Dunno about “IT chops”; it’s more a case of being dragged, kicking and screaming into IT proficiency. That happens when you run a one-man-show! Having said that, I did work in the software industry for 9 years before starting Divine Write. I was a tech-writer back then. But I deliberately avoided any serious IT learning ‘cos it’s better, in some ways, for tech writers to approximate ‘dumb’ users. It wasn’t until I started Divine Write that I found myself HAVING to become proficient.

But realistically, the setup I have isn’t that complex technically. It’s just a question of knowing what you want, knowing what’s possible, and learning a few little tricks to make it happen.

Re PDF creators: Yeah, I’ve used a couple of the freebies in the past. They’re great. Macromedia had a trial version of Contribute, a few years back, that came with a PDF creator. It was the best one I’ve see. Unfortunately, none of the free ones are good for big docs, and they don’t seem to handle multiple platforms very well (at least on big docs). So when it came time to PDF my SEO ebook, I ran into problems. Some people couldn’t see half the content at all, and others saw it distorted. What’s more, the filesize was huge. I ended up biting the bullet and buying Adobe Acrobat to overcome those problems. It cost a bit, but there’s no doubt it’s better than the freebies.

Definitely an email template would be a good idea. I kinda have a couple of those (although they’re not driven by ACT!). It hadn’t occurred to me to do it thru ACT!, so thanks for the suggestion!!! :)

I agree with you about Bob Bly’s book. I’ve been running Divine Write for 7 years now, but still I learned a thing or two from it. I think most of what Bly discusses can be learned without guidance, and it’s by no means comprehensive, but it’s definitely a good buy. A very good starting point.

Thanks again for the thoughtful comment, mate, and the email template suggestion. I’m on it!

Cheers.
Glenn

Thanks for showing us under the hood. You’ve obviously got some IT chops as well as your word skills!

I use ACT! as well but you’ve really got it wired using the Opportunities feature and those Word macros. Nice!

A good cheap (free actually) alternative to Acrobat is PrimoPDF. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it’s good for converting Word docs into PDFs.

How about a pro-forma ACT! template for your proposal delivery email? The only annoying thing is you have to re-type the subject line every time.

Re Angus’ questions and your answers: IMHO every freelancer (copywriter or otherwise) should read Bob Bly’s Secrets of a Freelance Writer. In this book Bob explains everything you need to know about setting your fees to maximise your profit.

He also shares some nifty questions to unearth the client’s budget. They won’t always tell you, but just by asking you’ll discover whether an opportunity is worth pursuing or not.