This morning I woke up to a beautiful sight. I live in a wooded community, and we had snow last night. This morning the snow was still sticking to the trees. That’s rare. It gets windy up here, so snow usually blows off the trees right away. The view made me think about how this environment sometimes impacts my writing. The view this morning outside
There is not much easy about our job unless you compare it to something like digging ditches or building a skyscraper. But that at least wears out your body rather than your mind. At the end of a day wrestling obligations to kids and careers, my brain is tired. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels mentally split almost constantly throughout the day.
It can be easy to get comfortable in a routine as a freelance writer. And sometimes that means we don’t continue to market our services as much as we should — something we should do even when our schedules are full. So today let’s look at some signs that you should seek out new freelance writing opportunities. Some are signs that you’ve waited too long
As a blogger, it’s important that you continuously strive to improve your writing skills. While no one is expected to be perfect all the time, you’ll want to focus on a few key things including: decreasing spelling and grammatical errors; making sure your writing style and language choices are appropriate for your audience; keeping your blog posts clear and concise. It’s true that some bloggers
I’m a big fan of what I like to call “query-free freelancing.” That means I don’t generally pursue freelance writing jobs. I do things that attract clients to me instead. For example, I run blogs that keep me fresh in prospects’ minds and I make sure my business site is well-optimized for search engines so I’m one of the first writers prospects find when they search for
Is your freelance writing business netting you more money than what’s needed to pay the bills? It’s not a bad problem to have. Here are some ways you can spend that extra money. Make sure you set aside enough for taxes. If you’re earning more than you expected, you may also owe more taxes than you expected. Update your estimated tax calculation and set aside
When starting out in print writing, clips are an important part of the picture. You need clips to get work and to prove that you can in fact write. The earlier you begin thinking about the clips you need, the better your chances of having one handy when an editor asks for it. Tweak Your Specialty How about an example? When I started writing I
Sometimes everyday life gets in the way of writing (and sometimes writing is that everyday life). But in the former case, one of my favorite things to do is go somewhere else — plan a mini writer’s retreat of sorts. I’m doing that with my husband this weekend. We’re heading to a B&B called Sayre Mansion, about an hour from where we live. We stay in a
As a blogger, you’re already used to creating content on a regular basis. That makes content marketing an ideal option for promoting your blog, increasing traffic, and growing your readership. Today let’s talk about the two different kinds of content marketing — inbound content marketing and outbound content marketing — and which makes more sense for blog promotion. Outbound vs Inbound Content Marketing Outbound content
There are many types of freelance writing success, and only you can determine what exactly that means for you. But no matter what your definition of success is, there are plenty of ways to get there. And it’s important to know that you don’t have sell out to make that happen. What Does it Mean for a Freelance Writer to Sell Out? Selling out is
As a freelance writer, new clients are your lifeblood. The more gigs you land the more money you will earn. Pretty simple, right? Your marketing plan is going to determine how much success you have in this area of your business. While true that some marketing strategies are free, others are going to set you back a few dollars from time to time. This leads
Tired of dealing with awful clients who disappear as soon as “where is my money” crosses your lips? Deadbeat clients are every freelancer’s nightmare, and it seems like we all run into one or more over our careers. However, you don’t have to just sit idly by and hope for the best! You can take steps to protect your business and your pocketbook with just
We all know that the work-at-home-mom (WAHM) writers aren’t considered the upper echelon of the writing community. If you didn’t know that, you’ve never read about the cost-savings to be had by tricking desperate WAHMs into providing ultra cheap articles in a particular forum’s Special Offers. Well, as a few of us here can tell you, having children and enjoying a professional writing career are certainly not exclusive entities, and even
My hubby recently decided that we should upgrade our phones, and we both went the Android route. I’ve spent a good bit of time setting things up for both personal and business use, and in the process I’ve come across some great apps that should improve my productivity. Here are five of my favorite Android apps so far (all free) that might be of interest
You may have heard of Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization for freelancers, contractors, and independent workers. Sara Horowitz, who founded Freelancers Union, has released a comprehensive guide to freelancing – The Freelance Bible – that’s everything the title suggests. Sara’s accolades includes being named a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” fellow and one of Forbes’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs. Packed With Information As you’d expect of any book
Although it may be uncommon, there may come a time when you need to meet with a prospect in person. While you are not required to do so, if you turn down the invitation it could very well kill your chance of making a deal. Is that what you want? Some writers have no problem meeting with prospects and clients in person. Others try to
Have you ever written a guest post for someone’s blog? Have you considered turning that marketing strategy into paid freelance blogging opportunities? If so, you might find inspiration in Ruan Ooosthuizen — a blogger who successfully made that transition. You already know that we’re big fans of sharing personal experiences here at All Freelance Writing. We share our successes and failures with you on a
Social media marketing is a great way to promote your blog. And when you think about social media, you might think of networking and community as the most important aspects. If so, you would be right. That said, good writers will always have an edge in professional social networking and social media marketing. That’s because so much of social media these days still involves the
While every blogger can improve their blog through better writing, “better writing” doesn’t mean the same thing for every blogger. There are some common things we can all improve — our spelling, grammar, and paragraph length for example. Beyond those basics, “better writing” largely revolves around your chosen writing style. And it’s important that you choose your blog’s writing style based on your audience rather
There is an endless amount of debate over what should be the going rate for writers in this business. There is a parallel debate over what actually constitutes a writer, another one over global price structures and still another one over the different styles of writers and how they fit into the grand scheme of business models. For the sake of argument, let’s ignore the
Every worker, freelance or not, is undoubtedly familiar with income taxes: the percentage of your income that’s paid to the Federal, state, and sometimes local government. (The rest of this post speaks primarily on Federal taxes.) When you’re full-time employed by an employer, the employer will typically withhold taxes from your pay. They send the withholdings to the IRS on your behalf. But, when you’re
It’s that time of year again when goal-setting and dreams of new achievements fill people’s minds. I’m no exception, and that’s why I shared my overall writing resolutions previously on my freelance writing blog. For me those resolutions include freelance writing goals, Web publishing goals, and publishing goals for books and e-books. Today I’d like to share that last group of resolutions with you and
I know I’m a bit slow to return from my winter vacation time this year, but welcome back! I feel well-rested (after being exhausted by the holidays), and I’m excited to get back to work. I hope you all are as well. Back in November I shared my 2013 writing resolutions with you. Normally I try to evaluate them each quarter, but I knew I
If you’re getting started as a blogger, chances are good you’ll hear about something known as search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO is everything you do to make your blog rank well in search engine results. Ranking well in search engines can bring more targeted traffic, meaning new readers, to your blog. There are countless “SEO experts” out there who will try to teach you
Now that 2013 is underway, there is no better time to get serious about growing your business. You should look at the new year as a fresh start. You should consider this your time to shine. Although prospecting for new business is always important, you can continue to grow by offering an expanded line of services to current clients. During the month of January, you
Happy New Year all you writers out there! If you have already been published in print, I wish you more of the same in 2013, and if you haven’t yet made it in this arena, may this be your year to shine! Today we’re going to talk goal setting for all print writers. I know it sounds basic, but it really isn’t. Here are my
Just an hour or two ago, I made my first folder of 2013. It was a small thing – clicking on “Create New Folder” and filing away some work – but it made the point in my mind nicely enough. This is a new year. It’s time to start this one off correctly, because it’s much easier to continue a good routine than it is
Another calendar year means another fiscal season for freelance writing businesses. It’s a great time to organize your finances. You may have had an ineffective organization system last year, if you had one at all. No matter what you did last year, the start of 2013 is a great time to tweak your old system or to create a new one. When I talk about
Update: I’ve decided to extend my vacation until Monday, January 7th to spend some more post-holiday downtime with family. I will not be back to regular posting here until that week, but our other contributors will continue to post on their usual schedules. This week was my last work week in 2012. I’m now on vacation until January 2nd. I hope you’re all enjoying a
I love my clients. I don’t want you to think I’m a total jerk for getting up here on this proverbial soapbox and bashing the people who routinely buy my services. I’m not bashing them. I have no reason to – in fact, I’m suddenly thinking of dedicating a post to what makes them so amazing, but that’s not as much fun to write so