It's time for...
Question of the Day!
When was the last time you challenged yourself to push it to the limits?
That's about to happen in my life as I start off the summer with a Query Challenge competition. Members of FreelanceSuccess.com take on this challenge every summer--and sometimes a few other times during the year. It's where we break up into groups of 10 or more writers and commit to writing as many pitches as possible during the eight weeks that the contest lasts.
We get points for pitching (introducing ourselves and/or submitting ideas to editors) and points for scoring assignments. It's a lot of fun, can be a lot of pressure (especially for the newbies), and it's very high energy. I'm co-captain of my team (QC5) and will be spearheading the motivation. My team consists of some international journalists, one who lives in India and one who lives in Tokyo. I find that very interesting. It's the first time I've ever been on a team where there was global participation. Cool!
We begin on Monday, ending the first week in August. I'm hoping to get out 20 pitches a week. One writer wants to double her totals every week throughout the entire competition, which I think is amazing, considering that she wants to begin with 20. Yikes! Typically, you can maintain a fair amount of work if you engage in sending out five pitches a week on a regular basis. Of course, they have to be targeted pitches. So, 20 to me is a rather high number in and of itself. Going any higher is astronomical. But, the end result from this competition is that the writers get work. They really do. And that's what it's all about--marketing.
So I'm looking forward to what's ahead.
How about you? What are you challenging yourself to do--or do more of--this summer?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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5 comments:
This sounds amazing! I had no idea that it went on. Perhaps I'll join next year. This summer, I'm taking three classes for graduate school and then five in the fall. That's a stretching of my limits for sure! :) Still, I'm excited about it. I need to push myself more in general, but especially in writing and part of that is reading blogs like this one! Thanks, Jackie, and good luck with the Query Competition! :)
Do you belong to FreelanceSuccess.com, Jared? It's a great group, so motivated. That's where the Blogathon began. There's so much creativity involved in the writers there that you can't help but get caught up in it and want to try something new to drum up business. I recommend them highly.
What graduate classes are you taking? That does sound like a pretty good stretch that you can be proud of.
No, actually, I don't belong to that site. I must check it out! :) Thank you.
I'm currently in graduate school for my Masters of Special Education. It's an adventure, for sure. :)
I like to challenge myself from time to time, especially with physical stuff. Because that's what scares me most. For instance, downhill skiing? You will never find me doing that. But I did take a weeklong, guided hiking vacation in Washington's North Cascades mountains. That was a challenge. It was a few years ago and I did long hikes each day on some incredibly narrow, mountainside trails. It was good for me!
Rhea, bet you could do downhill skiing as well, if you started on the easy slopes and allowed yourself to take it easy. I remember my first time skiing. I was scared out of my mind. Fell off the lift every single time--on purpose. I felt more in control that way. How ironic is that? Then I started visualizing how I could get off the lift, and as the chair neared the top of the hill, I kept seeing myself move my body closer to the edge of the seat and right up and off the chair, gliding up and safely away toward the slopes. It worked! Visualizing success works wonders! I'm so glad I did that, as I really enjoy downhill skiing now.
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