A while back I mentioned that I was giving Scrivener a try. My hope was to use that writing software during last year’s NaNoWriMo instead of a standard word processor. That didn’t happen. I was still uncomfortable with the software at the time, and I worried it would slow me down. I’m still a Scrivener beginner by a long shot, but I’m finally putting it
Have you ever seen custom quotes in a blog post with a “tweet this” link? It’s cool, right? Instead of focusing your Twitter links on your blog post title, you can have several tweets with unique content for each of your posts. And by highlighting your best quotes, you increase your chance that readers will share your posts. Here’s an example of a completely customized
Have you ever struggled to pinpoint the target market for your freelance writing services? If so, I have a free tool that might help. I decided to overhaul my old target market worksheet, previously only available to those who purchased my Web Writer’s Guide e-book which is no longer available. I’m releasing the updated version as a freebie. You’ll be able to find it in my collection
Digital marketing. Engagement. Online advertorials. These aren’t just buzz words that marketers throw around to sound smart; they’re clear indicators of businesses’ growing needs in the digital age. Why am I bringing them up? Because over the past few years, I noticed a sharp increase in the demand for certain types of content. I’m getting fewer requests for physical flyers or brochures, and more pings
I’ve had a rough couple of days this week. It started Sunday night. Between now and then I’ve had restless nights, fluttering feelings, a bit of lightheadedness, and a variety of other symptoms. By Monday morning I was imagining the worst. My husband worked from home that day just in case I decided to go into the hospital to get checked out. Thankfully it didn’t
Are you confident that you set the right freelance writing rates? Are they really helping you reach all of your financial goals? Or did you find out through trial and error that there were some factors you forgot to consider? Alicia Rades brought this topic up recently. She wanted to know how she can figure out what she should be making to reach her goals and meet her
Today I’d like to share some reader questions from a reader who preferred to remain anonymous. His questions revolve around getting started as a new freelance writer on a part-time basis. We’ll call him Matt for the sake of this post. Jen Grant, whom I answered in our last reader Q&A post, asked for something similar during a Twitter conversation recently: @AllIndieWriters Jenn! Thank you!
In my post “4 Elements of Effective Freelance Writing Websites,” I suggested creating a custom 404 error page to help misdirected prospects find what they’re looking for. A 404 error is a “page not found” error message someone sees if they try to visit an address on your site that doesn’t exist. No one likes seeing an error message. So it’s a good idea to
What are your goals for your freelance writing website? To be clear, we’re talking about your professional site — the one designed to attract clients, not your site or blog targeting other writers. Chances are that you’re hoping to attract not only clients, but the right clients. You know, they’re the ones who have a need in your specialty area and an adequate budget to hire a
As a freelancer, do you just scrape by month to month? Are you struggling to earn the kind of living that would leave you truly comfortable? If so, you might want to check out this new website from a fellow freelance writer, a good friend, and my top pick if I ever need a partner in crime — Yolander Prinzel. Her new site is called
We’ve talked a lot about specialization as a freelance writer, why it’s a good idea to specialize, and even how to choose a freelance writing specialty. But if you choose to specialize in one or more freelance writing niches (as opposed to focusing on specific service types), how do you know if a niche you’re passionate about pays well? When it comes to picking the right
When you graduated high school, you jumped for joy not because you were glad you made it, but because you thought you’d never have to learn another mathematical equation again. The Pythagorean Theorem? Forget about it! But there’s one formula you can’t pass up as a blogger: C(D+E+F)A+B Confused? Let’s break it down and look at each variable. A: A Valuable Idea It’s common sense
Today Kathryn Aragon was kind enough to host a guest post from me about content theft. In it, I explain: Why freelance writers and bloggers shouldn’t ignore it (and why you’re crazy if you think those “free backlinks” are a good thing); How you can track down information about even the most anonymous content thieves; What you can do to have your stolen content removed
If you’re a blogger, you probably get more than your fair share of blog comment spam. This can include anything from robots to bad SEO professionals spamming you for backlinks to trackback spam. You have a few options to deal with them: You can let them go live on your site. (Ick!) You can moderate all comments manually. (But why?) You can implement intrusive captcha-style
I’m sitting here writing a post for Wednesday on a Tuesday night because we’re anticipating power outages tomorrow (“today” I suppose if you’re reading this). I can’t control ice storms or the fact that they rolled in at least eight hours earlier than forecasters expected. I can’t control the woods around our house and whether or not the ice will bring down branches on the
Multitasking. It’s awesome. It’s evil. It will make you more productive. It will make you less productive. It will make you more successful. It will destroy your business. What’s the truth when it comes to multitasking in your freelance writing business? The truth is, it depends. Should You Multitask? It depends on what kinds of tasks you’re talking about. For example, it would probably be
As the day quickly passes by, I realize that I’ve spent most of it staring out the two huge windows that sit in front of my desk. The snow has been falling since the early morning hours, and I’ve watched it go from a dusting to at least half a foot so far. I love watching the snow fall. It’s one of the things I
We’ve finally reached the last post of my ghostwriting series. I want to thank you all for reading along; I hope you got something of value out of it. I’d like to close the series with a few extra tips to help your own ghostwriting efforts. The four final tips aren’t part of any unifying theme other than, here be some good things you should
Are you a new freelance writer looking to write online? When you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, you probably have a lot of questions. And one of those questions is probably about what kinds of gigs are actually open to new writers. If you want to focus on writing for the Web, there are several types of gigs you can find, no matter
I hate issuing absolutes, but I am a devoted believer in the power of specializing in order to create a thriving freelance writing career. I also believe that choosing to be a specialty ghostwriter is the quickest, easiest way to achieve lasting career success. Specialty ghostwriting is all about hyper-focusing your business. That means choosing a specific topic (or group of topics) to provide ghostwriting
You’ve probably heard this advice before: to protect yourself professionally, you should set up your freelance writing business as a limited liability company (LLC). The basic idea is that an LLC will protect your personal assets if claims were to arise against your business. But registering your freelance business as an LLC might do little more than give you a false sense of security. This
In today’s post I’ll answer several reader questions recently submitted by Wendy Komancheck, a freelance writer who specializes in writing for landscapers and related businesses. These questions came as a follow-up to my recent post, “How Writers Can Stay Productive Even During Sick Days,” where Wendy brought up the issue of not being able to take sick days because she doesn’t get paid time off.
Believe it or not, getting started in ghostwriting is almost exactly the same as getting started in non-spooky freelancing. It’s about coming up with a plan, announcing your service, and preparing for follow-through. Coming Up with a Plan You need to consider how ghostwriting fits into your business. Will it be your primary focus, or something you do on the side? How will you fit
So far this year, I’ve had one normal work day. One. Just a day after returning to work from my holiday break, I needed a sick day. That turned into a “sick week.” And it’s now going on week two. Surprisingly though, those sick days have still been productive days. I launched several new features here on this site. I published several blog posts on various
A contract is every writer’s best friend. There are tons of posts out there that can help you build your basic client agreement, so today I just want to focus on four specific points that your ghostwriting contract should include. 1. Multiple payments. Ghostwriting a book is a big, long project. If your clients pay everything up front, they’re taking a big risk. If they
When I launched this blog in 2006 (under the name SixFigureWriters.com at the time), one of the biggest issues being discussed by new freelance writers was the “global writers’ market.” Writers in English-speaking countries would routinely blame this supposed global market for the fact that they couldn’t find decent-paying freelance writing jobs. They blamed non-native English speakers in countries with lower costs of living, as
We all have goals for our freelance writing careers. And many of us are probably gearing up to make changes in the New Year. But what happens when you feel stuck — like there’s no time left in the day to actually work on growing our businesses? No matter how busy or even overwhelmed you might feel there’s always one option open. Change your current
A lot of people are focusing on holiday shopping this time of year. Personally, my workload has increased and I haven’t given shopping much thought. (I really need to get on that!) But I have thought about my finances and some things I need to do as the year comes to a close. There are tons of year-end money lists out there and they all
Today we’re going to talk about setting some goals that relate directly to a career in writing for print. Starting the NY off right can set the tone for the entire year, so it pays off to do a little “leg work” on the front end of things. Here are five great goals to pencil into January that will help you get set up: 1.
The holiday season is a great time to connect with current and past clients. No matter if you do so on the phone, via email, or even in person, this is one time of the year when you should reach out to every current and past client. While job number one is to wish them a happy holiday season, this is also a great opportunity