Addicted to Writing

Manage Your Freelance Writing Career While Writing What You Love

3 Little Things That Cost Entrepreneurs Money: What Planning Ignores About Selling Products

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Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money on their product launches. They measure demand, arrange memorable pre and actual launches, get their fans, friends, and fellow entrepreneurs to spread the word, and their potential customers sulk and leave without buying. This happens on many occasions. The products are quality; the pricing is right.

So why doesn’t the sale go through?

– Limited Format. 

Not all learners prefer one method. Visual learners stay away from texts, but some people can’t learn or stayfocused without reading. Not including transcripts for videos, or not including audio or video for texts is a missed opportunity. 

– Payment Method.

PayPal has become the Google of online payment processors. It’s secure, highly convenient and almost ubiquitous, almost being the keyword. There are still countries that don’t allow PayPal. Even though “PayPal” payments technically allow credit cards to be connected, you can’t fill in your information correctly if you can’t use PayPal, meaning your country isn’t listed.

– Payment Schedule.

I’m a writing coach and creator myself. I understand the effort that goes into creating something valuable, evergreen,and comprehensive. You don’t want to sell your product short. But while it is okay to set your price at whatever your marketresearch and branding strategy prove logical, you can still offer installments.

A budding entrepreneur or freelancer who wants to learn from you might want to invest a couple of grand, but they might not afford it at one go. So not offering them options creates disappointment and revenue loss.

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What has kept you from buying an online course or other product?

Launching A Travel Blog, Publishing A Novel, Project Overwhelm and Spring Fatigue

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Spring is here my fellow writing addicts! That means more sun, happiness and unfortunately extra tiredness and sleepiness. I’ve taken to eating more healthily, moving more and getting some herbal-based supplements that are supposed to boost the immune system.

In the meantime, I’ve tried to launch my travel blog and my novel as an e-book in addition to my other writerly duties such as pitching, writing, marketing, researching and so on.

I say “try to,” because launching a new blog has been a step well beyond my comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong; I love blogging. I love WordPress. I’ve been doing it for a long time now, and I believe I have gotten good at it.

But there is something stressful about starting over with a new blog, picking a theme – which I argue is one of the most frustrating things about blogging – and getting an audience to a blog you are proud to show people.

I’m still working on the design, but the first post is ready for consumption and sharing: How to Financially Survive a Trip to Oslo

And finding a theme that suits your needs, expectations and wants is no easy feat, as I wrote about it here. The fonts change, level of flexibility and options differ. Whether you are going for a free or premium theme, I wish you luck.

(This blog runs on the premium Studio Press’ Focus Pro – aff. link.)

But none of that compares to the challenge of publishing your novel. From deciding on whether you are going to work with individuals or a company, from deciding on whether you’ll format yourself or hand it over to a professional, from downright infuriating copyright laws to marketing, it is mission impossible for writers. Or it has been for this writer.

I decided to go with a self-publishing company that came highly recommended to me. And while they have had their pros, I continue to be disappointed by their after-publishing customer service. I talked about my self-publishing woes in this post.

If you try to buy my book but can’t, comment and I’ll try to find a link or a solution that works for your company.

My novel is currently only available digitally. You can check it out on Amazon (aff. link).

About the novel:

Making A Difference (M.A.D.) is a contemporary romantic comedy with some drama attached. It’s set in New York, and this is the plot summary without spoilers:

Everybody loves Jay. He’s that humanitarian PR guru who doesn’t live like the rich and runs a profitable company so that he’ll have more resources to help people. He defines himself through how much he and his company make a positive impact.

He’s engaged to a gorgeous CEO whose purse collection could feed the homeless in NYC, but he’s only human.

If anyone notices the irony, it’s Jay’s new partner Zoe. 10 years older than her, Jay is the reason she studied PR. So when Jay’s business partner/best friend takes a less pressuring position, she’s delighted to return to the firm she interned for.

But Jay and Zoe have a big secret: 5 years ago, they fell hard for each other. She was a student at NYU where Jay was a lecturer. To Jay, his legacy was everything, and he’d never risk his reputation by dating a student. Moreover, he’d die before he let Zoe ruin her career. She is furious he doesn’t take the risk for them. She leaves the country to get over him.

And now she’s happily coupled-up with lovely writer Colin.
Colin detests Jay, and he doesn’t even know the entire story. Zoe’s upset Colin’s turning into a whiny jerk, but he’s the first guy she has felt strongly for in a long time.

Jay can no longer dismiss his feelings as nostalgia, but Zoe’s still furious at him. And the last time he tried to fix things, she left the company and the country. And now that the stakes are even higher.

Will Jay be able to follow his heart even when improving the world seems easier?

 

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What have you been working on?

How (Not) to Get Followed on Twitter: 13 Tips

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twitter, how to get more followers on twitter

I’m not a celebrity. I’m, however, a social media enthusiast and expert. I’ve been experimenting with and reading about these things since 2007. Yes, that’s a very specific date: That’s when I started using Facebook. I remember because it was a year after my year abroad as a student. I was deeply missing my friends and being bored out of my mind at an internship. I had the technology, particularly no responsibilities (I tried to get them, believe me!) and tons of free time.

Then came blogging, Twitter and Linkedin.

Exceptions: We are friends offline, and I already know who you are. Then none of the below matters. For strangers, take note:

– Write your profile in another language. If I can’t understand what you say, I won’t follow. Simple. I’m trying to learn other languages, but English and Turkish are my only fluent ones at the moment.

– Treat it like content mills treated articles. Don’t make it a keyword dump. There should be some words without hashtags.

– Ignore all the logical advice I happily give.

– Have the picture of an egg.

– Just put a picture of you in your underwear. Really? Unless it’s the cover of erotica fiction you wrote, and it’s not your picture. Then it is fine. Still…do think twice.

– Tell me your marital status, number of kids, what sect of religion you belong to or which prophet you love before telling me what you do and who you are (and no, I don’t think “you” begin with your marital status, number of kids or religion). It’s okay to put them in your bio somewhere if you have to, but I really don’t think they should be the first things I should know about you.

– Don’t be genuine.

– Don’t give any links I can check out.

– Name all the brands you are endorsing.

– Just have an account to offer to get x number of Twitter and/or Instagram accounts for free. Anyone who has spent like a day or two learning about social media will know paid followers mean nothing.

– Follow me, get followed by me, and then drop me because…well, if you lose interest in my work or awesome personality, fine. But unless you are one of my favorite artists, writers or fantasy mentors, I will return the favor. I understand there’s a follower to following ratio. But if you sacrifice me, I’ll do the same. How do you think I remembered to add this here? I’ve just unfollowed people who unfollowed me after following me first.

– Don’t follow me. I’m a rational person. I don’t expect to be followed by Chris Evans, but if you are not him or you’re the editor of Cosmopolitan, I might unfollow you after a while. I’m just saying.

– Never post anything about you.

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That’s it. It’s not that hard, but even marketing needs some personality. And believe it or not, you can be professional and personable at the same time. Try it, and you’ll have more followers that are human beings. Maybe one day they will even turn into fans. For more useful tips on social media, please check out my post Social Media Mistakes Writers Can Avoid on the awesome blog Write Naked by Tara Lynne Groth.

What Readers Can Do To Get Better Content

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John F. Kennedy famously said, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” So in this post, I’m going to get you to ask what you can do for your favorite bloggers and writers.

Does it sound weird? Counter-intuitive?

Just hear me out for a second.

How many of you open the newsletters you subscribe to?

How many of you unsubscribe when several issues in a row haven’t engaged you?

How many of you answer the questions on surveys that your favorite bloggers and writers send your way?

How many of you reply when those bloggers ask you a specific question?

Many of those surveys come with a potential or actual prize. But it doesn’t really matter if you are offered one. It doesn’t matter if you win something – the actual rewards will come after you answer the questions.

The survey is intended to benefit the blogger for sure: If the blogger provides what you want, they get more shares, clicks, and reads. They sell more products. They gain more followers and fans. But you are not really reading the blog for that blogger’s sake, are you?

You’re reading it because you enjoy it. You learn from it. You study it. So the more the blogger meets your needs, the better it is for you.

So if you are wondering what bloggers can do for you, don’t neglect to reply their questions. It’s for your benefit.

Until next time, happy writing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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