Grow your writing income by 10x

How to create a content strategy and make higher fees [The Writer’ s Life]( June 29, 2021 Hi {NAME}, Have you ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? Each piece is valuable — especially if you find out one is missing! :) But the real satisfaction is when all the pieces come together. That's when the picture becomes so clear and vivid. It's the same in the content marketing world. Each piece of content — blog post, article, video, social media update, and so on — has value. But combine them … and that's where the real magic happens. Putting together a content strategy so it creates a strong and unified picture from all the various pieces will bring in more money for a business — and for you. And with the historic "Leap" in the volume of people shopping online in the past year, fresh content is needed now more than ever. Meaning you can make good (or rather GREAT) money as a content writer. But the puzzle master — the strategist who can fit together all those key pieces of content — can make even larger fees. I talked to Digital Marketing Expert Russ Henneberry about what's happening in this $412 billion industry. ([You can access the playback and my notes from the meeting here.]() To say I'm excited about what this means for writers is an understatement … It's something you definitely should know about. You already "know" the content types … Surely you've read a blog … an email … and perhaps seen a Facebook Ad, right? They're simple! Yet they're some of the most in-demand pieces of content that marketers need written. And YOU could be writing them — earning professional fees, even if you're just starting out. Plus, by "productizing" your services like Russ teaches, you'll make even MORE money as a writer with each client you take on … 10x as much! To help you get started, today AWAI Success Andrew Murray outlines what a content strategist does so you can set yourself up to earn those kinds of fees as a writer. And if you'd like to train with Russ and build a solid career as a Certified Content Specialist, [check out our new live training mentorship for yourself here](. To your success, [Rebecca Matter’ s signature] Rebecca Matter President, AWAI Be Your Client's Content Expert and Grow Your Income By 10x By Andrew Murray [Female content specialist writing on desktop computer] When you're thinking of buying a new product, what's the first thing you do? If you're like most people, you'll go online … you start with a Google search. Say you want to buy your dad a trout fishing rod for his birthday, but you don't know the first thing about fishing (like me!). So you search for the "best fishing rod for trout." They'll likely show you tons of listings on the Top X rods. You click on some of the content options and find a website you like. The site has helpful videos, plus links to a stack of other useful articles. They also have an online store, and social media icons. You're not ready to buy yet, so you click on the link to their Facebook page. It has lots of links to useful articles, plus a friendly, helpful community. Pretty soon, Facebook starts showing you ads from that business. You also notice this business regularly posts to Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Oh and hey, they have exactly what you need … a free guide on how to choose the best rod for trout fishing! So you sign up as a subscriber and get your free download. Okay, let's take a breath here. So much content on such a narrow topic … wow! Someone wrote all that content. (No wonder content writing is a lucrative career path — especially since the historic "Leap" that created a $412-billion content industry!) And more importantly, someone planned all that content. Chances are, it was a Content Strategist. A Content What? You can make a great living being a content writer. But you can make an even better living as a Content Strategist. What do they do? Well, it depends. If they're working for a large client, they might: - Plan, organize, and schedule content. - Manage a team of content writers, web developers, videographers, copy editors, and so on. - Liaise with a client's marketing team to ensure content goes out when it should. A Content Strategist is an organizer, a planner, an idea person, and a manager of sorts. But you don't need to work for a massive online business to be a successful Content Strategist. 1 Idea, 10x the Content, 10x Your Fees Say you write content for a small business. You might write a weekly blog post, for example. If you position yourself as a Content Strategist instead, that's when the magic starts happening. You become way more than a content writer … instead, you're their content expert, the one who figures out what content to write, when to publish it, and on what platforms. Here's how it works. Company Y wants you to write a blog post. You say, "Yes, I can do that. However, I have another idea. It'll bring you way more leads. "Let's write that blog post, then take that blog and spin off a couple of short Facebook posts. And we'll grab key points from the blog post, then turn them into a series of five tweets. "And if we use an eye-catching image with a caption, we can post this to Instagram and pin it to your Pinterest account. "I noticed Jane (their Sales Manager) is an absolute natural in front of a camera. So let's write a video script based off the blog post, which Jane can present on camera. "Then we'll publish it on YouTube and embed the video back into the blog post. While we're at it, we'll do a one-minute video for Instagram. "Last of all, I'll do a short write-up about the blog post for your subscriber newsletter. "I can plan out the schedule for content if you like. That way, you'll have exposure across all your social media channels and your subscriber list. And I'll make sure it's all coordinated to publish for maximum exposure. "I'll map out a content calendar for you." What just happened there? That's a lot to take in! Well, you started with one blog post, which you can charge $250-$500 for. But then you came up with more than 10 extra pieces of content … all from one blog post! You can easily charge $2,500-$3,000 for those. Plus, you're offering to create a content calendar for the client. You can charge up to $5,000 for it, depending on the scope. So what's in it for the client? Quite a bit … You're Their Expert Most small to medium businesses constantly struggle with creating content. They're usually well aware of the importance of publishing consistently. However, they simply can't keep up. And very few understand how easily you can repurpose content across multiple channels. Once you explain this, they'll view you as an expert … a consultant, a content strategist. They'll want you to take it off their hands. Many businesses will gladly hand their content creation and scheduling over to you. In return, you'll be earning around 10 times more than you were from writing blog posts. And businesses want you to stick around … they need content each and every month. So you can negotiate long-term retainer fees. When you start negotiating fees, you're in a much stronger position as a Content Strategist than you were as a content writer. Your perceived value is much greater. After all, you're an expert! Get Started Today How do you start as a Content Strategist? Earlier I explained broadly what a Content Strategist does in a large organization. Here it is again: - Plan, organize, and schedule content. - Manage a team of content writers, web developers, videographers, copy editors, and so on. - Liaise with a client's marketing team to ensure content goes out when it should. It's pretty much the same deal for any organization, just on a smaller scale. For example, the "team of content writers, web developers, videographers, copy editors, and so on" could just be you and one other person. Or the "marketing team" could be the small business owner. If you write content for a client now, think of how you could repurpose it. And consider how you'd schedule this content … what order would you schedule it in, across which channels? Then speak to your client. Explain how you can help them with content creation across multiple channels. Show them your strategy. Suggest you try it with one or two pieces of content. Be professional. Offer to send your client a formal proposal. Show them you're a professional, an expert. Position yourself as their consultant, their Content Strategist. In the process, you can grow your income by 10 times or more … and have steady work well into the future! If you want a major jump-start in this field, Digital Marketing Expert Russ Henneberry announced some exciting news … He's offering a limited number of up-and-coming writers the chance to work directly with him and gain the tools and knowledge you need to be a well-paid Certified Content Specialist. He'll mentor you in this new live training and even give you everything you need to start getting quality clients when your training is complete. Over the course of five weeks, Russ will train writers how to … … write the in-demand content projects marketers need help with … … create a content strategy and then execute it … … understand the current marketing landscape and have the skill to leverage a piece of content and turn it into many (to earn even more money per project) … … stand to win big as more companies are ready and willing to pay good money for content creation. This is an unbelievable opportunity to be mentored by the man who wrote the book on digital marketing and become a Certified Content Specialist. [Check it out here.]( Do you have any questions about getting started as a content writer and specialist? [Let us know in the comments.]( Why Every Writer Needs to Understand This 👇 "The Leap" is changing the marketing landscape as we know it. Companies are scrambling to keep up with the flood of new buyers who've come online. And they need content — LOTS OF IT — to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. This is just too big of an opportunity to ignore! And it's why we recently held a FREE training with a top content expert to explain the unfolding situation. [Grab this FREE Training.]( Expires Tonight: $313 in FREE Writing Gifts It's easier to get started making money as a writer with the right tools, access to people who can help you, and ongoing support. And today you can get all that AND $313 in free writing gifts. But hurry … This opportunity ends in just a few hours. [Go Here to Learn More.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble viewing this email? [View in your browser, here](. For questions or requests: [contact us online](. --------------------------------------------------------------- ©2021 American Writers & Artists Institute Do you know of someone who would benefit from reading The Writer's Life? 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