Packaging a Presentation

What's in your package?

Do you have:

business cards

stationery

brochure

media kit

website

professional clothes

and

an office?

Plus, of course, your work itself. All organized in clips, articles, or the books themselves (depending on which medium you use).

Do you have a package?

Of course, we all have a package to present to the world. But, have you done much with yours? Have you put effort into making it professional and available?

You can have a home office. Something simple, organized and some kind of oasis where you keep clutter to a minimum and your writing time separate from your business time. Yes, you do need some time for the business of writing.

Business cards and stationery are part of an office set up. They don't cost an entire arm and a leg. You know you can go for good paper stock and save bucks on less fruity fonts. Just keep it simple and very easy to read.

Business cards and stationery can be mini-brochures. Space is strictly limited (especially on cards) but you can give out the basics: name, address, website, email, phone number, a logo or illustration from something you have done, office/ contact hours, sales or prizes worth bragging about, your upcoming project, quote from a great review, professional degrees or memberships in professional organizations, the name of your business and the year you started. Eliminate some and add others depending on your niche and your special talents and ambitions. But, on the business card you really want to keep it to a minimum - it's a card, not a book. Save your long winded guns for the brochure itself.

Of course the website is a brochure too.

Publishable and Practical

You've got the greatest idea! It's sure to be a billion dollar blockbuster, rivaling Stephen King and that other writer whose name you can't quite remember though it's on the tip of your tongue.

But, is your idea a good one, really? Some of our ideas seem really super charged at the time, when we have that first burst of passion as the idea evolves. But, not every idea is going to be publishable and practical.

Here are guidelines from Cheryl Sloan Wray and her book 'Writing for Magazines'. (Paraphrased by me).

1. Are you really passionate/ interested enough to spend the necessary time developing, researching and writing this idea?

2. Can you narrow the focus? Some ideas need to be broken into smaller chunks to suit the market/ publisher you are aiming for.

3. If your idea is already narrow, or would appeal to a small, exclusive percentage of the reading public, can you bulk it up? Can you add more points, bring in another slant or find more sources?

4. Can you market this idea to several publications? You want to have a selection of publishers to choose from so you aren't twiddling your thumbs if the first of them aren't keen on it.

5. Imagine yourself as the reader of the publications you have chosen. Are you sure their readers will be interested in your idea? If not find other publications to appeal to, or slant your idea in a different, more appealing direction.

6. Describe your idea in 15 words or less. Then, in another 15 words, tell why readers will be interested in your idea/ topic.

7. Will this idea be expensive to research or take up a lot of time to develop? Is it going to cost you more than it will bring in for you? You can't forget your bottom line after all.

The last point is the best I think. How many of you keep track of your expenses? Do you know if you actually clear more than you spent on each article/ manuscript? Don't skip your time either. Time is money and that includes you!

Hope this helps bring you some clarity, focus and profit from your greatest ideas. Keep them churning!

Start Networking

Have you really worked on networking? Really gotten serious about your contacts and your contact's contacts? Who do they know that you don't know, yet.

Think of the six degrees of separation theory. It's not who you know right now that counts but who you could get to know through your cousin Pat's hair dresser. You might have a connection to a big wig editor at Harlequin and not even know it. You won't know either, until you start networking.

Plus you can always build your network. Join relevant or related groups to whatever your area of writing is. If you write fiction find authors groups and readers groups too. If you write about squirrels join groups that go on nature walks. Not only do you have sources of information and inspiration but you have future buyers and readers too!

Be careful to keep things organized. Don't lose an important name or number or email address. Keep a contact notebook handy. Keep two even! Have one for your purse or pocket and another for your car. Wherever you would be able to get them when you need them. This is why backpacks and whopper-sized purses are really great. In spite of the teasing of your family and friends. What do they know? Are they writers of greatness?!

You Need a PIM

Do you remember that woman you emailed about writing that article? You know, the one you met on that website the other night. Remember, she had that really cool email address, you were sure it would be easy to remember, it's on the tip of your pen... if only you had kept track of that information.

Been there? Been there a few more times than you care to admit? Me too. Let's do something about it.

Let's work on getting organized. If we do it together it won't hurt quite so much. Yes, I'm lying but just pretend you don't know that.

Start with contact management. I know you have a whole pile of papers you're itching to sort out right away, all those great ideas you intend to make into that really great and ever so useful idea folder which we discussed in a previous newsletter. But... let's work on managing your contacts today. If you can remember who you promised what to and their email address you're ahead of the game. Plus, you won't drive yourself crazy wondering what you missed among the clutter on your desk and in your brain.

I found a freeware contact manager/ address book last night. It looks good, really good. Plus it's freeware, how can you go wrong with that? (Shh, I like some illusions). You can find it at JB Enterprises. I'm including a link below with the newsletter. It will also be with my current BW column once I get that far.

Another program which seems to offer more than contact management and is geared to writers is The Literary Machine. I haven't done more than download that one. But, it sounds worth an exploration. That link will also be below.

Check around yourself for other contact management and PIM (personal information manager) software. You might get lucky and find something exceptional. I just look for the freeware, that's the kind of grrl I am.

Setting up a Home Office on the Cheap

Not everyone can decide to freelance write and then go out and buy up a storm. Likely those are very few and far between. So, for most of us we are looking for ways to cut corners without leaving out something or making ourselves feel we are second rate.

First, consider what you really need versus what it would be nice to have. You can always get those nice extras later, like when you have a first real profit to show for your efforts, buy something slightly extravagant for yourself then. Meanwhile, make a list and cross off those things you can treat yourself to later.

I think the main essential in the computer age, is a computer, printer and matching software. But, don't think you must invest thousands of dollars. Try thrift stores, ask family for copies of software and look online for freeware. Word processing software comes with new computers, likely you have a CD with MS Word or Lotus Notes. I use Lotus Notes myself.

Although we tend to back away slowly from computers and other hardware at thrift stores you should take a look, try plugging it in, booting up and seeing how it runs and what's been left in it from the last owner. Printers and scanners are especially cheap (and plentiful) at GoodWill. Thrift stores aren't likely to let you return a computer but you can test drive it before buying. Also, consider your needs, if you're just using a computer for word processing and email you can manage without a new, souped up one for gamers and hefty music/ movie downloads. Check the software bins too, you may be amazed at what you find. Make sure software is compatible with your computer and check how old it is. Some software will have free updates online but that won't help you if it's too ancient to run on your computer to begin with.

Beyond the computer situation you need basic office supplies and reference books. These are often found at thrift stores, second hand bookstores, flea markets, garage sales, library cast offs, family and friends and office supply stores going out of business, back to school sales in the Fall, etc. Beyond the standard dictionary and thesaurus look for books about writing including grammar, word usage, style guides, editing and publishing. See if you can find general reference books for fact checking and research.

You won't need a lot of pens and paper with a computer. But, consider having some kind of file system, a way to keep organized with story ideas, story submissions, publishing contacts, invoicing and whatever you use for self promotion and marketing. Find a system for keeping everything organized and work on maintaining it.

The Email Subject Line

Lovely, luscious readers, tonight I have two, count them, two great, sensational, momentous ideas for you! Can you tell I'm kind of enthusiastic tonight? !! Too much coffee I fear. But it was GOOD coffee!

Anyway, idea number one. Next time you need to write a short bio for yourself pick up a magazine. Have you ever read the bios they print for the contributing writers. Well, you don't know what you've been missing. Of course, not all of them are as magnificent as your own will be. But, they give you a great vantage point to start your own. You can even collect the best of the best contributors bios in a file and use them to keep yours even better by comparison.

OK, now you're revved up for idea number two. Who can blame you. I'm so revved up a this point I may never need to sleep at all tonight. Wouldn't that be nice. Think of all I could get DONE.

You will be thanking me for sharing these words of wisdom with you for many moons to come. Basically, use the space/ line for 'subject' in your emails. Use it, use it wisely, cautiously and smartly. Don't be a knob and type in 'hi'. What do you think happens to any email which looks like spam? Right! It gets the quick flush. Your email will not be read if you leave an ambiguous subject line or, worse, if you completely forget to add one at all. Don't be an email loser, make good use of the subject line and warn others to do the same. That way people won't be asking you why you never read their email. Unless of course, they only send those forwarded joke emails that you never actually do read. Who can blame you?!! For yourself you will now heed this grand advice and never again darken your email subject line with useless, unclear drivel. Instead, go forth and type in clear, concise and clever subject lines to alert your readers just who you are and why they should not randomly delete your very important email as spam.

So that's it for tonight. I suggest you all drink coffee and stay up with me. We can write about the moon, scribble odes to the moon. Write on.

Trying to be Professional

How professional are you? What impression do you make with potential editors, clients and other writers?

Last year I joined up with a well known online community (Note: When I originally wrote this I named the site. I decided not to name them in the newsletter thanks to advice from subscribers to my InkSplatters list) to write a regular column about the Internet. It took almost a year for my application to be accepted. This was mostly due to it being misplaced or forgotten. I'm still not sure what happened. Eventually, I was accepted to write the column. The editor wanted me to be especially careful with grammar and punctuation. She wanted each column to be professional.

When I wanted to go into the site and update the column, add more links and all the other stuff you do when you write a column for a website, I couldn't access anything. I had no editor screen. I emailed asking for help. She replied that I must be doing something wrong and gave me a list of instructions. However, I still couldn't get to any editor screen. It just wasn't there. I emailed with a few other people at the site about the problem but got no further. Months go by and a new editor starts to head up the Internet/ Computer section of the site. He writes to ask if I'm interested in doing the column or have I forgotten it. To make a long story short, you can still see my dead end column up at that site. The spammers are making use of it.

The point to this is not bad mouthing anyone or any site, it's showing how people can be unprofessional at all levels. You don't have to be some newbie writer to be unprofessional. But, you should watch for it and do your best to look like you know what you're doing and you know how to do it well.

One way to be professional is organization. If you have a few balls in the air make sure you know where they are, which one you need to catch next and when the next one is ready to be tossed. Don't lose track of important details. I'm not good at this myself. But you can always improve. Just cause you messed up one day doesn't mean you can't do better the next day. We're human and adaptable for a reason.

Another way to be professional is to learn, find out what the expected standards are and use them. Write a query letter without irrelevant personal comments. Save chit chat for friends and people who are interested in what you have to write. Don't forget or be too timid to include your terms, your contract, along with the ideas you are submitting. Make it clear writing isn't some hobby you do without pay. It's more professional to present yourself as a professional, showing what you can offer and what you expect back for your work.

Are there ways you could be more professional? Read some of your past business correspondence and see how you could improve. Did you find any typos? Did you chit chat a bit too much? Was your proposal specific enough? Know what you need to fix so you can write a better query next time. Also, if you get into the habit of being professional it becomes easier and it will leak out into all the aspects of your writing career. One other plus, the more professional you are the more you will feel like a writer and less like someone trying to be a writer.

Setting Goals

We all have some goals as a writer. Whether you have written them down or just keep them somewhere in your head, they are there. Are they good goals, goals that inspire you to keep going or are you making goals into a torment for yourself? Having high goals may actually keep you from getting where you want to be. If your goals are too high you may not really think (expect) you can reach them. In that case you need to adjust your goals. Set them up as a path you can follow rather than a pinnacle you can't reach.

These are some goal setting guidelines based on those I read in "Writing for Magazines: A Beginner's Guide" by Cheryl Sloan Wray.

Start simple. If you are beginning your goals won't be the same as a writer you has been published a few times and has contacts with editors/ publishers already. Simple goals are comfortable, attainable for as long as you need them.

Challenge yourself. Having simple goals doesn't mean you won't be working, challenging yourself to do better and try bigger. Make goals simple so you won't give up in frustration but challenging enough to be taken seriously, worthy of working for.

Set goals that suit your personality. Don't try to make yourself into some other writer. Make the goals work for you, your style, your routine, etc.

Be concrete and specific. Goals shouldn't be too broad or lacking in detail. Don't have a goal of submitting an article to the local paper. Be specific, plan an article topic and set a date for submitting it.

Share your goals with a few writer friends. Pick a few people who encourage you and let them know what you're planning. They will help keep you on track.

Check your progress. Mark your progress somehow, keep a goal calendar to show yourself how you are making progress in keeping each of your goals. This way you can look at how far you have come when you need to keep yourself going, along to the next goal.

Stick to it. Remember you made the goals to help you become the writer you want to be. If the goals you set aren't working for you change them, use the guidelines here to set goals that will work.

Some good goals you could try are: I will write at least a page every day. I will be ready to write by 10:00. I will submit at least 2 of my articles every month. I will challenge myself with the goal of submitting to one big publication each month.

Site Promotion and Emotion

One thing anyone reading this has in common is that we are writing online. Its a different market/ medium from print, obviously. But not always in obvious ways. The language is different. The rate at which content needs to be refreshed is much different. The problems with having content stolen are also different and more challenging. But, there is a huge audience out there, if you can lure them in. You don't have to be a big ticket item like Woman's Day, Cosmo or National Geographic to pull in readers. But, you do have to find a way of pulling them in.

One other difference that not a lot of writers take advantage of is self promotion. You can set yourself up as the controller of your own little empire. Add all the clips you want, promote them everywhere possible and even break into new markets by offering free content to other sites.

But, you do have to take those first steps and get yourself out there, into the community. A big part of doing that is a personal/ professional website. You really do need a place to hang your hat online, an address to send people to when they want to know more about you, see what you know and how you think. Also, of course what you have that someone else doesn't already have.

One important thing is balancing personal and professional. Unless you have a couple of separate websites You need to make sure your website isn't saying too much about you. There are some hobbies, collectibles, activities, political leanings you might not want to offer up right away. For me its Wicca. My sister was looking over my resume and was astonished that I had left in a reference to my BackWash column, Bewitching Vagabond. She strongly suggested I take it out. I decided she was right and I have removed it.

What about your own site? Is there anything there you need to consider a problem area? Assuming you have a site, of course.

Add a resume to your site too. Just don't be careless about leaving your street address and phone numbers on there. Blank them out or just delete them.

Create Yourself in Your Own Image

We know about presenting a good, professional image and using effective body language. If you work in fiction you’ve likely used body language, style and first impressions to create a character. But, do you present a good image of yourself?

If you are in a professional situation do you know how to appear professional and confident. Do you look at people when you speak to them? If you look at someone’s eyes while they speak they will feel you’re really listening. Don't sit or stand with your body scrunched or folded up. Good posture counts. Also, don’t sprawl and have people tripping over you, but - don’t be afraid to take up some space. When sitting, standing or walking don’t appear small and intimidated, talk with your hands a little, rest your arm on the arm of the chair.

Is your conversation full of slang, do you tend to use any bad language (anything you wouldn’t say in front of a 4 year old)? Coach yourself to speak clearly and avoid pauses with "ummm" and related phrases. If you find yourself stumbling over your words, sounding nervous, stop. Take a breath, a sip of water and remember you’re talking to a fellow human being not a rabid skunk, relax.

Can you carry a conversation, do you have some prepared chit chat? Avoid talking about the weather, politics or religion, come up with something a bit more interesting and uniquely you. If you have hobbies try working them in. Don’t go overboard talking about yourself, just enough to break the ice is fine. Ask questions about their own interests to pull them into the conversation. You don’t have to be full of yourself, you don’t even have to be genuinely confident, but you should appear to know what you’re doing and be at ease.

Take a look at your wardrobe. Do you have at least one ‘interview suit’? If so, do you feel confident when wearing it? If you don’t go shopping for something that flatters you and makes you feel good when you have it on. It should be comfortable to wear so you aren’t distracted by a tight jacket, a colour that makes you feel mousy or any other of a hundred problems that can come up. Yes, you want to be dressy but you don’t want to feel unnatural or inelegant. If your style of dress is casual try finding something casual in a dressy fabric. Or something dressy, like a tailored suit, in a casual fabric.

Of course, you are groomed, have brushed hair and teeth, lathered up (recently) in general. Make sure your fingernails are clean. Give yourself a check over just before the get together. Anything stuck in your teeth? Did that garlic at lunch stay with you? Any dirt, strings, or very tiny aliens, hanging from your clothes?

Writers already have a small image problem. People tend to assume writers slack off and have it easy. We work at home, may not even get dressed or out of bed all day. We don’t work at a ‘real’ job. Don’t assume another writer or editor or publisher will know better. Dress for success. Create the image you want people to have and then be there.

Assignments for Home-Based Writers

From the book - How to Start a Home-Based Writing Business by Lucy V. Parker, these are sixty key assignments for home-based writers:

Advertising copy

Anniversary materials for corporations, organizations, institutions, municipalities

Annual reports

Articles for employee magazines

Articles for single-sponsor magazines

Articles for trade journals and small magazines

Brochures

Calendars

Capability brochures

Catalogues and product sheets

CD-ROM/ Interactive media writing

City and newcomer guides

Collateral materials

Conference and trade show materials

Consultation

Contributing editor assignments

Critical reviewing

Direct-mail packages

Directories

Editing

Employee benefit materials

Environmental materials

Family histories and genealogies

Flyers

Fund-raising materials

Ghost writing and collaboration

Greeting card writing

Indexing

Industry-specific writing

Instructional materials

Investor-relations materials.

Letter writing

Manuals

Menu writing

New product regulatory writing

Newsletters

Newspaper feature writing, reporting and stringing

Packaging design and copy

Policies and procedures writing

Political campaign writing

Press releases and press kits

Proofreading

Proposals

Public relations services and materials

Radio and TV ads and promotions

Researching

Restaurant reviewing and writing

Resume writing

Retail and mall promotions

Sales presentations

Scripts and storyboards

Speeches

Sports materials and services

Teaching writing

Technical writing

Telemarketing scripts

Transcripts and other forms of word processing

Translations

Travel writing

Website content providing

Go through the list and pick out which you like to do, could do more of, or could learn to do. It's a great list. Find a copy of the book for more information about any of the assignments above.

You can also look up information about being a virtual assistant. I know some writers/ web designers/ virtual assistants - people who are leaving their options open and learning a lot of new skills. The key is to find your niche, the area(s) where you can flourish and grow and really love what you're doing.