As promised, we have chosen a winner for the Platinum Blog Promotion Package on Blog Search Engine. We used a random number generator to determine the lucky person: Heidi Horchler! This is her comment/tweet.
Heidi, you can see the features/links to your blog as follows:
Please check within 24-48 hours for two more links: EatonWeb and a banner on the Blog Search Engine home page. Don’t forget to rate your blog write up so that you’ll get more exposure.
Congratulations!
The online world has become truly active especially these days when people no longer just go online to check their emails, surf, or watch videos. In fact, more and more people these days are also looking into starting their own online business because not only is this kind of venture hassle-free, it is also known for generating huge income you can ever imagine. However, just diving into the water wouldn’t make your online business a success. What you need is a powerful marketing strategy for you online business to make sure that it generates full proof income and success.
The question is, how exactly can you create powerful marketing strategy for your online business? Most people who have already created their own businesses failed to think this through. The end result? Their business either fell and closed, or they are still out there, struggling and gripping to whatever it is that they can hold on to. If you do not want to experience the same kind of problem at all, bear in mind that figure out the various ways on how to find a marketing strategy that would be most ideal for your online business.
So where exactly should you start? The first thing you have to think about is the niche of your online business. If you are planning to sell products or services, create a list. If you are thinking of starting a online writing business, then you also have to consider and take note of other important things. Once you’ve figured out the niche of your would-be business, the next thing you have to consider would be your target customers. Of course, customers are important for without them, you wouldn’t be able to make any money. Therefore, knowing the needs and wants of your customers would certainly work to your advantage. Example: see how a company such as Ajinomoto has faced up to bad press and rumors over it’s core product- monosodium glutamate. This will inspire those who have yet to try their products and reassure those who are already loyal to the brand.
The next thing you have to think about would be the kind of look you want your website to have. If you want to solely operate online, then you have to make sure that website looks neat and is also not boring to look at. Remember, how you create your website and how you present it to your visitors is the main kind of advertising you would have. In the future, you might want to consider getting ads for your website but all those are different and would simply serve as another source of income.
If you have an idea on how to create a website, then it wouldn’t be a problem for you to make your very own. But if this is not one of your expertise, you might want to consider hiring the help of a professional website designer. Although you might need to spend for it, at least you wouldn’t have any problem with your website.
There are still many other ways on how to create powerful marketing strategy for your online business, but these should be a good start to your quest for starting an online business of your own.
Do you have a blog? Who doesn’t these days? One of the things about blogging is that you really have to work on keeping your blog alive. You have to bring value to your readers, and more than that, make sure the word gets out about your blog.
While you can rest on your laurels and be content with the readership you already have, why do that when you can continuously get more exposure and attract new followers? This is the idea behind Blog Search Engine, a blog directory under the wings of Splashpress Media, the same group running our beloved Freelance Writing Jobs. Blog Search Engine is a PR6 blog directory which can help bloggers of all kinds to gain more exposure for their pride and joy.
The blog directory is being relaunched, complete with a new design and new packages – from Basic to Platinum. In line with this relaunch, Blog Search Engine is running a contest wherein the winner will get a Platinum Package worth $99.99!
This package gives you a full description of your blog and a backlink, which every other package offers. On top of these, you also get the following perks:
Doesn’t that just make you excited about what such a package can do for your blog? Sure, $99.99 is not to be taken lightly, but with the contest, you can get everything for free! Here’s how to win.
The contest will run until end of day 11/11/11 and the winner will be announced no later than 11/14/2011.
What are you waiting for? Hit that Tweet button now!
If there’s one piece of advice a freelance writer needs, it’s to keep looking for jobs. You always want your plate to be overflowing rather than barely having enough work to pay your bills. This means you need to send out the occasional job query. However, there are some things you should know before you get started. Here are five mistakes to avoid when writing job queries. [Read more…]
The freelance world can be a bit difficult from time to time. You spend hours seeking out jobs and writing the perfect articles, but what happens if you don’t get paid? It can be stomach turning for the end of the payday to arrive and not have received payment. While you may get angry, or sit there in complete shock, there are a few ways to deal with late paying clients.
Give Them the Benefit of the Doubt
It may look fishy to not receive payment, but things happen. Your client may have internet problems, been in an accident or simply forgot. Regardless, the best way to handle the situation is to contact the client. In most cases it was a simple error or the payment was just delayed. By approaching the situation professionally, you can prevent losing your client by going off the handle.
Call Them
If you’ve tried emailing the client and haven’t gotten a response, it may be time to escalate the issue. A quick phone call can give you a better idea of what’s going on. You can usually find the contact information of a client that has paid you through PayPal in payment details. If the client seems to be avoiding the issue, or won’t take your calls, you may have a serious problem.
Know Your Rights
If you are selling the client the rights to your work, remember that he only has those rights once you’ve been paid. If your client doesn’t pay up, publish the content elsewhere, if possible. If the client uses the content, send them a cease and desist notice explaining that he does not have the rights to the content because he did not pay for it.
Get a Lawyer Involved
If a client owes you a large sum of money, and refuses to pay up, it might be time to get your lawyer involved. In most cases, simply mentioning that you will take the issue to your lawyer will get the client to fork over the funds, but if not a lawyer can help you take the client to court. Remember, this tactic is only worth while if the client owes a large sum. Otherwise, you’ll pay more for the lawyer than you’ll get from the client.
No one likes to deal with late paying clients, but it sometimes happens. The key is to first understand that things happen and sometimes they are beyond the client’s control. Second, call the client in order to get a better answer. You should also know your rights and where you stand on the content that you’ve not been paid for. Last, but not least, only get a lawyer involved if the client owes a large sum.
Guest poster Diedre Fleisner is a professional writer who knows how much it can sting to not get paid for her hard work. She enjoys writing about bankruptcy and loan issues and enjoys researching sites.
If you are a freelance writer, then it is likely that most of your business comes from clients that you have never seen face to face. A freelancer’s office is, for the most part, online . . . and online is where you “meet” the people you write for. As a freelancer, it is important that you are always looking to grow and expand your business, so as to create for yourself a stable and reliable income. Therefore, you should have a virtual presence to use as a marketing tool for procuring clientele. Your best advertisement is your writing, and the best way of showcasing your writing is through a portfolio. Your writing portfolio should inspire clients to hire you, and should be readily available on the world wide web. Here are some guidelines for creating a stunning online writing portfolio:
Keep it simple. Don’t complicate your viewer’s experience with distracting imagery and superfluous language. Your writing should speak for itself, so let it speak.
Organization. Imagine you are visiting your online portfolio: Is it easy to navigate? Can you understand the exact purpose of the site without having to explore for it? If you can’t answer yes to both of these questions, then you need to rethink your portfolio’s organization. Everything should be readily available to your visitors from the landing page.
Quality versus quantity. Don’t ever put a piece of work on your portfolio site just for the sake of adding content. Remember that one awesome piece can land you a job . . . but ten so-so pieces will only prove that you are a so-so writer.
White space. You need plenty of it. It keeps your portfolio clean, professional, and easy to read. Also, it just looks nice.
Web-hosting. If web design isn’t your thing (after all, you are a writer), then there are many web-hosting services like Vistaprint and Freelance Marketplace that will host your portfolio for a minimal fee, and that provide you with free portfolio templates. Simply fill out your bio, upload your image, and post your example pieces.
Perfect makes perfect. In addition to examine your writing acumen, potential clients will also be sizing up your portfolio as an example of the type of work you do. What does that mean? It means your online portfolio should be mistake-free, well thought out, and executed to the full extent of your capabilities. Your name is on your portfolio, so you need to keep in mind that your portfolio is also an example of your work.
Creating an online portfolio is the next logical step in expanding your freelance writing horizons, and it doesn’t have to be a complicated venture. Follow these guidelines to create an online portfolio that gets attention, impresses visitors, and lands you new and exciting writing gigs.
Guest poster
Leiselotte Weith is a freelance writer who knows the importance of a strong online writing portfolio. When she’s not helping other writers succeed, she can be found writing about personal finance, loan sites and bankruptcy issues.
That three column design that looks decent on your laptop is not exactly tablet friendly. Because your website will scale down on most tablet devices the moment a user loads your website which crams content between left and right sidebars they are already battling to find and zoom in on your content while it competes with other elements. In the case of developing a website that works for both a desktop user and a tablet user the “keep it simple stupid” method is a smart choice to make. As an added bonus when you scale down your sites output you reduce server load which in turn helps pages load faster, an important aspect for many tablet users who may not be connected to high speed internet options at all times.
Tablet devices have “dumbed down” the electronics industry by offering less robust (in some aspects) yet far more functional computing, therefore it only makes sense that the browsing experience on tablets should also be scaled down while implementing more functional design applications. While there are many web design standards you can use to create a useful and enjoyable tablet web browsing experience the options listed above should point you in the right direction to get started.
One of the most terrifying parts of being a freelance writer is the notion that at any point, a client could call, IM or email you and say something alone the lines of, “This is completely not what I want. Change it immediately.” This is especially scary if you’ve just paid all your bills and you don’t even have ramen noodles to eat. When you need the job, you need to deal with the client’s complaints. But you also have to stay cool. Clients are like dogs — they can smell your fear. The following tips will help you a lot.
Don’t Take Complaints Personally
It’s easy to think that every complaint a client has is specifically about you. It almost never is. Your client isn’t saying anything bad about you as a person, just about a particular thing you’ve written for them.
Clarify Precisely What the Client Wants
A lot of complaints come down to miscommunications. This is the best time to get specifics in writing, along with detailed explanations. This way your client can’t double back and get twice the work for a low price. While most clients won’t do such a thing, there are some who will. Only give a client one piece of free work before you cut them off for good. [Read more…]
When you’re a freelance writer, you have one of the best jobs in the world. At least, until you have about 3 hours to do a project you could comfortably deliver in 8. While it’s great to get paid to learn things, sometimes your ability to learn is limited by the fact that you’re having heart palpitations thinking about the complexity of the research you’re being expected to do. So the following five tips should have your keyboard rocking and rolling in no time.
Wikipedia is Your Friend
Wikipedia is one of the best sources of information ever devised by human beings. It changed the Internet the way the Dewey Decimal System changed traditional library sciences. So check out something Wiki first — most things have one, and they’re usually pretty accurate. Just make sure that you check the resources included in the Wiki as part of your fact-checking process.
[Read more…]
