Quick Tip: Stop Manually Inserting Ads Into Blog Posts

If you run a blog as an income stream, chances are that you’ve at least tried to earn some advertising revenue. But managing ads on your blog can involve a big time investment. Fortunately you don’t have to manually insert ad code in every blog post. Occasionally this makes sense, like when you want to insert an affiliate ad that’s relevant only to a specific post. But

“Bloggers” Who Don’t Actually Blog Anymore (or at Least Not Much)

I’m just curious. Has anyone else noticed the trend where “big” bloggers seem to be blogging less and less while relying on guest posts more and more? Does that bother anyone else? In some cases it feels like the original blogger isn’t a blogger at all anymore, even though that’s the persona they maintain. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with deciding that you’d

Free Goal & Task Tracker Worksheet

It’s August. Seriously. When did that happen? Normally by now I’ve completed a detailed mid-year evaluation and posted my quarterly check-in on the blog. Whoops! Actually, it was less a simple oversight and more an issue of reorganization. By mid-July, I knew a few things weren’t working out as planned, so I decided to make some changes. The usual mid-year check-in was scrapped. It was a dud

Keep Your Inbox Cleaner with This Quick Tip

Do you ever start work on Monday mornings feeling suffocated by your email inbox? That’s how I felt yesterday morning. I receive a lot of email every day, including on the weekends. But this weekend I received a couple thousand extras beyond my norm, and I never poked my head in to stay on top of it (not that I should on my days off). While

Quick Tip: Look Beyond Your Bubble for Freelance Writing Advice

Last week Paula Hendrickson wrote a great guest post for Lori Widmer’s blog on vetting writing experts. This topic is near and dear to my heart because I’ve had more new writers come to me looking for help after taking horrible advice from pseudo experts than I can count. I feel for those writers. It’s easy to get sucked in because some of these charlatans are masters

Review of The Freelancer Planner

Not long ago I was contacted by Michelle Nickolaisen, asking if I’d like to review The Freelancer Planner. Of course I said “yes.” Planners? Organization? Schedules? She clearly knew the way to this freelancer’s heart. Total organization junkie over here. Michelle sent over a review copy of the downloadable version of her planner. This is a six-page .pdf planner (minus the cover page) that you can print

A Freelance Writing Job Board Warning

I wanted to warn you about a new site called Contena (not actively linking to them because I don’t consider them worth any link juice). I first heard about this site over on Sophie Lizard’s forum at BeAFreelanceBlogger.com. The owners are billing it as some sort of much-needed tool for searching multiple job boards in one place. But to do this, they’re illegally scraping full

This Belongs in the Freelance Advice Hall of Shame

I saw a post in my feed reader this morning, and it left me shaking my head. It’s a contender for the “Freelance Advice Hall of Shame” for sure. Really, that should exist. I’m not going to bother linking to it here. I want nothing to do with promoting its nonsense. But I do want to warn newer writers away from this kind of lousy freelance

Quick Tip: Determine Your “Perfect Day”

Do you know what your “perfect day” looks like? Those are the days when you achieve far more than you might normally expect, where you feel good and rested but still productive. They’re the days that don’t leave you feeling drained. They’re the days that leave you wanting more. I know what my “perfect day” looks like because I’ve lived it plenty of times. And

Is Grammarly a Good Tool for Professional Writers?

Not long ago I published a review of AutoCrit, a self-editing tool designed for authors of fiction. I also found it helpful for nonfiction work such as blog posts. Shortly after reviewing AutoCrit, I was contacted by a rep for Grammarly, another online editing tool for writers which serves as both a spelling and grammar checker. The kind folks at Grammarly set up a test

Quick Tip: Keep Blog Post Ideas Coming by Writing a Series

Recently we looked at eight blog post ideas you can fall back on if you suddenly aren’t sure what to write about on your blog. Today I have another tip along those lines — something you can do on a regular basis to make idea generation a bit easier. This week’s quick tip for bloggers is to write post series rather than relying solely on

The All Freelance Writing Podcast Q&A Special

Apologies for the delay in this episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast. I ran into some recording difficulties last week. But that will not affect the schedule for our next episode, which will go out Friday of next week. This week’s episode is a Q&A special — the first general writers’ Q&A special, although I’ve done one specific to bloggers in the past. I

Quick Tip: Sort and Filter for Easier Email Management

A frequent productivity complaint of writers is that social media can become a big distraction from their writing. That hasn’t been an issue for me recently. But something else has: email. Today is my first day back to work after about a week off. It wasn’t planned time off. I simply decided to take some personal time, after clearing up client projects early. Normally when

Quick Tip: Keep Your Book Marketing as Creative as Your Writing

I’ve been ranting for the last week or two about atrocious examples of marketing from companies like Upwork, Freshbooks, and Canva. So it feels like a good time to change gears and get back to the things writers should focus on rather than avoid. This week’s quick tip for writers is a bit of a lead-in to Friday’s podcast episode. There, we’ll explore ways indie authors

8 Blog Post Ideas to Fall Back On

Do you ever get blogger’s block – feeling like you’ve already blogged about everything in your niche and you can’t come up with new blog post ideas? I do. I’d bet most bloggers do from time to time. No matter how much you’ve written, you probably haven’t really tapped your niche, even if it’s a narrow one. So when these dry spells happen, how can

Quick Tip: Tie Your Book to a Worthy Cause

When you promote a new book release, chances are good you’ll send out at least one press release. And one of the biggest book launch press release mistakes I see authors make is sending a release with nothing newsworthy to say. That fact that you’re releasing a new book is very rarely newsworthy on its own, unless you’re a well-known author. Instead, you can increase

3 Ways to Torpedo Your Blogger Outreach Efforts (Infographic)

Earlier this week, I went off on Elance / Upwork for their BS blogger outreach efforts that targeted me and several other colleagues (I’ve heard from at least six others now who were a part of this supposed “handful” of targeted blogs). In that post, I shared a simple infographic highlighting the three big mistakes Upwork made, in the hopes that other businesses would see

Ways Bloggers Can Minimize the Impact of Being on Skeazy Pitch Lists (Podcast)

  The latest episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast is now live. As promised in my last post’s comments, it includes an extension of the Elance / Upwork fiasco with their lame blogger relations attempt. Then I move on to offer a few tips to bloggers who are tired of finding themselves on these lists. Also in this episode: Is there really a difference

Are Freelance Industry Bloggers Stupid? Upwork Seems to Think So

It’s days like these I wish I hadn’t retired Naked PR. If you don’t already know, I used to own a small PR firm, where I was an early specialist in online public relations and social media consulting (before everyone under the sun started thinking they were qualified to call themselves that). Naked PR was my blog where I had a tendency to say things

Quick Tip: Diversify Your Virtual Blog Tour Stops When Promoting Your Books

Planning a virtual book tour on a series of blogs can be time consuming, both for you and your hosts. One way you can make the most of your time is to diversify the types of posts included in your blog tour. Let’s look at some of the most common types of virtual blog tour stops for authors. Some will save you time directly. And

A Writers Worth Month Round-up

Did you miss any of last month’s Writers Worth Month posts over on Lori Widmer’s Words on the Page blog? No worries. You can find links to all posts in the series below. Check out Lori’s site in general. She offers great advice to newer writers all year long. I’m a particular fan of her “This Job, Not That Job” series where she highlights lousy

2 Years to a Book [InfoGraphic]

In this week’s “short share,” we have a two-year book writing plan from HuntersWritings.com. While two years might be an unnecessarily long time for many indie authors these days, I think it’s a great plan for new authors — especially those trying to write their first book alongside a traditional day job. If you find yourself with limited time to write, but you’d like to

How Do You Motivate Yourself to Write?

It doesn’t matter how experienced of a writer you are. You’re bound to feel unmotivated every now and then. Sometimes you can plow through these periods. But at other times you’ll need to find ways to get excited about your projects again. I’m like any other writer in this regard. I have good days and bad days. Sometimes a lack of motivation is a result

5 Useful Scrivener Keyboard Shortcuts for Writers

Scrivener is a wonderful tool for writers. You can use it to write a novel or nonfiction book. You can use it to format your writing as an e-book. You can even use Scrivener for blogging. That said, Scrivener can also be a complicated tool to use. I doubt I even know half of what it can do. It’s one of those tools that you

Quick Tip: White Label WordPress for Client Installations

Freelance writers often take on complementary services. For example, a web content writer might handle social media marketing for the content they write. Freelance bloggers might be asked to step in and assist a client even before they have a blog set up. If you’re able to quickly set up WordPress for your clients, charging them for the service might make a lot of sense. But if

Relax Melodies – An Awesome Audio App for Writers

This might sound strange. But today I want to recommend an audio app — more specifically a sleep audio app — to writers. It’s called Relax Melodies, and it’s available on both Android and iOS devices. I’ve been struggling with insomnia recently, working and sleeping rather odd hours. Sleep has been difficult to come by lately, but when I do sleep, this app usually plays a

Quick Tip: Your Freelance Writer Website is for Clients, Not You

When a client visits your professional website, are they getting the information they want and need? Are benefits of hiring you, as opposed to your competition, clear? Do they leave with enough information to make a hiring decision, or at least feel inclined to contact you? An effective freelance writer website should do those things. Does yours? I previously announced I’m in the process of

How Can Writers Protect Personal Information Online?

Anonymity online is a hotly debated issue. Is it “wrong” to post anything anonymously because it means you aren’t taking responsibility for your words? Or is it an acceptable way of communicating online? And when you work as a writer, is there anything you can do to protect your personal information, whether you choose to write anonymously or not? This is an issue where I

Publication Rights for Freelance Article Writers (Infographic)

This week’s “short share” is an infographic from Brian Scott and FreelanceWriting.com. It presents common examples of publication rights freelance writers might come across while negotiating contracts. This is important information to know. I meet new writers all the time who assume that copyrights automatically transfer to clients simply because they’ve paid for the end result. That isn’t the case. Contract language has to be

Don’t Fall Victim to These 5 Blogging Myths [Podcast]

In this week’s episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast, I highlight five common blogging myths and misunderstandings new bloggers should look out for. Blogging myths featured in this episode include: You have to post every day, or nearly every day. Every post should be “epic” content, over 2000 words, etc. There’s some big difference between “blog posts” and “articles,” and freelance bloggers should be