LATEST EMAIL FROM MARY

Good morning, Yuwanda. Want to give you an update.

My first (and only client, at the moment), ended up rejecting my work. I wrote -- and rewrote three times -- only one piece for him, but he told me "I regret to say that I do not think you are a good fit for this client."
 
He asked for an invoice for the work I did. When I invoiced him I told him, because not to ask would be foolish -- after all, all he could say would be no or yes: "I must ask -- perhaps you have other clients for which I may be better suited?" And he replied that he would keep me in mind.
 
Other potential clients from my first query "blast" told me they had upcoming projects they would use me in, as I mentioned to you. Haven't heard from them since the week of Feb. 11, so I plan to write a short e-mail next week letting them know I'm still available.
 
I've been sending out queries, averaging 10 a night and no takers as yet. I think I've sent out about 40-50 queries total so far. I AM a bit discouraged, but I know it's a numbers game, so I'll keep sending those queries out.
 
I also plan to write an SEO-optimized news release on my business, and then re-query the SEO companies I previously queried letting them know specifically I do SEO news releases.
 
And that's it. Any advice you might give as to how to get those companies to send me assignments is always welcome... ;-).
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MY RESPONSE TO MARY

Mary,
 
Thanks for that update. I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out, but at least you're going to get paid and you've learned some valuable lessons.
 
Please don't give up and don't be discouraged. Focus on the positive; you got bites as soon as you started marketing, so that should tell you you're in a growing field where there's lots of work.
 
And, the client said, "I regret to say that I do not think you are a good fit for this client." He didn't say your writing sucks.
 
Also, you never know what people are looking for sometimes. His client may have been an ass that he couldn't please so he farmed it out to a hapless freelancer (you) hoping that you could give the client what he's looking for. Please don't read too much into this one "failure."
 
Failure is in quotation marks because it only exists in the minds of those who let it. This was a lesson, an experience to learn from; it was not a failure.
 
I believe that the universe gives us lessons in disheartening ways sometimes.
 
I personally think the lesson for you here is one of perseverance; ie, the universe is testing you to see if this is something you really want and are willing to fight for. Why do I think this?
 
In one of your emails to me you said that you'd been trying to make a go of freelancing for a long time, but it just hadn't worked out.
 
Rarely does one fail when they put their heart and soul into something -- and persevere. Perseverance, in my experience, is the number one key to success. A close second is belief in self (usually if you have the first trait, the second one is there also).
 
Think about it, this is not something that's extremely difficult -- it's just freelance writing. A few million (not so terribly bright) people have managed to make a go of it -- and you can too.
 
From your site and the fact that you've been doing this part time for years, I can tell that you're obviously bright. So, you have the "hard part" down.
 
My only advice is stick with it. As you said, it's a numbers game. A year from now you're going to remember this trying time and thank the heavens that you didn't give up.
 
Chin up!
##

Mary responded, quite hilariously I might add, with the following:

MARY’S FINAL RESPONSE TO ME

As a Free-lance Soap Opera, perhaps I should have a different name, perhaps? More sexy. More dangerous. more...Alexis Colby.

Publisher Note: I had referred to Mary’s story as a freelance writing soap opera in my 2/21 post.
 
Cue syrupy music. Announcer speaks:
 
Can a girl with SEO dreams in her eyes make it in the big 'Net? Can Alexis Free-lance take her considerable writing skills and make it big in SEO City? Join us now as we watch our starry-eyed lass get off the bus from Secure and Stable but Suffocating Job and try her luck.
 
Part 1: Alexis Free-lance lands in SEO City. Gets audition. Is told will be the ingenue in a one-act.

Part 2: The show bombs -- after just one night (piece)

Part 3: Alexis Free-lance. Not quite so starry eyed, but still lifting her face to the marquees of SEO companies lining that boulevard the World Wide Web, thinking, "Ah, yes, someday I'll see my name in optimized web content..."

Part 4: Alexis Free-lance -- realizing she's now a "character writer [actor]" until if/when another gig appears -- is hitting the streets, going to every audition with an open call. Knocking on e-mail doors each and every day, waiting for that chance to show the bomb was an anomaly.

"I'm not going home until my last dime is spent," she swears to herself. "I told everyone, especially my boyfriend, Billy Bob, who wanted me to marry him -- that I would make it big in SEO City. I can't go back a failure. I just can't!"
 
Episode ends.
 
Announcer over syrupy music: "Stay tuned for our next episode. Will Alexis Free-lance win another SEO gig? Or will she knock and knock and e-mail systems worldwide shut their door to her queries? Will she get another gig only to bomb yet again? Will Billy Bob come looking for her, telling her to 'stop this SEO nonsense. The world's a scary place, little Miss Alexis Free-Lance; come home and let me take care of you in our house in a little town called Secure and Stable but Suffocating Job with the white picket fence where you'll be happy raising our five children and ironing my shorts.'
 
"Or will her big break come? Will she be so successful she can tell Billy Bob she'll marry him, but she's taking his shorts to the cleaners, she's too busy writing to iron.
 
"Tune in next time for...'As the Search Engine Optimized Web Page Scrolls.'"
###

Now, is there anyone out there who doubts this kind of talent can’t do simple SEO articles? I rest my case ladies and gentlemen.

I’ll bug Mary for an update in a month or so to see where she is. Are you listening Mary?

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/
http://www.inkwelleditorial.blogspot.com/
http://www.SEO-Article-Writer.com
http://www.SEO-Articles-For-Sale.com
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