Words on the Page

Writers, Work, and Weddings

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Magnificent by U2 Today starts a week we’ve been waiting for. Five days from now, my youngest will become a married woman. But until then, there is much to do. At this writing, I am printing wedding programs. After I write this post, I’ll be marketing for an hour, then stapling…

Monthly Assessment: May 2014

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Quiet Little Voices by We Were Promised Jetpacks What a month it was, and what a month it is about to be. Our floors are done, furniture is starting to come back, and my work day doesn’t revolve around sanders and smelly varnishes. What it does revolve around, and will for…

And the Winners Are….

Posted on by lwidmer

Thank you to everyone who left comments and participated in this year’s Writers Worth Month! I appreciate the way you took it personally — that’s the idea. Make it yours, and make it part of your action plan. As promised, we have some contest winners. Because you left your comments, you’ve entered. The winner of…

Crappy Customer Service

Posted on by lwidmer

Thanks to everyone for the fantastic month of Writers Worth! This year was especially terrific, and the conversations were educational. I’ll be compiling everything in an ebook (once I get everyone’s permission), and I’ll make it available shortly. Meantime, to our winners… I just got back from a weekend trip home, so the winners will…

Writers Worth: 5 Ways to Defy Limitations

Posted on by lwidmer

One more day to enter: comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! Hard to believe, but it’s been an entire…

Writers Worth: 6 Things to Do Today to Improve Your Business

Posted on by lwidmer

Just a few more days to enter: comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! Yesterday was a bit futile in…

Writers Worth: Losing Doubt

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Nothing Like You by Frightened Rabbit Just a few more days to enter: comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to…

Writers Worth: The Quality Factor

Posted on by lwidmer

How Do You Treat Your Most Valuable Asset?

Posted on by lwidmer

Don’t forget to comment to win! Stop by the blog, comment on any one of the Writers Worth posts, and you could win one of these prizes: An Amazon gift card worth $25 or a copy of my ebook Marketing 365! Just leave your comment to enter the random drawing. Winner to be announced June 2nd! Who couldn’t love…

Writers Worth: The Prepared Writer

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Moondance by Van Morrison Don’t forget: leave your comment on any of this month’s posts and you could win one of three prizes! Just comment using your real name (no anonymous comments or spam-laced comments will be eligible). What a great month of advice this has been! Thanks to all the guest…

Cathy Miller

When you think about it, we have been preparing our whole lives for those talks. Even a newbie has had life experiences that he or she can pull from. Meeting someone for the first time, learning a new subject, doing something you've never done before.

If we put ourselves in the shoes of our clients, we'll find we share common ground. If we're having a tough time at the thought of discussing rates, think back to when you tried that something new. Maybe you shined the first time. Perhaps it took some practice to succeed. Use that. Practice scenarios that include giving your rate.

Learn from the past and explore your future. Enough pontificating. 😉

Lori

Great insight, Cathy. We have been preparing all along. 🙂

Eileen

Perfect timing on this post, with a reminder to know their business. I'm making phone calls today to follow up on LOI's — something I have never done. I would have forgotten to look at their websites one last time before placing the call.

A good prospect or client call is one in which you ask questions with the goal of 1) seeing if they have a problem you can solve and 2) learning how you might solve it for them. Then you shut up and listen. It will very quickly become apparent as to whether or not you're the right fit. And if you're not, that's okay; better to find it out now.

Paula

Not surprisingly, I'm better at communicating with clients via email. I'm not the most eloquent of speakers.

Eileen, thanks for the reminder. I have some LOIs to follow up on. But I've got a three things due by the end of the week, so I might not be able to get to it until the weekend since I'll be using regular mail.

Lori

"Shut up and listen…" GREAT advice, Eileen!

Good luck on the follow-up calls! Let me know how it goes.

Nor am I, Paula. Worse, I share office space with my husband on occasion. It's NOT easy to interview someone or have a client call when you have a second audience!

Ashley

I'm better at email too, Paula, mainly, I think, because I'm a writer and not a public speaker! Though if I have advance notice (I'll talk to you at 10 tomorrow), I'm better off than getting a call out of the blue. Not that I do badly, it's just that I feel less prepared. I suppose it's our job to ALWAYS be prepared with statements about our own business, at the very least. But if I've sent an LOI in the past month, I try to remember at least a little something about that potential client.

Lori

Ashley, so am I. Oddly, the times I do talk to clients on the phone, I'm finding myself more relaxed. I put the onus on fulfilling a need they have, not on impressing them. Makes a huge difference in how I behave. 🙂

Paula

Exactly, Ashley. I use the time to make a list of talking points…not that I ever stick to them.

Thankfully I've never felt a burning need to impress anyone, or I'm sure my tongue-tied-ness would be worse.

(I always laugh when a friend critiques things and people with, "….didn't impress me at all." Um, maybe because they weren't trying to impress her?)

Weekly favorites (June 20-26)

[…] 5 Really Bad Writing Gigs that Keep Perfectly Good Writers from Making Ends Meet How to build a portfolio from scratch (with little experience) Why introverts make great freelancers When Clients Hold Checks Hostage The Prepared Writer […]