business writing skills free

business writing skills free
Any great ideas for telephone solicitation? I'm trying to break into the business writing free-lance.?

I am very educated, but with little experience in business writing. I am confident in my abilities and I'm ready to try Customers phoning. Any script projects there? So what can I say to circumvent the "What work have you done?" Issue (I DO have some experience but less than five examples of work). Thank you!

I assume you mean either writing advertising (which may be profit) or by writing the magazine (which is generally not profitable at all, unless you get really lucky). I think before I start working the phones, the first thing you really need to do is have a portfolio as well as some writing samples. Press releases, newspaper advertisements, articles, etc. All that shows that you can push words together in ways that are rewarding for the reader. Unless you work for free, it will be very difficult to convince someone to take you with only 2-3 pieces in your book. A good start is to your local bookstore. Find a book or two about writing and magazine writing. The two disciplines are to themselves, and you should be aware of their requirements. Then write some pieces for presentation on the specifications. Even if nobody buys this piece, at least it reflects the will. More people will give you a shot that way. Finally, do not call the cold. Magazines and publishers are besieged by writers. What you need to do is network. Know where your target will be and talk to them personally. Do not just talk about you either. Exercise curiosity about what the market looking for. Ask lots of questions about what you can expect. You'll be surprised how many will give you a shot that way. This is Only then can you actually make the call and say: 'Remember me? We met at the society meeting last week. You asked me to give you a call, I'm just following …." Then once you get a assgnment, bust your ass on it. My first magazine writing assignment was $ 160. I took ten hours to it. But it was more important to write a good song to think in terms of dollars per hour. If you deliver delicious 2-3 songs for someone, you'll be surprised how quickly they'll throw more assignments to you. But whatever you do … Make sure you provide the delay. Good luck. Feel free to send me an e-mail with your questions.

The Challenge 2010: Module 2/Day 3 – Free Writing