At some point in time, every business has a need for professionally written articles, whether they are to be used for website content or for other business purposes. There are services available to meet these needs, and the professionals who specialize in this area are known as ghostwriters. A ghost writer is someone who writes creative stories, articles, blogs, journals and other pieces for different types of businesses. The difference between a ghostwriter and other professional writers is that the entries written by a ghostwriter are typically published under a pseudonym. This allows a company to take credit for the written work without having to actually produce it. This concept is not new, and for some time, borrowed work has allowed businesses to provide professionally written work that is tailored toward their industry. The nature of this work has changed over the last several years because of the explosive growth of the internet, and because of this, ghostwriters have become a prized commodity. Certainly, you have witnessed the many different forms of content on the internet. This content can vary from news articles, service and product descriptions, blogs, press releases and the like. A webmaster may not have the time to write the large amount of content required to keep their website updated. In addition to this, the webmaster may simply not have the talent or professional experience to produce well written pieces. Because of this, ghost writers are used to by many companies' to produce appealing content for their websites.
Most ghostwriting is outsourced as freelance work. This allows companies access to professional writing without having to staff a full time professional. There has been a recent trend of outsourcing ghostwriting jobs to countries such as India because these places offer companies a more cost effective way of doing business. The overall costs for ghostwritten articles in places like this can be up to 80% less than pieces written in the United States, UK or Canada. Before selecting a content writing company, it is important to understand what content writing entails. First of all, there is the actual content of your website. This concerns the different pages of your website which will include the home page, "about us" page and the like. Typically, a webmaster will outline the general requirements for these pages, and then allow writer to create professionally written material that is designed to attract the viewer. Because this type of material is representative of the company itself, it is considered to be some of the most important writing that the company has to offer. Poorly written content reflects negatively on a company and can turn away many potential clients. In addition to writing original material for website content, ghost writers can also improve website content by editing or updating previously written work.
Another form of writing that you will need to consider is in the form of articles. Articles can be used for various business purposes and one role of the article is for search engine optimization strategies. An article that is correctly optimized can significantly increase a websites ranking within the search engine, and thus increase the flow of traffic to the site itself. These types of articles typically reflect general information or current industry news. They normally contain links embedded in the article itself, and then they are distributed to various article directories and e-magazines to ensure mass circulation. In addition to search engine ranking benefits, a well written article will keep the viewer abreast of current news and industry trends and thus provide the company with a steady stream of repeat visitors.
Another important form of writing is the company blog. Blogs are more informal than articles or website content, and they are typically written as opinion pieces. Like articles or website content, blogs can be used for search engine optimization purposes. Even though most of these pieces are written by a ghost writer, they are generally published under the pseudonym of the webmaster. Because a blog is less formal than an article or press release, they allow the writer much more creative freedom; however, they should always contain material that is pertinent to the company's products and services. Posting a blog is a very effective way of promoting a website, and should always be considered an important part of a company's writing strategy.
Lastly, there will come a point in time when a company will need to issue a press release. Press Releases are another mechanism of promotion and they normally focus on specific products or services offered by the company. For example, a company will issue a press release when a new service or product is available to the public. They are also issued when a company starts a promotional campaign. One particularly effective form of the press release is the product or service review. A good ghost writer will take the time to research the company's products and services and write an effective review. A review will give the reader insight into the product they are interested in and will allow them to make a more informative decision. It is always in the best interest of the company to keep potential clients informed of new products and services and the press release is the ideal strategy to attract new customers. Press releases can be published at various press release websites, and a good content writing company will be ensure that these materials are published on a large scale.
As you can see, there are many reasons to consider a content writing service for your company's writing needs. In essence, the website is the face of the company, so it is important to present to the public the most professional and attractive presentation as possible. A ghostwriter can help you meet these needs and ensure your company's success.
Author: Darren Dunner
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Showing posts with label get paid to write. Show all posts
Showing posts with label get paid to write. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
How to Hire Ghost Writers and Succeed in Keyword Ranking
Recently there has been a major change taking place not only in Google but in all the search engines. The search engines have 2 goals for their users. To filter out junk web sites from natural search results, and to make money on paid advertisements which are also know as sponsored links. This competition gives the search engines the power to choose how they accept sites and which they want to exclude. Though this process is not bullet proof, you will see more sites disappearing from the top 10 of the major search engines and more relevant sites appear relating to your keyword search.
Is your site appearing in these results naturally? Are you finding that no matter what you do, there is no progress for your site, though you spend hours daily trying to make this happen?
Many websites could easily climb the keyword ranks if they just apply some standard content to their site. After much effort and time, many site owners realize they need help in this area. These site owners have hired Ghost Writers to accomplish these tasks with some to no real success.
The frustration levels now are growing all around as people realize their need for help and yet still can't find Ghost Writers who know any better then they do. The problem is too many people are not understanding of what the real needs are, and are hiring people without this knowledge and are once again wasting time.
Service companies offering Ghost Writers know your desires to move up in keyword ranks, but this doesn't mean they are experts in SEO. The real needs here are some simple guidelines to follow when hiring a Ghost Writers.
Know Your Site Needs More Then Ghost Writers:-
The most important thing you need to understand is what your site needs more then any Ghost Writer can. If you direct these writers with a well thought out plan you will see more success with your keyword ranking. Know Your Word Count Your first plan is to know how many words each page of your site needs. To get the Search Engines Attention you want to have at least 300 words and not more then 500 words per page. The only time you really can use more then 500 words on a single web page is if you are offering news or press.
Make Your Point Stand Out:-
Each page of content by the Ghost Writers should have specific points readers can focus on. There are a few ways to do this:
Use a numbered point system. Have a section of your content break down 3 or 5 important things in the format of Numeric points. Bullet point your 3 or 5 things that make that page of content clear for your readers. Use Sub Headings to break down your thoughts as this helps people get to the most important parts to them. Which ever way you choose, you are structuring your content in such a way that readers can skim through your information and find what they need.
Proper Keyword or Key Phrase Placement You do not want your pages filled with keyword or phrases randomly just to get them in your site. This only delays your keyword rankings. Instruct the Ghost Writers to dedicate each page to a specific keyword.
Now, to make this point clear not confusing, what I am saying here is you will have your basic pages of content like your home page, contact page, about us page, service page, etc. Those pages you can put in different keyword phrases in the content itself and in the meta tag areas like Meta descriptions, keywords & title of page, but only put these in if they make sense to the reader as these pages are meant to drive sales and call people to action!
Create a section on your website either via an FAQ, Information page, Blog, News or something that will allow you to have titles and descriptions that link to their own independent pages where now you can have clear content focusing on 1 keyword or phrase that make sense to the readers and tells the search engines what keyword to place you for in their rankings.
Make sure that you link the keyword at least 1 time back to your main home page, as this really helps push the search results to get people to the starting page of your site.
Only focus on 10 keywords for natural results when you first start this process. If you try for too many keywords then again you will slow down this process.
A Bit More Details on Meta Data Make sure that your Ghost Writer includes:
Meta Title:
This should be the primary keyword for that page along with 1 more keyword and then the name of your company. For example this article title tag could be "Ghost Writers, Keyword Ranking: The Content Writers".
Meta Description:
Your description should be compelling and to the point about what the particular page is about. A good description for this article could be "Ghost Writers, everything you need to know before you hire one. Read our step by step guide and watch your keyword rankings improve in no time at all"
Meta Keywords: Research your primary and secondary keywords first so that when you hand over the details to your Ghost Writer they will know already which ones you want. Though you already know yourself you want this included on the page of content written for easy copying and pasting. The keywords for this article could be "ghost writers, ghost writer, keyword ranking"
Final Preparation and Research To Find The Best Ghost Writers: Now that you have an idea on what you should plan for in advance this will make your Ghost Writers very happy as you are providing them with great details on what you want for main site content and for keyword site content. They know now what you are expecting in return and should speed up the process to return to you the content needed.
I want to note here that you are not presenting these writers with content for your site, only a specific outline of page names, keywords and expectation. You only need now to do a bit of research to find the best writer for your business.
When searching for a Ghost Writer you are now simplifying your search for someone who can follow your instructions rather then hope they know what they are doing for improving your keyword rankings. Here is a guide to help you find the best provider for you:
You want to find writers who are easily accessible via Phone or Email Hire only a company that gives you a clear pricing plan so you know what to expect when all the content is complete. Typically you can have them break down a per word cost to make things really simple. Have them write up 1 or 2 pages before you give the complete set of pages. This way you can see how quickly they return the content, if they followed your instructions and how well written the content is.
Leave a little room for content that is almost what you needed but not exactly on target. Remember, you are more of an expert then they are in your industry. This is very important because many times it is just a minor change in wording or adding a simple sentence to complete your page that you requested. If this is the case then make the fix and pay them for their work.
For terms of payment I suggest you work this out with them in advance but never pay 100% up front. A rule of thumb in business is let them collect 25% to 50% up front. This of course depends on your experience with them in regards to time and quality. If you see they are pretty close but need to send requests back to have fixes then try for the 25%, if they are pretty much right on target then pay the higher amount up front, and then pay them the full amount once the content is complete.
For your sites success and the success of the Ghost Writers you hire, I truly hope this information serves you well.
Author: Darren Dunner
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Is your site appearing in these results naturally? Are you finding that no matter what you do, there is no progress for your site, though you spend hours daily trying to make this happen?
Many websites could easily climb the keyword ranks if they just apply some standard content to their site. After much effort and time, many site owners realize they need help in this area. These site owners have hired Ghost Writers to accomplish these tasks with some to no real success.
The frustration levels now are growing all around as people realize their need for help and yet still can't find Ghost Writers who know any better then they do. The problem is too many people are not understanding of what the real needs are, and are hiring people without this knowledge and are once again wasting time.
Service companies offering Ghost Writers know your desires to move up in keyword ranks, but this doesn't mean they are experts in SEO. The real needs here are some simple guidelines to follow when hiring a Ghost Writers.
Know Your Site Needs More Then Ghost Writers:-
The most important thing you need to understand is what your site needs more then any Ghost Writer can. If you direct these writers with a well thought out plan you will see more success with your keyword ranking. Know Your Word Count Your first plan is to know how many words each page of your site needs. To get the Search Engines Attention you want to have at least 300 words and not more then 500 words per page. The only time you really can use more then 500 words on a single web page is if you are offering news or press.
Make Your Point Stand Out:-
Each page of content by the Ghost Writers should have specific points readers can focus on. There are a few ways to do this:
Use a numbered point system. Have a section of your content break down 3 or 5 important things in the format of Numeric points. Bullet point your 3 or 5 things that make that page of content clear for your readers. Use Sub Headings to break down your thoughts as this helps people get to the most important parts to them. Which ever way you choose, you are structuring your content in such a way that readers can skim through your information and find what they need.
Proper Keyword or Key Phrase Placement You do not want your pages filled with keyword or phrases randomly just to get them in your site. This only delays your keyword rankings. Instruct the Ghost Writers to dedicate each page to a specific keyword.
Now, to make this point clear not confusing, what I am saying here is you will have your basic pages of content like your home page, contact page, about us page, service page, etc. Those pages you can put in different keyword phrases in the content itself and in the meta tag areas like Meta descriptions, keywords & title of page, but only put these in if they make sense to the reader as these pages are meant to drive sales and call people to action!
Create a section on your website either via an FAQ, Information page, Blog, News or something that will allow you to have titles and descriptions that link to their own independent pages where now you can have clear content focusing on 1 keyword or phrase that make sense to the readers and tells the search engines what keyword to place you for in their rankings.
Make sure that you link the keyword at least 1 time back to your main home page, as this really helps push the search results to get people to the starting page of your site.
Only focus on 10 keywords for natural results when you first start this process. If you try for too many keywords then again you will slow down this process.
A Bit More Details on Meta Data Make sure that your Ghost Writer includes:
Meta Title:
This should be the primary keyword for that page along with 1 more keyword and then the name of your company. For example this article title tag could be "Ghost Writers, Keyword Ranking: The Content Writers".
Meta Description:
Your description should be compelling and to the point about what the particular page is about. A good description for this article could be "Ghost Writers, everything you need to know before you hire one. Read our step by step guide and watch your keyword rankings improve in no time at all"
Meta Keywords: Research your primary and secondary keywords first so that when you hand over the details to your Ghost Writer they will know already which ones you want. Though you already know yourself you want this included on the page of content written for easy copying and pasting. The keywords for this article could be "ghost writers, ghost writer, keyword ranking"
Final Preparation and Research To Find The Best Ghost Writers: Now that you have an idea on what you should plan for in advance this will make your Ghost Writers very happy as you are providing them with great details on what you want for main site content and for keyword site content. They know now what you are expecting in return and should speed up the process to return to you the content needed.
I want to note here that you are not presenting these writers with content for your site, only a specific outline of page names, keywords and expectation. You only need now to do a bit of research to find the best writer for your business.
When searching for a Ghost Writer you are now simplifying your search for someone who can follow your instructions rather then hope they know what they are doing for improving your keyword rankings. Here is a guide to help you find the best provider for you:
You want to find writers who are easily accessible via Phone or Email Hire only a company that gives you a clear pricing plan so you know what to expect when all the content is complete. Typically you can have them break down a per word cost to make things really simple. Have them write up 1 or 2 pages before you give the complete set of pages. This way you can see how quickly they return the content, if they followed your instructions and how well written the content is.
Leave a little room for content that is almost what you needed but not exactly on target. Remember, you are more of an expert then they are in your industry. This is very important because many times it is just a minor change in wording or adding a simple sentence to complete your page that you requested. If this is the case then make the fix and pay them for their work.
For terms of payment I suggest you work this out with them in advance but never pay 100% up front. A rule of thumb in business is let them collect 25% to 50% up front. This of course depends on your experience with them in regards to time and quality. If you see they are pretty close but need to send requests back to have fixes then try for the 25%, if they are pretty much right on target then pay the higher amount up front, and then pay them the full amount once the content is complete.
For your sites success and the success of the Ghost Writers you hire, I truly hope this information serves you well.
Author: Darren Dunner
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
How to Keep Your Written Work from Being Copied and Plagiarized
It's happened to most of us that write and if it hasn't happened to you yet it will. It's only a factor of time and exposure.
Someone has stolen your labor intensive work and put their name on it. Or, taken your work and rearranged the paragraphs and put their name on it. Or, taken all your good ideas and reshuffled the words and put their name on it. Or any combination of the above.
If you publish and distribute on the web you may have hundreds of articles on a large number of websites, blogs and article databases. That's a lot of exposure. If I google the articles name I might find one that has not given proper credit. Usually they are novices and correct the problem. This type of plagiarism is easy and simple.
It's also a question of monetary gain. My own personal cases of plagiarism did not amount to any monetary gain. Nobody sold my content and made money. So if that is the case, back off and let it go. Notify the infringer and let it go. If big money is involved, talk to a lawyer.
But there are several ways I have found to protect myself. The first is that if I am going to put the article in a public place in the public domain, I want to post the article on my website first. This is proof it is mine.
The next is a bit more involved and it has to do with the content structure.
When I first started writing business articles I wrote nuts and bolts types of articles; what is a balance sheet, what is direct marketing, etc. The problem with these types of articles is that they can be rearranged rather easily and become a 'new' article. There is actually software out there now that purports to do just that.
That's right. There is software out there that can take linear, step by step nuts and bolts articles and rearrange them so someone else can put their name on them.
And of course people can do the same thing. From one hundred dollars down you can buy an article on just about anything from someone else and put your name on it. The only problem is the quality is so bad you may want to use a pen name, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place.
Fortunately this rearranging software only works on content that can be broken up easily. What if the content can't be broken up easily? What if the thread or train of thought of the article is such that it can't be reshuffled and still make sense? What if the text has lots of fragments and subtly intertwined expressions? Ha...just think of the headache of taking it apart and rearranging it. The truth is it takes so much time and is such a pain that it's easier to just write the article from scratch. Go figure...
I also try to spice up my content with slang, offbeat expressions, punctuation and whatever else happens to be handy. Poke, jab, kid, enrage, prod, insult do anything outside the linear behavioral model and your content becomes very difficult to repackage as well as livelier and more interesting.
My strong suspicion is that a lot of these rewrite and write services are offshore, especially in India where English is spoken. So if you add a lot of local zip and slang to your content they won't know that is. It has to be straightforward and linear for them; otherwise they can't do it.
Here's an example. I'm writing an article about the Revolutionary American flag with the snake on it that says 'Don't Tread on Me'. The title I chose was" 'Don't Tread on Me' Snake Motto is Foundation for the Modern Free and Inquiring Mind."
Rearranged, it going to have a lot of rough spots. It's even a tough title as it is...
In the text I open up freely and let it go. The bodacious and frolicking text is very hard to duplicate and repackage. I also consciously try to make the story thread or trail a convoluted and unpredictable one. It can only go this way or it makes no sense. At this point I have probably beaten all the copiers. They of course can take the general idea of the article, but to get another article they will have to write their own.
And so it goes. We all get copied and we all get mad. I just try to make it harder to copy. With fragments. Lots of fragments. Don't forget the fragments.
Think fragments. Mucho fragments...
Author: Jack Deal
Someone has stolen your labor intensive work and put their name on it. Or, taken your work and rearranged the paragraphs and put their name on it. Or, taken all your good ideas and reshuffled the words and put their name on it. Or any combination of the above.
If you publish and distribute on the web you may have hundreds of articles on a large number of websites, blogs and article databases. That's a lot of exposure. If I google the articles name I might find one that has not given proper credit. Usually they are novices and correct the problem. This type of plagiarism is easy and simple.
It's also a question of monetary gain. My own personal cases of plagiarism did not amount to any monetary gain. Nobody sold my content and made money. So if that is the case, back off and let it go. Notify the infringer and let it go. If big money is involved, talk to a lawyer.
But there are several ways I have found to protect myself. The first is that if I am going to put the article in a public place in the public domain, I want to post the article on my website first. This is proof it is mine.
The next is a bit more involved and it has to do with the content structure.
When I first started writing business articles I wrote nuts and bolts types of articles; what is a balance sheet, what is direct marketing, etc. The problem with these types of articles is that they can be rearranged rather easily and become a 'new' article. There is actually software out there now that purports to do just that.
That's right. There is software out there that can take linear, step by step nuts and bolts articles and rearrange them so someone else can put their name on them.
And of course people can do the same thing. From one hundred dollars down you can buy an article on just about anything from someone else and put your name on it. The only problem is the quality is so bad you may want to use a pen name, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place.
Fortunately this rearranging software only works on content that can be broken up easily. What if the content can't be broken up easily? What if the thread or train of thought of the article is such that it can't be reshuffled and still make sense? What if the text has lots of fragments and subtly intertwined expressions? Ha...just think of the headache of taking it apart and rearranging it. The truth is it takes so much time and is such a pain that it's easier to just write the article from scratch. Go figure...
I also try to spice up my content with slang, offbeat expressions, punctuation and whatever else happens to be handy. Poke, jab, kid, enrage, prod, insult do anything outside the linear behavioral model and your content becomes very difficult to repackage as well as livelier and more interesting.
My strong suspicion is that a lot of these rewrite and write services are offshore, especially in India where English is spoken. So if you add a lot of local zip and slang to your content they won't know that is. It has to be straightforward and linear for them; otherwise they can't do it.
Here's an example. I'm writing an article about the Revolutionary American flag with the snake on it that says 'Don't Tread on Me'. The title I chose was" 'Don't Tread on Me' Snake Motto is Foundation for the Modern Free and Inquiring Mind."
Rearranged, it going to have a lot of rough spots. It's even a tough title as it is...
In the text I open up freely and let it go. The bodacious and frolicking text is very hard to duplicate and repackage. I also consciously try to make the story thread or trail a convoluted and unpredictable one. It can only go this way or it makes no sense. At this point I have probably beaten all the copiers. They of course can take the general idea of the article, but to get another article they will have to write their own.
And so it goes. We all get copied and we all get mad. I just try to make it harder to copy. With fragments. Lots of fragments. Don't forget the fragments.
Think fragments. Mucho fragments...
Author: Jack Deal
Need Clients for your Freelance Writing Business? Here are Six Proven Tips
If you would like your writing business to go from sporadic hobby to full-time career (with full-time benefits and income), you need to understand the business of writing. There's nothing more important to your business success than knowing how to get clients. It's a great time to be a writer--but only if you know where to find and how to land clients. If you want to transition your writing life from part-time job to career, here are six proven methods of getting clients.
Getting clients is one of those great mysteries of the writing life. It's a mystery because the writers who can do it rarely talk about it.
And there are a lot of things people believe about this that are just plain wrong.
Here are six ways to get clientssome of which you may not have thought of before. These techniques are appropriate for landing new clients, winning back former clients, and stimulating more business from your regulars.
First, build your network. Networking is one of those things that a lot of people talk about but few people really grasp. For a professional writer, your network is made of the individuals (not the companies, not the industries, not the departments, not the publications) who might hire you. You need to keep tabs on these people. That means holiday cards, occasional e-mails or phone calls, and reminders about your business. I would say that 60% of my business today comes from somebody who knew me (somebody in my network). This is your richest field for business ... mine it!
By the way, people hire writers. Let's say a person at Company A has worked with you for a while when he quits to take a new job at Company B. Guess what? You're now more likely to get your next writing job from Company B than Company A, but if you play your cards right, you may be able to stay on at Company A, too. People are loyal to people; companies are loyal only accidentally.
Second, talk about what you do. Don't become the abominable dinner guest, but make sure you let people know what you do. People know people and believe it or not, there are actually people who are scratching their heads trying to find a writer. Don't belabor the issue, but make sure your friends, neighbors, guests, acquaintances, and mailman know what you do. I once got a year-long gig from a contact my mom made in a bowling alley! (She told one of the bowlers on the other team what I did for a livingand I got a phone call from the other lady's daughter a few days later. She was looking for a very specific type of writer!)
Third, don't overlook sites like e-lance and other places where freelance talent can bid on jobs. True, it's a bazaar on those sites and you will see crazy offers (like "write 100 articles for $12, must be able to complete assignment in three hours") but there are some very respectable businesses that use those sites. Be discerning, but check it out. I use these sites to fill will what I call "dead time," those periods of the year when my business slows down. I've never not made money working these sitesbut you can't bid on every job there. Some of those jobs aren't worth having!
Fourth, develop your own website that promotes your own services. Most creative people do sites that are really online portfolios; that's interesting but I don't think it brings in a lot of work. Instead, use your site to discuss your ideas about writing, your areas of expertise, and those sorts of things. You can always talk samples once a client calls. A year ago, I would not have listed this as a strategy because although I had a website, it did not bring in any business. It now hasI have found a pretty strong new client who came to me on the strength of the website.
(Mostly a website is something that is nice to have to help confirm to your new client that he or she made a good choice. People look at your website, but they don't find writers that way. I think that's changing.)
Fifth, try direct mail. You have to be very clever with this. You need a strong sales letter and you need to send it by first-class mail to a real person. The less is looks like direct mail (a.k.a. junk mail) the more likely it will get through. Put a real stamp on it. Address it to a real person, even by hand. Your letter should pitch your business.
You have to scope out target clients. Find some businesses that might need your services, call to find out who hires freelance writers, and send a letter directly to that person. Call a few days later. This is a tough program because you need to keep after it, but it does work, particularly if you are diligent and target the right folks and have a compelling sales letter. This is the best way to get new clients; in my experience, it works better than cold calling, which I have never had much success with. (Not to mention the fact that it's less fun than going to the dentist.)
Sixth, contact a newspaper and pitch a column. Don't just contact random newspapers, but don't be shy about approaching major papers or local hometown newspapers. Look it over, see what's missing, write up a sample column or two, and pitch it by e-mail or letter directly to the appropriate editor. I got my first major writing job that way (I was a stringer for Variety) and the second time I tried it, I got a job writing a column that is entering its fifth year. This works. Two drawbacks: it usually doesn't pay well and you have to be very careful and make sure you target your offering to the newspaper's needs.
I'm pretty sure you could land yourself a gig as a movie critic or a lifestyle expert or a medical writer. You need to be a matchmaker, though. Don't propose anything unless it seems like a perfect fit for the newspaper.
You may be excited about that last idea but think for a minute. Who needs a low-paying writing job? Well, maybe you do. Regular appearances in an important publication build your credibility as a writer. You can often parlay those writing credits into more lucrative (but less visible) writing jobs in similar industries. Newspapers help fill out your clip files, and sometimes you can re-sell articles or use a body of research to generate similar stories for better-paying magazines or websites.
Writing is a great life, but a lot of it is work, and work is work. Getting clients is not easy for any professional and writers have to do the same amount of chattering, networking, direct mailing, and scouting out opportunities that other people do.
What's amazing to me is that some of these things work really well. Very often, when you do connect with a great long-term client, you'll hear another side to the story. Many businesses dream of finding a reliable, high-quality writer. Right now there are companies and clients wondering how on earth they are ever going to get their brochures and articles and press releases and websites written.
Your job is not "selling" them your services. Your job is really just making sure they know that you're there and ready for assignment.
Author: Jo Ann LeQuang
Getting clients is one of those great mysteries of the writing life. It's a mystery because the writers who can do it rarely talk about it.
And there are a lot of things people believe about this that are just plain wrong.
Here are six ways to get clientssome of which you may not have thought of before. These techniques are appropriate for landing new clients, winning back former clients, and stimulating more business from your regulars.
First, build your network. Networking is one of those things that a lot of people talk about but few people really grasp. For a professional writer, your network is made of the individuals (not the companies, not the industries, not the departments, not the publications) who might hire you. You need to keep tabs on these people. That means holiday cards, occasional e-mails or phone calls, and reminders about your business. I would say that 60% of my business today comes from somebody who knew me (somebody in my network). This is your richest field for business ... mine it!
By the way, people hire writers. Let's say a person at Company A has worked with you for a while when he quits to take a new job at Company B. Guess what? You're now more likely to get your next writing job from Company B than Company A, but if you play your cards right, you may be able to stay on at Company A, too. People are loyal to people; companies are loyal only accidentally.
Second, talk about what you do. Don't become the abominable dinner guest, but make sure you let people know what you do. People know people and believe it or not, there are actually people who are scratching their heads trying to find a writer. Don't belabor the issue, but make sure your friends, neighbors, guests, acquaintances, and mailman know what you do. I once got a year-long gig from a contact my mom made in a bowling alley! (She told one of the bowlers on the other team what I did for a livingand I got a phone call from the other lady's daughter a few days later. She was looking for a very specific type of writer!)
Third, don't overlook sites like e-lance and other places where freelance talent can bid on jobs. True, it's a bazaar on those sites and you will see crazy offers (like "write 100 articles for $12, must be able to complete assignment in three hours") but there are some very respectable businesses that use those sites. Be discerning, but check it out. I use these sites to fill will what I call "dead time," those periods of the year when my business slows down. I've never not made money working these sitesbut you can't bid on every job there. Some of those jobs aren't worth having!
Fourth, develop your own website that promotes your own services. Most creative people do sites that are really online portfolios; that's interesting but I don't think it brings in a lot of work. Instead, use your site to discuss your ideas about writing, your areas of expertise, and those sorts of things. You can always talk samples once a client calls. A year ago, I would not have listed this as a strategy because although I had a website, it did not bring in any business. It now hasI have found a pretty strong new client who came to me on the strength of the website.
(Mostly a website is something that is nice to have to help confirm to your new client that he or she made a good choice. People look at your website, but they don't find writers that way. I think that's changing.)
Fifth, try direct mail. You have to be very clever with this. You need a strong sales letter and you need to send it by first-class mail to a real person. The less is looks like direct mail (a.k.a. junk mail) the more likely it will get through. Put a real stamp on it. Address it to a real person, even by hand. Your letter should pitch your business.
You have to scope out target clients. Find some businesses that might need your services, call to find out who hires freelance writers, and send a letter directly to that person. Call a few days later. This is a tough program because you need to keep after it, but it does work, particularly if you are diligent and target the right folks and have a compelling sales letter. This is the best way to get new clients; in my experience, it works better than cold calling, which I have never had much success with. (Not to mention the fact that it's less fun than going to the dentist.)
Sixth, contact a newspaper and pitch a column. Don't just contact random newspapers, but don't be shy about approaching major papers or local hometown newspapers. Look it over, see what's missing, write up a sample column or two, and pitch it by e-mail or letter directly to the appropriate editor. I got my first major writing job that way (I was a stringer for Variety) and the second time I tried it, I got a job writing a column that is entering its fifth year. This works. Two drawbacks: it usually doesn't pay well and you have to be very careful and make sure you target your offering to the newspaper's needs.
I'm pretty sure you could land yourself a gig as a movie critic or a lifestyle expert or a medical writer. You need to be a matchmaker, though. Don't propose anything unless it seems like a perfect fit for the newspaper.
You may be excited about that last idea but think for a minute. Who needs a low-paying writing job? Well, maybe you do. Regular appearances in an important publication build your credibility as a writer. You can often parlay those writing credits into more lucrative (but less visible) writing jobs in similar industries. Newspapers help fill out your clip files, and sometimes you can re-sell articles or use a body of research to generate similar stories for better-paying magazines or websites.
Writing is a great life, but a lot of it is work, and work is work. Getting clients is not easy for any professional and writers have to do the same amount of chattering, networking, direct mailing, and scouting out opportunities that other people do.
What's amazing to me is that some of these things work really well. Very often, when you do connect with a great long-term client, you'll hear another side to the story. Many businesses dream of finding a reliable, high-quality writer. Right now there are companies and clients wondering how on earth they are ever going to get their brochures and articles and press releases and websites written.
Your job is not "selling" them your services. Your job is really just making sure they know that you're there and ready for assignment.
Author: Jo Ann LeQuang
The Home-office Life Can Sometimes be Harder Than it Looks
Are you one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be?Before they were married in September, Nicci Young and Richard Wiese first had to split up. The problem was not romantic, but spatial: Young Wiese, who organizes community development safaris to Africa, and Wiese, a writer and explorer, found that their Upper East Side one-bedroom was not big enough for the two of them after both decided to work from home.
"He kept talking to me about his work, which is very interesting, but it was really taking time out of my workday," Young Wiese said. "And when I was alone there was a sense of loneliness and procrastination." Wiese, who is writing a how-to book about exploration for teenagers, acknowledged the problem. "Nicci tends to be a lot more intense," he said. "Especially with lighter work, I can be watching a ballgame. If I saw a funny e-mail coming through I'd want to share it. I'd get these glances from her, like, `I'm working!'" Young Wiese is one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be.
It requires strict self-discipline and an ability to tune out spouses, children and pets. For the more sociable or emotionally needy, it can feel like house arrest, especially if the phone hasn't rung in a while. Young Wiese's solution was to rent space in a communal office, an increasingly popular option for those who can afford it. (According to Sara Horowitz, the executive director of the Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the self-employed, the use of communal work spaces has been on the rise among members for about three years, "and in the last year it's started accelerating.") Those who can't afford a separate space, or who find home too convenient or rewarding a workplace base to give up -- learn to live with the challenges, coming up with smaller-scale solutions over time.
One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there's always a reason to go back to work -- or an excuse to avoid it. "It's sort of a guilty feeling -- I should be working," said Kathy McHugh, a headhunter for high-tech companies who has worked out of her Manhattan apartment on and off for several years. "My office is 2 feet away." Children can be a distraction, as Barbara Magnoni, an international development consultant, discovered when she and Magali Montes, a business associate, tried to hold meetings in Magnoni's apartment after picking up their children from school. "We'd meet at home with our kids running around and they would think it was a play date when it actually wasn't," Magnoni said. Sid Holt, a media senior vice president whose office is in a barn a few steps from his house in northern Westchester County, described the difficulty of pacing himself. "There are no cigarette breaks," he said. "You're either working too hard or not hard enough." Holt said he finds it helpful to schedule his time in a way that mimics the 9-to-5 life of his years spent working in a New York office.
He tries to keep to a routine that includes breakfast at a local coffee shop -- reminiscent of his ritual of picking up coffee and a bagel at Grand Central Terminal on the way to his former job -- and a 10am conference call with three other employees of go2Media, a Boston-based mobile Web service for which he oversees editorial content. The conference call and frequent e-mail exchanges with other employees contribute to a sense of accomplishment that would be harder to achieve if he were working entirely on his own, he said. And they also help him to feel that he has earned the reward that once greeted him on his return from Manhattan, and that he still uses to punctuate the day. "I say to myself, there's a martini waiting for me down at the house and I'm leaving now," he said. For home-office workers who aren't in regular touch with colleagues or clients, a frequent complaint -- even among those who say they are distracted by other members of their households -- is of isolation.
David Behl, a photographer whose studio is connected to his TriBeCa loft, said he enjoys working at home when the jobs are pouring in and the studio is filled with clients and assistants. But at other times, he added, he misses the studio he used to share with two other photographers. "You don't see anybody," he said. "You don't go out for lunch. It's easier to get depressed because there's no one to complain to." McHugh said business lunches can be a lifeline after a couple of weeks working from home, and that she often finds herself glomming onto her daughter when she gets home from high school in the afternoon. "I'm happy to see somebody who's out in the world," she said. These issues have been observed at IBM, where a "mobile work force" strategy has led to 30 percent of employees working full time from home (as well as a savings on office space that the company estimates at US$100 million a year). "We found if you're working from home and do not have an interaction with someone from work, or a client, or a physical meeting, after three days you start to feel isolated," said Dan Pelino, who manages IBM's mobile work force program. Soon after the company introduced the program in 2001, he added, "people have said to me, `IBM stands for `I'm By Myself.'" The company has tried to mitigate this problem with "mobility centers," communal spaces that it maintains wherever it has offices, offering desks, phone and Internet lines, and office equipment for the periodic use of home-based workers. It has also promoted "IBM clubs," meant to encourage employee bonding.
Club members have taken day trips together to a zoo, traded cookie recipes and "gone to a race track and learned how to be a NASCAR driver," Pelino said. For those who can't depend on corporate beneficence, it is now possible to rent a desk or office in communal work spaces all over the country. The Regus Group, a Dallas-based company that rents temporary office space around the world and has 17 locations in Manhattan alone, has been doubling its US business every two years, said Guillermo Rotman, the company's chief executive for the Americas. In addition to cubicles and individual offices in various configurations, its spaces all have business lounges with sofas, armchairs, Internet ports, coffee machines and companionship for those seeking it.
The company also sells US$300-a-year passes to its business lounges, which number 950 around the world and cater to itinerant laptoppers. One Regus client in New York, David Robertson, said he had been looking forward to working at home from his Lower Manhattan apartment when he took a job in 2006 with a startup company that licenses images from college sports events, but that he lasted less than three months. "There seemed to be a lot of distractions," he said, "whether it was my children, or the refrigerator, or some home improvement project that was just sitting there staring at me." His company pays slightly less than US$1,000 a month for the cubicle he selected over an office with a closing door because it presented more opportunities to socialize.
He now wears a suit and tie to work when he wants to, and enjoys the reassuring cadences of the 9-to-5 world, as well as the camaraderie of his new office mates. "It's not like they're best friends," he said of his fellow business lounge denizens and the Regus staff members who are there to support them. "But they're adults you can have a conversation with." Young Wiese, who pays US$650 a month for a desk in a communal office in a private house near her apartment, said she, too, is happy to be surrounded by office mates who are friendly, if less gregarious than Wiese.
They share job leads with one another, they go out to lunch. She added that she prefers these relationships to those in a traditional office. "You have this collegial atmosphere, but it's not fraught with any work issues or roles or responsibilities," she said. Several of them are women who, like her, have abandoned their home offices to their work-at-home husbands. Abby Vaughn, an advertising representative for Canadian newspapers, actually took over her husband's space at the communal office when he was dismissed by the office manager after two weeks because his telephone manner was too loud. He is once again selling market research from home, while Vaughn goes off to the rented cubicle. "He's worked from his apartment for two years," his wife explained. "He wasn't used to being around people."
Author: Pedro Martinez
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
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"He kept talking to me about his work, which is very interesting, but it was really taking time out of my workday," Young Wiese said. "And when I was alone there was a sense of loneliness and procrastination." Wiese, who is writing a how-to book about exploration for teenagers, acknowledged the problem. "Nicci tends to be a lot more intense," he said. "Especially with lighter work, I can be watching a ballgame. If I saw a funny e-mail coming through I'd want to share it. I'd get these glances from her, like, `I'm working!'" Young Wiese is one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be.
It requires strict self-discipline and an ability to tune out spouses, children and pets. For the more sociable or emotionally needy, it can feel like house arrest, especially if the phone hasn't rung in a while. Young Wiese's solution was to rent space in a communal office, an increasingly popular option for those who can afford it. (According to Sara Horowitz, the executive director of the Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the self-employed, the use of communal work spaces has been on the rise among members for about three years, "and in the last year it's started accelerating.") Those who can't afford a separate space, or who find home too convenient or rewarding a workplace base to give up -- learn to live with the challenges, coming up with smaller-scale solutions over time.
One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there's always a reason to go back to work -- or an excuse to avoid it. "It's sort of a guilty feeling -- I should be working," said Kathy McHugh, a headhunter for high-tech companies who has worked out of her Manhattan apartment on and off for several years. "My office is 2 feet away." Children can be a distraction, as Barbara Magnoni, an international development consultant, discovered when she and Magali Montes, a business associate, tried to hold meetings in Magnoni's apartment after picking up their children from school. "We'd meet at home with our kids running around and they would think it was a play date when it actually wasn't," Magnoni said. Sid Holt, a media senior vice president whose office is in a barn a few steps from his house in northern Westchester County, described the difficulty of pacing himself. "There are no cigarette breaks," he said. "You're either working too hard or not hard enough." Holt said he finds it helpful to schedule his time in a way that mimics the 9-to-5 life of his years spent working in a New York office.
He tries to keep to a routine that includes breakfast at a local coffee shop -- reminiscent of his ritual of picking up coffee and a bagel at Grand Central Terminal on the way to his former job -- and a 10am conference call with three other employees of go2Media, a Boston-based mobile Web service for which he oversees editorial content. The conference call and frequent e-mail exchanges with other employees contribute to a sense of accomplishment that would be harder to achieve if he were working entirely on his own, he said. And they also help him to feel that he has earned the reward that once greeted him on his return from Manhattan, and that he still uses to punctuate the day. "I say to myself, there's a martini waiting for me down at the house and I'm leaving now," he said. For home-office workers who aren't in regular touch with colleagues or clients, a frequent complaint -- even among those who say they are distracted by other members of their households -- is of isolation.
David Behl, a photographer whose studio is connected to his TriBeCa loft, said he enjoys working at home when the jobs are pouring in and the studio is filled with clients and assistants. But at other times, he added, he misses the studio he used to share with two other photographers. "You don't see anybody," he said. "You don't go out for lunch. It's easier to get depressed because there's no one to complain to." McHugh said business lunches can be a lifeline after a couple of weeks working from home, and that she often finds herself glomming onto her daughter when she gets home from high school in the afternoon. "I'm happy to see somebody who's out in the world," she said. These issues have been observed at IBM, where a "mobile work force" strategy has led to 30 percent of employees working full time from home (as well as a savings on office space that the company estimates at US$100 million a year). "We found if you're working from home and do not have an interaction with someone from work, or a client, or a physical meeting, after three days you start to feel isolated," said Dan Pelino, who manages IBM's mobile work force program. Soon after the company introduced the program in 2001, he added, "people have said to me, `IBM stands for `I'm By Myself.'" The company has tried to mitigate this problem with "mobility centers," communal spaces that it maintains wherever it has offices, offering desks, phone and Internet lines, and office equipment for the periodic use of home-based workers. It has also promoted "IBM clubs," meant to encourage employee bonding.
Club members have taken day trips together to a zoo, traded cookie recipes and "gone to a race track and learned how to be a NASCAR driver," Pelino said. For those who can't depend on corporate beneficence, it is now possible to rent a desk or office in communal work spaces all over the country. The Regus Group, a Dallas-based company that rents temporary office space around the world and has 17 locations in Manhattan alone, has been doubling its US business every two years, said Guillermo Rotman, the company's chief executive for the Americas. In addition to cubicles and individual offices in various configurations, its spaces all have business lounges with sofas, armchairs, Internet ports, coffee machines and companionship for those seeking it.
The company also sells US$300-a-year passes to its business lounges, which number 950 around the world and cater to itinerant laptoppers. One Regus client in New York, David Robertson, said he had been looking forward to working at home from his Lower Manhattan apartment when he took a job in 2006 with a startup company that licenses images from college sports events, but that he lasted less than three months. "There seemed to be a lot of distractions," he said, "whether it was my children, or the refrigerator, or some home improvement project that was just sitting there staring at me." His company pays slightly less than US$1,000 a month for the cubicle he selected over an office with a closing door because it presented more opportunities to socialize.
He now wears a suit and tie to work when he wants to, and enjoys the reassuring cadences of the 9-to-5 world, as well as the camaraderie of his new office mates. "It's not like they're best friends," he said of his fellow business lounge denizens and the Regus staff members who are there to support them. "But they're adults you can have a conversation with." Young Wiese, who pays US$650 a month for a desk in a communal office in a private house near her apartment, said she, too, is happy to be surrounded by office mates who are friendly, if less gregarious than Wiese.
They share job leads with one another, they go out to lunch. She added that she prefers these relationships to those in a traditional office. "You have this collegial atmosphere, but it's not fraught with any work issues or roles or responsibilities," she said. Several of them are women who, like her, have abandoned their home offices to their work-at-home husbands. Abby Vaughn, an advertising representative for Canadian newspapers, actually took over her husband's space at the communal office when he was dismissed by the office manager after two weeks because his telephone manner was too loud. He is once again selling market research from home, while Vaughn goes off to the rented cubicle. "He's worked from his apartment for two years," his wife explained. "He wasn't used to being around people."
Author: Pedro Martinez
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
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Using The Internet To Find Your Niche
The Internet is a wonderful place where users can find a great deal of information. However, many are not aware that the Internet is also where some savvy entrepreneurs can find lucrative business opportunities. Internet niche marketing is just one example of how those in the know can turn their hard work and dedication into profit. This is not to say that Internet marketing is a simple field where anyone can prosper but there are opportunities for those who are willing to persevere in their efforts.
Learning Internet Marketing Online
Believe it or not Internet niche marketing is a subject that can be learned online. It certainly helps for those who hope to prosper in this industry to have some knowledge of marketing and business before venturing in an Internet niche marketing campaign but it is not necessary. There is a great deal of information on organizing and executing a niche marketing campaign available online. This information may come in a number of different forms including websites offering informative articles, message boards focusing on the industry and ebooks.
Let's first examine learning about Internet marketing through websites. Type the search term, "Internet niche marketing" into your favorite search engine and you will likely receive millions of search results. Shifting through all of the search results would be rather time consuming and many of them would likely not be relevant. Fortunately the search engines do a great deal of work for you and the most useful websites will likely appear on the first couple of pages of search results. This still leaves you with a great deal of information to sort through but considering you are likely planning to turn niche marketing into a career this research is certainly worthwhile.
Carefully examine the search results you obtain from your search and bookmark the websites which seem most useful. Next take as much time as necessary to comb through all of these websites to find the most useful information. Take notes as you do to create a comprehensive resource for yourself. After this review your notes and investigate items which seem unclear to your further. This research may include offline resources such as books or phone calls to experts in the industry.
Search Engines are Your Friend
Now that you have already used the Internet to learn about the industry of Internet marketing, you probably know that finding a profitable niche is imperative. A niche is essentially a specific area of interest. Ideally you will already be an expert in this subject and it will be a subject which has a wide Internet audience without a great deal of existing websites focusing on this niche. Once again, you can turn to the Internet for finding this niche.
You may already have a few ideas for niches. These are probably subjects you are passionate about and understand very well. Examining statistical information provided by popular search engines regarding the popularity of search terms related to your niche will give you a good indication of whether or not Internet users are interested in your niche. If keywords related to your niche are searched on these search engines often, it is evident there is an audience for your niche. Next it is time to enter these keywords in a search engine and evaluate the websites which are provided as results for these keywords. If there are many strong results the niche can be considered saturated. In this case, it is a good idea to abandon the original idea and search for another niche. However, if there are not many high quality search results, you may have found your perfect niche.
Author: Sharon Godfrey
Learning Internet Marketing Online
Believe it or not Internet niche marketing is a subject that can be learned online. It certainly helps for those who hope to prosper in this industry to have some knowledge of marketing and business before venturing in an Internet niche marketing campaign but it is not necessary. There is a great deal of information on organizing and executing a niche marketing campaign available online. This information may come in a number of different forms including websites offering informative articles, message boards focusing on the industry and ebooks.
Let's first examine learning about Internet marketing through websites. Type the search term, "Internet niche marketing" into your favorite search engine and you will likely receive millions of search results. Shifting through all of the search results would be rather time consuming and many of them would likely not be relevant. Fortunately the search engines do a great deal of work for you and the most useful websites will likely appear on the first couple of pages of search results. This still leaves you with a great deal of information to sort through but considering you are likely planning to turn niche marketing into a career this research is certainly worthwhile.
Carefully examine the search results you obtain from your search and bookmark the websites which seem most useful. Next take as much time as necessary to comb through all of these websites to find the most useful information. Take notes as you do to create a comprehensive resource for yourself. After this review your notes and investigate items which seem unclear to your further. This research may include offline resources such as books or phone calls to experts in the industry.
Search Engines are Your Friend
Now that you have already used the Internet to learn about the industry of Internet marketing, you probably know that finding a profitable niche is imperative. A niche is essentially a specific area of interest. Ideally you will already be an expert in this subject and it will be a subject which has a wide Internet audience without a great deal of existing websites focusing on this niche. Once again, you can turn to the Internet for finding this niche.
You may already have a few ideas for niches. These are probably subjects you are passionate about and understand very well. Examining statistical information provided by popular search engines regarding the popularity of search terms related to your niche will give you a good indication of whether or not Internet users are interested in your niche. If keywords related to your niche are searched on these search engines often, it is evident there is an audience for your niche. Next it is time to enter these keywords in a search engine and evaluate the websites which are provided as results for these keywords. If there are many strong results the niche can be considered saturated. In this case, it is a good idea to abandon the original idea and search for another niche. However, if there are not many high quality search results, you may have found your perfect niche.
Author: Sharon Godfrey
Running Multiple Home Based Businesses Just Makes Business Sense
Home based businesses will become the norm in business. There are many advantages of having multiple home based businesses. First if one business goes bad you have other businesses to fall back. Next it is always better to have more than one successful company. It just makes sense. The more companies you can efficiently run the better off you are. The experience you also will gain from running multiple companies is also priceless.
With the way the economy is headed and the way many major companies are shipping their jobs overseas, it just makes sense to start your own company. Many people will not catch on to this tread and they will end up getting left in the dust. If you don't believe me just visit your local unemployment office. You will not find 20 year olds in there looking for work. Instead you will find high paid employees, many who were making $150,000 and up, looking for work. Many of these high paid employees will have to take a major pay cut. They will be lucky to earn $60,000 a year.
This is a key reason many people will get left behind in the near future. Many people who get laid off will continue to look for another job and will continue to have to take pay cuts. Many people are using an outdated plan and that plan is failing them, badly. What is worse is they continue to teach their kids the same plan, not knowing they are setting up their kids for failure. These are the people who will continue to get left behind and passed up. This is what we know primarily as the middle class. The middle class believes in getting a college degree and then looking for a stable job. The middle class is being hit the hardest since it is their jobs that are being shipped overseas. As a business owner, I can see many companies are beginning to see hiring employees as a major liability. Which explains why they are shipping out as many jobs as possible. Think about it as a business owner for a sec. First you have to pay insurance for all of your employees and we are talking about accidental insurance for the company, and medical insurance for your employees. Next you also have to pay a salary.
But as a business owner if you know you can contract your work to a professional contractor for cheaper and you wouldn't have to pay any insurance's what so ever, it would just make sense. It just makes sense as a business owner.Many high paid employees are not seeing this fact and it is a fact. Times are changing, either you change and take advantage of the changing times or you get passed up and live out a rough life. Going into business for yourself just makes complete sense. Instead of your employer having the control, you put the control in your hands. Not to mention the tax benefits you get with having your own business. Having multiple home based businesses just makes total sense.
Author: Aaron Aldama
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
With the way the economy is headed and the way many major companies are shipping their jobs overseas, it just makes sense to start your own company. Many people will not catch on to this tread and they will end up getting left in the dust. If you don't believe me just visit your local unemployment office. You will not find 20 year olds in there looking for work. Instead you will find high paid employees, many who were making $150,000 and up, looking for work. Many of these high paid employees will have to take a major pay cut. They will be lucky to earn $60,000 a year.
This is a key reason many people will get left behind in the near future. Many people who get laid off will continue to look for another job and will continue to have to take pay cuts. Many people are using an outdated plan and that plan is failing them, badly. What is worse is they continue to teach their kids the same plan, not knowing they are setting up their kids for failure. These are the people who will continue to get left behind and passed up. This is what we know primarily as the middle class. The middle class believes in getting a college degree and then looking for a stable job. The middle class is being hit the hardest since it is their jobs that are being shipped overseas. As a business owner, I can see many companies are beginning to see hiring employees as a major liability. Which explains why they are shipping out as many jobs as possible. Think about it as a business owner for a sec. First you have to pay insurance for all of your employees and we are talking about accidental insurance for the company, and medical insurance for your employees. Next you also have to pay a salary.
But as a business owner if you know you can contract your work to a professional contractor for cheaper and you wouldn't have to pay any insurance's what so ever, it would just make sense. It just makes sense as a business owner.Many high paid employees are not seeing this fact and it is a fact. Times are changing, either you change and take advantage of the changing times or you get passed up and live out a rough life. Going into business for yourself just makes complete sense. Instead of your employer having the control, you put the control in your hands. Not to mention the tax benefits you get with having your own business. Having multiple home based businesses just makes total sense.
Author: Aaron Aldama
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Used Computer Equipment
I haven't been sure how to start the new year's blog. Everyone else is thinking of changing focus. At the moment, I've been looking into things that can help work at home writers survive. Mark told me last night that he is buying more equipment - new.
Why do most people buy new when there are so many good deals in the used market. Saving 50% on a product can make a big difference. Look at it this way. Mark said that he has the money. But, if he bought used, he could get twice the product and have twice the power. His 'Office Depote' router would never provide the same power as a used cisco router. Each costs about the same, $50, and the used products do come with a warranty.
What used products do have is power. The cisco router, new, costs about $800.00. So, the next time you are hunting for office equipment, take a look at used equipment first.
Why do most people buy new when there are so many good deals in the used market. Saving 50% on a product can make a big difference. Look at it this way. Mark said that he has the money. But, if he bought used, he could get twice the product and have twice the power. His 'Office Depote' router would never provide the same power as a used cisco router. Each costs about the same, $50, and the used products do come with a warranty.
What used products do have is power. The cisco router, new, costs about $800.00. So, the next time you are hunting for office equipment, take a look at used equipment first.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Change Resistance - The Killer to Master Success or Not In My Backyard
The State of Indiana is attempting to modernize government by reducing duplicate services and maximize taxpayers' dollars. In business, this is called continuous improvement. Strategies from cycle time reduction to waste walks are initiated.
Local government officials in Northwest Indiana agreed that government needs to be modernized, but are also denouncing this long needed action because many would lose their jobs and more importantly elected officials would lose their ability to stay in control through patronage and special programs. Of course, the Tragedy of the Commons would eventually take over ruining the economic viability for everyone in the State. This is quite reflective of the poor attitude Not in my backyard.
Small business owners to executives of much larger organizations are in many cases no different. These individuals also resist change even though they know it is good for their companies especially if they want business success.
Yesterday, while attending at a monthly master mind group for small business owners, one of the members said that he knew planning was necessary, but he didn't have time. He was up to 2am taking care of things. Then he said quickly as if reading my mind, You probably going to say what happens if I do not take the time?
People change for 2 reasons - to avoid the pain or to secure the gain. For this practical and smart small business owner who had one large client that was driving a significant part of his monthly revenue stream the pain to avoid was what if this client left? This thought was starting to keep him awake a night. How could he build a larger client base just in case?
Change is not easy for we are creatures of conditioning. Life is much easier going with what we already know and in many cases we truly do not know what the what is. Stepping out not knowing what to expect is very frightening.
Harrison Ford in the 3rd sequel of Indiana Jones had to take a Leap of Faith as he worked a plan to save his father's life. And sometimes to overcome the fear requires a Leap of Faith to avoid the pain or to secure the gain if we truly want to personal success.
So what pain are you avoiding or what gain do you want to master success in the next 365 days? The choice (which really is an action of selection not a thought as some believe)is yours and you alone are responsible for your business success to personal success.
Do you need help in working through your own change resistance but are still seeking a coaching business & training program that works with you?
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Prosperity Tool - The Stickman Concept
One of the most powerful ideas I've ever encountered is The Stickman Concept. After attending literally more than one hundred seminars on success with little improvement in our results, seeing the Stickman Concept demonstrated helped us finally triple our income in just a few months. It has been the greatest tool for understanding principles of prosperity that I've ever experienced.
A little history first: so the story goes, it was first developed by Dr. Thurman Fleet in the 1930's. I learned it from my friend and mentor, Bob Proctor in 2000 and have since been certified by his company to teach it. I bet you're wondering now, "So, what IS it?"
It is a visual representation of how our mind works, and it succinctly demonstrates how it's true that "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." If you want to enjoy more prosperity than ever before, it's something you really need to see, and it's available for free.
It gives you a visual image of some of the most abstract but fundamental principles of success... something you can see... something that helps you change your life. It changed mine.
How can a simple drawing make that much of a difference? Why does it work so well? Let me explain it this way...
Suppose I give you a simple math problem, and I verbally say:
"What is the sum of sixty one million, seven hundred fifty-five and ten thousand twenty-three?"
Maybe you'd think, "I know that's an easy problem, but I can't really do anything with it until I simplify it with symbols and see it on paper."
So you get a pencil and put this down:
61,000,755
+ 10,023
It's the same problem; but don't you just feel differently about it when it looks simple? How we feel about something has a whole lot to do with how well we do.
So now, how long have you been studying success principles? How many seminars have you been to? How many self-help books have you read, and how many audios have you listened to? How many articles have you read?
Perhaps you've bought into the notion that the concepts are supposedly simple, and they do make sense, but just like reading or listening to a long, drawn-out arithmetic problem, your mind may tend to go into overload to the point that you are unable to get the job done.
The principles of success are simple, but there's a lot of verbiage going on, isn't there? For me, prosperity was elusive so long as I couldn't simultaneously wrap my brain around ALL of the countless tidbits of advice I had received in the one-hundred (plus) seminars I attended.
So, what if I could show you a visual, symbolic representation of how to succeed, so that implementing everything you've been learning becomes dramatically more simple than ever? (At no charge, of course.) I could describe it in this article, but that's just more verbiage . . . and it would be quite a bit of it at that. You know, "draw a circle at the top of your paper, and then a line coming down to the blah, blah, blah . . . yadda, yadda, yadda . . ."
Verbiage.
The visual presentation of the Stickman Concept makes success simple. It makes prosperity reachable. It gives you something to "see" in your head when you are trying to change old thought habits, and gives you a visual tool to understand what's happening when you're facing challenges, setbacks, frustrations, and fears. Furthermore, it helps you know just what to do when that happens. Watch the no-charge Stickman Video and see what I mean. It's time to prosper!
About the Author: A contributor to multiple Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Leslie Householder is the award-winning two-time best-selling author of "The Jackrabbit Factor" and "Hidden Treasures." She is the co-founder of http://www.PrinciplesofProsperity.com a site dedicated to helping people gain more family time and money freedom through the little-known but critically fundamental principles of prosperity. Trevan and Leslie Householder are the parents of seven children.
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Google Basics for Business
Google dominates the search engine world, despite the fact that the conversion-to-buyer rate at MSN is much higher. This forces most ecommerce businesses to try and dance Google’s waltz, without fully comprehending the ins and outs of how Google works.
Navigating Google is difficult. Most SEO optimizing specialists and SEO Internet marketers do not understand what they are doing. In fact, most of them are so far behind the times that their information is useless. Summer 2007 saw the latest change in Google’s algorithm leaving many ecommerce businesses with sharp decreases in traffic.
What is a Google Algorithm
The Google Algorithms are basically the math formulas used to determine which web pages rank high in the searches, and which ones rank low, or are banned. Google changes the rules every 18 - 24 months to help them sweep away websites that are not optimized and MFA (Made For AdSense) static sites.
Google also makes changes to meet the needs of the webmasters. When Google brought in their inbound link ranking system, it gave many webmasters an opportunity to build link farms, gaining an unfair advantage. In response Google now looks for content around a link. If there is no content, then the link has no value.
When Google started to focus on content, webmasters and programmers created Content Management Systems. Unfortunately, until recently, Google could not read database pages. Now, the programmers have created a static page method of page creation, and search engines learned how to read content off databases.
Search Engine Optimization
Many webmasters do not understand what this means. And, many SEO optimizers do not understand what this means. To many, it still means coding a page so that the keywords are highlighted, and under .05% of the content (including link bars). They believe it is a method of web design.
Ecommerce businesses are still scrambling to pay SEO optimizers big bucks to make their pages rank high, when meta tags and SEO tricks have very little importance. Now, the search engines are looking for good content, with heading titles, and a site full of similar content, with articles linked together using the same ‘keyword anchors.’
Google’s new algorithms have made it possible for many small ecommerce businesses to build their page rank, and search engine rank, without ever paying a dime to a SEO specialist.
The Google Sandbox and Supplemental Index
Both of these cause chills to run up most webmasters spines, but only because they are not understood, Google does not have a Sandbox. Yes, it may take a few months to get your website listed and showing up, inbound links may not appear for a long time, and a website may not show up when searched - but that is not a sandbox. It is just a backlog. One way to overcome it is to take part in Google’s PayPerClick program. Even if you only invest $20 a month, being a part of that program immediately links your site, so you do not need to wait.
The supplemental index is as easy to get out of. First, take a look at the meta information - is it too generic? If so, then do not use keywords but use keyword phrases. The keyword ‘ecommerce’, is too generic, so is ‘ecommerce business.’ However, ‘learn how to start an ecommerce business’ will help that page target.
Next, make sure the page is linked to a high ranking page. This can be done by putting links inside the page - or by adding it to the website’s navigation system. Within a short time, that page will no longer be in the supplemental index.
Navigating Google is difficult. Most SEO optimizing specialists and SEO Internet marketers do not understand what they are doing. In fact, most of them are so far behind the times that their information is useless. Summer 2007 saw the latest change in Google’s algorithm leaving many ecommerce businesses with sharp decreases in traffic.
What is a Google Algorithm
The Google Algorithms are basically the math formulas used to determine which web pages rank high in the searches, and which ones rank low, or are banned. Google changes the rules every 18 - 24 months to help them sweep away websites that are not optimized and MFA (Made For AdSense) static sites.
Google also makes changes to meet the needs of the webmasters. When Google brought in their inbound link ranking system, it gave many webmasters an opportunity to build link farms, gaining an unfair advantage. In response Google now looks for content around a link. If there is no content, then the link has no value.
When Google started to focus on content, webmasters and programmers created Content Management Systems. Unfortunately, until recently, Google could not read database pages. Now, the programmers have created a static page method of page creation, and search engines learned how to read content off databases.
Search Engine Optimization
Many webmasters do not understand what this means. And, many SEO optimizers do not understand what this means. To many, it still means coding a page so that the keywords are highlighted, and under .05% of the content (including link bars). They believe it is a method of web design.
Ecommerce businesses are still scrambling to pay SEO optimizers big bucks to make their pages rank high, when meta tags and SEO tricks have very little importance. Now, the search engines are looking for good content, with heading titles, and a site full of similar content, with articles linked together using the same ‘keyword anchors.’
Google’s new algorithms have made it possible for many small ecommerce businesses to build their page rank, and search engine rank, without ever paying a dime to a SEO specialist.
The Google Sandbox and Supplemental Index
Both of these cause chills to run up most webmasters spines, but only because they are not understood, Google does not have a Sandbox. Yes, it may take a few months to get your website listed and showing up, inbound links may not appear for a long time, and a website may not show up when searched - but that is not a sandbox. It is just a backlog. One way to overcome it is to take part in Google’s PayPerClick program. Even if you only invest $20 a month, being a part of that program immediately links your site, so you do not need to wait.
The supplemental index is as easy to get out of. First, take a look at the meta information - is it too generic? If so, then do not use keywords but use keyword phrases. The keyword ‘ecommerce’, is too generic, so is ‘ecommerce business.’ However, ‘learn how to start an ecommerce business’ will help that page target.
Next, make sure the page is linked to a high ranking page. This can be done by putting links inside the page - or by adding it to the website’s navigation system. Within a short time, that page will no longer be in the supplemental index.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Using Paid Directories 101
I've read a few posts where people ask me how come I have so many posts in the Hall of Fame. It is fairly simple. I follow the outline in my course, and I follow the advice in this blog.
Directory Submissions
That said, there are a few ways to fast track. If you want to make money from your blog, and you want to increase traffic and hits, there are a few ways to do it.
I mentioned one good method in the last post. Another is to submit through a directory submission tool. This is different than a website submission. Directories are not search engines.
http://www.directorymaximizer.com/
This is the service I use. They have 1000 directories in their list, and are always adding more. There is no 'reciprical link needed' increasing the value of the links. Each one costs $.14 and you can submit to as many as you need at a time. If you only have $15 to invest this month, then that is good.
After a few months you will have submitted to them all. This service has a 60-80% acceptance rate on the PR3 and higher sites.
I submit to the PR3 and higher sites first, while they are still new and looking for members. The PR0 sites will take anyone. The PR3 and higher sites will also pull your page rank and traffic exposure site up faster.
Page Rank Increased
But, beware of buying links based on the PR of the home page. A directory with a PR8 will not help you if it is on the home page, and the page your site appears on only has a PR0. (PR zero)
I have heard of the sites promising that if you pay a high price for a listing on a site with PR8 pages that your site will increase. I understand the theory. I was taught the theory in class. But, I've never actually seen a person who paid $200 for a listing on a PR8 site - a single link - actually benefit from it.
PS. If you don't use heading titles and the meta tag section of this blog, or any blog, this advice probably will not work as well as I say it will.
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Directory Submissions
That said, there are a few ways to fast track. If you want to make money from your blog, and you want to increase traffic and hits, there are a few ways to do it.
I mentioned one good method in the last post. Another is to submit through a directory submission tool. This is different than a website submission. Directories are not search engines.
http://www.directorymaximizer.com/
This is the service I use. They have 1000 directories in their list, and are always adding more. There is no 'reciprical link needed' increasing the value of the links. Each one costs $.14 and you can submit to as many as you need at a time. If you only have $15 to invest this month, then that is good.
After a few months you will have submitted to them all. This service has a 60-80% acceptance rate on the PR3 and higher sites.
I submit to the PR3 and higher sites first, while they are still new and looking for members. The PR0 sites will take anyone. The PR3 and higher sites will also pull your page rank and traffic exposure site up faster.
Page Rank Increased
But, beware of buying links based on the PR of the home page. A directory with a PR8 will not help you if it is on the home page, and the page your site appears on only has a PR0. (PR zero)
I have heard of the sites promising that if you pay a high price for a listing on a site with PR8 pages that your site will increase. I understand the theory. I was taught the theory in class. But, I've never actually seen a person who paid $200 for a listing on a PR8 site - a single link - actually benefit from it.
PS. If you don't use heading titles and the meta tag section of this blog, or any blog, this advice probably will not work as well as I say it will.
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Ethical Paid Per Post Blogging
I must admit that Trick Falls made me start to think. One of the problems I face is that much of what I do, and how I do it, has become habit. When I am writing for new writers and work at home professionals, I often forget the 'little things.'
Trick falls asked about disclosure in a blog, and making readers feel like they have been 'advertised to' when they are reading. This forced me to take a good hard look at my blogs. I knew that I had disclosure. But, I never really thought about how I do it.
First, there are organizations that help bloggers with disclosure and ethical problems. There are several companies like womma that help bloggers learn how to use full disclosure and ethical blogging.
There are also disclosure badges from PPP and other places that let people know a post has been sponsored. I also use a comment such as:
This post is my thoughts and my message for the day. I thank XXX company for sponsoring it and allowing me to continue bringing this information to you free
Pay Per Post is one of the most ethical, and profitable, paid posting sites.
If you would like to make some money by writing a review for my blog, and let the world know about the information I give away free, then please click the red bar above. PPP will pay you to review my site.
Other sites are blogitive, Reviewme, blogsvertise
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
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Get Paid To Write
Trick falls asked about disclosure in a blog, and making readers feel like they have been 'advertised to' when they are reading. This forced me to take a good hard look at my blogs. I knew that I had disclosure. But, I never really thought about how I do it.
First, there are organizations that help bloggers with disclosure and ethical problems. There are several companies like womma that help bloggers learn how to use full disclosure and ethical blogging.
There are also disclosure badges from PPP and other places that let people know a post has been sponsored. I also use a comment such as:
This post is my thoughts and my message for the day. I thank XXX company for sponsoring it and allowing me to continue bringing this information to you free
Pay Per Post is one of the most ethical, and profitable, paid posting sites.
If you would like to make some money by writing a review for my blog, and let the world know about the information I give away free, then please click the red bar above. PPP will pay you to review my site.
Other sites are blogitive, Reviewme, blogsvertise
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Google and Duplicate Content
Many of you who follow my 'attempt to take over the world' as a friend recently dubbed my major promotional network will be confused by one thing:
I have duplicate content, but I rank high - how?
To understand this, you first need to realize what Google considers duplicate content.
Exhibit A
If you buy a website of Ebay that is designed to earn AdSense income, and is a mirror of another site - you will be banned.
Exhibit B
If you use mambo, joombala, wordpress, b2evolution, etc., then when Google looks at your site, it sees duplicate content - because it reads code, not content.
You can look on your web site, and 200 others, and the first 200 characters are identical. In many cases, crawlers rarely go beyond 200 - 500 characters . If everything is identical to other sites, the crawlers leave 'before reaching the article.'
(but gracepub, you use B2Evolution. Yes, I do, and I also have a great programmer, Mark, who changes the names of my images, changes strings of PHP code, and does all sorts of other things so that my b2evolution skins/code is not exactly like yours)
Exhibit C
"This filtering means, for instance, that if your site has articles in "regular" and "printer" versions and neither set is blocked in robots.txt or via a no-index meta tag, we'll choose one version to list.
This is from Google's site. Translated, it means that Google doesn't ban content - it just only lists one. That is how I get away with it. My sites are all 'equally important' so that I really don't care if Google lists site A, or site B.
I believe that this is my 'saving grace.' Google finds good content at all my sites.
I also use 'no follow' robots to keep Google off pages that are from free content sites.
What To Do?
The first thing you should do is put the original version on your website. Leave it alone for six months. That means that Google will recognize your version as the 'original' and 'not list' the other versions.
After six months, put the article on your blog, in a free content site, etc. YOU are not the one using the duplicate content, THEY are.
If someone syndicates your blog, takes your articles, etc., it is 'their' site that is not indexed.
Or, if you want, just change the wording in the title, and some of the words in the article before adding your work to a free content site.
I hope this lowers the panic level for some web managers and freelance writers.
I have duplicate content, but I rank high - how?
To understand this, you first need to realize what Google considers duplicate content.
Exhibit A
If you buy a website of Ebay that is designed to earn AdSense income, and is a mirror of another site - you will be banned.
Exhibit B
If you use mambo, joombala, wordpress, b2evolution, etc., then when Google looks at your site, it sees duplicate content - because it reads code, not content.
You can look on your web site, and 200 others, and the first 200 characters are identical. In many cases, crawlers rarely go beyond 200 - 500 characters . If everything is identical to other sites, the crawlers leave 'before reaching the article.'
(but gracepub, you use B2Evolution. Yes, I do, and I also have a great programmer, Mark, who changes the names of my images, changes strings of PHP code, and does all sorts of other things so that my b2evolution skins/code is not exactly like yours)
Exhibit C
"This filtering means, for instance, that if your site has articles in "regular" and "printer" versions and neither set is blocked in robots.txt or via a no-index meta tag, we'll choose one version to list.
This is from Google's site. Translated, it means that Google doesn't ban content - it just only lists one. That is how I get away with it. My sites are all 'equally important' so that I really don't care if Google lists site A, or site B.
I believe that this is my 'saving grace.' Google finds good content at all my sites.
I also use 'no follow' robots to keep Google off pages that are from free content sites.
What To Do?
The first thing you should do is put the original version on your website. Leave it alone for six months. That means that Google will recognize your version as the 'original' and 'not list' the other versions.
After six months, put the article on your blog, in a free content site, etc. YOU are not the one using the duplicate content, THEY are.
If someone syndicates your blog, takes your articles, etc., it is 'their' site that is not indexed.
Or, if you want, just change the wording in the title, and some of the words in the article before adding your work to a free content site.
I hope this lowers the panic level for some web managers and freelance writers.
What is Next - Closed Captioning on YouTube?
The Internet world is growing faster than any other media resource. It is not surprising that closed captioning companies are starting to look toward streaming video and other media resource to offer closed captioning.
I have a friend who owns a small media compnay. He uses this type of service to help hearing impared people enjoy his videos. It is how he makes money - and he doesn't want to lose any market.
Writers should keep abreast of all developments. Closed captioning is not new, but it will become more important as video becomes a main part of the internet - watch for it.
I have a friend who owns a small media compnay. He uses this type of service to help hearing impared people enjoy his videos. It is how he makes money - and he doesn't want to lose any market.
Writers should keep abreast of all developments. Closed captioning is not new, but it will become more important as video becomes a main part of the internet - watch for it.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Why You Should Continually Revisit Your Old Blog Posts
A lot of people wonder where I learned all the advanced SEO tips and tricks that I know. simply - I took an accredited course and learned from pros. Of course, most freelance writers do not have the money to invest in 1 - 3 SEO courses a year.
I hear many people complain. Those who have smaller versions of inspiredauthor.com always complain that they do not have time to learn. Of course, if they made the time, their sites wouldn't be smaller.
On the other hand, if I researched web programmers and didn't get 'sold' I wouldn't be rebuilding inspiredauthor again.
Life and Learn
However, no matter how much you learn, there is always more to learn. I was surprised to learn today how easy it is for someone to steal our blog content. I learn a lot from this blogger. I wouldn't say he is ahead of everyone else, but at least his information isn't 2 years old like so many of the other 'guru' sites.
There are ways to protect your content. People steal your blog by republishing the feed using a javascript. So, they cannot change the titles or the content.
I know one blogger who has a certain tag at the end of all their blogs. I won't tell you what it is, but it is something like 'hey-ya mate' with a typo in it. He just types this into his browser and sees what web URLs come up.
I am not sure if there is anything you can legally do if someone steals your content. But, at least you can write a few blog about their 'crappy', theiving website, - which, of course will be picked up by your feed burn and will appear on their site.
Want to Make $1000 a month blogging? Read my 'Pro Blogging' blog Or - Make it easy Subscribe to my ProBlogging site and receive updates in your email
I hear many people complain. Those who have smaller versions of inspiredauthor.com always complain that they do not have time to learn. Of course, if they made the time, their sites wouldn't be smaller.
On the other hand, if I researched web programmers and didn't get 'sold' I wouldn't be rebuilding inspiredauthor again.
Life and Learn
However, no matter how much you learn, there is always more to learn. I was surprised to learn today how easy it is for someone to steal our blog content. I learn a lot from this blogger. I wouldn't say he is ahead of everyone else, but at least his information isn't 2 years old like so many of the other 'guru' sites.
There are ways to protect your content. People steal your blog by republishing the feed using a javascript. So, they cannot change the titles or the content.
I know one blogger who has a certain tag at the end of all their blogs. I won't tell you what it is, but it is something like 'hey-ya mate' with a typo in it. He just types this into his browser and sees what web URLs come up.
I am not sure if there is anything you can legally do if someone steals your content. But, at least you can write a few blog about their 'crappy', theiving website, - which, of course will be picked up by your feed burn and will appear on their site.
Want to Make $1000 a month blogging? Read my 'Pro Blogging' blog Or - Make it easy Subscribe to my ProBlogging site and receive updates in your email
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Combining Family and Work
Have you ever wondered how professional work at home freelance writers combine work and home? Parenting can be a major problem. Children do nto respect work time, and they need us. Deadlines are important, but so are children.
There is no secret. It is something that all writers must learn to cope with. The important thing to remember is that the family will never understand. Even if you make more money than you did when working outside of the home, family will not understand.
They will still expect you to run errands, watch TV at night, make dinner, have he laundry done. So, what do you do? Well, at first there is nothing you can do. But, when you start making good money, you can start hiring work.
A house cleaner will cost $50 - 60 and take 5 - 6 hours to clean the house. A good freelance writer can make $15 - 20 an hour, earning $75- $120. So, the writer will make $15 - $60 by hiring help.
Writing a budget and keeping a record of how much you make per hour - will help you find solutions to your problems.
There is no secret. It is something that all writers must learn to cope with. The important thing to remember is that the family will never understand. Even if you make more money than you did when working outside of the home, family will not understand.
They will still expect you to run errands, watch TV at night, make dinner, have he laundry done. So, what do you do? Well, at first there is nothing you can do. But, when you start making good money, you can start hiring work.
A house cleaner will cost $50 - 60 and take 5 - 6 hours to clean the house. A good freelance writer can make $15 - 20 an hour, earning $75- $120. So, the writer will make $15 - $60 by hiring help.
Writing a budget and keeping a record of how much you make per hour - will help you find solutions to your problems.
Data Saving - Work at Home Jobs
My laptop is off being fixed, but that made me think of something worthwhile to tell you. Do you use a data traveller? These are little UBS plug in things. They fit in the palm of your hand and cost $5 - $30.00.
Mine cost $30 and came from Kingston. I like it because I just plug it into a computer and it talks to the computer and sets everything up. Your computer will read this as a new hard drive.
I back up everything I do on Monday (sigh, should have done it Friday). I have a 1gig, and I can usually save my entire desktop on it. This is a fantastic tool. It does not use an operating system, so it cannot crash or corrupt.
It just fits onto any USB port. A window opens up. You copy your files into the window, and voila, your entire desktop is backed up.
This morning I transfered my desktop into a file on my new graphic arts computer, and I am working again.
If you will loose important work if your computer crashes, or if you pick up a virus, this little gadget will save your life.
Work At Home Jobs
I am going to start pasting more places to find work at home jobs. Of course, I don't get involved with every one and vouch for its validity. So, if you have complaints, please come back and post
----------------
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inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Mine cost $30 and came from Kingston. I like it because I just plug it into a computer and it talks to the computer and sets everything up. Your computer will read this as a new hard drive.
I back up everything I do on Monday (sigh, should have done it Friday). I have a 1gig, and I can usually save my entire desktop on it. This is a fantastic tool. It does not use an operating system, so it cannot crash or corrupt.
It just fits onto any USB port. A window opens up. You copy your files into the window, and voila, your entire desktop is backed up.
This morning I transfered my desktop into a file on my new graphic arts computer, and I am working again.
If you will loose important work if your computer crashes, or if you pick up a virus, this little gadget will save your life.
Work At Home Jobs
I am going to start pasting more places to find work at home jobs. Of course, I don't get involved with every one and vouch for its validity. So, if you have complaints, please come back and post
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
My First Publishing Credit
My first publishing credit was on 52 projects - a long time ago.
It was a tongue in cheek exercise in management techniques. I wrote another one that was more poignant about learning life's lessons by visiting grandparents, but that wasn't good enough for the book and eventually they removed all the old ones that never made the book.
My first publishing credit is still there, Project #90 and it is a good thing.
Everyone needs to start some where. I went on to be published at www.dabblingmum.com and a few other sites in those first years before I accepted the fact that I was a writer - but there is something about that first 'real' publishing credit.
As the third year anniversary of my writing comes around, I want to make other writers realize that they can become real writers in a very short time. I've known many writers who built a full time, profitable, career in less than 12 months - some 18. The only real difference between those who were working full time within six months and those who were working full time in 18 months is whether or not they took writing courses.
When I started, I invested in $1000 worth of writing courses - and it shows. You need to learn to write well - whether in a course - whether by trial and error. You will, eventually, then you will have a good writing career.
The one thing that makes writing different from any other career is the fact that there is only one way to fail - quitting.
So, when you feel down, slide over to 52 projects and read post #90. Correct the grammar. Improve the punctuation. Select better verbs. And then you'll feel better about yourself. After all, if I could get published then you can.
It was a tongue in cheek exercise in management techniques. I wrote another one that was more poignant about learning life's lessons by visiting grandparents, but that wasn't good enough for the book and eventually they removed all the old ones that never made the book.
My first publishing credit is still there, Project #90 and it is a good thing.
Everyone needs to start some where. I went on to be published at www.dabblingmum.com and a few other sites in those first years before I accepted the fact that I was a writer - but there is something about that first 'real' publishing credit.
As the third year anniversary of my writing comes around, I want to make other writers realize that they can become real writers in a very short time. I've known many writers who built a full time, profitable, career in less than 12 months - some 18. The only real difference between those who were working full time within six months and those who were working full time in 18 months is whether or not they took writing courses.
When I started, I invested in $1000 worth of writing courses - and it shows. You need to learn to write well - whether in a course - whether by trial and error. You will, eventually, then you will have a good writing career.
The one thing that makes writing different from any other career is the fact that there is only one way to fail - quitting.
So, when you feel down, slide over to 52 projects and read post #90. Correct the grammar. Improve the punctuation. Select better verbs. And then you'll feel better about yourself. After all, if I could get published then you can.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
InspiredAuthor Contest $100 To Attract New Writer/Members
There are few sites on the Internet that create a community learning atmopshere on a platform that equals the one used by www.inspiredauthor.com. New writers can access free weekly workshops, forums, blogs and online learning courses - FREE.
This is the first time in five years that www.inspiredauthor.com has created an interactive community where writers can ask publishers How to Write a Novel, ask freelance writing agents How to Get Paid to Write, and receive more than 3000 articles and tutorials.
There are no fees for membership, nothing to buy, and no mass market mailings. The site is building up its resources including video tutorials, podcasts, and e-courses that members can download.
To launch this new platform www.inspiredauthor.com is offering their members a chance to win $100 in Amazon bucks, all they need to do is refer the site to their friends, participate in the forums, and comment on the blogs.
The $100 will be awarded in December, just in time for Christmas. Referrals and activity are calculated automatically by the software system. No member of IA's staff, associates, or publishing interests may participate.
Other prizes will be awarded, including free books, downloads, and free enrolment in courses at www.writersonlinecourses.com
This is the first time in five years that www.inspiredauthor.com has created an interactive community where writers can ask publishers How to Write a Novel, ask freelance writing agents How to Get Paid to Write, and receive more than 3000 articles and tutorials.
There are no fees for membership, nothing to buy, and no mass market mailings. The site is building up its resources including video tutorials, podcasts, and e-courses that members can download.
To launch this new platform www.inspiredauthor.com is offering their members a chance to win $100 in Amazon bucks, all they need to do is refer the site to their friends, participate in the forums, and comment on the blogs.
The $100 will be awarded in December, just in time for Christmas. Referrals and activity are calculated automatically by the software system. No member of IA's staff, associates, or publishing interests may participate.
Other prizes will be awarded, including free books, downloads, and free enrolment in courses at www.writersonlinecourses.com
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