Article Weblog

Nothing beats the joy of your first sale. You can plot, plan, market and dream all you want, but until you get that first sale, you’re not sure that you’re a “real” writer. It’s 26 years since I sold my first book to an international publisher. I walked on air for days. To my mind, because real writers wrote books, I was real writer at last.

Your first sale legitimizes what you’re doing to others, and not least to yourself. When you’ve got that sale, you get a lot more than money: you get confidence, feedback, and ideas on how you can make the next sale and the next.

How do you make that first sale? Here’s how:

=> One: Give yourself a deadline

Although I’d made writing sales I didn’t sell a book until I gave myself a deadline. I gave myself a long deadline, ten years. I didn’t need that long, it took a year. However setting a deadline turned selling a book from a dream into a goal. If I hadn’t given myself a deadline, I would have fudged for years: making outlines, doing research, writing a chapter here and there, and convincing myself that I was trying to sell a book, when I wasn’t doing anything of the sort.

Give yourself a deadline to make your first sale. You’ll know how long the deadline should be. Don’t make it ten years unless it’s something where you need to learn a lot of skills first before you can produce a product.

Your deadline must be serious. The ten years I gave myself was the absolute cut-off date. If I hadn’t sold a book by then, I intended giving up writing book-length material forever.

=> Two: Ask for the sale!

Once I’d set the ten-year deadline, I knew I had to ask for the sale. This meant submitting partials to publishers. A partial is a fiction proposal. It consists of a synopsis, a chapter outline, and the first chapters: around 50 to 100 pages of the novel. I wrote a partial every two months, and sent them out.

How will you ask for the sale? If you’re selling your writing, then send out novel and non-fiction proposals, or proposals for magazine articles.

Keep in mind that “Ask for the sale” means ask the person who can buy your product to buy it. I approached editors at publishing houses who could buy my work. I didn’t approach agents. As handy as literary agents are, an agent can’t buy.

No matter what product you’re selling, from apricots to zebras, you must ask the person and/ or company with the cash to buy your product.

It’s worth mentioning here that you don’t need to follow any particular rules when you’re asking for the sale. For example, most writing books will tell you that to sell a novel you must write the complete novel, then write the partial, then get an agent and then wait while the agent sells the book. You can follow someone else’s rules if you want to. Or you can choose your own route. Do what you intuitively feel is right for you.

=> Three: If it’s not working, get feedback from others

You’ve set your deadline, you’ve asked for the sale repeatedly, but no one’s buying.

At this point, I need to tell you that everyone who’s ever followed this process for selling their writing has sold their writing before the deadline. So from long experience I know that this process works. If this process hasn’t worked for you it means that somewhere you’ve bumped into a wall, but don’t see that is a wall.

You need feedback. Find someone’s who’s doing what you want to do, and ask them for help. You may need to pay for it, but it will be money well spent, because they’ll be able to put you on the right track. Don’t ask for help from people who have never done what you want to do. If they haven’t done it, they may think they know how it’s done, but they don’t.

After you get your feedback, set yourself another deadline, and then ask for the sale until you make the sale. Try this simple process: it works.

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business,
copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and
small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for
companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the
jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard),
WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing
advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com.

Share This

Years ago, as you know, runner Jim Ryun dashed what was thought to be an unbreakable record.

He ran the mile in less than four minutes.

History would reveal that the four minute mile was more of a psychological barrier than anything else, because after Ryun’s achievement, literally hundreds of runners joined Ryun by clocking less than four minutes.

Once a leader shows that something can be done, in sports, business, the sciences, or even in writing, others quickly follow suit.

One of my armchair sports is tracking the numbers that article writers reach at certain Ezine sites.

At one, there are some far and away leaders, with more than 1,000 pieces to their credit.

Probably, within four to six months at his current pace the top dog will log his 10,000th!

He is about 500% more prolific than his next rival, so no one will be challenging the leader any time soon.

But what’s interesting is to see what is happening in the 500-1,000 article range. A few months ago, at a site with about 30,000 writers, about a handful of people were above 500.

Now, there at least double at that number or beyond, and the range between 200 and 500 is bulging.

About six months ago, you only needed about 100 articles to break into the top 100 which means your name would appear on the front page of contributors.

Soon, you’ll need 200 or more articles to get that exposure.

Anyway, don’t let this discourage you.

In fact, I infer that the Ryun Effect is operating here. As more people contribute more articles at even higher volumes, still more folks will be motivated to follow in their footsteps.

You can be one of them, so go for it!

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 800 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Share This

Have you fallen for the article marketing trap? Sending out second rate articles, worrying too much about word count and ignoring all the things that would make your effort more successful?

Article marketing has swept through the internet like an avalanche. Virtually everyone knows about the technique but very few are doing it well. Many people are actually ruining their reputation by ignoring article marketing best practices.

As an article newsgroup moderator and article marketing expert I am in the trenches everyday. Increasingly, I reject more articles than I accept. More and more often I hear complaints from publishers that the articles submitted to them are pure crap. Many of these publishers complain that article submission software is to blame. I have to disagree. Here is what I think is causing the majority of problems:

* People who want to use the technique without learning how.

* Private label articles flooding the market.

* Plaigarism and copyright violations.

* Lousy articles with no redeeming values.

* Off topic articles driving publishers crazy.

* Articles that are too short or too long.

* Writers who won’t divulge their identity and only use their by-line for advertising a website.

Can you connect the dots to find out where the article marketing problems lie? With the article marketer. The article marketer, like myself, loves the technique but is often strapped for time. Instead of writing unique articles or hiring a ghostwriter to write for them they get lazy. Stupidity and carelessness is also a factor but I bet being lazy causes most of the problems.

I believe that laziness is the root of all evil in the article marketing world. Any type of marketing with not work unless effort is expended and techniques are repeated regularly and reliably. Please do me a favor. If you can’t make the effort then don’t use the technique.

Article marketing done badly is far more damaging then not using the technique at all. It only works when you create quality work and follow submission rules. Don’t blame the publishers for your shoddy articles and don’t spend hours on forums complaining that the technique doesn’t work. It does work. It has worked for me and for many others but it won’t work for you if you insist on being lazy and irresponsible.

Make a commitment today to write well, submit only on topic unique articles and to hire help if you need it. Your best efforts will be the catalyst to better results and will support the growth of the article marketing community. Let’s use the technique wisely so that it remains a viable part of internet marketing.

© 2006, Davis Virtual Assistance. Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as the article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Bonnie Jo Davis is an article marketing expert who takes great pride in helping work at home parents, entrepreneurs, small business owners and enthusiastic hobbyists exploit the power of the written word. To learn how to grow your business with article marketing or to join her affiliate program visit http://www.WriteYourWayToProfit.com today!

Share This