Diversify Your Writing Portfolio

You know it and I know it — it’s hard to make it in this writing gig. And nowadays, with heightened competition and innovative marketing practices, it’s almost mandatory that you extend your writer’s hand down a variety of promotional avenues.

It’s about building a business – your writing business – and you and your thoughts are the product. What are you going to do to build your name, enhance your capabilities, and brand yourself with high level expectations?

Take the pro-active approach to your writing business and diversify your portfolio with the following items:

1. Blogs, Podcasts and Videos. A triple threat of sight and sound. Engage your potential readers with a regular writing schedule, your blog, giving snippets of your style and a name they can follow. Create podcasts and video linked to your blog and virally distribute on websites such as YouTube and FaceBook.

2. Articles. Write and submit, write and submit. Seek out magazines within your writing genre or those that may compliment your story or writing style. Brand yourself with specialized knowledge. And get published, even if it’s in a monthly edition.

3. Writing Associations. Embrace your industry and attend annual writer’s conferences. Become involved in writing communities and network with fellow writers. Get to know industry editors. Carry a professional portfolio of your writing, published works, awards and any press coverage.

4. Seminars. Seek out opportunities to speak to potential readers and industry professionals. Speak for free if you have to. You can start small — writer’s groups, bookstores. Prepare a presentation with a niche and present it to your writing associations for next year’s conference.

5. Facebook and Twitter. Get e-socially connected. It’s a must and it works. Haven’t you heard a story of a friend of a friend…well, that can be you and your writing the friend is speaking of. Get involved in social networks, treat it as an element of your business, and promote your writing.

Start small and understand that this combined effort will take time. It’s one of those things — you give it all you’ve got and it feels like your efforts are slow paced. But with consistency and the extra mile, the payoff can be grand.