Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals
Freelance writer STANLEY BURKHARDT has a passion for animals. He loves animals so much, he crafted himself a new career. For the last eight years, Stanley has made a career out of writing for local veterinary hospitals -- and getting paid for it.
Burkhardt admits, "I am probably the first writer you have met who has written for veterinary hospitals. My opinion is that many writers don't see the profit or work potential in writing for vet hospitals, and don't attempt to secure work from this industry. The other reason is that writers try many approaches to secure work in this industry and fail."
Burkhardt has overcome these obstacles, and many more. Now he's ready to spill his secrets. He has penned an ebook, "Profiting on Puppy Love & Cat Care: A Freelance Writer's Guide to Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals & Practices," in which he shows writers how they can craft a career out of writing for local veterinary hospitals, just like he has done.
Burkhardt says, "I think it's important to know that I had no experience or knowledge writing for the vet industry, when I first started out." If you harbor a deep love for animals and enjoy writing and researching, Burkhardt says you are already "halfway there to breaking into this industry."
The other skill is selling. "Selling is considered by many beginning freelance writers to be the 'curse' of commercial writing because it usually requires you to spend more than half of your time selling yourself to prospective clients - and swallowing many rejections - than spending time writing." In time, selling becomes easier. "Most of my work now comes from referrals and word-of-mouth," says Burkhardt.
Burkhardt has perfected the way he secures first-time clients in this industry; he advises to "use locality in your favor." He says, "Take a trip to your local hospital and see if it presently uses any types of print materials. If not, what kinds of print materials do you think this hospital can benefit from? If it has print materials, how can you improve these existing print materials, or what types of print materials would work better in place of these existing print materials?"
Burkhardt always attempts to arrange a meeting with the owner of the hospital. "I tell the prospective owner I'd like to meet with him for 20 to 30 minutes to discuss, in detail, how I'd be able to boost his profits and productivity, and how he and his clients will both benefit. I've never met an owner who'd refused to spend some time to find out how I'd be able to boost his profits."
After the first meeting, Burkhardt gives himself a few days to work on a proposal in which he outlines how he is going to meet the owner's needs -- whether it's solving a problem, boosting sales, or increasing productivity -- through various writing projects. Burkhardt will either mail his proposal to the owner or arrange a second meeting. Nine times out of ten, Burkhardt's proposal usually nabs him a first assignment from a first-time client. "I always pitch a newsletter as the first project. Once the owner sees how a newsletter contributes to the success of his hospital, I am usually given more writing assignments."
As a writer for five local veterinary hospitals -- two small in size and three big in size -- Burkhardt prefers to sell his services to the larger veterinary hospitals. "Larger veterinary hospitals have more needs to be fulfilled and more problems for you to solve...They're more likely to need internal and external materials that will help boost their sales and increase their productivity."
Burkhardt writes all sorts of copy for vet hospitals, but his favorite and most lucrative is writing newsletters. "Every vet hospital needs them. A newsletter can increase the hospital's sales by pushing products and services, create rapport and build trustworthiness with pet owners by showcasing the exceptional pet care and treatment the hospital offers, and constantly remind pet owners of the hospital's existence by writing information that is so useful and timely that pet owners take the newsletter home with them." Burkhardt charges between $300 and $1,500 per newsletter, depending on its complexity and size.
Burkhardt admits that writing for veterinary hospitals is not a top-paying industry, compared to writing for other industries. But he was never in it for the money. "I often wonder if copywriters who write for tar manufacturers, bottling companies, packaging plants, chip manufacturers, cancer-causing cigarette companies, or shady politicians have any interest in the stuff they write or they do it just for the money. I can't find interest in any of those things and have stayed away from such manufacturers and industries. I think the same is true if one is to write for vet hospitals. You must have an interest - at least to write for the long term. If you love animals, have a curiosity as to how hospitals treat and care for pets, and a sensitive spot to help people, then you can break into this industry and make a good living."
Burkhardt's ebook, "Profiting on Puppy Love & Cat Care: A Freelance Writer's Guide to Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals & Practices" is a primer to break into this industry. His ebook sells for $9.95 at WritingCareer.com, an online ebook store, found at http://www.writingcareer.com/sbk001.shtml
About The Author
Brian Konradt is a freelance writer and graphic designer based in South Carolina.
MORE RESOURCES:
An appreciation: Writing for Sister Maura was hard work Baltimore Sun I had applied to be an English major with a writing concentration. This required a portfolio and a meeting with the department chair, Sister Maura. ... |
'Becoming Americans': Immigrant writing San Francisco Chronicle ... short stories, novel excerpts, poems, letters and bits of memoir that this anthology of "Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing" collects. ... |
Local man wins prize in writing competition Iowa City Press Citizen A local man has won a runner-up prize in an international competition for writing. Zach Falcon, 37, of Iowa City, earned the recognition for his story "The ... |
Writings left behind by Vonnegut Philadelphia Inquirer As for writing left behind at his death, here we have Look at the Birdie, a collection of previously unpublished works that Vonnegut wrote in the 1950s or ... |
 guardian.co.uk | Steven Tyler Is Just Writing A Book! No Drugs (Allegedly) PerezHilton.com (blog) A spokesman for Steven Tyler has said that the Aerosmith frontman is just taking a quick break due to a shoulder injury and he is working on his ... TYLER IS WRITING HIS MEMOIRS |
 Hindu | 'Writing is a solo pursuit' Hindu I really believe what happens in the writing experience happens in the reading experience. If there is velocity in the writing, then there will be the same ... |
Prof finalist for fiction writing Sioux City Journal Tricia Currans-Sheehan's "The River Road: A Novel in Stories" was named a finalist in fiction and received Honorable Mention in the Nashville Book Festival ... |
Texting infecting writing The Spokesman Review “I've caught myself using texting shortcuts in regular writing. I just correct it when it happens,” said Scott Hickey, as he sent a text message before a ... |
Cruz's record label wants him to stop writing hits Ireland Online He said: “I kept writing them and the record company kept shouting at me because I kept giving all the songs away. “I'm not really precious like that. ... |
 Globe and Mail | What's This Mania? Twilight's New Moon Radar Redux: Baltimore Arts and Culture (blog) Listen, I study Creative Writing in school. I love literature. I value writing and even more so, I value good writing, unique writing, writing which ... New Moon star Kellan Lutz on gummi bears and running from fans MOVIE REVIEW: Michelle Reviews Twilight: New Moon and declares she's Team Jared! A Fan's 10 Favorite Things About 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' |
Get Rich Writing With Your Computer Word Processor
Your computer is a writing machine, a word processor, a desktop publishing system that can make you rich and famous. The big seller on the internet is information products and you can get a flood of cash pouring into your home office from you writing.
Interview with Suspense Author Peter Abrahams
Peter Abrahams is the author of thirteen novels, including "The Tutor," (Ballantine Books) "A Perfect Crime," (Ballantine Books), "The Fan" (Fawcett Books), and most recently, "Their Wildest Dreams" (Ballantine Books).Known for his sharp wit and incredible gift for keeping readers on the edge of their seats, Abrahams has been entertaining readers for more than two decades--spinning multi-layered tales involving ordinary people who find themselves in horrific situations.
Ways to Make Extra Income Using the Internet
To capitalize on ways to make extra income you can (and should) use the Internet for test marketing:(a) To establish demand for your extra income idea.(b) To prepare yourself to take advantage of other ways to make extra income i.
Freelance Feast or Famine?
Sometimes a freelance writing career can feel very much like "feast or famine".At the very beginning, it's almost all famine.
7 Ways to Turn Readers Into Friends
Back in my school days, if the teacher demanded a term paper I knew just what to do. I quickly researched the report, and wrote it as fast as I could.
8 Tips to Get Publishers to Notice You
If your articles aren't getting published very often, or you just want to increase the chances of them being published, then you will benefit from the tips in this article.1.
Have You Completed A Character Questionnaire?
Creative Writing Tips -Complete a character questionnaire for each of your main characters or even secondary characters that play a vital role in your story. This way you will know your character(s) well before you start writing about them.
Italics Part 2 - Using Italics to Show Thoughts
Way back in your early school years, you were probably taught to use the tag "he thought" in your stories, to tip readers off that someone was thinking. If you substituted something more innovative, like "he pondered" or "Harry deliberated", you might even have scored a big red tick.
How to Use Textpad to Write Articles Faster
It's a good idea to use TextPad because all opt-in ezine publishers want your articles without any formatting. Also, for any email exchange, you need to put your article in the body of the email, not an attachment.
Getting the Story Down
Questions and answers on writing life experiences for ourselves and others.Index of Questions1.
Call Yourself a Writer? Where Are Your Notes?
Writers are notorious collectors of slips of paper. They tear articles from magazines in the doctor's waiting room; they rip corners off newspapers in friend's houses because they need to write down something witty; and they stuff their bags and pockets with serviettes, cigarette packs, and discarded train tickets just because note making's second nature to them.
How to Build A Success Freelance Career (Part 2)
Part 1 of this article discussed the experience you need to successfully build a freelance career. Here, I will outline other necessities.
In Praise of Personal Pronouns
Rudolph Flesch, a pioneering advocate of readability, put great stock in the liveliness of the written word.One way of getting that liveliness into our writing, he said, is to use the personal pronouns: you, me, I, we, us, he, she, him, her, and they.
Untrue Father (A short Story)
Kallu was a tenant of Santosh Kumar Nayak. Santosh Kumar was a businessman in a small town of Utter Pradesh.
Cheap Therapy
I call it cheap therapy. That gushing, near-religious, poured-from-the-body stress release that comes after writing my heart out for hours each day, delivers more balm to my soul than years of psychoanalysis.
Permission NOT To Write
Quite a few years ago, I enrolled in a Degree in Criminal Justice. My main reason for doing so was my interest in reading and writing crime and mystery fiction.
A Writers Tools
If you are like most writers, you're constantly searching for tips on technique that will help you to increase your chances of publication. You eagerly pounce on articles that tell you how to plot better, write better and sell better.
Finding The Book Writing Resources, Tips, And Help You Need!
Writing can be more difficult that just compiling your thoughts on a few pieces of paper. In fact, it can be a challenge to find something new, interesting, and publishable to write about.
Know your Audience Before you Write Your Book or Web Site
If you want happy customers to use your service or buy your book, you need to focus on their needs and desires.Unhappy customers leave when they can't find what they want--benefits and an easy way to buy.
Writing the PDA Way
When we think of writing it triggers many thoughts and visions depending on our framing. It could trigger a lone man with a full astray, unshaven, staring at an old plunking typewriter with white blank crisp paper waiting in anticipation for his words.
