In this issue:
How To Avoid Being Scammed
6 Interviewing Tips For Writers
How To Write With One Hand
Anatomy Of A Sales Letter
Want To Drop One On Me?
Diary Of A Working Writer January 2008

How To Avoid Being Scammed

by Sharon Hurley Hall

A couple of days ago, a new writer asked me about avoiding scams. This article was the result. Writing Lab News subscribers are getting the first look at this, before it's published on my blog. 

When you freelance, there's always the chance that you might fall victim to a scam. Someone may ask you to produce work and, especially when you're new to the game, you might think that you have no choice. Unfortunately, not everyone is honest, and you could end up out of pocket. But there are a couple of techniques you can try to avoid falling victim to a scam.

First of all, beware of the client who wants you to write a large batch of articles without payment. It's acceptable to ask to see one as proof that you can do the job (though this too, may be a scam, as I'll mention later), but if you are going to do a lot of work, you should get paid.

My policy is to ask for a 50 per cent deposit up front. Clients who are not willing to pay this usually melt away. I might lose out on a job, but it separates the clients who value my work from those who don't.

Another favourite scam is to ask several writers for one free sample each. I approach this in one of two ways. Either I use something that I have already written and mention that it has already been sold, or I write a fresh sample and post it on my blog. That way I can use it to promote myself, even if I don't get paid.

No matter what you do, there's always the odd client who manages to escape your 'con artist antenna'. If you fall prey to one of these people, then you have a couple of options. You can chalk it up to experience, you can report the client to Preditors and Editors, or you can ask Angela Hoy, who publishes Whispers and Warnings to help you. This is the writing equivalent of calling in the muscle. Angela wrote to a client who owed me last year and he paid up straight away.

6 Interviewing Tips For Writers

By Sharon Hurley Hall

As a freelance writer sooner or later you’re going to have to conduct an interview. Maybe it’s because you’re hoping to score a lucrative commission from a top-notch editor. Perhaps it’s because one of your clients has asked you to interview people as part of a writing or ghost-writing project.

Whatever your reason for doing an interview you want to do it right. That means having the right preparation, the right tools and the right questions.

#1 - Prepare!

To prepare for an interview you need to know what you know and what you don’t know about the interview subject. That means doing background research about the person, product, company or service. There are a number of useful research tools, both on line and off-line. These include:

• Newspaper and magazine archives (many of them accessible through sites such as Lexis Nexis)
• Libraries
• Company records such as annual reports
• Directories such as Who’s Who
• Press releases

Using these resources will help you to assemble a list of the known facts about your interview subject. You will also be able to identify the gaps which will help you to formulate questions.

Read the rest of 6 Interviewing Tips For Writers

How To Write With One Hand

By Sharon Hurley Hall

Freelance writers’ hands are their livelihood. Now that the notebook and pen have given way to the keyboard and mouse, it is all too easy for writers to damage the essential tools of their trade. Tendonitis can strike at any time. One day you’re putting the finishing touches on a written masterpiece, the next you can barely move your hand. It’s an inflammation of the tendons brought on by repetitive motion – and you can’t get much more repetitive than typing. So how can freelance writers cope with their work if it strikes?

Reschedule Your Deadlines

If you’ve been writing for a while, you’ve probably got a good relationship with several repeat clients. If you have always delivered great work in the past and have met all your deadlines, then your clients will be understanding if illness puts you out of commission for a while. Tell your clients why their writing job is being delayed. In most cases you’ll find them sympathetic.

Read the rest of How To Write With One Hand

Anatomy Of A Sales Letter

By Sharon Hurley Hall

Have you ever wanted to write a sales letter that could sell anything? I have, so when I needed to write one, I went out and found some advice from James Frey about how to do it. I also checked with some copywriting buddies for a suitable formula. Here it is.

Attention, Attention!

The first step in writing a sales letter is to get your prospect’s attention. Ever wondered why most sales letters start with a huge, in-your-face warning? That’s because the person who writes the letter wants to make sure that you will read it. We’re only human, and if a web page starts with words like ‘warning’ or ‘danger’, then we’ll probably take a second look. To start off your sales letter, you need a short headline with impact, that offers readers a ‘how to’, a ’secret’ or a ‘warning’.

Problems And Solutions

The next step is to convert that second look into a more sustained consideration of what you are selling (it’s not what you think, but I’ll get to that later). Next you need to tell your readers what the problem is and provide a solution. It’s a case of making readers feel some pain before giving them the antidote. Your product or service is that antidote.

Read the rest of Anatomy Of A Sales Letter?

Want To Drop One On Me?

By Sharon Hurley Hall

This article is about a new way to promote your writing site or blog. It's called Entrecard.

I’ve been using Entrecard for only three days, so I’m still in the first flush of romance, but the figures speak for themselves. In the last seven days, Entrecard has been responsible for 154 visits to my site, and that’s before I’ve started to advertise.

Entrecard describes itself as an online business card. When you sign up, you create a 125×125 button and some descriptive text for your site. That’s your card, and you can leave it at any other card that has Entrecard. When people leave you a card, you get notification in your inbox. Part of the widget is also available for advertising - people buy ad space on the widget at a cost. Everything is bought and sold in Entrecard credits. You gain them for dropping cards on other sites and when other sites drop cards on yours. You use them to pay for ads and gain them when others take ads on your widget.

Read the rest of Want To Drop One On Me? to find out how I answered the questions.

Diary Of A Working Writer - January 2008

Like many writers, I decided to take a bit of time off for the Christmas holidays. That meant planning ahead to finish my work early. I did some advance posting to make sure that I met my new commitment at Pureblogging, and managed to add another post to my collection on Writing White Papers.

Meanwhile, I wrapped up things on my own blogs with a lengthy post on ghost blogging, and did a lot of preparation for this year. That meant finishing up 2007 invoices, and sorting out projects for the first week of this year. I've already completed my first ebook project, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

This year I have plans for increasing income, which I'll share with you through the course of the year, and I'd like to get some guest posts on writing for my blog. I'd love to use it to showcase other bloggers and writers, so if you have an idea for a guest post for Get Paid To Write Online, please get in touch.

January is looking promising and I'm looking forward to another great freelancing year. I hope you are too. See you next month.