May 18 Free Teleclass with business coach Mary Ellen Bates
Many more things are negotiable than we may think; in fact, much of life involves negotiation. And the effects of not negotiating can be cumulative. This presentation helped us identify who is “the boss of you”, develop our ability to “reframe” challenging situations, and build tools to enhance our negotiation skills and approach every situation as negotiable.
Greetings:
I’m not what you might call a “techie” person by nature, and I do get help with the association Web site and this newsletter from my wonderful WordPress and HTML guru Christina Milburn (she’s going to blush when she sees this—hi, Christina, you patron saint of non-techie people like me!). But because this association so far runs on a shoestring budget, I manage some of the technical aspects of running it myself.
So imagine my dismay last week when I discovered that not one, not two, but three different tools at the IAPGW had for some god-awful reason decided to stop functioning properly. Here I was, excited to tell you all about upcoming teleclasses and new member benefits coming down the pike, and I found that you couldn’t register for the class OR join the association even if you wanted to!
As Christina will attest, I was not my best self last week. I abandoned the thought of getting “Invisible Ink” out to you on time, halted my normally tireless promotion of the association and its members, and buried myself in system support FAQs at 1shoppingcart and sent multiple S.O.S. e-mails to WordPress (where I discovered another saint named Jen, who patiently walked me through that particular issue).
All in all, though, I learned (or re-learned) some extremely valuable lessons last week. First, no matter what the setback, you’ll get through it if you keep your head and remain persistent; and second, you never know where you might end up finding a patron saint to help get you through whatever you’re struggling with.
That’s really why associations like the International Association of Professional Ghost Writers exist, as a matter of fact. Or why there are coaching clubs, which I discuss in this week’s article. How nice to know that none of us is in this alone. 
To your success,
Mary Anne Hahn
IAPGW Executive Director
P.S. Today’s my birthday, but I’m giving the gifts! Join IPAGW before May 1, 2010 and receive a free copy of ghost writer Eva Shaw’s book, Ghostwriting: For Fun & Profit (this is the first and still the best book I’ve ever read on ghostwriting, from someone who created a highly successful career doing it). So hurry to http://iapgw.org/member-benefits and join today!
P.S. Don’t miss the next f-r-e-e IAPGW teleclass, “Why People Hire Ghostwriters—or Not” with veteran ghost writer Kim Pearson. For more information go to http://iapgw.org/upcoming-events and register now!
Karen Cole
Professional Member
Seattle, WA
http://www.rainbowriting.com
Kim Pearson
Professional Member
http://www.primary-sources.com
Come join us! http://iapgw.org/member-benefits
The IAPGW is in the process of forming an advisory board of professionals in a number of fields. The board’s purpose will be to provide guidance to the development of the association and its services, as well as assist in promoting the association to both potential members and those who might seek the services of a ghost writer.
In our quest to support and advocate for ghost writers around the world, as well as to become the future “go to” place for those in need ghostwriting assistance, we feel that the creation of an advisory board will assist us in both endeavors. Stay tuned for more information in upcoming issue of “Invisible Ink.”
© 2010 by Mary Anne Hahn
In order to succeed as a freelance writer, you need to wear many hats in order to launch, run and grow your business. Besides doing the actual writing for your clients, you most likely perform your own marketing, do your own filing, serve as a one-man or one-woman research department, act as your own project manager, save your own business receipts and maybe even do all your own accounting. Some of these hats that you wear probably don’t fit you as well as others, right?
Of course, the ideal world would be one where we could outsource all those functions that we don’t do well or find distasteful—much like why other people hire us to write for them. But for those business functions that we either keep because we can’t afford to hire someone to do them, or hang onto because we really want to do them better, there exist some pretty affordable options out there to get coaching on them from experts.
One of these options is to join what are known as monthly coaching clubs in the area of expertise where you want or need help. While many business and success coaches can and do charge some eye-popping fees for their time and programs, the ones who form clubs put coaching within our financial reach by holding sessions with and providing tools to multiple clients simultaneously, and by charging palatable monthly rates.
While the concept has grown tremendously on the internet, it’s by no means new. Weight Watchers, for example, is a type of coaching to help people learn to change their approaches to food and exercise. Toastmasters International has provided people with a place to hone their public speaking skills for nearly 90 years. On the Web, I performed a quick search and found a coaching club to manage and eliminate debt (http://www.debtfreecoachingclub.com/), increase productivity (http://www.theproductivitycoachingclub.com), learn how to write for children (http://www.cwcoachingclub.com), and even one with the intriguing name of “What You Know Is Worth More Than You Know™ Coaching Club” (http://www.whatyouknowisworthmorecoachingclub.com). As you can see, these clubs pretty much run the gamut.
I personally belong to a couple coaching clubs and have found them to be worth every penny. First of all, not only do I get the opportunity to learn from and ask questions from some pretty successful people, I also get to expand my professional network with the other members in the club. You never know whose ears might perk up when they hear that there is a ghost writer in their midst! The two I belong to are:
Robert Middleton’s Action Plan Marketing Club (click the “Marketing Programs” tab at the top of the page). Robert targets independent professionals trying to market their services both on- and off-line. Not only are his twice monthly 90-minute coaching calls worth their weight in gold, the club includes a step by step marketing tutorial, recorded interviews with other marketing experts, help with forming your own mastermind group, and a place where you can upload your professional profile so that others can find you and your services. At $29 a month, which you can cancel at anytime, I can imagine a better bargain.
Stephanie Frank’s Success IQ Inner Circle. While I can only make every other one of her weekly coaching calls, I still get more than my money’s worth from my membership (besides, I can always catch the call I miss afterwards because they’re all recorded). In fact, I still can’t believe she coaches every week for only $27 a month! Stephanie’s program focuses on ways to eliminate any roadblocks we place in the way of our own success, and I find her enthusiasm contagious. Besides the calls, the club contains a library of audios on topics ranging from peak performance and goal-setting to self-confidence and time management. I always walk away from the Tuesday calls feeling pumped up and motivated.
So if you find there’s an area in your life where you and your writing career can use a boost, perhaps joining a coaching club is a way that you can get the help and guidance you need within your budget.
March Poll Results: What do you find is your greatest challenge as a ghost writer?
Breaking in and developing a reputation as a ghost writer 42%
Finding clients 17%
Charging what I think my services are worth. 17%
Balancing multiple projects simultaneously 17%
Meeting deadlines 7%
April Poll: If you have or would join a monthly coaching club, what would the purpose of it be?
Register your vote at http://iapgw.org
May 5: Free teleclass: “Why People Hire a Ghost Writer—or Not” with Kim Pearson at http://www.primary-sources.com
Seems obvious: in order to market your ghostwriting services effectively, you need to know why people will want to hire you. But ghostwriting is often misunderstood, by non-writers and writers alike. In this teleclass taught by an experienced ghostwriter, we’ll explore the following:
Why people think they want to hire a ghostwriter
Why and when people should hire a ghostwriter
Why people don’t hire a ghostwriter – and how to convince them otherwise.
Date: Wednesday, May 5 10, 2010
Time: 2 PM Eastern (1 PM Central, Noon Mountain, 11 AM Pacific)
Cost: Free!
To register for this class and receive an e-mail with call in information, go to
http://iapgw.org/upcoming-events
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May 18: Free teleclass: “Painless (No, really!) Negotiating” with Mary Ellen Bates at http://www.batesinfo.com
Details coming soon!
Until June 1, 2010, IAPGW members can receive a $75 discount on the program Living as a Ghost, a comprehensive program on how to establish and grow your own ghostwriting career. Developed and offered by Kim Pearson, herself an established ghost writer with more than 10 years of experience, this course will help aspiring ghost writers get their careers off the ground, and established ghost writers move to the next level.
This discount is ONLY available to IAPGW members (at both the associate and professional levels). For details on the course, and to find out how to qualify for the discount, visit http://iapgw.org/living-as-a-ghost-program.
Seems obvious: in order to market your ghostwriting services effectively, we need to know why people will want to hire us. But ghostwriting is often misunderstood, by non-writers and writers alike. In this teleclass taught by an experienced ghostwriter, we explored the following: