A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Bright Hub (a content mill I used to write for) inviting me to help them write some 60 titles for a private client commission for about $20 a pop. Another content mill, Demand Studios, recently partnered with USA Today to start providing travel tips for their website. To some writers, these partnerships and commissions
If you’re looking for an easy way to dress up your writing and to improve its readability in English, your sentences likely hold the answer. The fluent reader chunks text as she reads. This means that sentences should flow naturally as she’s reading and be easy to put together into sections or phrases. If the sentences are malformed or worded unnaturally, they become a challenge
Freelance writer vacations are important, but for many freelancers vacation days are non-existent. If you do manage to take a vacation, you’ll probably be stuck working early mornings and late nights because you can’t afford to abandon your work completely. There are still bills that need to be paid. At my last corporate job, allowed us to buy an extra week of vacation. Payroll simply deducted
In this series, we personally test traditional online freelance marketplaces to share first-hand experiences and honest assessments of marketplaces and resulting jobs, as many freelance writers turn to these outlets to find writing gigs. You can read all the posts in the series here. I have a very short update this week. Very short. So short that I am going to fill much of it
My fellow WAHM, have you ever noticed just how ridiculous certain aspects of our life can be? I, for one, rode around today with my youngest’s chocolate pudding cup in the front of my truck next to a plastic container full of worms my oldest determinedly collected yesterday. But this pales in comparison to the other pieces of my WAHM life that just slap me
All successful freelance writers have a marketing plan. That being said, changes may be needed on a regular basis. Although you do not want to be quick to jump ship, there may come a time when you need to abandon your marketing plan. Here are three times when this makes sense: If your marketing plan has failed you for an extended period of time. Have
Lately I’ve noticed a disturbing trend while reading various freelance writing blogs. I’ve watched people act like authorities on subjects they obviously had little to no experience actually doing. The clues that these blog posts were by posers instead of professionals were there for all to see. The writers showed an obvious lack of knowledge about what they were talking about, the advice was the
The lack of employer-sponsored retirement plans is another drawback of freelancing and self-employment. But just because you don’t have a corporation matching your 401K contributions doesn’t mean you should forgo retirement savings all together. Sure, freelance writing is flexible, but do you really want to continue doing it for the rest of your life? Can you do it for the rest of your life? During
You know that here at All Freelance Writing we’re incredibly picky about what we will and won’t promote. For example, we won’t sell out to content mills that exploit writers, and we won’t send you to job leads at marketplaces we consider shady. Speaking of freelance marketplaces, there was actually only one we were willing to openly support — Elance. I’m sad to say that’s
Today I am having surgery. It’s the first surgery I’ve ever had, so I’m a little nervous. I’m not a real fan of doctors and I’ve never broken a bone or had a disease, so all of this medical poking and prodding has been new to me and has made me a bit paranoid about my own longevity. I mean, I actually believe I might
I’m fully convinced that the most hilarious, deep-seated irony of the universe revolves around freedom of choice. Think of those teenage years when you struggled, fought, threatened, snuck out and wore horrible clothing to express yourself and gain true independence from the overbearing monsters we call parents. For most of us, now that we have free will, we live with gusto. We stay out all
When it comes to writing for print you will often hear people say “study the magazine” before you submit. So what exactly does that mean? This is a big issue for many new writers, and I know that I did it totally wrong when I first began freelancing. Let me help you avoid some of the pitfalls, by pointing out how to use your time efficiently when reviewing a
Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on February 9, 2010. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing. One of the sometimes best / sometimes worst aspects of freelancing is how much time you’ll spend working alone. While it can be nice to avoid the politics and drama of a traditional office environment, there is also no 5pm
As you may have noticed by now, I am in the guy at All Freelance Writing who talks about marketing. While most of my posts are tips and how-to articles, I wanted to give some “first hand experience advice” this time around. Last week, I decided to make 25 cold calls to local businesses. Gasp! I am sure some of you get scared even thinking
Today marks the start of our new Freelance Fitness series here on All Freelance Writing. This is where I’ll be sharing some of my own workout-related updates to show you that you’re not alone in trying to beat the bad health habits freelancing can sometimes lead to. Once per month we’ll talk about workouts tailored to freelance writers, and once per month we’ll share recipes
Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on October 30, 2009. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing. Have you ever had a “vampire client” — one who seems to suck the life out of you? Maybe they don’t pay enough so you push yourself to the edge of burning out regularly as you cram in countless projects.
In this series, we personally test traditional online freelance marketplaces to share first-hand experiences and honest assessments of marketplaces and resulting jobs, as many freelance writers turn to these outlets to find writing gigs. You can read all the posts in the series here. A couple of weeks ago I told you about an experiment I was trying with Associated Content’s residual earnings plan. I
If you want to create a business plan for your freelance writing business, publishing business, or blogs, you might feel overwhelmed by traditional long-form business plans. If that sounds like you, you might enjoy this free one page business plan template I created as a part of my former Web Writers’ Guide e-book. You can use this one page business plan template (in .pdf format)
In last month’s post, I explained how to build an L-shaped desk based on a project I carried out several years ago. The reason I built my own desk, apart from the fact that I needed a separate writing space was that I was in the same boat as a lot of new freelancers and money wasn’t as flush as it could have been. Not