In my post “4 Elements of Effective Freelance Writing Websites,” I suggested creating a custom 404 error page to help misdirected prospects find what they’re looking for. A 404 error is a “page not found” error message someone sees if they try to visit an address on your site that doesn’t exist. No one likes seeing an error message. So it’s a good idea to
What are your goals for your freelance writing website? To be clear, we’re talking about your professional site — the one designed to attract clients, not your site or blog targeting other writers. Chances are that you’re hoping to attract not only clients, but the right clients. You know, they’re the ones who have a need in your specialty area and an adequate budget to hire a
As a follow-up to my recent post and infographic, Twitter tips for authors, I’d like to share a resource from another author. Anne R. Allen shared this post with me on Twitter, which she wrote last fall. Social Media Secrets for Authors, Part IV: How Not to Spam I hate spam. You hate spam. We all hate spam. It might be the only thing everyone
As a freelancer, do you just scrape by month to month? Are you struggling to earn the kind of living that would leave you truly comfortable? If so, you might want to check out this new website from a fellow freelance writer, a good friend, and my top pick if I ever need a partner in crime — Yolander Prinzel. Her new site is called
If you’re an author, you’ve probably heard plenty about the importance of social media marketing. But when it comes to using social networks as marketing and PR tools, there are right and wrong ways to go about it. Let’s look at Twitter as an example. Here are some Twitter tips that will help you build better relationships with existing fans (which ultimately leads to more
We’ve talked a lot about specialization as a freelance writer, why it’s a good idea to specialize, and even how to choose a freelance writing specialty. But if you choose to specialize in one or more freelance writing niches (as opposed to focusing on specific service types), how do you know if a niche you’re passionate about pays well? When it comes to picking the right
When you graduated high school, you jumped for joy not because you were glad you made it, but because you thought you’d never have to learn another mathematical equation again. The Pythagorean Theorem? Forget about it! But there’s one formula you can’t pass up as a blogger: C(D+E+F)A+B Confused? Let’s break it down and look at each variable. A: A Valuable Idea It’s common sense
Today Kathryn Aragon was kind enough to host a guest post from me about content theft. In it, I explain: Why freelance writers and bloggers shouldn’t ignore it (and why you’re crazy if you think those “free backlinks” are a good thing); How you can track down information about even the most anonymous content thieves; What you can do to have your stolen content removed
When I first went into business for myself (full-time PR firm, part-time business writing and blogging), I had a pretty standard formal business plan. Later, and I expanded my Web publishing efforts, I started using a much simpler model — one page versions that help me map out my plans and ideas on a project by project basis. I’ve even released the templates I use
If you’re a blogger, you probably get more than your fair share of blog comment spam. This can include anything from robots to bad SEO professionals spamming you for backlinks to trackback spam. You have a few options to deal with them: You can let them go live on your site. (Ick!) You can moderate all comments manually. (But why?) You can implement intrusive captcha-style
I’m sitting here writing a post for Wednesday on a Tuesday night because we’re anticipating power outages tomorrow (“today” I suppose if you’re reading this). I can’t control ice storms or the fact that they rolled in at least eight hours earlier than forecasters expected. I can’t control the woods around our house and whether or not the ice will bring down branches on the
Multitasking. It’s awesome. It’s evil. It will make you more productive. It will make you less productive. It will make you more successful. It will destroy your business. What’s the truth when it comes to multitasking in your freelance writing business? The truth is, it depends. Should You Multitask? It depends on what kinds of tasks you’re talking about. For example, it would probably be
As the day quickly passes by, I realize that I’ve spent most of it staring out the two huge windows that sit in front of my desk. The snow has been falling since the early morning hours, and I’ve watched it go from a dusting to at least half a foot so far. I love watching the snow fall. It’s one of the things I