Content Magician, Freelance web content writers

Archive for the ‘A Writer’s Life’ Category

Don’t think for one minute that now that you’re a writer with eons of experience behind you, you don’t have to continue recharging yourself by reading what other people have to write. I almost made the same mistake. But there’s one thing about writing is that once you get started, you get so absorbed into it that it almost feels like you’re living in a whole different world and nothing should get in between you and your writing jobs. It becomes the very core of you as the creative energy flows!

But just like a dancer needs to watch videos and get ideas from others and just like how a puppeteer will observe other people with their own crafts, writers need to continue feeding his or her mind with ideas that other people may have. Even if it’s something completely unrelated and obscure. At the very least, you know what NOT to do.

Only recently I started picking up books and reading again. I abandoned this love for reading of mind a long time ago. Somewhere between getting my first job and becoming a mother. It’s like there are things more important to me than reading….and then came the writing and I got sucked deeper into the vortex of words of my own. It was only recently that someone asked me this, “When was the last time you read a book, a magazine…and something that’s not a newspaper?” and I stared at him bug-eyed! Ack! When was it, anyway?

Surfing the internet for blogging ideas is a good thing too so long as you retain the information without plagiarizing other people’s website content. If you’re going to copy the whole content, one, get their written permission to do; two, link back to them or provide the source; three, don’t do it!

It’s crucial to get the creative juice flowing as a writer. So, if you’ve run out of ideas, just go sit down in a corner and start reading a book you have tucked away (collecting cobwebs) on one of those shelves.

With the current state that the economy is in, I’d say freelance writers like me should be a little weary and careful about the kinds of projects we take on these days. Writing is, by far, one of the most rewarding yet anxiety-causing profession I’ve taken so far and I think it serves a purpose for me to post something about it now…since the economy is gravely ill at the moment.

Don’t put all your eggs into one basket! Heed this warning, my dear freelance writers! Heed it, write it down and remember it like a mantra! At this moment, let’s admit it, a lot of companies are struggling. What freelance writers are contending with is the following:-

• Clients may not pay as promptly as they use to;
• Freelance writers will have difficulty finding stable and consistent freelance work
• Freelance writers might be cheated by dubious and grandiose-sounding projects ejected quite suddenly out of nowhere in times of trouble
• You might need to do a little bit more chasing compared to usual
• You find yourself going back to basics – i.e., finding really cheap work just to keep food on the table and compromising a few writing principles on quality that you have built over the years

Going freelance is a lot of like having your own little small business and this means you have big competition and small budget. Hence, when the small companies wrap up, you wrap with them if you have counted on them to put stable money into your bank account.

Don’t do that. Vary! Sure, it’s easier when you have to deal with just one or two clients, but at the end of the day, if you don’t want to start begging for freelance writing work, you’d have to start offering a variety of services to your clients and vary the industry.

I received a question like this from one of my websites? Hhhhmmm….how should I say this? OF COURSE YOU DO!!!

I would say that being a freelance writer or a contract web content writer, you don’t, TECHNICALLY, need a website that tells the world that you’re a freelance writer or a web content writer. But listen, this is something you ought to consider very seriously, indeed. It’s a big undertaking and it’s probably not going to be an overnight thing – an overnight freelance writer’s website is not going to be worth a second look, anyway, so don’t waste your time if this is what you’re aiming for.

We’re living in a digital world and freelance writers rely heavily on how digitally visible you are on the Internet. Not only do freelance writers need a website of their own but almost all types of businesses need a website of their own…at the very least, a good blog.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a journalist or a technical writer, this is going to be where you post most of your work, get the traffic in, sell yourself and your services and probably gain a lot of online presence where potential clients will can take a look at some of the samples that you’ve done in the past. Those past freelance writing gigs says a lot, for your information.

Realistically speaking, not a lot of people would invest time and money on a freelance writer who hasn’t, at least, got something to show them. At the end of the day, you’re pitching yourself against some of the cheapest (and I am not saying best or top quality) freelance writers from some of the countries where the cost of living is low and the survival rate is nothing compared to outs.

In your personal freelance writer website, you’re going to be putting up stuff that saves your potential clients time as well because they don’t need to worry about downloading files the size of the planet and don’t eat up the space on their email account. It’s annoying…and the last thing you want to do is to annoy your potential freelance writing clients.

So, yes. You ABSOLUTELY need a freelance writer website of your own.

Fine. If you don’t have the time or expertise to build a complete freelance writer website of your own, fine. Get yourself one of those free blogs….wordpress, blogger, typepad, blogspirit, bravejournal….whatever it is, get it and post your freelance writing examples, samples, portfolio in there. describe yourself as a freelance writer and convince the potential clients why they should choose YOU instead of your archenemy…archrival….

Having a website of your own can really give your freelance career a boost. Do it and do it now if you want to have an edge over your competitors (and there are tens of thousands…millions, even, of them out there waiting to take your pie out from under your nose).

Note: You are free to republish this article in your website/blog/ezine/magazine, but please include the following by line after the article WITHOUT REMOVING THE LINKS. Thank you.

*** *** ***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marsha Maung is a Malaysian-based freelance writer with two kids. She spends her time ferrying her kids around, watering her plants, writing web content, SEO stuff, ghostwriting books and also indulges in the occasional Facebook-ing. Visit her blog for more dirty details on the life and times of a mother, writer, designer, housekeeper, coffee-maker, poop-wiper, chef…and just about everything else under the sun.

There are moments when this writer’s mind draws a complete blank. During those moments, I would usually be staring into empty space wondering why I am not thinking, not working, not typing anything and sitting there seemingly to age without a reason. I try to write….I seriously do. I put my fingers on the keyboard and force myself forward….write, write, write! You’re a writer, write, damn it! This is supposed to be a piece of cake for you!

But no. Nothing comes out.

During moments like this, I wish there was something I could place to my temples, press a button and zap my brains alive. But I know that if I continue to sit there staring at my keyboard and computer screen, eventually, I will find myself in Facebook again. And if I do that, I would regret it, chastise myself for being stupid and lazy.

The best thing this writer could do is to stop writing altogether! Yes, stop writing, get my butt off the chair, and go peel some potatoes. Well, cooking inspires me so if you’re a writer with the same career-numbing condition, then go do something that inspires you. Anyway, there really isn’t any point in trying to write anything when the words aren’t coming along, don’t you think.

It’s like….you can’t force a painter to paint when he/she is not inspired. Nothing will come out and if something does, it was be mediocre at best.

I strongly suggest writers give themselves a solid pat on the back when facing such a dilemma and then just walk out of the working place…wherever that is. Removing yourself from the difficult situation wil, most of time, cause of the inspiration to start pouring in again.

If you’re an aspiring freelance writer looking for tips on how to start, run and manage your own freelance writing work-at-home career, I’ve got a tip for you today. Iron everything out right from the start. Lay down the ground rules, the foundation and never waver, if you possibly can, from the deposit rule. Take a deposit before you start work.

Laying down the rules takes some practice and some experience because each project, each client is different. The most important thing to make clear is the issue about communication and delivery, timeline and expected responsibilities. Most of the freelance writing jobs out there are pretty straight-forward. You deliver as and when you’re done. When the deposit is used up, you ask for more. They don’t top it up, you don’t continue writing. 

I know it’s hard to lay down this rule when your freelance career is just starting up but trust me, this is the right footing to start the biz on. Maintain your ground and keep to it….if they don’t like it, they leave…don’t worry, another one will come along. Too many times this has happened to me and most of the time, I let it fly by because it’s a calculated risk but if I could do it again, rewind time and do it all over again, I wish someone would have told me this before.

Start out on the right footing with your freelance writing clients and you’ll have them for life….well, for as long as they remain in business, that is.

Basically, what I usually do on a weekend is pig out. During the week day, this freelance writer is not to drink a single drop of alcoholic concoction, limited to only one cup of coffee per day and no more than 7 ciggs. During the weekends (beginning Friday), I’ll let everything AND I MEAN EVERYTHING hang loose…which includes my kids’ homework and their Nintendo play time. I know, yikes!

Here’s what I’m driving at, actually. I am thinking along the lines of not touching a single document of my clients’ work on Saturday and Sunday because I would like to spend that time with my kids and my family. If you’re a freelance writer starting out in the writing game, bear this in mind….it’ll save you a whole lot of problem later on…most of them related to your health and mental stability!

You see, when you give yourself a rest and stop doing your freelance work even when you’re home and you have time available, you will be in a better position to recharge yourself. Recharging is crucial to your productivity, mind you, because if you’re not in the perfect frame of mind, what you’re going to produce is a bunch of crap which the client might hate. And you don’t want that…seriously don’t want that.

But a freelance writer like me who is also a workaholic might find refraining or keeping away from work a big ALMIGHTY challenge! It’s like the computer’s there and it’s calling you, beckoning you to finish up just ‘one more article’ before playing with your kids or reading that book. But a freelance writer’s got to do what a freelance writer’s got to do….refrain and abstain from working.

So, my advice for you beginners today would be to know your own limit and toe the boundaries. If you don’t, the line between home and work will be blurred and frankly speaking, that’s when the trouble starts!

Regardless of how long a freelance writer has been in the business or churning out articles, copy or web content for clients, it is important for that writer to continue to grow. It’s true that once you’ve been writing for a long time or been in business for a considerable number of years, chances are, you would’ve had loads of experience under your belt. But this does not translate into gloating or staying idle on the growth front.

Reading is one of the best ways to help you, as a freelance writer grow! So, don’t stop reading.

Grow your grammar as a freelance writer

If you’ve not taken note of this before, now is a good time to explore this now. Take a look at the latest articles that you’ve been writing so far. Do you see that there’s a pattern? Are there particular words that you see being used too many times within that same article? Do you tend to repeat the same style – to an extent that you appear to be locked in a gridlock as far as being flexible in your writing is concerned?

Reading can help you grow your grammar and make you more flexible when you write. (more…)