Content Magician, Freelance web content writers
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Don’t write without an outline
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008A friend of mine recently wrote to me telling me that she’s having one of the worst cases of writer’s block….EVER! She can’t seem to get a word out on paper…nor on her computer. I told her to take a break. She did. And she still couldn’t write. This friend of mine is new to the writing business, she’s been at it for about a year and I would have to say that in terms of creative writing, she’s good! Pretty darn good.
But what happens is that I asked her to review her outline and see if she can try to twist things around a little, to give her writing a little bit more….erm, well, to suit her mood at the moment.
She asks, “What outline?” (more…)
Recharge Your Writing By Reading
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008Regardless 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.
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?
How to Set Fees for Freelance Article Writing to Spec
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008One of the most common questions a fledgling freelancer asks is, “Someone wants me to write some articles for them and name my price. How much do I charge?”
You have to come up with a number… so what do you do?
There are lots of things you can do to determine a price to charge:
First, you can charge a flat-rate for your writing and sell it the same to every person.
Usually this is a per word rate, such as 1-100 words for XX dollars, 101-250 words for XX dollars, and so on, or it can be a flat rate per word such as $0.10-1.00 per word, or more or less. You set the rate. The problem with flat rates is that every writing is different and the research and time it takes to write varies and thus so should the price.
One thing you can do is try to put it back on the contractor requesting your services. Tell them, “I don’t have a flat rate, but rather charge for each unique project,” and then ask them, “Did you have a budget you were looking at for this project?”
They might or might not tell you, but maybe they’ll hint at an amount so that you know what your ballpark is to work with.
If they won’t offer you any hint, then the next step is to look at other publications/sites that are similar to what is being asked of you and find out what the going rate is, or as close to it as you can get, and then set a rate that is close to that going rate.
Set your rate a bit higher than you really want or need and be prepared to offer a lower rate if they say that’s too high. After all, it’s a negotiation as it would be with any contracting type of job. Also, set yourself a threshold that you will not accept less than XX amount, and don’t let them talk you into less than that unless they can offer you some other benefit besides cash (backlink, free promotion for other things, etc that might benefit you).
Your goal as a freelancer should be to constantly increase your breadth of published credits and to make money to support you in your career. That does sometimes mean taking higher and lower payment on similar type content, BUT if someone is really lowballing you, don’t sell yourself short. You’ll get a reputation of working for peanuts and eventually that’s the only jobs you’re going to be able to get.
So, to recap:
• look at what others are paying/charging for similar content
• try to get the contractor to let you in on their budget
• don’t sell yourself short
• offer a bit higher than you are acting ‘needing’
• set a minimum threshold and don’t go below it
• and did I mention don’t sell yourself short?
Keep in mind, writing is a profession. Regardless of what some people may think or tell you, writing well is a skill, a talent, an art… and you deserve to be paid a livable wage for the quality work that you do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle L Devon is a professional writer and freelance editor, providing editing and writing services through her company, Accentuate Services. To network and connect with other writers, please visit her FREE writer’s forum at http://www.writersforum.info. For more freelance writing hints and tips visit Michy’s freelance blog at http://michysthoughts.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to share this article on your blog, newsletter, website or other print/electronic format, provided the article is not edited and all links are live where possible. Thank you!
Don’t listen to your teachers if you want to write for a living
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
I remember having my English teacher as my favorite teacher in the world when I was in primary school. We had a love-hate relationship back then but it was her, I remember vividly, who unleashed my passion for writing. We had a love-hate relationship because I had more than a dozen books hidden in my drawers confiscated by her and because she caught me reading while she was teaching! Anyway, one day, she asked us all to write about an exciting day we had on the way to school….which most of us most probably didn’t have! I was having a particularly bad day that day but managed to churn out a nice piece of composition for her using my imagination. Thinking back about it, I wrote that piece a little differently that day. Because I was frustrated, I ditched everything she thought me.
I wasn’t thinking about grammar or how suitable or ‘true’ the situation was. While the rest of the kids wrote about saving cats from trees, uncles falling down, feeling sick on the way to school or finding a coin on the street, I wrote about a robbery…..which wasn’t true at all, of course! But that composition won me praises from my favorite teacher in the world and admiration from the rest of the class. (more…)
How to effectively make use of your freelance writer
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Many people have come to me voicing their problems about using freelance writers and then they curiously ask me, “How in hell do you survive? I don’t think I can trust another freelance writer again – not in the very near future, anyway”. How do freelance writers survive? Gosh….I’ve never asked me the same question. I guess freelance writers like me just roll with the punches, I guess. But what I think this fellow was trying to get at was this – how to work with your freelance writer in such a way that thing get done fast, does not cost a whole truckload of money and does not zap your patience like hyperactive kids.
OK, then let me start answering this question by saying that I’ve got huge problems as a freelance writer. Being a copywriter or writer is not easy….not being a good one, anyway because here’s what a good freelance copywriter needs to do. Say, Mr. A who owns a boutique comes over to me and say, “Hey, you! You’re a freelance writer. Now, I’ll give you XXX amount of dollars and you write my copy for me in two days”.
What does a freelance writer do
If I take the project on, what I have to do is this….I have to sit down, surf the web, read materials and download stuff so that I understand the industry. I am in the freelance writing industry, not the fashion industry and if he wants me to write something powerful and believable for him, I’ve got to, first, UNDERSTAND his industry, his market, his products and find something to yap about. Whilst being a good yapper often makes a good copywriter, that’s not all there is to it. OK, so boutique was a very general type of business….now, how about fixing computers or maybe road building? I know absolutely nothing about these stuff and if given the task, I would have to dig far and deep into the industry even before I can start writing something for the client.
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Articles By The Bunch – Content is not to be bought like bananas
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008I started my writing career on freelance with sites like www.getafreelancer.com. If eBay was the site people went to for cheap stuff, then www.getafreelancer.com is the site people went to for cheap services. That’s how started my career as a freelance writer….producing really cheap writing materials. There was one time I wrote 100-word articles for about less than $1 a pop! No seriously. But the competition on the freelance writing world is tough…being that there are a lot of adequate writers in this world with a little bit of talent, who can whip out a decent article with a decent number of words, laced with keywords (splattered is more the word) in this world. Particularly countries like India where there are, admittedly, more talents than others….really cheap ones.
I’ve long abandoned my account with Getafreelancer because I started to have a client base and I focused more on quality these days. But I got curious, one day, and I went back in and took a look at the kind of projects that were being posted in there. And once again, I was sucked into a black hole….a vortex of cheap writing. It’s a wet market of cheap services….still. You can see it from the way people are focused on speed and cost.
For example;
“I need 50 articles with 500 words with keywords. More work to come. If good, will assign more projects regularly. Budget is $1 each article”
Article by: Marsha Maung
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Why Most Authors Do Not Know What It Takes To Make Money Writing
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Self publishing has both a long standing history, even Edgar Allen Poe self published. Technology today makes self publishing quick, easy, and as expensive or inexpensive as you want to make it. Best of all, consumers do not care who published you; all they care about is whether your information holds value and benefit for them. But this is not the only reason to self publish. Self publishing means you get 100% of the control of your book and 100% of the profits. Traditional publishing means you give up control and the majority of the profits. Whether you self publish to build your current business or you are planning on using your book to launch a new business, you can easily make six figures and more each year by leveraging the fact that you are a published author.
Many authors miss major money making opportunities when they write their book because they are focused on the old publishing model. The model that says you write for years and years, suffer tons of rejection from the large publishing houses, and then finally on some golden day in the future, you make it big. (more…)
2work-at-home - You looking to work at home?
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007Like this? Digg this!
Being a mother, a housewife and a work at home parent at the same time can be blissfully fulfilling. We’re reaping the rewards of having the best of both worlds…i.e., earning an income and contributing to the sustenance of the family while being there with our children and watching them grow up. It’s the kind of immeasurable sense of fulfillment that no other types of careers can ever emulate.
But….
….if you’re not careful, reaping the rewards of having the best of both worlds can turn around, rear its ugly head and chomp off a huge chunk of your thigh! (Oh. Hang on….that ain’t such a bad idea after all). The thing is that there’s always a good and bad about everything….now, we all agree on that one. Now, when one is working from home and caring for the kids at the same time, you’re not only facing double the advantages but you’re going to be facing double the STRESS as well! Don’t ever forget that, ok, all you moms out there who are just like me.
Therefore, I found this particular website very useful….http://2work-at-home.com. Needless to say, the website is designed for mothers AND fathers who choose to be greedy and yank the whole cake off the table and decide to work from home. From freelance jobs like freelance writing jobs, freelance web designing jobs, freelance admin jobs, or home based businesses, they list a lot of stuff there and most of the things found on this website, as proven by the number of years that I have been safely using them, are legitimate and real.
Well, if you’re trying to find work as a freelance writer, you might want to hop on over for a quick lookie!
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Knowing Your Worth As a Freelance Content Writer
Saturday, December 1st, 2007Being a Freelance content writer, I subscribe to a whole host of websites and mailing lists and today, I just opened one and read…then laughed. One of the websites I subscribe to is http://www.gatey.com. Well, it’s somewhat a kind of website that connects people who are looking for freelance writers and the writers themselves. I don’t know if it’s some sort of a scam or spam, but I received an email from someone offering me a ONCE IN A LIFETIME DEAL for a freelance writer.
It goes something like this….
“Hi, I am looking for a freelance content writer and your name <me> came up high on a Google search. I am going to make you rich by offering you this once in a lifetime offer. I would like you to post 100 messages in forums. All has to be done within 3 days time and I will pay you RM25 for it”
USD$7.20??? For one hundred posts??? You’ve got to be kidding me! (more…)