Content Magician, Freelance web content writers

Archive for the ‘Writer’ Category

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.

When I first rolled out as a freelance writer, I was moonlighting. It’s not such a revelation because a lot of people do it….and I am sure a lot of people will continue to work on their own businesses, building their nests while holding on to a 9-5 job. While it worked out wonderfully for me, it doesn’t work for all types of businesses.

Before you start rolling out your business, try doing some research and consider very seriously if the idea is truly feasible. At this point, be brutally honest with yourself. I mean, it was possible for me because I started a freelance writing business, for crissakes, and the only mobility issue was when I had to go to the bathroom or make my fifth cup of thick, black coffee. Other than that, I could very well work on my freelance writing career without causing alarm to my bosses and colleagues.

Anyway, think about it very carefully if you’re walking this way, in this general direction, at least. I found this article here very useful and I liked the way Denise O’Berry pointed out  that some businesses are just ‘dying’ and it’s no longer feasible. Heed her advice, folks.

“Freelance writer for hire. Cheap writer with experience. Quick turnaround time and professional work attitude” – reads the ads.

It sure sounds like someone I would like to hire to help me with the load of freelance writer jobs that I have backlogged at the moment. But as I scroll down the advertisement list and search engine result page, what do I see? I see tens of thousands of other similar freelance writer for hire ads…oh, how my head spun. Every one of these freelance writers for hire claims that they are the best one for me to hire.

The world of freelance writing has warped out of control recently because of a marketing method we all call ‘article marketing’. As long as a person can credibly spin a web of words together, whether it makes sense or not is another matter, they would launch themselves off as a freelance writer for hire.

In case you think I am shooting down these writers for unknown reasons, hang on a minute. I am definitely not! I would have to give credit to a few of the freelance writers that I’ve employed in the past who did incredible jobs without charging too much for it and I continue to use them till this very day…but the rest should be shot down. Shot because they spoil the freelance writing market.

The freelance writing market is too saturated as it is. Every turn you make, someone is a freelance writer ‘writing from the comforts of his/her home’, is ‘professional’ and have ‘relevant experience’.

As an employer and a business owner, before you hire a freelance writer for your job, here are some questions you should ask yourself and then use these questions to gauge whether the writer is the right one for you.

1. Can the freelance writer that you intend to hire make extra effort to write in such a way that captures the attention of your readers? The market is saturated with words….can yours stand-out?
   
2. Can the writer write in a professional yet enticing manner that makes your readers want to read further…better yet, buy something from you or use your services?
   
3. Can the freelance writer for hire promise you originality? If yes, how credible do you think he/she is? Do you think the writer is capable of copying and pasting, rearranging and editing the work of others and then passing it off as hers/his?
   
4. Remember that the freelance writer that you eventually hire has no responsibility towards you when you’re penalized for copying content of others! When the search engines ban you, you can’t turn around and say, “It was his/her fault! I didn’t know the content belongs to others!”
   
5. And finally, read samples to see if the copywriter or ghost writer can write in a manner that won’t be wasting your money. Aim to amaze or at least, be informative with an interesting or refreshing approach to the topic, instead of deadpanning it out like a piece of plank.

A lot of it is guesswork but once you find the right freelance writer for the job, you’ll be glad that you did your homework.

A 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…)

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…)