaster of www.InkWellEditorial.com, www.NewMediaWords.biz, www.SeoWritingJobs.com, www.FreeAdsSell.info . She lures in the innocent thinking that they will receive the BP Sender AutoPoster softwares based upon her experienced with the BP Sender AutoPoster Software when her Bp Sender Software was terminated because she was using a Pirated hi jacked Illegal copy.
Now she tries to relate her illegal experience in an effort to try and covert the innocent unknowing into purchasing another alleged BackPage Software that claims to have a Demo Download but is never down loadable because it does not exist and does not function. we came to know about her illegal activities from the following events:
1.) Upon placing security controls into our BpSender BackPage AutoPoster Software to make it required to contact us for activation is how the mischievous YuWanda Black entered into our realm. She contacted us saying that her copy of BpSender did not work any more and was telling her that she was “Un-Authorized”.
2.) We inform her that “YES” your copy of our BP Sender Software is Un-Authorized and you need to purchase a Legal copy in order to gain access to our SoftWare platform.
3.) She tries to purchase a $10.00 Access Pass for one month which is reserved only for our Authorized clients, we inform her of that and that she needs to purchase at least a $19.95 Access Pass in order to gain entrance.
She kicks and screams about having to pay $9.95 extra (The first sign that we were dealing with a very “UnStable” person), so we credit her $5.00 from a sale that she had made as an affiliate of the BpSender Affiliate Program, leaving her with a balance of $4.95 to pay and of course she kicked and screamed about that also, total paid $14.95 to activate her illegal copy of our software, not to mention that prior to this she had actually been making illegal sales of pirated copies of our BpSender AutoPoster BackPage Software.
4.) Upon allowing her to become a member of our Affiliate program she consistently demands more than our normal 10% payout, we explain to her that there is a 5% increase for every 25 sales made until one reaches our 20% cap payout.
5.) Her 2-Month subscription expires and trying to be kind to her we offer to apply her Affiliate commissions to her Software subscriptions account, she refuses and we explain to her that in order to be a part of our Affiliate program that it is required to have a active subscription, otherwise forfeiture of your affiliate commissions occurs. We have this policy in place to deter Affiliates from using our popular software to make sales with and then either try and purchase a competitors software and or become an competitor themselves.
6.) She lives up to the reason for our having instated that policy and threatens us with becoming a “Competitor”, this is after we tried to be nice and send her the commission that had accrued upon her Affiliate account even though she did not reach our $100 dollars in commissions payout, she was only halfway at around $50.00 .
7.) Immediately upon threating us with becoming a “Competitor” we immediately canceled the funds transfer and told her “We are not in the business of financing Competitors” and was not legally bound to pay her because she never reached her $100 minimum Affiliate Payout requirement and that we were simply trying to be nice.
8.) Angered and wanting retribution she creates the oldest con game in the book, the classic “Bait & Switch”, she seeks out a competitor software vendor and / or possibly creates a fake back page Software company of which we believe to be fake because they offer a demo download that is never available for download, this combined with the fact that there are absolutely zero “ScreenShots” of this alleged BackPage Software to prove that it even exists !
9.) Then the kicker, we discover that she is trying to sell this “Fake” ripoff BackPage Software using graphics / photos of our BpSender BackPage AutoPoster SoftWare with clickable links that would direct her readers to the “Fake” rippoff BackPage Software that does not exist, just a landing page to rippoff un-suspecting consumers, or what is technically known as a “Phishing WebSite”, a site that is only setup to rob you of your credit card information.
10.) She goes even a step further and try s to do the same thing on HubPages.com, this was the final transgression from her that we had patience for and immediately contacted not only HubPages.com but also her hosting company BlueHost.com and brought to their attention her infringements upon our copyrighted material. HubPages and BlueHost.com contacts her and demands that she Cease & Desist immediately.
11.) She then makes cut and paste clip shots of this illegal phishing site that she has created to rob unsuspecting consumers of their money and places these clip shots on her website.
12.) Again angered she then contacts us and tells us that we are using articles written by her to promote the legitimate BpSender AutoPoster BackPage Classified Software. We explain to her that our Affiliate Agreement explains that any and all Marketing material that a affiliate creates during their tenure with us also becomes shared rights to the company.
13.) Again angered she contacts our hosting company and our hosting company explains to simply comply and make her happy she fabricates claims that she did not read the Affiliate Agreement, but as we explained to her it’s impossible to join our Affiliate program without first checking off and agreeing to these terms because our Affiliate software will not allow it.
14.) Every since “Outing” her and exposing her for the fraud that she is with her illegal phishing BackPage AutoPoster Software SCAM she has consistently harrased us constantly on a daily basis because now her online income has come to an abrupt end since
a.) We ended her illegal sales of pirated copies of our legitimate BpSender AutoPoster BackPage Classified AutoPoster Software.
b.) Terminated her from our legitimate BpSender AutoPoster BackPage Classified AutoPoster Software affiliate program.
c.) Exposed her “Bait & Switch” SCAM Con game she was perpetrating upon her readers at InkWellEditorial.com with her illegal BackPage.com phishing website setup to rob unsuspecting consumers of their credit card information.
Readers / Writers / Buyers / Consumers beware of InkWellEditorial.com illegal practices, for a legitimate copy of BpSender BackPage AutoPoster Classified Ad Software simply visit www.Wealth-Distributors.info or www.RobotLike.com
freelancewritersgold.com/2010/10/23/inkwelleditorial-com-freelance
Related, Relevant Posts
Backpage Auto Poster Software Changes Detailed
How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites
Ghosted Ads on Backpage: Affiliate Marketers — Are Your Competitors Sabotaging You?
Get the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites. Summer is here. Avoid freelance writing dry spells that usually come this time of year by making extra money as an affiliate marketer. Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly.
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL
Dear Yuwanda,
You might remember you sold me a copy of your ebook about making money on Backpage.com . . . a few months ago. I just wanted to update you on what I’ve done and perhaps offer a testimonial.
The truth is, I initially started testing out various affiliate products and marketing them via Backpage, as it suggests in your ebook. But I went off at a tangent and started marketing musical services . . . since I am a musician myself. Within days of marketing these services on Backpage.com, I ended up getting plenty of enquiries, much to my surprise.
Over the past few months I’ve steadily made money like this, and am very happy, and have branched out to marketing on various other free classified sites and discussion forums.
None of that would’ve been possible if I hadn’t read your ebook. Although your ebook was about marketing affiliate products, I actually used the concepts in your book to market services and got so much response that I didn’t bother with marketing any affiliate products. When I get a bit more time, I’d like to test out some more affiliate products to market on Backpage….but the concepts in your ebook work for marketing services as a middleman too.
So thanks to you, I’ve made money online, despite doing things slightly differently to what your ebook was about….it got me thinking in the right direction anyway and I wouldn’t have known about things like Backpage.com etc if it wasn’t for your ebook.
Thanks,
NK
Order your copy today at http://FreeAdsSell.info, and get started building your online business.
SEO Examples: 10 Illustrative SEO Writing Samples
June 29, 2011
Only $6.99
Get the Kindle edition of this ebook.
About the Author’s SEO Writing Experience
My name is Yuwanda Black, and I’m the founder of New Media Words (NewMediaWords.biz), an SEO writing firm.
I publish a blog about SEO writing; developed and teach an SEO Copywriting Training course (see SeoWritingJobs.com for details about both), and have written two best-selling ebooks on the subject, eg, How to Write SEO Copy That Sells; and How to Make $250+/Day — Or More — Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles.
ABOUT SEO WRITING
While it’s been around for more than a decade as of this writing (Summer 2011), it’s still a relatively new niche in freelance writing; a well-paying one, I might add. I found it so lucrative that I changed the whole focus of my freelance career to offering this kind of content almost exclusively.
Why SEO Content Writing Is So Much Fun
I’ve written on everything from wedding cake toppers to oil drilling equipment. This is what makes this type of writing so fun. You never get bored because you’re constantly writing about something new.
Why SEO Writing Is Evergreen & Lucrative
The fact is, if you want to get found on the web, you need SEO content. And, this is what makes this form of writing evergreen and lucrative (if you know how to market and charge for it).
The ebook, How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles, details how to do just this. It’s the blueprint I used to launch my SEO writing career, and one many others have used effectively as well. You can read tons of testimonials on that page.
How Knowing How to Write SEO Content Can Make You Money in a Number of Ways
I use my SEO writing skills to make money online in a number of ways. Two of the most lucrative are promoting my own line of ebooks and creating niche websites for passive income. Knowing how to write SEO content makes me much more successful than I ever dreamed I could be as a web entrepreneur.
Now that you know a bit more about my experience as an SEO writer, let’s get to how this ebook can help you.
Who This Ebook Can Help
This ebook is for those who may be thinking about starting an SEO writing career, but want a better understanding of what this type of copy looks like, the key concepts around it and how to write it.
******************************************************
Unsolicited Testimonials
Wow! Thank you so much for recommending the e-book. It has much more info than I expected, especially for the price. If I had known about this earlier, it could have saved me many headaches (and dollars). I’ve only browsed through it so far but I’m printing it out now to read on my lunch break this evening.
******************************************************
Why SEO Writing Is Not Hard – Really!
SEO copy is not difficult to understand or create, but many are confused by some of the technicalities around it. Once they see a completely laid out article, they’re usually like, “Oh, that’s it.”
And yeah, it is.
Some experts say that more than 60% of us are visual learners, so that’s why I put this ebook together. This way you can SEE what an SEO article looks like, which helps you to better understand all of the tech language around it.
Once you get past this “tech speak,” you will have no problems comprehending how to write SEO content.
In this ebook, first I’ll explain what SEO writing is; then we’ll define some common terminology associated with this trade. After this, we’ll get into some particulars about how to write the copy, then we’ll get to the actual samples.
Following is a complete table of contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: INTRODUCTION
About the Author’s SEO Writing Experience: Page 6
Why SEO Content Writing Is So Much Fun: Page 6
Why SEO Writing Is Evergreen & Lucrative: Page 6
How Knowing How to Write SEO Content Can Make You Money in a Number of Ways: Page 6
Who This Ebook Can Help: Page 7
Why SEO Writing Is Not Hard – Really! Page 7
PART II: ABOUT SEO WRITING
What Is SEO Writing? SEO Copywriting Explained: Page 8
The Power of Knowing How to Write SEO Content: 3 Spots on the First Page of Google: Page 10
10 Common SEO Writing Terms Defined: Page 11
The 5 Places Keywords Should Appear in Copy: Page 18
SEO Copywriting Made Easy: An SEO Writing Template You Can Use: Page 18
PART III: 10 SEO WRITING SAMPLES
SEO Writing Sample #1: Page 20
SEO Writing Sample #2: Page 23
SEO Writing Sample #3: Page 25
SEO Writing Sample #4: Page 27
SEO Writing Sample #5: Page 29
SEO Writing Sample #6: Page 31
SEO Writing Sample #7: Page 33
SEO Writing Sample #8: Page 35
SEO Writing Sample #9: Page 37
SEO Writing Sample #10: Page 39
PART IV: CONCLUSION
Free SEO & Internet Marketing Report: Page 42
ENDMATTER: Page 43
Only $6.99
Get the Kindle edition of this ebook.
Finding Freelance Writing Jobs via Cold Calling: It’s VERY Effective; Here’s How to Get Over the “Cold Calling Jitters”
June 28, 2011
In a post here a couple of weeks ago, we discussed why cold calling works to land freelance writing jobs. Well, true to her word, the freelancer that wrote in sent me an update on her progress with cold calling, and I wanted to share her journey in his method to landing freelance writing gigs with you – specifically the insight she shared on how to get past the cold calling jitters.
Following is our correspondence.
Freelancer Who Cold Calls for Writing Jobs Writes In Her Progress
Hi Yuwanda,
I hope all is well, and that you are enjoying your summer. Since the last time we corresponded, I called 30 more SEO Firms ( was busy with other writing projects). However, out of those 30, I sent my samples to 7 of them that requested them. 1 responded and I wrote an article on Property Management . . . for $25. However, I never heard back from him, he paid me, and I sent him the copy a week ago. I contacted him a few times to make sure he got it. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
I gave a quote of $450 for a monthly article campaign for an SEO Consultant who is going to have a fitness site up in the next few weeks.
On other news, the other percent of the people I called only wanted to pay 10 per article. I told them my rates and they said they can get it cheaper. Some of them tried to bargain and said that they would give me no less than 10 articles. I didn’t think it was worth it, especially when I am trying to grow a team of writers. I really don’t see how people can make a living on 10 per article. I admit, when I first started in this game, I was writing 5 an article, and I was burnt out.
Anyway, I calculated how many SEO Firms I would have to call a day to meet my quota. About 60 a day, if I want to secure 5 new SEO firms a week. I hope this insight will help your readers if you decide to post it.
I’ve been having so many ups/downs (cash flow issues) so hopefully this cold calling strategy will start producing results quickly. Well, I hope all is well and I’ll keep you posted when I have my biggest break.
My Response
Great on the cold calling. Even though you’ve hit some stumbling blocks, sounds like it’s paying off for you. Continue to combine this with email marketing, and you be really busy come fall.
Re finances, as summer (particularly June and July) can be deathly slow, try not to stress so much and know that you’re laying the groundwork for the busy season.
Sometimes making money in the summer as a freelance writer can be like pulling teeth, but in the fall things usually pick up quickly. So when things get hard, just remember this. I have almost 20 yrs of numbers I can look back on and see the income fluctuation; so take comfort in the fact that this comes from first-hand experience.
One thing I always do is stay on my marketing (it can be hard when sales are not what you want them to be), but this is EXACTLY what makes things even out over the course of the year (emphasis added); so stick with what you’re doing. It will pray off; I practically guarantee it.
One question, did you find that cold calling got easier (obviously you did, cuz you’ve racked up quite a few)? What did you do to “settle your nerves” so to speak, to be able to continue? If you have a chance, if you can give me a quick response to this, I’d appreciate it. I’d like to include it with the post.
I’m enjoying my weekend — lots of physical activity b/t mowing my yard and working out. Love being outdoors.
##
How to Get Over the Cold Calling Jitters to Continue & Land More Freelance Writing Jobs
This freelancer gracefully responded. Following is what she said.
Hi Yuwanda, thanks for the great advice! Yes, outdoors is lovely, summer is my favorite season. Now to answer your question about ‘nerves’ — a lot of factors come into play.
1st: I have a sales coach who holds me accountable.
2nd: I focused on my bigger why- I am going to be 30 this year & my goal is to build a reputable writing firm that is profitable and quickly start training others (to emulate you so to speak). I don’t have a car so I was getting up extra early and taking 3 and 4 buses to go to meetings with dead leads and prospects – which killed my productivity. I felt like I had nothing to lose with cold calling.
3rd: After having great response, I make cold calls w/o fear — the worst they can say is no.
4th: I know my #’s and how many calls I have to make to get a sale.
5th: I imagine myself having staff that I have to pay & keep my daily quota & end goal in mind with
every call.I hope this helps.
My Response
First I want to say, I couldn’t have said it better myself as far as how to get over the fear of cold calling. I just want to add a couple of clarification points based on my own experience.
Years ago when I had a business mentor, one thing he drummed into my head that I remember to this day is know your numbers – your business numbers. Get very, very intimate with them, for they tell the true story of where your business has been, where it is now and where it’s going (if you don’t change things).
How Not to Stress So Much When Freelance Writing Jobs Aren’t Rolling in Regularly
This is why I can relax during slow times because I know that: i) editorial is cyclical; and ii) as I told this freelancer, I have almost 20 years of numbers I can go back and look over and see that things do even out. Even if you don’t have this, take comfort in the fact that tons of others who are more experienced than you can second this. That’s just the way freelancing is.
“Will I Ever Land Another Freelance Writing Job?””
Some days/weeks, it just seems that you’re never going to get that next gig and it can be so tempting to stop marketing. After all, no one’s listening anyway, right?
Wrong!
Keep marketing – especially during the slow season. If you want more freelance writing jobs, would you shut down your website or not answer your phone just because responses aren’t coming in as fast as you’d like ? Of course not.
Well, this is EXACTLY what you do when you stop marketing – so stay on it.
How to Propel Your Freelance Writing Career to the Next Level
We’re all constantly striving to get to the next level. I know I am! But, if you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to keep getting the same results. Just like this freelancer switched it up (ie, she started using cold calling because other things she tried weren’t working like she wanted), you have to do the same if you want different results.
That could be doing MORE of what you’re already doing that works, cutting out what’s not working, combining a different way of marketing with what you’re already doing that works, etc.
Take me with my ebook writing quest. What I’m doing in this area is already working (ie, I already make ebook sales), but I want to increase this revenue stream. Knowing my numbers (always the first step), I then sat down and formulated a plan of how I was going to get there. That means producing more ebooks.
There are always going to be bumps in the road; it’s how you overcome them that matters. This freelancer has figured out a plan that works for her – and now she’s working that plan.
And that’s why I have no doubt that she’ll get where she wants to go because if you don’t have a destination in mind, anywhere you land is fine. But when you have a plan and you work it, you invariably get where you want to go. This last piece of advice was shared with me by another aspiring ebook writer; I thought it very apropos for this piece.
I hope this insight has helped you to see where it is you can improve if things are not going exactly as you want them to with your freelance writing career.
Note: Inkwell’s latest ebook was published yesterday. Click graphic for details. Finally hit double digits on Amazon; once this one goes live, that’ll be 10 ebooks I have published there. Yes!
Summer, Summer, Summer Time, Ah Summertime! (Sit back sit back and unwind)
That Will Smith song is stuck in my head this morning.
Hope you’re enjoying your summer – if it’s summer where you live (have to keep in mind readers who are now bundling up because it’s winter (eg, Australia, Argentina, etc.). Here in HOTLanta, the weather is living up to the city’s name – it’s been hot as the dickens!
I actually don’t mind the heat, it’s being landlocked that has me going a little stir crazy. Back to the beaches of Jamaica I go!
P.S.: Will you do me a favor? If you download and read the Living the Freelance Life!, will you come back and give some feedback in the comments section below? Or, just email me [info*at*InkwellEditorial*dot*com]. Tell me what you liked about it, disliked about it, wish I would have discussed more of/less of, etc. In short, anything. I may even revise based on your feedback and will definitely carry the lessons forward into the next ebooks. Thanks a bunch!
P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!
P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
Writing and Selling Ebooks Online: Diary of My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part IV
June 24, 2011
The first thing I want to say is I’m changing the name of this series. Something about seeing the word “failure” in so many posts just bugs me. Sure, I stumbled a bit, but I’m picking myself up and getting on with it, so I don’t think failure is the right word anymore.
And again, it just bugs the hell out of me seeing it in print so often! So, the new name is the title of this post.
Note: See all posts to date in this ebook writing series. In spite of the name change, this is Part IV.
My Ebook Writing Progress This Week
In a previous post, I told you how I formulated a schedule for writing ebooks that would help me to reach my goal by year’s end. That plan is to write and upload one title a week to Amazon until the end of the year.
How Long It Takes to Write an Ebook
Well this depends on a lot of factors, of course (eg, subject matter, research involved, your writing personality, etc.). I have a system down pat, so it takes me anywhere between 15 and 25 hours usually. I wrote one ebook (the backpage one) in about 8 hours. It started off as an article, but got so long that I just spent that whole day writing and managed to finish it.
This Week Got a Little Sidetracked, But Am Still on Track
This has been a harrowing week. I had a couple of client projects due, which cut into my writing time on my projects. But, I’m still on track to publish another ebook by Sunday.
While I didn’t start on Monday like I wanted, I am about 75% done with this latest title. I’ll finish it this weekend and upload it on Sunday. By Wednesday, I knew it was going to be a long weekend. One thing I did last week though was to look through my list of titles and select an easy one to put together. Some ebooks take much longer to write than others.
I still get physically ill when I think about the one on niche minisites I had 90% finished which is on my old laptop that died. The data couldn’t be recovered, so I have to write that one again. I’d started that one last summer and had almost finished it last month when my laptop caught that virus and went kaput.
I’m back burnering that title cuz I just can’t bear to think about doing all that research again.
What’s This Latest Ebook About?
It’s a book of SEO writing examples. Quite a few people have asked me for this since I wrote the ebook on how to start an SEO article writing career. Although I give an actual sample in that ebook, some want more.
I read recently that 60% of us are visual learners, so this makes sense. Hence, this ebook includes 10 examples of SEO articles, as well as some explanatory info on the foundational concepts of this type of writing.
If you know SEO, you don’t need this ebook. But if you’re new to the field and/or are still a little fuzzy about what an actual SEO article looks like, where keywords should go, what keyword density is, etc., this ebook will help.
How to Price EBooks to Sell on Amazon: I’m Playing Around with My Pricing
I’m finding pricing to be a bit tricky on Amazon. I’ve figured out a formula that seems to work well for my site, but I think I should be selling more on Amazon, so I’m playing around with pricing to see what happens.
Every successful ebook self-publisher I read says to do this. A pricing strategy that seems to work is to go low to build a base, then pump out more titles and make your money on volume.
So this ebook will be $2.99.
The How to Write an Ebook in 3 Days ebook seems to be doing well at the $19.95 price point on Amazon (it’s one of my most popular titles there), but I’m intrigued by this $2.99 pricing strategy, so am gonna give it a go.
I’ll keep you updated on how it goes, of course.
To Make Money Selling Ebooks Online, Ya Gotta Produce
FYI, my latest ebook on Amazon finally went live (it can take 2-3 days for them to review and approve it). This makes 9 to date (gettin’ there!). So I’m adding, adding, adding to my virtual shelf. Week after next (travelling next week), I’m going to start uploading my existing titles; If I did this, I’d have close to 30 ebooks on Amazon already.
How’s your ebook writing coming along? Did you make any progress this week? Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t, and share in the comments section below your ups, downs and in-between struggles. Lord knows this journal is helping to keep my feet to the fire. What’s keeping you motivated?
P.S.: Will you do me a favor? If you download and read the Living the Freelance Life!, will you come back and give some feedback in the comments section below? Or, just email me [info*at*InkwellEditorial*dot*com]. Tell me what you liked about it, disliked about it, wish I would have discussed more of/less of, etc. In short, anything. I may even revise based on your feedback and will definitely carry the lessons forward into the next ebooks. Thanks a bunch!
P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!
P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
Web Copywriting Tips for Busy Bloggers
June 21, 2011
Today, I have the pleasure of appearing as a guest poster on JohnPaulAguiar.com. My post, entitled Web Copywriting Tips for Busy Bloggers, discusses how to improve your blog writing skills so you retain readers. I wrote:
Every post that’s created is like a mini campaign. But even if you have the most informative content in your blog’s niche, if you can’t build a readership because it’s poorly written, it will be extremely difficult to become a successful blogger.
FYI, I’m kinda swamped this week and next week, so am seeking guest posters to appear here.
Want More Twitter Followers?
If so, you need to know Mr. Aguiar. I first became aware of John Paul via Twitter. Turns out, he’s the author of Twitter Dummy. I read his post, How I Got 253 Twitter ReTweets On 5 Posts, and immediately started implementing the #FF Tip on a regular basis (I had been doing it, but just not regularly). And you know what? I get more followers on this day than practically any other.
So I started doing the #WW (Writer Wednesday) thing regularly, and slowly my Twitter following has increased to over 3,300 — and I’m not THAT prolific of a tweeter.
I had an interesting phone chat with John Paul last week. He wanted to pick my brain about article marketing and press release marketing, and I wanted to pick his about how to get more Twitter followers. I’ll rack my brain and give you a few tips he passed along to me during our conversation in a post next week.
Stay tuned!
If you really want to know how to increase your following though, get his ebook, Twitter Dummy. It’s full of simple stuff that if you do consistently, it will yield amazing results.
Hope you enjoy the post, and feel free to add your copywriting tips for busy bloggers at the end of the post.
Want to Freelance Fulltime?
Don’t forget to subscribe to get my new ebook (it’s FREE!), Living the Freelance Life! Readers have really taken a liking to it. One aspiring writer wrote to me saying in part:
Just so you know, you’re my new “mentor-in-my-head”. You truly are an inspiration to me . . . Your site, articles, ebooks (I bought, read and took copious notes on “How to become a FT Self Publisher… and “How to write an Ebook in 3 Days…”). Truthfully I’ve spent the last few days reading just about EVERY SINGLE link you’ve suggested, and article that you’ve written, that applies to my new goal; to make enough of an income on my ebooks to fully support myself . . . Yuwanda, you’ve helped to give me direction.
Beyond the heaps of praise this freelancer bestowed on me, what I love is that she’s taking the information I dispense in this ebook and is running with it. I love that!
So many people ask me for advice — but then they do nothing with it. It’s so gratifying when someone contacts me to let me know that what I’ve written has helped them see some kind of light; given them a direction; helped them to change the course of their lives.
So if you haven’t read the ebook yet, all you have to do is subscribe and you’ll be sent a link where you can immediately download it.
Hope you’re having a swell week. I’m headlong into a client project which will take up the rest of the day.
Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Will you do me a favor? If you download and read the ebook, will you come back and give some feedback in the comments section below. Or, just email me [info*at*InkwellEditorial*dot*com]. Tell me what you liked about it, disliked about it, wish I would have discussed more of/less of, etc. In short, anything. I may even revise based on your feedback and will definitely carry the lessons forward into the next ebooks. Thanks a bunch!
P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!
P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
An Ebook Publishing Failure Story: My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon This Year, Part III
June 19, 2011
First, I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all you dads – and those who act as dads – out there. I hope you’re enjoying your day.
It’s Sunday evening and I’ve been working to finish my latest ebook, which I talked about in the last entry in this ebook writing series. Note: See links to all entries in this ebook writing series at the end of this post.
FREE EBOOK WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE
Well, I did it! I finished the sucker and got it uploaded to this site. Now, I just have to upload it to Amazon, which is probably going to have to wait until tomorrow because I’m running off to the track before dark descends.
A complete Table of Contents is below. Remember, this ebook is free; all you have to do is subscribe if you haven’t already. If you have, a link has already been sent to you. You have a week to download it before the link expires.
Here’s what one reader had to say:
Unsolicited Testimonial
I am an Inkwell Editorial subscriber so I received one of your latest e-books for free and it was truly inspirational. You are my favorite e-book writer and all-around freelance writing blogger because I feel like you bare your soul to us fellow writers and I for one appreciate it. I definitely enjoyed that e-book.
I couldn’t resist purchasing two more of your e-books for my Kindle on my iPhone-the FT self publisher and e-book writing and marketing e-books and I was not disappointed. I have an almost finished e-book about to publish to boost my . . . writer platform and that is thanks to you, as is the fact that I am very confident in my goal to write on e-book a week for the rest of the year. I hope to be successful and to do the same thing in the coming year as well. Woohoo is this exciting-I am glad that I came on board for this.
I just wanted to let you know that your kindness and your advice has been very helpful to me and you’re helping me get to a point where I can support my family like I want to . . .
Jessie
The Importance of Adhering to a Schedule to Achieve Your Ebook Writing Goals
As I said in my last post, my goal from now until the end of the year is to finish one ebook per week. I finished 90% of this one this past week, but this weekend, I still had to finish writing it, then edit it, proof it, create a cover and upload it. Well, that took me four hours yesterday and so far almost 7 today – way longer than I’d planned.
What it Takes to Stick to Ebook Writing Goals
My yard has gone unmowed, laundry has gone undone, some house cleaning needs to get done, I need a mani/pedi like nobody’s business and I haven’t worked out liked I wanted to.
BUT . . . if I’m going to make my 50 ebook goal by year’s end, this is what it’s going to take. I know this because I’ve had several setbacks already this year. Tomorrow I’ll upload this one to Amazon, which will be a total of 9 that I’ll have published there so far, then start on a new title.
Nex week is going to be a bear because I am literally swamped with clients projects, as well as some writing I have to do because of a swap/trade I did for services with another freelancer. His firm is helping me with some social media stuff, and my firm is writing some articles for him.
But again, if you’re extremely focused and keep your most important goals front and center, you can do almost anything.
I’ll be getting up two hours earlier than I usually do all next week in order to stay on track.
As I said when I first started this series, this “diary of ebook writing” if you will, writing these posts is more for me than anything. But, I hope I’m inspiring you to hold fast to your dreams.
And with that, I’m off to the track!
Enjoy the rest of this Father’s Day.
Table of Contents of New Ebook
INTRODUCTION, Page 7
Living Abroad: A Dream Come True, Page 7
My Freelance Life: The Beginning, Page 7
PART I: HOW I MAKE MONEY ONLINE, Page 9
My Three Revenue Streams, Page 9
Percentage I Earn from Each Revenue Stream, Page 9
PART II: FREELANCE WRITING, Page 10
How 9/11 Changed My Business . . . and the Direction of My Life, Page 11
How I Became “Just” a Freelance Writer, Page 12
My Last Full-Time Job: Why I Vowed I’d Never Work for Someone Else Again, Page 13
How I Became a Full-time Freelance Writer, Page 14
Freelancing / Internet Marketing: A Recession-Proof Career, Page 15
Travel (and Other) Dreams Coming True, Page 15
Major Mistake I Made as a Freelance Writer, Page 15
Takeaway Lessons from This Section, Page 16
PART III: HOW I STARTED WRITING AND SELLING EBOOKS ONLINE, Page 18
One Thing to Always Remember about Freelancing, Page 18
Why Sales of My First Ebooks Sucked, Page 19
6 Things I Did to Make My Ebook Sales More Consistent, Page 20
The Role Technology Plays in Ebook Sales, Page 23
Why Ebook Sales Will Explode in the Coming Years, Page 24
How Recognizing – and Capitalizing on Trends – Has Made Me a Lot of Money as an Ebook Writer, Page 23
Why Being a Self-Published Author Is Easier (and More Lucrative) Than Ever, Page 24
Self-Published Ebook Author Earning 5 Figures – Per Month, Page 27
The Secret to Selling Tons of Ebooks Online, Page 27
Want to Become a Successful Self-Publisher? A Surefire Formula for Making a Living as an Ebook Writer, Page 29
Why Ebook Writing and Self-Publishing Is an Ideal “Freelance / Internet Entrepreneur” Lifestyle, Page 30
Why I Don’t Worry about Individual Title (Ebook) Sales, Page 30
The Only Regret I Have about My Career as an Ebook Writer/Seller, Page 30
Takeaway Lessons from This Section, Page 31
PART IV: HOW I BECAME AN INTERNET / AFFILIATE MARKETER, Page 32
$900 in 1 Day in Affiliate Sales!, Page 32
Almost $85,000 in Affiliate Earnings! Page 32
How I Select Which Affiliate Products to Promote, Page 33
How to Make More Affiliate Sales, Page 33
Affiliate Services / Programs I Actively Use and Promote, Page 33
4 Reasons I Still Consider Myself a Newbie When It Comes to Affiliate Marketing, Page 34
Another Online Income Stream I Plan to Develop More, Page 36
Takeaway Lessons from This Section, Page 36
PART V: HOW TO START MAKING MONEY ONLINE — A QUICK-START PLAN FOR SUCCESS, Page 39
How to Earn at Least $500 Your First Month as an Internet Entrepreneur, Page 39
Don’t Make This Mistake When You Start Your Internet Marketing Career, Page 41
How to Decide Which Product(s) to Promote, Page 43
Internet / Affiliate Marketing: Why It’s Important to Develop Your Writing Skill, Page 47
Final Thoughts for This Section, Page 50
PART VI: HOW TO GET OUT OF A JOB YOU HATE AND INTO A CAREER YOU LOVE, Page 51
What It Really Takes to Get on Easy Street as a Freelancer / Internet Entrepreneur, Page 51
Concrete Steps to Take to Get Out of Job You Hate and Into a Career You Love, Page 52
Living a Life Most Can Only Dream Of, Page 53
ENDMATTER, Page 55
Remember, all you have to do to get it is subscribe; you can do so from any page of this site!
P.S.: Will you do me a favor? If you download and read the ebook, will you come back and give some feedback in the comments section below. Or, just email me [info*at*InkwellEditorial*dot*com]. Tell me what you liked about it, disliked about it, wish I would have discussed more of/less of, etc. In short, anything. I may even revise based on your feedback and will definitely carry the lessons forward into the next ebooks. Thanks a bunch!
P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!
P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
An Ebook Publishing Failure Story: My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon This Year, Part II
June 17, 2011
Looks like the initial post I did on writing and selling ebooks on Amazon is going to turn into a series – one that’ll last until the last day of this year. So this is Part II.
Note: See links to all entries in this ebook writing series at the end of this post.
This Week’s Ebook Writing Progress
Another Friday night finds me at the computer working on an ebook. Usually on Fridays, I close up early to work out, eat out, bar hop, etc. It’s amazing what happens once you get super focused though – plans have to change; how you use your time has to change.
So here I am on a Friday evening – working instead of bar hopping (although, I am about to pop downstairs and grab a glass of wine).
Finding Time to Write
This week, I completed 90% of a new ebook.
One of the things I did last weekend was develop a writing schedule that I must adhere to in order to reach my goal by year’s end. So, my goal is to finish an ebook a week. My plan is to start a new title on Monday, and have it finished and uploaded by the following Sunday.
So, I’ll be working tomorrow. Gonna get up early in the morning to finish the writing and will probably save editing and creating the cover for Sunday. So, yeah, it’s gonna be some long weeks.
My New Ebook: What’s It About
This one is tentatively titled, How I’ve Made My Living Completely Online Since 2007 & You Can Too!
It’s about how I make my living online. I detail my income streams, how much I make from each one, how I got into each one, how I’m growing them, stuff I need to do better, lessons I’ve learned along the way that can shorten the learning curve for you – and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Free Ebook; Very Cheap Ebook!
This ebook will be free to subscribers and will be sold on Amazon for Kindle for 99 cents.
My primary reason for writing this ebook is to grow my subscriber list; that’s why it’s priced this way on Amazon and will be offered as a freebie on this site. Almost all extremely successful internet marketers agree that one of the best ways to do that is by offering a good freebie.
I figured this was a good title because the ebook will answer questions I get asked all the time about how I got started as an internet entrepreneur, and how others can do the same. I don’t hold anything back – I tell tons of mistakes I’ve made (and continue to make), as well as what it takes to really succeed as a full-time internet entrepreneur.
I was so frustrated last week. But, I made up my mind that I just would not be defeated and have just soldiered on. And it paid off. I made great strides this week. I haven’t finished a title since the social media marketing ebook I co-authored back in April – that’s almost two months.
So getting one almost completely done this week has me feeling pretty darn good about myself right now. Yes! “I’m the man, er, woman . . . I’m the woman.” [Back pat, back pat]
Another Tech Setback This Week
In spite of my ebook writing success this week, I feel like God is still testing me because I found out yesterday that two of my minisites had been hacked. I’ve been doing business on the web since 1999. This has never happened.
And, there went my minisite AdSense earnings. My tech guy is working to get this fixed now. Thank goodness for him! When I found out my sites had been hacked, I was like:
Man, what the f***! I can’t catch a break. Between the computer virus that killed my last laptop, losing 6 months worth of data and now this, my karma must be really whack!”
I don’t think I’ve ever had luck as bad as I have the past four months or so – ever.
But I was raised a Christian so after my venting, I said a prayer, then got back down to work. I believe that everything happens for the better in the end – and in spite of all that’s happened I realize how extremely fortunate I am, so I’m just rolling with the punches.
I guess my whole point is, sometimes, that’s all you can do.
How was your work week? Are you on track with your freelance writing goals? You can share in the comments section below.
Hope you have a fun weekend!
P.S.: Thanks to Kel and Kimberly for such encouraging comments on last week’s post on this topic. It was just what my spirit needed.
P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!
P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
7 Ways a Freelance Writer Can Expand Your Profits – No Matter What Your Business Is! A Free Marketing Report for Freelance Writers
June 15, 2011
An E-Book Excerpt
[See all Inkwell Editorial Work-from-Home Titles Here]
PREFACE
Who this ebook is for?
Freelance writers.
“But,” you may be thinking, “I am a freelance writer, how can this ebook be for me?”
The answer is, this ebook is a marketing template; an in-depth sample of the type of free marketing report you can distribute to clients to land more freelance writing jobs.
Easily start landing more freelance writing jobs for only $4.95 (Immediate Download)
Why Distributing Free Reports Works So Well to Land Freelance Writing Jobs
Writing and distributing free reports work because they:
(i) set you apart from the competition, as most freelancers never invest the time it takes to pull together in-depth marketing pieces like this;
(ii) demonstrate your skills, knowledge and expertise to your client base; and
(iii) pre-sell clients.
And, if you specialize in a niche, writing and distributing free reports can be extremely effective.
For example, I do a lot of writing in the real estate niche. An easy report to pull together would be one that gives stats on new home sales, foreclosures, average home price in the United States, etc. Every year, I could distribute the same report with updated stats.
No matter what niche you’re in, you can create special reports that can be updated monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. This can keep your pipeline full of freelance writing jobs seamlessly – if you stay consistent with it.
This is content marketing at its best.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases.
Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty. [Source: Wikipedia.com]
Content Marketing Report Tip: Name your report after your firm, eg, The Inkwell Editorial Annual Home Statistics Report (you get the gist). Why would ou want to do this?
It helps to brand your firm; set it apart from others, which is exactly what one savvy entrepreneur did – and she would up selling making millions!
Read on for who, how and why.
The $70 Million Report
Ever heard of Barbara Corcoran? Or, the Corcoran Report? She is who gave me the idea to write and distribute free reports to land clients. And, this is long before the advent of “content marketing.”
Barbara Corcoran’s Story
In the 1980s Barbara Corcoran was a real estate broker in New York City. She owned The Corcoran Group, and the growth of her company – which she eventually went on to sell for upwards of $70 million in 2001 – was built by writing and distributing an industry report which she titled The Corcoran Report.
What did the report consist of? Basically, it was a “state of the industry” report on the real estate market in New York. Once she wrote it, she sent it to reporters at The New York Times, as well as other media outlets.
And, when they needed a quote about real estate in New York, who do you think they called? Ms. Corcoran, of course. Her report got mentioned in the coveted real estate section of The New York Times one week. This began her meteoric rise to the top of the NYC real estate market for she had, in fact, branded herself with this published report.
Now, years later, it is still published annually and is a “bible” of the NYC real estate market – and also a couple of other cities (eg, Miami).
See how writing and distributing free reports can work so well?
The Free Report That Earned Me Thousands of Dollars
My Story
I’ve been an SEO copywriter since 2007. When I first started out, I knew absolutely nothing about this form of writing, beyond what “SEO” stood for (search engine optimization).
Furthermore, I knew next to nothing about the foundation of SEO – internet marketing itself. And to my great surprise, neither did a lot of my clients!
At this point, I was at a critical fork in the road. I could either shy away from the challenge this presented and stick with offering basic web copy. Or, I could seize the opportunity to expand my SEO writing business. But, it meant educating my clients so that I could sell them more services.
This is the option I chose. So, I did some studying and learned what I needed to know to gain “expert” status. Then, I prepared a tutorial (a report) for prospective clients and put it on my site as a free download. There’s a free link to it inside.
The report was picked up and distributed by many others, and earned me thousands of dollars in business. And the reason is, it proves to clients that my firm knows its “SEO writing stuff.”
I don’t have to “prove” it to them; it’s there in black and white. So, by the time many prospects contact my SEO writing firm, it’s just a matter of working out the particulars of the type of work they want us to do, not IF they want to hire us.
Conclusion
While investing the time upfront to research, write and distribute reports can seem like you’re “working for free,” it’s really not. You’re investing in your freelance business – for the long haul. But boy, can it pay off big – for years.
And if you’re one of the few freelancers who are willing to think creatively like this and work differently than the competition, you’ll always have a full pipeline as a freelance writer.
Are You a Small Business Owner?
If you’re a business owner who’s stumbled across this report, it’s great insight into how a freelance writer can help you increase sales and leads.
So, although this report is for freelance writers, it’s ABOUT how every business can benefit from the expertise of a good copywriter.
Sincerly,
Yuwanda Black
Freelance Writer Since 1993
P.S.: You can use this e-book as a free giveaway to potential clients, as an incentive to build your subscriber list and/or as a free marketing tool to entice seminar, workshop and/or classroom subscribers.
Start gaining new clients for only $4.95 (Immediate Download)
3 Reasons Cold Calling Works to Land Freelance Writing Jobs
June 14, 2011
It’s summer time, which means for many that writing assignments are harder to come by. Many freelancers start to panic this time of year – especially if they’re new to the game. I’ve been at this so long that I’ve seen many seasons come and go. And, what I can tell you is that editorial is cyclical. So relax, don’t panic.
Note: See Success Story #3 in this post to get the full picture of this freelancer writer’s success with cold calling.
But, just because it’s a traditionally slow time does not mean you should throw up your hands in defeat. In the summer marketing tutorial, I not only outline 6 ways to still land freelance writing jobs, I give some advice for how to use this slower time to propel your business to the next level.
Email from a Freelance Writer about Direct Mail (Which Led to My Advice about Cold Calling)
A freelancer wrote me a few days ago, inquiring:
Hi Yuwanda,
I am not sure if this is a question that many of your readers ask as well. I do direct mail, however, I only send it to direct clients, not to SEO Firms. I know you mentioned that you also do direct mail, but I wasn’t sure if you send it to SEO Firms or just direct businesses.
In my mind, I am thinking that SEO firms will be more open to Emails since online is the nature of their business. I have actually been thinking about doing a direct mail campaign for SEO’s, Internet Professionals, etc. However, I have been hesitant because I thought emailing them would be more effective. Do you have any thoughts or experience with this? Your help is greatly appreciated- thanks!
My Response
It’s been years since I’ve done a direct mail campaign. All of my marketing is now done online.
IMO, this would be a waste of money. I just don’t think direct mail in this case would be worth the investment. I’d try cold calling b4 I’d do that. It has a high rate of return and in my experience is even more effective than email.
Hope this insight helps.
A 66% Cold Call Response Rate!
This freelance writer emailed me back a couple of days later, writing:
Hi Yuwanda,
Yes, it does help! Thanks- I was always hesitant to cold call, but I took your advice, and I started making my calls 30 minutes ago. I made 6 calls this far and 4 of them asked me to send my samples already. One is looking for a quote on a project next week.
I guess the SEO firms are open to getting “cold calls” to freelance writers. :)
Thanks again!
Freelance Writers: Why You Can Expect a Higher-than Average Response Rate When You Cold Call
FYI, this is a 66% response rate. Sure, it’s a small example, but this response mirrors what I got years ago when I used to cold call prospects when I owned my editorial staffing agency in New York. I never warmed up to cold calling, as email and referrals worked well for me to bring in steady leads. But, I did eventually conquer my fear of it. Once I got comfortable with a script, it actually wasn’t bad at all.
Cold Calling Tip: Another thing I want to point out is that every time I started my cold calls, I’d be nervous. But, three to five calls into the “cycle” for the day, I’d relax. So just expect that, and know that it does get better.
One thing I have to say is, publishing/editorial tends to be a field filled with very friendly people. And, they’re not accustomed to being cold called, so many of my calls were downright friendly.
Now, did I run across some sour pusses? Yeah, for sure.
But even those tended not to be so bad. And again, I think it’s because professionals in this niche aren’t accustomed to being cold called, so they’re nicer when they do get them. This is just my personal opinion.
Following is why I think cold calling works so well for freelance writers (and other editorial professionals, eg, graphic designers).
Freelance Writers: 3 Reasons to Cold Call Prospects
Most Freelancers Don’t Do It: So you’ll stand out when you do.
It’s Harder to be Dismissed: It’s easy for someone to toss a mailer in the garbage or delete an email, but most people are polite and won’t dismiss you on the phone. At the very least you can hope to get some follow-up information (eg, “And who do I send those writing samples to?”)
You Add to Your List: Marketing lists are pure gold – in any business – whether it’s previous customers, new prospects, referrals, etc. The larger your list is, the better chance you have of making sales.
Freelance Writers: Do Things Seem Slower Than Normal This Year?
Just one thing I wanted to point out – I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that things are slower than ever. I know the experts say our economy is on the mend, but from friends who’ve lost jobs and are asking me about how to get into freelance writing, to emails from existing freelance writers about how to bring in more business, to me, it does seem that things are a lot slower than in recent past years.
Weathering One of the Worst Economic Periods Ever as a Freelance Writer
As a freelance writer, I weathered one of the worst economic crisises in recent history (and have been through a few others) – the 9/11 attacks. I lived in New York City at the time, and business came practically to a halt for months after. So you may have to log more marketing hours than ever before, but things always turn around.
FT Job Seekers Turning to Freelancing to Earn Extra Money
I just had a conversation with a girlfriend of mine last night who’s looking for a full-time job. She said she’s had tons of interviews, but no job offers yet. She’s been unemployed for over a year. She wanted to pick my brain about how to become a freelance writer to bring in some extra income.
I just wanted to point this out to say hang in there. It’s tough for everybody right now – fulltimers and freelancers alike.
The Advantage Freelancing Has Over FT Employment (IMO)
The thing I like about freelancing though is you don’t depend on one customer (eg, a job) for your daily bread. You can have as many “paychecks” as you want. But it ain’t gonna come to ya, ya gotta put the pedal to the medal and market for the work (in this ebook I give a cold-calling script freelancers can use).
Good luck, and hang in there!
An Ebook Publishing Failure Story: My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon This Year
June 10, 2011
I decided to start this online journal about my goal to write and have published 50 ebooks on Amazon by December 31, 2011 because, quite frankly, I’m way behind schedule and I need a kick in the pants. And, there’s nothing like declaring your goals publicly – especially your lumps along the way (ie, your failures) – to keep you on track.
Note: See all posts in this ebook writing series at the end of this post. Get the ebook that came out of this series: SELLING EBOOKS ONLINE: How I Published 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year – And You Can Too!
Why Am I So Behind in Writing and Publishing My Ebooks
Well, there are several reasons. None of them are excuses; they’re just . . . reasons.
My Personal Life: Quite frankly, it’s sucked for a while now and it got the better of me in the spring of this year. I wasn’t able to concentrate and be super-focused like I usually am.
I’m a Type A personality. This means I tend to give my all to everything – personally and professionally. And, when it doesn’t go my way (especially personally), it can f*** me up pretty badly – especially because I didn’t see it coming.
So, that took me off track for a bit and I’m just now recovering – and finding my mojo again.
Travelling: While living the “international freelance writing life” is nice, it’s kind of disconcerting. I’m back and forth to Jamaica, and have been feeling out of sorts lately. Like:
“Is that extra computer battery here, or did I leave it at my house in Jamaica?” and
“Where are those – my favorite – running shorts? Ah crap, I left them in Atlanta!” or
“Why can’t I access this site from Jamaica? Arrggghhh!”
While on the face of it little things like this are no big deal – I’m a creature of habit (the older I get, the more I think I’m developing a bit of OCD). I like to have things in their place, working the way they’re supposed to, and nothing out of sorts at all times. If something is “off,” it throws me off. So little things have been adding up . . . and creating a big headache for me.
Work Problems: Over the past two months I’ve had a spate of problems – namely, my laptop died. I lost six months of work. It was my own fault because I had a backup in place, but just didn’t do my part and save the darned files!
Uggghhh – I could literally puke at my folly!
I’m an optimist by nature, so tend to think that, “This won’t happen to me.” Which is very stupid considering I got a nasty virus in December that cost me over $500 to get fixed. Six months later (this month), I got another one that crashed my whole system – which I hadn’t backed up since December.
I know, I know. STUPID!
And, it couldn’t be fixed; so no recovered files — and I had to buy a whole new computer (which I’m loving!). But, there went six month’s worth of personal photos and video, not to mention work files (my last two published ebooks namely, as well as one I had 90% completed that I have to now rewrite). Now I’m so paranoid that I back up stuff even when I’m going across the hall to the bathroom.
Some other stuff has happened too professionally that’s just put a black cloud over everything.
For a couple of weeks there, it was all I could do to log on. I just wanted to lay in bed with the covers over my head I was so depressed (which is TOTALLY unlike me).
The Sun is Shining Again — I’m Gonna be an Ebook Writing Fool!
Now, I’m finally coming out of my personal and professional funk. I feel inspired again and will be working my tail off to make my ebook writing and publishing goal. The writing starts tomorrow.
I’ll be doing regular updates on my progress – this is more for me than anything else.
If you want to chime in with your ebook writing (or other professional) successes and failures, I’d welcome it. Share in the comments section below. And, here’s to always getting back up, dusting yourself off and getting going again!
Have a great weekend,
Yuwanda
Listing of All Posts in This Series
A Freelance Writer’s Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part I
A Freelance Writer’s Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part II
A Freelance Writer’s Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part III
A Freelance Writer’s Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part IV
A Freelance Writer’s Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part V
Writing and Selling Ebooks Online: Diary of My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part XV (Final post in series)
P.S.: Want to write and sell ebooks online for a living? You can! Get the guide that shows you how to start a successful self-publishing career — start immediately.
P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.
Find this post helpful? Share it with others and follow Inkwell Editorial on Twitter.
Join the 10,000+ strong freelance community we've developed on Twitter & take your career to the next level.
RSS Subscription
Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial Feed!
Recent Posts
- Freelance Advice: How to Transition from a Job into Freelancing Full-time and/or From Writing for Clients to Writing for Yourself
- Ebook Publishing, Internet Marketing and Freelance / SEO Writing: Questions from Readers
- Why I “Heart” My Freelance Writing Career: 6 Reasons I Wouldn’t Trade It for Any Other Job in the World
- How to Become a Freelance Writer: A Wannabe Freelancer States, “I Want to Make the Leap, but I Don’t Know Where to Start – Help!”
- Getting Online Writing Jobs: The One Thing Clients Seem to Be Wanting More of These Days & How to Offer It To Them
Place Your Ad Here
"Help, My Computer Freezes!” Here are 4 Common Reasons Why & How to Fix Them
Start Growing Your Email List -- and Increasing Web Sales -- for Just $1!
Create Professional Ebook Covers in Under 30 Minutes for Less Than $10. Try It Free First
Cheap Web Hosting w/Money-Back Guarantee for Freelancers
Recommended Resources
Learn how to start a career as a freelance writer -- full-time or part-time. These instructional guides on freelance writing teach you everything you need to know. You can get started right away.
How to Start a Successful Freelance Career Newsletter: Get concrete specifics on how to start, grow and run a successful freelance writing career.