Hi,
Last Thursday I wrote about making good use of your time, and getting the most from your blog posts, articles and other writing. Today, I’d like to share what I’m doing to put the advice into action.
Tim Clay, a client, and I have been having the same problem. We’re a little “all over the place” with our writing and we want to do better. I’ll show you what I’m doing for myself, and what I’m doing for Tim. That way, you can help your clients while you’re helping yourself, too.
For myself, I’m starting by serialising the books I’ve written. As I take each chapter and squeeze it down to a 700 (or so) word article, I’ll use it as a blog post and submit it as an article. Two birds with one stone. Then add a third bird by putting the article onto my web site in the archive section. (You can always add where it was published later when GQ or Time discovers you’re really the best writer in the world.)
But that’s not where it stops. After all, what happens when I serialise all my books? I can’t just stop writing articles…
Scroll down to Thursday’s post and give it a quick read. You see, what I’m doing right now is going from published work over to articles and blog posts. When I’m done serialising, it’s time to start writing articles with an eye toward what goes into my next book. Get it?
I’m working on a book about List Building. So, my articles will be about stuff I find related to that. Then I get to “quote” myself in my own book. Talk about cool.
Each article is also an opportunity to work out an idea, and try its popularity, before I include it in the book. That’s a little bit of alright, too.
Okay, now for Tim. This is a little different. (Actually, I’m doing this with Akin, too – but he’s visiting family in Nigeria. I’ll do an example with him in another article.)
You see, for a client, you’re trying to save them some time and effort. Tim’s okay with writing, but it isn’t his strong suit. Actually, I’m really fortunate with Tim and Akin. Tim’s an accountant and Akin is a doctor – and both men are remarkably creative. They come up with some great article ideas. What they don’t have is lots of time.
So, get your clients to write a blog post. Let them put together just a couple of hundred words and send it to you.
Then you take it, and work it up into a 500+ word article. And here’s the bonus for doing it this way:
Tim writes a 200 word blog post. Cool, quick and gives some useful content. Then after I work it up into an article, he gets to use the article as another blog post!
He even gets to put a trackback to the original post.
Naturally, the article gets submitted to newsletItrs and submission banks, too.
You can see how doing this means all your client has to do is write short, 200 word blog posts. After that, it’s in your hands to work up the articles and keep track of everything so you can build reports or an e-book.
Here’s a quick word about pricing: Set a low monthly fee. Honest. You only need about $500 (USD) tops from any one client.
Why?
Because the rest of your pay comes from having an equity share in your client’s business.
That works well for everyone because you have a regular income (the monthly retainer), and your client knows you are well motivated to make them successful. After all, the better the content you generate, the more sales they will make. The more sales they make, the more you get paid because you have an equity share.
I like upward spirals.
By the way, watch for more news about my e-book tele-workshop series launching in March. It’s looking good…working on a JV with RI, and found a way to include Barack Obama. Now, that’s cool.
Conrad