Cold Contacting Prospective Clients

Cold calling or emailing prospective clients to offer your services can be an effective way to bring in business as a freelance writer. However, many writers are turned off by the idea because they lack confidence. I haven’t used cold contacting in quite some time, because I’ve been kept pretty busy with referrals and my own sites. I came across a company running a service

2008 Monthly Writing Challenges

If you haven’t been poking around the comments here at AFW, you may not know about my upcoming monthly writing challenges in 2008. So here’s a bit of background on the first two upcoming challenges: January: E-book Writing Challenge In January, you’ll be challenged to write an e-book in 14 days (the final 14 days of the month). During the first half of the month,

My Thoughts on E-junkie

I was going to wait until the new year to really test out E-junkie, but decided to give it a go today while working on my new business site (so I won’t have to manually distribute my first e-book anymore). The setup was pretty simple, quick, and painless, and on testing, the delivery is working wonderfully. The big question was whether I should use E-junkie

Changing Services and Writing Rates in the New Year

I’m finally working out some of my service and writing rate changes for the new year. These are my two biggest changes: Press Release Writing – I’ve always offered press release writing at ridiculously low rates (compared to other PR professionals; not compared to content writers offering them). I did that ($99 this year) as a marketing strategy (I’d bring in clients with press release

Free Business Forms for Writers

With the new year fast-approaching, now is the perfect time to think about making your freelance writing business more “official.” Keeping better records will not only help you to work more productively, but it can help you protect your rights to your work and deal with difficult situations that may arise with clients. It’s always a good idea to get everything in writing, even if

Last Minute Gift Ideas for Writers

Christmas is right around the corner now. Are you still not sure what to get for the writer in your life? Here are a few last-minute gift ideas for writers to help you out: Gift Cards / Certificates – Easy, and they don’t need to be shipped. Pick up a gift card for your writer’s favorite book store, or an online book store like Amazon.com.

The Benefits of Publishing E-books

Let’s compare a few publishing models authors might consider: traditionally-published books, self-published books, and e-books. Each as their own benefits. For example: Traditional Publishing – There’s a certain amount of respect that comes from being a published author, you’re often paid an advance, and there’s a publisher to help with the marketing of your book. Self-Publishing – You can become a self-published author without getting

My Publishing Goals for 2008

We’ve talked a little bit about goals and resolutions for writers in 2008. I took some time today to review my domain names and their expiration dates. As it turns out, I currently have 43 domain names (still a good bit, although much fewer than I used to have, and that’s not counting about five .infos I may give away just to unload). As I’ve

How to Make Money with Articles

There are several different ways to make money with articles as a freelance writer. Here are a few ways articles can help you make money online, whether as a full-fledged business model or as some side income: Make money writing articles for clients. Pros – Direct payments, Income can come quickly Cons – Limited rights usually limit earning potential per article, Deadlines Make money writing