Taxes are a fact of life for freelancers and while you can’t get away from having to deal with them, you can make the process run a little more smoothly. E-filing your taxes is a convenient way to look after this necessary task.
Archives for November 2013
11 Places to Find Freelance Writing Gigs
One question freelance writers have is where to find clients. The good news is that potential clients are everywhere. Once you get in the mindset that everyone you meet could be a potential client, you will start to see opportunities for your business that didn’t exist before. Here are some places where you can find freelance work:
As A Freelance Writer, You Need To Protect Your Brand
Building a successful freelance writing business is far from the easiest job in the world. It takes skill, dedication and a commitment to quality. The hours are long, and you have to manage every aspect – finding the work in the first place, keeping the customer happy at all times, actually doing the work, and making sure that you get paid in the end. There is no way that you would put in all of that effort if you didn’t have a true sense of pride in what you do. When it is 2 o’clock in the morning and there are still 2000 words to write, you need to be dedicated and believe in what you’re doing just to keep on going.
Because of this, your reputation is the most precious asset that you possess. You want to be known for high-quality output and for your focus on doing the right thing for your customers. It’s not just about pride – getting things wrong just costs too much time and effort. Not only does poor work lead to lost business, it often means endless revisions until the client is satisfied. It makes it hard to get work, and it takes all of the profitability out of the work once you get it.
Given the amount of effort you put in to build and maintain your reputation, it is incredibly galling when you see negative feedback – or even outright attacks – online. The truth is that you are going to have the occasional unhappy customer no matter what you do, but when this happens, you put in the extra effort to get them back onside. With most customers, this delivers results. However, there is always the nightmare customer – the one who really doesn’t know what they want. No matter what you do, they don’t like it – but they can’t or won’t tell you why. Even worse is the customer who is pleasant and positive to your face, and then stabs you in the back at the first opportunity.
However, negative online sentiment doesn’t just damage your ego – it damages your business as well. If people tweet critical comments about your writing, post scathing reviews, or cast you in a bad light in marketing forums and chat rooms, then it can have a serious impact on your ability to bring business in the door. For example, a survey carried out in early 2013 by Dimensional Research showed that 90% of consumers say their buying decisions are influenced by positive online reviews, and 86% say they are influenced by negative reviews. In other words, what your customers are saying publicly can make a huge difference to how much work you are going to win.
Of course, when prospective customers are looking for information about you online, they are expecting to see positive feedback. While they may be swayed to go with you because your feedback is exceptional, there are going to be other writers out there who have also built a positive reputation. On the other hand, if you get a single negative review, it stands out like a sore thumb. Put yourself in the client’s position – would you rather choose a writer with uniformly positive reviews, or one with some outstanding ones and one or two disasters? In general, people are looking for a high probability of success, rather than a genius who delivers most of the time – but not always.
The problem is how you keep on top of what people are saying online. You are too busy to keep tabs on the hundreds of different corners of the web where people may be talking about you – and yet negative comments in any one of these can do real harm. Even worse, these comments may start to show up in search rankings – and unless you know what your prospective clients are searching for, you may never know this is happening. And, when you can’t see what you’re up against, there is no way you can do anything about it.
Fortunately, there is a way to keep track of online sentiment without spending all of your time doing it. A good Online Reputation Management (ORM) company can give you the visibility that you need, as well as help you to maintain a positive image online. In the past, ORM was primarily the domain of large enterprises and senior executives – and was even used in Barack Obama’s election campaign in 2008 – but now it is readily accessible to small businesses and individuals. For example, Reputation.com is one of the leading ORM firms, and has many corporate customers.
To start with, an ORM agency can provide you with alerts when you are mentioned online, so that you get an immediate view of new information as it is posted. The coverage provided is typically very broad – including static web pages, searchable databases and social media. They can also provide you with regular reports on what shows up about you in search results. Getting this type of useful information pushed to you is inexpensive, but makes a real difference.
If you do find unflattering or misleading information about your writing online, then an ORM company can also advise you on the best approach to dealing with it. Obviously, sometimes the right thing to do is to make a polite request to the website owner to have the information removed – along with an explanation of why they should do this. However, in many instances, this approach just doesn’t work – particularly if the website is posting the material maliciously. In this case, the agency will be able to drive down the offending content in the search engine rankings, so that it doesn’t show up on the results pages that people actually read.
Places for Telecommuters to Work
Telcommuters need to get out of the home office sometimes. Working in bed or on the couch isn’t recommended for getting the best work done and for your sanity. But we’re all a little different and what works for some of us doesn’t always work for everyone else. If you’re feeling cooped up, try some of these options for getting your work done.
Library
If you need a quiet place to work, try your local library next time you need a break from your home office. Just remember that this is a place that prefers quiet, so you won’t be able to have that conference call with your team in the library. But if you need a little time to turn off the cell phone, it could be just what you’ve been wishing for.
Coffee Shop
A local coffee shop or café is a great way to spend your lunch hour or a little time with your morning coffee. The corner café is busy and more low key than the library if you need to make a few calls. But if you need a little social activity and a snack, you’ll get exactly that.
Hotel
If you find yourself traveling for a weekend getaway, family function, or travel for a client, a hotel isn’t a bad place to work. Work in your room when you need to be in a private location or head down to the pool or lobby for a change of scenery. Many hotel lobbies are open to the public. If you need a little time away from your home office, try the hotel downtown one morning for a fun place to work.
Back Yard or Front Porch
Sometimes a simple change of scenery is all you need. If you have a peaceful location in your garden or a nice chair on the patio, take a little break outside and get some work done. The fresh air lift your spirits and you might get everything on your to do list finished.
Outings with Kids
Need to take the kids to the park so they can run off some energy? Get some of your work done while your little ones play and run. Get the best of both worlds next time your kids are restless or have a day off from school. Try a trip to the local zoo or kids’ museum. Have a little fun with your kids, then sit down to a little work while they get a chance to play.
Public Transit
Next time you need to run a few errands, consider taking your work with you on a commuter train or public transit to the mall. A trip that is nearly an hour in each direction can be well spent if you can do some work and not have to fight traffic. I love taking long trips on the commuter train with my laptop. It’s so nice to run errands and do work at the same time.
Where do you go to work when you need a little break from your home office?
Sarah is the Content Manager and a Writer at Virtual Vocations, the one-stop shop for telecommuters looking for legit jobs. With several years of marketing and writing experience, Sarah managed a group of freelance writers for a marketing firm before venturing out into the telecommute world. Follow Sarah on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.
3 Effective Tips for Crowdfunding Copywriters
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Crowdfunding is a popular activity these days, thanks to the success of platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The premise is simple and taps into one of the essential characteristics of human beings: helping out others in small ways and also receiving some sort of benefit, emotional or tangible.
On the practical side, freelance writers have a stake in the crowdfunding niche as well. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve regularly included ads for crowdfunding copywriters in the daily job leads. As far as I’m concerned, this is one evidence of just how critical crowdfunding pages are, and crowdfunding copywriters have to be cutting edge when it comes to their writing.
If you are looking to take advantage of the crowdfunding hype by seeking out copywriting gigs in the nice, here are three effective tips that you will want to bear in mind. [Read more…]
How to Send and Receive Emails Professionally Without Ticking Anyone Off
As a freelance writer, the environment you work in may be private and informal, but that should not be emblematic of the way you conduct your business. The work you generate for yourself depends very much on how you build and maintain business relationships, and the majority of those relationships are lived out through email. Communicating professionally and politely with editors and others who influence your paycheck is essential. To prevent rubbing those you interact with the wrong way, read on for some helpful pointers.
1. Avoid All Capitals
Have you ever received an email with words and phrases in all caps? If so, it probably wasn’t a very fun read. To avoid having that effect on the folks you communicate with, avoid the urge to use that type of emphasis. It comes off as yelling, and it can be viewed as disrespectful. Say what you want with proper grammar and if you’re that upset about something, cool off for a minute and then pick up the phone.
2. Always Include a Salutation
Regardless of whether or not you already have a great relationship with someone, always include a respectful salutation. Even if it’s just a quick “Hello” you increase the chances that your email actually gets read, and this is especially true when reaching out to folks for the first time.
3. Think of the Recipient’s Perspective First
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Right before you hit click, scan through your message and read it from the perspective of the person receiving it. When you do that, you might find parts of it that aren’t perfectly clear, are incomplete, or are potentially misleading. Since email communication doesn’t allow you to read your recipient’s face, you have to anticipate any parts of your message that may be harder to follow and correct them in advance.
4. Make Your Point Quickly
There’s no point in dawdling with your messages – everyone is busy, including yourself. After your salutation, get to exactly what you want to say, make it thorough and clear, and end the message. That said, balance brevity with congeniality. What you never want is to come across as terse.
5. Skip the Humor Altogether
No matter how well you might know your recipient, keep humor out of your emails. It’s too easy to be misconstrued and may also be taken as offensive, which is the last thing you want. Save the jokes for phone conversations or in-person discussions.
Because of the fluid nature of the Internet and freelance work, you generally don’t have to respond to things as quickly as you would in a traditional working environment. Just don’t abuse that luxury. Don’t let emails hang around in your inbox for days without so much as a quick response – if you wait, you give potential employers and other blog owners the impression that you don’t care or aren’t serious about your work. If you’re in the middle of a big project, type out a quick reply saying you’re going to provide a detailed answer soon. Showing dedication and professionalism is the best way to keep your employers happy, and that goes for all forms of correspondence.
What ways can you think of to send emails more professionally?
Dave Adams is a freelancer and online marketing professional who writes about careers and small business.
