Promoting Yourself as a Freelance Writer

March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are new to the freelance writing world, it is important to promote yourself and showcase your talents.  Getting your name out there can lead to better pay and bigger jobs.

Website

Put up a website.  Even if you can’t afford a hefty bill for a professionally made site, these days anyone can throw up a template site in a matter of minutes.  Having a website will give potential clients a home base to contact you at.

Social Network

Join popular social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Digg.  These are great ways to promote your articles, increase your readership and meet clients.

Join a Writing Forum

Joining a forum can help you to learn tips from veteran writers.  Many of these sites will have lists of Internet scams to watch out for.  You can also get legitimate leads and marketing ideas from these sites.

Do a Few Freebies

Small, local publications often will take articles from new writers but there is no pay.  Doing this can help you to gain some exposure and beef up your resume.  Giving of your time now can lead to a high paying job later on.

Get Out and Meet People

Don’t let your freelance writing career turn you into a hermit.  Make new friends and get new leads by going out to local writers groups or taking a writing workshop at a community college.  Always be supportive of other writers.  Writing is a challenging craft and other writers can be your greatest resource.

Filed Under: Book Collections, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Writing For Residual Income

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Writing for residual income can be lucrative, but it is important to remember that it is not a get rich quick scheme.

Time

Writing for residual income takes time and patience.  Unlike writing assignments for upfront pay, getting paid a lot for your residuals can  take months to a year.  The average person takes at least a year to start seeing a large return on their residual articles.

Diversify

Always write for more than one site, it is ideal to have multiple income streams coming incase a certain venture folds or changes their compensation structure.

Keep on Writing

You need to write in volume to make the most out of residual articles.  You can not just put up two or three pieces and expect success.  Top writers with residual earnings success have over 300 articles on one content site or personal blog.

Why Residuals are Good

Residuals are a good egg for freelance writers because they will allow you to take a “sick day” or “vacation day” and still have money coming.  After a good year or two writing residuals, some writers came make $900 or more without lifting a finger.

Shelf-Life

Make sure that the topics of your articles have a long shelf-life.  Not many people will care about Christmas 2011 during the Christmas season of 2013.  Write articles that can be fresh now or a few years from now.  Writing about topics such as health, savings and green living are popular topics.  Write about topics that you are passionate about and your work will seem like play.

Filed Under: Book Collections, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Blogging Tips

March 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are just getting started in blogging there is a lot to learn.  Let these few short tips serve as a stepping stone in the right direction.

Pick a Theme

Blogs amount an endless series of topics are not often successful.  Find your niche and write solely about those topics. This will make it easier to be build a concrete following. Popular themes include making money online, writing, small business, frugal living, health and shopping.  Pick a niche that you are both knowledgeable and passionate about.

Shortness

Use short but interesting content.  Making monster size posts will do you no good.  Readers get bored quickly and will move on to the next blog.  Don’t be afraid to use bullets or to do a series of short posts.

Monetize

If you are going to have a blog either for your business or for fun, you may as well monetize it.  Use Google Adsense and affiliate programs from Amazon and Ebay to earn money.  Adsense will earn you money based on clicks.  Using Amazon or Ebay you can advertise listings for others and if the product is clicked on through your blog and sold, you will get a commission.

Design

You need to give some attention to your design.  Even if you can’t afford a professional design at first, you at least need to use a template that goes along with the theme and mood of your blog.  Use a color scheme that is easy to read.  Crazy designs that are rough on the eyes can driver readers away.

Filed Under: Publishers, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Web Writing Tips

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Writing for the web and writing for a magazine are two very different animals.  If you are just getting started with web writing here are a few simples tips to stay on the right track.

Voice

Never use a passive voice.  Active voice takes precedent on the web.

Keep Up with Relevant Topics

The web is a quick and easy way for people to do research or learn about news. Make sure that you articles are relevant and keeping up with the latest trends.  If information changes or advancements in technology are made,  make sure to update your content or write a new article.

Write Often

In addition to your paid assignments, it is good to work on your craft in the forms of a personal blog or webpage.  This will help to keep your writing skills fresh and improve your grammar.

Learn about SEO

Search engines love content.  If you want your articles to rank high in Google and Yahoo then writing with search engine optimization in mind is key.  Study up on SEO and make your content keyword rich.

Don’t write a Novel

Try to keep your web writings to 700 words or less.  Anything else is too long.  Readers lose interest quickly if content is too wordy.  Keep things concise and interesting.

Use Lists

Don’t be afraid to use lists to break down important topics or steps.  Looking at a list is easier for users than weeding through a paragraph to pull out instructions.  This works well for recipes and how to articles.

Use Links

Link your article to other relevant places on the web where users can find more information.  If you are writing for a content company, link to other articles from that company.  If you are writing on your own personal site, link to other sites that you enjoy and maybe those site owners will link back.

Filed Under: Authors, Writing Tagged With: , ,
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