It’s a matter of habit, really. However, the fact remains that where I sit down, yield the pen (or rather, the keyboard) to write the stuff that I churn out for my freelance writing clients is extremely important to me. This has, partly, to do with discipline. I’ve disciplined myself to tune into my work and come in sync with the topics that I have to write about only when I am sitting in my little ‘office’, a little room that I guard with my life.
Hence, whether I own an iPhone or a laptop is completely irrelevant to me. Of course, there ARE other freelance writers who can sit down and write whatever it is that is required of them whenever or wherever. But that’s just not me. I would rather associate a place that I feel comfortable with doning the ‘thinking cap’ instead of writing on my bed or in the living hall. The feelings just don’t flow.
And besides, I’ve two kids. Which means that I need to train them so that they don’t interupt me whenever I am working on something. Ever since they were young, I’ve taught them that mommy works from home, she writes and whenever she writes, she’s in THAT room over there. And when she’s in THAT room over there, unless it’s really urgent and requires immediate attention, they would have to wait.
But it’s a two way street, of course. For every article that I finish, I would stop, give myself a break and go out and hangout with them for a while. This is the only way I can balance my freelance writing career and my family life.
I envy those who can do their freelance work everywhere because this simply means that they can literally travel without any problems at all and STILL continue to deliver top-notch stuff to their clients. In time, I would have to learnt how to do the same thing. But for now, I think for a lot of people, in order to write well, you need to be in the right frame of mind. And the atmosphere and environment is crucial to how efficient the freelance writer is whenever she/he is behind the keyboard.
Patience and Persistence.
Some people get easily frustrated and give up halfway when trying to learn a new trait. I think that’s such a waste, especially when there’s potential for growth in that person. Just because a person signs up for violin lessons doesn’t make that person a Vanessa Mae within a couple of months or a year. Taking up golf does not make a person Tiger Woods within months. These examples I just gave are people who are born to excel because they have the attitude and the right upbringing.
Most importantly, they know what it takes to make it in their own respective industry. It takes persistence, practice, lots of patients and most probably a lot of tears as well. Learning how to write well for the internet, author a book or become a freelance writer takes a lot of practice and patience as well. And this is the encouraging word that I would love to leave aspiring writers with today.
There WILL be criticisms and some people will hate whatever you’ve written. Some other professional writers will scoff at your effort. You could have spent countless hours just toiling over a seemingly well-written piece, thinking that it’s the best piece you have written thus far, only to have people say that it’s stuff kindergarten kids come up with.
Trust me, people, especially critics, are exceptionally cruel when evaluating works of others. As it turns out, it’s far easier to say negative things about what someone have written than to say nice things about it. The negative points, after all, is far more apparent in the beginning. To find the good things in what you have written, it takes effort and not a lot of people are willing to put effort into finding GOOD THINGS to say about what you have written.
In order to make it in this online world and to be a well-paid freelance writer or freelance web content writer, you’ll need to learn how to take criticisms seriously without letting it dampen your will to succeed.
With every backlash, you are one step closer to perfection.
Web content writing is tricky business, mainly because of one thing and one thing only. When writing web content for clients, the writer needs to sit in a position whereby it gives them the chance to see things from the consumer’s perspective. Have you not heard about the logic behind people wanting to know ‘what’s in it for them?’ Well, it rings even truer for people who write web content because frankly speaking, web content writers have very little time and space to move around with copy and words.
The web content writer have to get right to the point because the readers’ main focus would be his/her own needs and expectations.
The goal of a web content writer is to either provide an answer, dispense information, address an issue, suggest a solution, or offer instructions. If a web content writer writes too much in a ‘promo’ style of writing, the readers are just going to….for lack of a better word, tune out and click off.
It’s extremely crucial for web content writers to be able to sit in the seat of the readers and imagine his or her reaction when reading it. If the web content does not offer them what they are looking for within that very short period of time….it’s gone. You’ve lost your chance.
I would also like to place focus on the opening lines on your web pages. Are you telling them STRAIGHT UP what they’re about to find? Is the ending of your web content POWERFUL enough to make the readers go….’Ooohh, I think I would like to have that’ or at least ‘Mmmm….that’s interesting’.
Otherwise, no matter how many flowery words you use in your website, you’re not going to be able to sell anything because the visitors to your website is NOT FINDING it interesting FOR THEM.
So, write FOR your readers instead of TO them.
If you’re really good at what you do, usually, it results in being paid more for the same kind of stuff that other newbies have to offer simply because when you’re an experienced freelance web content writer or search engine marketer or online promoter, people have the assurance of knowing that you know what you’re doing. It’s as simple as that. But because many of my clients are new to internet marketing, they tend to compare.
Anyway, that’s not what I am gripping about today.
The thing with some website owners is that whenever they think of search engine marketing, they think that search engine optimization is the be-all and end-all. Sadly, I am here to tell you that THAT cannot be further from the truth.
Listen, if you expect loads of traffic and an incredible jump in sales just because you’ve had your website search engine optimized, you’re in for a big disappointed. There’s more to internet market than just SEO (search engine optimization).
SEO is merely when you get someone to make your website really search engine friendly….and also place some important keywords here and there. That, in itself, makes you an acquaintance with the spiders that crawl your pages. What you’re really, REALLY looking for if sales is your target, is for the search engines to fall in love with you.
As with a woman prettying herself up to impress a potential life partner, you need to promote your website or blog out there in cyberspace CONSISTENTLY. It’s a lot of work but if you do it right, I promise you that you will reap the rewards in a couple of months’ time.
So, in conclusion, I would like to help you understand that search engine optimization is not the end-all and be-all. It’s not a magic wand, and it’s only the start of a very intriguing, manipulative, challenging but profitable online presence.
Where I live, people…business people tend to be more than a little uncomfortable about trying out internet marketing ideas and search engine optimization tactics. They would rather sit it out and WAIT FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN to their websites. A relative, with whom I spoke extensively with about search engine optimization and internet marketing, said that it would be OK with him if he just waited it out and see if he could get lucky!
There is no such thing as getting lucky with internet marketing. It’s either you put effort into it or you DON’T. Look, the Internet is a wonderful stage for business website owners. It’s the single one available vehicle to us that allows us a stage as big as television….bigger. And everyone’s fighting for footspace in cyberspace.
My question would be this…how does LUCK come into the picture when there are tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of people fighting for the first three pages of a popular search engine results page? If it’s so easy, why don’t everyone just hold back on the search engine optimization and internet marketing startegies, save the money and just wait for Lady Luck to smile at them.
Who knows? Maybe she takes turns?
If one wants a piece of the pie in cyberspace, it’s imperative for one to out effort in promoting one’s website or blog online. It just does not appear on your lap for no resaon whatsoever.
And frankly speaking, it’s not even that hard to do on your own. All it takes is a willing heart and an open mind….or is it the other way around.
If you’re new to the cyberworld and have heard the word ‘article marketing’ uttered a few times, you must be wondering what articles had to do with marketing and how can both ‘article’ and ‘marketing’ be combined into one single word. Well, here’s the thing. On the web, word is a big thing. When you have words, you have the chance to market yourself - hence, the word article marketing.
All you have to do is to sit down and write an article a day for every day of the month and post them in sites like www.ezinearticles.com and then in your own personal blog or website; within a couple of months, I can promise you that you’ll see a difference in the numbers!
Perhaps, in the beginning, you should be warned not to expect tens of thousands of visitors to your website or blog. Internet marketing is a slow and steady thing - within a couple of months, I am VERY SURE, if you;ve done your work well, you will see a difference.
So, there you go. One article a day. That’s all you need.
by Marjorie J McDonald
When deciding on a topic to write or speak about gather the information you want to present to the reader or audience. Place the information in categories relating to various aspects of your topic. From there, sort the information into level of importance from most important to least important in being able to communicate about your topic.
You then can determine what would actually contribute to presenting your topic clearly and what would be extra information that could add some value. Then determine what information would subtract value from your subject or fall into rambling about the subject.
Next, begin to gather the main points of your topic by putting them in order of what the reader needs to know first and then continue to what they would need or want to know last. You will be introducing your topic, giving information about your topic and then explaining to your reader or listener why this information would be of value for them to know.
Sort the main points into an outline. When you have the major part of the outline in place begin to add to those main points just enough extra information to increase the descriptions and give value to the topic so your reader or listener would feel like it was helpful additional information to understand the topic.
Write down your information and add just enough to keep it interesting and maybe, at that point, just a few extra tidbits that would add but were not really necessary. This way you will be staying on topic and the reader or listener will be able to determine if they want to find out more about the topic you have presented to them.
If you just stay with the main facts with limited extra information the reader or listener will value your presentation more and can then easily determine if getting more information would work for them. They will appreciate your ability to present information and stay on topic. It shows respect for their time and that places you as a writer or speaker higher on their list to come back to you for information in the future.
And now I invite you to join me for a series of writing exercises to help you discover your areas of interest in writing as well as increasing your creativity. You may access these exercises by visiting http://www.freecreativewritingstrategies.com
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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By Veena Furtado
“If we study the lives of great men and women carefully and unemotionally we find that, invariably, greatness was developed, tested and revealed through the darker periods of their lives. One of the largest tributaries of the river of greatness is always the stream of adversity.”
– Cavett Robert
Are you a MOOCH?!
Strange word eh? But what is it?
In one of my earlier articles I had told you that there are a lot of scams on the internet. Mooch Marketing is the coined term given where online marketers take advantage of people trying to “get rich quick” … Mooches - people wanting to make easy money online.
Mooches look for the all elusive, easy ways to make money online
Mooches…suckers to the conmen and conwomen of the net. Mooches are ordinary people, looking to make money online easy and earn cash making money online and get rich from the comfort of their home - by trying to make easy money online.
Let me assure you here, that there is no quick route to success on the internet and you CANNOT make money online fast. But for a newbie…that concept is alien. (more…)
By Deborah Owen
While it is true that a few people can skip protocol and begin writing for large markets without writing credits, the ordinary person cannot. Be prepared, because every publication will want to know where you have been published before, and you should have a list of publications as long as your arm.
You may be asking yourself, “But if I give writing references in ezines, bulletins, and local papers, won’t the editor know I’ve been working for nothing?” Yes, they will, but they won’t care. They will admire you for your tenacity. They will know you’ve been out working and learning the market, and they’ll know that you must be some kind of a decent writer, or no one would have published you.
There is yet another way that you can get experience, and that is writing for Associated Content and other such places. You can also write for article distribution centers. Everything counts.
When you send your first piece into a magazine, don’t make the mistake of saying, “My teacher said she liked this piece,” “I’ve never been published before, but I’ll be a hard worker,” or “I belong to a writer’s club and they voted this article as the best of the month.” These are amateur remarks, and any editor will recognize them as such.
If you don’t have any publication credits, avoid the subject altogether. Give the short story on how you got into writing and what your goals are, and always thank the editor for his time in reading your submission.
In conclusion: write articles free of charge to get publishing credits (and keep dated clippings from each one in a scrap book, as you will need that information later on); present yourself well and have the audacity of a Rockefeller. Remember, you’re selling yourself. Most of the time, you’ll get the chance you’re looking for, if you bluff your way through it.
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