{"id":1703,"date":"2018-10-02T11:48:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T16:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2018-09-24T11:49:45","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T16:49:45","slug":"dream-big-start-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/success\/dream-big-start-small\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream big; start small"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the late 1970s, when I first became a professional writer, the
\nmost sought-after assignment in freelancing was writing magazine
\narticles.<\/p>\n

Today, among AWAI students and other copywriters, the most
\nsought-after assignment is a long-copy promotion such as a
\nmagalog or video sales letter (VSL) selling a product via direct
\nresponse.<\/p>\n

Anyway, back in the day, the writers’ magazines … and the
\nspeakers at writing conferences … virtually all gave the same
\nadvice to newbie freelance writers: start big.<\/p>\n

They said to avoid the literary journals, the little magazines,
\ntrade journals, and other no-pay\/low-pay markets.<\/p>\n

Instead, right off the bat, target the top-tier magazines; e.g.
\nCosmopolitan, Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, Omni, and so on.<\/p>\n

In freelance copywriting, some — certainly not all copywriting
\nteachers — say to write for big-name companies paying top fees
\nand royalties right from the get-go.<\/p>\n

This may be great advice, and I may be a chicken about it, but I
\nlargely ignored it and did the opposite.<\/p>\n

For articles, I went after smaller outlets, including smaller
\npapers in the cities where I lived — and magazines in
\nspecialized niches with smaller circulations, such as Chemical
\nEngineering Magazine, Science Books & Films, Democrat &
\nChronicle, Bergen Record, and Writer’s Digest.<\/p>\n

When I started freelancing in my spare time right out of college,
\nmy first freelance articles appeared in the Baltimore City Paper
\n— these were medium-length feature pieces for which I was paid on
\naverage $50 each:<\/p>\n

www.bly.com\/newsite\/Pages\/PDFs\/journalism-city-paper-stock-racing.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

And I had a ball writing them.<\/p>\n

But why didn’t I set my aspirations somewhat higher? For several
\nreasons.<\/p>\n

First, I was a beginner with no credentials, so I felt I had a
\nbetter shot at these mid-market periodicals.<\/p>\n

Second, they were small enough that you could have a personal
\nrelationship with the editor.<\/p>\n

To get into City Paper, I went to their offices and pitched my
\nstories face to face with the editor — and it worked.<\/p>\n

Third, I was getting paid, albeit small sums, for learning my
\ncraft.<\/p>\n

Fourth, I was getting clips, which helped me break into better
\nmarkets and assignments, and also looked good on my r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Fifth, I have always preferred getting published to not, and
\nhere, I could do it.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in direct response copywriting, newbies today approach
\nbig-name direct marketers in highly competitive markets —
\nfinancial and health — and ask to do a full promotion.<\/p>\n

Even if you are hired, these marketers regularly engage the top
\nguns — and your chances of beating Clayton Makepeace, Richard
\nArmstrong, or David Deutsch as a beginner are slim to none.<\/p>\n

Start with smaller financial publishers, supplement makers, and
\nother direct response offers such as books, coins, and
\ncollectibles.<\/p>\n

Get winners and keep working … and the bigger companies will
\nslowly take notice and approach you about writing for them.<\/p>\n

In the interest of giving you more balanced reporting, sometimes
\na newbie takes a shot going after a big client — and it pays off.<\/p>\n

In the early 80s I was working for medium-sized industrial
\nmanufacturers and getting decent but not spectacular fees, mainly
\nwriting brochures and print ads.<\/p>\n

A newbie I was friendly with approached International Paper about
\nwriting for them.<\/p>\n

They took the bait and hired him. He did well and was earning in
\nhis first month of freelancing pay scales it had taken me 3 years
\nto reach.<\/p>\n

So really, what do I know?<\/p>\n

However, as a rule, I think my advice here to start smaller and
\nwork your way up is fundamentally sound.<\/p>\n

That’s my philosophy. And I’m sticking to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the late 1970s, when I first became a professional writer, the most sought-after assignment in freelancing was writing magazine articles. Today, among AWAI students and other copywriters, the most sought-after assignment is a long-copy promotion such as a magalog or video sales letter (VSL) selling a product via direct response. Anyway, back in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-success","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1709,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions\/1709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}