How to score blogging gigs in one easy step

APPLY FOR BLOGGING GIGS!

That’s it. I know, it’s simple and sounds too good to be true, but when you get right down to it, applying for gigs is the number one best way to get gigs.

I only bring this up because I see folks all the time at forums, in writers chats, and on Twitter who note they’re looking for work over and over. I get email questions like, “How do I get work as a blogger?” Not to sound over simplistic, but honestly you might want to try applying for gigs. Heck apply for MANY gigs. In fact I’m a big believer in the law of averages. When I need work I apply to an excess – maybe too much of an excess (I’ve been known to apply for 50-100 gigs in a month) but that said, I do work full time in the blogging world so there’s probably something to it.

Of course it helps if you frequent decent job boards, apply correctly, and check back with clients. It also doesn’t hurt if you’re a nice person and a somewhat decent blogger. All of this can be learned though. What is seemingly hard for many folks is that very first step. Applying.

To learn more about how to actually go about applying for blogging gigs take a look at the following posts…

• Finding blog gigs – starting out with no clips
• Online resume mistakes you may be making
• How to get a blogging job – advice from Deb Ng of FWJ
• How to bomb out all the time when looking for blogging jobs
• Make living wages as a freelance writer – how to quit writing for low wages
• Maybe you’re not getting jobs because you just can’t write

Try not to suck as much as Chris Garrett

Actually I don’t think Chris Garrett sucks. In fact, I was just telling Deb today that while I browse other blogs about blogging daily, his is the one I usually stop at and read.  That said, Chris has an excellent post up – Why I Sucked at SXSW So You Don’t Have to (ha). Now, maybe he did suck there, or maybe not (I’m guessing not) but this is an excellent post to read if you ever attend writing events or conferences; plus you can see a cute picture of Deb in said post

Also I was struck by how nicely across the board these tips are – even if you don’t attend an event EVER his tips make total sense if you’re a blogger for hire. If you follow his tips, it’ll be easier to find work, keep work, and make a living as a blogger.

His tips…

1. Know Why You Are Going – ok, I’ll admit this one is not as across the board. But it pays to know why you want to blog for a living. If you have no clue, if you’re in it for fast money, fame, or glory; well, I’m sorry. Have a better reason. Blog for good pay, blog to promote your own career, blog because you have something to say, blog because you can’t imagine doing anything else.

2. Get Your Head in the Game – Many bloggers do have their head in this blogging game, if you don’t, those other bloggers will score blogging gigs you should be getting. Learn the ropes, figure out a game plan, and once you get gigs make sure to excel.

3. Enjoy Yourself, But Not to Excess – Blogging is fun. The networking is fun, the browsing for topics and new products is fun, Skype is way too much fun if you have cool friends, heck, even work chats can even be fun. However, if you don’t turn off skype and Twitter once in a while, if you only focus on making cool images in your editor, and so on, you won’t get work. Some parts of blogging are not terribly fun – applying for gigs, writing about topics you aren’t keen on, answering email, but it’s all part of the deal. Enjoy yourself but keep your cool and don’t forget the big picture.

4. Socialize, Don’t Stalk – I see a lot of stalking going on in the blog world. Being close to bloggers you perceive as successful can be useful. You can learn new things, connect with employers and even make new friends, but there’s a difference between following someone on Twitter nicely or asking questions vs. being a pain or worse being a totally lame troll stalker who leaves annoying comments at popular blogs because you think it’ll gain you attention. It will, but not the kind of attention you want.

5. Be Where the Action Is – If your goal is to work as a blogger there are a few places that run high on the action – freelance job boards, your own email (as you apply for gigs) and some social networking sites – if you’re networking not purely socializing. It may look like Skype, Facebook, and writers forums are action packed (they kind of are) but this isn’t the type of action that will score you gigs. To make a living as a blogger you need to focus on actions that support this goal not hinder it.

Check out Why I Sucked at SXSW So You Don’t Have to and see other ways you can avoid suckage. What do you think? Do you use the tips above to score blogging gigs?

Are Blogging Jobs Over?

I wouldn’t say blogging jobs are over exactly. I mean, that would be dumb considering I blog for a living. Many of my friends blog for a living. Deb posts blogging gigs daily over in writing leads. So no, blogging jobs aren’t over. I do however think that how you use your blogging skills to make money is changing big time.

You can’t just be a blogger anymore and expect to make a living. “Just a blogger” is not meant to be disrespectful either, all I mean is when you’re just blogging for clients you’re writing posts, getting paid, and that’s that. It’s still work but it’s not the same work I’m seeing available lately.

Example: When I first started blogging I was doing stuff like posting blog posts and… well, that was it. A client would hire me, give me access to some blog platform, I’d go in, write, hit publish, and get on with my day. That whole writing bit, where I’d just write and publish, didn’t last long. Now clients want more, give their bloggers more tasks, and expect more than simple writing know-how. Blogging gigs have expanded. You can find plain old gigs where all the client expects are posts but those gigs are rare and they usually pay squat.

If you’re currently in the market for a blogging job, you’re in luck, because there are plenty available. However if you don’t cultivate other skills as well, another blogger will get that gig you want. If you’re searching for a well-paying blogging gig, following are some basic skills you should already have, and if not, I suggest you get them quickly.

• Get on Twitter. Get on Facebook. Get on other social networking sites. Learn how to use them. Learn how to use many accounts at once. Over the last year every new client I’ve met has wanted to know which social networking sites I frequent and if I’m willing to use others as well.
• Become an image pro. Learn where to find images you can use for free (I’m talking legally). Learn how to find hard-to find news images (hint, connect with some good PR people). Get image editing software, learn to use it and learn how to redesign fun images – i.e. make an image collage.
• Speaking of PR folks, learn to use them to your advantage.
• Figure out how to work on more than one blog platform. WordPress is still king among most of my clients, but not all. I’ve held gigs over six or seven different platforms – some so bad I’d hardly call them blog platforms which brings me to the next skill…
• Know some HTML. It’s smart to know how to write an entire post in HTML because sometimes visual platforms aren’t an option. Also it’s not enough to know how to write and hit publish, now you really should know how to tag images, how to use custom fields, how to use SEO packs, how to build galleries and more. You should know all the ins and outs of platforms you work on frequently without having to ask the client.
• Learn how to find breaking news and hot new products.
• Learn how to review products usefully. Many clients I have LOVE blogger product reviews but not shoddy reviews.
• Learn how to run a successful blog giveaway or contest.
• Figure out how to handle forums. Most blog clients I have are crazy for forums lately. It’s forum this and forum that. Learning what it takes to use, promote, and moderate a forum are excellent skills to cultivate right now.

I have quite a few blogging gigs currently but not one of them is a gig where all I do is write. All of them include some or all of the aspects above. Since so few people make a successful living blogging, you may as well learn all the skills above to increase your own chances of success.

One additional tip – I haven’t come anywhere close to listing all the good skills you should have if you’re a blogger. Make sure you keep up with changing blogs and blogging trends by following some decent blogger-how-to blogs. I have many blogging blogs in my feeds, and while I don’t read each and every post, I do browse them daily.

Do you have any blogging jobs currently where all you do is write?

Sneaky client tactic to avoid – more work without a raise

Here at Blogging For A Living we’re always saying, “Don’t flipping work for free people!“ WHY would you? There are many jobs to be had that do pay (actual money). Thankfully it seems like many of you are listening. We see plenty of our readers out there, scoring gigs and getting paid and it makes us super happy.

That said, there’s another issue surrounding working for free that’s a little harder to catch. Not all writers plan on working for free, sometimes it just slowly happens. Here’s how…

You land a gig. Let’s say that gig includes writing five posts a week, each post needs an image and you’re also contracted to tweet said posts. That’s three tasks. Let’s pretend your pay for each week is oh, how about $25 per post (or $125 per week). You sit down and figure out that it’ll take you 35 minutes to write each post, 10 minutes total to find images, and about 5 minutes per week to tweet the posts.

In total, you’re working about 3 hours and 10 mins per week for this client. Your end wages per week actually turn out to be pretty darn excellent – about $41 per hour. That’s very decent pay for blogging.

Here’s where the sneaky stuff comes in…

You write for this client for a few months and all of a sudden the client starts saying stuff like…

• “Could you also add each post to Facebook?”
• “Make sure you’re stumbling and or using DIGG on each post!”
• “I think each post needs two images instead of one. OH and each images needs to be exactly 500 x 350 AND if you can’t find an image that works with that size you’ll need to search the web until you find one.” Later… “Hmmm, maybe we should add galleries with 4 images each since people will click on them more; can you do that?”
  
• “Can you go in and re-write this post because I wanted you to use such and such links instead.”
• “I’ve installed a brand new SEO package – make sure you fill it out each time you write a post!”

This is a problem. While none of these tasks seem very large or tedious, they all do take time. Super strict image requirements by clients is actually my number one time drain. It’s very hard to find images that all meet strict size requirements and it limits what you can write about – especially at a product based blog. Plus you’ll be spending a ton of time using your image editor to edit said images.

When you add up all the tasks above you’re adding at least 30 minutes to each post you write. More if you have to re-write often. I’m not talking re-writing because you messed up either, I’m talking re-writing because some client changes their mind about what they wanted in the first place. Anyhow, if you add 30 minutes+ to each post you write for this client, your time spent flies up to about 5.5 hours a week and your wages plummet down to about $22 per post.

The job you thought you signed up for turns out to be more trouble for less pay than you originally calculated.

It may not be that the client is being sneaky – they might just have figured out how blogs work. Yes, images, galleries, SEO packs, and Facebook all  help boost traffic. Good for them for figuring that out. However, it’s not your fault they figured it out late. You already signed a contract for a specific set amount of tasks and you shouldn’t do more without a pay increase because all those traffic boosters the client wants you to do puts more money in the client’s pocket. If they don’t pay you to do it you are working for free.

How to avoid this:

DON’T sign impossible contracts – by impossible I mean contracts from clients who talk about high traffic numbers but don’t have the know-how to pull it off. For example, I’ve talked with potential clients who say things like, “Wow, once my blog launches it should take about three months to get to 100,000 visitors” and then they’ve got zero social networking in place. It won’t happen and in my experience guess who they’ll blame – you. It’ll be on you because they’ll think, “You’re not writing good enough posts!” No, they’re not networking. I don’t usually work with pie-in-the-sky dreamy clients OR I’ll tell them up front that they should work in some social networking.

If clients add too many tasks ask for a pay increase – If a client asks me to add a link to Facebook I might do it. It’s fast. If a client asks for more and more stuff I usually say, “Well, all these extra tasks add a lot of work time to my week so I can one, write fewer posts per week, write shorter posts per week, or you can up the pay rate.” This is reasonable. Time is money in freelancing. If you started out making $41 per hour, then that’s what you should continue to make.

Ask for a new position - If a client is continually asking you to do more and more social networking tell them a good idea would be to hire a social networking manager – someone to do all those little social networking tasks that add up. Then, offer to be that someone. Say, “For an extra $250 a month, I’ll spend 10-15 minutes a day networking my little heart out.”

Look for another gig – if a client is becoming impossible start job hunting. Some clients don’t get that social networking, images, SEO, and so fourth take time. Many clients in fact, have less blog experience than you and no matter what you say, they just won’t ever get it. In this case it’s time to quit. Figure out if a gig is worth keeping.

Have you had clients who add on more and more tasks over time? How did you deal with the situation?

Make Money Fast – Start Your Own Blog (ha ha ha!)

Ok, I’m diverting from my usual topic here at Blogging For A Living; making money blogging for others, because I saw a blog post recently at Coupon Sherpa titled Quick Cash: 24 Ways to Make Money While Unemployed and part of it irked me, hence the diversion.

The post isn’t terrible. In fact there are many gigs listed that could theoretically make you some quick cash but the blogger also notes on number 15, “Monetize Your Web Site or Blog. You’re already spending a ton of time on your blog or Web site. Why not earn some money from all your labor? Google AdSense and nine other sites listed on MoolaDays require little to no supervision: Once it’s there, you don’t need to do much more.”

Quick cash? Um no. For one thing if you’re really unemployed I hope to god you’re not spending “A ton of time on your blog” – that’s not very smart now is it? It might make more sense to, I don’t know, look for a job. Secondly, monetizing a blog is not in any way shape or form a make money fast sort of deal. At least not with anyone I’ve ever met. Just because you toss up some Google AdSense or other monetizing/affiliate links does not mean you’ll make a dime. Wait, you may make a dime, but not quickly and it might be just that a dime (maybe two). PLUS often you won’t get paid for any income you make until one, you reach a specific threshold and two, until a month has past after you earn that cash.

What really gets to me is that number 24 the blogger notes, “Free-lance Work (free-lance is her spelling not mine). Many easy-money stories will suggest putting your creative skills to work by free-lance writing, doing design work, etc. I don’t recommend this as a feasible way to make quick cash as it takes time to build up a clientele, even if you’re well connected. Free-lance work often pays pathetically little until you’re well established.”

So basically she’s right on about the freelancing deal, but that’s what blogging is. It’s freelance if you own a blog. It pays pathetically little until you’re well established just as noted above. I’m not sure when freelance work vs. blogging became so divided, but honestly, blogging is not a get rich or even make money fast deal. Sometimes it’s not even a make money at all deal. If you do manage to break out a bread-winning blog it involves hard work, time, and a little luck.

Have you had luck making money fast (or at all) from your own blog projects?

Blogging rules you should follow and rules you can break

Even when you’ve heard the same tried and true rules absolutely everywhere,  it doesn’t mean those rules will work for you. Some blogging rules were made to be followed and some well, not so much.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THESE RULES…

Avoid flowery, long-winded, mucky, metaphor-filled writing. I’m not saying you shouldn’t or can’t write long posts, but long or short, posts full of fancy Nancy style writing or purple overload are so freaking annoying. Readers (read me) aren’t interested in wading through paragraph after paragraph just to locate the point. In college the best web writing advice I ever got was that you can almost always cut 50% of what you just wrote. It’s true too. In fact, I’ll prove it. I could have summed up all the above like so – “Get to the point fast so you don’t lose your readers attention.”

Note your sources!

Hit enter! Web text needs to be easy to scan or people start to get serious migraines. You can also break posts up with bullets and bold text.

Before you hit publish ask yourself one question. “So what?” Asking yourself this one question can help you with pretty much every post you write and help you to avoid the above mentioned flowery writing.

Check your spelling before you publish. Grammar, punctuation, and text structure are often gray areas in blogging; the rules can be played with. Continually using poor spelling may not necessarily amount to bad writing, but poor spelling can frustrate many of your readers and it’ll frustrate your clients for sure.

BLOGGING RULES YOU CAN BREAK…

You have to write for free when you’re just starting out as a problogger. Not true. I didn’t write for free. Many of my friends never wrote for free. Having to write for free is nothing more than an unnecessary myth of the professional blogging world. If you’re writing for free you haven’t searched the job boards enough, you’re not applying to gigs properly, or you’re not a good enough writer to snag a gig and it may be time to look for a job you can make actual money at.

Never write for free. Writing for free (i.e. guest posting) can work in your favor, but you should carefully consider the reasoning behind your decision. 

You should always quote rates when asked. Frankly I’ve broken this rule for most of my blogging career. In my experience the folks who ask applicants to quote rates are one, looking for the cheapest bid not the best person for the job, or two, the client has no clue what purpose they want the blogger to serve. Neither is a great situation for a blogger so I tend to avoid applying for gigs that demand a rate UNLESS the client really did spell out the services they need, but that’s rare. If the job is interesting enough I may email the client and say something like, “My typical rate for one blog post of 300 words with an image included is ______, if you require longer posts, networking, blog maintenance, or other tasks let me know so I can offer you a more accurate quote.”

You should send new clips when asked. This is a time waster not a good rule. A clip is meant to showcase your writing so old or new a clip is a clip. It’s totally befuddling to me that a client would say, “Please send a brand new piece” so I just don’t do it and yeah, I still get jobs. PS if you’re a new blogger learn how to build up clips.

NEVER write long posts or the related NEVER write too short of posts. A post is what it is. Some are long, some are short, and lots are in-between. Many of my most viewed posts are way longer than most bloggers recommend and on the flip side I’ve gotten great comments on posts where I wrote about two sentences. Different posts require different things so don’t be afraid to mix it up.

You have to be a social networking diva if you’re a blogger. We talk about social networking a lot here at Blogging For A Living, and for good reason. Social networking is a skill clients look for and it’s an excellent tool for expanding blog readership. However, many popular blogs became popular before we had quite so many social networking platforms. Also social networks aren’t perfect and a good blog is not dictated by your social skills alone. Great content, loyal readers, keywords, the right niche and so much more help create a good blog. It’s not all about social networking. You should have some sort of social networking plan, and by all means network where and when your heart is into it but know that you don’t have to join every social platform on the planet to grow a popular blog.

Which rules do you think bloggers should always follow? Which rules can be broken?

Is your blog job sucking the fun out of blogging?

I’ve been blogging professionally (i.e. making money at this blogging deal) for a long while now. However, before I blogged for pay I blogged for me. For fun. For the sheer need of saying what was on my mind. I had a blog with zero ads so comments and freedom of speech were my big rewards, not cold hard cash.

There’s a big difference between blogging for yourself and blogging because it’s your job, but it doesn’t mean the two paths can’t connect. For example, when you blog for clients, for cash, there are some issues that can super suck the fun out of blogging, such as…

• Clients who pay late (or not at all).
• Blog scrapers – who seem to come out of the woodwork once you’re a working blogger.
• Having to blog about topics you don’t love or having to add in obnoxious extras like keywords, images, and company links when really you just want to say your piece and get out of there.
• Blog stalkers and trolls – which granted can happen if you blog for no pay too, but in my experience the more well known you are the more these freaks come at you.
• Being on a client’s schedule vs. your own schedule.
• Co-worker and editor dynamics – you may think these issues only pop up in brick and mortar workplaces but weird, frustrating, and sometimes really annoying dynamics can happen in the virtual workplace as well.

That said, I’m betting (or hoping) that you got into blogging for a career because you love blogging and if that’s the case a paycheck doesn’t have to ruin blogging for you. Blogging for pay can still be blogging for fun if you use the following strategies…

Blog what you love – as a new blogger looking for paid gigs, blogging what you love is harder to come by, but if you stick with it and build up your resume these fun opportunities will come eventually. When I first started blogging for pay I’d blog about almost anything, but now I’m in a better position where I get to blog about what I love and still get paid. Just keep your chin up because it’ll come in time. One good option is to have a blog that’s all your own so that some of the time you can blog what you adore.

Read other blogs regularly - part of why I loved blogging way back in the day was because I loved reading blogs and interacting with other blog communities. If you’re so focused on your own thing that you ignore other blogs you’re missing a big piece of the blog puzzle. I don’t comment as often at other blogs now because of time constraints but I do make sure to read my faves regularly still.

Don’t overextend – this is a double edged sword because most bloggers do have to overextend their time and efforts in order to make a living wage. The downside is that blogging becomes harder, a total chore, and yeah, not as much fun when you’re scrambling to get everything done. As soon as you can find some higher paying gigs or take on an extra (higher paying) non-blog project or two so that you have the time to enjoy the blogs you do write for.

Look on the bright side – for example you can learn to ignore trolls and scrapers or even consider how they may benefit you. When people say bad things about you it sucks, but keep in mind that people talk about you because something you said made them feel something – bad or not if you’re making people feel mad it’s better than writing posts that leave people emotion free.

Dump bad clients asap – hard when you need money I know, but trust me you’re better off looking for a new gig then staying with an obnoxious client. Bad clients and flaky clients can ruin your mood, frustrate you to the extreme and worse ruin the whole experience of blogging.

Remind yourself of the alternative – when you first look for blogging gigs it’s frustrating. It’s a hard career to break into. If you’ve made it and you’re frustrated remind yourself of what you could be doing instead. Yes, blogging for a job is very different than blogging for yourself, but ALL jobs have pros and cons. Would you rather be dealing with blogging job pros and cons or another job’s pros and cons? I do have bad days at work but I still love my job and have fun, especially when I remind myself that this is what I worked for.

Are you blogging for clients? What are you doing to keep blogging fun?

Getting started as a problogger

I was reading one of Deb’s posts, “Why You Won’t Get Famous Blogging for Someone Else” and noticed the following comment.

“I am looking to go into blogging or freelance writing to earn money and to be able to stay at home with my children. All I know is that I truly love to write and give my opinions. In between cooking and my household duties, I can spend up to 4 hrs or more a day just on FaceBook alone. Somehow there has got to be a way to make a living doing this and get paid for it. As a new blogger or freelance writer, I would love if someone could tell me how to get started.”

The major part of this comment that stood out to me was the “4 hrs” issues. I wanted to address that up front because to make a living as a blogger requires FAR more than 4 hrs a day. My typical schedule varies between 8-10 hr days and more if I’ve taken on extra jobs. Plus I get few days off. I know other bloggers who spend more time than 10 hrs a day working. If you’re working for blog clients and have your own blogs you can end up working with literally no days off as you work to get better traffic rankings and build community on your own blogs and still keep up with your paid gigs.

Still overall it’s a good question – how to get started blogging. Many people want to break into blogging and this is one of the most frequently asked questions at this blog and others like it. With that in mind, I’ve rounded up some get started posts. Back before I took a break from this blog, I actually started a series on how to get started, and following are some of the issues we talk about here…

Getting started:

• 16 things you need to make it as a problogger
• What kind of jobs can blogging skills lead to?
• How to get blogging jobs and web writing jobs – getting started
• Finding blog gigs – starting out with no clips
• What does it mean to be a community manager? – something you should know if you want to make real money in the blog venue.

Finding paid blogging gigs:

• Online resume mistakes you may be making
• How to get a blogging job – advice from b5media’s hiring editor
• How to get a blogging job – advice from Deb Ng of FWJ
• How to bomb out all the time when looking for blogging jobs
• Blog and online writing gig danger signs!

Make a living wage right from the start:

• Score high paying online writing and blogging gigs
• Which online writing and blogging jobs pay the best?
• Make living wages as a freelance writer – how to quit writing for low wages
• Avoiding the temptation of easy to score but low paying gigs
• Calculate your hourly blogging wage and figure out if a client is even worth it

Being realistic about your career choice:

• Can you avoid distractions while working?
• Maybe you’re not getting jobs because you just can’t write
• Who actually makes a living as a blogger
• Why you should not try to become a problogger

Hopefully this round up of tips will help you to kick off your blogging adventure or at least point you in the right direction. This list also might make you realize that blogging is not for you, and that’s fine; it’s better to realize this now rather than later.

If you have any specific questions about getting started as a blogger that are not answered above leave a comment and I’ll respond or try to post about it.

What it means to make a living as a blogger

Here at Blogging For A Living we of course talk about blogging for a living. Both as a blogger for someone else and as a blogger for yourself. Since we talk about this stuff all the time I figured it’d be good to define what we’re discussing – i.e. the distinction between blogging for yourself vs. blogging for others. Also important is what I mean when I say, “Make a living as a blogger.” That said, I thought I’d take a moment to break it all down.

What it means to make a living as a blogger:

To me, making a living as a blogger, or problogger, whatever you’d like to call it means you make enough money to live on through blogging. That may be via your own blogs, blogs for clients, or blogs for networks.

Making a living means you make enough money to pay your bills. Ideally you’d also have enough to sink into health insurance and some money to save as well, but at bare minimum making a living (to me) means you pay your rent, buy groceries, pay all utilities, and all other monthly bills with the income you get from blogging. If you can’t cover the bills and household necessities you’re obviously not making a living.

Oh and keep in mind you’ll also need to make enough to pay all your own taxes which can be substantial depending on where you live and your personal tax situation. I’ve seen very few blogging gigs that cover taxes, most of time it falls on the blogger.

Making a living blogging for yourself:

If you make a living blogging for yourself it means you own a blog or blogs and you also make enough $ off said blogs to live on.

Making a living blogging for others:

If you blog for others, those other people pay you for your work, your posts, your networking ability, and more. You don’t own the blogs, your client does. You may blog for one super lucrative client, but it’s more likely that you blog for many clients. However you swing it, you also make enough $ off said clients to live on.

Making a living as a mixed bag blogger:

Among my pals who do make a living blogging the most frequent situation I see is a mixed bag – you own a blog (or blogs) and blog for clients as well. In some cases bloggers also branch out to other writing venues such as magazine articles, website copy, e-books and more. I’m not the blogging income police so take my opinion with a grain of salt but I think that if you spend more than half your time blogging and doing blog related tasks AND make a living income, you can officially say, “I make a living as a blogger.” Some people probably think you should blog FT to say that, but I think diversifying is smart so what the heck.

Right now I’m a mixed bag blogger with about 80% of my income coming from clients not my own blogs so here at Blogging For A Living I tend to lean toward writing about client issues. If you’re looking for more posts related to blogging for a living while owning your own blogs, check out more of Deb’s posts.  Deb tends to write posts about blogging for yourself, which is currently exactly what she does.

Hopefully these terms are useful – I think a lot of folks lump all forms of blogging together but owning your own blog is extremely different than blogging for a client. Also, I wanted a clear definition of “Making a living” posted so I can refer back to it. Now when I say, “Make a living” you’ll get where I’m coming from.

Do you have different opinions about what it means to make a living as a blogger? Anything to add?

Coming up soon; how many people are actually making a living as a blogger.

Blog & Web Writing Gigs for August 19, 2009

A fair amount of decent paying gigs today, although I swear people are getting less and less clear when writing these things. It’s not that hard – Location? Pay? Hours? Duties? That works. I think maybe people are trying to be too fancy. In any case, no tip today but I do think this post is worth a read – Don’t Ignore the Hidden Job Market for Freelancers.

Anywhere gigs:

Engineering Blogger

Established website seeks Editor in Chief - AND Blogger/Editor Needed for Pet Loving Startup - pay issues sounds super iffy on both gigs so approach with care

Intern for Green Social Website - some pay, not sure how much.

Blog Writer for Employment Website

Copyeditor for BlackDoctor.org

Editor w/ Internal Communications Exp.

Freelance Writer – Web Content and Printed Brochure (work from home) - (Orange County) – NOTE: Says work from home and also says location Orange County – um…

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee business needs print and web writers

Need a writer to rewrite, edit and correct the content of a solar energy web site

Medical writers

Location specific gigs:

Are you a tech geek? Apply for Associate Tech Editor @ HuffPost - (NYC)

Coordinator, Digital Communications Fanscape – Los Angeles, CA

News reporter for web - near Austin TX

Junior Content Editor - (Bellevue, WA)

Real Estate writers – San Diego

Editor - (Vienna, VA)

UrbanDaddy Editorial Assistant - (Flatiron, NY)

ECONOMICS JOURNALIST – Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. – Washington, District of Columbia

Seeking News Editor – Hartford, CT area

Celebrity/Entertainment Writer – AOL – says NYC but might be telecommute friendly (?)

LA Celebrity News Bureau Chief For Online Site – HollywoodLife.com – L.A.

Fashion Editor and Beauty Editor for Celeb Site – HollywoodLife.com – NY

Sigma Chi Corporation – Seeking Enthusiastic Online Specialist – Evanston, Illinois

Seeking savvy Web producer in D.C. – The Washington Times

Managing Editor for Major New Site -  San Francisco

News Editor - (Philadelphia)

Creative Circle: Web Editor/ writing skills: Long-term Freelance! - (San Gabriel Valley)

ManagingEditor, start up, local family travel website - this job says telecommute but also says L.A. only. Really?

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