by Erika-Marie Geiss
This week, I offer an anthem of sorts for the freelance writer, that speaks about the trials, tribulations and victories that many of us share.
I write for a living, you see.
Isolated sometimes, is me.
My laptop’s my friend,
But it may be my end
‘Cause VISTA is on my PC.
I wake at dawn just to see
The offerings that there may be
At FWJ;
I hope and I pray
To find the gigs perfect for me. [Read more…]
First I want to say hello to all the NBT readers and a big thanks to Deb and Jennifer for inviting me participate.
Over the last several months, I’ve missed being in touch with my entrepreneurial and work at home side.
Recently I was approached with an issue that, to be honest, I wasn’t sure about. So often, I don’t trust my gut instinct because, well, I have been known to be wrong. And later, I find I often wish I had trusted my instinct.
A writer that I’ve grown to admire and have watched increase in value over the last couple of years wrote to me for advice. The advice was on what to charge for freelance writing. When the details were sent to me, I couldn’t help but notice the offer included some requirements that I would personally not feel comfortable with.
The offer was not only for lengthy articles written rich in specified keywords but they were requiring the articles be submitted to an ezine article warehouse.
Something about that doesn’t settle so well with me.
Forgive me if I’m wrong and by all means, if I am, please feel free to tell me so. But it seems to me if a person values their writing and wants to keep the value of their freelancing high – they shouldn’t allow their name and content to be victimized as duplicate content around the web.
I liken this to a celebrity or sports figure keeping the value of their signature high by not pandering it at every stop. Sometimes you just have to say no.
If you aspire to become a well paid writer, you must realize that you are the prize. You can name your terms, your price and conditions under which you will write.
I’ve written articles that are quick, easy and do not have my name associated with them for $10 – however, when I’m putting my name on the line, the terms become far more defined. I’ve learned that by taking pride in my name and my expertise in some areas – I can easily quote a price of $40 – $100 per article and get it.
Do you have a morning ritual? Do you have a list of things to do before you begin working? I do. At first it was fifteen minutes, now it takes about an hour. I enjoy my morning ritual as it’s the perfect companion to my morning cup of coffee, but still, an hour. I wake up at 6:00 simply because I like to enjoy my coffee ritual in peace before the house wakes up.
After I stoke up the laptop I:
What’s your morning procrastination coffee ritual?
by Jodee Redmond
I’ve been posting lots of jobs for technical writers lately and I must admit that I didn’t really know a lot about what the job entails. One of our readers, Ugur Akinci, has been kind enough to agree to let me interview him about this very topic. Dr. Akinci is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Brown University, where he earned a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Sociology.
He worked as a reporter for a daily newspaper from 1994-1998. He has 20 years of experience as a writer, the last 10 as a technical writer working for Fortune 500 corporations like ADP, Honeywell, Fannie Mae, and as a copywriter for his private clients. Dr. Akinci recently took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about the field of technical writing.
[Disclaimer: The sample contract posted here is provided for information purposes only and is not meant to take the place of legal advice from a qualified attorney.]
by Jodee Redmond
Contracts don’t have to be very long or complicated; here is an example of a simple one that you may want to use for your business.
Agreement
Contract dated [insert date here] between [Name of Client and Address of the Client] and [Name of Freelancer].
The Client/Company requests the following:
[A detailed description of the work to be performed is written here. Include the following information:
So after writing yesterday’s post about the woman who wanted to make it as a blogger so quick, she resorted to spamming me with fake testimonials of how great she is, I began to think of the best way to describe what it takes to build up a blog. If you blog for a network, you have a couple of advantages. For instance, the pay is already coming in and you have your network’s good reputation to back you up. Still, to build up traffic, respect and loyalty takes time. For me, blogging is like dieting.
Ups and Downs
If anyone knows about dieting, it’s me. I’ve been battling weight issues for about 20 years now. One thing learned is if you want to lose weight, you have to take it slow and do it right. There’s not quick fix, there’s no cheating, and tactics to lose weight rapidly backfire. It’s the same with blogging. Traffic is best built up on a slow, steady basis. You can have your ups and downs depending on what you wrote that day, but for the most part it’s a slow, steady rise to the top.
You can use linkbait to get your numbers up, but it’s sort of like crash dieting. You have several great days of heavy traffic but pretty soon you’re back down to your average, hungry for more. Hopefully you’ll have a a few more readers (or a few less pounds) to show for it but for the most part this is a quick fix, not a permanent solution.
Taking the Time to Do it Right
The dieters who are successful in their weight loss are the ones who change their habits and steer away from the quick fix. They learn the proper portion size and eat healthier foods. Bloggers who want to build up a good traffic base also know they they have to have good, healthy habits.
Instead of going for the linkbait crowd, or writing for Digg, write good, authoritative content. Get to the top of the search engines by providing the content people want to read. The best way to keep weight off is eat properly and get enough exercise. The best way to keep the traffic flowing and rising is to provide good content and great advice.
Blogging, like dieting, takes time. Do look for ways to provide the most satisfaction, but the quick fix will soon have you back at square one. If you want people to come back everyday, if you want to pounds to come off, you have to have the right portion size, the right balance and the right attitude.
Image: Morguefile
by Jodee Redmond
Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer (and I don’t even play one on TV). Please consult with an attorney to get the appropriate legal advice for any concerns you may have.
A contract is an agreement that is legally enforceable under the law. In order to make a contract valid, certain requirements must be met:
Both Parties Must Agree
If there is no agreement, then the contract is not valid. Each party must behave in a way that indicates they accept the terms of the contract. In a situation where someone signs a contract but secretly has no intention of living up to its obligations, that person can still be held legally responsible for what they agreed to do. In this situation, appearance is what counts. [Read more…]
By Candidate #1
The Internet has provided us with a vast amount of freelance writing jobs to choose from, but we shouldn’t neglect our local community. If you’d like to increase your freelance writing income, your local community is another place to search for writing jobs.
Through this post, you’ll learn how to find work in your local community, how to apply and how to follow up. What do you say, are you reading to increase your freelance writing income with freelance writing jobs from local clients? [Read more…]
by Christie Halmick
The perfect gig: a startup website. I would be the sole writer/editor. The gig would last for at least a few months, maybe more if the site really took off.
The perfect client (Dan*): a successful entrepreneur. Prone to: constant emails, daily deadline and site goal/audience changes, whining, 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. happy time, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. woe-is-me time, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., “I just love your work so much, man!” time.
Rinse and repeat for weeks. [Read more…]
by Carly Schuna
If all of your clients suddenly vanished and you had only one month’s worth of income saved up, would you be able to find enough new clients in four weeks to avoid being evicted and Dumpster-diving for meals of stale Dunkin’ Donuts?
It’s not a pleasant scenario, and we all hope we’ll never be there. But if you feel just a little bit nervous about your ability to find new work in a high-pressure situation, read on. [Read more…]
