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CREATIVE SMALL BIZ

Turn your talent into a flourishing business.

For freelance writers and other creative professionals.
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Issue 97: August 6, 2004

Read this issue online at:

http://www.digital-e.biz/newsletter.html


Published and edited by Angela Booth

Contact me at: ab@...

Or visit: http://www.digital-e.biz/

Or:

http://www.prowrite.biz/

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Digital-e Daily ---

More tips and guidance at Digital-e's blog (Web log):

http://www.digital-e.biz/blogger/index.html

And at Pro Write's blog:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/prowrite/

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(For instructions to join or leave the ezine's mailing list,
scroll to the end.)
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In this issue:

1. Editorial: Plan It And Make It Happen [From the publisher]

2. Create A Marketing Plan [Article - A. Booth]

3. Sponsor Ads

4. Classifieds


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1. Editorial: From the publisher

=> Plan It And Make It Happen

We're in the final run to the end of 2004. What are you doing
with the year? Are you achieving the goals you set for yourself?

Our article this week, Create A Marketing Plan, reminds you that
planning is vital. This doesn't mean that everything will go to
plan. It won't. However, your plan is the spine of your hours,
days and weeks. Whatever happens, you can always hark back to
your plan. Without a plan, you're like a ship without a rudder.
You're drifting with the tide. Having a plan won't protect you
from disasters, but it will ensure that you will get where you
want to go.


=> Pro Write Workshop #7: Write Your Life --- Personal Essays and
More

This week, we're posting the last lesson in the current workshop,
"Write Your Memoirs". As I was writing the lesson, I thought
about the way all the workshops work together. The complete set
of workshops is a primer in developing a writing career.

For example, if you're writing for business (copywriting) you
might think that a workshop on personal writing has nothing to
offer you. You'd be wrong. You use your life in ALL forms of
writing, and especially in copywriting, where you can spend hours
wondering about, and researching, the benefits of a product or
service, so that you can bring them to life in your copy.

Whether you're a beginning writer or an experienced pro, Pro
Write is a brilliant investment in your writing career.

Join us on Pro Write ---

http://www.prowrite.biz/

Don't forget our August special---

http://www.digital-e.biz/specials.html


The next Pro Write workshop is: Write For The Web. We'll start
that workshop on August 15.

Until next week, be well and make $$$ from your talent---


Cheers from

Angela

P.S. Please note, we're having problems with sp#mmers spoofing
our digital-e email addresses. The easiest way to make contact
with us is to use the online feedback forms on Digital-e and Pro
Write until the situation resolves itself.

Please contact us at:

http://www.digital-e.biz/feedback.html

http://www.prowrite.biz/contact.htm

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=> Holiday writing profits start now

Looking forward to Christmas? If you're a writer, you're readying
your Christmas lists --- NOW.

No, not your lists of cards and gifts. :-)

You're making lists of all the material you'll be publishing over
the holidays. You're sending out magazine article proposals, and
shorties and essays for holiday/ New Year publication.

It's your choice of how you'll spend the holiday season. Just
think, you could be taking a holiday in the sun or in the snow,
plus buying your children and spouse (and yourself) the gifts you
want and need. A new big-screen TV. A stack of 50 DVDs. A new
notebook computer.

If you want to get started NOW writing and selling, Pro Write's
"Write and Sell Shorties --- mini essays and articles, product
reviews and more" will show you how.

http://www.prowrite.biz/


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2. Article: Create A Marketing Plan (For Your Writing)


Copyright C 2003 by Angela Booth



What marketing works best? All marketing works. But you need to
keep at it, even when you seem to be getting zero results.

Let's imagine a couple of scenarios. Writer A wants to be a
fulltime writer. She knows that in order to do this, she needs to
sell X number of articles, and sell a book proposal a year.
Writer A knows that in addition to writing the works, she will
need to market them. Writer A creates a marketing plan. It takes
her 30 minutes on her computer. She decides that she will send
out five article proposals a week, and she will research and
write a book proposal.

She slots the time to do those things into her daily schedule.
She knows that these tasks are non-negotiable. No matter what
happens, she will perform those tasks every day. Even on her
worst day, when her car breaks down, her child needs to go to the
hospital, and she has a killer migraine.

Writer B wants to be a fulltime writer too. Like Writer A, she
knows that she will have to sell X articles, and sell a book
proposal. Writer B doesn't make a plan. She gets started writing
an article proposal. She realizes that she needs to gather
research resources, and sends out five emails.

Next morning, she downloads her emails and is instantly
depressed. No one has answered. She decides she'll give her
prospective sources a few more days to reply. She goes on with
her life. She'll get around to the writing when her sources
reply.

A week later, one of the sources gets back to Writer B, who
suddenly remembers that she was researching an article proposal.
She rereads her notes. The idea has gone flat. She's no longer
interested in writing it.

The point of these two scenarios is that real life is messy. It's
easy to lose track of what you're doing if you don't have the
process written down somewhere. This means, create a plan, and
then create checklists and check them off every day to make sure
that you keep working the plan.


QUESTIONS TO ANSWER IN YOUR MARKETING PLAN

Q: What kind of writing do you want to do and sell?

Q: What's the market for each type of writing?

Q: What makes your writing unique?

Q: How much can you produce?

Q: Have you created a list of target markets?

Q: How will you reach my target markets?

There you have it. A basic marketing plan that will work for you.
Good luck. :-)

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3. SPONSOR ADS

**** Web site design and maintenance ****

Do you run a small business? Do you need a web site to help
expand your business? Don't want to spend the equivalent of your
mortgage to set it up? Contact B & P Thursby Digital Services for
a no-obligation quote http://www.bpthursby.com.au


=> Got a talent for words? Take a Digital-e email workshop!

If you've got a way with words and love writing, Digital-e can
help you to become a professional writer. We've got two email
workshops to help you develop your skills. For writer-
entrepreneurs, we have "Writing To Sell In the Internet Age", and
for those who want to develop a copywriting services business, we
have "Writing Words That Sell: Freelance Copywriting".

Here's what a recent graduate said: "I've gotten more focused
than I've ever been before in my life-- not only with my writing
but with my creative process. And you've helped me build
confidence in my skills and myself".

I'd love to help you to develop your talent. More info at:

http://www.digital-e.biz/ecourses.html

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4. CLASSIFIEDS

***Advertise in Creative Small Biz***
CSB readers are hard-working creative professionals. Got a
product or service they should know about?

Visit: http://www.digital-e.biz/advertise.html

Or contact Birgitt at birgitt@...


=> New coaching program: Write for the Web

With the long-awaited worldwide economic recovery underway, and
companies increasing their Web presence, Web copywriters will be
in huge demand. Get started writing for the Web today.

You can do it. Work from home, work for yourself, and make a
great income. This program offers personalized, fun one-on-one
coaching.

http://www.digital-e.biz/coaching.html


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FEEDBACK

Send questions, ideas, and feedback to:
mailto:ab@...?subject=feedback

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Creative Small Biz: Copyright C 2004 by Angela Booth. All rights
reserved.

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Creative Small Biz

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Australia

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