Bringing Community Back: FWJ is Giving Away $150

Once upon a time there was a blog. This blog had several thousand visitors each day. They shared. They chatted. They commiserated. It was all good. Soon some mean people came by and began scaring away the happy chatters. The vibe changed from warm and fuzzy to not so much fun anymore. The owner did her best to build up community, but she was so busy with her projects and her job it wasn’t happening. She put a comment policy into place but the damage was already done. She had a reputation for having a community that liked to bicker.

She wants to change that.

If you remember the days when FWJ was a huge, lively community of writers helping writers, you may miss the golden days as well. Let’s try and get it all back. Several years ago, we built this community with a contest – a comments contest. We offered a $25 gift certficate to the person with the most comments. People came and never left. It was good.

We’re doing it again, except we’re upping the ante.

Beginning today, October 1st, we’re giving away $150 to the people who help to bring back this wonderful community. We’re giving away three $50 prizes.

• The person with the most comments between now and October 31st, on the homepage Freelance Writing Jobs blog, will receive $50.
• The person with the most comments across the whole FWJ network by the end of the month, that’s all of the blogs, will receive $50.
• The FWJ blogger who does the most to build community and join the conversation will win $50 at the end of the month.

Just a few notes:

• Comments that only say ” I agree” or add nothing to the conversation won’t count.
• Comments not adhering to our comment policy will be deleted and won’t count.
• Spammy comments or comment dropping links – unless they’re truly offering something to the conversation – won’t count.

I know you’re here. I see the numbers. Thousand of people visit each day and even more subscribe. Come join the conversation. Let’s bring community back!

How’re We Doing? Please Take Our Survey

Hi friends of the Freelance Writing Jobs blog network. In order to make FWJ a more pleasant, user friendly and informative experience, we need to periodically gauge our readers’ opinions. I hope you don’t mind taking a couple of minutes out of your busy schedule and taking our brief survey.

It’s all anonymous, we’re not collecting names. By filling it out it will let us know a little about your habits and your thoughts about this network.

Click Here to take survey

Thanks, once again, for your continued support.

Thank you so much for your time!

- Deb

How to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

I found this today while I was browsing YouTube. It was created by the folks behind Daily Writing Jobs, and I find it very useful, especially for beginners. The “Write for Us” tip worked for me several years ago. Hope it works for you too!

Join the New Freelance Writing Jobs Social Network

Want to socialize with others from the Freelance Writing Jobs community? Join the brand new Freelance Writing Jobs social network on Ning. The benefits abound:

• Share tips and ideas with other members of the FWJ community
• Post your own (non spammy) blog post
• Discuss issues in the forum
• Share images, videos, podcasts and more
• Receive alerts to what this blog network is up to, as well as what the other members of the FWJ community are doing
• Network with other like-minded people

FWJ also has a Twitter presence. You can follow me @debng or to receive updates everytime there’s a new post at the Freelance Writing jobs blog network, follow @freelancewj.

Have a great day!

The Difference Between an Internship and Unpaid Labor

Discussing interns and internships are what I consider an “annual” topic. Every year at about this time we talk about interns, or rather, the folks who like to present a job as an internship in order to get away with hiring free labor.  So let’s talk about what internships are, why they are necessary and why they are not free labor.

What is an internship?

An internship is a job one takes, usually working for a business, corporation or the government, in order to gain experience, build up a reputation and learn from the best. The focus is on the job training, rather than monetary compensation. Most interns are in college and work in this capacity in hopes of having a very good job lined up upon graduation. Read more

Top 10 Freelance Writing Job Application Mistakes

I started freelance writing and blogging (though we didn’t call it that back then) in 2000. Which means, I ‘ve been doing this for close to a decade. In the time I’ve been online, I’ve seen it all. I’ve hired writers, worked for people who hired writers, and even critiqued resumes and cover letters for the folks who want to be hired by the people who hire writers. In short, I’ve seen it all. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert because I think the freelance writing world is currently evolving, but I’m confident I can compare awesome freelance writing job applications to some real clunkers. With that in mind I give you:

Top 10 Freelance Writing Job Application Mistakes

1. Not Proofreading: It should go without saying that any one seeking any job opportunity should proofread cover letters, resumes and writing samples not just once, but twice, thrice and however many more times to ensure there are no errors. If you need a second pair of eyes to go over your paperwork, ask a friend to help out.

2. Not Enough Information: I can’t tell you how many times I received cover letters saying only “My resume is attached”, “My experience speaks for itself”, and even “Google Me”. Don’t be that guy. You don’t want to rehash your resume but you don’t want your potential client to wonder who you are and why he should hire you either. Your cover letter, which is really your job application, should briefly touch on your career as well as a paragraph telling the employer why you’re the best candidate for the job.

3. Too Much Information: Even though you may be going for the sympathy vote, your client doesn’t need to know that you’re a work at home mom with eight kids or that you were just laid off from your job. The information on your introductory letter should be relevant to the job only. Your home situation could work against you. For instance, if you are a work at home mom with eight kids, your employer might feel your family will be too distracting for you to complete the task to the best of your ability. Read more

Win a Copy of “Kick Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps”

The other day, I reviewed a copy of “Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps.” I recommend the book because I feel it will empower many writers to get out of the low paying freelance writing rut. In fact, we’re going to have a contest to help us do just that.

Author Susan Guenelius has generously offered a signed copy of her book to give to a lucky member of the FWJ community. Could that be you?

For the next week, I’d like you to discuss ways to get out of the low paying freelance writing rut. In fact, I want to know how YOU plan on doing so. Write a blog post, record a video, sing a song, start a forum topic, offer a tweet… do something creative to discuss with me, and others, how you can change your current situation and find higher paying opportunities. Then come back and post the link here in the comments so we can all see it.

The contest ends a week from today, Wednesday April 8th, at 11:59 p.m. Good luck, and I can’t wait to see how you’re going to break out of the freelance writing rut.

Kick Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps

I’m not just a fan of Susan Gunelius because she’s a terrific writer or that she replaced me when I gave up my gig with About.com Weblogs. I’m a fan of Susan because she knows her stuff and is generous when it comes to dispensing advice. I have a confession to make, however. I’ve been remiss in reviewing her awesome book Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps: Build the Buzz and Sell the Sizzle. It’s not that I didn’t want to review this book, only that I have stacks of books to review, and so little time to do so. Don’t do as I do, though. If there’s one book to buy for your writing resource arsenal this year, Kick-Ass Copywriting is it. Go ahead, order. I’ll wait. I even provided the link to save time.

Kick-Ass Copywriting had me at “hello”. The thoughtful foreward is written by none other than the CopyBlogger himself, Brian Clark. The rest of the book provides practical advice in a format that is easy to follow and not intimidating in the least.

Just a quick browse of the chapters is intriguing:

1. Don’t Be Intimidated by Copywriting – Be Insipired!
2. Get Organized with the Copywriting Outline
3. Exploit Your Product’s Benefits
4. Exploit Your Competition’s Weaknesses
5. Know Your Audience
6. Communicate W.I.I.F.M (What’s In It For Me?)
7. Focus on the “You” not “Me”

And it goes on for 11 more chapters all offering the reader inspiration and an urge to go out and look into the copywriting thing. Susan’s book is probably the best book I’ve read on this topic thus far. She writes for you and me – and explains what we need to know in a pleasant, easy to read manner. Susan doesn’t talk down to us in the least, however. It’s like she’s giving a lesson over a cup of coffee.

Here’s the thing…at FWJ one of the questions that is asked the most often is, “how do I get out of this low paying rut?”  Susan has your answer right here. There’s writing beyond web content. If you want to be paid handsomely for your efforts, you have to put in the time. Your writing has to dazzle. Kick-Ass Copywriting gives you the tools and motivation you need to succeed.

Now, Susan can’t hold your hand but her book gives insight into a form of writing most web writers don’t even think about. Read the book, then go out and do us proud.

FWJ Community Writing Project: The FWJ Comment Story

It was a dark and stormy night. She was home alone, but she liked it that way. She found the commotion outside rather comforting and snuggled up on the couch by the window to watch the thunder and lightning rage outside her window. The flashes of lighting always revealed something new: a passing car, a deer… and…why, that’s odd…is that a…

Your turn… I’d like to invite the members of the FWJ community to continue adding a paragraph in the comments until our story is done.

Tag…you’re it!

Why Customer Loyalty is So Important

I’ll say it again. There is no secret to freelance writing success. You work hard, turn in clean copy, rock the communication and you’ll do well. It’s the folks that are only going through the motions that seem to struggle.Even though the above-mentioned items are important, I one thing I learned over the last decade is that clients appreciate loyalty more than anything you have to offer.

I’m going to use Jodee as a case in point. We began working together two years ago after I posted an ad at the WAHM forum. Since hiring Jodee she’s been a dream freelancer. She works hard, meets her deadlines, turns in nothing but the best work, communicates well and is someone I’m proud to call friend. Jodee even checked with me a couple of times before taking on tasks she considered a conflict of interest and to me, that spoke volumes.

In return, I offer Jodee first shot at any writing job I have, offer recommendations to her potential clients and refer her to some great clients. In fact, when I left the world of freelancing to be a full time Community Manager, I recommended Jodee to replace me with my highest paying client and he continues to keep her busy and well paid.

Here’s a discussion topic for you, FWJ community. What are some of the ways you are loyal to your clients? How do you show them you care about them and their projects and what do they do to reward your loyalty?

Discuss…

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