The Write Way.

In OnText’s ongoing series or Q&A interviews with working, professional writers, this week we’re featuring Gail Sideman, a successful professional publicist and freelance writer. Gail‘s guest posts have been popular with our readers and her expertise may help you expand your revenue streams or create a new career.

(Gail’s first answer, on how being in the right place can drive your success, is invaluable!)

Gail, tell me a little about your background and how you came to be in the public relations and publicity field as a publicist.

I morphed into PR at the University of South Florida studying toward a degree in journalism which was closely linked to public relations curriculum. A guest speaker I admired freshman year advised me to write as much as I could. She suggested I volunteer to write for the school paper, the Oracle, which, it turned out, had a paying spot for a sports writer. That summer, I was awarded my own column! I received a thank you note from a coach I wrote about and my editor objected, claiming that would make a hard-news reporter soft. I thought maybe newspaper writing wasn’t my calling — I liked nice notes!

A friend introduced me to the university sports information director who made me student assistant to learn the ropes. Soon, I was compensated for that work, too, and that began a time line that included some of the best experiences in my life.

I learned to be a sports publicist and had the opportunity to string for the Tampa Tribute and St. Petersburg Times. I wrote briefs, Associated Press-style stories, for print after USF’s non-revenue sports events. I was paid $25 per story, and my copy was read by professional editors. I was happy to oblige.

So, being in the right place, right time, and working hard created opportunity. How did you decide to go solo with your own agency?

I was actually forced to go solo, to a degree. I was fired from a PR agency when the owner and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on several issues. While I was looking for the “perfect” job, small businesses I patronized began to ask me to write news releases–help them generate media attention. That was a bunch of years ago.

To what degree does writing skill and know-how affect your success?

Writing skill plays a huge part. Before I begin to write, however, research and education is important, even if I know the topic. In today’s 24/7 information cycle, things change quickly, so it’s important to check facts before, during and after you write.

How could a freelance magazine writer, experienced blogger or web writer transition to being a publicist? Would you recommend that choice?

Most any media writer can be a great publicist. You know what the media needs to produce a quality story and how reporters and editors want information and pitches presented. Bloggers, unless versed in traditional media, may need to learn media relations. The best publicists provide who-what-when-where-why and how, and leave the hyperbole and embellished language to feature journalists.

How much freelance writing do you do on the side?

I’m doing more freelance writing now than in past years. The huge growth in blogs and reduced staffs at print publications have brought about the need for more freelance writers.

What the biggest challenge you’ve had as an entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur, more so a solopreneur, I have to stay on top of my game by continually educating myself on the advances and trends in my own industry. I have to keep up with business practices. I read, A LOT!

It’s fun to work with celebrities and to see your words in print. What’s the biggest mistake an entrepreneurial writer can make?

As in any entrepreneurial business, regardless of how busy you are, you must continue to make contacts and market yourself (hello pot, this is kettle!). The time to ramp up your marketing effort is not when the well runs dry and you appear desperate for work. Today more than ever, a consistent and ongoing marketing and branding effort is important to a business’ success. Even if you take a break or have paying clients for a period of time, keep writing. Keep journals. Write stories on current events. Writing is like a sport. You need to keep skills sharp so you can perform like a pro when your skills are called upon.

I see you on Twitter, what’s your promotion strategy for your own business – what’s working best for you?

Twitter is 95% providing value to followers. If they like what you have to offer, they’ll come back and refer friends. My strategy includes providing information, sharing articles or blog posts readers will enjoy, and 5% self-promotion–links to my writing. Engagement is key. Relationships develop best when you authentically engage with your audience.

How do you find work or clients?

I’m fortunate. My work comes from referrals and networking. I write for industry blogs and publications that reach audiences of thousands, and have used my expertise to contribute to my social networks.

Tell us your most thrilling publicity success so far.

As a publicist, I’m thrilled this week to have landed a great feature for a client in ESPN the Magazine. But my biggest thrill hasn’t happened yet. In five years, I want to have my passion project under way and thriving. I can’t say what that is right now, but I’ll say it’s not publicity-related. It’s fun and fills a niche that’s under-served.

What else should aspiring publicists know about the business?

Be willing to expand your education when you have an opportunity. Network in your desired niche. Develop and nurture relationships. It’s about who you know and, more importantly, who knows you. You want to be one of the first names that comes to mind when someone wants to hire a publicist. Oh, and never hesitate to promote yourself when the occasion permits. Ahem!

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may more information about Sideman’s business, Publiside, or follow her at Twitter and Facebook.

Stormy economy needs marketing savvy

A well written, professional business plan is essential to successfully obtaining funding for an entrepreneurial endeavor. Most people dipping toes in the pool of small businesses for the first time are intimidated by the idea of writing a comprehensive business plan. Therein lies another revenue stream for the flexible and adaptable freelance writer, you. Sell your writing by producing custom business plans.

Never wrote a business plan? The Small Business Administration website offers a free course in business plan writing.   It’s a do-it-yourself class that you work at your own pace.

Topics covered include

• Strategic planning
• Essential elements of a good business plan
• Writing the plan
• Business plan workshop
• Using the business plan
• Finding a niche
• Business planning FAQs

There’s a wealth of other information at this site – it’s worth taking a couple of hours and browsing all the resources. There are so many writers in transition right now that a lot of us will end up gravitating toward self-employment. The business plan idea is a two pronged attack – you may either find yourself up-to-speed on writing business plans for others, or become inspired to write a break out plan for yourself.

Check out the various newsletters offered, including A Woman’s Perspective, and SmallBizOpps that shows you how to market to Federal agencies.

Contact your local or state Small Business Administration Office for more help.

1. Make more money by writing quizzes
2. Be more productive with voice activated software

Your brilliance moves you (photo by gaetan lee)

Ali Hale makes real money as a staff blogger, her primary revenue stream. Ali is a freelance writer and entrepreneur, in her 20s, carving out a solid living for herself. This Q&A interview will introduce you to Ali and her new ebook staff-blogging course. Further – you may gain some insight about parlaying one revenue stream, freelance writing into more – like making money by teaching others what you know.

Ali Hale

So, Ali – let’s do some quick bio before we talk about staff blogging. Give us a little personal/professional background?

I live in London, in the UK. I moved here in 2006 to start a technical support/testing job after graduating from university: it really wasn’t “me”, and after nearly two years of it, I left to start my own freelancing business, Aliventures, primarily providing writing services and also some website work for very small companies.

What is staff blogging — why is it hot?

Staff blogging is working as a staff writer — that means regular and paid — for a blog that you don’t own. It’s awesome because it’s easy to get into, it’s fun and immediate, the pay is fast and surprisingly good if you’re an efficient writer. You know exactly what you’ll be getting per post (unless you’re writing for a share of advertising revenue, which I don’t really recommend), and because you can write for multiple blogs at once, you’re not going to end up in a financial crisis if one of them shuts down.

Is that your main revenue stream or a part time thing?

Currently, it’s my biggest revenue stream, though I don’t work on it full time. I have a few other small jobs going on, and I’m taking an MA in Creative Writing at the moment, too.

What else do you do for a living?

Over the past few months, I’ve created websites. I’ve done some childminding, (a great way to get some stimulating human interaction in the day!) I’ve done various small writing and editing jobs for clients, one of whom contacted me after enjoying one of my staff blogging posts; and I’ve written the Staff Blogging Course, which I’m selling as an ebook.

How many hours do you spend staff blogging and how much recognition does it get for you as a writer? Is it like ghost writing?

The number of hours fluctuates a bit week to week – I’d say it’s probably ten hours a week, on average; that’s including writing posts and also the admin side (comments, invoicing, contacting editors).

It’s definitely helped me to get my name known in the blogosphere, though I doubt more traditional, mainstream outlets (like newspapers and magazines) would pay much attention because of that. All the blogs I write for put my name on my posts, and most have an “authors” page with more information about me and the other staff bloggers. Dumb Little Man give me a full bio on every post, and I get good traffic to my business website, AliVentures,  from there. So no, it’s not like ghost writing (though I’ve done a bit of that too).

What made you decide to write a course? What background do you have in training?

One of the things I did enjoy about my technical support/testing job was that I was in charge of company documentation, so I got to write lots of user guides. The subject matter wasn’t exactly thrilling, but I enjoyed breaking down instructions into an easy-to-understand format.

In my second year with the company, I did a number of presentations and also ran a couple of full-day training sessions. I really enjoyed these (after I got over my initial nerves!) and used to prepare sheets of exercises to get people interacting with the software and trying out what they’d learnt. I’ve included exercises and handouts with the Staff Blogging Course, and had a lot of fun putting those together too.

I usually work alone, though my boyfriend helps with any graphic design when I’m doing website work — he’s got a real eye for it whereas I’m definitely a “words” person!

What kind of writer might be successful at staff blogging?

Ideally, you’ll want to have had some experience blogging — it doesn’t need to be in a “ProBlogger” way, but a familiarity with blogging software and writing for the internet in general will be a big plus. I recommend in the first unit of the Staff Blogging Course that would-be staff bloggers set up their own blog, so they have somewhere to build up a few samples of online pieces.

Is the compensation based on pay per click like Examiner.com or AssociatedContent or is it flat rate or hourly?

It varies depending on the blog, but all the blogs I’ve written for pay per post. Dumb Little Man even gives an extra bonus to authors who get the most traffic to a single post in a given month. I’m wary of writing for a share of advertising revenue, as this doesn’t give you much certainty over income, and can lead to very low incomes. A few blogs do pay hourly, but these tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

What kinds of companies or entities use staff bloggers? Is the demand healthy?

I’ve noticed IT companies increasingly advertising for staff bloggers, including PCWorld and similar. I’ve also written for a magazine with a blog, who paid very well, but that was on a one-off rather than regular basis. Most of the blogs who use staff bloggers are large blogs with a readership of 10,000+ and who are run by an editor (often not the owner), though some are much smaller in terms of readership and are using a blog to supplement their main website.

Demand seems very healthy to me; despite the credit crunch, I’ve had new jobs coming in from new start-up blogs, or from blogs who’ve become big enough to hire writers.

How much fun are you having?

Loads! The best thing is when I get an email from a reader who’s found one of my posts particularly helpful or useful — that’s always lovely. I love staff blogging because it lets me get my writing in front of a huge audience, and there’s a definite writerly thrill in being read!

What’s your best advice to writers in today’s challenging marketplace?

Don’t get stuck in a rut. Keep looking for new places you can write for, rather than assuming that current jobs will be around forever. Eighteen months ago, I had no clue that staff blogging even existed. I’m sure there are other writing areas now that I’m not aware of, too! Be proactive, and don’t be afraid to put out the word that you’re looking for jobs — you could be just the writer who someone needs.

What’s your last best project and what’s your next?

Great question! I think the Staff Blogging Course is my current “best” project, because it was a lot of fun to do, and I’ve learnt to be a bit brave about putting the word out — leading to an interview with Daily Blog Tips, a guest post on ProBlogger and a review on Freelance Folder.

My next project … I’m working on revamping the Aliventures site completely and turning it into a blog, not a business site. I’ve got enough staff blogging and other things going on at present that I’ve stopped taking on new website work completely, so the site really does need an overhaul.

Where can writers find you and your work?

You can find the list of blogs I write for, or have written for, with links to each, at AliVentures. The blog I probably enjoy writing for most, where I have a post or two up each week, is Dumb Little Man.

Thanks so much, Maryan, hopefully my answers will help your readers with their own freelance writing or writing businesses.

Note to readers: I’m taking Ali’s staff blogging course and will have a review of it for you very soon.  –mkp

Gotta sell my writing...

The freelance writing business is inundated with new contenders, flooded with wannabes. There are specific reasons why people from different fields turn to freelance writing for their bread. The economy has tanked; no news there. Thousands of people were unceremoniously dumped from long-time careers.

Lawyers, mechanics, artists, actors, copy editors, plumbers, managers, marketers, teachers and you name it, are out looking for gigs. They can’t go get another job – jobs are scarce as long-winded diatribes on Twitter.

The unemployed masses invariably see the light and exclaim, “Eureka! I loved writing in high school (or college, or grad school or kindergarten) and I’ll pop open my lap top, dash off a great story and sell my writing.”

Unemployed Pulitzer winners hunch over morning papers. These wordsmiths slurp inky coffee, and sob for want of a place to write their salient points. There are editors out of work and Kindle is trying to choke the newspaper industry.

Wait! It isn’t impossible to find work as a writer. I hear from established writers, freelance and otherwise, that their work load is creeping up – as is mine. But to play, you must be able to present yourself as a professional. Know how to submit an article.

You have to know grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You need a stable of sources – people in the know willing to tip secrets into your cup of knowledge. You have to know who’s got assignments to divvie among freelancers and what makes those editors happy.

Most of all, you have to know how to meet a freaking deadline. One print pub I work for contracted a batch of rookies to freelance for new spinoffs. Over three months, the editor had to send threatening bulk emails, “If y’all don’t get your work in by deadline next month, it won’t run and you won’t get paid.”

My best advice, if you want to be a freelancer – take classes like the ones from StoryStudio in Chicago . Develop a specialty and a strategy. Build clips by taking grunt jobs. Take the business seriously. Learn that June 1 deadline means June 1, even in parallel universes. Read what you write — before you try to submit it. And know, for heaven’s sake, KNOW the difference between its and it’s!

More?

Renowned author Sara Paretsky talks about the writing life

How writers make money on the web

Sell your writing. Turn a newspaper career into a profitable writing and broadcast career, even in the middle of an economic disaster. Fran Silverman did it. Marketing is her biggest asset, though she’s an accomplished writer and talk radio host, too. Her success reflects deep experience in her niche, extreme organizational skills and a purposeful campaign that’s putting her latest book in front of the right people.

Fran Silverman is author of several books. Early on, she went the route of  self-publishing, and says she learned a lot about the book and writing business that way. Her most recent mega-project is an ambitious reference book called, Talk Radio Wants You, published by McFarland & Co. It’s an interesting tool for writers who understand that marketing is more than half the battle when you have a book to sell, no matter who published your work, what it’s about or what your sales numbers look like right now.

The coolest part of Fran’s plan is that you can do a whole book tour – world-wide even, without leaving your own living room. One of those – I don’t even have to dress up deals. Fran says unequivocally, you can reach an audience with talk radio, and you control the size and scope of that audience.

Fran began her career as newspaper feature writer for local papers. She freelanced, too, writing magazine service pieces on East Coast historical places and events.

“I was a local historian who wanted to be a travel writer,” Fran recalls, “So finally, I pitched a book to a publisher, made a sale, and I began doing travel books.”

Doing her research, she found Hunter Publishing, pitching them an idea for Catskills Alive and  Long Island Alive. Both books got released, and, with the author’s diligent marketing plan, sold well. But travel books get dated quickly – short shelf life. That created an update sale for one and the demise of the other. It wasn’t a terribly prolific revenue stream but Fran was learning, through her own mistakes, that there are right and wrong ways to market your work.

“That’s when I began my newsletters online,” she says. “I had been marketing incorrectly. Too much effort, not enough results.”

Intrigued, Fran would discover that’s a problem most writers encounter. She went after a dozen or so local writers, asking her own set of burning questions about how they were selling their books. Most of the authors returned her emails, with answers. Fran discovered many of them weren’t doing much – didn’t know how. Didn’t have the time. Didn’t feel motivated. Felt overwhelmed.

She designed a newsletter project to market books for herself – and for other authors. For a fee. A small, affordable fee. She marketed that newsletter, coupled with a publicity package, to hundreds of authors, and her Odyssey began. Fran became a publicist and learned more than most people know about using radio to sell yourself. She has shared more than 300 essential marketing tips, gleaned from her efforts and the suggestions of other writers.

She self-published a book, Book Marketing from A-Z, and, around the same time, developed her own blog radio talk show – to promote authors and books .

With a whole lot of ambition and drive, coupled with a touch of intuitive genius, Fran earned clients who paid her fee and received, in return, air time on Fran’s show, the newsletter, consultations and periodic press releases. Now she was a publicist, and still learning fascinating techniques.

“It was tough to get press releases into newspapers or magazines. Press releases got lost or ignored. But I discovered that talk radio show hosts are always in need of guests and topics. With a daily program, it’s challenging to fill that time – so I got my clients on to talk shows,” Fran explained.

Before she knew it, she had a second contact data base – hundreds of talk show hosts who were cordial and amenable to working with her and her clients. Some had well known, established shows. And her next book project took root, beginning to sprout.

Learning to use the Internet to her extreme advantage, Fran nurtured her projects and revenue streams, putting them together to her best advantage. She kept track of everything she learned and every connection made. Then she developed her book, a national directory of talk radio shows and hosts who could, and would interview authors.

Fran says she considered self-publishing again, but decided to send a proposal out. Her current publisher responded with a few pertinent suggestions and she felt encouraged. Then a few more suggestions, and more. Frustrated, but pleased, she finally put her cards on the table, asking the publisher to give her a contract in place of the excellent, but never-ending suggestions. They did. She got a contract and a fairly standard royalty agreement.

No writer is born knowing how to publish and promote a book into a successful way to make a living. But the skills can be learned. Fran’s experience underlines an essential fact – if you don’t take a step out of your comfort zone, you’ll never begin your journey. Her sense of organization, her ability to brainstorm solutions, and her courage to reach out and pull information from other people are key ingredients to Fran Silverman’s success.She’s a skilled writer and has good research technique – but without her desire to get down and make it happen, all she’d have is a good idea.

Baby boomer Fran, a native New Yorker, still lives in that city with her husband, Ronald, an engineer. They have a grown daughter and lots of irons in the fire. Email her: franalive at optonline.net

May I suggest you also read:

1. Freelance writers wanted at three markets
2. Top websites for freelance writers
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