Tips for Writers with Social Anxiety
As a writer with social anxiety I know how hard it is to send queries, do interviews and communicate with clients. Some times the stress is unbearable. There are some tricks that I use to get the job done, though.
Do email interviews. This way you're communicating indirectly, taking the pressure off. Likewise, communicate with clients through email as much as possible. I rarely find a client that just has to talk to me on the phone or in person. If a client tries to insist on a phone call say, "It's my policy to do email communication so that I can have a written record of our talks. This protects both of us if there is a problem." For those rare phone calls make sure to allow yourself to be as comfortable as possible in a quiet room. Use a worry stone or try to write down as much as possible to take your mind off of your anxiety.
Demand Studios Scares Me
So, last week I was over at Demand Studios website wading through the overwhelming pile of crap titles because work's a little slow this month. I lucked out and filled my queue with articles on art. My favorite subject.
Days past and the titles lingered. One by one I set them free, back into the green and murky pool of the title list.
In the end I didn't write a single article for Demand. Why? Because Demand Studio scares me.
There. I said it.
The very thought of having to deal with the copy editors gives me hives. Sure, most articles go through without a glitch, but then there's always that one where you get a copy editor that wants you to do something that is so stupid you rather stick your hands in a hot toaster than to edit one word of your article.
It's the waiting for this inevitable stand-off that gets to me I think. I can't take the waiting. It never happens when you're looking for it, ready for it. It only seems to happen when you're having a good day. Then, wham! You're out for the count.
Yah, I'm thinking I'm just gonna go do some more marketing to fill up my extra time. No more DS for me.
Article Earnings at Suite 101: What I've Learned
Suite 101 has started sending out reports every month on how much your articles earn. From these reports I've learned:
One article can earn you over 19% of your overall earnings Sometimes your best earning articles are ones with a long tail keywords Older articles (I mean years old) tend to earn me the most money An article doesn't have to get a lot of page views to make a lot of money A large amount of articles may not earn you anything one month, but that can change in a few weeks Seasonal articles can make you a lot of fast cash, even if they're brand new
My Number One Tip for New Freelance Writers
When I read advice given to new freelance writers I often find one major thing overlooked: how to get paid. My best piece of advice for new freelance writers is to sign up for a PayPal business account and debit card.
99% of the businesses that you will come in contact with will want to pay you either by check or by PayPal. It used to be that all of my clients paid my by check, but that was more than five years ago. These days, only one of my many clients pays me by check. If you ask other freelance writers I think you'll find this a common theme.
Now there are many people out there with horror stories about PayPal, but I think if you establish yourself as a business right from the get go you won't have any problems.I've never had a problem. In fact, when someone tried to hack my account PayPal was quick to catch the sucker and protect my money.
Plus, when I use my PayPal business debit card I get cash back on purchases. Can't beat that!
Free Query Tracking Template
Every year I design myself a query tracking spreadsheet and this year I thought I'd share it with you. Click here to view the spreadsheet and to download it if you like it:
How to Organize Your Freelance Writing Assignments
An Example of How I Organize My Freelance Writing Assignments
Once you get several freelance writing assignments it may be hard to juggle them all. Here is how I keep track of all of my assignments, how much I'm making from the assignment and my due dates.
On a legal-sized sheet of paper I write the total I will make this month at the top of the page. I write the names of all of my assignments as headings with plenty of room for writing in-between each one. Beside each heading, I write down how much I will make from the overall assignment and the due date. Underneath the heading I divide the project into manageable bites. Beside each bite I write how much that bite is worth. I find out how much each one is worth by dividing my overall payment by how many bites I have. Lastly, I decide how many bites I want to do in a day by figuring out how many I have total for all of my projects and how many days I want to work that month. For example, if I have 40 bites and I only want to work 20 days this month I would have to do two bites a day.
Demand Media Studios Now Charges for Revenue Share
Have you noticed a negative amount in your account balance at Demand Media? Many writers are. Why? Now Demand Media Studios is charging writers if their revenue share articles don't make enough. This is a statement made by Josh the Comunity Moderator over at DMS (the bolding is mine):
"During January of each calendar year, and provided that your account has been in existence and in good standing for at least the prior six (6) months, Demand Studios will automatically distribute any earnings reflected in your account at the end of the prior calendar year that are more than $1 and less than $10, minus a $1 nonrefundable processing fee. In the event the earnings reflected in your account are less than $1 at the end of any calendar year, those earnings will be forfeited and reset to $0 (zero dollars) during January of the following calendar year, and you will not be entitled to payment of any such earnings."
I'm posting this information here just in case they delete the thread and other writers would like to see the original source of this information.
This tactic is like stealing money in my opinion. That money is the writers. They earned it. Taking it without notice is wrong.
Do you have a negative balance? How does this make you feel?
Follow Up:
I guess Demand decided they messed up because they issued a notice saying that they are reversing all deductions.
Links to Freelance Writing Job Sites and Leads
Since I'm looking for freelance work again, I thought I'd share some of the freelance job sites where I look for freelance jobs at. They are tied and true and full of great job leads.The best part is that I've weeded out sites that list mainly location specific jobs. It's all freelance, all the way.
About Freelance Writing Write Jobs Freelance Writing Gigs Online Writing Jobs Sun Oasis Absolute Write Networking and Sharing Leads Forum Absolute Write Paying Jobs Forum Places for Writers Writerfind Freelance Job Openings .com Twit Job Search Rat Race Rebellion (Be careful. There's a lot of junk on this site.) Blue Badger Now that you know where to find freelance job ads, check out how to search through them quickly to find the best paying clients with this post:
How to Quickly Weed Through Freelance Writing Job Ads Here is a link to how to apply to the jobs using templates:How to Apply for Freelance Writing Jobs Quickly
ECopywriters.com is Hiring
If you are looking for some upfront freelance gigs that pays a decent per-hour rate, then you may want to apply at ECopywriters.com. Here is what their website says about pay:
"Our compensation is based on how many projects you take. A normal copywriter can earn up to $20.00 - $25.00 per hour by taking basic writing projects. We have 10 levels of writers in our system, where Level 10 copywriters can earn as much as $0.30 cents per word based on experience and time spent copywriting for us."
Not bad considering that many sites like this one pay $3-$15 per article. I think I may apply here to replace my old stand-by Demand Media Studios. It would be nice to be able to go to a better paying site when my other freelance work slows down.
Thinking About 2011 Goals...Again
So a while back I wrote about my 2011 freelance writing goals. The good (and maybe bad) thing about making your goals so early is that you can rethink them over and over again.While I still like the goals I made back in November, I think I need to add a few more.
I've realized that a big money maker ($40-$100 per hour) will be coming to a close in 2011. This means I have to go into freelance job finding mode. In years past I've had no problem finding great freelance writing jobs. This coming year I'm making the job tougher on myself by giving myself guideline that works with my new motto: "Work a couple hours a day, then enjoy your life."
So, my new 2011 goals are these:
I will find some new gigs that earn around $50 per hour. I will only work two to three hours a day.
How I Boosted My Blog Earnings in December
The AdSense Link I Overlooked
Okay, so I'm not that great on keeping up with new Google Ad gadgets. So, when I noticed that I could add Google ads to my blog email and smart phone feeds I was probably several months late on the discovery. Boy I'm glad I finally figured it out! The new ads have boosted my earnings by around 30%. Imagine my surprise when I looked at my AdSense account today. Wahoo!
Have you ever stumbled upon something that ended up making you a some cash?
Inexpensive Business Cards for Freelancing
I've always carry several different types of business cards with me wherever I go. Why so many? Some are for my art writing. Some are for my illustration business. Some are just general cards for my freelance writing business.
Having so many different types of cards are expensive. That's why I wrote this article:
The Top Five Ways to Get Inexpensive Business Cards
It lists my favorite ways to get business cards inexpensively. I just recently got some cards from Moo.com. I love how stylish the cards look. I highly recommend them.
How to Make Residual Income Without Residual Income Sites
One of My Websites
Yah, so most residual income sites like Suite 101, Hubpages and Buskia have a bad reputation with some "professional" writers. Personally I don't, but some of the arguments against them have gotten me thinking. The most compelling argument, to me at least, is that they won't be around forever, then what?
Okay, point taken. So how do you enjoy the wonderment of residual income without using a residual income site? Make your own.
There are two choices for controlling your own residual income- privately owned blogs and websites.
I've had many of my own websites and blogs, but it wasn't until I had this revelation that I've put any work into them. And you know what? They are paying off at a rate that is comparable to my Suite 101 account, which has been a fantastic residual money maker for years.
Here's what I've learned:
Experiment to find a subject that you are passionate about Experiment with the subject until you find a niche that people are interested in Don't be shy about letting people know about your blog or site Nine times out of ten your traffic will come from Google, SEO accordingly If your blog or site's a flop, try another subject Update your blog or site regularly Go back to your flops and try to revamp them
Freelance Writing While You're Away from the Office
If you are a full-time mom, constantly on the go, sometimes it's hard to get freelance work done. I get plenty of work done each day, though, no matter where I am.
My Droid and My Laptop Boosting My Productivity
My strategy is to have a mobile office that I can slip into my purse. My office computer is a laptop that I can use at Wi-Fi hotspots for free. It's slim enough that I can carry it anywhere if I need to, but most of the time I just use my Droid cell phone (with a buit-in keyboard), which is jam-packed with free apps for taking notes, accessing social networking accounts and checking my emails. My Droid contains poems, article ideas, half completed articles and tons more. I can just upload the information to my laptop when I get home using a USB cable.
My favorite free Droid app for work? ColorNote by Social and Mobile, Inc.
Now, I understand that a lot of people don't have a smart phone and a lot of people have desktop computers. For most of my career I didn't either. What did I do to get work done while I was away from the office? I went old school and took a spiral bound notebook wherever I went. I would write articles, brainstorm ideas and make lists in my notebook, then type them out when I got back home. If you're not into using paper and a pen, you can always use the voice recorder on your cell phone or leave yourself messages on your home voice mail.
No matter what you use, there are always ways to get your freelance work done. How do you get things done?
Lack of Freelance Work: What to Do When You Have Nothing to Do
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Cartoon by Alina Bradford
When you work as a freelance writer you're going to have times when there's more work than you can handle, and other times when you have nothing to do. Even if there's no client work, you can still find plenty to do to earn money for the day.
Write a post for your personal blog Come up with an article pitch for a print magazine Write for a mill like Demand Media Studios or Break Studios Write a residual income article for sites like Suite 101 or Like My 5 Bid on some work at Elance or Guru Apply for some new freelancing writing jobs Work on your own website so that you can have Adsense rolling in during your next freelancing drought. There's always something you can be doing to generate extra income. Don't let these slow days pass you by.
How to Make Google AdWords Work for Your Writing Niche
Don't Let Google Advertising Confuse You
I don't know how many times I've read forum posts by web writers complaining that their niche is has horrible Google AdWords rates and that they'll never make any money from residual sites. Bah! There is a science to turning any niche into a money maker. Here are my key SEO tips:
Brainstorm keywords that relate to your niche. Take one of your keywords and plug it into Google AdWords' keyword tool. Click on the button that says "Columns." Click on the Estimated Avg. CPC option in the box that pops up and click "OK." Now, instead of just seeing what the CPC rate is for the keyword you looked up, you are going to do one better. Click on the Estimated Avg. CPC header at the top of the CPC column. This will sort your list of keywords from highest CPC to the lowest. Write down the keywords with the highest CPC. Note: Some of these keywords won't be relevant to your niche, so pick and choose. Brainstorm webs of articles that can incorporate these new keywords. Use your main keyword six times in a 500 word article. Link the articles together and make sure that the titles use one or two of the keyword phrases. This is how I make my niche, art, profitable even though most people have found it to be a Google advertising wasteland. For more info on adding keywords see: How to Add Keywords to Articles without Looking Spammy
Tackling the Messy Desk of a Mommy / Freelance Writer
My Desk When it's Clean
My Art Desk When it's Clean
It's inevitable. After a week my desk is a pile of sketchbooks, drawings done by my two children, notebooks and mail. My desk gets so messy that I have to wedge my arms between the piles to type.
And every week I tackle my messy desk and return it back to a manageable state. Here's my process:
Throw away all but the very best kid drawings. Post the best kid drawings on the side of my filing cabinet with magnets. No space goes unused in my office! Take the old drawings that I had to take off the filing cabinet to make room for the new pictures and put them in a keepsake box. Move all my sketchbooks to my art table, which is more cluttered than my desk. Mental note: Clean art table. Throw away junk mail and file bills or letters from my military hubby. Shelve the reference books, art books and kids books. Put extra pens in jars and other office supplies back in my desk drawers for the 100th time this week. (I swear my kids use my office supplies more than I do!) Find a bill that I forgot to pay and scramble to the mailbox. Come back and collect the Diet Coke cans for the recycling bin. Take the empty cereal bowls and yogurt cups to the kitchen. Eating while working is productive, right? Ahh. That's better.
What are some of the more unusual things that can be found on your desk?
Suite 101 Revenue Share VS. Demand Studios Flat Fee Payments
So, yesterday I compared my eHow revenue share earnings versus what I would have made by just selling the articles to Demand Studios. Well, I decided to try the same kind of experiment with my Suite 101 articles.
I have made well over $7,000 by placing my articles at Suite. If I had sold them to DS I would have only made $4425. That's a HUGE difference. Plus, I will keep earning on my Suite articles and I still own the copyrights to the articles.
I've been having some doubts about sticking with Suite 101 lately, but experiment shows me that the site is really paying off for me.
Proof that Residual Income Pays Off
Revenue Share Makes Me Dance!
I was just over at Felicia A. Williams' No Job for Mom! blog and on one of her newest posts she wrote about taking leaps of faith when it comes to creating residual income. Her post spurred me to see just how much success I was having doing residual income vs. regular up-front payment.
This type of test needs apple to apple comparisons, so I took a look at my eHow earnings vs. what I might have earned if I'd wrote the same article for Demand Studios. Let's be honest, you can't really compare these short, on-the-fly eHow articles to what I would write for a higher paying site, so DS is the perfect comparison.
The results are very good. So far I have earned $3015 and would have earned only $2205 if I had done the articles for DS at $15 a pop. As you can see, residual sites really do pay off.