One of the very first gigs I got over a year ago when I started full time freelancing was to work on the Twitter account of a life insurance company. The company actually found me through my own Twitter ramblings and still decided to hire me to do the same for them. Since that time I’ve had many different social networking clients and I’ve answered
Today I want to take a look at some criticisms of Demand Studios other than the low rate argument. And I’m going to give you facts — lots of them — so you can make your own decisions about some of these issues and whether or not writing for Demand Studios is a smart move in your situation. So today I want to follow up on
I’ve decided to open a third checking account. Right now, I have two accounts – one business account that holds my income until I’m ready to “pay” myself and another that receives my monthly paychecks. The second is a personal account that I use for paying bills and other various spending. While most of my bills are paid by the 5th of the month, I
I hope everyone’s having a great weekend! But it’s time for our weekly freelance fitness tip with a new idea for staying healthier during the next work week, and beyond. Last week we talked about working at a standing desk. This week it’s time for a food and nutrition tip. Let’s talk about breakfast. You’ve surely heard that breakfast is the most important meal of
Yesterday, Michelle Rafter Tweeted a little gem about the Yahoo-Associated Content deal and AC writers attempting to unionize to have more say post-acquisition. Say what? Associated Content writers are trying to unionize? Yes. According to the pro-union article (which, ironically, is published on AC), AC writers feel as though they have rights that are being ignored. They also think that they should be at the
You may have noticed a new face in our contributor list here on the blog. I’m happy to announce that comedy writer Matt Willard is joining All Freelance Writing. Yes, I know we already have an awesome comedy writer (Clint rocks). But Matt’s series will help us lighten up the week even more, and his posts will have a different slant. Matt’s written for the
For some it’s a dream, for others a necessity, but it can be tricky to find an ideal situation for work-at-home moms and they don’t usually mind. There isn’t much about parenting that’s ideal, after all. For the record, Carol Brady had the ideal set-up. I keep waiting for my Alice to come to cook, clean and offer sage bits of wisdom while I do
This post is in response to Yaro Starak’s recent post: Is Outsourcing Exploitation? I started to comment, but the rambling was enough to warrant a post instead. Here are some of my thoughts as both a freelance service provider and someone who outsources work regularly. I’m all for outsourcing, both in one’s own country and elsewhere. I’ve worked with contractors in the US, UK, Canada,
I know that some freelance writers do not enjoy cold calling. Although this is something I have had success with, many just don’t want to try it out. For this reason, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a bit about cold emailing and whether it can lead to new clients. To give you a better idea of how things have worked
This week’s Freelance Fitness post isn’t really about an exercise tip for freelancers, but it is about finding a way to burn more calories while you work. As freelance writers, we probably spend far too much time sitting on our arses in front of a computer, whether that be in our home office, in our favorite cafe, or even under a tree at the park.
April 17th marked my 1-year anniversary as a full time freelancer. This month marks my 2-year anniversary as any kind of freelancer. During this time I’ve learned a lot of stuff that may or may not be useful to you. 1. The easy way is usually not the best way. Chances are good that if nothing in your career ever excites you, scares you, intimidates
Ultimately, the question of whether you’re ready to make freelance writing your full-time job comes down to whether you consistently make enough money to pay all your bills each month. But just how much money do you need to make to quit your job and freelance full-time? I don’t know the exact number, but I can tell you how to figure it out. You need
I feel it necessary to let you know that I actually wrote this post on 5/2, well before Matt Willard published his post on query-free writing. Now, I’m not saying that he broke into my home, slipped into my desk chair, turned on my computer and went into my Work folder to see what I had written so he could steal ideas. No, I’m not
When you begin trying to turn an idea into an article, part of the process involves determining what publication you will pitch. With all of the magazines out there, how can you choose the right one? Actually, early in my career I heard a great piece of advice that I would like to pass along to you…start with magazines that you already read. If you have a
You might have seen me mention this before, but I’m about to start on my first screenplay. If you’ve followed my blog(s) for a while, you might also remember that I let you follow along in my process to outline two novels (as a part of a process to compare different novel outlining / drafting methods). I’m planning to do the same with the screenplay
It’s secret time! It’s been my experience that we all have a few dirty little secrets stashed away, and working from behind a computer screen lets us get away with a few harmless fibs every now and then – not that I would lie. I really do still look like that picture I posted from ten years ago…before two c-section deliveries…really, I’m still that hot!
Before you can think about marketing your freelance writing business, you need to know where you currently stand among your competition. Are you dealing with over-saturation in your specialty area? Are you lacking skills other freelance writers have, that clients want? Do you have something going for you that justifies charging higher rates than others? A SWOT analysis can help you figure those things out, and
As a freelance writer, you always want to keep a steady flow of work coming in. The best way of doing this is to market your services on a regular basis. It does not matter how you do this, as long as you are comfortable and happy with the results. With this in mind, many freelancers ask the same question: is there any way to
Every office needs a coffee table. Whether it’s to hold meetings with clients around, spread out potential magazines for querying on or to simply have somewhere to rest your feet during your mid-morning break, a coffee table has a variety of uses. Unlike my previous two posts (how to build a desk and a bookcase), I haven’t actually made this coffee table myself. I drew
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Bright Hub (a content mill I used to write for) inviting me to help them write some 60 titles for a private client commission for about $20 a pop. Another content mill, Demand Studios, recently partnered with USA Today to start providing travel tips for their website. To some writers, these partnerships and commissions
If you’re looking for an easy way to dress up your writing and to improve its readability in English, your sentences likely hold the answer. The fluent reader chunks text as she reads. This means that sentences should flow naturally as she’s reading and be easy to put together into sections or phrases. If the sentences are malformed or worded unnaturally, they become a challenge
Freelance writer vacations are important, but for many freelancers vacation days are non-existent. If you do manage to take a vacation, you’ll probably be stuck working early mornings and late nights because you can’t afford to abandon your work completely. There are still bills that need to be paid. At my last corporate job, allowed us to buy an extra week of vacation. Payroll simply deducted
In this series, we personally test traditional online freelance marketplaces to share first-hand experiences and honest assessments of marketplaces and resulting jobs, as many freelance writers turn to these outlets to find writing gigs. You can read all the posts in the series here. I have a very short update this week. Very short. So short that I am going to fill much of it
My fellow WAHM, have you ever noticed just how ridiculous certain aspects of our life can be? I, for one, rode around today with my youngest’s chocolate pudding cup in the front of my truck next to a plastic container full of worms my oldest determinedly collected yesterday. But this pales in comparison to the other pieces of my WAHM life that just slap me
All successful freelance writers have a marketing plan. That being said, changes may be needed on a regular basis. Although you do not want to be quick to jump ship, there may come a time when you need to abandon your marketing plan. Here are three times when this makes sense: If your marketing plan has failed you for an extended period of time. Have
Lately I’ve noticed a disturbing trend while reading various freelance writing blogs. I’ve watched people act like authorities on subjects they obviously had little to no experience actually doing. The clues that these blog posts were by posers instead of professionals were there for all to see. The writers showed an obvious lack of knowledge about what they were talking about, the advice was the
The lack of employer-sponsored retirement plans is another drawback of freelancing and self-employment. But just because you don’t have a corporation matching your 401K contributions doesn’t mean you should forgo retirement savings all together. Sure, freelance writing is flexible, but do you really want to continue doing it for the rest of your life? Can you do it for the rest of your life? During
You know that here at All Freelance Writing we’re incredibly picky about what we will and won’t promote. For example, we won’t sell out to content mills that exploit writers, and we won’t send you to job leads at marketplaces we consider shady. Speaking of freelance marketplaces, there was actually only one we were willing to openly support — Elance. I’m sad to say that’s
Today I am having surgery. It’s the first surgery I’ve ever had, so I’m a little nervous. I’m not a real fan of doctors and I’ve never broken a bone or had a disease, so all of this medical poking and prodding has been new to me and has made me a bit paranoid about my own longevity. I mean, I actually believe I might
I’m fully convinced that the most hilarious, deep-seated irony of the universe revolves around freedom of choice. Think of those teenage years when you struggled, fought, threatened, snuck out and wore horrible clothing to express yourself and gain true independence from the overbearing monsters we call parents. For most of us, now that we have free will, we live with gusto. We stay out all