Jennifer Mattern You’ll see me talk a lot about building a writer platform here at QueryFreeFreelancer.com, but what exactly is a platform? Your writer platform is basically a collection of tools and tactics that allow you to build and maintain both visibility and demand for your freelance writing services. Think of it as your built-in audience. The idea is to build an audience that will benefit your
Let’s kick things off by explaining what I mean when I say “query-free freelancing.” Basically, you attract freelance writing clients without mailing query letters, without sending email queries, and without cold calling just to pitch an idea and “sell yourself” to a potential client (or editor). Is Query-Free Freelancing for Everyone? Absolutely not. There are many types of freelance writers, and there are many approaches
To continue our interview series on various writing styles freelancers may be interested in pursuing, today I’m talking with Linda Formichelli, co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, about writing nonfiction books. Many freelancers already work in nonfiction, and some have even written longer e-books. Moving on to publishing a nonfiction
I received an email this morning from another writer. In short, they were pitching me on their own writing services, asking me to outsource client projects to them. I let them know I don’t do that. Do you? I think it’s a topic worth discussing. The Ethics of Subcontracting First let me be clear: I don’t think there is anything inherently “wrong” with subcontracting client
Not only am I a freelance writer, but I’m also a client to other freelancers from time to time. Most of my clients are billed up front for my work. As a provider, I get to set the terms I work under and decide if or when to negotiate or make exceptions. Obviously there are benefits to being paid up front. As a client though,
Today we kick off our new series exploring various types of writing freelancers may have an interest in pursuing. Evan Marshall, creator of the Marshall Plan for Novel Writing and the Marshall Plan Software and author of two mystery novel series and several nonfiction books, is our guest. Marshall’s latest novel is called Evil Justice, a book in The Hidden Manhattan Mysteries series. He not
SEO professionals don’t have the best reputation in the freelance writing community. If anything, they take the brunt of the blame for the incredibly low-paying Web content writing market. You know the one I mean–where a penny per word is too rich for many buyers’ blood. As it turns out though, SEO professionals are making up for past “wrongs,” by positively influencing the growing freelance
I’ve been a part of an interesting conversation on freelance writing (specifically on the Web) at the DigitalPoint forums recently, and I think it’s a topic worth talking about here. In short, it started with a member asking why buyers always seem to be looking for “cheap content” there instead of quality. Then came calls for us on the forum staff to implement rules or
It’s much too easy to forget about marketing our writing services to someone once we’ve landed them as a client. However, sometimes all it takes is a reminder or a little nudge from you to bring in even more work. Here are five things freelance writers can do to keep existing clients coming back for more: Keep in Touch – A simple email or phone
As a freelance writer, your website can go a long way towards attracting clients in your target market. But is yours currently doing that? Or is it costing you work? When I look to hire a service provider for anything (whether for my business or personal needs), I like to check out their website first to learn more about them, what they’re offering, and what
As a freelance writer, no one truly has the power to give you a raise but yourself. When we work for employers, we know what to do if we want a raise in the future–respect authority figures, work hard, show up on time, be “present” with the boss so they take notice, be innovative, etc. But how do you know you deserve a raise as
Let’s get into some technical bloggy goodness today. I’ve been asked a few times privately how I can have a separate RSS feed for the freelance writing jobs here at All Freelance Writing. More specifically, how the gigs not only have their own feed, but can also be removed from the primary blog feed. It’s surprisingly simple to do, and I hope others will find
Today let’s very briefly go over some common components of the author (or book) media kit – in other words, what you should include. While most of these will work for a hard copy media kit / press kit, let’s focus on online author media kits (those in newsroom formats on your website or downloadable .pdf files). Author Media Kit Components – Essential An author
Angela Booth had a great post recently that you should check out: Sell Your Writing: Create a Marketing Campaign. She tackles marketing in a way I really love, because I think it addresses the fears many freelance writers have about the actual act of selling their writing services. She offers a reminder that marketing doesn’t mean you have to make cold calls. It doesn’t mean
Yesterday we talked about Clickbank Ads and how they can be used to monetize a blog or website. Ironically, this morning an email went out to Adsense publishers regarding changes to the types of ads they’ll be showing. You can read parts of that email below: We’re writing to let you know about the upcoming launch of interest-based advertising…. Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to
If you’ve noticed anything here at All Freelance Writing, I hope it’s my effort to show writers that they can, and should, charge what they’re worth to earn a livable wage (and then some). I’ve also on more than one occasion poo-pooed the type of “client” who asks for free work (or who offers pay so low it might as well be free work). It’s
We’ve discussed the benefits of specialization and how that can lead to higher earnings as a freelance Web writer. However, the real key to earning a decent income freelance writing online is proving your value to your clients. Specialization plays a major role (if you’re offering a certain amount of depth or understanding others can’t, you’re providing more value). Today let’s talk about other things
One of the best things you can do as a freelance Web writer is diversify your income streams by creating, and selling, informational products. I would hazard a guess that the most common informational products for freelance writers to be selling would be e-books or reports (you also might sell membership to premium content on a website though). Now I’ve tried a few different services
One thing you’ll learn in The Web Writer’s Guide to Launching a Successful Freelance Web Writing Career is that being a Web writer can be about much more than taking on articles, copywriting, or other writing projects from clients. Something I like to talk about when I’m chatting with new writers is moving beyond that client work and writing “for yourself.” What is “Writing for
One bit of advice I see commonly given to new Web writers (or any type of writers) is that they have to either do free projects for normally-paying clients or take on work at ridiculously low rates (like $5.00 per article) when they’re new just to build a portfolio or get references. That’s a load of garbage. If you’re really cut out to be a
Chris Bibey wrote an interesting post over at ChrisBlogging.com on selling your writing services, and how marketing / selling makes some freelance writers uncomfortable. His post got me thinking about hard-sell versus soft-sell and why, when it comes to “selling yourself” to clients, people seem to automatically picture hard-sell tactics. First things first – what’s the difference? When you hard-sell, you essentially scream “buy from
Let’s talk specifically about Web content writers today, and the rights they give up when they sell their work. In many cases, when a client purchases Web content from you, their primary objective is to target search terms for traffic or online readers. Most have no use for your content beyond their websites or blogs, leaving potential non-competing reprint markets available as an additional income
After you’ve decided what type of Web writer you want to be (as in specialties and / or niches), you need to decide if you’d like to freelance in Web writing or look for a more permanent full-time Web writing job. Here are some of the benefits of each to help you decide what’s right for you: Benefits of Full-Time Web Writing as an Employee
We’ve recently completed the first two months of 2009, so I think it’s a good time to see where we all stand on our goals. What have we accomplished so far? What would we like to make more progress on in the coming month? Here’s where I stand: I’ve completed over 10,000 words of the novel – not nearly as far along as I’d like
I received the following reader question from Nina Lewis, and wanted to address it to everyone, as it’s an excellent question: “In your e-book, do you explain what kind of clients need web content? You see that is what I want to specialize in however, I am not too fond of those low-paying job boards. And I may sound naive, but established businesses already have
One of the biggest benefits of writing for the Web is the ease of publishing – you can write and publish almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, this instant gratification can lead to publishing in haste, errors unchecked. Therefore, when writing for the Web, it’s essential that you pay a bit of extra attention to proofreading – especially with client projects. Here are a few tips that won’t
Whether you’re a Web content writer or a Web copywriter, specialization can be one of the biggest factors in earning a higher income from your writing. Here’s why: More Money The most important point is that most clients will pay more for a specialist than a generalist. You can specialize in niches (such as for content writers) or even in types of writing if you’re
I’m a freelance business writer, who just happens to focus on Web writing. It has its perks – perks I’ve seen echoed by quite a few other freelance writers in the same boat. But first: What are “Business Clients?” When I talk about business clients (sometimes “corporate clients” depending on your target market), I basically mean any client that’s not a “publisher client.” A publishing-focused
One of the most common questions and misunderstandings I come across with new Web writers is about Web content versus Web copy. If you want to write for the Web, it’s important to figure out what type of writer you want to be. Understanding the difference between content writing and copywriting will get you off to a good start. I’m going to over-simplify for the
Anyone can publish anything at any time on a blog or microblogging service, like Twitter. But does the fact that you can publish immediately mean that you should? Personally, I think the answer to that question is a resounding “NO.” I’d like to share some thoughts on the immediacy issue today as it might apply to journalism and get some of your own feedback. The