Freelance Jobs: What is WorldStart.com
Finally! A freelance job that pays more than $15 per article! In a nutshell, WorldStart.com wants computer how-to articles aimed at a beginner audience. Here's the pay rate according to the site:
400 word article with screenshots= $45.00 or without $35.00 screenshots 800 word article with screenshots= $55.00 or $45.00 without screenshots 1200-1500 word article with screenshots= $65.00 or $55.00 without screenshots The downside is that they buy all rights. They are open to negotiation, though.
This would be a great site to build some tech writing clips with. It's a lot better than going with a site or magazine that pays you $5 an article.
Freelance Jobs: What is Antiques Republic?
I recently got an email from Sheena, an administrator of the Antiques Republic, that included writer's guidelines. I don't write about antiques, but I thought I'd share and excerpt of the letter for any of you guy that do. BTW, the I bolded areas for clarity.
"What do you get in submitting your articles?
•Your articles will be posted at our Ask the Expert section giving you a more reputable status.
(To view an example, check out https://www.antiquesrepublic.com/askdex.php)
•Links to your websites or your profile will be displayed on every article pages you have for FREE.
•Generate more traffic for your site for FREE as thousands of people get to read your articles.
•You'll get to have your own profile page containing your credentials giving the right publicity you want
Simply submit your articles at sheena @ antiquesrepublic.com. Just include details for your profile and attach your best photo. Topics are anything about antiques. No minimum words required.
There's more!
Sending your articles will automatically qualify you to our Share and Earn! program.
What is Share and Earn?
It is like a question and answer section. Customers post question and offer a certain amount for it. If you think you know the answer, just post your reply and if your answer's picked by the customer, you get paid instantly!
Your answer will be kept in our site and if it's picked again by another customer, you get paid once more. Think of it! You get to have constant source of income from a single answer posted."
I'm not sure I'd call this a freelance job, because you only get paid if your answer is chosen, not for your articles. Sounds too iffy for my tastes. Proceed with caution, and as always, feel to post your experience in the comments section.
Freelance Job: What is World.edu?
I was reading over at the Suite 101 forums that World.edu is looking for a few good writers. This freelancing site needs people who write on sustainability, innovation, social change and green technology. Many of the articles are in the how-to or top 10 list format.They pay with 60% of the ad revenue share and bonuses for popular pieces. The site doesn't say what rights they want, so be careful if you choose to give them a try. For more information see their Write for Us Page.
When You Screw Up on a Freelance Job
It's inevitable. Eventually you will screw up on a freelance job. You'll forget to spell check an article that you had to write last minute. You'll mess up the links your client needed embedded in a review. You miss a grammatical error on the second page. Sh*t happens.
What you do afterward is the important part. Here's the steps you should follow when this happens:
Suck it up. Yah, you screwed up. Don't pout. Fix the mistake ASAP. Apologize for your mistake. Don't promise it won't ever happen again. Hey, you're human. Make a checklist of things to double-check before you send a final draft so that you'll be better prepared to avoid mistakes next time. Forgive yourself. De-stress by taking a walk or calling your hubby, best friend or mom.
Why Content Writing Isn't Stealing Pay from "Journalists"
I was just over reading Felicia A. Williams' blog and her post about a scathing email she received from a reader. In the email the lady berated her for ever working at Demand Studios. Apparently this lady believes that working for DS and other sites drives down the rate for more "professional writers." I've gotten emails like this and have heard this complaint far and wide by "journalists."
I'm not buying it.
That's like saying if you work for McDonald's you're driving down the earnings of a fancy restaurant down the street. Umm. No. McDonald's serves to a different clientele than the fancy restaurant. The same goes for web writing and print. They're different dishes served to different types of people.
And just like some people can only find a job at McDonald in this bad economy, some writers can only find work with content sites. Do workers at McDonald's get scathing emails from people who work at that fancy restaurant? Umm. No. So what makes someone think that they can attack a content writers way to feed their family?
The mind boggles at the rudeness of people.
Granted, I work for a hire rate now, but my days writing for content sites saved my family from going hungry many times when the jobs were scarce. If you don't like content sites that's fine, but don't berate someone for just trying to feed their family.
Happy International Freelancer's Day
How did you celebrate International Freelancer's Day? I celebrated by being a freelance writer hard at work. LOL.
It makes me happy that so many people are now freelancing and living the life they choose to live instead of slogging off to work every day to a job they hate.
Happy International Freelancer's Day!
Freelance Jobs: What is Libeti?
FYI: I recently got an email from the owner of Libeti.com touting it as a great freelance job. Here's what the email had to say:
The site has a similar pay model to Suite101. So basically the site is a revenue share model. The article format is similar to eHow but with a supposedly stronger focus on quality.
I checked out the site and it looks very rough. It's not the clean-cut style of Suite 101 or eHow. If you give it a try, let me know how you like it.
Summary of Earnings for August
A Photo From My Trip to Colorado
August was a pretty good month for earnings considering I went on vacation and missed working half the month. I probably didn't work more than 15-20 hours. That's why I love residual earning from articles. They keep earning even when I'm living it up in another state. Here's my break-down:
Demand Media
$15.00
Suite 101.com
$195.74
Guru Client
$225.00
Demand Media
$45.00
MyLikes
$2.79
Demand Media
$45
eHow
$89.42
Private Client
$725
Total: $1,342.95
As you can see, I wrote a bunch of quick little articles for Demand when I had time for a little boost of income. This month will be a lot higher since I'm not planning on going out of town.
What's Your Internet Back-up Plan?
I was over at freelance writer Jennifer Mattern's blog and she was talking about how her internet will be out for several days. What would you do without internet and you had a big freelance project that needed to be done?
This has happened to me a few times. I either go low-tech, doing my research at the local library or I go to McDonalds, order a parfait for me and the kids, then let the kids go crazy in the indoor playground. They get a healthy snack, social interaction and some exercise and I get to work for an hour or two.
I'm dying to get the new Droid (I already have the old Droid with a free data plan) that makes your cell phone a mobile hot spot. That way I have internet access no matter where I am. We travel a lot so this would be fantastic.
Writing with Social Anxiety
I have social anxiety. I've had it in one incarnation or another since my early twenties and I'm not sure what triggered it. The anxiety attacks usually pop up when I'm doing something new alone or when there is a lot of pressure for me to preform.
You can understand why freelance writing became the perfect choice of career for me. If a anxiety attack pops up it is in the privacy of my own home. There's also the comfort of being in a controlled environment.
Sounds like I've got it all figured out, huh? Not so much. See, sometimes I need to interview experts for articles and the expert insists on a phone interview. This doesn't work for me. Phone calls of any type send me into a meltdown. In fact, my husband does most of our phone calls. I think this stems from the fact that ever since my eardrums burst a few years ago I can't really understand phone conversations.
Usually talk the person into doing email or IM interviews instead. Not only does this save my mental health, but I also feel like it gives the expert more time to give me thoughtful answers. Plus, there's no worry about accusations of misquoting. You have proof of what they said in black and white with a neat little time stamp.
Are you a writer that has social anxiety? How do you handle it?
Ahh...School Time Eases a Writer's Schedule
Today is the first day of school for my kids and boy am I relieved! I've gotten so much done today and it's only 10 a.m. In fact, I've already almost finished with my work for today.
Over the summer I barely had time to breath, let alone make money. There was vacations, Army prep for my husband, multiple trips to the DFW airport (which is 2 hours away), karate lessons for the kids...
Here's my schedule now:
6:30 a.m.- Wake up 7ish- Take the kids to school 7:30 a.m.- Exercise 8 a.m.- Get ready for the day 9 a.m.- Check emails and residual income 10 a.m.- Write 3:30 a.m.- Work day done
Sigh. I am so loving my quiet for the next few hours.
Are you a frazzled mom loving you some school time or are you still in the trenches?
You know the number one thing that helped me stay organized when I was starting out as a freelance writer? The free newsletter and calendar from The Organized Writer site. I would print out the calendar and keep it in a binder.
Today I use a notebook-sized day planner and a legal pad to organize my writing projects and business to-do list. How do you stay organized as a writer?
What is a Writer's Platform?
With the competitiveness of web writing, a writer needs to really stick out from the pack. This is where a platform comes in handy. What is a platform? Well, it's your branding, your signature style, your niche. When people say, "Gee, I need a XYZ writer," the XYZ is the writer's platform. It's their specialty.
This is created by selling yourself with a certain label. This is going from writing about everything to something very specific.
Wait, doesn't limiting yourself give you less job opportunities? Well, yes, but you also make more money. For example, I used to sell myself as a writer that could write anything. As I started to slowly focus on more specialized niches and I made more money. I went from making $5-$10 an hour to $30-$150 per hour with my writing.
Since I hate reading articles that tells you what something is without giving you the steps to make it your own, here's how you start your brand:
Decide what your niche will be. Make sure it's something you love to write about. Trust me, there's someone willing to pay for your enthusiasm. Join forums and groups that cater to that type of niche. This keeps you informed on latest trends and helps you network. Put in your forum and email signatures that you are an XYZ writer. Make your personal website reflect the change in your specialization. Edit your resume to reflect your specialty Look for work that needs your specific niche by googling niche-specific keywords.
Light Bulb Moment- Making All of My Writing Work Together
Okay, I've heard for a long time that I should be making all of my writing work together for the maximum profit. I never really got what all of those writers meant until now. Here's what I've learned:
Write articles for clients that pay well Use that research to write articles (on a different slant, of course) for residual income sites like Suite 101(the best in my opinion) Write blogs on subjects that complement the articles and link to the articles to increase the article's traffic Write blogs that complement the subject of the previous blogs to raise the traffic of the blog Write forum posts that complement your blogs and articles and link to them when appropriate
Using this concept you work smarter, not harder, to get residual income, build your
and raise your blog traffic. I should have been doing this all along!
Another Update on Demand Studios
So if you've been following my posts for the past couple of days, Demand Studios on the Way Out? and More on Demand Studio's Finances, you probably saw that I talked about my thread over at the DS forums being closed. I got an IM from someone at DS saying that they must delete any posts about them going public according to SEC rules. So if the SEC says that DS can't talk about their IPO the writers on the forums can't either? I'm not sure that jives.
What do you think?
More on Demand Studios Finances
Yesterday I wrote about how Demand Media is hemorrhaging money. For those of you that want to read more about the situation, here is another informative article I found over at All Things Digital.
I also went onto the DS forums to see what people where saying about the situation. One brave DS writer posted links to some articles and he was instantly branded a "fear monger" and a pot stirrer. Most of the writers have decided that all media outlets are jealous of Demand Media's success and is making up lies to make the company look bad. Do what now?
You know, I've heard people say that DS writers have a sheep mentality. I've always laughed at that since I write for them on occasions and I'm NOT a sheep. The almost unanimous flogging of the brave writer, though, made me really feel like the living among zombies. I know so many writers are deathly loyal to Demand Studios because that is how they feed their families, that's understandable. I wish that more of them would branch out and not put all of their eggs into one basket, just in case. There are a lot of respectable publications posting about Demand Media's financial situation. I really doubt all of them are fabricating information.
To top it off, all of the threads containing talk about Demand Studio's IPO have been closed. Even mine, and I was celebrating the fact that they were going public, since, at the time, I thought it meant that DS was growing and prosperous. My thread wasn't negative at all. I'm guessing that they don't want anyone to talk about it until it the IPO is complete.
Demand Studios on the Way Out?
I read something shocking today about the owner of Demand Studios. Most of us have heard that DS is the leader of internet content and that instantly produces visions of $$$. But, according to CNN Money's article Unprofitalble Demand Media Files for IPO, they have never made a profit. In fact, here are the exact stats from the article:
"Demand Media lost $22 million last year, and in the first six months of this year, it posted a $6 million loss on sales of $114 million. As of June 30, the company had a remaining cash supply of $34 million. Venture capitalists have invested more than $350 million in Demand, which closed its last publicized funding round in 2008."
Wow. Simply amazing.
So that begs the question, will Demand Media be around much longer if they are bleeding money like a stuck pig? I can't fathom that they would unless something happens fast.
ETA: Here is another article on the subject: Demand Media's IPO
Hacks and Free Tools for Writers
Every writer should have some tricks up their sleeve to make their job easier. Over the years I have amassed a huge collection of links to sites that offer free tools for writers. Here they are:
"To Be" Verb Finder Brainstorming Tool Query Tracker Plagiarism Checker Keyword Suggestion Tool
Citation Machine Google Adwords
Update on MyLikes Review
A while back I wrote about the tweet for money site MyLikes. I thought I'd update on how I'm doing with the site.
Well, imagine my surprise when I receive a PayPal payment out of the blue from MyLikes. I had only tweeted two ads and thought that I'd see how many pennies they made. Those two tweets added up to more than $2.
What shocked me even more is that there isn't a payout threshold like with Sponsored Tweets.
Needless to say, I've tweeted several more paid tweets since then. I'll keep you updated. Here is a link to my other post about tweeting for money sites.
If you would like to give MyLikes a try here is my sponsored link:
T
My Guest Post at Inspired Pen Writing
I recently did a guest post at Inspired Pen Writing for my good friend Tel Asiado. The post is about how, sometimes, I just can put my fingers to the keyboard. Take a look at the post, On Being an Apprehensive Writer, and let me know if you have the same problem.
Tweet for Money
I know there are professionals who tweet for money, but I just dabble using various services. If you would like to try using your Twitter account for money, I'll tell you my experience.
My favorite service is called Sponsored Tweets. I recently made payout ($50) and the process is really simple. They send you emails when there are ads that match the type of things you like to tweet about and you write a tweet for the company. I love how simple it is and they have a lot of opportunities. You can either get paid for every tweet you write or you can get paid per click. I've found that the flat rate pays more.
I am also a member of Magpie. Magpie tend to pay way more per click than Sponsored Tweets and it has a pay-per-lead option, which means the person has to sign up for something. One of my pay-per-lead ads pays $66 per lead. Not too shabby. The only problem is that the site doesn't provide a flat rate fee.
Today I signed up for My Likes. This site works a little differently. Not only can you make money off your tweets, you can also make money by posting on Facebook and YouTube. Here, you can either write the ad yourself or automatically post a pre-written ad. It seems fast and simple.
Are you a member of any of these sites? If you are, let me know how you're doing.
ETA: Here is an updated on my tweeting for money progress with these sites.