Win More Clients, Projects and Freelance Jobs By Making Three Small ChangesWritten by Shelley Wake
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How to Beat Skeptic It's not about what you say, it's about how you say it. Three small changes will make all difference to your credibility and will get you more work more often. 1. Use Real Evidence It's always better to sell yourself with a real example. Not so good - "I am reliable." Much better - "You will never be left wondering how project is going because I will provide timely updates to keep you informed." 2. Use Your Results Telling project managers about your past results is also a good way to sell yourself. Not so good - "I write effective web site copy." Much better - "With my new and improved content, my last client increased their sales by 120% in first month." The second statement clearly communicates quality and effectiveness of work. And at same time, it's likely to excite project manager into thinking that same result could occur for them. 3. Be Specific If you can use facts and figures to make your point, do so. Not so good - "Most of my business is repeat, showing that my clients are happy with service I provide." Much better - "96% of new clients have returned to use my services again." Not so good - "I have completed various similar projects." Much better - "I have completed 19 similar projects in last year." Make these three simple changes to your bids and job applications and you'll win more clients, jobs, and projects.
Shelley Wake and her team of writers have done the research and compiled the information that will make the difference to your freelance career. Visit Writing Stuff to find the answers you’ve been looking for. http://www.writingstuff.com
| | Are You Achieving Your Writing Goals?Written by Mridu Khullar
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It’s also important to incorporate life changes into your goal-setting. I lost two grandparents this year, which not only forced me to take a physical vacation from work, but an emotional one as well. I needed to give myself time to heal in order to get back to work refreshed and with new vigor. If you’re going through stressful times, don’t expect yourself to be as productive as say, when you’re having a great year. Cut down on your goal list a little and be easy on yourself. Making yourself work too hard when you’re not physically or emotionally ready to, will not help you meet your goals; instead it’ll detract you from them. Are you confusing your long-term and short-term goals? Writing a novel is my long-term goal. A “someday.” But I’m not there yet. And I know I’m not going to be able to work on my dream novel this year, next year or maybe even one after that. If I do, I’ll be taking time away from non-fiction work that pays bills and for next couple of years, I can’t afford to do that. Putting “write a novel” on my list of goals for year isn’t going to make me feel too good about myself, especially as this goal gets carried forward year after year. Instead, I’m putting it on my “to do before I’m 30” list. That way, it’s not too near, and it’s not so far away that it becomes a distant dream instead of reality. Once I’ve cracked a good number of national magazines, finished and published a couple of non-fiction books and can afford to take time away from non-fiction, I can consider taking a risk with fiction. Are you keeping track? The biggest problem I face right now is keeping track of where all time went. While to an outsider it may seem like I’m working almost all time, truth is, I waste a lot of time on e-mail, reading newsletters, networking with fellow writers and well, checking e-mail. To counter this problem, I started keeping a daily journal to keep track of where my writing time was really going. My productivity’s almost doubled since I started doing this. Keeping an hour-to-hour or even a daily tab of what I’d achieved for that day kept me accountable and ready to tackle next important task on my list, rather than checking e-mail one more time. And if an entry for a particular day reads, “Revised article for Wedding Dresses, conducted research on a new idea,” I’d immediately know that I needed to increase my productivity, and by how much. Sure, checking e-mail is work too, but it’s not bringing in any money. So I make it secondary work and answer incoming mails only once a day, unless they need urgent attention. Are your priorities straight? Which brings me to my next point. Set your priorities right and work top to bottom. A technique that works for many people is to make a daily list of things that need to be done. Then, in order of priority, tackle them one by one, striking them off list. At end of day, even if you have some work unattended to, it can easily be transferred to next day’s list, since it’ll be at lowest priority. Do you have a fixed schedule? I still struggle with this one, but each time I’m able to set a schedule for myself, I find that I’m happier, more energetic and much more productive. Getting up at six in morning one day, not sleeping for another two days and then getting a whole lot of slumber on and off for next three days eats into your energy and taxes your brain much more than it should. It also becomes a cause for unnecessary delays and interruptions. Instead of surrendering to your muse whenever it shows up, program your body to work for a fixed time each day. Your brain will automatically recognize that as time to work and get on job. Make your routine consistent. When our body gets used to doing something at a particular time, we’re able to do with ease. So if you’ve decided to write five pages each morning before kids get up, make sure to do it. Answer these questions honestly and get to work on these techniques. You’ll find all your goals ticked off your list by end of this year.
Mridu Khullar is a full-time freelance writer and the editor-in-chief of www.WritersCrossing.com. Sign-up for her *free* 12-day e-course "Write Query Letters That Sell" at http://www.writerscrossing.com/ecourses.html
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