Living the Remote Worker Lifestyle – First Stop Malta

September 23, 2009 | 8 Comments

Malta - My new home

Back in my cubicle days I used to dream of escape and jetting off to foreign shores. I’d already spent just over a year traveling around Australia and SE Asia. But that just whetted my appetite for seeing more of what’s out there.

A few years have passed since then, and whilst I’ve left my cubicle I still have yet to dust off my backpack and do more globe trotting.

Well, that could be about to change.

In a few week’s time I’ll be flying off to live in Malta for a few months, initially on a trial basis to see whether living abroad harms my ability to secure new clients.

But should I be able to carry on attracting enough work, I’m hoping Malta is the first of a few pins I can stick in the map.

One of the big attractions of freelancing had been the dream of being able to work from far flung places and fit work around my lifestyle.

If everything goes to plan, it’s one dream that could become a reality.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under About, Blog 

Why You Should Redefine Your Services to Attract More Clients (and Better Pay)

September 17, 2009 | 1 Comment

[This week’s post is a familiar theme for regular Crucible readers. But as I seem to have attracted a few new subscribers in the last couple of weeks I thought I’d show them what The Copywriter’s Crucible is all about]

With summer behind us it’s time to pack away the sun lounger and get down to business. Everyone is back at work, which means now is a prime time to start trumpeting about your services.

But, as we all know in the writing community, it can be tough to attract clients when the web is saturated with so many writers fighting over the same jobs.

“So how can I stand out from the crowd?” I hear you ask. Well, you can start by considering what additional services you can offer and how you can promote them offline.

After all, businesses are now in need of more content than ever. These days, they need a constant flow of blog posts, emails, newsletters and sales pages to feed their marketing machine.

Clients want internet marketing expertise, as well as words

Instead of offering to write blog posts and press releases consider defining your services as ‘content marketing’ and ‘online PR’ expertise.

When approaching clients, offer to remove the complexity of internet marketing and to show them what they need to be doing to be found on the web.

Rather than restrict your job search to the web, try:

  • Promoting yourself with a press release announcing your new copywriting/internet marketing services and article marketing packages
  • Send a letter or post card to clients you’d like to work with highlighting the benefits of Wordpress and your blogging/content marketing service
  • Contact local internet marketing firms to offer SEO copywriting expertise (I’ve head that time spent on site is now part of Google’s algorithm, which means content MUST be useful and well written, rather than just keyword packed)
  • If you’re feeling brave, pick up the phone and contact local PR agencies because many are crying out for help with SEO, social media marketing and online PR

These are all skills you can easily teach yourself. And the time you invest in improving your services will make you a more valuable asset to clients, and your income will increase as a result.

Latest posts from bda (another blog I contribute to)

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Copywriting, Marketing 

The Copywriter’s Crucible Scoops an Award

September 3, 2009 | 2 Comments

Writing a blog can sometimes be an isolating experience. You hammer out a post each week (well, most weeks anyway) before publishing it and hoping someone somewhere will find it useful.

Unlike paid tasks, you don’t get the luxury of an email or phone call letting you know whether you’re on the right track. Instead, comments and backlinks are the lifeblood that feeds your desire to keep pumping out posts.

So it was uplifting to be listed in Odesk’s Top 40 Writing Blogs, alongside such illustrious names as The Copywriter Underground, Copyblogger and Bob Bly (and alongside another 36 excellent writing blogs too).

Now the heat is on to carry on delivering whatever it is that’s earned me such an accolade. With so many writing blogs out there, I don’t take such recognition lightly.

If you’ve arrived here from Odesk for the first time, welcome to The Copywriter’s Crucible.

What you’ll find here are tips on improving your income, building your copywriting skills and how you can make yourself more valuable to clients.

I hope you’ll consider subscribing to my humble blog because it is, after all, you, my readers, that keeps this blog alive.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, blogging