That’s the hilarious contention of John McCoy (staff writer for the Charleston Gazette), and I wonder if his employer shouldn’t immediately administer a drug test - lest John suffer another hallucination.

I look over at the piles of expensive fly tying materials, expensive hackles, machined HMH vise, chemically sharpened hooks and several-lifetimes supply of hen necks cluttering my office and wonder what our friend John has been smoking.

He recounts the high price of flies - and his amusing solution:

A relatively inexpensive answer to this problem is to learn to tie flies. Thirty years ago, when I started fly fishing, I couldn’t afford to buy rods and reels and flies too, so I learned to tie. I’ve done it ever since.

It’s difficult to estimate how much money I’ve saved, but I’ll try.

Let me try for you. I’d have to tie flies from now until people started making dinner reservations for their 2999 New Year’s Eve celebration to recoup the investment I’ve made in tools and materials.

And frankly, I’m an underachiever compared to the likes of Noted Pack Rat Dave Roberts, who recently built a whole new extension onto his house so he could warehouse his er…. “extensive” collection of materials.

(When the apocalypse comes and fly tying materials disappear from our nuclear-ravaged landscape, I’m heading right for Dave’s house.)

And there are plenty of people who consider him an underachiever.

So how about it? Is anyone saving money tying their own flies. Or are we spending scads of money for the privilege of getting them exactly the way we want ‘em…?

It’s the fastest way for a freelance writer to grow their revenues.

This week, I’m cheating a little.

I’ve already won approval to begin a new project for a new client - one I’ve been subtly chasing for a while.

The project? Researching blogs in two market categories.

I’m using online resources to locate the Top 20 blogs in two categories, and delivering that information (along with relevant e-mail addresses, etc) to the client.

Simple. And not a big project. But my first for a potentially good client.

And once I’ve done it, I can do it for other clients too.

If you’re a freelance copywriter, chances are you do a lot of online research.

Your clients would likely find those skills valuable - if only they knew you had them. Or were aware of the business benefits of online research (competitive or otherwise).

So take fifteen minutes. And think about pitching something new to your “old” clients.

In the interest of sharing, why not post your idea here? If even a half-dozen people post one idea every Friday, we’d all profit.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

[tags]copy, copywriter, freelance copywriter[/tags]

As you could imagine, choosing one post from a year’s worth of them isn’t easy, and those chosen by the respective writers cover a lot of ground.

They’re worth a read. Hell, they’re worth several.

According to Michael:

This is the best, direct FROM the best.

1. The Two Most Important Words in Blogging, from Brian Clark of CopyBlogger.
2. On Paying It Forward, from Deborah Ng of Freelance Writing Jobs.
3. Growing Clients versus Getting Them: Fifteen Minutes to Higher Revenues, from Tom Chandler of The Copywriter Underground.
4. Content or Copy: Ignore the Difference at Your Own Risk, from Liz Strauss of Successful Blogs.
5. Top 10 Writing Tips to Help You Write More, from Angela Booth’s Writing Blog.
6. No-Frills Freelance Marketing, from Kristen King of InkThinker.
7. We Get Paid What We Believe We’re Worth, from Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil.
8. 50 Ways to Screw Up Content, from Carson Brackney of Content Done Better.
9. Writing Test: What’s Wrong With This Sentence?, from Dianna Huff of Marcom Writer.
10. Editors Sound Off, from Allison Winn Scotch of Ask Allison.

BONUS: Your Last Words Matter, The Call to Action, from Michael Stelzner (me) of Writing White Papers.

It’s interesting that I rarely write white papers, yet Michael’s blog remains one of the first RSS feeds I see every morning.

“How to” information is a great thing, but it’s becoming clearer to me that exposure to different ideas, perspectives and writing styles remains the single best reason to fire up Bloglines every morning.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

[tags]writing, top 10, copywriting, writer, copywriter, freelance writer, freelancing[/tags]