Leveraging Your Writing

A frequent conversation I have with my writing clients is how to best utilize their writing to gain more exposure and to create more income. If there is one thing that will accomplish both of these objectives, it's learning how to leverage your writing.

I suggest that you write something once, then use it in various mediums. Here's an example. I offer a teleclass series called Getting Clear About the Writing Process. I spent several days developing the content for that four week, one hour per week series. I recorded the classes and produced a workbook from the written content. I will be selling the recordings as CDs and downloadable MP3 files, and the workbook will be offered in both printed and downloadable file formats. Eventually, I will use the content to produce a book on writing, and will record that book for sale as a book on tape. I am also planning to submit portions of the content to magazines and online sites that are seeking guest columnists. And finally, I will be expanding the content to begin offering live workshops and retreats for potential writers.

My goal is to use any writing I create a minimum of five different ways, more if possible. Some will be direct income; others will be for marketing purposes. From my example, here are the methods I am using:

1. Teleclass Content

2. CDs

3. MP3s

4. Workbook

5. Downloadable PDF file

6. Articles for publication

7. Book

8. Book on tape

9. Workshops

10. Retreats

Another form of leverage is to use parts of what you've written to create another completely new piece. I save all my writing, regardless if I use it immediately or not. This week, as I was finalizing my chapter for the next book in my coaching book series, A Guide to Getting It: Sacred Healing, I used writing I had done several years ago titled, "Breaking the Pattern: The Seven C's of Transformation." Although it was not published at the time I wrote it, I've used various versions and parts of it in several other works that have subsequently been published.

Writing is like piecing together a quilt. Sometimes just one sentence from a work you've already written will fit nicely into a new piece. Other times, I've used an entire article and put it in a longer piece, such as a chapter in the series, or in the book I am writing for publication next year.

The creative process is like diving for pearls. You might write ten pages and only one sentence works well for your current use. Or you might write ten sentences and they are all pearls. Combining bits and pieces from different writing sessions has resulted in some of my best work.

Then there are the times that I write something that doesn't seem very dazzling or pertinent at the time I wrote it. Then-sometimes years later-I will read it again and the message is completely apt and the writing is compelling. I'm sure you've had the experience of reading a book and getting a specific message from it, then reading it again a year or two later and another completely different message jumps out at you. It's the same with your own writing. So keep everything you work on, whether it's on the computer or in long-hand. You never know when you will be leveraging it in one way or another!