If you want to make a living as a writer, this writing blog is for you. Why? Because I’m sharing whatever I find useful. A lot of the things I write about might seem desperately obvious; but obvious for one person doesn't necessarily mean the same for your neighbor. And often it comes down to pull all these obvious things together, and that might not be that obvious at all. Therefore, I agree, emails are obviously useful, but are you making the most of them?
Sending emails is a perfect way for reaching out to friends and family. It is also a way for making connections further afield. Writing emails is a lot like writing anyway. It should be something that comes easily to you. Yes the format and conventions are different from running a blog or producing articles for customers, but it is still in line with what you want to do most: Writing.
Emailing is a non-intrusive way of contacting people. They only need to reply if they want to. They can write their replies in their own time and at their own convenience. An email allows you to include links to your work without all that terrible 'I spell it for you'. It gives you space to talk about your work without having to brag and let your expertise do the talking instead.
You might worry about approaching your family and friends to tell them what you’re doing. This obstacle is one you need to overcome, as it exists in your mind only. If you listen to your friends and family, they are often talking about their work and what they do. Just because you write doesn't change a thing. No one will think it odd that you talk about your work, too.
Talking about your work to them means keeping to your usual form of address. Just because you are basically promoting your business to them doesn't mean you have to sound like a car salesman. Be true to yourself. Uncle Jim opened a shop for fishing tackle last month, and now you’re letting them know about something that's happening in your professional life. You’re not trying to sell them anything.
Make every email you write unique. This should go without saying, but I never mind stating the obvious as you might have noticed. Address the email to the person you're writing it to. Be personal to relate to that specific person. Before you say anything about what you're up to, check how they're doing, and ask what's going on in their life. Does this sound like your grandma? That woman had sense. You can cheat a bit with copy and paste when it comes to the links you want to include. But try to keep it to a minimum.
Before you write to anyone, have your writing samples in place. Publish some blog posts or volunteer to help a nonprofit organization with their marketing materials; I've dealt with the possibilities in my article about samples. If you are writing to friends and family, you probably know what interests them; choose the samples to fit their tastes. Getting them to read your samples even if they don't need your work right now will help them remember you as a writer. If they get asked if they know a writer, they now do.
Finally, don’t be afraid to subtly promote your services. If you believe the person you’re writing to might be interested in some of your services, then specifically list those services. At the very least, mention your website, and ask them to take a look through it and send you their ideas and comments. If Uncle Jim is planning a website for his fishing tackle, you should be the one he thinks of to write the content.
Think outside the box, too. You will think that sending the information about your writing to retired Aunt Matilda is a waste of time. But she is chatty, and her neighbor is having a barbecue. You never know what comes out of such chance meetings, do you? And writing to Aunt Matilda is probably overdue anyhow and therefore no waste of time, either.
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