High-Income Business Writing Podcast
Ed Gandia
Ed Gandia, co-author of the bestselling book, The Wealthy Freelancer, reveals how to propel your writing business to the six-figure level (or the part-time equivalent). In this nuts-and-bolts, no-nonsense podcast, you'll discover how to get better clients, earn more in less time, and bring more freedom and joy into your writing business. Ed will walk you through the practical, “doable” systems and strategies he has developed in his own writing business — the same systems he has taught his private coaching clients. He'll also show you what’s working for other business writers by bringing you real case studies from the field. And he'll share all this information in an honest and transparent way, with no hype or fluff. Topics covered include: getting better and higher-paying clients; banishing the feast-or-famine cycle; doing more of the work that excites you; how to raise your fees and rates; boosting your productivity; making your business recession-proof; discovering and leveraging your strengths; finding your niche; pricing content writing projects; pricing copywriting projects; writing white papers; writing case studies; writing web copy; writing articles; and much more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 9, 2018 • 38min
#147: How to Position Yourself as an Expert (Without Feeling Like a Fraud)
As your business grows, it’s important that you begin attracting prospects and building your authority. There’s nothing like having prospects knocking on your door! Especially when the prospect has read some of your articles or blog posts ... and liked what they saw. In this episode you’ll hear from someone who built their software business on this idea. He’s not a freelancer. But the ideas he shares are directly applicable to what we do ... regardless of your experience level.
Feb 23, 2018 • 44min
#146: How to Land Writing Contracts in the Public Sector: An Insider’s View
I’m often asked about freelance writing opportunities in the public sector . I know the opportunities exist. But until I talked with this week’s guest, I didn’t know what these opportunities looked like or how to go after them. That’s why I’m so excited about this episode. My guest is Katie Taylor, CEO of Untold Content, a writing consultancy based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Katie works with clients in government, healthcare, engineering, industry and science. And a big part of their work over the years has been with government agencies. In our conversation, you’ll learn about the opportunities writing for the public sector, including government agencies. Katie gives us a great primer on what these contracts are about, what they look like and some practical steps for getting started.
Feb 9, 2018 • 37min
#145: Conversational Copywriting with Nick Usborne
I recently had Joanna Wiebe on the show to talk about . And today we’re continuing that conversation with my colleague Nick Usborne. Nick has written copy for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Citibank, Apple, Chrysler, MSN.com, New York Times, WebEx, the U.S. Navy and others. So, yeah. He’s the real deal. And he attributes much of his success to a copywriting approach he recently defined as “conversational copywriting.” It’s not what you think. This goes beyond the “write like you talk” advice we’ve all learned in copywriting books and courses. In this chat, Nick explains what this approach is all about ... and how you can adopt it to write more persuasive and effective copy for clients.
Jan 26, 2018 • 40min
#144: How to Be More Likeable and Win More Business (Without Changing Your Personality)
You’ve heard it before: People do business with people they know, LIKE and trust. But what exactly does it mean to be likeable? Is it a personality thing? Do you have to act or look a certain way? Do you have to be charming, wear designer clothes ... or have a perfect smile and beautiful teeth? Not at all! According to my friend and colleague Michael Katz, anyone can be likeable. In this fast-paced interview, Michael explains what you need to do to be perceived as a true likeable expert
Jan 12, 2018 • 39min
#143: Why It’s Become So Darn Hard to Write Convincing Copy
As I talk with fellow copywriters about what’s happening in the business, one theme keeps coming up: How increasingly difficult it’s becoming to write persuasive copy. That’s long been an issue in the ultra-competitive direct response industries of financial newsletters, natural health and business opportunity. But it’s also becoming a big challenge in other less aggressive settings—even in B2B content marketing. To get some insights and answers on this topic, I recently turned to one of the top conversion copywriters in the business, Joanna Wiebe. Joanna is the founder of Copy Hackers and of Airstory, a new content creation platform for marketing teams and educators. You don’t have to be a direct response copywriter to get value from this episode. If you write any kind of persuasive content, I think you’ll find some great insights and ideas here.
Dec 22, 2017 • 52min
#142: Five Non-Negotiables for Your Business (and Your Life)
Many of us spend time at the end of the year setting goals for the months and year ahead. But have you ever sat down to figure out what you value most in your business and personal life? And more specifically, the values, criteria or rules that will guide most of your decisions? In this episode, you’re going to hear from Trevor Mauch, a very successful entrepreneur who started just a few years ago like many of us did: as a freelancer. He eventually founded a software company that’s grown into a multi-million dollar business. Along the way he had a series of challenges and epiphanies that changed the course of his life. Listen in as he explains how clarifying his own set of non-negotiables made all the difference in the world.
Dec 8, 2017 • 56min
#141: Derek Lewis on Getting Prospects to Come to YOU
Given the choice between prospecting for clients or having prequalified prospects come to YOU, I’ll take the latter any day. Prospecting is an essential part of marketing your writing business. But getting prequalified prospects to come to you via attraction marketing is much more efficient in the long run. In this episode you’ll hear from my good friend and colleague Derek Lewis. Derek is a very successful book ghostwriter who commands $50,000 to $75,000 per book. And one of the many things I love about his story is the fact that he relies 100% on attraction marketing. He explains how he does this so well, and how you can start implementing some elements of attraction marketing in your own writing business.
Nov 24, 2017 • 42min
#140: What’s Going on With the Freelance Economy? A Look at the Numbers with Robert McGuire
I remember the blank stares I got in 2006 when I told friends and relatives that I quit my day job to go freelance. Back then, very few people understood what freelancing was ... or that anyone could earn a living writing from home. Boy, has that’s changed! Over the past 10 years, there has been a ton of information published about the freelance economy. Freelancing and consulting no longer mean “I’m between jobs.” And experts and economists are finally recognizing that we’re a real (and growing) segment of the labor force—not a temporary fluke. But exactly how many people are freelancing? Are the big numbers we’re reading an accurate representation of the freelance workforce? And what do these numbers and projections mean for us? That’s the topic of this episode. My guest, Robert McGuire, is going to pull apart these numbers and predictions and give us his take on what’s really happening in the gig economy.
Nov 10, 2017 • 1h 9min
#139: Two Unconventional Options to Traditional Health Insurance for Freelancers
Today we’re talking health insurance for freelancers. More specifically, we’re exploring two unconventional options to traditional health insurance. This is an extremely hot topic given our current political environment. But I don’t want to give you the same information everyone else is publishing. “Where can I get affordable health insurance?” is the wrong question to ask right now. The better question is, “What are my options?” For many of us, getting the same coverage from a different source (and for the same price) isn’t a real solution. If your premiums are no longer sustainable—or if you have pre-existing conditions that you’re concerned about—you should look beyond the usual offerings. In this episode, I’m focusing on two options most people don’t even know exist...
Oct 27, 2017 • 41min
#138: Two Paths to Creating a Successful Second Income Stream with Info Products
I think every freelancer should work on building a secondary income stream. Doing so diversifies your income and takes some of the pressure off your client work. It can also help fund some really important things in your life... Your kids’ college tuition ... your parents’ long-term care ... or even nicer vacations and experiences (the bucket list beckons!). In this episode, I detail two different approaches to doing this with an info product (such as an online course or training program).
