The trend in Online Marketing is….Offline Marketing?
More and more each day I see Internet marketers talking about offline marketing. From forum posts to newsletters to blogs, offline marketing is hot business. If you’re a Warrior forum member, you know that a lot of time and attention has been spent lately on using online marketing skills to help businesses locally. The dark shadows of the dot com bubble burst in the 90s have finally faded and business owners are realizing that they need to be online, even if they are in small metropolitan areas. Think about it this way….when you’re looking for information about something, where is the first place you look? If you’re like a lot of people, your answer is online. And the businesses in your local area need to be there as well.
Even if you don’t consider yourself to be an Internet marketing expert, you might as well be compared to others in your local community. Your ability to create a blog, run an autoresponder list, participate on forums and submit articles to directories is light years ahead of what business owners know about the web.
I live in a teeny tiny town, and was the “main event” at a chamber of commerce meet and greet because I knew how to create and maintain a blog. I got more business cards than I knew what to do with. Imagine what you could do if you live in a large metropolitan area.
How often have you looked to the local community to get writing work? This is a perfect time to try tapping into local markets. Smart business owners know that when the economy isn’t great it’s time to start cranking up the advertising. And you could be just the person to help them with that.
There are many different ways you could help offline businesses with their online presence, but here’s a simple start. For a fee, you could set up a blog and drive traffic so they’ll be ranked #1 for “Fresno Flower Shop” or something to that effect. Add an autoresponder opt in form, and a five part course on something related to the business. Charge a maintenance fee for monthly posts and then communicate with the client on monthly basis so you can coordinate with their current specials, coupons or promotions.
It will take some prep work, and some sales skills, but it’s a great way to branch out and think outside the laptop!
Bartering Your Professional Skills
by Sandi Valentine
When I started working at home as a writer a year ago, I had virtually no other web based skills. I knew less than nothing about SEO, Wordpress, niche websites, or Internet Marketing. It was like walking into a different world and not knowing how to speak the language. However, a close friend had told me that webmasters were in need of content, and would pay good money for it. I just had to learn how to put this fact to work to my advantage.
I began by putting up a post on the Warrior Forum, stating that I was a new content writer and wanted to offer my services. I set my rates low, and explained to customers that I needed to get some testimonials under my site and build a website. After that, rates would be going up. Literally, within five minutes, my inbox was full of messages from webmasters and marketers, offering to help me set up my own business. Up until that day, I was doubtful about being able to work from home. Afterwards, however, I never looked back.
Since then, I’ve bartered my writing skills for graphics, software, Wordpress plugins, and four websites. I’ve also been able to get technical support, coding, and marketing advice. Generally, all it takes to put your writing skills to work is taking the time to ask – there’s almost always someone with the skill you need who is willing to exchange their time for yours. Simply put up a polite post on any marketing forum, explaining what skills you have and what you’re in need of, and you’ll soon have more help than you know what to do with!
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Sandi is the owner of Valentine Content Creation. She blogs about balancing working at home and family at From Diapers to Deadlines.
Social Marketing Services that You Can Offer
Social marketing, or using social networking sites to create traffic and buzz, is currently one of the hottest topics in the Internet marketing world. Social marketing offers some unique benefits over search engine optimization and pay per click marketing. Social marketing is free, it provides marketers with direct contact with their target market and it creates credibility.
This is all well and good to know, but you may be wondering what this has to do with your writing career. The reason I bring it up is because there are groups of people hungry for social marketing services. And fortunately for us writers, this falls nicely into our areas of expertise.
While there are dozens of social marketing sites out there, there are two that have risen from the pack in terms of their effectiveness when it comes to driving traffic. Squidoo lenses and Hub Pages are both based on the same principles - simple sites based on a few keywords or a particular topic.
The beauty of these sites is that they are mainly based on content. Sure, there are a few bells and whistles that you may need to learn to make these sites, but the learning curve is fairly low. With a little practice, you’ll have an instant service that you can offer to your clients, old and new.
Get started by registering for each site at www.squidoo.com and www.hubpages.com. Registration is free, and you can get going with each type of site in a matter of minutes. Play around with the features and check out some of the most popular lenses and pages to get some ideas.
Then create some sample lenses and pages that you can show to clients. Consider setting up a sales page for your new social marketing services, and then let your previous customers know about your new skills. When you get an order for an ebook or a set of articles, let your client know that you also offer custom Squidoo lenses and Hubpages. In just a matter of time you’ll be the go-to guy or gal for social marketing.
5 Signs You Need to Raise Your Rates
Raising rates is one of those sticky situations that freelancers dread. Although the eventual benefits are great, there’s always the second guessing…”Am I raising them too high? Should I raise them at all? Am I asking too little? Will I be happy with these rates?”
If you avoid the situation all together, you’ll end up working for much less than you should. Everyone has to start somewhere - even if it is just $5 an article. I know I started at that rate to get some feedback under my belt, and then quickly moved up the rate ladder to my current fees. When you do the same, you’ve got to make a decision on when it’s right to raise your rates. If your rates need a reality check, review this list and ask yourself if it’s time to move up the pay scale.
Sign #1: Clients are overly enthusiastic about your rates.
A good rate can make any client happy, but a rock-bottom low rate can make them positively ecstatic. If your bid on a project is met with “Wow! That’s fantastic! I had no idea it would be so low!” and after the project, the client writes things like “I can’t believe you charge so little for outstanding work!” there’s something wrong with the picture.
Don’t get me wrong. I think maintaining reasonable rates for your work is important, and there’s nothing wrong with keeping clients happy. But if you get client after client who can’t believe you’re working for so low, it’s a red flag.
Sign #2: You realize your time is worth more than you are charging.
After writing at a low rate for a few projects, you begin to realize that charging so low is for the birds. If you could earn two, three or four times as much as you charge initially, why shouldn’t you? Your time and talent should be paid for accordingly.
Sign #3: You win every bid you place
If you are building your freelance business from a bidding site, there’s something wrong if you win each and every bid that you place. Bidding sites are notorious for having ultra-low prices for projects. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t win some projects you bid on. But if you are winning everything you bid on, you may be the low bidder that everyone else is complaining about.
Sign #4: Other writers are outsourcing work to you…a lot
This isn’t always a sign that you need to raise your rates. But if you consistently become the “go to” person for several other writers you have to start wondering how much they’re charging to be able to afford to hire you.
Sign #5: You begin to wonder if it’s worth it
If you are putting your heart and soul into your freelancing jobs, and feeling unfulfilled afterward, raising your rates may help. No one likes to be undervalued. Getting paid decently for the time that you put into writing will make you feel better about your freelancing career and about yourself.
What do you think? Have you experienced any of these signs? Do you think there are more?
How Low Can You Go? $3?
The wahm.com writing message board was all a flutter this week when it was leaked as a “secret source” for cheap labor in an outsourcing report. People popped out of the woodwork looking for content to be written for a whopping $3 per 500 words. The responses ranged from horror to non-chalant. Some wahms were outraged, started a “strike” and encouraged othes to “just say no.” Other work at home moms were in defense of the buyers saying that they were smart for being able to market and re-sell the content for a profit. “Don’t like it, don’t write for them” was one response.
My first content writing job was $7 for 400 words, and I’ve done a select few for $5 for 300 words. I don’t want to insult people who take these kinds of jobs, because I know we all have to start somewhere. But honestly, I have mixed feelings about this whole thing.
Being active in both the marketing and writing communities, I can see both sides of the fence and can speculate about how this cheap content is being used. Here’s the gist:
-Buy a set of 10 articles for $30 to $50
-Place articles into a web template and promote the website.
-Resell articles to Associated Content, therefore making your investment $0
-Sell the entire site for a profit of hundreds or even thousands
Are these writers setting themselves up for being painted into a low wage corner? The argument I’ve read in response to this is that people who write for $3 aren’t trying to make a career out of it. Obviously not. But even if content writing is just a “job” wouldn’t you want to make more from it?
For a great look at the Wahm perspective on this issue, check out Jenn Dize’s post at Project Wahm.
And for people buying this content, don’t you want your business and your site to be a good reflection on what you’re selling? Whether it’s an affiliate product or a product you’ve written or a physical product you’re selling, you need quality content. See this post for more on how quality content matters.
I can’t really blame the buyers for wanting to find rock bottom prices on their content. When you’re building sites to flip, the lower you keep your costs, the better. I also can’t blame new writers for wanting to find work and thinking that $3 per article is all there is out there.
What I’d really like to see is writers take these ideas and do it themselves. After all, the most important part of these sites is the content. You’ve got those skills already! A little bit of education and an account at Namecheap and you’re almost there.
I know my audience includes a lot of different types of writers, and some marketers as well….so I’d like to hear your take. Is selling your skills for $3 per article like shooting yourself in the foot? Is buying articles for that rate a recipe for disaster?
To Bid or Not to Bid…That is the Question
I used to get a fair amount of work from Rent A Coder, but moved away from the site almost a year ago to network directly with Internet marketing professionals. I’d considered joining Elance, but never got around to it. Now it looks like lots of freelancers will be looking for other places to look for work.
I’m not sure of all of the details, but Jennifer at CatalystBlogger has been keeping readers up to date on the issues, and her personal experience with talking to Elance execs.
In the meantime, The Hidden Writer has a great list of alternatives to Elance.
It’s toot your own horn time!
It’s Friday again! And it’s time to toot your own horn. I did this a few months ago and it was so fun and inspiring, I decided to pull it out again. I know we creative types have trouble taking credit for our success. So no matter how big or small, it’s time to toot your own horn!
Here’s my horn tooting:
The reason I haven’t been blogging as much in the last few days is because I just put the final touches on the first draft of my very own ebook. It’s called The Content Chef and as soon as I have some other eyes take a look at it, it will be available for sale. This has been a major goal for me all year long, and I’m glad that I finally got it accomplished.
Now it’s your turn!
Have you kicked butt on a project lately?
Did a client give you an awesome referral?
Were you able to reach a personal goal of setting up your website or learning something new about web writing?
Post your success stories below!
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