One-on-One Intensive: How to be a Successful CopyWriter

When I started my business, I had nothing but a handful of books, blogs and websites to guide me. Eventually, I made it – my business grew, I love what I do and I’m able to support my family – but it took me longer than it should have. It would have been so much easier if I’d had what I really wanted: a kind person to literally propel me through the process, hold me accountable and steer me in the right direction.

This One-on-One Intensive will help you build your solid, thriving writing business. As the mentor that I was looking for once upon a time, I will be asking you questions and supporting you in finding your answers & taking purposeful action towards your goal. And, I’ll be giving you personalized feedback. Essentially, I will walk you through the process of making your business active and successful via email with weekly homework assignments and phone consultations -  at your own pace and with my close attention.

Can I refuse to write this glowing testimonial, on the grounds that I just don’t want to share Julie? Actually, that would go against everything she’s taught me about the power of social media, and paying it forward. So here goes:

Even more than her stunning depth of knowledge (shared oh-so-willingly), Julie’s contagious enthusiam for cultivating YOU is what sets her apart as a mentor and coach. Having her in my corner as I transitioned from SAHM to freelance writer has been essential: to my professional development, to my confidence and to my spirit. She is a rare find. – Lea

Here’s how it works:

1. You will receive weekly intensives from me via email for 10 weeks.
2. Each week will feature a ‘lecture’ and homework that includes specific questions and exercises to help you define and create your business and the tools you need to make it happen.
3. After your homework is completed and returned to me, I will review it and reply, providing comments, insights and suggestions for moving forward – just for you.
4. You can go at your own pace – if you need an extra week, just take it, your next lesson is sent when you send me your previous week’s homework.
5. This is not a group activity, but one between you and me – so you can start whenever you’re ready - you don’t have to wait for class times or class schedules.
6. Because sometimes you just need to talk things through, I’ve included 60 one-on-one phone minutes for us (that’s one hour) – you can split these up, use them in one fell swoop or save them for months down the road. Then, for 6 months after you sign-up, you have the option to hire me for extended consulting for a 15% ‘student’ discount, or  $85/hour. My regular consulting fee for Writers-to-be is $100/hour. (Of course you could opt to work with me entirely on the phone, one-on-one as well, just ask!)
7. This 10 week One-on-One Intensive costs $750 for the paid-in-full option, and $800 for the pay-by-installment-plan option ($80/week).

The best thing about working with Julie? The dependably exhilerating headiness that comes from running your fingers through new ideas with an incredibly agile, upbeat mind!  I recommend her without qualification! - Sarah

The topics:

• What’s your bread and butter? How will you make a GOOD living as a writer?
• How much should you charge for your services? What are you worth?
• What lights you up? How can you harness that passion to strengthen your work? Boost your career?
• Why do you want to write?
• What do you want to write?
• Can you be your own boss?
• What resources do you have? What do you need?
• What’s your niche? Who are you?
• How will your niche build your business?
• Who is in your niche and how can that help you?
• What is your voice? How does it sound?
• Who do you want to write for? How do you find them and secure them as clients?
• Creating your portfolio & Portfolio assignments
• How will you market and promote yourself?
• Using Social media and blogs as marketing tools
• The importance of Networking and how to do it.
• What does the business side of this look like?

I can’t wait to work with you. Please contact me if you have any questions. If you would like to get started right away, simply click below.

Talk soon,

Julie

Filed under Blogging, Critical Copywriting, How To, Marketing, Myth or Reality, Networking, News, Politics, Social Media, The Business | Tags: consulting, copywriting, eclass, freelance writer, help writing, how to be a freelance copywriter, how to become a freelance copywriter, how to write, Julie Roads, private consulting, starting a business, Writing Roads | Comments (2)

Inspiration all around the table

I get my writing and life inspiration from such a randomly wide variety of places…something that’s pretty darn obvious if you read my blog on a regular basis.

A recent and ongoing dose of inspiration for me has been Carol McManus. She’s the Queen of Reinvention…having gone through so many life transitions including marriage, 5 kids, divorce, bankruptcy, owning very successful childcare centers, opening a very successful restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, Espresso Love…and now writing a book.

Total transparency here, I’m working with Carol as a consultant, creating an online presence and her blog to help her spread the word about her book, Table Talk Cookbook: Food, Family, Love – which is a beautiful (seriously) cookbook with a mission: to get families back to the table, and to get them there with real food. But, I wanted to write this post because: 1) I love the book, we cook from it all the time, 2) My work with her is a case study example of the topics I discuss on this blog, and 3) I’m a sucker for Teresa Morrow’s blog book tours – of which this post is part.

In our process of creating Carol’s blog and Twitter presence (among other things), my admiration for her has gone way beyond the facts of her reinvention – and she’s been handed some hard, sour, lemons – she’ll be the first to tell you. What really stirs me up? Her attitude, her ability to try new things and her passion for helping others, for sharing.

Attitude

They tell you it’s everything and it is. I’m not trying to say that Carol doesn’t get in bad moods…one of her posts documents a yearlong, bedridden depression. But, even when things get hard and I’m asking her to do something out of her element, she says things like, “I can do this, right? It’s just going to take me some time.” And then, a day or a week or months later, she laughs, “Remember when I didn’t know how to cut and paste on the computer? Now I’m blogging!” She gets a kick out of it. She amazes and delights herself. When randomly fantastic things happen to her, she asks me, “I’m lucky, aren’t I?” I always say yes…but know that her attitude (and hard work) is contagious and plays a big role.

New things

Carol is not old – I’m quite sure that she has more energy than me. But, she is a grandma and of the generation that cringes at computers. That’s what she did the first time we met. But she believed in the process and so she jumped in – well, it was more like she did a cannonball. Now she’s addicted to blogging and Twitter – she tells everyone about them. And it’s paying off. She was recently featured in the Boston Globe, on NPR and CBN (where she might become a regular, so add TV personality to the list).

Helping others & sharing

You’ve heard me say a jillion times how important it is that you be yourself when you blog and engage in social media. Carol understood right away that to reach her goal of getting people back to the dining table, she had to reveal her own story – the struggles and the highlights. She wanted to connect with people so that they could have someone real to relate to, to talk to, to laugh with. (Yes, Deb, I know those are dangling prepositions.)

She told me that the other night, as she was working, she had this urge to tweet, “Never, ever give up.” Instantly, someone tweeted back, ‘Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that right now.” When she told me the story, she said, “I don’t even know why I wrote that, I just felt this urge – in my gut…and look what happened, I actually helped someone…isn’t that amazing?”

Yes, Carol…and so are you. Keep it up!

I strongly recommend that you buy Carol’s cookbook – and no, she is not paying me to say that! We honestly love it…and it’s a stunning slice of the Vineyard.

If you want to read some other posts that folks are dishing up about Carol and the Table Talk Cook book, check out this one from Tuesday, Jan. 13 and this one due to post Thursday, Jan. 15.

Filed under Blogging, How To, Networking, Social Media | Tags: Blogging, carol mcmanus, consulting, espresso love, family, food, Julie Roads, martha's vineyard, recipes, social media, table talk cookbook, Twitter, Writing Roads | Comments (4)