But if no one knows about it...if no one knows about *you*...

Let's face it. Marketing your book(s), your products and/or your services is as essential to being a successful writer as, well, writing. Even more so, if your goal is to freelance full-time.

But perhaps even word "marketing" makes you cringe. It brings visions of placing sweaty-palmed telephone calls to strangers, handing out business cards at cocktail parties that you didn't even want to attend in first place, and having a booth at local Chamber of Commerce business fair. Marketing means keeping you away from what you most want to do--writing.

I know feeling. Every time I'd get to chapter on placing cold calls in Peter Bowman's _The Well-Fed Writer_, I'd screech to a halt. Bowerman states that placing calls to let people know of your availability as a freelance writer is crucial to success of your business. It seems I'd rather starve.

I know why many of us feel that way. Early on, we discovered that we were far more comfortable and articulate with written, as opposed to spoken, word. With a pen in our hands, or at our keyboards, we don't flush or stammer. And during those times when right words escape us, no one else has to know about it; only thing others see is our finished product. This certainly isn't true when we speak.

So often we hear of individuals who get exceptional returns-on-investment from their advertising campaigns. However, what we don’t often hear are intimate details of how these people work their strategies. Marketer Diane Hughes has agreed to give us nitty gritty of her latest solo ad project, including how she consistently earns 24% in profits.

KARON: Hi Diane! Thanks for letting me bend your ear a bit.

DIANE: No problem, Karon. Anytime :)

KARON: This last promotion paid off immediately for you. I know, because you emailed me right after its launch to tell me what wonderful success you’d had. Let me ask you about what you did, OK?

DIANE: Sure! What would you like to know?

KARON: What product were you promoting?

DIANE: MarketersDream.com. It offers guaranteed traffic (and let me say that it is truly targeted) for Web sites.

KARON: Sounds very interesting! So, was this an initial launch?

DIANE: Yes.

KARON: And what audience were you trying to reach?

DIANE: Online business owners and entrepreneurs who have products/services for sale.

KARON: What mediums did you choose to reach this audience?

DIANE: Only ezine solo ads. That’s it!

KARON: How could you be sure you would reach those you wanted to reach?

DIANE: Prior use -- I have my small "secret" list of proven lists .... plus my own. :o)

KARON: Now, I can’t let you get away with that, Diane! Come on… fess up!

DIANE: OK, OK ... I will divulge a couple --- can't reveal all my secrets, though. :o)

My own newsletter: http://www.ProBizTips.com

Kris Stringer's EzineHits http://www.ezinehits.com/ad-rates.htm

Bob Silber's Web Head Central News http://www.whcnews.com/ezineads.html

KARON: And these work for you over and over again?

DIANE: Oh yes!!

KARON: How many ads did you run?

DIANE: Nine total.

KARON: What total circulation did you reach?

DIANE: Over 200,000.

KARON: And how much did total campaign cost you?

DIANE: The total cost of all ezine solos was approximately $900.

KARON: That’s a pretty hefty sum, Diane! You must have been very sure this would work.

DIANE: Well, it has worked before on other products over and over again, so I had no doubts that it would pull for me again.

KARON: OK… we have general info, but now let’s get to “how” and “why” questions. How did you track results?

DIANE: I used a Lightning Track script.

NOTE: This is a heavy-duty script that requires some high-end system requirements. If you do not have programming experience to use Lightning Track, you might also do a search on your favorite engine for “free ad tracking system” or like.

KARON: How much did you make from this promotion?

DIANE: Approximately $4000.

KARON: WOW! That’s about 24% ROI, Diane. That’s great!!

DIANE: Yeah… I was pretty pleased.

KARON: Are these “typical" results? I mean, you said you do this consistently, but is ROI always around 24% or higher?

DIANE: While this was typical, results were a little higher than I expected.

KARON: Now, tell me about copy you used.