Short and Long-Term Strategies for Boosting Your Writing Income

Wednesday, 17 March 2010, at 3:30 p.m. EST

It’s a tougher writing world out there today, and the writers who thrive in the coming years are those who can successfully adapt to the changing realities. In this one-hour info-packed session, join NAIWE Expert Peter Bowerman, veteran commercial freelancer and self-published author of the award-winning “Well-Fed” titles (www.wellfedwriter.com), as you explore…

* Strategies for standing out in crowded writing marketplace
* How to “un-commoditize” your writing and raise your market value
* How to diversity into the lucrative field of “commercial” freelance writing
* How to turn your expertise into multiple money-making products and services
* Why self-publishing could be your best publishing option
* How self-publishing a book can boost your industry reputation, your short-term profitability and your long-term financial security

And much more… Don’t miss it!

BIO:

Peter Bowerman, veteran “commercial” freelancer and popular business coach, is the self-publishing author of the award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles on lucrative commercial freelancing (www.wellfedwriter.com). He chronicled his self-publishing success (60,000 copies of his books in print and a full-time living for eight-plus years) in the award-winning 2007 release, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living.

Members will receive call-in information for the class via a member mailing. Be sure that you’ve whitelisted *@naiwe.com (an asterisk, followed by @naiwe.com) in your e-mail program so that you receive the message.

If you’re not a member and you’d like to join in time for this teleclass, you may click on this “Join NAIWE” link to do so.

If you would like to register for this single teleclass only, you may do so for $27 by visiting the Teleclass page.

An employment agreement is no longer the instrument of choice to connect the supply and demand in talent, skills or competencies. BOTH supports a bold move in support of efforts to reduce misconceptions and fears around flexible work arrangements.

Saint Petersburg, FL, March 03, 2010 — BOTH, an acronym for Back Of The House (www.bothpro.com), is inviting all self-employed professionals, freelancers, solo practitioners, independent contractors, flex-workers, staffing employees, solopreneurs and contract talent to form a community with a common interest in the recognition, facilitation and support of the long existing reality of Flexible Work. By signing the “Declaration of Independents” on the BOTH website, independent professionals become a member of a community which will be kept informed of all important legal, tax, regulatory, political and societal developments and of efforts to gain support for flexible work and which will serve as a platform for networking and collaboration in the near term future. Membership is free.

Companies are seeking synchronicity between revenues and expenses. Global competition is forcing financial strategies that promote “Asset Poor, Flexible Cost” approaches. These trends are diminishing the ability of companies to offer long-term security, entitlements and benefits to employees. Workforce specialization, on the other hand, fosters mobility. As a consequence, an employment agreement is no longer the instrument of choice to connect the supply and demand in talent, skills or competencies, nor is it an appropriate conduit to “life enablers,” such as health and retirement benefits.

Erik Vonk, Founder and CEO of BOTH indicates, “At least 25% of the workforce has a ‘contingent’ work arrangement instead of an employment agreement. The old sense of job security has long been replaced by a prevailing confidence in income security. Nevertheless, going ‘solo’ has its challenges as alternative work arrangements are surrounded by unclear regulatory and tax frameworks, while access to individually underwritten health and retirement benefits is limited.”

Based on BOTH’s research, at least 50% of the over 15 million people currently unemployed will find their way back into the workforce as independents, not bound by, or dependent on, an employment agreement. Yet, this tsunami of additions to the ‘contingent’ workforce, which already includes 1 in 4 working Americans, is met with stern warnings of crack downs from the Federal Government and the IRS, and promises of increased scrutiny and audits of compliance with vague, outdated and often contradicting regulations.

At the same time, in spite of unprecedented Government spending on Stimulus Plans, no major effort has been designed to remove barriers to flexible work arrangements, which offer the quickest and most efficient way to (re)connect the supply and demand in skills. Even health care reform of epic proportions does not – as far as is publicly known – disconnect health insurance from the place of work, promote interstate insurance commerce or support consuer driven, individually underwritten plans. In fact, all the political rhetoric behind economic stimulus and health care reform seems to point in the opposite direction, i.e. toward increased and renewed dependency on the place of work for all “life enablers.”

BOTH supports the notion that it is time to break with Industrial Revolution era conventions that assume lifetime employment and a sacrifice of self-determination in exchange for job security, benefits, status and entitlements.

“Self-employment, contracting for work individually or running a solo practice can be easily accommodated by simplification of the tax code and deregulation of the insurance industry. To get there, the notion that “self employment equals tax evasion” needs to be replaced by the recognition that self-employment and entrepreneurialism equal revenues, also for ‘Uncle’ IRS,” Erik Vonk said. He continued, “BOTH was founded to create a viable alternative to outdated employment conventions and to support working on a project basis, or as an independent vendor, as a reality that should be recognized, supported, enabled, regulated and taxed as a viable alternative to a J.O.B.”

About BOTH

BOTH facilitates working independently by transforming work arrangements into vendor relationships whereby, at the same time, all support functions, benefits and entitlements – traditionally part of a corporate infrastructure – are substituted by a personally owned, “portable” back office, fortified by tailored, permanent health and retirement plans and managed by a Personal Advisor.

Carol Topp, CPA

In honor of Words Matter Week, NAIWE’s resident Tax Information Expert, Carol Topp, CPA, will be chatting with us on The Freelance Life. We’ll talk a bit about why words matter in financial areas, and Carol will talk about what writers and editors need to know about the IRS, tax returns, and accounting. Remember, access to Carol for tax information question is one the NAIWE benefits, and this is a great time to get acquainted with her and even ask a few questions if you would like. I hope you’ll join us!

Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Time: 3:30 pm EST

Listen online: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/38165 (You can listen live or listen later.)

Listen on the phone (and ask questions, if you like): Phone Number: (724) 444-7444 Call ID: 38165

Understanding the IRS

Does the IRS consider my writing a hobby or a profession?
Net Income. Why don’t they just call  it profit?
EIN, SSN, PIN: What’s with all the acronyms?

Understanding Your Tax Return

Deduction or Credit? What’s the difference?
Tax loopholes. Anything special for writers?

Understanding Your Accountant

LLC, S Corp, C Corp: What’s the difference? What’s best for me?
How to interview a CPA

NAIWE members will be able to register at the TVR website, and they’ll receive a one-year subscription (12 issues) to the journal, plus access to the 120+ issues in the archives. This online resource contains an entertaining and informative mix of articles, essays, columns and tidbits from respected writers, all related to the art and mechanics of words. The regular one-year subscription price is $40, so you can see that this is a truly valuable benefit.

Extra: New members who join NAIWE during Words Matter Week will receive a special bonus: a copy of Silence, Language, & Society: A guide to style and meaning, grace and compassion by Robert Hartwell Fiske and a copy of NAIWE’s “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” booklet! It’s the perfect time to join the “professional association with career-building difference.”

Visit the Words Matter Week site to listen to an interview with Robert Hartwell Fiske, the editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review. Enjoy!

The Vocabula Review, February 2010

“It’s My Centennial!” said Tom Swiftly by Richard Lederer

Lost Qualifiers by David Galef

“May I Quote You?” On Compiling a Book of Quotations by Clark Elder Morrow

Singin’ the “We” Blues by Heidi Huse

Specialty Dictionary
Glossary of Detective-Story Slang by William Denton

The Blind Review: A Literary Breakthrough by Mark Halpern

Life Tales
Bumbling into Bliss: My Life as a Teacher by Jeff Minick

Vocabula Revisited
The Last Words by Christopher Orlet

Two Poems
On Winter Afternoons by Kathleen Goldbach

Shibboleths
Welcome to Country Music by John Kilgore

Bethumped with Words
Schiaparelli: A Renowned Coutourière’s Italian Surname Traced to Its Origins by Bill Casselman

Harrison’s Corner
Nation Out to Lunch by Carey Harrison

The Common Reader
Letters to Rudi by Kevin Mims

Letter of the Law
Boilerplate Special by Adam Freedman

Language Module 29: The Essence of S

Disagreeable English

On Dimwitticisms

Clues to Concise Writing

On the Bookshelf

Gotcha Grammar (TM)

Vocabula Poll

Class Date and Time: Wednesday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. EST at The Freelance Life. You may listen online or on the phone.

Description: In Whack Wordiness, editor Barbara McNichol will share techniques that editors use to perfect your writing, brought to life with lots of examples. You’ll receive an optional assignment for practice – and we’ll make it lots of fun.

In this class you will:

• gain fresh insight into how to tighten your writing
• learn warning signals for excess wordiness
• gain greater confidence in your ability to revise your own work

Instructor: Barbara McNichol

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

3:30 pm Eastern

Paulette Ensign, Tips Booklet Expert

After writing that 200-page book, having an entire information-product line that comes from just a few thousand words sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? This is one of those times it really is true. This session shows you how to make it happen.

• Choose a great topic for you
• Why start with tips booklet
• Learn a simple writing formula, word count, organization
• The power of three that easily becomes six, one at a time
• Why do different formats
• Inventory or not
• Examples all around you
• Sell parts of the whole – to whom and for how much

Paulette Ensign is the founder, Chief Visionary, and Booklet Queen at Tips Products International, www.tipsbooklets.com. Paulette’s sense of humor and can-do attitude are the backdrop for teaching you to transform your knowledge into tips booklets and other information products for marketing, motivating, and making money. Paulette has personally sold well over a million copies (so far!) of her one tips booklet, “110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life,” in four languages and various formats without ever spending a penny on advertising.  You will leave this series with ideas to breathe new life into your business.

Members will receive call-in information for the class via a member mailing. Be sure that you’ve whitelisted *@naiwe.com (an asterisk, followed by @naiwe.com) in your e-mail program so that you receive the message.

If you’re not a member and you’d like to join in time for this teleclass, you may click on this “Join NAIWE” link to do so. If you would like to register for the teleclass only, you may do so for $27 by visiting the Teleclass page.

Thin Places: A Memoir by Mary DeMuth

One of the best parts of being involved with NAIWE is reading member blogs. We especially enjoy blogs with funny, meaty posts that invite comments. That lets us know we’ve got a savvy member who understands the power of connection with readers.

This month’s featured blog is a perfect example of a great writer blog. Author Mary DeMuth writes posts that are not only helpful for other writers, but also enjoyable for her readers and fans who’d like an inside glimpse of the writing life. Visit http://marydemuth.naiwe.com/, and enjoy!

*Mary’s latest book, Thin Places: A Memoir, is on blog tour this week, and there’s an opportunity to win a Kindle by posting “In exactly 259 words – the retail value of a Kindle reader – tell us about a time you experienced a “thin place” in your life.” Visit Blog Tour Spot to read more about it.

If you already have a website or domain name, what can you use your NAIWE site for?

Drive traffic to your primary website: Whenever you post on your primary site, copy the first few lines to your NAIWE blog, and finish with a “Read more…” tag, linked to the post on your primary blog. This will be a quality incoming link that will help your site show up higher in search engine results.

If you already have a domain name you’ve been planning to use for a primary website: Forward it to your NAIWE site, and use the NAIWE site as your primary spot for posting. This will eliminate reasons for procrastination, and get your web presence started in the quickest and easiest way possible.

Remember that building quality incoming links to whichever site you choose to use for your primary site is an important part of search engine optimization. Each link provides another way for readers to find you, and the more links you have coming in, the higher your ranking will be in Google and other search engines.

In addition to linking to your NAIWE site from any other sites you own, we recommend that you link to NAIWE and your member site from social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. It’s also helpful to place a link to your member site in your e-mail signature (you do use one, don’t you?). An e-mail signature is a quick, easy and unintrusive way to share your website, book titles, upcoming classes, an invitation to subscribe to your newsletter, or anything else you can fit into a few discreet lines.

Your NAIWE member website is one of the most valuable benefits we offer, and we encourage you to make the most of it. Post on it, then tweet your post title and a link so that others can read what you’ve shared. It’s an ideal way to connect with readers or potential clients, because people who are looking for writers or editors come to NAIWE to search the database. Your NAIWE-linked site is a lot easier to find than an isolated single site with few connections. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Screenshots

1- How to reach the log-in page:

*Go to your member site and click on "Log in" in the right sidebar.

2- How to log in to post on your member site:

*Use your NAIWE username and password to log in.

3- The back-end or “dashboard” for your member site:

*Your navigation links are in the left sidebar. Click on "Posts" to create a new post or edit an existing post. Add or edit pages through the "Pages" link; comments and links through their respective links. It's pretty easy!

The main thing to remember is to never ever copy and paste something directly from Microsoft Word into any post or page. Convert it first to plain text, then paste it and format it using the tools at the top of the Post or Pages box. Word leaves a bunch of gunky coding that results in odd formatting and symbols that show up in all the wrong places.

Enjoy working with your site!

Tina Games, Journaling Expert

NAIWE Member Teleclass

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. EST

We’re excited to host Tina Games, the NAIWE expert on the art of journaling. She has focused her writing and coaching career on working with women through the power of focused journaling, and she’ll be sharing some very specific techniques writers can use to power up creativity and defuse stress.

In this one-hour teleclass, Tina will discuss:

• - How journaling is helpful to a writer
• - Setting the stage for journal writing
• - What types of journals are best for writers?
• - What are some journaling techniques for capturing the best ideas?
• - How can journaling help with writers block?
• - How to use journal writing to map out a story, article or book

Members will receive call-in information for the class via a member mailing. Be sure that you’ve whitelisted *@naiwe.com (an asterisk, followed by @naiwe.com) in your e-mail program so that you receive the message.

If you’re not a member and you’d like to join in time for Tina’s teleclass, you may click on this “Join NAIWE” link to do so. If you would like to register for the teleclass only, you may do so for $27 by visiting the Teleclass page.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket!

A no-whiners-allowed guest article by freelance writer, Carol Tice.