Writing Career Coach is moving!!!

Greetings,

For almost exactly two years this has been the home of the Writing Career Coach blog. During that time this has transformed from an idea born out of passion for writing to a place where thousands come by each year to learn craft, grow their platform and develop their writing business.

Well, I'm pleased to announce that we are now taking the next step. We are integrating the blog with my newly updated WritingCareerCoach.com website. This new website offers free articles for you to download, the blog and will soon have even more features to help you with writing. I hope it will become the central location for you to go when you need a reputable source of information for any aspect of your writing.

For those of you who don't know the full story of the birth of this business, let me give you a quick history. I began freelancing full time in 2003 and quickly broke in to the national market. By late 2005 I was writing regularly for a local paper and was working on my second full book manuscript. [I had scored in the top 2o of Operation First Novel in 2004].

Then my husband, who was 29, was diagnosed with cancer. We had 4 small children ages 2-7, including a special needs daughter. During his battle my husband read books on business, marketing and finance. I read them along side of him and we'd spend hours discussing them together. The summer of 2006, Chris was declared cancer free, but over the next 2 years we'd face joblessness and a drop of our income to 1/2 then 1/3 of what he'd previously earned. So, all of you facing financial trials. I've been there. I know the pain. The threat of foreclosure loomed heavy and we struggled to hold on. In was in the midst of this lack that we took $160 and put together a two page website and I bought the domain "WritingCareerCoach.com". I wanted to teach writers all the business/marketing information that I'd learned during Chris' cancer treatment.

Tiffany Stockton of Eagle designs helped me build the website and a week later I was up. That was followed 4 months later by the Writing Career Coach blog. The rest, they say, is history. We are now moving to the future. We are taking Writing Career Coach to the place I always envisioned it as: A place of resources, information, articles and other things that will help every writer who may have more passion than money. I hope each of you will take advantage of the information here. I spend more than 20 hrs a week reading, learning and researching so I can bring you the blogs, articles, products and services that I provide.

Over the next couple of weeks I will continue to post my blogs both here and at WritingCareerCoach.com, but by late October my website will be the only source for updated information from the Writing Career Coach to advance your writing career. I would like to thank Grant Webster at Launch Thought for helping me develop and design this new website. Both webmasters are incredible people who have truly been a blessing to me.

To all of you who have taken the time to subscribe to this blog, I hope you will follow me over to the new site. There I will be able to add new free articles each quarter, offer new products and services and offer a single, central place for all information. And if you link to my blog, please update to reflect my central www.WritingCareerCoach.com website. Thanks!

For those of you who don't follow, I want to thank you for more than two years of support. From the humble beginnings we have become an incredible business. I have valued each and every one of you.

Later today my latest blog will appear at our new home: www.WritingCareerCoach.com I hope I'll see you there.

Making money when the magazines aren't buying

So, I imagine that one of the goals for you guys would be earning some money. What are you going to do in Feb. to make that happen? With fewer and fewer magazines buying articles these days it can be really tough to figure out where to start.

One thing I've done is offer additional services. Of course, you need to have some knowledge about the service you're offering. I don't offer medical transcription because I don't know medical jargon. I do offer Newsletters, however.

What made me decide to write and design newsletters for others?

As I was researching on marketing I came to the conclusion that Newsletters are a great way for businesses and non-profits to keep in touch with their readership. E-newsletters are less expensive than traditional newsletters and offer the option of linking directly to a specific blog posting or website. They offer tight copy with click through options. This is what I specialize in. I'm an author. I know how to write in a way that engages readers. That is what I'm doing. I'm taking the skills I've learned in sales and marketing the Writing Career Coach and my own writing to create another stream of income.

What are skills you've developed that you could market to others?

What are some things you've learned to do that you can use to create another stream of income? What need can you meet? We're in a down economy so what skills do you have that can help advance others? Can you earn an income doing this?

What foundations can you lay now for the future?

History shows that some of the greatest fortunes were from people who sowed in a time of lack. What skills can you acquire now? What businesses can you plan? How can you set yourself up for a future with greater success than you now have. What you're doing now is setting the course for future success or failure. What you do today determines your long term results. These are facts, not cliches.

Take this slow down to reassess whether your spending is in line with your goals. Is the way you spend your time going to give you the tools you need? Have you changed what you've been doing? That is the only way you'll change what you get [unless you've already made positive change and you're simply building momentum. In that case, keep going.]

So spend some time finding out what the needs are you can meet. Maybe it is doing some website design? Maybe writing business letters for a few local businesses for $20 each. Or maybe, like me, you've discovered a way to offer a service with high quality but a lower price than what others are currently doing. Larger firms can be locked in to higher prices because of high overhead. You can be nimble. You can adapt.

So find the positive in every change of circumstance. Find the hidden money. Consider writing content for brochures or descriptions of products. All of these can build you financially and create a sphere of influence for the future.

If you'd like to know more about my low cost newsletters email me through my contact page. You'll find that keeping in touch with your clients is less expensive than you thought.


Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

New Feature for all of you

Hello

I told you that we have a number of exciting new features coming from the Writing Career Coach this year. The first is something I hope will be a real time saver for all of you.

As I do more public speaking and webinars I am asked my opinions on resources that will help individuals grow their business. I have a suggested reading list full of foundational books that I urge every person to read [if you haven't seen that list go here].

There are a large number of books, however, that are being released right now that could be great as well. Everyone is looking for ways to save money right now so you want to know if any of these books are worth your time OR money.

I'm going to begin to read and review books and post these reviews monthly [or so]. For the most part I will stick to non-fiction. Here are some answers to some FAQ:

1. Is this blog going to turn in to just another book review site?

No. I know there are a large number of sites that do reviews on countless books. The focus of this blog will be writing, business and research. You saw an example of this when I reviewed the Kingdom of the Occult. Thanks to that review a number of people who are writing books from CBA can find out about a topic they may not feel comfortable researching in other places. Furthermore, people writing for the ABA can see how a christian would describe these groups. This helps with character development so we don't have a preacher screaming hell and damnation on people in someone's novel. The focus will continue to be helping you with plot, marketing, platform development and building your writing business.

2. But don't reviewers always say something nice?

People who know me know that I love to be encouraging. That having been said, it undermines my credibility if everything I review is "the best book I ever read". I will write a review summary where I will outline Likes/Dislikes/Benefits so that you can quickly scan the book to see if it is something you'd like to read. This will not be a 600 word plot summary. It will highlight specific features.

So, no, this won't be a fan letter-it will be an assessment of what I feel this book can do to help you with your business.

3. I heard about a book that is really good. Will you review it for me?

If you hear about a book that you'd like to have reviewed you may email me through the contact page on my website. I cannot promise to review all the books suggested, but I will read each email and see what I can do.

4. I am an author, will you review my book?

This answer is similar to the answer to question 3 with one exception. If I agree to review your book I request you or your publisher send me an influencer copy. I will do the same Like/Dislike/Benefits on your book. If you are a fiction author it is highly unlikely that I will review the book-sorry. [You can still ask though.]

I will have a book posting in just a few weeks that I really hope you'll enjoy. I also hope this will be one more time/money saver that will allow you to maximize your time and build your successful writing business.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.