“What does original mean?” my inquisitive, 3-year-old asked me. I had just told her that I wanted to video one of her original dances, instead of a fourth installment of Yankee Doodle. “It means you make something up,” I told her. That’s my layman’s definition of the word. In the blog world, have you ever noticed that you can read the same thing hundreds of
There are six key strategies I teach students as they improve their basic writing skills. As a writer, it’s interesting to me how well these six elements still translate to improving my work at a professional level. When you’re paying attention to these areas of your work, you’ll start to see ways to tweak your work to make it more readable. Learning more about how
Today’s post was inspired by a reader suggestion on Twitter. We’ll talk about how you can replicate the social “water cooler” experience with colleagues in a freelance setting, when you’re not all together working in the same office. The timing is perfect too. I just met fellow freelancer, Lori Widmer, for lunch last week. And yesterday morning I finished drafting the chapter in The Query-Free
Landing gigs by sending query letters is nothing new. Thousands of freelance writers send these letters to editors on a daily basis. With so much competition, it is essential that you do something to set yourself apart. Just recently, I decide to follow-up on a few queries with a quick phone call. While this takes a lot of guts, it is something that has paid
As you grow in your freelance writing career, you will evolve. You’ll evolve as an individual, as a writer, and as a business owner. As this evolution takes place, you will notice that the things you once found satisfying don’t satisfy anymore. At first, this will feel weird and uncomfortable; it may involve outgrowing friends, peers and clients. It may mean that blogs you once
We talked a lot about goals for your freelance writing career this week. And as promised I’m going to share my yearly list. Below you can find my preliminary list of goals and New Year’s resolutions for my business (freelancing as well as my own sites and projects). I may add to the list between now and the end of this year, and I might
It’s that special time of year again! Orders are up slightly, time is decreasing dramatically and best of all – the kids are home! Having the kids home is both a blessing and a curse. The days are great fun filled with ornament making and breaking and dessert-face-stuffing, and the nights are filled with work to make up for the lack of time during the
Recently I posted an evaluation of 2010 professional goals here, including which goals I’ve met, which I haven’t, and those that I might still reach by the end of the year. I always set a lot of goals for myself, and I mentioned in the discussion surrounding that post that I do so for a reason — I know I’ll fail at some. And that’s
We’re going to talk about goals this week. First, I want to take a look back on the goals we set for ourselves for 2010. In later posts we’ll discuss failure and why it’s sometimes okay, and then we’ll close out the week talking about how today’s reflections can help us set new goals for the coming year. Why look back on this year’s goals
Getting paid to write isn’t always seamless. While you may have some clients who pay you automatically, most of them probably need to be told what to pay, how much to pay, and how to pay. No problem. There are all types of clients and you need to be prepared for all of them. An invoice is basically a bill for the work that you’ve
Breaking into the magazine market isn’t easy. That said, there are a few tricks you can use to slide on in without doing a full-length feature. One of the things you can do is send fillers. A filler is basically what most people would call a blurb–a bit of information that readers will find interesting or educational. Many magazines have them, and those that do
There was a request in the comments of a previous post about understanding and using more idioms in the English language. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to dig into some of the slang and other odious expressions we bandy about – you know, the crap we say – or the words we speak that really don’t make much sense. A quick warning – if
You have a fairly packed freelance writing schedule. You have client orders lined up for the next several weeks, and things look good. But then something happens. A project is cancelled. A client suddenly becomes non-responsive. You get a request to postpone something. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself with a hole in your schedule — one that needs to be filled now at
It is one thing to send a query letter. It is another entirely to receive an answer – good or bad. Remember this: just because you send a query does not mean the editor has to respond to you. Here are three things you can do to increase your query letter response rate: 1. Address your letter to the right person. This is the number
I had a hysterical working mom experience this week. Others might have found it horribly offensive, but I’m the type to crack up at even the slightly amusing and this went well beyond slightly… The biggest little man in my life brought home some library books from school yesterday. He’s in kindergarten this year with weekly trips to the school library. Like we do every
Whether you’re fresh-faced and excited by the prospect of more independence in your work or you think freelancing is your chance for easy money while you look for a full-time job, you might be in for a few surprises. Yes, those of us who have been at it for a while do tend to go on about how wonderful it can be. After all, if
You know that when it comes to finding high paying freelance writing jobs, I primarily recommend three things: Build your visibility and writer platform so prospects can find you. Build a solid referral network to get referred gigs from colleagues and other clients. Early on, before gigs are coming to you directly, go ahead and target and pitch prospects directly. After all, query-free freelancing is
Earlier this summer, the (U.S.) government passed a law that requires you to opt-in before banks can charge you an overdraft fee. By opting-in, you agree that banks can process transactions that are over your account balance and you agree to pay the associated overdraft fee. You can also opt-out, which means banks won’t process transactions that exceed your balance and therefore your account won’t
There is a strong correlation between how well you know your native language and how well you can write in English – at least formally. In essence, being highly educated in one language will make it far easier to become proficient in the English language. The root of this is the academic language that is surprisingly common throughout the world languages. Take the word “academic”:
Are you looking for gift ideas for the writer in your life? Are you worried about getting them something too generic? Too overdone? Well, stop worrying. Actually, some of the most generic gifts for writers remain some of our favorites! Here’s a collection of common gift ideas for writers, and why we still love them. Don’t be afraid to go with the traditional. But just
You’ve probably seen or heard this before. Freelance Writer A is having a discussion with new Freelance Writer B. The newer freelancer talks about how they’re struggling to find decent paying freelance writing jobs on job boards and classified sites, and even when they do find one there’s too much competition there. Writer A tells them to hang in there because there really are high
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it here again, but when you work as a freelancer you’re a business owner. You’re the one offering an in-demand service. And that means you get to set your rates and payment policies. Just as you can’t walk into your favorite retail store and tell them what you’re willing to pay, expecting them to accept your
How many times per week do you receive direct mail (post cards, sales letters, brochures, etc.) from local businesses? If you are like me, the answer is a lot! I am not the type of consumer that responds well to direct mail, but that’s just me. There are many people out there, including businesses of all sizes, that take a close look at every piece
There is a huge focus on full-time freelance careers with conversations often centering on how quickly a writer (or designer or coder) can run away from work and stay at home being creative all day long. Understandable, but I don’t think it needs to be a universal message. Writing full-time is not for everyone, and it’s certainly not for me. Freelancing Full-Time There is no
As home-sitting, coffee-swilling, glasses and pajama-wearing writer types, we have to be super serious about our marketing efforts or our businesses will cease to be. Mostly this is because the people that we see everyday—our pets, children and spouses—make horrible clients. This compels writers embrace all sorts of different ways to market their business both aggressively and passively. Some examples include: Guest posting on blogs
Whether you need a long weekend to unwind or you’re planning an extended vacation or business trip, sometimes life calls for a little blog vacation. This is when either you walk away from blog management completely for a while or when you alter / decrease the time you spend on your blog while you’re away. But when you need time off, how can you keep
If you were a client, would you prefer to hire “yes men” who tell you whatever you want to hear, or would you prefer to hire people who tell you the truth? While I’ve seen some potential clients look for the former, my experience is that “yes men” are not what most prospects need or want. And if you spend too much time trying to
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverbs here. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, got some adverbs here. Come on down to Lolly’s, get the adverbs here! I’ll admit I’ve used it in the classroom more than a few times although I don’t know how much good Schoolhouse Rock really does to teach teenagers anything about the parts of speech. Don’t know what I’m talking about when I refer
Here’s a situation I’ve seen a lot in the last few years: The economy sucks. My company had to downsize. I got laid off. But I still need to pay my bills and support my family. I can’t get another job in this job market. So I’ll try freelancing. I keep looking at job boards and applying for everything I see. But no one seems
Today I’d like to talk about magazine clips. Getting them and caring for them. Ok. First things first. Getting clips is the key to getting more clips. Sound like a crazy circle? It kind of is. As you get more clips it will become easier to get assignments. Starting is the hardest part. At first you won’t be writing for much, if anything. Many people