Jennifer Mattern Earlier this year, Lori Widmer stopped by the All Freelance Writing Podcast to guest co-host an episode on everyday marketing for freelance writers. Our chat ran long, so some segments had to be cut. That included a ten-minute segment about writing for content mills. We also touched on a simple tactic for finding better gigs and leaving mills behind — something Lori calls “stealth marketing.”
Have you seen bloggers feature tweetable quotes in their posts? If they’re using one of the more popular plugins, they probably look like pull quotes. Unfortunately there isn’t much variation in design, and blogs using this feature have all started having their tweetable quotes look alike. That’s why I previously showed you how you can add your own tweetable quotes, without a plugin, and with any design
Last week I received a reader question from Shirley Gazenski. She’s in an interesting position — torn between past samples in three distinct specialty areas. She wanted to know if I had any advice for her, and she agreed to have my feedback posted here in case any other community members find themselves in a similar position. Let’s start with her past work. Shirley has
For this week’s short share, I have an infographic for freelancers. This one looks at some of the pros and cons of freelancing, and it was presented by GraphicDesignDegreeHub.com. While this was published back in 2013, I’m curious if you see if your own freelance careers are reflected in the data. Which side do you fall on? Did you get into freelance writing because you wanted to?
“The best freelance writing jobs are almost never publicly advertised.” This is something I’ve pointed out countless times over the years. Yet one of the biggest questions I get from new writers is “where do I find gigs?” The best gigs aren’t usually advertised for a few reasons. Clients already have contacts that can refer qualified writers. They prefer to search for a writer on
Last week I suggested adding your latest blog content to your writer website’s homepage. That might make this week’s quick tip sound a little strange. But this one is for bloggers: Consider adding static content to your blog’s homepage. In last week’s post we were looking at freelance writer websites and author websites, where the blog is an add-on and static homepages are the norm.
Is your marketing helping you reach the best freelance writing prospects? That depends on your target market and how successful you are at reaching members of that group. One of the biggest mistakes a new freelance writer can make is having no target market. That’s when you simply take any gig that comes along, whether or not you enjoy the work, whether or not you
For this week’s short share we have an interesting one on timing your social media updates from SocialCaffeine.com. What do you think? Obviously the actual best times to post on social networks won’t be the same for everyone because of community and niche differences. But how close does your experience come to these recommended times? I’ve done the most testing on Twitter. My main account
Every year Lori Widmer of Words on the Page hosts Writer’s Worth Month. In Lori’s words, the mission of Writer’s Worth Month is “to reach freelance writers and help them gain confidence in the value of their skills.” In other words, it’s about helping you earn more and build a more successful writing business. To do this, Lori features a series of posts — both
In this week’s podcast I’m joined by Princess Jones (with whom I had a previous and entertaining conversation about crazy authors attacking book reviewers). In this episode we discuss some of the issues around selling your e-books (and physical books) directly through your own website. View the show notes or listen now.
My next Scrivener template is now available for download: a murder mystery novel template. This one is based on my own template that I’ve been using for my upcoming mystery series. It allows you to plan, outline, and draft your next murder mystery all in one project file. Plus, there’s a place to write up some of your promotional copy, like your book launch press
Do you have a blog attached to your freelance writer website or author site? If so, that’s a great move because fresh content can help you improve your search engine rankings. But are you really getting the biggest bang for your blogging time? Not if you aren’t sharing your blog posts on your homepage. I’ve talked before about my test results in blog frequency and
For this week’s “short share” we have an infographic from J6 Design called “8 Secrets to Writing Faster Blog Posts.” Overall, I think there are some great tips here, from creating self-imposed deadlines to avoiding the dreaded “edit while you write” syndrome. by j6design. What do you think? Do these ideas help you write blog posts faster? Are there any other tips you would add? Tell me
Are you earning as much as you want to from your indie published books? Many authors aren’t happy with their sluggish sales. And when they come to me with marketing questions hoping to improve their situation, I often ask two questions: What does your marketing plan include? What other revenue streams have you set up around your book’s brand? If you’re still working on your book marketing plan,
WordPress released a new update this week. It’s version 4.1.2, which is an important security release. Make sure you update your sites promptly if you don’t have automatic updates enabled. A security issue affecting numerous plugins was also identified, so don’t be surprised if you see a lot of plugin update notifications come through this week. Make sure you run those updates as soon as
Freelance writing is largely about the big picture. As you gain experience and build your professional reputation and visibility over time, you earn more money and freelancing becomes a more stable income source. That said, the big picture doesn’t motivate everybody. Sometimes you need to see changes now to convince yourself to even stick with this freelancing thing. If that sounds like you, you’re in
For this weekend’s short share, I wanted to feature an infographic that applies to authors and copywriters alike: What Really Makes a Good Story? from Tom Albrighton at ABCCopywriting.com. Check out the original discussion or leave a comment to tell me what you think. Are there other vital elements to a good story? Do you disagree with anything in the infographic?
In this week’s podcast I expand upon the topic of blog revenue, which I covered in a January episode. While I touch on a variety of business model options for bloggers, the episode pays particular attention to turning your blog into a direct business model in its own right through ad-supported content and premium features. Then, I tackle a community question about querying magazines and
If you missed this at QuickSprout.com, Neil Patel is planning to take a brand new blog to $100k in income per month over the course of a year. And he plans to let his readers know how he does it. https://web.archive.org/web/20181122141421/https://www.quicksprout.com/2015/03/25/how-to-generate-100000-a-month-from-a-brand-new-blog/ What do you think? Is it unrealistic, even for him? Will new bloggers be able to replicate it if he succeeds? I’m a bit
Spam sucks. So does physical junk mail. And I get a crap-ton of it on a regular basis (that’s the official measurement scale for junk mail, really). Here’s why I get so much more garbage than my family and friends: I registered a domain name. Actually, I’ve registered hundreds of them over the years, but all it takes is one to let the spammers get your scent.
I’ve been meaning to kick off a new, light, post series here for a while — one where I share a bite-sized bit of actionable information, or even something that’s simply entertaining. Most of these posts will be infographics — some which I’ll create and some from third party sources that I found interesting or helpful. Here is the first I wanted to share —
I’ve been working this week on the next Scrivener template in my writers’ resource collection — a mystery novel template. While it won’t be ready for release this week, I want to give you a chance to weigh in. Tell me what you want from a template. What would help you write your next mystery novel? When I was moving the first draft of a mystery novel
I can’t remember where I read it now — maybe on a blog, maybe on Reddit. But a few days ago I saw someone complaining about international freelancers. In this case they were talking about freelance development work and all of the competition they faced from overseas. This is something I see all the time. But then the conversation flipped. People weren’t only complaining about
On April 21st, just a couple of weeks away, Google is scheduled to roll out a new search algorithm update. This update focuses on mobile searches, and Google will start using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. What does this mean? If you get traffic from smartphones (it apparently doesn’t apply to tablet searches), and if your WordPress site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could take a significant
Some authors love the revision process. Some, not so much. I fall in the latter group. But if there’s one thing I dislike more than working on revisions, it’s the idea of automating the process with software. Revisions aren’t only about spelling and grammar. They’re also about improving the flow of a story and making better word choices, even if your original is technically correct.
Setting goals, tracking your progress, and adapting when necessary are all important parts of running a business. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a freelance writer, an author trying to sell books, or a blogger trying to make money from your blogs. Goals are vital to your success. Now that we’re in April, it’s a good time to check in on any goals you might
Today’s reader question comes from Leigh Schrom: “Where do you locate publications that accept freelance work? Is the “Writer’s Market” the best source?” Writer’s Market is a source, and certainly a place you can start. But while it looks extensive as far as writer’s market directories go, the markets there still only represent a small portion of publications that work with freelance writers. And because most writers are
The latest episode of the writing podcast is up. This episode is all about branding for writers. It covers: Basic branding tips for writers Copyright concerns over sharing excerpts to your book to generate reader interest A tool to help you come up with better, brandable domain names for your professional website or blog View the show notes or listen below.
Many bloggers set up a single sidebar and then include that sidebar on every page of their blogs. But what happens if you have categories that would benefit from different sidebar content, or pages on your blog where you’d like a custom sidebar? Maybe you want to place hand-picked affiliate ads, or you want to promote different books on different sections of your blog. Whatever
We have an interesting question for authors this week from an anonymous reader who created a soundtrack for their upcoming book. This is a topic that’s been on my mind recently as I was looking into BookTrack and also happened across an Amazon Prime music playlist featuring classical music for reading. While I’ve used soundtracks to help me write stories, listening to soundtracks or reading-specific playlists while I