Freelance Writing Blog

Do We Need Payment Protection Laws?

Yesterday, I found a post on About.com’s Freelance Write mentioning a pending law that would provide payment protection for freelancers and other independent workers. Don’t get too excited. The law is currently in the New York Senate and would allow the New York Department of Labor to get involved in payment disputes for residents of that state. It got me to thinking though – would it help

What to Do When Your Client Doesn’t Believe Michael Jackson is Dead

My mom doesn’t believe Michael Jackson is dead. At least twice a week she mentions that the King of Pop has been seen in the mall in Ohio or there are signs that he took a flight to Peru with Tupac and Elvis. My mother’s not crazy or old enough to be going senile. She just really, really liked Michael and was one of his

Networking and Saying “No”

The more you network the more job opportunities you will come across. As a freelance writer, it is important for you to consider all potential gigs. At the same time, you must know when to say “no.” Early in my freelance writing career I struggled with this. If you asked to work with me I said yes – no questions asked. While there is nothing wrong

The Case for the Smart Phone: A Working Mom Testimony

I dragged my feet for years regarding phone technology. Before I had kids, I didn’t really want to be reached by phone every second. I liked coming home to messages and not being bothered during the day. Now, six years later, I have a smart phone (iPhone to be exact, although not the latest model), attached to me at all times. It’s like my lifeline

Why Your Own Blog is a Better Marketing Tool Than Cheap Client Content

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of either content mills or extremely low-paying private clients (like the webmasters on bidding sites willing to pay a whopping $1-5 per article). As far as I’m concerned it’s an irresponsible business move to take on these kinds of gigs without pursuing something better early on (and an irresponsible move I made myself back in the day —

4 AM Doesn’t Suck

When it comes up in conversation about my schedule, as it usually does, that I get up at 4 in the morning and jump right into writing until 6, I usually get the same response – Wow, that sucks! And it does, kind of. It’s not fun getting up at 4 in the morning. But it is fun getting things done efficiently and it only

Are you handing out Business Cards?

You have many jobs as a freelance writer. One of the most important is marketing. You want everybody to know what you do. The more people you tell the better chance you have of landing new clients and making more money. Over the past couple of years, I have handed out hundreds upon hundreds of business cards. Are you doing the same? There is a

Freelance Writers: Your First Quarter Check-up

It’s mid-March. And that means we’re nearly through with the first quarter of 2011 already. How are your goals and resolutions for the year shaping up? Is your freelance writing business growing? Do you need to pick up the pace a bit? So far I’m reasonably happy with my progress for the year. I’ve: finished outlining the first book in my novel series; gotten my

I'll Take Firm Payment Dates, Please

I’m not used to doing big projects. Most of my projects are either a one-time set of articles or a recurring set of articles. It’s easy to quote those since I do them all the time. Recurring payments are either set up on an automatic subscription or invoiced weekly. When I do a one-time set of articles, I ask for an upfront deposit and the

Why Consider a Dedicated IP Address for Your Blog

When you host your own professional site or blog, you have several hosting options. Many freelance writers use shared hosting accounts, especially when starting out. While it can be a cost-effective option until you need more resources, there’s another concern — shared IP addresses. The IP address is basically a number that identifies the server you host your site or blog on. When you use

How to Use (and Not Use) Twitter to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

I made the mistake on Twitter yesterday of searching for “freelance writing” to see what people in the community were talking about. Wow. Just wow. I can’t remember the last time I saw so much spam and so many crap freelance writing jobs in one place. So it got me thinking about finding jobs on Twitter — more specifically finding good freelance writing jobs while

Freelancers: No One Owes You a Living

Do you ever get low-balled offers for your freelance writing services? Does it piss you off when you see countless other content producers offering to write for a penny per word while you try to make ends meet by charging professional rates? Do you feel like others are holding you back? They’re not. You are. Remember, no one owes you a living as a freelance

Asking for Referrals: Three Tips

One of the best ways to land new clients and make more money is to ask for referrals. Believe it or not, your current clients may be able to send a lot of new business your way – if you play your cards right. Freelance Writing Referral Tips 1. Don’t jump the gun. Your client is not going to pass your name around to others

Getting Paid Extra

Catchy title, eh? Everybody likes to get paid a little extra for their work—and writers are no exception. When you write for magazines, you will sometimes have the opportunity to hold out for a bit of extra cash. Here are some of the top ways to earn more from a print article: Reprints/Royalties I wrote for a magazine that wanted to publish my article again,

Working Mom Sagas: Mornings or Evenings?

I’ve been working nights for years. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I wasn’t already working days and mornings, too. I’ve mentioned a few (dozen) times already, but I have the two kiddos to get up and out of the house every morning, while I get up and out of the house as well to head to the school where I teach at-risk teenagers.

Freelance Writers: Things Are Rarely as Bad as we Think They Are

Do you ever feel flustered under the pressure of your freelance work? Do you have a client who sometimes drives you crazy? Do you fear losing a gig because you don’t know where the next one will come from? Do you constantly worry about money because you aren’t earning as much as you’d like? First: take a step back. Next: breathe. Freelancing, or running any

No More Piggybank: Where to Save Your Money

Starting this month, I resolve to save 5% of my income every month, always, no matter what. If I can consistently pay the IRS, the cell phone company, the electric company, the health insurance provider, etc., there’s no reason I can’t do the same for myself. I do have an automatic savings draft set up, but it’s just $50 a month and I now feel

Why Typical Bounce Rate Metrics Might Not be Relevant to Your Blog

Do you use Google Analytics on your blog to track your website traffic statistics? If so, have you ever looked at your bounce rate there and wondered “why is this so high?” The problem might have very little to do with your blog and have more to do with the fact that the typical bounce rate metric isn’t always relevant to the blog format. Fortunately

Do You Have an Editorial Calendar?

Three different freelance colleagues mentioned using editorial calendars to me within the past week. And it made me wonder — is this a new trend among freelance writers and bloggers or are many of you already using this tool? I don’t have an editorial calendar per se, but I do a fair amount of post planning. I use editorial calendars for special circumstances (like my

Chamber of Commerce Networking Tips

Are you looking to get in touch with potential clients from your local area? If so, you may want to think about joining at least one chamber of commerce. This may sound like a lot of work, but once you know what you are doing it can bring in new business on a regular basis. Here are three chamber of commerce networking tips: 1. Choose

The One Writing Rule That Will Help You Lose Unsightly Stomach Fat while Earning $3,276 in One Week!

I had every intention of writing you a nice, long sales page full of random lies and musings. I was hoping that I could create a really cool, (imaginary) expert name for myself like Dr. Rebecca Frankenfurter, M.D. so that I would have instant credibility through my fake letter when I went to sell you some aspirin in a pretty bottle I colored with my

Want Google to Get Tough on Mills and Other MFA Sites Spamming Their Rankings? Now You Can!

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

Get Over Blogger Embarrassment

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

Can Freelancers Achieve Financial Freedom?

Don’t let stereotypes fool you. Financial freedom is not about being rich. In fact, you could be a millionaire and still be a financial slave. You know you’re financially free when you’re not worried about money anymore. The path to financial freedom isn’t much different for freelancers. I’d even say we have the ability to get there faster by making certain business choices. So how

How to Sort Through the Noise in Freelance Writing Advice

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

Network in Person without Feeling Silly

Let’s face it, most writers aren’t the type to “hard sell” their services. For this reason, face to face networking can often times be a difficult task. There was a day when I felt the same way. Fortunately, I overcame this soon enough. Nowadays, I love getting out there, talking with others, and making new contacts. Tips to Ease the Tension 1. Dress for success.

Magazine Writing: The Travel Piece

Let’s face it—almost every writer would love to land the coveted “travel article” in a glossy magazine. Writing about a destination is considered one of the most glamorous things you could do as a writer—but how do you break in? Competition is fierce, and there are some pretty established pros out there doing it, so knowing where to begin is important. The Good News It

Why Even My Favorite Bloggers Often Can't Convince Me to Comment

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

Super Money-Saving Tips from a Super WAHM!

I’m obviously totally awesome at what I do because I’m not completely burned out yet although I do get very, very close at times. In fact, I admire my productivity and economy so much I thought I’d share some real-world tips for saving money while starting up a freelance business any moms just breaking into this madness. This is, after all, a very, very serious

What My Cats Taught Me About More Efficient Freelancing

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