Resource: Writer Mama

Many new moms opt to stay home with their kids, but they still want to be able to contribute financially to the household.

Writer and mom Christina Katz shares ideas for how moms can do just that in her book Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids.

The book is instructive for other people who want to start writing businesses from scratch when their lives are already busy, whether because of children or a day job. It starts with looking at writing that you can do in advance and then try to sell (such as tips, lists, fillers and personal essays) before moving on to articles you query before writing.

This makes sense for people who are really busy, because you save the step of querying and waiting for a response before writing, but it can also be more difficult to sell articles that are already written, particularly these days, when more fillers and short pieces are being written in house so publications don’t have to pay for them (the book was published in 2007, so some of it’s advice is pretty dated, including the suggestion that you send queries by mail).

Before You Even Get Started

The first part of the book, which is helpful for anyone thinking about freelancing, covers preparation for a writing career. It includes tips for gathering and keeping ideas, identifying the audiences you want to write for (and thereby the niches you might want to write in), how to look at magazines with an eye toward writing for them, reading and properly following guidelines and more.

She offers good ideas for getting around the problem of not having clips and offers good ideas for places you might be able to pick up some quick clips to use on your queries and cover letters.

Professionalism in Everything

One of the biggest hurdles for work-at-home parents is being able to present themselves in a professional manner. We’re in a hurry pretty much all the time, we might not be able to schedule telephone interviews with any assurance we’ll have a quiet house at the appointed hour and, yes, unfortunately, sometimes we blow deadlines because of sick kids or other household problems.

Katz emphasizes a “do what you’ve got to do” attitude for finding the time you need to make your business a success and to always look professional while you’re doing it.

For example she talks about doing a lot of pre-writing of articles — even those you’re going to send queries about — so you are sure you know what the story is and the sources you are going to use before you send your query. This can be a time saver because you’ve done some of the work in advance so you’re more focused on the direction you want a story to take once you start writing.

She also covers the nuts and bolts of query writing, how to get and conduct interviews, negotiation, finishing the story and more.

Taking Your Career to the Next Level

Finally the book moves beyond the basics to things writers can do to advance their careers even further such as attending writer’s conferences and getting book deals.

All of this information is useful to writers who might not know the progression their freelance writing career should take. The book also includes helpful resources, books and websites new writers might want to add to their reading lists (geared toward women, but men will find some useful stuff here, too).

Though I did find the book a little outdated (you can find updates and more information at the Writer Mama blog), a lot of the advice is still perfectly valid. Most important, it reminds people who want to become freelance writers or who are just starting out in the field that becoming a successful freelance writer is a process that takes time and that there is a logical way to go about it.

Following Katz’s advice is a good way to get ahead more quickly and sanely, whether you’re a full-time parent or have a day job and are trying to build a freelancing career at the same time.

Mind Mapping

It seems like a lot of people who are both prolific and successful writers use the mind mapping method of organizing their thoughts. I didn’t really like the idea of mind maps until I tried one years after learning the outlining/brainstorming method.

If you don’t know about mind maps, they’re essentially a visual representation of the ideas or topics that you want to cover in an article. A really simple mind map for an article might look like this:

(This image is from the free mind mapping software called FreeMind, though I often as not use a piece of paper to do my mind maps.)

How Mind Mapping Works

I don’t remember what this method of outlining was called when I was in school, but I remember using it there, too. You simply write your main topic in the center of the page, draw a circle around it, then have subtopics branch off of that.

More details or sub-subtopics branch off from the subtopics, and so on, as detailed as you want or need to get.

I tend to use mind maps to focus my thinking in a broad overview sort of way, then go back and flesh out more specific topics in an outline or list format.

But the point of using any outlining method is to use it in a way that works for you, so as you work with mind mapping or any other method, you’ll find out your own best ways to use it.

Mind Mapping Software

As I mentioned, you can do a mind map on a piece of paper, or you can use mind mapping software. There are many free options out there as well as a few pay programs. Play with a few of the free ones if this is a style that interests you before shelling out money for a paid version, which you may never need anyway.

Like outlining with note cards, mind mapping is a handy way to get your thoughts organized before writing a query, doing an interview and writing the article itself.

A mind map truly gives you a road map to follow to get your writing where you want it to go.

Resource: The Wealthy Freelancer

Different people have very different ideas of what it means to be wealthy. For some people, that term has to do mainly with making a certain dollar figure each year. For others, it might mean being able to afford a vacation home or having the time and money to go on a dream trip every year.

For Shawn Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia, though, the idea of being a wealthy freelancer is much more involved. It’s about having enough money to be comfortable, of course, but it also means having the freedom and flexibility to only take work you enjoy, to only work when you want to and to have a lifestyle that lets you do other things you love, like spending time with your family and supporting causes that are meaningful to you.

The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle takes independent workers of all stripes through the basics and beyond of what it means to be a wealthy freelancer and how to get there.

Some of the topics covered include:

• the mental game
• how to get clients
• creating a buzz piece and why you would want to
• prospecting tactics
• how to get more repeat and referral business
• how to price your services
• easy ways to boost productivity
• constructing your work-life reality (not balance!)
• alternative streams of income

The guys are big on illustrations that help readers visualize concepts, such as the wealth triangle, an easy way to see how time and income combine to catapult you into wealthy freelancer land.

There are also exercises, tips, lists and takeaways in each chapter to help reinforce what you’ve learned and make it easier to apply the concepts in your own career.

The book aims at a wide range of freelancers or independent professionals, but the authors are all copywriters and the advice is mostly geared toward that sort of professional service where you’re creating one piece of writing (or website, computer program, etc.) rather than so much for article writers who might or might not work for the same editor or publication again.

That’s not to say there’s nothing here to help freelance writers of that sort. But you might not find yourself using the information on nurturing clients, setting fees and some other topics as applicable to where you are in your business right now (but should you want to get into copywriting in the future, this info will be helpful).

No matter the services you provide, The Wealthy Freelancer is packed with helpful tips, encouraging advice and motivating information that will help you see that it really is possible to make a good living as a freelancer and have a good life at the same time.

How to Get Me (Or Anyone Else) to Follow You on Twitter

I recently started a Freelance Coach Twitter feed (please follow me if you like) and I spent some time this morning going through a few days’ of follow requests. It occurred to me that there are some pretty obvious things to do and not to do if you want to catch my attention on Twitter — and I’m sure they apply to most other people you’re trying to attract as well.

Give me Something of Value

Whenever I get a follow request, I look at the first page of a person’s feed to see what they’ve been talking about lately. That’s a good way to get a sense of whether I’ll like what they talk about in the future.

What I want to see is a link to a blog post or even just a tweeted tip that’s useful, that makes me think, that makes me smile, that makes me want to click and learn more.

If all you’re tweeting is quotes from other people, retweets and replies to other users, I’m probably not going to follow you.

Have Your Own Voice

Which brings me to my second must do for Twitter: have your own voice. Don’t think that you’ll get a bunch of followers just by rehashing or retweeting other people’s posts. If all you ever seem to post is inspirational quotes and retweets from your favorite bloggers, there’s no value there for me.

I want to see that you’re adding something to the discussion, but that doesn’t mean it has to be all business. I like it when people also tweet about their families, what’s going on in their lives, and yes, even the Twitter cliches of the weather and what you had for lunch.

Those things show that you’re a real person, and like the rest of us you aren’t all business all the time.

Be There

Another thing I’m looking for when I look at that first page of tweets is frequency of tweeting. If you joined Twitter in February and it’s now April and I can still see your first tweet on your home page, I’m not going to follow you.

I’m not saying you have to tweet your whole life, or even every day (I don’t), but I want to know that you’re actually engaged with the medium before I decide to follow you.

Don’t be Spammy

There are so many spammers on Twitter, and it’s easy to skip the people who are obviously fronts for unsavory sites, but there are a lot of businesspeople on Twitter who are pretty spammy, too.

It’s fine to use Twitter as a promotional tool for your business. It’s great for that. But I don’t want your every tweet (or nearly every tweet) to clearly be promoting one of your products. Again, that doesn’t give me any value.

I don’t know from endless tweets telling me to check out your products that you’re an expert in whatever it is you’re trying to sell. I don’t know if I’ll like your style of teaching or if what you have to say will be of any use to me.

The bottom line is that you need to be a real person on Twitter: show some personality, reach out to other people, be helpful and don’t bombard people with more tweets about your products than you would want to see tweets about their products.

Resource of the Week: Guide to Social Media

There are so many different social networking sites out there, from the big boys like Twitter (you can follow me if you like) and Facebook and Linkedin to social bookmarking sites, photo and video sites, even specialized social networks (like Ravelry, a community all about knitting, crochet and other fiber arts).

But is it really worth the time you spend on these sites? Can you really make connections there — and, most importantly, connections that will get you jobs?

The answer is, it depends on the network. Wouldn’t it be great if you could figure out quickly and easily which networks are worth your time and how you should spend that time?

Well, you can, thanks to the folks at CMO, who has developed a Social Media Cheat Sheet for the rest of us to use. (Hat tip to The Next Web as well.)

These marketing gurus say Twitter and Facebook are both good for customer communication and brand exposure, but less good for bringing traffic to your site or SEO. But still worth using, I’d say.

Action Step: Get to Know Sources for Sources

Now that we’ve looked at a few old-fashioned and more modern ways to find sources, it’s a good idea to investigate some of these options before you really need them.

Check out the websites or look around for local sources of god information in your area of interest even if you don’t have an immediate need for them. Just reaching out to such people may give you an idea for a new article, and even if it doesn’t you’ll already be set up and ready to go when you do need help.

With HARO for instance it’s great to have gotten the e-mails and read some queries before you send your own; a local source may feel more comfortable answering your questions or sending you information if you’ve had a preliminary talk first.

This doesn’t have to take a lot of time but it will set you up for success when you need to talk to a source or get some good information in a hurry.

Modern Ways to Find Sources

I wrote yesterday about the old-fashioned way of finding sources, looking locally and why that’s still a good idea for a lot of writers as a way to get story ideas.

But there are a lot of Internet-based ways to connect with people who can help you with articles as well, things that simply weren’t around when I was starting out.

Interview Requests on Writing Websites

Several writing-related websites like Writers Weekly have forums or places in their newsletters where people writing articles can ask for more information from other people who read the forum or website.

These sites can be a great way to get information fast if you need some quick facts or anecdotes to flesh out a query, but as you might imagine most of the sources are other writers, which doesn’t make for a very well-rounded article if that’s the only tack you take.

Professional Sources

I wasn’t sure until just now that it even still existed, but ProfNet was one of the first sites I came across that aimed to connect reporters and sources, particularly sources at universities, in government and at corporations that you might not be able to access otherwise (or maybe wouldn’t even know to look for if you tried to find them on your own).

I used ProfNet for a couple of stories, and it connected me with good sources, but it seemed a little clunky and time-consuming to use. Still, it’s there, and if you’re looking for good, professional sources for an article, authorities on your subject, you’re likely to find them here.

HARO

HARO, also known as Help a Reporter Out, is my current favorite place to look for sources, and it deserves a category all its own. This e-mail based service sends out three messages a day with a variety of interview and information requests.

If you’re looking for people for a story, you fill out a simple web form and your request will be included in a future mailing. You can say exactly what you’re looking for, any regional qualifications you need, what your deadline is and how to contact you (even specifying an e-mail subject line if you want).

If you want to reply to a request, the sender’s information is right in the e-mail, so you can send them a message quickly, and vice versa.

I’ve used this service a couple of times and always gotten good responses from people in a variety of fields. It’s actually made me use sources more often when I might have written articles more like personal essays.

If you have a favorite way of finding sources online I haven’t mentioned, let me know in the comments.

Finding Sources the Old-Fashioned Way

Back in the day when I worked as a reporter at several different newspapers across the country, e-mail wasn’t really considered an acceptable way to contact sources. The Internet existed (I’m not that old), but there weren’t all the websites dedicated to helping reporters and sources find each other that there are today (we’ll talk more about those later this week).

In those days if you wanted to find a source you were likely to hit your local phone book. While we’re not all reporting local stories these days or writing for local publications, thinking locally can still be a good idea when looking for sources for a story.

Locals are people, too

In fact, you may be able to get some good story ideas from people in your local community. An issue that is facing, say, a mom in your book club might well resonate with other moms in other parts of the country.

An issue the city council is grappling with might be going on other places as well, leading to a story with more regional or national interest.

Having contacts in your niche at the local university or wherever you might find folk in your niche (for me that’s local knitting groups and the yarn store) might clue you into trends or, in the case of institutional contacts, research and reports that haven’t been widely publicized that you might be able to get more attention for.

Finding Local Sources

Of course these days you don’t literally have to use the phone book to find local people who might be able to help you with your stories. Many communities large and small have community web pages, message boards or a group of people connected on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook that can help you connect with people who can help you with your story.

The websites of institutions, major companies in your area, universities and other groups can help you find people to use for general information and contacts in your field of interest. It’s always good to have an expert you can e-mail for quick background information if you’re delving into a scientific or jargon-filled subject.

And people you know or come into contact with in your daily life can also provide topics for articles, if not actually serve as sources themselves. This is one time when listening to gossip could actually be lucrative.

Try to find people who are interested in what you are interested in writing about, then listen to what they have to say. What are the obsessed with right now? What are they concerned about? What questions do they have? Any of those issues might be worth pursuing as story ideas.

While the big, wide world (and the world wide web) provide us with all sorts of options for finding sources anywhere, sometimes it is worth it to look locally, too. You never know what you might find.

A Fun Look into the World of Reuters

I came to freelancing with a background in journalism, particularly editing, so I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to stylebooks and reference materials.

So I was pretty excited to learn, via the Reuters blog, that the news organization not only has its own handbook for journalists, but that the whole thing is now available online for its reporters and others to use as a guideline in their writing.

More than just a stylebook (though it is that, too), the handbook provides guidance on everything from dealing with stringers and working with sources to reporting done with the help of the Internet and the standards and values that the news organization and its reporters are meant to hold and represent.

It’s a really interesting look into a respected news organization, as well as a handy place to go for advice you might need in your own writing career, whether you’re looking for a good rule on acronyms (don’t use them) or tips for dealing with complaints about one of your stories.