Guest posting is popular for several good reasons: Guest posting is an excellent showcase of your skills. Guest posting is a highly targeted form of marketing. Guest posting is an ace-in-the-hole for SEO. Guest posting can be rather profitable. If you raised an eyebrow at my fourth reason, you aren’t thinking about all of the true possibilities of guest posting. What’s Guest Posting? For those
“Get more clients” is the first thought freelancers have when they think about increasing their income. For the purpose of this post, let’s forget that finding new clients isn’t easy. Let’s assume that you can get more clients if you want them. But here’s the thing: Can you afford to take on a new client? You’re probably already working at full capacity. If there was
A lot of people have the wrong idea about freelance writing. Being able to write 500 words on a single topic doesn’t mean you’re cut out for freelance writing. Even having impeccable writing skills doesn’t mean you’ll have a long, successful writing career. That’s because freelance writing is part craft, part business. Without the financial habits of a successful business owner, there’s a low likelihood
I recently received the below questions from a fellow freelance writer, LeeOnna Sanchez. She wants to know how she can grow her career beyond the penny per word freelance writing gigs she’s been finding on forums and bidding sites. Let’s help her out. I am a freelance writer; started about 3 1/2 years ago. I don’t consider myself to be anything spectacular, but trying to
Keeping with my theme of cold calling tips, I wanted to discuss some of the many things you should never say when contacting a prospect out of the blue. 1. Is this a good time to talk? Simply put, people are looking for a reason to hang up the phone. If you say this, you are giving the person an immediate out. They will almost
It’s that time again! The kids are going back to school! This means my house will in an uproar for a few weeks while we try to get everyone and everything settled again for the school year. While you might expect me to celebrate my kids going back to school as a sign that I’ll have more time in the day to write, I am
The first time I lost a big client, I was devastated. The second time, I was angry. By the third time, I realized it’s just part of the business and there’s no use getting emotional over it unless it happens right before going on vacation. Clients come and clients go. That’s the ebb and flow of freelance projects. Businesses change and sometimes your services may no
I met with a local State Farm agent recently about getting errors & omissions coverage for my freelance writing, blogging, and publishing services. I received notice this morning that they won’t cover my business. The reason? They said their policies don’t cover: Freelance Writers Bloggers Publishers Web content developers Website managers / owners Um… okay? We’re talking about a kind of insurance that’s not exactly
Have you always wanted to be a travel writer? Do you long to see your byline next to some great pictures and a narrative about a cool place to visit? Do you want to know how to get there? I’ve mentioned the first part of this before–but it bears repeating. In my humble opinion, writing about where you live is the best way to break
I’ve decided to make some changes to my plans for the Web Writer’s Guide e-book. Rather than updating it and moving on with a series, it will remain as-is. Sometime in the next few months I’ll pull it off the market, and much of the information in that e-book will be worked into print books or e-books in the Query-Free Freelancer series. The problem with sticking with the Web Writer’s
By now, you all know that I like to talk about cold calling. For whatever reason, I find this to be one of the most intriguing methods of marketing my services. Not to mention the fact that there is no greater thrill than making a call, finding an interested party, and closing a deal. Of course, things don’t always work out as planned. A couple
A CEO of a startup company has contracted with me to produce a couple of query letters that I will submit to two business magazines, with the goal of writing two separate profile articles on him. If the queries are accepted by the publications, my agreement with the CEO is that he will pay me to then write the articles. However, the magazines will also
After many years, I went on a vacation last week. The trip was great, of course, except for one small detail. About two days before we left for Colorado and the cool mountain breezes, my largest client “changed direction” overnight. My primary contact was laid off and my regular blogging commitments stopped effective immediately. Not exactly the sort of send off I was hoping for,