Print Article for : Think Outside The Book

Your Online Guide » Hobbies and Interests » Guide to Grammar and Writing

[T881]Think Outside The Book

by Scott Jason, Sco

My first five years as a writer dragged on like ten. I felt like such a failure. I had enough rejection letters from publishers to paper my walls and carpet the floor. I just couldn't understand it. I attended seminars, subscribed to the "right" newsletters and even paid almost two thousand dollars for a copywriting course from one of the nation's "leading copywriting programs." So what was I doing wrong?

As it happens, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just trying to start out too big. I was trying to begin the journey from the destination and missing the whole point... Writing IS a journey.

Now, five years wiser I'd like to share some tips that gave me a taste of success and paid the bills before my first book deal.

1.) First keep in mind that writing is subjective. Everything from your style to the words on the page is open to interpretation. Be yourself. When your writing is an extension of your personality you reach the reader at a whole new level. There is no guesswork. It just works.

2.) Increase your name recognition. A writer's name is their brand so get busy branding. Write articles about your area of expertise and submit them to your favorite newsletters for possible publication. Enter writing contests. Join online writer's forums and become more active in the community. Just get your name out there.

3.) Build your credibility. This is an important step if you ever want to have a book published and it does not have to be difficult. Following are some instant credibility builders. See if one or more is applicable to your situation:

3.a.) Get certified. A well recognized certification is huge in any field. Do some research and see if there is a certification available related to your field or writing topic. If nothing seems obvious, look for parallel interests that your readers might relate to. For example if you write about fitness, becoming a certified personal trainer is a good option. More generally, CPR certification is very important for hundreds of topics from home-based activities to vacationing abroad. If nothing comes to mind, read up on the qualifications of your favorite authors and see what they have.

3.b.) Teach a class. If the title "professor" is important, go down to the local community college and see if you can become an adjunct instructor for night school/adult education in your field of choice. The requirements are usually much different from those of K through 12 schools so you likely will not need a teaching certificate or advanced degree as long as you have the experience they need.

3.c.) Start a blog. You can earn a lot of of respect as an expert in any field by creating an online resource that people use. Consider starting a blog covering your area of interest.

4.) Become a professional writer. This has less to do with talent than a technicality. You see, once you earn money doing something, you are considered a professional. And when it comes to writing the money can be quite substantial depending on what you write. Here are three avenues I took, listed from least profitable to most:

4.a.) Freelance Writer: Native English speakers and writers earn decent fees on freelance sites like http://www.RentACoder.com and http://www.Guru.com. This is where I got my start. It's good for building experience and learning to deal with paying clients but not great for earning the big bucks. And adding your projects to your portfolio is sometimes questionable since most assignments have you contracted as a ghostwriter.

4.b.) Copywriter: This takes a lot of practice but is well worth the effort. You can find hundreds of local and online courses but I would stat with reading a book first. One that taught me a good deal is "Hypnotic Writing" by Joe Vitale. Just remember if you decide on copywriting as a career you might want to lean toward email or Web copy since that has become the new standard. And again, Rent A Coder and Guru are great places to find copywriting assignments.

Note: Up until six months ago, the majority of my income came from SEO copywriting (search engine optimization.) I then expanded into a more profitable niche business that decreased my work time while increasing profits. Talk about a lucky break!

4.c.) Niche Business: Writing plays a major role in just about everything and good writers are always in demand. Unfortunately most writers do not realize this until they have an "aha!" moment years into their career. I did not have a clue until I fell into this one by accident when I needed to get more visitors to my Website. In SEO today, it's all about link building and these guys make a fortune. I could not afford to hire someone so decided to try a system called "Link A Minute" (http://www.LinkAMinute.com) written specifically for writers. It was a small gamble at $40 but paid off big. After building some nice links to my own site I decided to do it for others and my business is booming. As long as people use Google I will be in business.

4.d.) Affiliate Marketing: This is not one of the big three mentioned above because it is still new to me. When I got that link building program it included a bonus training guide called "Monetizing Your Links." I didn't even read it at first but decided to give it a try a few weeks ago. And I can tell you that affiliate marketing looks to be an area custom made for writers. I use no-cost methods ideal for any writer and earn as much for two hours work as I did for a whole day's work as a professional copywriter. Again, my experience here is limited but I can at least assure you it is worth keeping an eye on.

Good luck!

Commercial financing borrowers are likely to feel that a traditional bank is their best source for business financing. However, because most traditional banks focus on a small number of established industries, non-traditional (non-bank) and non-local commercial lenders should be considered for most commercial financing situations. Therefore the recommended commercial financing strategy (as discussed in this article) is to “Think Outside the Bank”.

There are several commercial financing situations in which commercial borrowers will frequently find that non-traditional commercial lenders are better positioned to provide terms that are more advantageous to the commercial borrower: (1) Business cash advance and credit card factoring programs; (2) commercial mortgage loans; and (3) credit card processing programs. In some cases a traditional bank will offer to provide commercial financing but will attach excessively stringent terms and covenants. In other cases a traditional bank will decline the commercial financing outright, perhaps because they do not even provide business financing to the commercial borrower's particular industry. In either case, the commercial borrower is likely to benefit by “Thinking Outside the Bank”.

As I noted in an earlier commercial financing article, in many non-competitive business financing situations it is not unusual for a local traditional bank to impose harsher commercial financing terms than would typically be seen in a more competitive business financing market. Such traditional banks routinely take advantage of a relative lack of other commercial lenders in their local market. An appropriate response by commercial borrowers is to seek out non-bank commercial financing options. It is neither necessary nor wise for commercial borrowers to depend only upon local traditional banks for commercial financing solutions. For most commercial financing situations, a non-local and non-bank commercial lender is likely to provide improved business financing terms because they are accustomed to competing aggressively with other commercial lenders.

COMMERCIAL FINANCING EXAMPLE ONE - THINK OUTSIDE THE BANK
Business Cash Advance and Credit Card Receivables Programs

Most businesses that accept credit cards in their business will qualify for a business cash advance with their credit card receivables. Traditional banks will typically be very poor candidates to consider if a business needs assistance with credit card factoring and business cash advances. Because even thriving businesses frequently need more cash than they can borrow from a bank, it can be of critical importance for a business to “Think Outside the Bank” and locate non-traditional lenders to assist with this commercial financing need.

COMMERCIAL FINANCING EXAMPLE TWO - THINK OUTSIDE THE BANK
Commercial Mortgage Loans

Two of the most common commercial financing difficulties experienced by commercial borrowers can be avoided if they “Think Outside the Bank”. The first commercial financing situation is the prevailing practice of traditional banks to avoid most special purpose properties (such as funeral homes and churches). The second commercial financing situation is the typical practice of most commercial banks to attach balloon and/or recall provisions to their commercial loans (which means that the bank can require early repayment of the commercial loan under various conditions). Both of these undesirable commercial financing situations can usually and easily be avoided by considering a non-traditional and non-bank lender.

COMMERCIAL FINANCING EXAMPLE THREE - THINK OUTSIDE THE BANK
Credit Card Processing Programs

The choice of an appropriate credit card processing service can be instrumental in improving the profitability of businesses with a high volume of credit card activity. The analysis of credit card processing providers can be effectively combined with the credit card factoring and credit card receivables process described above. In assessing a business cash advance program, it is frequently possible to simultaneously arrange for a substantial improvement in the merchant's credit card processing program. Because traditional banks are usually not competitive in providing assistance with credit card factoring, it is equally likely that a non-traditional lender will be the primary source of effective and competitive help with credit card processing.

A closing commercial financing thought: I have written an earlier commercial financing article about commercial lenders to avoid.It should be noted that there are in fact both traditional and non-traditional (non-bank) lenders which should be avoided. So when commercial borrowers “Think Outside the Bank”, it is still of critical importance that they are prepared to avoid a wide variety of problematic non-traditional commercial lenders in their search for viable commercial financing, especially when it involves business cash advance (credit card receivables and credit card factoring) programs, credit card processing services and commercial real estate financing.

Article Source : Writing A Fantasy Novel

About Author

Both Scott Jason & Stephen Bush are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Scott Jason has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Education Toys and SEO Search Engine Optimization. Scott Jason, professional , founded BestSEOCopywriting.com in 2005. Since that time he has written copy for more than one hundred sites and and expan. Scott Jason's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.

Stephen Bush has sinced written about articles on various topics from Business Loans, Real Estate and Finances. Stephen Bush is the CEO of and helps business owners. Stephen Bush's top article generates over 1000000 views. to your Favourites.