Procrastination is the killer. Not lack of skill, lack of money or even lack of faith. Postpone till tomorrow what you can to do today and I guarantee failure. But if you start now and stick with a simple plan, you will be surprised how quickly your new writing business grows.

A little history. I have worked as a reporter and editor for three daily newspapers. I have also written for the theater, seen some plays produced and been awarded writing grants from the states of Connecticut, Michigan and Massachusetts. Yet when I began my writing business I hadn't been a paid writer for years. I had strayed from the path at the turn of the century to pursue other goals, in part because I saw the newspaper arena in Los Angeles shrinking. Due to my recent re-location to the area, I had no seniority and so I harbored little hope for a future in local journalist.

I decided to return to the writing game following a health crisis. I wanted wealth from my writing. I had a few good credentials, yes, but not in the field I decided to enter: business and sales writing, otherwise known as copywriting. Why did I choose this area as my focus? I could not afford to wait on editors and accountants at magazines; and freelancing for daily newspapers would limit my pay scale.

Business writing, I discovered, allowed me lots of latitude in setting my rates. It also meant I could request money - a down payment - before I wrote one word. This worked well with the one word I had taped to my PC screen - survive.

Below are several tips for starting your business now. If you have a better way, what are you waiting for? If you're afraid to begin, I have a theory: everyone else is more afraid than you are. Seize the day - and as many writing gigs as possible.

- Make a list of what you do well. And don't limit yourself to "I can write." Writers do more than write. They converse, they investigate, they analyze and they clarify, to name a few. Maybe they also took crazy jobs to make some money that gave them a special insight about industry, food services, carpentry - whatever. If you're a parent, that counts as a skill. But don't say, "I'm the mother of two lovely children..." Rather, repurpose and redefine those skills to imply that you're extremely good with chaos, crunch time and - you get the picture. I love story. So that was the core of my skills list. Your story is important, I would tell prospective clients, let me help you tell it well and often so that you increase revenue and opportunity. My point: Respect all your experiences and achievements and others will too.

- I didn't want a job ever again. No bosses. No 9 to 5. No pecking order. But I joined a fax service that submitted my resume to hundreds of businesses looking for copywriters. Contradiction? Yup. And it worked like a charm. Here's how: since it was illegal to offer a service or product through the fax service, I wrote a one-page letter of introduction (resumes are boring) with a snappy headline and a good, clean rendering of what I had to offer. When I got calls for interviews, I set up appointments with no intention of taking the job. The interview was a way to meet new people - and pitch my skills at a rate much lower than what the company would pay an employee, when including health benefits and vacation time. Within a month I had my first gig that last a couple months. Not great money, but a beginning. Within six months I began freelancing for a company that became a key income stream for two years. My point: get out of your chair and meet new people.

These tips are the foundation of a new beginning. Assess who you are, what you want to achieve as a writer in this phase of your career and then find new ways to reach out. But there is more that you must do. More tips available in Wealth for Writers - Part 2 -- Persist & Evolve.