Jennifer Mattern You know my thoughts on content mills. You know I’m pissed that Google has so far allowed these MFA (made-for-adsense) sites to spam their rankings using tactics that would have smaller independent publishers penalized in a heartbeat (and that’s been the case for years). They didn’t pay attention when we brought up the issues in writing communities. But now that the tech segment is on
Do you ever feel embarrassed as a blogger? Maybe the grammar police came a-calling. Or maybe you forgot to post when readers were expecting something. Or maybe you missed a publicly self-imposed deadline. Here’s what I have to say to that: lighten up! Coming to Terms with Typos Blogging is a relatively casual and conversational medium and yet we sometimes get worked up over simple
Everyone is willing to give you advice about freelance writing — from non-writers with preconceptions about the freelance lifestyle to professionals who have run successful freelance writing careers for years. In between you’ll find newbies who try to give advice like they’ve found the holy grail of freelancing, former freelancers who couldn’t cut it but still feel qualified to tell you how you can, and some
Bloggers usually love to receive comments. But as a reader, I sometimes don’t leave them, even if I love the blogger and content. It occurred to me as I looked through my RSS feed this morning that there’s one blog in particular that I almost never comment on. I admire the blogger. I love the content. But I don’t comment. Why? There’s one simple reason
Sometimes we find inspiration in the strangest places. And today I’m going to turn the floor over to my two kitties, Baby and Tubs. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from these little beasties that apply to the freelance writing life: Baby: There’s Always Time for a Nap Sometimes we get so caught up in work and deadlines and finding new projects that we
Sometimes the things I find through Twitter make me want to cry. “How to Retire on Residual Income from Writing Articles” was one such link (although I can’t remember which darling follow felt it was a good idea to share). This is an article about how writing for sites that offer residual income is an option for people who want to retire. In other words,
There’s a not-so-new copyright infringement threat that seems to be becoming even more prevalent these days — so-called PDF search engines. In the last two weeks alone I received notification that three of these sites were publishing my content without a license or permission. What’s happening? Well, these sites purport to be about helping you find .pdf files. First of all that often means they’re
Maybe you’ve thought about freelance writing but your real interests lie in creative writing. Maybe you find nonfiction writing dull or unrewarding or you’re worried that working with clients will kill the creative side of your work. It doesn’t have to. Here are 11 ways you might be able to turn your creative writing passion into freelance writing opportunities. Some ideas are more traditional, but
When you work as a freelance writer, you’re a service provider. Selling products is technically something different. But that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other income streams into your business. Sure, you can remain a freelance purist if you really want to. But if you’re looking for new ways to make money with your writing without having to be too reliant on client projects, why
We talk a lot about how to market freelance writing services effectively. But how do you know when there’s a problem with your existing marketing and it’s time for a change? Here are five signs that your current freelance marketing sucks and that your marketing plan is overdue for a visit. You only attract low-paying clients — those unable to pay the freelance writing rates
Do you offer bulk discounts if clients order a large number of articles at once? Have you ever had a client or prospect pressure you to offer these kinds of discounts, saying they’ll order more if you lower the per-article rate? Many freelancers fall into the trap of offering bulk discounts because they think it will lead to more work. And it might. The problem
Unfortunately freelancers don’t have some special immunity to becoming ill. We can become sick without a moment’s notice, and it can wreak major havoc on our work schedules. I was recently put in that position. Worse, I got sick over vacation. That meant I was already off and away from clients for a while, and I had to extend that time when they were expecting
How much do you charge per word? How much should you charge per word? Really, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to freelance writing rates all that matters is your hourly rate and whether or not it’s enough to help you reach your financial goals. Why Per Word Rates Don’t Matter Per word rates aren’t a good tool for comparing writers or gigs for one
Whether you’ve already set your freelance writing goals for the New Year or you’re still deciding what they should be, let’s focus on the big ones today. When you set major goals for your business, how can you keep yourself focused and working toward them all year long? One of my favorite tactics is to take baby steps. I’ll break down a large goal into
Over the last several years I’ve heard a constant complaint from Web writers — that the digital / global economy makes it hard for them to make a living because overseas writers drive rates down. Now I don’t want to spend time again on the myth of the “global market” in freelance writing, but let’s look at the digital economy in general. Is it really
Earlier this week on my PR blog I shared some thoughts on how social media supports liars, giving some examples of how even colleagues in the freelance writing industry have gotten caught up in it. Commenter J. Toman brought up the concept of “fake it ’til you make it.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. It comes up now and again in the freelance writing
When it comes to running a successful business of any kind, including freelance writing, much of that success comes down to the decisions you make. You make good decisions that help you grow. You make bad decisions that hold you back. Or you might make decisions solely to maintain the status quo. Today let’s talk about making better business decisions when it comes to your
Today’s post was inspired by a reader suggestion on Twitter. We’ll talk about how you can replicate the social “water cooler” experience with colleagues in a freelance setting, when you’re not all together working in the same office. The timing is perfect too. I just met fellow freelancer, Lori Widmer, for lunch last week. And yesterday morning I finished drafting the chapter in The Query-Free
We talked a lot about goals for your freelance writing career this week. And as promised I’m going to share my yearly list. Below you can find my preliminary list of goals and New Year’s resolutions for my business (freelancing as well as my own sites and projects). I may add to the list between now and the end of this year, and I might
Recently I posted an evaluation of 2010 professional goals here, including which goals I’ve met, which I haven’t, and those that I might still reach by the end of the year. I always set a lot of goals for myself, and I mentioned in the discussion surrounding that post that I do so for a reason — I know I’ll fail at some. And that’s
We’re going to talk about goals this week. First, I want to take a look back on the goals we set for ourselves for 2010. In later posts we’ll discuss failure and why it’s sometimes okay, and then we’ll close out the week talking about how today’s reflections can help us set new goals for the coming year. Why look back on this year’s goals
You have a fairly packed freelance writing schedule. You have client orders lined up for the next several weeks, and things look good. But then something happens. A project is cancelled. A client suddenly becomes non-responsive. You get a request to postpone something. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself with a hole in your schedule — one that needs to be filled now at
Whether you’re fresh-faced and excited by the prospect of more independence in your work or you think freelancing is your chance for easy money while you look for a full-time job, you might be in for a few surprises. Yes, those of us who have been at it for a while do tend to go on about how wonderful it can be. After all, if
You know that when it comes to finding high paying freelance writing jobs, I primarily recommend three things: Build your visibility and writer platform so prospects can find you. Build a solid referral network to get referred gigs from colleagues and other clients. Early on, before gigs are coming to you directly, go ahead and target and pitch prospects directly. After all, query-free freelancing is
Are you looking for gift ideas for the writer in your life? Are you worried about getting them something too generic? Too overdone? Well, stop worrying. Actually, some of the most generic gifts for writers remain some of our favorites! Here’s a collection of common gift ideas for writers, and why we still love them. Don’t be afraid to go with the traditional. But just
You’ve probably seen or heard this before. Freelance Writer A is having a discussion with new Freelance Writer B. The newer freelancer talks about how they’re struggling to find decent paying freelance writing jobs on job boards and classified sites, and even when they do find one there’s too much competition there. Writer A tells them to hang in there because there really are high
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it here again, but when you work as a freelancer you’re a business owner. You’re the one offering an in-demand service. And that means you get to set your rates and payment policies. Just as you can’t walk into your favorite retail store and tell them what you’re willing to pay, expecting them to accept your
Whether you need a long weekend to unwind or you’re planning an extended vacation or business trip, sometimes life calls for a little blog vacation. This is when either you walk away from blog management completely for a while or when you alter / decrease the time you spend on your blog while you’re away. But when you need time off, how can you keep
If you were a client, would you prefer to hire “yes men” who tell you whatever you want to hear, or would you prefer to hire people who tell you the truth? While I’ve seen some potential clients look for the former, my experience is that “yes men” are not what most prospects need or want. And if you spend too much time trying to
Here’s a situation I’ve seen a lot in the last few years: The economy sucks. My company had to downsize. I got laid off. But I still need to pay my bills and support my family. I can’t get another job in this job market. So I’ll try freelancing. I keep looking at job boards and applying for everything I see. But no one seems