Photo by rpeg

According to the 2006 hit movie, The Secret, attraction marketing is an extremely simple process. There are three easy steps for chasing down your greatest dreams:

1. Ask - Know what you want and ask for it - by creating a clear image of your dreams and visualizing them as being real, the universe will give you everything you could ever wish for.
2. Believe- Act as though your dreams are about to come true, even if you have to trick yourself in order to do so.
3. Receive - Be open and ready to receive - if you align yourself with the Universe then your dreams will come true.

Unfortunately, this system is utterly useless for freelance writers! You could sit on your butt thinking you’re the king of the world and it will never happen. You could ask to be the richest writer in your city, believe it to be true, and prepare yourself to accept - but nothing will happen unless you actually do something about your situation.

While The Secret was an inspiring movie, it doesn’t provide the tangible answers that can help you today. In the movie, even Jack Canfield talked about “imagining riches” before his book caught the eye of a publisher and went into print - but nothing would have happened if he didn’t take the previous action of actually writing a book!

In my experience, the harder you work the luckier you get! The more you put yourself out there as a freelance writer with marketing and networking, the more success you’ll see in the end.

Instead of following the ask, believe, and receive principles of The Secret - I’d recommend following a different set of rules.

Here are the Freelance Writer’s 5 Laws of Attraction - the five actions you can take right away to attract more projects, more clients, and more money…

1) Create a Website and Blog

If you’re a freelance writer and you don’t have a website and blog (or at least one), then you need to take action immediately.

Hundreds of thousands of prospects exist on the internet, it’s not good enough to have a Facebook account or Elance profile page. You need more!

In order to come across as a professional, you need to set yourself up like one. Your blog will show off your personality while also showcasing your writing ability and your website will provide prospects with a place to find out more about your services. These are must-haves for any freelance writer.

2) Participate on Bidding Sites

The easiest kind of writing project to obtain comes from people that are already looking for a writer.

If you know local companies that actively use freelance writers, submit a proposal or request an interview. If not - hit up the bidding sites (click here for a list - look under “job postings”).

Bidding sites provide a valuable opportunity to establish new relationships with people that hire freelance writers. However, if you take yourself seriously and want to make it in this business, do not try to win on price…it won’t pay off in the end.

3) Create a Sales Letter For Your Services

You’re a writer, so why don’t you use your skills to convince prospects to work with you? As writers, we use our strengths every day to help our clients make a fortune - but how often do we use our writing for ourselves?

By creating a sales letter that can be distributed to key prospects by direct mail or online landing pages, you can attract a lot of work. For a complete blueprint for creating a successful direct-mail package, see Pete Savage’s eBook, $64,000 Direct Mail Self-Promotion Package.

4) Network Online

Before people buy your services, they want to know, like, and trust you. So how does this happen? By building relationships!

You don’t need to meet people face-to-face to get to know them - the internet has plenty of venues for interaction. Blogs and forums are two of the biggest online hangouts for freelance writers, marketers, and prospects!

You already know the blogs I recommend…so here are a few forums to add to that list: Digital Point, The Warrior Forum, CopywritersBoard, and SitePoint.

5) Network Locally

One mistake many web-based freelancers make far too often is to hide behind their keyboards. While I don’t recommend convincing local businesses to use your services if they don’t outsource or even understand the idea, I do recommend building local relationships.

I’ve chosen to have 20% of my clientele based locally; not only do they provide a consistent flow of work, but they also provide me with a chance to get out of the house during my work day.

Instead of sitting around and begging for the universe to give you what you want, get off your butt and chase your dreams! By constantly dedicating yourself to meeting new people, providing quality work, and developing your expertise you’ll discover that success isn’t a secret after all.

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Popularity: 51% [?]

Photo by MarkyBon

As a freelance copywriter, you’ll come across a lot of people interested in your writing - but only a small percentage of them will actually use your services. While this can seem frustrating at times, it shouldn’t be. You’re not in this business to make quick business with many - you’re in it to forge strong relationships with a few.

If you’re wondering why so many people show interest in your work but so few buy, consider all the variables that have a role in “buying”. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 34% [?]

Photo by heydrienne.

Business cards can be one of two things…

• A waste of money.
• A tool for success.

If you aren’t luring people into contacting you, then you can be sure that your business card will end up in the same garbage bin as the other 20 cards they received that week.

Or perhaps they’ll remember how pleasant you were and hold on to your card for a while. But six months later they will be sorting through their wallet and come across your card. They might even wonder, “who’s that again,” as they flip it towards the trash.

Business cards in general, as they’re used by most people today, are a huge waste of money regardless of how cheap they are to print. $40 is a HUGE waste of money if it doesn’t bring a single penny back in return.

I’m not looking at dollar signs here, I’m looking at the return on your investment…and all I’m seeing is a bunch of zeros.

Think about it for a minute. What is the purpose of a business card? You know the answer, it’s meant to remind people about yourself and the services that you have to offer.

Now answer this…is your business card doing what it is supposed to?

• Is it causing people to contact you for work?
• Is it leading prospects through your doors?
• Is it making you money?

Everything in a freelancer’s business should be leading to more income either now or down the road. Bidding sites cost money, advertising costs money, web hosting costs money, Skype costs money, your cell phone costs money, your vehicle costs money, your computer costs money, and your business cards cost money.

If any of those things aren’t helping you generate more income, then you either need to cut your losses or fix what you’re doing.

So how can you fix your business card?

Make some improvements! You’re not a head-honcho at a big-time corporation, so you don’t need to worry so much about image, but rather focus on how you’ll get people contacting you for work.

Right now your business card probably says:

John Smith
Freelance Writer

Phone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: xxxxxxx@xxxx.com
Web: www.xxxxxxxxx.com
Address: 123 Street, Somewhere over the Rainbow.

Perhaps you’ve even thrown in a catchy tagline. But still, is it delivering results?

If it is, then don’t worry about what I have to say - because it’s quite a trick to create a business card that is actually effective - so if it’s not broken then please don’t fix it.

But if you’re sick and tired of handing out quarters to everybody you meet without getting anything in return (because that’s essentially what you’re doing), then here are a few ways to change things up.

Unique Selling Proposition

Get rid of your tagline (if you have one) and replace it with your USP. What do you offer your prospects that nobody else can? What sets you apart?

M&M’s are “the milk chocolates that melt in your mouth, not in your hand.”
Head and Shoulders gets rid of dandruff.
Red Bull stimulates the body and mind.

What do you do? Here are a few suggestions…

• Incredible Web Copy that Pulls Your Readers In and Causes them to BUY.
• High-Quality SEO Content that Pushes You Above Your Competition on ALL the Search Engines.
• Direct Mail that Delivers! More Sales, Higher Conversion Rates, All of the Time!

Make an Offer

I first heard about this through Alexi Neocleous, a direct-response copywriter from Australia. He explained that a business card offer gives people a reason to call. Sure, they might want to work with you sometime down the road, but they don’t need to contact you for any reason.

Making an offer adds some pizazz to your card and fills your email inbox with loads of prospects who are looking for your help. Will they all buy? No…but you’ll know that they fit your target market.

Examples:

• Email xxxxxxx@xxxx.com to receive a FREE 20-page report on “How to turn you boring web-content upside down and make it sell!”
• Sign up for my FREE Newsletter to receive weekly tips on improving your conversion rates…PLUS a bonus webinar that will explode your profits! CopywritingSells.com
• Contact me today and receive 20% off on your first project! Limited time offer - Expires December 31, 2008.

Testimonials

Why not turn your business card into a mini-sales letter? Need some added credibility? Call on a big-shot client or well-known friend to give a testimonial that converts. If you don’t know anybody that others will recognize, then add a few other testimonials instead!

I’d put one or more testimonials on the back of your card with a catchy heading.

• Discover what all the fuss is about…
• Find out why people turn to me when they need fast results…
• What others are saying about John Doe…

Use Both Sides of the Card

Since you’ve now got three times the information, you’ll probably need the other side of the business card to make things fit.

But don’t worry if it costs more money overall…

$80 well spent is better than $40 wasted.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Our minds are being pitched from every direction: email, TV, radio, billboards, blogs, podcasts, webinars, newspapers, magazines, phone calls, and more. In order for your writing to stick in the customers mind, you need to be able to separate yourself from the noise.

In a world that is competing for brain space, your writing has to stand out. Whether you’re trying to win a bid on Elance, writing a sales letter that sells, or keeping people interested in your blog - you have to be offering something different…people like different.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when marketing your writing services:

• First Impressions - Research has shown that it doesn’t even take 2 seconds to make a first impression. The question is, are you making a good first impression with your readers and potential customers? A good first impression comes across as respectful and confident, while summarizing the key points that you have to offer.
• Confidence - Confidence, not only in your first impression but rather in your entire persona, can do wonders for your freelance career. When you exude confidence in your writing, your clients will be comfortable working with you and trust you at your word. Just don’t make the mistake of being arrogant or cocky, because that will quickly reverse any good favor that you may have earned.
• Front and Center - If you want to attract new clients or earn repeat projects from existing ones, then you’ve got to put yourself front and center. Communication here is key. If you want to stay front and center then you should be blogging, participating in forums, and maintaining constant contact with prospects through email.
• Quality Work - Nothing markets your services better than the quality of work itself. If you do great work, you will have a good chance of earning referrals. If you do horrible work, there’s a good chance you’ll be struggling as a freelance writer. Whether you’re writing for a $50 single-project or a $2000 repeat client, it doesn’t matter…always do your best.

It may take a bit of extra work to properly market your writing, but if you can make your writing services stand out from the pack then you’ll be sure to reap the benefits.

Popularity: 6% [?]