Freelancing

Being able to write for a living is a remarkable gift.

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writing skillsFor most of the time, we take our ability to write for granted.

After all, pretty much everyone can write. It’s one of those default skills we learn at school. And because everyone can do it, the act of writing becomes a commodity. There is no longer anything special about it.

Your mother writes. Your neighbors write. Your kids write. In fact, chances are that one of them is writing something on Facebook right now.

But if you view writing as a craft instead of just a commodity activity, remarkable things can happen.

First, you will have found a way to express yourself, your feelings and your opinions beyond simply writing one more Facebook entry. Second…

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Monday Spark: You’ll feel better as a freelancer when you see the difference you can make.

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small business clientsI was asked recently to identify my most memorable job from the last 30 years as a freelance writer and copywriter.

The interviewer was probably expecting me to come up with a job I did for one of my big-name clients from the past, like Apple, Yahoo! or Chrysler.

But I didn’t. My most memorable job is one I did for a friend about 25 years ago. I wrote a direct mail letter to help him grow his one-man business. And it worked gangbusters. In fact, a week after the mailing was sent out he had to hire three more people to keep up with demand.

Why was that job more satisfying than some huge project I did for a much bigger company?

It was satisfying because I could clearly see the results. I could see by how much I had helped my friend and his company.

In other words, I had made a difference and could see it.

With much of our work, we never really get to know if our contribution made any significant difference…

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Monday Spark: Find your own 2:57 Moment.

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2:57 momentIn my first Monday Spark post, a few weeks ago, I showed a video of Jeb Corliss jumping off a cliff.

That video inspired me to make some changes to a presentation I gave several weeks ago at the AWAI Bootcamp at Delray Beach in Florida.

I showed the video and, since then, I have seen a few mentions on Facebook and on blogs of what I described in my presentation as the “2:57 moment”.

So I thought I had better explain what that’s all about.

First off, here is that video again. Watch it now, and pause it at 2 minutes and 57 seconds.

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Monday Spark: Giving military wives a voice by teaching them to sing together.

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singing for inspirationI’m in the U.K. at the moment, and watched a remarkable program on the television here.

Gareth Malone is a choirmaster. I understand he’s in his forties, but he looks more twenty. Anyway, he is a professional and has worked with some of the leading choirs in the country.

But recently, instead of working at some high-brow opera house, he is driving around the country to military bases. When he gets there, he organises the military wives into choirs and teaches them to sing.

Military wives are the women left behind when their husbands are deployed overseas, principally to Afghanistan. They are isolated and live under a shadow of fear, hoping and praying their husbands come home.

Gareth Malone creates a remarkable bond with these women, and tutors even the most timid of them until they find their voice.

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Opportunities for online copywriters in 2012 [VIDEO]

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online copywriting opportunityI put this video together for anyone who is thinking about specializing in online copywriting.

I was inspired to make the video by a few people who had approached me and asked whether or not there was still a viable opportunity for online copywriters, or whether the market was already saturated.

That’s a reasonable question – and I think and hope this short video answers it.

As you will see, I actually think the opportunity is bigger than ever, and for 4 specific reasons.

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Monday Spark: Stretch Yourself.

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Here is a story from when I was about 11 years old.

At my school, in England, we used to put on a full-length play by Shakespeare once a year.

I was a hopelessly timid kid, but somehow landed the part of Cassius in the play, Julius Caesar. I didn’t think I could learn hundreds of lines for the play, and I didn’t think I could get up on the stage in front of an audience.

But I did. And playing that part changed my life.

My teacher gave me the opportunity to really stretch myself, and to discover what I was truly capable of.

Now we fast-forward a generation to when my children were at school at about the same age. When I went to see their school “plays”, my kids were asked to learn maybe ten lines.

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