Please, Please Don’t Send Emails Like This to Companies You Want to Blog For
Yes, this is THE time to pitch companies in the travel industry to help with their marketing in advance of the summer high season.
And, yes, cold pitching absolutely does work, when done right.
But not like this:
Are Your Freelance Writing Goals Far Too Low?
We’ve looked a lot on our blog in the past week about what can happen when you don’t tune into exactly what is going on with your business.
But I know general freelance advice can seem so abstract.
That’s why I like to put specific numbers on things.
When I start working with new one-on-one coaching clients, the first thing they do is complete a detailed form about their income goals, satisfaction and income level with current clients, and how they are spending their time and one what.
And I’ve noticed a very disturbing trend around the number two.
Announcing Two New Workshops Saturday, December 9 — Including a Live Online Workshop You Can Join from Anywhere in the World!
Many of you have asked me about or working with me on your writer’s websites, and I know this is a big sticking point for many of you!
We do have a “recipe” for getting your personal writing website (a.k.a. you freelance writer homepage, which should be different than your blog, if you have one) done in one hour, but for those of you that have varied interests, offerings, or travel backgrounds, or have been doing this for a while and simply have a lot to showcase, I know the task seems much more overwhelming.
So we’re going to offer a live, one-off, online workshop (integrating the participation, getting things done, and one-on-one critiques we offer in all of our live events) to make sure your website is ready for the new year: Plan, Perfect, Polish, Publish: Get Your Writer’s Website Done Now.
What Does Your Personal Mountain in the Path of Your Travel Writing Dreams Look Like?
If you’ve attended any of our events or webinars, you know that I don’t sugar coat things.
When people first start asking me to coaching them so they could achieve the same level of success with their travel writing income and choice of clients as I had, I embarked on a journey of inquiry that lasted for years and led to the 400 pages of The Six-Figure Travel Writing Map.
Aside from learning tips and tricks for excelling both as a freelancer and as a trace writer from the best of each world, one of the main things I did was have a lot of conversations with folks just like you.
Should I Set Up a Care Package for You? Last Chance to Join Our Anniversary Celebrations
Today is the last day (you can read more about why exactly that is in our FAQ below) to grab our landmark workshop on the state of freelance travel writing for magazines and how to master the pitching process.
If it’s not for you, no worries! Have a great weekend!
For those of you who think, as one writer recently wrote me, this could be exactly what you need to take your travel writing career to the next stage, we’ve compiled some answers to some questions we’ve been receive about the workshop itself and the opportunity to grab the replay and associated goodies sent to your house.
These are some of the concepts we dove into deeply during the event:
- the exact mechanics of how, when, and what to say to follow up on your pitches
- why editors are never stealing your idea—and what to do if you think they are
- exactly which portion of the magazine industry has the best rates right now for the writing you want to be doing
- how **exactly** with multiple workshopped examples to put together a pitch in five minutes
- and much more about the state of the magazine industry today and how to excel in it
Is There a Way for You to Get Paid to Write the Exact Same Things You Write on Your Blog?
When you hear the term essay, similar to the even more antiquated concept of a “composition,” you likely think back to your school days more quickly than your bank account.
Especially if the phrase used is “personal essay,” which fills an alarming number of people with dread.
The thing is, many of you are incredibly acquainted, both as readers and as writers, with the personal essays, just under a different name: blog posts.
FAQ About the Anniversary Special for Saving $90 on the Travel Magazine Database — EXPIRING TODAY
I just got off two coaching calls in a row with writers who have been writing for low- or non-paying outlets comfortably with good relationships with their editors but are intimidated to make the jump into paying markets.
Here’s the thing.
If you have been writing for an editor who doesn’t give you edits or in some way teach you about the industry and move your career forward, no matter how low or high the pay for those assignments are, or how quickly you can get the work done, or how easy the work is because you write it off the top of your head, you’re losing money in two ways:
- you’re missing out on mentoring, which is, like “exposure,” one of the things you should be getting in a bargain for lower rates (a.k.a. anything less than $1 per work—and I even mean online)
- you’re solidifying bad habits that are keeping you from getting future work from better markets, because these editors are examining your work with a fine tooth comb
Want to Get Paid to Listen to Our Webinars?
Photo by Alphacolor 13 on Unsplash
Before our free live weekly webinars are added to our on-demand webinar library, where you get:
- downloadable and streamable versions of the webinar video
- downloadable and streamable versions of the webinar audio file alone
- complete access to the webinar slides
- any applicable worksheets
- a 10+-page full transcript of the text of the entire call
…we need to have the webinars transcribed!
We’re currently looking to fill a backlog that has built up and have openings for two things:
- people available immediately to get through our current backlog of webinars awaiting transcription (so it matters what’s on your plate for the next two weeks)
- people to take on weekly transcription assignments going forward
Join Us From Home for Our Landmark Live Workshop on the State of Magazine Pitching
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Due to some requests from our readers outside the New York area, we’re making this Saturday’s workshop on how to Master Magazine Pitching available to attend even if you aren’t able to join us in person.
We’ve tested the streaming in the event space and the speed is excellent, but we’ll have someone onsite specifically attending to those tuning in remotely to make sure that you can share in all the exercises and get your questions answered as if you were there in person.
Why is this workshop special?
Don’t Let a Fear of Pulling Together Long Articles Hold You Back One More Day
There are some very extreme views on writing feature-length stories out there.
Some of you:
- have been in this business a long time and feel like feature stories are the only thing worth your time in terms of both money and interest
- have not been in the business-side of travel writing at all, but want to jump in only writing features, because you’re only interested in long-form writing and storytelling, not short, informational pieces
- are absolutely petrified of even pitching a long story, because you don’t know how you’ll fill up the word count
- feel very firmly that you will never write features because narrative writing is just not your thing
Features are a very polarizing issue, and there’s no single reason why.