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Issue #360: Create Your Own Sales Process June 21, 2021 |
| Greetings Fellow Travel Writers! . . . and WELCOME all new subscribers. Thanks for joining us.
Editorial: Create Your Own Sales Process
For my first couple of years in travel writing I forged ahead, pitching and selling several articles each week for print magazines. I didn’t know whether I was being successful and had no basis for comparison.
I was selling two, three, four or even five articles each week. I decided to keep track of my progress. I quickly reached two milestones: 1. By my 7th month I had 100 articles published 2. By the end of my 25th month I was published in 100 different magazines In my third year of freelancing, I attended a travel writing conference. A veteran travel writer, speaking on a panel, was proudly boasting that in her 20 year writing career her work had been published in 100 magazines. I thought, “What’s the big deal about that? It only took me 25 months to do the same thing.” When I shared this thought with the 5 people at my table, one of the guys said, “B******t!” The rest of them stared at me like I was from Mars. So, I pulled open my laptop and showed them my long list of published articles and bylines. Jaws dropped. Everyone at my table started asking me how I’d managed to get published so much. It was at that moment when it occurred to me that I was doing something noteworthy. Apparently, I was crushing it! My second “aha” moment came a couple of years later when I purchased a self-published book about breaking into freelance travel writing. The author, a successful travel writer, had been writing for one year longer than me and had 78 magazine bylines to her name. By this time, I’d been writing for one year less than her, and had 650 bylines to my name. Although she only had 12% of the number of published articles that I had, she was considered successful. She was successful enough to write a book about it! Again, this tipped me off that I was doing something right. I realized I had evolved a sales and marketing system that worked better than either of these two writers. I’d taken a whole bunch of traditional sales techniques, invented a few of my own, and reworked them into a sequence that made sense to me. Over time I refined them into a process that reaped rewards. Aspiring travel writers reached out and asked for help. Since then, I’ve coached more than 100 travel writers. When they use my sales techniques, they meet with excellent success. These writers continue to have their stories published in highly respected paying print and online media. A few of them have tweaked and customized my sales techniques to their preferences. Which brings me to the point of this post: Never be afraid to experiment with your sales and marketing ideas. There’s never only one way to succeed. While you’re learning how to break into freelance travel writing, it’s wise to copy what other successful freelance writers are doing. Then you can modify it into your own process. Tweak traditional sales techniques and other people’s marketing systems. Evolve a system of your own that works consistently for you. We have a resource portal on our website, www.PitchTravelWrite.com, to help you sell your travel articles.
Click here to access our entire suite of articles about getting your travel stories published
This Week's Featured PostTravel Gear: Lightweight Luggage, Travel Clothing and Packing Advice for Travel WritersWhen a magazine editor accepts your story proposal and you’ve landed a travel assignment, you need to follow up by visiting your destination. This needs to be done as soon as is convenient. It’s time to do the one thing that travel writers love as much as writing – and that’s travel!Seasoned travel writers carry next to nothing but what you carry will depend upon the length of your visit, the season, what you need to do while you’re there and your destination. I have a lot to say about travel gear because the majority of my travel assignments require air travel. Everything you can do to lighten your load and make your trip run smoothly makes it a more enjoyable experience.
Upcoming PostsJune 28: Seven Reasons Why Aspiring Novelists Should Write for MagazinesJuly 5: Writing for Travel Trade Journals July 12: Creating a Successful Travel Blog – 8 Things You Should Know PitchTravelWrite.com Success StoriesCandi Licence: Another Travel Writing Success Story
I fell into travel writing by accident,” writes Candi Licence.
“My husband and I retired at the end of 2013, sold most of our stuff, stored our precious things like art and family heirlooms, and began traveling full time. We’d go to places we always wanted to see, stay for 3 months and then move onto our next adventure. I started a blog to let people know where we were and what we were doing, and I got feedback from people I trusted that they loved my writing. Writing about our adventures was intoxicating and getting complimented was exhilarating. Fast forward 3 years, and I attended a travel writing workshop to see if it was possible for me to become a travel writer. I drafted an article during the workshop, and it got a great reception from participants and an Editor who was coaching aspiring writers throughout the event. I left the workshop fired up, with stars in my eyes. Once home, tried to sell the article and learned my first hard lesson. Always pitch first! It’s hard for beginners to place a completed article. The second lesson I learned is that you can’t submit queries to one editor at a time—it’s a complete waste of time. I’d wait a month, get no response and then send my query out to the next editor with the same result. I was spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. I was frustrated. I thought I had the talent to be a good writer but didn’t know how to break into the field. That’s when I saw Roy Stevenson’s Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers. I signed up, took the workshop, and it changed everything for me.”
Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links About Researching Your DestinationsMost travel story ideas are worthy of publication somewhere. If you spend some quality time researching your destination you can usually find a marketable story idea or two. Sometimes you’ll have to abandon a travel story idea. If it doesn’t have enough “jam” to hook an editor, you won’t be able to sell it.But it’s more likely that you just need to do a little work to discover what’s so interesting about a place and to clarify your unique story angle.
In simplest terms, my sales process starts with pitching a story idea. Here's my sales process in a little more detail. This process had worked for me over and over again.
So where, and how, do travel writers start their quest for a salable story? Here are 6 tips to help you.
Inspirational Travel Quote
RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERSFeatured Bundle of the Month: TRAVEL WRITING CREATIVE PACK
When you buy the bundle you automatically save 10% off the regular price of the books. You can get an additional $5 off the price of the bundle if you use promo code JN5 at checkout: Here's how these reference guides will help you. The Art & Craft of Travel Writing is a handy reference guide to make your travel stories sparkle and help you become a more successful writer. The tips and techniques packed into the 170-page book will help you develop your craft, hone your skills, and work smarter. In Find Your Niche you'll learn why it’s important to write in a variety of genres. It explores the multitude of opportunities available to travel writers and other freelance writers. You'll learn to identify the niches that are most interesting and meaningful to you. And you’ll find out how to hone in on the most profitable niches. Full of tips, advice and inspiration, this 85-page book will help you find your niche! Story Ideas that Sell guides you along the highly creative path of inventing and discovering potential travel stories to pitch and sell to travel magazines. Conjuring up viable story ideas are the very bedrock of every successful travel writer today. In this 76-page book you'll learn my winning system to generate story ideas that sell. Master this first step - and combine it with a great pitch - and you’ll soon find yourself immersed in exciting experiences with fascinating people.
Group Coaching Mastermind CommunityOur first Group Coaching Mastermind Community kicked off in October, 2020, and we’ve got a global group with members living in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Vietnam and the U.S. We're very excited about this group of writers and our new community! We added new members to our community in early January and they're getting to know the group and participate in writing activities.If you missed out on the opportunity to join this session, you can get on the waiting list for the next session starting in the fall:
Live WorkshopsPeople have been asking when our 2022 workshops in New Orleans, Louisiana are scheduled.Here are the 2022 dates: We've had lots of interest already. You can sign up for our no-obligation interest list for these workshops and receive our substantial early bird discounts when we open registration: GET ON THE 2022 LIVE WORKSHOP NO-OBLIGATION INTEREST LIST HERE Did You Know . . .Our Complete Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers is ranked #1 on TravelWritersExchange.com’s Top Ten Travel Writing Workshops.You can access the list of the top ten travel writing workshops at the link below:
Online Travel Writing & Marketing Master ClassNow, you can study our Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers online for only a fraction of the price of the live class! We recorded it LIVE in Seattle, for aspiring travel writers who weren’t able to attend in person.
At Your ServiceCoaching
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Consulting email: pitchtravelwrite@gmail.com
If you know someone who will enjoy this newsletter, PitchTravelWrite.com, is our information-packed website for travel writers. This e-zine, a series of travel writing books and reference guides, coaching programs, and our workshops all work together to give you guidance in this field. Our aim is to provide you with practical, nitty gritty information to help you gain entry into the travel writing realm and all the enjoyment that comes with it.
You can see the entire list by visiting their website - click on the graphic to view the list now.
Friend me on FacebookMy Facebook page is about freelance travel writing. I frequently post about:• links to other well produced travel websites and blogs • links to my travel articles • magazine cover stories and back stories • links to resource pages • links to coaching and mentoring resources . . .and plenty of other useful information to get you up to speed Link to Roy's Personal Facebook page That's all for now. Until next week - just keep pitching! Roy Roy Stevenson |
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