Recently we talked about how to write a blog business plan. As promised, I’ve put together a simple blog business plan template that you can use for your own niche or business blog. Why Have a Blog Business Plan? If you want to make money blogging, a blog business plan is a must. Business plans help you get a better picture of where your business
If you’ve freelanced at all before, you probably already know: there are no guaranteed paychecks in freelance writing. I often tell my family and friends, particularly those who dream up things for me to do during work hours, that my pay is tied directly to my productivity. I don’t write, I don’t get paid. It’s not like a desk job where you clock in, stay
There is no better time than December to create a fresh marketing plan. This will allow you to “hit the ground running” when the new year arrives. But doesn’t it take a lot of time to create a marketing plan? Although you should spend significant time on this task, it doesn’t have to set you back several days. If you stick with the basics, you
It’s hard to believe that the New Year is right around the corner! If you are looking to get published in a magazine or print publication in the coming year, now is the time to start planning. For most print pubs, the editorial calendar is already set, and queries right now are going out for summer issues (or even later!). While it may be hard
Your personality, preferences and skills influence all of your decisions, and that includes your writing career. Most of us who have our own careers in writing would have a hard time living with a set income again. If I need some extra cash, I take on an extra project, for example. You can’t do that if you’re salaried. Jenn’s recent post on her ambitious goals
In the past, we’ve talked about the issue of deleting blog posts and why you shouldn’t do it. Yet I’ve been doing a lot of that over the past couple of weeks. In light of that, I’d like to revisit the issue. My Stance on Deleting Blog Posts My general feelings on deleting blog posts haven’t changed. There are good reasons to leave old posts
This is one of my favorite times of year, not because it’s the holiday season (that part is actually more stressful than enjoyable), but because it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past year’s progress and make plans for the upcoming year. I like to start doing this earlier in December, that way I’m ready to put the plan into action at the start
Update: During my first quarter check-in I updated the list below. Anything in green is currently in progress, and anything with a strike-through has been completed. Last week I shared my 2012 year-end evaluation with you, where I looked over my goals for this year and whether or not I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. Honestly, 2012 was not a great year for
When I was a beginning freelancer, a late invoice often meant the difference between making rent and begging my (very nice, I must say) landlord to waive the late fee. We’ve all been there – some clients pay you within the hour, some clients send a check right around the 30-day mark, and some clients conveniently forget to pay at all. But sometimes, late payments
There is no denying the importance of marketing your freelance writing services. Your goal is simple: to inform as many people as possible of what you have to offer. The further your reach the better chance you have of success. Although marketing is a big part of your business, you are likely aware that it is costing you both time and money. While there is
Every now and again I’m caught off guard by the nature of this industry. I might not have been involved in the world of online marketing and freelance writing my entire adult life, but almost eight years in the field is enough to give me a rather cynical perspective on a lot of things. That being said, an experience this week took me aback and
I know November isn’t quite the end of the year. But with the hectic nature of the holiday season, I like to start a year-end business evaluation a bit early. What I do is look over my initial goals and resolutions for reference, and then check my mid-year check-in and any changed goals to see what I have and haven’t done. This year was not
By far, most freelance writing advice is building a successful freelancing writing business, not about leaving one behind. But, sometimes, writing businesses fail. Or, writers decide to pursue other opportunities. Your freelance writing business may morph into another business. There’s nothing wrong with that. The most important thing is to continue doing something that pays the bills and keeps you (somewhat) happy. If you have
In a perfect world, every cold call would lead to a sale. Of course, if you have ever used this marketing strategy you know that the world is anything but perfect. For this reason, you are going to run into a few obstacles along the way. Commonly, you will have one conversation with a prospect and then be asked to call back at some point
Several days ago I was contacted by fellow freelance writer, Luana Spinetti. She wrote to thank me for a recent post on my business writing blog — one where I talked about the risks business owners take on in hiring bottom-of-the-barrel content writers. In that post I talked a bit about plagiarism and how passing a plagiarism checker (like Copyscape) in no way meant articles
If I were to ask those just starting out what is most important in having a freelance writing career, I’m guessing most would tell me what seems obvious. You have to write well. And it’s true that you do need sufficient writing skills to build a career as a freelance writer, but that’s not what is most important. In fact, excellent writing skills don’t even
Just because you want to write for magazines doesn’t mean you can ignore the web. Your web presence is one of the easiest ways for potential employers/editors to find you. Is yours optimized to do all it can for you in this regard? Over the next two posts we’ll explore what you can do to position yourself well online for jobs in print. In this
“You want to hire me, but you don’t want to pay my rates. Tell me again how accepting a project that pays far less than what I need to survive on is going to benefit me.” My honesty is never this brutal, but it’s sometimes exactly what I want to say to those clients who want to hire me, but want to pay me in
I had just finished graduate school and needed a job. The problem with getting a Master’s in English with emphasis in Creative Writing is that there is no career development course in the curriculum. There may not be one in any other major either, but with this particular course of study, it seems to be completely necessary. If you’re really interested in being a teacher,
Do you have a marketing plan in your head? Do you complete marketing related tasks, day after day, without any real organization? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are in the same boat as many freelance writers. It is true that any marketing is better than none at all. However, an organized plan will go a long way in helping you
It’s crossed the mind of every freelancer at one point or another, perhaps on the day that a major deal falls through or you learn you’re looking at a divorce or pregnancy. Is there a good time to stop freelance writing? While our knee jerk reaction may be to immediately deny the thoughts of walking away or scaling back, logically there are some times when
It’s no secret that I manage multiple blogs. Currently I have 50 active WordPress installations — large blogs, small blogs, author sites, business sites, and several in various pre-launch phases. Every work day I have to manage these blogs, including the ones that haven’t launched yet. What does this include? Approving comments that are in moderation queues Deleting spam comments Upgrading any out of date
Some surprises are nice: surprise birthday parties, surprise gifts, surprise breakfast in bed. Other surprises are not so nice, specifically surprises that cost you. When you’re a fulltime writer, your income fluctuates often, so surprises are typically unwelcome. But they happen, even to the most experienced writers. Success and longevity hinge on your ability to manage these surprises. A big project falls through. Not every
Have you heard the phrase “content marketing” before but wondered how it applies to you as a blogger? After all, you’re already focused on content every time you write a blog post. Why should you worry about it beyond that, and how can it affect your blog marketing? Let’s take an introductory look at content marketing strategies and why they’re important for bloggers and business
Working as freelance writers, we don’t have an employer or supervisor looking over our shoulder to hold us accountable for how we spend our time. Instead that responsibility falls on us. I’ve always been big on planning and organization to help me get more worked into my schedule. I keep daily and weekly to-do lists. I have four white boards and two bulletin boards in
There are many reasons why freelance writers often times overlook cold calling as a viable marketing method. While some people are frightened at the thought of picking up the phone and making these calls, others shy away because they don’t feel as if they have enough time in their schedule. Let’s take a closer look at three of the best ways to save time as
Recently we talked about the basics of blog content audits. In the comments, Joanna Haugen asked about using spreadsheets to track your plans and progress as you go through the content audit process. I promised a simple tutorial on creating one, and that’s what you’ll find here. Export Your WordPress Data The first thing you’ll want to do is export key data from WordPress. You
One of the hardest things to do as a freelancer is also one of the most critical. You need to find a comfort zone in your professional life. If you don’t find a happy medium where you’re driven to succeed without overwhelming yourself with projects and obligations, your professional life will quickly bleed over into your personal life – and soon you find yourself trapped
If you asked my 20-year-old self what kind of job I wanted after graduating college, writing would not have been my answer. But, if you asked that same me what I was passionate about, I would have answered “writing” without hesitation. I’ve talked to many people who, like I was, are afraid to follow their dreams of being a full-time freelance writer because they’re worried
In terms of magazine writing, it has been my experience that editors will often change the title you give an article. Know this going in. So, you may ask, why am I devoting an entire post to writing a great title? Well, because it could get your article accepted–or at least help you get an editor’s attention. When you send a query letter in, having