Upgrading Your Blog to a Business
Freelance writing gives you the freedom to work as you see fit. You can write whatever you like, work with whoever you want, and take on projects that you enjoy instead of being forced to write for subjects you don’t care much about. This makes freelance writing a fantastic career choice. Sadly, being too selective with your assignments makes it a bad business choice and, before you know it, you might be getting fewer requests and jobs because you’ve fallen behind on recent trends.
If you’re currently enjoying some success with your blog or freelancing career, then you might be tempted to upgrade it from just a side job or a hobby into a fully-fledged business. Now, you might think that blogging as a business sounds like a silly idea, but when you take a look at major blogs such as TechCrunch and Kotaku, you’ll realise that there is potential in the idea.
If you want to capitalise on your audience, a niche or even a trend, then you need to take risks. One of the biggest risks in the world of blogging is to turn your personal blog into a business. This means you’ll need to look for affiliate programs and even hire other writers to work under your name. You’re going to be creating a brand off the back of your personal success and not all of your readers are going to be happy about you becoming a mainstream writer. Your blog will lose some personality, you will lose old readers and gain new ones, and you’ll be under constant criticism.
However, if those are things you can stomach, then let’s dive into a few considerations you’ll have to make before you announce that you’re going pro.
blog business
Rent an Office or Work From Home?
There are many advantages to working at home. You’ll get to be closer to your family, you get to pick and choose your own hours, and you can work in the comfort of your room instead of an office.
Sadly, once you start to grow, and hire employees, you'll need a separate office from your home. It will act as a space to recruit and interview employees, you can separate your work and personal life, and you’ll have an area to set up computers and other pieces of equipment so that you and your staff can share ideas and create content.
However, there are many components to renting an office and starting up a business that you might not have thought about. For instance, you’ll need to worry about the health and safety of your employees. An innocent office with just a few electronic devices and computers may not sound dangerous, but it’s essential that you learn how to take care of your future employees to avoid possible lawsuits and claims of neglect.
If you’re unsure how to proceed, then health and safety training courses, such as those provided by Croner, allows employers to provide whatever information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure the health and safety at work of your employees.
blogging for a job
Responding to Criticism
If you’ve been blogging for the love of it, then you’ve probably built up a relatively loyal fan base that praises you for your work. However, if you announce to them that you’re going mainstream and have decided to take your blog in a new direction, you might lose a couple of readers.
Not only that, but if you’re focusing on getting more views and exposing your blog to the masses, you will eventually attract trolls and individuals who make it their duty to trash talk your blog, spam you with nasty comments and incite arguments.
Unfortunately, not much can be done about these individuals, but it does raise some troubles. For starters, it can be hard to tell when someone is leaving legitimate criticism or if they’re subtly trying to make you feel bad. When you have a smaller audience, you probably see the same names and faces responding to your posts so you get to know them and you build a community. However, with an influx of new readers and commenters, it can be hard to discern if a comment is constructive criticism or a subtle attempt to troll you.
As a rule of thumb, ignore comments that don't offer constructive criticism.
blogging for a business
Diversifying Your Content
Just writing content isn’t going to be enough to raise your view count and expose your content. You have to learn how to reach a wider audience. You can do this by diversifying your content, either with the mediums you use or the topics you talk about.
For instance, if you previously specialised in writing reviews for novels, then you could perhaps branch off into reporting on the latest book releases, interviewing authors, teaching others how to write fiction, or even previewing upcoming releases. You might also consider reaching out to other bloggers and industry figureheads to creative videos, podcasts, or even ask them to write guest posts for your blog in order to get more attention.
Similarly, if you used to write about something like video games, then you could branch off by creating a YouTube channel that is closely linked to your blog content. For instance, your YouTube channel could discuss current affairs and show preview videos of gameplay footage, while your blog tackles the heavier written content such as reviews, news and previews.
making money online
Income Streams
If you want to upgrade to a business with employees, an office and a very wide audience, you need to understand how to establish multiple streams of revenue.
For instance, affiliate programs might make up the bulk of your income if you review a lot of products as a team and have a wide audience. Your secondary income might come from advertising revenue on your blog or even your YouTube channel. Finally, you might also make money from sponsorship deals with various companies. If you review games, then a developer might pay you to review their content or feature their work on your blog—just remember that this information has to be disclosed!
The alternate option is to charge a monthly fee to read your blog, but this isn’t a very popular option unless your content is extremely high quality. You could also charge monthly fees in the form of donations and support on a website like Patreon. This is a much better option because the cost becomes optional, and you can set up incentives to convince others to donate money to your company.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Turn Your Freelance Writing Into A Business Today
how can I become a freelance writer
If you are a freelance writer, and you dream of turning your everyday career into a fully-fledged business, then there is no better time than the present. Fortunately, it is probably easier than you think to make this work, and it is likely that there is less to do than you might think.
Still, you need to know exactly what is involved. In this article, we are going to look at some of the essential steps that you need to take in order to turn your freelance writing into a big business today.
Get Serious
The first vital step is not something material, nothing you can see, but it is the most important step of all. You need to make a clear goal in your mind about what you want to achieve, and think about what you might need to do in order to get there. If you don’t take it seriously enough, then you can’t really expect it to take off, so make sure that you know what you want and how you are going to go about getting it.
Get out a notebook and figure out how much you need to make each month. Then, make a checklist of the things you need to do. Here are some things to add to your list:
Create a website
Come up with a marketing plan
Acquire a laptop or desktop, printer and scanner
Find a spot in your home for an office
Study freelancing tax laws to ensure you pay your taxes properly
Hire An Assistant
If you begin to notice that the mere maintenance of your business is getting on top of you, then you might want to think about hiring an assistant to give you a hand with it all.
There is plenty to think about here, such as managing sickness absence, managing holidays, following employer laws and of course the pay itself. As long as you cover your bases, you should find having an assistant or assistants is hugely helpful in your new business.
Think About Space
At some point, it might become time to move into a larger space. You may need extra room to carry out the extra workload - and have a space for your new assistant as well. Or it might just be that you think it is time to show yourself that you are taking it all seriously, in which case giving yourself some extra room is a great way to do just that.
Either way, there are some major considerations to take on board here, such as extra costs of lighting and so on, so you need to be sure that you really need it, and that you think you can afford it.
Do you need step-by-step guidance to becoming a successful freelance writer? Want to make a lot of money much sooner? I have a course that does just that. Learn more here.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Stop Showing Visitors The Door
Get more website visitors with these simple fixes.
Trust me. When it comes to a business’s online presence, there’s nothing as important as the website. Think of it as your front door. You don't want people to walk away before they get the skinny on your business.
If people are leaving before they get a chance to get themselves properly informed, it might be because of a few of the issues mentioned below.
getting visitors for website
Looking Amateur
It’s the first mistake that a lot of businesses newly online will make. They will take the design of the site into their own hands and aim for something that looks passable. In the end, it only looks generic and amateur. Put some thought into the visual brand of the business and what you want the site to communicate visually.
There are plenty of design tools you can use, like customizable WordPress templates, such as Customizable (that's what I use).
Make sure that someone outside of the business gets to offer some input on on your design, too. Insular design strategies are the easiest ways to miss glaring flaws.
Adding Barriers Where You Don’t Need Them
Even more important than how a site looks is its usability. Sites like https://www.candidsky.com make it clear that user experience is the core of what makes a good website. Content that clogs up a page so that the user has to keep scrolling to find what they want and navigation bars crowded with options get in the way of usability. Think about the goals of the user visiting the site and create set paths for those goals specifically. The rest is fat that needs to be trimmed. Cut out quotes of the day, gifs and pages that have nothing to do with your topic, personal rants and other junk.
Leading People to Broken Pages
Perhaps the most anti-user experience you can provide is letting people click on a link that takes them a 404 page or a page under construction. You probably didn’t want that to happen, but the websites you’re linking to change over time and you need to make sure you’re not left in the lurch by that. There are a lot of tools you can use to check the site for dead links, so make sure you do some housework from time to time.
Showing Outdated Info
The same rule applies to any content that you have on the site. You might want to keep some for posterity’s sake, but if you have content that is ill-informed because it’s out of date or you’re showing stats that have improved, people won’t trust what you have to say. As Designcouncil.org states, you have to keep a business relevant to make it look like a professional operation. Take the time updating your content when you need to.
Your Content is Inconsistent
There are many ways to use different forms of content on your site. Written content, video content, infographics, so on and so forth. Using a variety isn’t a bad thing, but you have to make sure that there’s some consistency in them. They need to fill the same space in the site layout, they need to be consistently categorized and they should fit the tone of the brand. If they don’t, it looks like the business is scatter-brained and doesn’t know where to focus, making you look unprofessional.
Getting people onto your site isn’t enough. You need to ensure that you have a site that’s going to keep retaining them. A well-designed, reliable site with some semblance of relevance and a message to it is the minimum requirement for a good business site.
Note: Post contains affiliate links.
How To Cope When You Can't Escape Stress
stress running a small business
It’s perfectly normal to have days when your small business stresses you out, or you don’t seem to have enough hours to get through your to-do list. Minor stress is part and parcel of life, let alone running your own business, but what happens when you hit a sizable bump in the road, and you can’t see a way forward? If you can’t escape stress, hopefully, this guide will prove useful.
Pinning Down a Cause
There are so many things that can cause stress, and we all respond differently to different situations. What stresses one person out may be water off a duck’s back for another. In some cases, there’s a very obvious source of stress. Life events, especially those that hit us unexpectedly, are one of the most common causes of severe or prolonged stress. Examples may include losing a loved one or going through a relationship breakdown. Money worries and pressure at with your business are other common causes of stress.
Many of us also get a little frazzled when we’ve got a lot on our plates, or we’re struggling to contain or control our emotions. This can often be linked to tiredness.
If you feel stressed on a regular basis or you can’t remember feeling ‘normal,’ it’s a good idea to try and think about the cause or causes. Why do you think you feel the way you do? And can you think of any ways to move forward?
how to manage stress as a business owner
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Seeking Help
Stress is such a broad concept. It’s very easy to say that you’re stressed out, and we tend to overuse this phrase. Stress may be thought of as a very minor ailment, but in some cases, it can be incredibly damaging.
If you have severe stress, you shouldn’t have to try and find a way through it alone. Once you’ve determined the cause of stress, you can work out a plan of action.
If you’re struggling to cope with bereavement, the healing process can take a very long time, and it’s important that you have people around you to look after you and support you. Losing somebody who means a lot to you can turn your world upside down, and affect every aspect of your life.
You may struggle to interact with others, and even the idea of going to work may fill you with dread and apprehension. If you feel like this, and you have another job other than your business, speak to your boss. Many employers have measures in place to protect their workforce when life gets tough. Employee Assistance Programs, such as those provided by Health Assured, are benefit programs that aim to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and wellbeing. If you know you’ve got support at work, this can help to ease anxiety. You can access services like counseling through work or see your doctor for advice.
If you’re finding it hard to cope with the breakdown of a relationship, it’s hugely beneficial to have friends and family around you. Be as open and honest as you can be, and try and look forward rather than dwelling on what’s gone wrong. Time is usually the best healer, and there will come a time when you feel strong enough to move forward.
Sometimes, tackling a situation head on is the best way to deal with things that are making you uneasy. This is often the case for stress when running a business. I always find that if I get the hardest task of the day out of the way first thing, my day is much less stressful.
If you hate your day job, consider moving on to new pastures.
THC Products Can Help
It's tough when you're feeling stressed, and you can't seem to escape it. You might feel like you're constantly on edge or like you're just not yourself. But there are ways to cope with stress, even when you can't seem to escape it. One way is to try using low-dose THC products, like Delta 8 Gummies. Delta 8 is a cannabinoid found in cannabis and is known for its relaxing properties. Taking a small dose of Delta 8 can help take the edge off your stress and make it easier to cope with. Delta 8 can also help improve your mood and reduce anxiety. So if you're looking for a natural way to cope with stress, Delta 8 Gummies might be worth a try.
Taking time out
One of the best things you can do to manage stress, no matter the cause, is to take time out. It doesn’t matter whether you escape the office for 15 minutes when you’ve been chasing your tail all morning, or you book an extended trip. Time to yourself can help you to clear your mind, rationalize situations, and think and reflect.
Everyone is different, but there do seem to be some effective stress-management techniques out there. If you choose to fill your time meditating, exercising, being creative, laughing or even cuddling your pet, you may find that you are able to cope with stress better.
If nothing else, turn off your phone and computer for awhile and bask in the lack of electronics beckoning you to some new problem.
Do you sometimes feel like you can’t escape stress? The demands of modern life can take their toll, and sometimes, the unpredictability of life can catch us off guard. Stress affects everyone but to varying degrees. It is possible to combat stress, especially if you can learn to spot the triggers, depend on others and manage situations before they become more serious.
Don't Just Rely on Facebook - Build a Website!
Using social media for small business
Facebook seems like the most ideal way to get your business on the internet, right? To many startups, it seems like there’s not really any need to build your own website anymore. Worryingly, there are a few articles out there that seem to be promoting this kind of mindset.
You can see why people may think this way. After all, it’s free to set up a business page on Facebook. And, with Facebook being the most popular website on the internet by quite some margin, there are millions of people out there who could stumble upon your business.
There is also the benefit of there being little to no technical expertise required to build and maintain a Facebook business page. Plus, Facebook is already optimized for SEO. That’s why, when you Google a business, you’ll see their Facebook in the top search results - sometimes as the top search result. (Though this also requires some good SEO-based content creation on your part to maintain.)
using facebook for business
With all of this in mind, why would anyone build a website separate from their Facebook page anymore? After all, starting a business is expensive. Is it really necessary to increase those expenses by building a website from scratch?
Websites can make money for your business, even if you’re not selling anything directly on the website. Advertising, for example, can help bring revenue to your business if you have a healthy flow of traffic. But when it comes to ecommerce, transactions simply aren’t going to work over Facebook. Even marketplace technology which can be setup immediately can’t be setup on Facebook - you need your own website!
setting up shopping for online businesses
One of the biggest problems with just keeping your web presence limited to Facebook is that you don’t have that much control over your online presence. You are completely at Facebook’s mercy, and if you think Facebook is some passive and fair space in which to do business (or even voice opinions), then think again.
Make no mistake: a social media presence is a must. But if you want to retain control over your online presence, then you need to build your own website. Without your own website, you’re also going to have a limited amount of power when it comes to marketing since Facebook has a very limited amount of tools available to businesses.
Plus, as the end of the day, prospective clients and customers simply aren’t going to be very impressed if you can only direct them to a Facebook page!
making your business mobile friendly
Another thing you have to keep in mind is that Facebook isn’t right for every business. Sure, you should have a Facebook page, but the amount of attention you should pay to it will differ from business to business. For some people, the interactions you want to have with customers simply can’t be facilitated using the Facebook platform. With your own website, you can design and develop it to your heart’s content. You can control how much content is on there, how many pages you have, how your customers contact you, and what images people can and can’t see. Facebook is important - but don’t make it the centerpiece of your web presence.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Become A Scheduling Queen (or King)
female run small business
According to Lou Gerstner, a former CEO of the tech giant IBM, nobody should ever own your schedule. What he meant by that was you should make your own rules and not let other people decide where you are at any given time.
When you first start out running a small business, you’ll spend a lot of time faffing about, running around like a headless chicken from one appointment to the next. After a while, you’ll learn how to organize your time better and plan your week. After all, you are the boss. Here is some advice that you might find useful.
Block Off Time For Email
When you work for yourself, email is a constant headache. There’s always something demanding your attention. This is why so many people block off the time to look at their emails. Responding to emails in dribs and drabs means that you’re constantly switching between tasks to respond to people. But blocking off time for email means that you can fully concentrate on what you’re doing, whatever that happens to be.
Use Appointment Slots
One of the first things that cloud-enabled businesses should do is automate appointment slot booking. But many professionals still aren’t taking advantage of field management software that makes it possible. Most are still using old-fashioned diaries. The good news is that none of this has to happen anymore, even if you’re a service that goes out to people’s homes to do your work.
Experiment With Different Meeting Lengths
In business, it seems to be an unwritten rule that a meeting has to last 45 minutes. But is there any reason for this? Most meetings can be whittled down to 30 minutes if you skip the chat and just focus on business. And most calls, especially calls to new clients, can be condensed into as little as ten minutes.
how to run a small business
If people know you have these rules - that meeting must last no more than 30 minutes and that calls must last no more than 10 - then people will skip the small talk and get straight to the point. Although it might take a bit of getting used to, you’ll be surprised just how much more to-the-point your staff is once you start implementing these new measures.
Finally, always make sure you block off meetings according to your schedule so that they can’t run over. A 30-minute weekly staff meeting will suffice for practically every business.
Create A Routine
Have you ever wondered how the most productive people in the world managed to become so productive? Usually, it was because they came up with a routine that enabled them to fit all their obligations into their schedule with time left over for the things that matter in life, like exercise and socializing.
You can easily create a routine for yourself that does exactly this. Because your business will evolve over time, think carefully about how you need to spend your time today and how that might change in the future.
Want to start up your own freelance writing business? Take my Master Class!
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Infographic: 7 Blogging Myths Debunked
how to make a blog
Dave McDonald over at How to Start a Blog Online was kind enough to share his infographic 7 Blogging Myths Debunked. If you want to start a blog, or already have one, take note. These are all sooooo true!
From Branding To Blogging: The Best Ways To Promote Your Business
If you run a business, your aim will always be to make money. Even if you’ve turned a passion into a career or you’re doing something you love on a daily basis, when it boils down to it, the success of your company will depend on the numbers on your balance sheets. In order to turn over a profit, you’ll need to promote your business. Whether you’re trying to generate an income from a blog or you’re preparing to take the world of business by storm with a new venture, there are lots of ways you can make people aware of what you’re doing.
Online Marketing
The internet offers a wealth of amazing resources for new business owners. If you’re a blogger, your marketing strategy is going to revolve around online platforms, but the World Wide Web can also be hugely beneficial for businesses in the retail, manufacturing and services industries, like freelance writing.
If you use it properly, you can create a buzz, get people talking, and boost your sales dramatically.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is hugely effective for driving traffic to your website. Using search terms and backlinks, you can encourage more people to visit your site, and hopefully, place an order.
Social media can also be beneficial, especially if you’re targeting a younger demographic.
If you’re using a blog to drum up more interest, work with other bloggers, and make sure your content is fresh, relevant, and original.
Pitching and Presenting
If you’re trying to sell a product, you’ll probably find yourselves standing in front of a panel or an audience at some point. To sell large quantities, you need buyers on board. When you’re pitching, remember that you are representing your brand and the people you’re standing in front of will make a decision based on what you tell them and how you present yourself, as well as how much they love the product you’re offering them.
Set the right tone and create a positive first impression.
Dress smartly, arrive on time.
Maintain eye contact, and be friendly and approachable.
Practice your presentation, and be ready to answer tricky questions.
Show off your passion for your product, and share your story.
work at home mom
Getting Your Branding Right
Branding can make the difference between success and failure. Your branding should make your company stand out, and ensure that it’s memorable.
Think carefully about the colors, slogans and catchphrases you use and be consistent. If you have a logo or a tagline, they should be present on everything from your website homepage to delivery vans or drink menus.
If you’re not an expert in branding, it may be worth outsourcing work or hiring freelancers with experience in this area. You’ll also find some useful branding tips online from articles like Must Read Tips for Building a Brand.
branding tips
To achieve success, you need to promote your company and get the registers ringing. There are so many different ways you can make people aware of your presence in the industry. Take advantage of the internet, create a strong brand, and represent your business in the best way possible. Good luck!
Perfect Your Professionalism as a Freelancer
working at home
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Freelancers often have a bad reputation when it comes to professionalism - through no fault of their own. And, while I don’t believe it to be true, it’s something you have to fight against constantly. Whether you are pitching for a slot on an online magazine or trying to attract the attention of a local marketing agency, you're up against a lot of resistance.
There are, however, some simple solutions to the reputation problems you might have as a self-employed writer, designer or creator of any description. I’m going to go through a few of the major issues with you right now and provide you with some hints and tips on where you should focus your efforts to perfect your professionalism as a freelancer.
how to work at home
Always Deliver on Time, Every Time
This should be a no-brainer, folks, but always make sure you are delivering the goods to your clients on time. Do great work, and you will reap the rewards, whether it’s ongoing work or the benefits of word of mouth advertising from happy customers. Life is tougher for freelancers than many clients will believe, as you have so many hats to wear. But, ultimately, no clients care if you have been feeling ill, or experienced a power outage, or any other travails you might be experiencing. They want their work delivered on time, every time, so be always be ahead of yourself and never leave anything until the last minute.
Have a Professional Address
Many freelancers work from home, but many of your potential prospects will often use this against you. Like it or not, business owners prefer working with other firms, and even if you have a smart office in your spare room or in the garden, that home address can often make them think twice before hiring you. I mean, they can Google Maps you and see your house!
There are a few options available to you, however. Coworking spaces are proving beneficial for freelancers of all kinds, so visit the website of any hubs in your area and see what you can find. You can also get yourself a PO Box, which will, at least, give you a professional-sounding address on your website.
freelancer's desk
Dress Smarter
OK, so you have finally convinced a potential client to meet with you. It is vital that you look the part (including in Skype meetings!), or you could be tarred with the unprofessional brush. Image is such an important part of business. People will judge you on your appearance in an instant - the truth is if they don’t like the look of you, it may not even matter what your skills you can bring to the table. I’m not suggesting you need to turn up in a three-piece suit for every meeting, of course, but professional attire helps you appear like you mean business.
Show, Don’t Tell
Are you branding yourself as a ninja, guru or expert on your website and other marketing materials? If so, it’s probably time to stop. While expertise is vital in attracting prospects, people want to see it in action, not hear about it.
Talk about your experience and niche, and explain how you get your results. Ultimately, it’s results that matter to your clients, not bold, unprovable statements about how great you are. Show, don’t tell, and you will find yourself picking up more clients than you ever have before.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
The Real Truth About the Cost of Starting a Blog
starting a blog
We have all had the scenario where we’ve hit the snooze button one too many times on a Monday morning. The thought of having to head out to work again can take its toll. We all have bills to pay, though. So it is easy to see why more and more people are choosing to start their own businesses or start working freelance. When your time is your own, and you only have to answer to yourself, it can make ‘heading out’ to work much more bearable.
But doesn’t it take a lot of money to get your own business up and running? What if you don’t have the cash upfront?
So then you might start thinking about some low-cost business ideas to get you started. Many people turn to a blog, since it seems to have a relatively small upfront cost in return for a greater earning potential.
How much will it cost to set up, though?
The start-up costs of a blog are pretty minimal, but it can grow to a large sum.
You’ll need to decide on a hosting platform and then pay for the hosting and domain name. But paid over each month, it can be as little as $10 a month.
If you don’t have a laptop or computer that will work for it, then that can be an upfront cost, too. A decent laptop that will work for blogging can cost as little as $200. I suggest going to your local pawn shop. Often, you can find high-end laptops for a third of the price.
If you want to hone your skills and improve things like the photography on your blog, then investing in a decent camera is a good idea. My choice is the Canon Rebel T6i. This Rebel T6i kit comes with a new camera, filters, memory cards and other photography accessories for a low price. It runs around $500, which is less than what most sites sell the camera for alone.
The design of your blog is a key factor in turning your blog into a successful business. So if you’re not too savvy with tech, it might be worth hiring someone like a Divi Expert to design your site for you. You want it to be a responsive site so that it will work well on tablets and mobile devices. You also want it to look good and flow well, so your readers can find that they want easily, and not just click off. If it looks quite messy, then people will just give up. So that could be an expense worth investing in. Costs vary, depending on who you hire.
writing a blog
Once you start to churn out posts, it might be worth spending a little to make your life easier. As your blog gets popular, then it could be worth hiring someone like a virtual assistant, just for a couple of hours a week. They could edit photos for you, do some of your social media, or even write out some blog posts. If you hire from abroad, then the cost can be pretty minimal. Virtual assistants can run the gamut in fees, so shop around.
Also, when you get a few people subscribing to your blog, then it might be time to look into a decent email subscribe mailing system. Then you can update them with a newsletter from time to time, for example. This can cost around $30-$50 per month.
Though it may be more than you expected, the start up costs of a blog are low when compared to other businesses, but the potential is massive if you have a good niche.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
The Ultimate Social Media Toolkit: Templates, Cheats and Tips that Will Get Your Brand Noticed
Hey, I'm glad you're reading this!
Don't let social media make you feel like this!
After almost 20 years of creating content for businesses big and small, I've learned tips and tricks to grabbing a reader's attention. In social media, grabbing attention is essential to getting followers, likes, clicks and conversions. It means everything, especially if you are a small business. So, I am going to share some of the quickest and easiest ways to peak readers' interest with you. Best of all? These are proven techniques that get results. I hope you find the following information useful. Have questions? Send me a tweet. I'm @alinabradford over there.
Click here for your kit.
Fight the Fear: Read This Guide to Eliminate Anxiety
Living with anxiety is tough. Sure, we all get anxious from time to time, but some people suffer from panic and feelings of stress and worry on a much more frequent and intense scale. I have suffered with anxiety my entire career as a freelance writer. It's caused me to turn down jobs, avoid meetings and more. If you are struggling with anxiety and it is getting in the way of your freelancing business, there are ways you can manage it and live a healthy and happy life. Whether you have an anxiety issue or think you might, or are just interested in helping a friend by knowing more, read this guide to anxiety.
coping with anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety manifests itself in different ways for different people. For some, it can be crippling panic attacks which are spurred on by feelings of inadequacy.
For others, anxiety is the feeling of wanting to be alone and isolating yourself from others. There is no one definition that fits all sufferers.
What are the Symptoms?
Having a panic attack can feel like dying. It often mimics the symptoms of a heart attack, asthma attack or even a seizure, so even the most level headed individual can feel convinced that the worst is about to happen.
Panic attacks are defined as moments of intense fear that is often irrational. This fear can cause physical symptoms as well as illogical thoughts and actions. They are often caused by stressful situations, but it can also be part of a mental disorder such as social anxiety or panic disorder.
There are some telltale signs of anxiety. These include:
Spending large portions of the day worrying or feeling nervous
The feeling that things are getting on top of you
Finding it hard to switch off
Muscular tension
Nausea
Sweating
Dizziness
Anxiety affects the way we feel and think and affect us physically. Usually, an anxious person will have a mindset that automatically zeros in on potential problems. For instance, they’ll worry about bad things happening and imagine worse case scenarios.
According to studies, most people will experience an attack in their lifetime. One in 10 have panic attacks at least occasionally, according to the UK National Health Service.
Often, there are no signs of a pending panic attack, leaving the suffer blindsided. Over time, a person may be able to determine what triggers the attack. Some triggers may include social confrontations or being exposed to a certain phobia, such as heights, arachnids or water.
Panic attacks can come with a wide range of symptoms. The symptoms can vary from person to person. Some common symptoms, though, are sweating, shaking, trouble breathing or hyperventilation, hot flashes or chills, tightness in your throat or trouble swallowing, headache, dizziness, faintness, chest pain stomach cramps and nausea. These symptoms can last up to thirty minutes and leave the person feeling drained of energy.
Chest pain shouldn’t be overlooked, even if one thinks it is a symptom of a panic attack. Anyone with chest pain should be examined by a medical professional.
What Causes A Person to be Anxious?
Just like there’s no magic cure, there’s no one answer that fits everyone. A person can become anxious for all different kinds of reasons. These can include our past experiences. If a person has experienced a lot of stressful situations, pressure at work or home, financial difficulties, etc, they are more likely to become anxious. The feeling of not being able to cope can grow from the smallest of situations and become a much bigger deal.
The medical community hasn’t come to a single consensus on what specifically causes panic disorder. Researchers believe that they may be caused by genetics, stress, history of abuse, trauma or changes in brain function.
Frequent panic attacks can turn into bigger physiological and social problem. The person may start avoiding situations to prevent new attacks. This can lead to depression, problems with work or school, suicidal thoughts or actions and other problems.
The person may begin to avoid situations that have brought on panic attacks in the past. This can lead to phobias. If the attacks get frequent and severe enough, they can eventually cause the sufferer to fear leaving their house at all - full blown agoraphobia.
How Can I Learn To Manage My Anxiety?
It is possible to manage anxiety and live a worry-free, stress-free life. There are a few things that you can do to help.
Firstly you need to understand your anxiety. What are your triggers, when do they occur, how does it feel? Once you’ve understood how your anxiety presents itself you can deal with it. There are plenty of materials out there and mantras that people with anxiety adopt. This is to help them to fight their unhelpful thoughts and be more realistic. For instance, if you’re prone to worrying about the smallest things, ask yourself how realistic are your fears, can you change the situation, is the worry helping? It helps to challenge our negative thoughts and try to realize we're being too hard on ourselves.
There are hospitals, support groups, and programs to help people with anxiety issues. For example, the Compass Health Center helps adults with OCD and Complex Anxiety Disorder. Self-help is great, but it also helps to have some additional support. Especially when experts can teach us how to spend less time worrying and how to relax.
If a person is diagnosed with panic disorder, which consists of chronic panic attacks, treatment will be necessary. Psychotherapy and/or medications may prescribed.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of psychotherapy, is often used to change the thinking patterns that may cause new attacks. Another form of psychotherapy, called psychodynamic psychotherapy, is used to make the patient aware of thoughts and behaviors that cause the attacks. The person may also be exposed, repeatedly, to the trigger of the attacks to lessen the fear of the situation.
Even though panic attacks and anxiety can be scary for the suffer, they are not life threatening. Proper treatment can free a person and allow them to concentrate on their freelancing business.
Resources
For more information on managing emotions, see this helpful article What is Emotional Intelligence? +18 Ways To Improve It. My Move also has a wellness guide for those who may be experiencing anxiety during major life moments, such as moving during the pandemic. It includes helpful wellness apps for productivity, self care tools for the mind and body, and stress management tips.
Be sure to check out these articles, too:
How to Fix Your Broken Tweets
broken twitter
Sometimes I take look at people's tweets and I just shake my head. Then, I want to take out my red marker an edit that sucker. With just a few simple changes you can take your tweets from oh-my-gosh-bad to attention grabbing superstars.
To teach you how, I am going to show you some tweets that went wrong. Then I'm going to give you a taste of proper tweeting tactics. Don't worry all of the names have been censored to protect the guilty tweet offenders. Let's get started.
Proper Hashtag Usage
Some people just love to go crazy with the hashtags. They load them in there so thick that the tweet just doesn't make sense. Or, even worse, the hashtags are useless. A useless hashtag is one that no one is searching for so all it does is take up space.
[bctt tweet="People go crazy with the hashtags. They load them in there so thick that the tweet just doesn't make sense." via="no"]
Take a look at this tweet blunder in the center:
Okay, the person with the blue star on her profile picture made a valiant effort. #TeamBossyGals, #poets and #news are valid hashtags that people are looking for on Twitter. The problem is, she uses way too many and people don't search for hashtags with a symbol in the center. On the other hand, Sony Pictures, right below, shows you how its done right. Two hashtags per tweet has the best interaction rates and the hashtags are about topics that are hot right now.
[bctt tweet="Two hashtags per tweet has the best interaction rates." via="no"]
Tweets that Make You Go Huh
When you tweet and add a link you want people to click on that link right? Well, if no one knows what the heck your link is about they're not going to click on it. Take a look at this little doozy:
Nope. Not gonna click.
Okay, Mr. Star, I'm not going to click with that vague description. For all I know I could be clicking on a brilliant virus link. Throw your readers a bone and tell them what the link is about like this awesome tweeter:
I love the tweet link info!
Confusing People with @s
A great way to keep your tweets short is to use a person's Twitter instead of writing it the regular way and adding their twitter name to the end of the tweet. Here's are two tweeters that get it right:
tweeting names
Here's a tweet that's not so great:
too many tweet names
Now, this one isn't hideous, but it does have some problems. It uses a couple names combined with hashtags, numbers, a link, abbreviations and a bunch of text. That's a lot of stuff stuffed into one tweet. Many times, someone will see all of that and skip over reading the tweet. Remember, Twitter is a social media site for people that like to scan quickly through a lot of information. If your post takes too long to read or decipher, people won't read it. They'll just skip to the next tweet.
Get Creative, Yall!
Sometimes you need to mix things up a little. I'd like to end this blog post with an example of someone with a creative, engaging post that stands out.
How do you mix things up to make your Tweets fantastic?
HTGAWM post
29 Facts Every Freelancer Needs to Know
information on freelancing
Freelancing sounds so carefree. You get to make your own hours, show up in your pajamas and choose which clients you'd like to work with. Yah, it's great. There's more to it, though. Take a look at this infographic:
The Life of a Freelancer
Want to know what the life of a freelancer is like when you have kids? I couldn't sum it up better than this video.
Don't Get Caught In The Web: Use It To Climb Higher!
how to become a writer
As a writer, how many times have you fallen into a spiral of despair at a mistake in a social media update? Grammar mistakes are rife online. One thing’s for sure; it never takes long for someone to spot the error and ridicule the culprit.
So few people know the difference between their, there and they're! Aggg!
Many of us are under the belief that the internet has done terrible things for the English language. It’s never been possible for so many people to publish unchecked work before. And, even us writers sometimes fall under the spell of not proofreading before we post!
The internet isn't all bad. In fact, it can be a huge help for writers looking to develop their craft. The trick is knowing how best to use it.
Online Courses
The most obvious way the internet can help you is through online writing courses. In an ideal world, we would all go out to a local evening class. But, who can honestly say they have time for that?
The good news is, you can now get many of the benefits from a writing class from the comfort of your home. From finding your course to downloading your course material; all it takes is the push of a few buttons!
The best thing about this is that you don’t need to settle for the nearest course to you. You can pick any course to suit your writing needs! Want to hone your freelance skills? No problem. Or, are you more passionate about writing fantasy? The internet’s got you covered there, too!
All it takes is a little research to find the perfect thing. Choose from courses that come in modules and last a few months, or one time Skype sessions with other writers.
Create Your Own Group
If it’s writerly interaction you’re after, you could set up your own group on Facebook. Get the word out on social media and see if anyone’s interested. That way, you’re not writing into the void. Editing the work of other writers can also be a huge help with your work. Seeing what they’ve done wrong will save you making the same mistakes.
how to become a freelance writer
Social Media
Speaking of social media; that can be a huge help as well! Building an audience is important for any writer. Any potential publisher will feel more comfortable to work with someone with a guaranteed readership. It makes their job a hell of a lot easier!
Plus, it can be a boost to know there’s people out there who want to read what you write before it’s written! Social media can also be an excellent way to get yourself noticed. Sites like Twitter are fantastic for interacting with other writers.
You could even get your face known by agents and publishing houses. And, they do say it’s about the people you know! Build an audience by posting often and getting involved in conversations.
And, don’t think you have to stick to traditional social media routes, either. Youtube is a popular platform for budding writers to talk about what they read and write. The correct term for it is Booktube. Or, a more recent addition, Authortube! Authors such as Jen Campbell have developed an audience nearing 30,000 viewers. Find out about the best vlogging cameras and set up a channel. Watch videos from other Booktubers to get some idea of how to do it, and then take the leap! And remember, get involved in conversations to get your face seen. It’s the fastest way to get subscribers of your own.
writer life
Practice and Perfection
The internet also offers a fantastic opportunity to practice and perfect your writing. What better practice than blogging? Knowing your writing will be out there for the world to see will put added pressure on getting it right. It’ll be a huge help in honing your skills.
Short blogging on social media can also help you hone your skill. When you only have 140 characters to work with, every word counts. Set yourself a challenge of posting a small story on Twitter each day. If you like it, micro fiction could be for you!
There are also some fantastic websites out there to help with writing. Hemingway app tests the readability of your work. It's wonderful if you’re guilty of overusing adjectives. Or, head to a site like Grammarly, which makes sure there are no grammar errors in your online writing. It’s a great way to avoid embarrassment. Let’s be honest, a lot of people could do with a grammar check before they post!
Finding and Sending Work
The world wide web is also a huge help in finding and submitting work. If you’re working freelance or writing short stories, most business will be online. Freelancers can join sites where they bid for work. The competitive aspect will force you into being the best you can be! Or, you can find out about magazines looking for articles. Short story writers can learn about writing competitions galore online. Signing up to sites like Submittable allows you to send stories hassle-free. You'll also be able to track them without worry. Here are some places that list jobs for writers.So, there you have it. The worries about what the internet is doing to language are largely unfounded. It can be a huge help if you use it right.
And remember to always check your work. A writer making a public grammar mistake will be a difficult thing to live down!
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Living Life To The Max With Minimal Time
We all have some regrets, don’t we? We wished we spent more time with the children when they were younger, or we wished we started exercising before it got to the point where fighting the fat became a full-scale war, and we always need to fix up almost all of the rooms in the house! But things stand in the way, and it’s not just an excuse anymore. It’s a fact of life that we never can find the time to make little improvements on our lifestyles the way people used to. There are so many difficulties that can crop up, whether it’s finances, or family... or the fact that we’re too exhausted from working so many jobs or with so many clients to just get by. So what's the answer? By making a few tweaks to your lifestyle, you can make sure that you live your life to the full while freeing up some spare time and keeping fit.
Sound too good to be true? Read on…
Hack Your Exercise
exercising at home
This is a big one for many people. Time to go to the gym is a luxury that we cannot afford, and the gym is likely a cost we cannot afford also!
What's the goal in exercise? Well, apart from losing weight, the scientific goal is to break down muscle tissue, so it builds back up stronger while also losing body fat. The best way to break it down is to place your body under pressure, which is why we lift weights, go running and so forth.
There are two things you can do to save yourself time. If you are after a good cardio session, the Tabata sprint technique has been used for a few years and falls under the High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) banner. The idea is to do a flat-out sprint for a short period of time, then rest, then start it again. If you want to build muscle, the Body By Science method of working out revolves around lifting weights slowly, with control, over a period of about 50 seconds, which inroads the muscle. The total workout should only last about 20 minutes if you exercise each part of your body properly, and the recovery time is about a week, giving you more opportunities to spend time at home.
Hack Your Home
Time is the biggest factor in making any home improvements, and while we all dream of taking a few weeks off from work to finally tackle our dining room, it seldom happens because life is so busy.
The solution? Hiring designers and people to do it for you. Granted, it can be a bit more of a cost, but if you start to put money aside, you can save up for a good-quality designer who will work with your vision. There are websites like thehouseplanshop.com who do just this type of thing.
By going with a reputable company who can deliver a swift turnaround on one room, you may be inspired to do the whole home! The worries that people have when they hire builders for cheap are usually about the quality of the final product, but if you work with a designer or a reliable company, you can put your mind at rest.
Work From Home
freelancing
Lastly, for those that don’t spend enough time with their family, start to work from home one day a week. Many workplaces now cater for their staff to work from home and it is very easy for other businesses to accommodate it. The lack of a commute that day can save you oodles of time.
What can you do with that spare time? Hang out with your family or pick your kids up from school. So many jobs and both parents working means that a lot of people don’t spend as much quality time as they should with their children, which means relationships suffer.
A day or two at home per week should start to make life more enjoyable for everyone. There can be some issues that crop up from time to time. However, this is a small price to pay for quality family time and an improved family life. It is probably more than a third of our life that we spend working, so you may as well try and work in a more comfortable environment.
If you want to start working from home full-time, consider taking my course to becoming a freelance writer. Interested? Get help here!
3 Ways To Hire, So That You Won't Later Need To Fire
For most business owners, firing their employees is the last thing they want to do. Which is why many owners aim to get it right the first time by recruiting smartly. By using a few of these tips, you can do that too!
At some point or another, you are going to need to put your feelers out for helpers to sort out the jobs that you just don't have the time to do in your current business. As an owner of a freelance writing business, for instance, you may want to expand and hire other writers, social media managers, website designers, and so forth to enable your business to grow and flourish. If it's your first time searching for new recruits or you want to improve your hiring process to avoid making the mistake of hiring someone who needs to be fired later on, here are three things for you to consider.
Informal and Formal Background Checks
Now, depending on the role you are hiring for, it will determine what kind of background checks you want to initiate and/or fund. Checkr.com, for instance, provides background checks on potential employees to assess their suitability for a role based on the business owners' criteria.
The report can show you anything from driving convictions, to proof of previous employment, to drug screening, etc. This might apply if, for instance, you own a writing business and you want to hire someone to launch a new blog in your name and talk about safe-driving. If some of the candidates who apply have driving convictions, they're probably not cut out for the role.
Informal background checks include Facebooking your potential employee. Are they the party socialite they claimed to be who will be a great addition to your office culture? Or does their social media seem quite subdued? Now it's essential not to rule everyone out based on their social media presence, of course, as some are avid over-sharers and others prefer to keep their antics private!
Look Beyond A Person's Experience And Education
Someone might look good on paper, but their personality may not fit the current workplace culture. With your current work environment, providing it's currently functioning well, you want to maintain that, or make it better! And so, it's crucial and considerate to think about how the other team members (if you have any) will gel with your new recruit to decide if they're the right fit. Or whether a few weeks in, there is likely to be a clash of personalities that could lead to a firing.
Put Them To The Test
Maybe you're on the fence with a particular candidate, or you want to keep your new recruit on their toes and see what they're made of before you commit to hiring them for the long-haul. This is where a trial-run could work out nicely. It's not as elongated as a probation period. However, it allows you to assess their writing, graphics design or marketing skills, confidence, enthusiasm, and of course, willingness to learn new things. A small trial could be what you need, to save yourself from firing someone three-six months down the line. Which would be much more painful for you and the newbie later on.
For most business owners, firing their employees is the last thing they want to do. Which is why many owners aim to get it right the first time by recruiting smartly. By using a few of the tips above, you can do that too!
Make a Quick Change to Your Home Office with Wrapping Paper
You may remember my office makeover from quite a while back. Since then, things have gotten worn and I just needed a change. I found a couple rolls of really pretty wrapping paper at Hobby Lobby and thought, "Why not?" First, I cut pieces that would cover my two desks. The tops were worn and stained and I didn't feel like painting them.
craft desk
I sprayed the desks down with spray adhesive and smoothed the wrapping paper down.
craft desk makeover
freelance writer office
You're probably thinking, "But that won't be durable!" I've found that if you do this with a thick paper with a glossy finish, spills wipe up easily. Besides, if the paper starts looking too bad, I can just rip it off, toss it in the recycling and start over. For around $6 a roll, it's no problem.
I then went on to freshen up my filing cabinets in the same way. I stripped off the cloth from the drawers.
how to refinish a filing cabinet
Filing cabinet redo
Then, I sprayed the drawer fronts with spray adhesive and stuck a piece of wrapping paper to them.
refinishing a filing cabinet for office
I trimmed each drawer with a craft knife and I was done!
finished filing cabinet makeover
So much better than how these cabinets looked when I rescued them. Here's a reminder:
rusty filing cabinet upcycle
Work at Home Woes
Working from the comfort of your own home is relaxing, soothing and much less stress than commuting to an office—or is it? If you’re on your work-at-home honeymoon period then you are probably over the moon about your new career choice. You can wake up, get a fresh cup of coffee, procrastinate for a bit and then start your work instead of stressing over your car not starting or public transportation being on strike.
Whatever the reasons for you working at home, there are a few troublesome things about being independent that you just can’t ignore. I know I went over some of these a few days ago, but it bears repeating.
how to work from home
Utilize Home Comforts
There are, of course, many advantages to working at home. For starters, you’ll be closer to your children which is great if you have a young child or a baby to look after. It’s somewhat of a distraction, but it’s better than paying for expensive child carers. You also have easy access to your personal kitchen, meaning you can cook up comforting meals instead of buying junk food, and what about the coffee makers you have at home compared to the work ones? The coffee machines at work are probably nasty and not that great, but from home, you can get a coffee delivery to your doorstep, and have a fresh brew of delicious coffee for that caffeine boost you need to get yourself through the day.
Distractions
Some people would argue that working from home is far more distracting than working in an office. An office environment is usually filled with machines and people that are all busy at work, so it’s natural for you to follow their example and get to work yourself. You’re also able to communicate with your team, which makes it easier (most of the time) to focus on your work instead of being distracted.
When you’re at home, you’re close to all of your comforts. Your bed is close by if you want a nap, you probably have the television in the room, and you have the freedom to blast loud music while you work.
To remedy the problem of distractions and be more productive at home, try to set up space or a room and designate it as your working zone. Remove all distractions from this area and try to focus on creating a professional looking space for you to motivate yourself to work. Heck, even use an app that disables the internet while you work, if that's what you need.
how to avoid distractions when working at home
Breaking the silence
Let’s face it, working at home is lonely. You’re not going to be working as part of a team unless you utilise some form of messaging with your office, but if you don’t have an office and you work as a freelancer then you probably aren’t going to get much interaction. To combat loneliness, it’s a good idea to plan some events with friends or to go and speak with your neighbors now and then.
Interaction is important so that you don’t go completely insane working in silence. Another great way to break the silence is to play some relaxing music as you work. It should ideally be something repetitive or soothing, but some people work great blasting electronic club music as well—it all depends on your personal preferences.