Freelance Business Systems: Finance Fun

49 minutes of video
49 minutes of audio
19 slides
15 pages of transcript

*****

In this webinar, we’ll start our journey into the numbers that really make your freelance business tick (as in, make the money that pays the bills flow into your bank account so you can function as a human with a room over her head and food in her belly) with the bigger picture. Finance and accounting are widely confusing or thought to be one and the same among those who don’t hold these roles, and accounting is already the bane of many freelancers’ “admin” to-do lists. So this week, we’re going to start with finance, which is more about planning to make sure money is always coming your way, something you’ll find puts a smile on your face every time you do it once you get the hang of it.

We will cover:
– The serious numbers behind why numbers matter
– Works that you might abhor, but need to deeply understand and let motivate your businesses
– Deep dive into cash, how to watch it flow, and tips for maintaining it

Introduction to Business Systems for Freelance Travel Writers

60 minutes of video
60 minutes of audio
12 slides
18 pages of transcript

*****

In this call, the beginning of our new series on organizing your business like you’re actually running one, rather than the “figure it out as you go” approach so many freelancers use, we introduce two frameworks for conceptualizing yourself as a business owner and the various roles that you take on before we go into each “business department” individually in the series.

We will cover:
– What are we doing in this weird series?
– Two models to looking at the managing of one’s own business
– The departments we will explore and why

Your Guidebook Writing Guide Collection

188 minutes of video
188 minutes of audio
54 slides
66 pages of transcript

*****

The Guidebook Guide Series: The Players and The Game

Join us for the first webinar in our new series on breaking into guidebook writing, The Guidebook Guide Series: The Players and The Game to learn about the guidebook landscape for professional travel writers.

Not all guidebook companies are equal–for the writer, which is very different than in the public perception of the brand–when it comes to pay, treatment, and the writing process.

We will cover:
– Why should you listen up when I talk about guidebooks – especially if you’re (a) new, or (b) don’t have enough work on your plate right now
– How do the different major guidebook companies set themselves apart for consumers?
– How each company’s culture plays out for writers?
– What do you need to know to break in?

The Guidebook Guide Series – The Life of a Guidebook Writer on the Road​

In our second webinar in our series on guidebooks, we’re going to dive deep into the vital work that makes writing any book, from a thriller to a guidebook, possible: the research.

Join us to learn what the day-to-day work of the guidebook writer in the field really looks like.

While you may have heard the bad and the ugly about life as a guidebook writer, we dig into the reality of those who have made it their full-time gig.

We will cover:
– The disclaimer: guidebook writing sourcing
– Another disclaimer: this is work
– The Five Pillars to consider
– The pitfalls of poor preparation

The Guidebook Guide Series – The Writing Side of Guidebook Work

For the third webinar in the Guidebook Guide series, we explore what it is like to work as a guidebook writer today, from the money to the travel to the actual writing.

We also answer the question what is it actually like to write a book-length work in a month or two–particularly working in a tried and true formula you have little control over?

We will cover:
– How is guidebook writing like writing guides online?
– The types of “articles” you’ll write for a guidebook
– The guidebook writing style
– Live examples of guidebooks from different companies and their writing styles and depth

Learn to Shoot for Magazines Collection

Buy a curated collection and save 25% over purchasing each webinar individually.

167 minutes of video
167 minutes of audio
62 slides
63 pages of transcript

*****

The Difference Between the Photos You’re Shooting Now and What Magazines are Publishing

Learn how to get the shots that editors need so you can get more assignments and make more money with your pieces.

We look at the shots that work online and those that most of us shoot most of the time and what the difference is in terms of the approach to shot format, variety, and composition to generate the types of photos magazines can use.

We will cover:
– Who is publishing freelance photographs today
– The different approach to shooting and writing
– Living magazine walk-through!

Creating a Shot List to Organize Your Trips Around Saleable Photography

In this webinar, we break down a step-by-step method to organize your trips to ensure you get the shots you need to fill out your stories and enter the (thriving, actually!) world of photo essays.

We will cover:
– How do I know what to shoot if I don’t know what stories I’m looking to publish?
– The trajectory of shots you need for any piece
– Exploring different frameworks (different strokes for different folk!) for compiling your shot lists

Plating, Staging, and Food Photography: Bringing Still Lifes to Life

While speaking at the International Food Bloggers Conference, I picked up a couple cool styling things there that I show you in this webinar, but we primarily focus on the concept of the still life and how to take age-old painting techniques into your photography to create amazing shots for Instagram and beyond.

You’ll learn food photography and more. In this webinar, we’ll cover staging, lighting, and how to create posed shots of everything except people on your trips.

We will cover:
– What is missing from my (our, everyone’s!) photos now?
– “Art” approaches to successful still lifes
– Food (and things) styling secrets

Creating a Magazine Pitch Planner That Fits Your Needs and Goals

57 minutes of video
57 minutes of audio
16 slides
18 pages of transcript

*****

One of the most common questions that we get from experienced writers is about how best to track their pitches once they’ve been sent. But that misses out on the most important part of the pitching process, the area where most writers fall flat: planning which pitches they will write *before* they go out to make sure you meet your goals through the pitches you’re sending.

In this webinar, we’ll break through the structure, method, upkeep and rationale behind a very easy and flexible way to plan your pitches in advance. It not only allows you to always know what you should be working on (one of the biggest questions we see facing writers today!), but also make sure that you have pitches ready when you need them, rather than scrambling when an editor gets back to you with a request for more pitches.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– How to start building your list
– What makes this process not work + how to make sure it works
– The must-not-miss aspects of a pitch plan that works
– Creating one live!

How to Create a Personal File on Every Magazine You’d Like to Target

62 minutes of video
62 minutes of audio
15 slides
20 pages of transcript

*****

In fundraising or any other sort of high profile deal making, people create in depth dossiers or “files” on their targets that include all sorts of details on the target, with particular highlights on potential points of intersection that offer an in for building a relationship. You can do the same for the magazines that you want to build relationships with.

The common advice (from both teacher and magazine editors) to “read the magazine!” only scratches the surface. In this webinar, we’ll unpack a detailed, organized, and objective-driven way of breaking your process of getting familiar with a magazine into actionable information you can use to put together the right pitches for each editor you’re looking to build a relationship with.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– How to start building your list
– Why creating personal files on each magazine is the linchpin of pitching success
– What does a personal file for each magazine look like?
– Creating one live!

Your Personalized, Goal-Oriented Approach to Deciding Which Magazines to Pitch

50 minutes of video
50 minutes of audio
15 slides
18 pages of transcript

*****

After three years of running Dream of Travel Writing—helping writers find the right mix of writing to meet their financial goals—and our Travel Magazine Database, which breaks down exactly how to pitch each section of more than 500 magazines, we’re always shocked when writers still tell us they’re only trying to pitch major newsstand magazines like Travel & Leisure or big airline magazines like Hemispheres. Rather than pitch the same places that everyone else is pitching, your best chance of success, much like applying to universities, is to find the outlets that are a more specific fit to you overall in many different dimensions.

In this webinar, we’ll walk through how to begin to source them, cut down your list, and make sure you’re on track to also meet your assignment and income goals through the magazines you’ve chosen.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– The first step to building out your magazine list
– Think like the parent of a college student when refining your list
– What does a balanced magazine portfolio look like?

Magazine First Approach Collection

215 minutes of video
215 minutes of audio
58 slides
72 pages of transcript

*****

The Magazine-First Approach to Organize Your Pitches to Ensure You Hit Your Goals

After our Idea-to-Pitch live workshopping series, a freelancer wrote us asking how you should organize your pitching initiative if you’re using a “magazine-first” rather than “idea-first” approach. It was such a great question because we usually recommend working magazine-first rather than idea-first!

The difference between “magazine-first” and “idea-first” pitch plans can be a huge difference in time investment, and, depending on your goals, ease of success in reaching the level you really want to be with your travel writing.

In this webinar, we’ll break down these two different ways of looking at your pitching, the pros and cons of each, and how to know which is right for you and when it makes sense to switch.

We will cover:
– Idea-first and magazine-first pitching: what do they really mean?
– How idea-first and magazine-first pitching work in practice
– Pros and cons of each process
– When do you want to use each pitching approach?

Your Personalized, Goal-Oriented Approach to Deciding Which Magazines to Pitch

After three years of running Dream of Travel Writing—helping writers find the right mix of writing to meet their financial goals—and our Travel Magazine Database, which breaks down exactly how to pitch each section of more than 500 magazines, we’re always shocked when writers still tell us they’re only trying to pitch major newsstand magazines like Travel & Leisure or big airline magazines like Hemispheres. Rather than pitch the same places that everyone else is pitching, your best chance of success, much like applying to universities, is to find the outlets that are a more specific fit to you overall in many different dimensions.

In this webinar, we’ll walk through how to begin to source them, cut down your list, and make sure you’re on track to also meet your assignment and income goals through the magazines you’ve chosen.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– The first step to building out your magazine list
– Think like the parent of a college student when refining your list
– What does a balanced magazine portfolio look like?

How to Create a Personal “File” on Every Magazine You’d Like to Target

In fundraising or any other sort of high profile deal making, people create in depth dossiers or “files” on their targets that include all sorts of details on the target, with particular highlights on potential points of intersection that offer an in for building a relationship. You can do the same for the magazines that you want to build relationships with.

The common advice (from both teacher and magazine editors) to “read the magazine!” only scratches the surface. In this webinar, we’ll unpack a detailed, organized, and objective-driven way of breaking your process of getting familiar with a magazine into actionable information you can use to put together the right pitches for each editor you’re looking to build a relationship with.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– How to start building your list
– Why creating personal files on each magazine is the linchpin of pitching success
– What does a personal file for each magazine look like?
– Creating one live!

Creating a Magazine Pitch Planner That Fits Your Needs and Goals

One of the most common questions that we get from experienced writers is about how best to track their pitches once they’ve been sent. But that misses out on the most important part of the pitching process, the area where most writers fall flat: planning which pitches they will write *before* they go out to make sure you meet your goals through the pitches you’re sending.

In this webinar, we’ll break through the structure, method, upkeep and rationale behind a very easy and flexible way to plan your pitches in advance. It not only allows you to always know what you should be working on (one of the biggest questions we see facing writers today!), but also make sure that you have pitches ready when you need them, rather than scrambling when an editor gets back to you with a request for more pitches.

We will cover:
– Why pitch idea-first rather than magazine-first?
– How to start building your list
– What makes this process not work + how to make sure it works
– The must-not-miss aspects of a pitch plan that works
– Creating one live!

Freelance Fundamentals: Making Collection

239 minutes of video
239 minutes of audio
77 slides
78 pages of transcript

*****

Freelance Business Systems: Operate Like a Boss

Like it or not, as a freelance writer, you are a center for production—a factory, if you will—for completed collections of written words centered on certain themes and collated to client-determined specifications. So many parts of writing involve independent decision making and the act of creation, but at the end of the day, as a business that delivers goods (read: polished prose) to clients, you need to focus on optimizing all aspects of your production operations. This is an area that I spend a significant portion of time with my coaching clients on simply because it’s such an unparalleled game changer, and I’m very excited to change your approach to how you produce your writing work in this webinar.

We will cover:
– What does it mean to manage your operations?
– Breaking down what “operations” or “production” is and how it applies to travel writers
– The process of improving your processes
– Tactics to start today to improve your operations

Freelance Business Systems: Control That Quality

While many writers I talk to worry—whether in their heads, to other writers on Facebook, or just to their friends and significant others—about the quality of their writing, not enough talk about what quality means as a business person, and how it can and should be leveraged, both in terms of mercilessly duplicating the steps that lead to quality every time and determining what exactly quality means for your clients in a way that allows you to deliver each time and rest assured you’ve got happy clients time and time again.

We will cover:
– What quality control means for writers and why it is so powerful
– The most important steps to starting systematic quality control
– Some quality management strategies to think more deeply on
– Tactics you can use today to control quality in the long-term

Freelance Business Systems: The Surprising Secrets of Servicing Customers as a Freelancer

Customer service–whether behind the counter at your local ice cream shop as a summer job or temping in a phone bank somewhere–has long gotten the wrap as something we may be obliged to do when young and deal with when older (why is it again that Amazon has no way for me to get in touch with them when my package shows as arrived and did not, in fact, arrive?).

The complex nuances in this business area, however, will literally make or break those attractive, retainer-contract gigs everyone wants to get their hands on with companies or magazines. There is a lot of surprising science to how you interact with your editors to achieve the best outcome for everyone, no matter whether you aim to write for magazines or pursue content marketing gigs.

We will cover:
– How does the idea of a “customer service department” fit into the bigger picture for freelancers
– The missing link between classic customer service and the typical customer interaction for freelance writers
– The role of customer service defined
– A grab-bag of low-hanging-fruit next steps to get started

Bonus

Introduction to Business Systems for Freelance Travel Writers

In this call, the beginning of our new series on organizing your business like you’re actually running one, rather than the “figure it out as you go” approach so many freelancers use, we introduce two frameworks for conceptualizing yourself as a business owner and the various roles that you take on before we go into each “business department” individually in the series.

We will cover:
– What are we doing in this weird series?
– Two models to looking at the managing of one’s own business
– The departments we will explore and why

Freelance Fundamentals: Money Collection

206 minutes of video
206 minutes of audio
71 slides
66 pages of transcript

*****

Introduction to Business Systems for Freelance Travel Writers

In this call, the beginning of our new series on organizing your business like you’re actually running one, rather than the “figure it out as you go” approach so many freelancers use, we introduce two frameworks for conceptualizing yourself as a business owner and the various roles that you take on before we go into each “business department” individually in the series.

We will cover:
– What are we doing in this weird series?
– Two models to looking at the managing of one’s own business
– The departments we will explore and why

Freelance Business Systems: Finance Fun

In this webinar, we’ll start our journey into the numbers that really make your freelance business tick (as in, make the money that pays the bills flow into your bank account so you can function as a human with a room over her head and food in her belly) with the bigger picture. Finance and accounting are widely confusing or thought to be one and the same among those who don’t hold these roles, and accounting is already the bane of many freelancer’s “admin” to-do lists. So this week, we’re going to start with finance, which is more about planning to make sure money is always coming your way, something you’ll find puts a smile on your face every time you do it once you get the hang of it.

We will cover:
– The serious numbers behind why numbers matter
– Works that you might abhor, but need to deeply understand and let motivate your businesses
– Deep dive into cash, how to watch it flow, and tips for maintaining it

Freelance Business Systems: Accounting Minus Suck

Freelance accounting commonly takes the form of “why haven’t I been paid for this story yet?!?! I sent the invoice this week!” but invoicing is actually a very small piece of the pie. On the heels of tax season, we’ll take this hour to go through, line by line, what numbers you should be tracking, how, where, and why, so that the numeric side of your freelance life no longer feels scary, and everything has a place that feels just right and brings you joy, Marie Kondo-style.

We will cover:
– How does accounting fit into our larger goals for this series?
– What is accounting and what’s different from finance
– The core parts of accounting that you’re already doing (whether you like it or not)
– Accounting systems that already exist and how to create your own (that work)

Freelance Business Systems: Perfect Purchasing

When you don’t know what your income is going to be each month, it’s automatically harder to budget (not just for life, but for your business!). The unfortunate follow up of that is that it’s also harder to make clear, informed, deliberate decisions about what to purchase why and when, which can often lead to snap decisions or overspending. But those are just the surface-level considerations in creating a plan for how to purchase purchases related to your business—which, in case you’re not thinking of it that way, also includes your travel spending. In this webinar, we pull a page from the corporate playbook and look at strategies that allow you to make the most of each dollar.

We will cover:
– What does corporate purchasing really consist of? (a.k.a. how do companies justify whole departments for this?!)
– What purchasing means and looks like for freelance travel writers
– Three main ways to streamline your purchasing
– Tactics to start today to improve your purchasing