WENDY McCANCE on WRITING

I would like to THANK Wendy McCance for taking her time to write something for us regarding writing. As you can quickly tell from her first paragraph her topic is making writing a career possibility.

When I was asked to write a guest post for Robin Leigh Morgan’s blog, I had no idea what to write about.  Robin suggested I write an article about writing itself.  After doing some soul-searching, I decided to write about the questions I am often asked.  I hope the following information is useful to anyone looking to enter into a career as a writer.  

I began a blog called Searching for the Happiness back in February of 2012.  I fell in love with writing and have never looked back, I was hooked.  Along the way a second blog called Adventures in Real Estate was born.  At the time I was a real estate agent and I felt that anyone looking to get into the real estate field would benefit from knowing what being an agent was like.  I took readers through the process from the beginning when I was taking classes through to the day to day grind of the career itself.  Both blogs landed in the online version of our local newspaper, The Oakland Press where they still are to this day.

Along the way, I realized that writing was the career that I wanted to have.  I began to look at writing as a business and realized I needed to get the word out.  I have over 50 social media sites that have information on me as a writer.  Many of these sources also have links to my blog as well as articles I have written.

I began to have some small successes by posting articles in different groups and participating in the conversations that would follow.  I began getting noticed and developed a significant following. 

I think the secret to success as a writer is thinking of the business aspect of the business as much as the writing.  You need to prospect for clients daily.  I have been known to write 30 emails a day to people I felt might be in need of a freelance writer.  Participating in local networking groups is another great way to drum up some business.  People like to hire locally.  Knowing someone personally only ups your success rate.

Having two blogs has also been incredibly significant.  I get to practice my writing skills, get to know a bunch of fabulous readers and get a feel for what type of articles really speak to my followers.

The best sites I have found for submitting articles and getting my name out there have been: Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Twyla, Quora, Google+ and in my case Mommy Blogs.  If you go to http://searchingforthehappiness.com I have written several articles on blogging and writing with tips for setting up relevant social media profiles.  My article, Increase the Traffic to your Website (for instance) has over 60 places you can create a profile and submit your work.

I am a firm believer in submitting your writing wherever possible.  If you google my name, you will see that I have several pages of information.  This is key when you are trying to get work as a writer.  A company might not know much about you, so they google you.  Seeing your name pop up several times helps give the company confidence that you have the experience they are looking for.

In the end, I am thrilled to be a writer.  Between writing and prospecting for new clients, I am very busy, but it’s what I love.  When I start work each day, I feel like I am getting away with something.  I mean, I love what I get to do each day.  It doesn’t feel like work.  I believe if you find that thing you are passionate about, if you are able to create a career around it, you have hit the lottery.  Life becomes exciting and incredibly fulfilling.

I’d like to thank Robin Leigh Morgan for this opportunity to guest blog on her site.

Bio

Wendy McCance is a Michigan based freelance writer with two blogs featured in The Oakland Press.  Wendy has had articles published by Associated Content and several online publications.  Wendy has also written press releases, blog posts, profiles and articles for several companies.  To learn more about Wendy McCance, please visit any of the following links:

Blogs

Searching for the Happiness- http://searchingforthehappiness.com
Adventures in Real Estate- http://wendyworkinginrealestate.com

Social Media

Linkedin- http://www.linkedin.com/in/wmccance/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/w_mccance
The Oakland Press- http://theoaklandpress.com/blogs/life

I'm sure Wendy would like to hear your comments/questions so please leave them.
And if you like this blog, why not consider following it.