If you ask a mother who has transitioned to working at home what she misses the most, you’ll get a variety of responses, but a similar theme throughout would be the lack of freedom that she enjoyed working in an office — ironic to the those desperate to leave the office, but very real indeed to the women who have made a private sacrifice to
For many, writing sales letters is more than just another project – it is a lot of fun. There are many types of freelance writing jobs, but over the years I have enjoyed sales articles the most. There is something about writing compelling copy that is meant to “draw in” the reader that gets my blood flowing. Of course, writing a successful sales letter is
I thought I’d kick off my new series here on All Freelance Writing with an awesome story about something that happened to me this week. I started my week by losing a $7,000 finance course writing gig. Yay me! Why am I happy? Well, because I have to be or otherwise it would mean I did something wrong. Okay, kidding. I’m happy because, from the
As a freelancer, you have to treat money a lot differently than if you were employed by a huge corporation or even a small business. Your paychecks aren’t guaranteed. No one is withholding income taxes on your behalf. You have to be much more conscious of how you’re spending the money you make and avoid costly financial mistakes than can put a halt to your
Today in our “Getting Started” series, copywriter Angela Booth will be our guest. She’ll share a bit about her own history on how she got started in copywriting and offer some advice and tips for aspiring copywriters. Do you have what it takes? Here’s what Angela had to say: On How She Started in Copywriting… “By accident. In the early 1980s I was writing romance
The internet has helped more people than ever before break into the freelance writing industry. One of the most common “online based” projects is SEO articles. These projects are also known as search engine optimized articles and keyword articles. No matter what the client calls them, the basics stay the same. How to Write SEO Articles Here are three tips for effectively writing SEO articles:
Before I was a freelance writer, I was a branch manager at a corporation. Whenever I needed something for the office, I found it in a catalog, placed an order, and welcomed the FedEx guy a few days later. Now that I’m in charge of my own office, though, those catalog prices begin to look exorbitantly expensive. Why pay over $100 for a large white
Today in our “Getting Started” series, we’ll hear from novelist, literary agent, and nonfiction author Evan Marshall. If you’d like writing fiction to be a part of your future, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better brain to pick on the topic. I’ve personally been a big fan of his Marshall Plan for Novel Writing for years (a book, workbook, and software package are all
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions when it comes to writing online — specifically Web content writing. Many of these misconceptions come from the print writing side of the fence, where (while things have improved dramatically over the last few years) there’s still occasionally a feeling that Web writing just doesn’t measure up. That sentiment definitely played a role in what I’d consider
I know. It’s one of the last things you want to read about, but it’s one of the most crucial parts of freelance success. Don’t worry, you won’t read anything about cash flow statements, balance sheets, or profit/loss statements – they’re complete overkill for the average freelancer. Instead, I’m going to give you some easy-to-follow tips on managing your records throughout the month so it
Today in our “Getting Started” series, we’ll hear from Anne Wayman, a freelance ghostwriter. If you’ve considered ghostwriting books as an option for your own career, you can learn a lot from Anne. This interview is designed to serve as a starting point to tell you how she got started and offer a few tips from a pro to those of you interested in following
One of the best (and worst) things about being a freelance writer is that our schedules are our own. It’s wonderful when we get to choose when to work. It’s not so wonderful when we realize how easy it is to sometimes get sucked into distractions. Those distractions can be complete sanity-slayers when they start to interfere either with our work itself or simply our
No doubt you’ve stumbled across a competitor at some point and thought “how is this person even in business?” Their credentials aren’t as solid as yours. Their samples are terrible (or they don’t seem to have any to speak of). Their professional site is so dated that it needed to retire a decade ago. Given those things, why are they ranking #1 in the search
Where do you draw the ethical line when it comes to taking freelance writing jobs from other writers? When do you take the gig and say “it’s just business” and when do you make a financial sacrifice for someone else? What is “Stealing” a Gig or Client? First let’s be clear about what I mean by “stealing.” I’m not talking about two writers who happen
We’re getting into the time of year (the final quarter) where I like to start looking back over the current year to set some goals for the following one. You now have enough time behind you to see the trends. Are your 2009 goals working out for you? Are things a bit sluggish? Are they better than expected? Should you tweak anything between now and
Just a quick thought / question for you today: Why is it that so many freelance writers can’t seem to grasp the concept of working smarter, not harder? Sometimes when I talk to writers or read other freelance writing blogs I feel like I’m going insane — like this is an alien concept or something. To summarize: in business it’s always better to work smarter
Do you ever have clients ask you to provide additional services with your freelance writing work — maybe article submissions, press release distribution, consulting, or something along those lines? Do you oblige, or do you stick to being “just a writer?” You probably know I used to run a PR firm. A lot of the work I did (most of it in fact) revolved around
There aren’t many freelance writing topics that get under my skin as much as residual income sites. I’ve heard all the arguments in their favor. Hell, I’ve made those arguments in the past. But today I’m going to get real with you about residual earning, why I don’t feel it’s worth it in the vast majority of cases, and how you can earn a siginificant
I was talking to a new freelance writer recently about getting started in freelancing. One of their questions to me was about which services they should promote the most. In their case they wanted to offer both Web content and Web copywriting services. On the surface, there seemed to be three solutions: Promote the one you enjoy doing the most. Promote the one that pays
I’m not sure why, but some freelance writers I know seem to treat clients as though they’re some mythical creature who, once caught, should be worshipped in some way. Don’t get me wrong. You should be good to your clients. But there’s a fine line between being good to them while being responsible in your work and idolizing them to the point where you can’t
Don’t lie when you’re looking for freelance writing work, whether you’re advertising your services or responding to the ad of a prospective client. It’s common sense, right? Yet freelance writers lie all the time. Now I’m not suggesting you lie, but I’d like to look at some of the more common types of lies I’ve seen from writers and why you should never consider it,
I’m going to be bad today and challenge you to do something that I won’t be doing myself. I’m challenging you to stop working at the end of your normal work day. No working late. No squeezing something else in, as so often happens in freelance writing. Don’t even check your work email. Enjoy your Friday evening, instead of bringing in the weekend on a
Yesterday I challenged you to find new ways to write down your ideas so they don’t simply become fleeting thoughts. A couple of people responded on Twitter to say that they already write their ideas down — the execution is what they struggle with. So today let’s talk about that. It’s time to dust off one of your old ideas! The Challenge Today I want
Do you ever feel like you have so many ideas in your head that you don’t know what to do with them? Well then write them down! Perhaps you already do, but is your note-taking, idea-hoarding method really working well for you? Or do you manage to lose those notes anyway, making them useless for bringing those ideas back to life later on? Thanks to
If you’re anything like me, you probably wish there was a little more time in a day. It sometimes seems like you just can’t squeeze everything in. What if there was a solution? How much more could you do if you found just one more hour in a day? I’d like to see you find out! The Challenge When you go to bed tonight, set
Do you sometimes feel like your rates are too low? Are you afraid to increase them? When you earn a living as a freelance writer, you get to set your rates. You decide how much you’ll earn. But sometimes writers lack confidence. They worry that clients won’t think they’re worth what they want to charge. Not true (unless you’re insane and you think you’re going
Freelance writing is a great career. You have a lot of freedom you wouldn’t have in other lines of work. But with that freedom often comes mental overdrive. Sometimes we work too hard. I think it has to do with the “feast or famine” mentality of freelancing. When work is coming in, we might feel like we should say “yes” to everything offered, because we
At the beginning of the year, we tend to set our freelance writing goals, or resolutions. But sometimes we take a set it and forget it approach. Now that we’re in July, we’re a bit more than half-way through the year. I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the progress we’ve all made so far. Take a look at some of
I came across an article called “The Reason Freelance Writing is in Such Piss-Poor Shape” on TumbleMoose.com. In it, he claims that freelance writing is in bad shape because of sites like Elance where the so-called global market leads to extremely low bidding (making it hard for other writers to earn a decent living). While these kinds of thoughts are common, they’re not exactly correct.
On Mondays I usually post a list of freelance blogging jobs here. Today though I found myself somewhat disgusted by the blogging jobs I found. Based on those ads and their requirements, I wanted to offer a few tips for those considering hiring freelance writers. Here’s what you should not do in your job ads (and why): Don’t ask for custom samples unless you’re paying