It’s all about the risk of spending too much time on the promotion of your freelance business.

Feel free to check it out!

As mentioned earlier, I’ve started working with Jessie Haynes on redesigning my workflow and improving my time management.  At this point, I’m more in the “figuring out where things are” stage than I am in the “implementing practical strategies” stage.

Interestingly, I’ve found that simply discussing my workflow and related issues is having an impact.

As a self-employed person, I don’t have office buddies with whom to chat over lunch.  There’s no real opportunity for commiseration or idea-sharing.  There’s nowhere to vent.  Don’t get me wrong, I do prefer working solo and wouldn’t trade it for the world.  However, it does have a few negatives and not being in the same boat with other nearby humans can occasionally be one of them.

I could dump my frustrations on my wife in the evenings, but I really don’t think she’s probably all that interested in the minutiae of my time management strategies after a day of dealing with elementary special education students while we wrangle our kids.  Just guessing!

I didn’t really realize the impact that simply opening up to someone else about these issues could have.  Sometimes, just having people ask the right questions and then answering them provides a degree of enlightenment you can’t manage on your own.  I know that’s the case with this workflow planning project and I’m sure it’s applicable for other people in other areas, as well.

I’m responding to one of Jessie’s emails today and I’m setting aside a chunk of time to engage in one of the organizational projects she’s recommended.

So, Mr. Time, if you’re reading this…  Prepare for an ass-kicking!

Highlighting the Good Stuff

Like most people, I learn a great deal from other people every day.  Sometimes, they set out to teach a lesson.  In other cases, I pick up some great ideas from watching the way other people are doing things.

I decided to make a point of occasionally highlighting some of those lessons and where I’ve picked them up.  Today, I wanted to address someone who’s well-known in Internet marketing circles who may not be on the radars of many freelance writers, Travis Sago, the “bum marketing” guy.

How to Get Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend Back

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached about creating content in the “get your boyfriend/girlfriend back” niche.  There are several info products out there on the topic and they convert well.  It’s a buying niche and, as you’d expect, it attracts many affiliate marketers.

The king of those products is “The Magic of Making Up,” from “T-Dub,” a pseudonym of Internet marketer Travis Sago.  I can’t vouch for the product–I’m not part of the dating scene.  But I can vouch for the fact that Travis’ sales copy seems to do the trick.  If you run the available Clickbank numbers, the refund rates are surprisingly low, too.

A good niche.  A product that buyers don’t return.  Working copy.  That sounds like a recipe for success, right?  Well, it might be.  However, it’s Sago’s method of building a massive crew of affiliates that’s really interesting to me–and that’s probably the key to the product’s position as a market leader.

Creating a Salesforce

Sago popularized so-called “bum marketing” a few years ago with a completely free set of lessons that could ostensibly turn any “bum” into an Internet marketing moneymaker.  Sago’s approach, which has undoubtedly been tweaked to remain up-to-date, advocates creation of distribution of short articles optimized for relevant long-tail keywords with resource boxes designed to move traffic to a pre-sell for a product or directly to its sales page (via a redirect from a TLD in the case of EzineArticles.com submissions).

I think it’s fairly obvious that the core “bum” model isn’t the best way to build a business online.  Sago doesn’t claim that it is, either.  It is a way to start generating sales in a hurry, to test markets and, for boot-strappers, to start generating a some working capital to expand operations.

Anyway, Sago provides completely free instruction on the basic methodology, which includes a working way to go about things without spending a dime.  Like any smart marketer, he’s more than willing to point his list members to other products (for which he is an affiliate, natch) that will help them to refine their techniques and to up their profits.  However, the core system is solid and it works even if you don’t spend a penny.  The information isn’t groundbreaking, but he explains it well and it’s given a number of people their first taste online moneymaking.

At some point, after his mailing list of trained “bum marketers” had grown, he supplied a great deal of additional free information designed to help them tackle the “get your boyfriend/girlfriend back” niche.  He sent free keyword lists, set up a system for subscribers to receive free daily articles on the topic, etc.  He turned his “bums” loose to promote his “making up” product and the results, based on publicly available data, have been fantastic.

Countless product creating Internet marketers provide affiliates with tools to promote their products.  Some even provide some information and/or links to help newbies learn about effective affiliate marketing.  I tend to believe that Travis’ success in this niche hasn’t stemmed just from providing some handy tools, though.  It’s been a result of training people to go from rank beginner to competent article marketers.

That’s worked on a number of levels.  He’s trained folks up in a non-product specific manner, which encourages a level of trust.   So does the fact that he’s supplied the instruction gratis.  When someone who has shown you a way to make money points you in the direction of a product and gives you additional tools to promote it, it’s hard to resist.  As noted, he’s coupled that with copy that converts and a product that seems to meet its niche’s needs (or at least its  perceived needs).

He seems to have created a win-win situation.  He’s making money from the sales and so are the bum-trained affiliates.  If the product is helpful, it’s a win-win-win, for that matter.

Instead of competing for attention among successful affiliates, Sago’s put himself in the enviable position of creating his own understandably loyal cadre of affiliates.  It’s extremely smart.

Effective Messaging

I don’t actively promote Sago’s relationship product as part of my marketing efforts, but I do read his emails.  He’s also doing very well in that department.  You’d think his folksy, “I’m a regular guy from Arkansas” voice and messaging might fail to resonate with some people, but its consistency and the sense of authenticity works.  Most of us have an aversion to the snake-oily world of many Internet marketers, but Sago comes off as a genuine, excited “good ol’ boy.”  While some marketers make you feel greasy after reading their emails, Sago’s leave you with the feeling that you’ve just been pitched by someone who doesn’t want to screw you and who really, really believes every damn word with every fiber of his hillbilly heart.  He genuinely seems to want others to do well.  I’ve talked to a few people who’ve been incredibly impressed with his follow-up with individual affiliate questions, etc., as well.

FYI…

So, what’s with the Travis Sago lovefest here?

I’m not making a dime off of it.  Nor am I trying to do so.  As noted, I don’t actively promote the product and I don’t have an interest in growing his mailing list.

I don’t write for Travis and we don’t have any projects in common.

I’ve had one interaction with Travis, several years ago.  It occurred to me that there was a way for bum marketers to improve their bottom line by repurposing articles that failed to produce sales, creating a simple “insurance policy” for “bums.”  I put together a rundown of the method and ran it by Travis before offering it for sale.  He was nice enough to give it a thumbs-up and an endorsement–without asking for a penny in return.  My little one-afternoon brainstorm made me about $5,000 and I think the fact he vouched for it played a large role in that.  So, my interaction with him has been positive, but it’s not like we’re close friends or anything–our relationship consists of a few emails back and forth.

Lessons Learned

The motivation underlying this post stems from what I think almost anyone doing business online can learn from Travis.

• He uses quality free information as a means of developing a following.
• He has a top-to-bottom system in place.
• He’s managed  a consistent, authentic and extremely positive persona.
• He knows how to effectively write emails and to handle and use his mailing list.
• He’s found hungry niches and knows how to pitch to them.

Whether you’re in the business of selling products or services, it’s worth taking a good look at how he’s doing things.  Writers should take note of how he’s using free content, good emails and solid sales copy to produce results.  I don’t mean that in a “write like that” way, either.  It’s more a matter of seeing how he’s using various content forms as part of a cohesive system…  I know that a lot of people don’t care for this sometimes bombastic part of the Internet marketing world with its red headlines and in-your-face-make-a-stack-of-cash messaging, but the underlying pattern he’s built is a nice model to study.

Two quick notes: First, I’m not vouching for the products he’s promoting.  I haven’t read his relationship ebook.  He could be a complete flake, the next Dr. Phil (which may be redundant with “complete flake”) or a true relationship genius.  Second, I thought about getting in touch with him before publishing this, but opted not to do so.  If he happens to stumble upon this and would like to comment, that’d be great, but I didn’t want to make this post look like it was some kind of buddy-buddy thing.

I caught a re-run of The Daily Show this morning.  John Stewart’s look at media coverage of Chat Roulette was fun, but the thing that really caught my attention was the advertising.  It was GREEN.

I don’t mean it was environmentally friendly, either.   I mean it was actually very, very green.  Green was the dominant color in multiple commercials.  At first, I thought the seemingly eternal winter was just motivating me to seek out signs of an approaching spring–that it was all in my head.  Then, I sat through four consecutive green spots.

The “Bollywood” Subway ad kicked things off.  That’s a very, very green spot.  Green and yellow, wall to wall.  MMB was intentionally emphasizing the colors, from the opening dancers all the way to the prominent display of green peppers on the model sandwich.

Then it was time to “Come to Jamaica” with Hussein Bolt.  Green and yellow are Jamaica’s colors, so it makes sense that they’d be a point of emphasis, but this Bolt-driven ad seemed to have a more of a focus on expanses of green grass and the lush island interior than past spots.  The ocean and beaches, usually centerpieces of tourism ads, were an afterthought.

Nationwide Insurance had the third consecutive green commercial.  “Vanishing Deductible” starts with the spokesperson behind thick, leafy green trees and moves into a customer’s kitchen, bathed in green light with greenish walls and an assortment of green and yellow accent pieces.

Bing’s “Vampire Decision Engine” spot rounded out the quartet.  This ad features a green-walled room bathed in greenish/yellowish half-light and the actress is wearing a green dress.  The brightest element in the ad are the green bars that appear on her laptop during the search process.

I’ve always been under the impression that green was associated with nature (obviously) and tranquility.  It’s a safe, non-threatening, comforting color choice, although it does have a tie-in with prosperity in business settings.

Maybe Subway is trying to lull us into a sense of comfort to make us more receptive to that “five dollar foot-long” earworm, Jamaica is playing the nature card, Bing is trying to soften what might otherwise be too dark and Nationwide is trying to remind us of the money we could save by buying their insurance.

Hell if I know.  Maybe everyone’s just loading up for St. Paddy’s day.

You tell me:  Am I suffering from a case of spring fever that is subconsciously motivating me to find green everywhere?  Is this just a coincidence?  Are advertisers consciously trying to tap into a desire to escape gray skies and snowdrifts?  Is it a real advertising fad?  Is it color psychology in action?

Are you feeling friendly toward green right now?  Noticing more of it?

This week:  “Complaining About Your Freelance Writing Clients“.  It’s all about using your blog to share war stories and tales of terror about your most annoying clients and whether it’s really a good idea.

Feel free to check it out!

My concluding plea for advice and recommendation yielded a number of great ideas and I hope to get over to FWJ this evening to respond to them.  The post also led to an offer I couldn’t refuse.

Jessie Haynes is a freelance writer and, in her words, is “addicted to organizing supplies, time management techniques and productivity products.”  She wrote about my post at Which Planner?, supplying some great advice about the need to focus on one’s bottom line and added:

Carson, I know this is a big, big deal. Productivity is king! If you’d like to design / re-design your workflow, shoot me an email at [email address redacted] and we’ll discuss what you can do.

It took me about a half-second to take her up on the offer.

I’d like to think that I’m good at a number of things, but I know that I have not been particularly smart in the way I handle time.  That was one reason for the FWJ post and it’s an issue I’ve addressed here, as well.  I get the job(s) done, but I often rely upon unnecessary and anything-but-enjoyable heroic efforts to do so.  The opportunity to bring someone with real expertise into my world to help on this front was inviting, to say the least.

Jessie is writing an ebook on the topic, and I told her that she can use my situation and what we do to improve it as a case study if she’d like.   I was excited about the idea of a workflow fix.

Then, she wrote me back with a series of questions that required enough introspection that I realized this was going to be a serious undertaking with some real potential for positive change.

I’ll keep you all posted as we make progress.  Something tells me I’ll have enough time to do that if I listen to Jessie!

I wrote this post because I think the whole story makes a few points…

First, it shows you just how great interacting with others in your field and related areas can be.  If I didn’t contribute at FWJ, an opportunity that stemmed from my blogging here and what I did “back in the day,” I wouldn’t have this chance for workflow assistance.  Being out there and visible has its advantages.

Second, it’s a reminder of how authenticity in blogging and other interactions is a good idea.  If you pretend to have every answer or never let on that you are anything less than superhuman, there’s very little chance of uncovering opportunities for improvement or quality guidance from others.  My moment in the confessional didn’t just lead to penance, it led to working with someone who can help me to help my business.

Third, it’s a reminder to those who do spot a weakness in their own game to reach out to others.  I do a lot of consulting work, so I rely on this realization for business.  People come to me when they have questions or problems with which they could use a helping hand.  I’m munching on some of my own dog food here, recognizing the value of third party assistance.

Could I teach myself about time management and workflow optimization in order to come up with an ideal means of streamlining the operation of my own business?  Sure.  I think I could figure it out if I put my mind to it.  It would take time (which is already short) and a great deal of effort, though.  Thus, it makes MUCH more sense to turn to someone who knows the ropes.  The “do it yourself” instinct isn’t always smart.  That’s why my consulting and writing clients come to me and it’s why I sent off a series of answers to Jessie’s questions.

Last year (and thus far in 2010), there’s a lot more jibber-jabber about cheap content and the so-called content mills.  What was once something of a secret held among those who made a living on the web has been generating a great deal of mainstream attention and I think it’s safe to say that more people know about the opportunity to make a few bucks writing for the mills than ever before.

I’ve often wondered how many people decided to start submitting the things they wanted to write to sites like Associated Content, Bukisa, eHow, etc. instead of supplying it free of charge to niche-specific sites/”communities”

Does the growth of low-paying content opportunities (with low editorial bars) trade off with UGC?

I’ve seen anecdotal evidence to that effect from a few people.  They’ll say, “I wanted to write about such-and-such and I figured I might as well make a little something from it.”  They use that to explain why they created an Associated Content account instead of just publishing to a forum within their niche.  Now, they post a link to the AC article in the forum, instead.

I have no idea how common that really is and whether the content mills are having an impact on UGC, but it is an interesting idea.

Travel author Barbara Hudgins wrote a post about the venerable travel site, Boots N All, moving toward a paid compensation model for contributors.  She notes that the content mills are more than happy to pay for travel articles and cites that as a potential reason for the shift in policy.

Now, Boots N All will be paying a group of contributors the equivalent of $10 to $15 per likely hour of work and a share of ad revenue for their content.  That’s not a king’s ransom by any stretch, but I wonder if it’s the kind of gesture that will keep the people who have historically contributed gratis doing so instead of seeking greener pastures.  I watched Sean Keener’s video about their new payment program and he doesn’t mention content mills or increased competition for content as a reason for the change.

Depending upon how you look at it, a content mill vs. UGC situation could be good or bad for the ‘Net as a whole.  On one hand, we may be losing some of that pure interaction based on shared interest with money entering the picture (I may write for dough, but that doesn’t mean that I support the commodification of everything).

On the other, you could look at it as deserved but belated compensation for people who have been unwittingly making money for others who’ve been feeding off of free content for years.

There’s also the question of where it all ends.  Will people start expecting payment for every Tweet?  Will people slap intros and conclusions on their thoughtful blog comments and publish them on rev-share sites, offering a link to them on the blog about which they’re writing?

I’m going to drop a line to the Boots N All people to see if they’ve noticed any decrease in quality UGC submission that they can “blame” on the rise of the mills.  I’d also like to know if anyone else has noticed previously non-paying sites offering something to contributors and whether any of those decisions have been explicitly tied to the fact that users can now profit (even slightly) by submitting content elsewhere.

Feel free to comment.

Warning:  CarsonBrackney.com does not pay for user comments.  Yet. 

I know that consistency can be the hobgoblin of little minds, but occasionally I see stark contradictions, incidents of hypocrisy and unjustified absolutist statements that have an adverse impact on my interpretation of the writer’s credibility.

Examples:

• The writer who makes a point of poo-pooing the idea of creating profitable non-writing niche blogs based on extensive personal experience.  A visit to one of that individual’s blogs and a quick checkup reveals that they’re working with a bare-bones blogpsot theme, have made no effort to engage in off-site promotion, are unable to correctly format a link and didn’t bother to read up on optimal ad selection or placement.
• The writer who pens a proud and self-assured entry taking a stand against the evil and exploitation of content mill work only two posts after supplying readers with a $5 (tops) paid custom post about the virtues of investing in gold.  Apparently, writing for peanuts is only okay when it involves polluting one’s site with barely paid, non-topical promotional posts.
• The writer who consistently reminds others that they can make get fat doing things “the right way” (which also happens to be his/her way) and whose more personal posts often discuss the financial hardships they face.
• The writers who hate, hate, hate content mills who don’t bother to set their Adsense filters, thus turning their blogs into promotional billboards for those very same sites.  It’s sort of like a socially conservative, evangelical church running ads for a 900# sex talk service in their hymn books.
• Those who trumpet the virtues of writing for residual-pay content mills, providing advice to others on how to create a never-ending flow of effortless cash who off-handedly reveal that the approximate two-year value of each article they write is about $3.

Things like this remind me of the people in Internet marketing forums who grouse about how they’ve been working and failing to make a dime for three years while having a signature link that says, “Click here to make $10,000 a day on auto-pilot!”

Personally, I believe there are at least 6,928,113 ways to skin the freelance writing money cat.  I know that there are a number of ways to turn a dime and that different folks can utilize different strokes to stuff their bank accounts.  However, I’m not too keen on taking advice about any one technique from someone who clearly isn’t using it correctly or effectively.

It’s hard enough for someone who is trying to explore their options to figure out whether what works for one person is something they can do.  So much of this is so individual in its nature.  Watching people make rather bold and self-assured claims about strategies they don’t really follow or don’t use effectively just complicates things, as does seeing them engaging in or supporting things they claim to detest.

Before posting this, I paused to look in the mirror.  It would be mildly embarrassing to post something like this and to then realize that I’ve committed the same kind of offense.

I do try to make it clear that what doesn’t work or what does work for one person may not work for everyone.  I also try to explain the underpinnings of my arguments so that people can assess the validity of my conclusions.  I’m also willing to admit where I’m wrong if someone has a good argument.  I think I pass inspection.  If I don’t, please let me know.

Mike Michalowicz rounded up 54 tips from 54 entrepreneurs about how to maintain repeat customers/clients.  My contribution, “When Blackmail Fails…” made the cut.

Check out my own pearl of half-wisdom along with the other 53 contributions!

My weekly contribution at Freelance Writing Jobs, “Tick Tock Tick Tock…  Time Managment and the Business of Freelancing” is up and running.

Stop by and share a few pointers.