All Posts Tagged: organization
Learn How to Track and Reach Your Freelance Travel Writing Goals for Just $5 This Week
At an event for business executives I attended earlier this year, the facilitator shared something that is a bit of a myth in the business world.
The short version is: in a room full of nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs, when asked how they track and check in daily with their goals, it turned out the that four wealthiest people in the room all carried a paper with their goals in their wallet on somewhere else on their person.
Let me say this again, because it bears repeating. In a room full of people who had successfully started their own businesses, the ones who made the most looked at their goals regularly.
A Quick, Easy, Empowering Weekly Accountability Check-in for Freelance Writers
How responsible do you feel to your freelance writing goals?
The answer I often here is some variant of “not very,” typically centered around all of the other factors that are in the way.
I ask because the word “accountability” gets through around a lot–on social media, in face-to-face discussions with other writers, and especially on coaching calls.
So I looked it up to dig into what accountability is meant to mean.
Our On-Demand Coaching Concierge Now Has Answers to More than 300 of Your Top Travel Writing Questions!
Before there was Dream of Travel Writing or even The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map, there were questions.
I’ll never forget the time I was sitting in a room at the World Travel Market in London after one of the panels had finished up catching up on email, and a British gentleman came up and started chatting with my about what I did.
It was quite a few years ago, long before I ever even considered writing about freelancing, let alone coaching freelance business owners.
We were talking about what I did, and the conversation took a turn that it frequently did back then: a bit of puzzlement when I said that, yes, I was a blogger, but, no, I could not tell him what my blog was. I was a freelance blogger.
So I told him my mantra back then: “If I’m not getting paid, why would I write something?”
Even If You’re a Pitch Wizz and an Idea Magnet, You’ll Still Struggle to Get Pitches Out if You’re Missing This
People who aren’t happy with the types or quantity of the paid travel articles they’re writing tend to come in two flavors:
- they’re established writers, even established magazine writers, that always work with the same editors and have lost the confidence to pitch new-to-them markets
- they pitch so infrequently (and spend the rest of their writing time writing assigned work for content shops OR for themselves on their own blog or a novel project) that sending five pitches in one month is a serious event
On a very basic level, you could say that a regular, concerted pitching effort could bring about serious changes for people in these situations.
And pitching is actually very easy. It just involves writing 150 to 250 words. That only takes ten minutes! So these folks are all set, right?
Is February–or March!–the New January? (And What We’re Doing to Make Sure You Rock It)
Is it just now your new year?
On a recent coaching call, someone explained to me that as they were slammed with deadlines both before and after the holiday, had many family commitments during the school break, and subsequently had to take a trip involving many time zones-worth of jet lag for a family health emergency, she only finally felt, at the end of January, that she was finally in a place to really start the new year.
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.
A Simple Technique to Never Go Home Without the Shots You Need Again
It’s happened to all of us.
You go somewhere a.maze.ing.
You take *tons* of photos.
The light is even fantastic, even though the weather forecast was crap.
All in all you can’t believe your luck (because we all know how easy it is to plan a big day of shooting only to have it foiled by weather, equipment issues, construction, or an entirely unrelated personal emergency), and you are sure you have a memory card full of excellent shots to sell, use on social, and support an epic photo essay on your blog.
Unless You Plan Your Research Around Specific Pitches, Press Trips Can Be a Serious Waste of Time
After I had left my job, decided running a food blog business full-time was not for me because it was too difficult (with international internet options at the time) for my travel plans, and started doubling down on freelance travel writing, I was confronted again and again by established travel writers who didn’t actually travel.
Are You Letting Tons of Marketing “Work” Keep You from Actually Getting Paid Gigs?
Welcome to a new feature here at Dream of Travel Writing–the Monday Mailbag! We often get questions from readers, folks in our accountability group, or coaching program members that we think would apply to a lot of you.
Now, with permission, agony-aunt-style, we’ll be sharing a new one with you each Monday. If you have a question you’d like to see included, please send it to us at questions [at] dreamoftravelwriting.com and make sure to include a line saying we have permission to reprint your question.
On to the tricky travel writing questions!