5 Ways to Save Time in Your Freelance Writing Business
Time is money, writers. When you want to save more time, a few tweaks may be all you need.
Time is money, writers. Most of us are fully aware that this statement is true. The more time you have, the more productive you can be. However, many of us find that our time is taken up with unforeseen problems or small tasks that build up over time. So, if you’re sick of answering messages, writing social media posts or sitting in meetings, instead of getting to the real work, read on.
Organize, Organize, Organize
You can’t save time if you’re not willing to organize your time well. For example, in addition to planning a weekly meeting with clients, you can also call clients beforehand to find out if they’re still available. This way, the meeting can be cancelled if the client can no longer attend and you’ll know how long the meeting is likely to last.
Here are some videos that can also help:
Find Something That Works
Many people like to answer their emails and social media messages first thing in the morning as a way of getting them into the swing of the day. However, that may not work for you. Perhaps you prefer to dive straight into the larger projects and leave the smaller tasks until the end of the day. Maybe you’re finding that you need an assistant to take those smaller tasks off your hands so you can concentrate on the important stuff. Don’t worry about setting a tried and tested schedule for yourself- just do whatever works for you.
Make Use of Services
The busier you get, the more help you’ll need. If you can delegate to others, your time will be free to make money. It could be anything from a social media manager to a computer consultant. If you haven’t got the budget for hiring staff, you could make use of online tools. There are plenty of them to choose from and you can do anything from manage your schedule with an online calendar to time your social media posts.
Check out this post: 5 Incredible Software Programs All Business' Should Consider
Make Use of Templates
Whatever kind of documentation your business needs, you can bet there’s already a template for it. A quick online search should find you any kind of template you need. Whether you’re looking for accounting forms, an NDA agreement or employment application forms, you don’t need to spend your time creating them from scratch.
Of course, sending pitches and approaching people for work opportunities is a vital part of your day, since, without clients, you won’t have work. But it’s vital to make it as smooth a process as possible. Templates are your best friend, here.
The idea is to create a basic outline of who you are and what you do - along with some links to your previous work. This will allow you to adapt emails to the person you are approaching, but the bulk of the pitch is already done. Try it out - honestly, it will save you a lot of time!
My No-Fluff Freelance Writing Starter Pack is full of templates and other items that will save you a lot of time running your business.
Automate everything
Social media can be great for picking up work and driving business to your site. But it is also a huge time drain. Focus your efforts on automating your social media updates to avoid it taking up too much of your valuable time. There are plenty automating apps available - check out IFTTT or Tailwind.
Outsource when it makes sense
When you are freelancing, the temptation is to do everything yourself. You’ll build a website, do your SEO, start the marketing process and a whole lot more besides. However, as IT specialists Kumo point out, the reality is that you will be a lot more efficient by finding partners to do the hard work for you.
So, whether you want to host your site on the cloud or try out a new SEO techniques, find someone that can do it quicker, easier and better than you. The time - and, therefore, money - it will save you will not be insignificant.
Buy a notebook
Finally, the sad truth about being a writer of any kind is that it’s impossible to turn on the creativity like a tap. And while you might set aside writing hours every day, there is no guarantee of finding inspiration.
In fact, it’s more likely you will be struck with a fantastic idea just before you go to bed or when you are in the shower than during dedicated hours. Don’t waste time sitting around brainstorming when you could be writing.
The answer is simple, though. Buy a notepad and write down your thoughts when they happen. I use Keep Notes on my phone as well as OneNote for ideas because I can access them on my laptop, too.
A voice recorder is another option - anything, basically, that will help you remember your moment of inspiration and can give you a kickstart during your writing hours. I must admit, I'm a notebook horder.
One at a Time
Starting a new project before you’ve finished the last can be confusing. You may even find that you make mistakes and have to do the work over. Stick to one project at a time so you have clarity about what you’re doing. Never take on more than you can handle. It can be tempting to take on several projects because it means more money. However, promising something you can’t deliver will end up making you and your business look unreliable.
When you want to save more time, a few tweaks may be all you need.
For more tips on saving time and keeping your focus, check out 3 Ways to Be More Productive as a Writer.
Startup Success: How to Make it Possible
Here is a handful of tips to get you started so that you and your startup can start leaving those competitors far behind.
As you’re probably very well aware of, most startups struggle with making it happen during those first important five years. They run out of money, first of all, don’t quite understand the market - or they simply get pushed out of the way by someone bigger and stronger.
While you might not always be able to control all the factors that could make or break your startups, there are a few things you can do in order to make that success a bit more achievable.
Here’s a handful of tips to get you started so that you and your startup can start leaving those competitors far behind.
Building a customer profile
Sometimes, it’s easy to get carried away with the idea of a product or a service and believe it is for everyone. We might fall so much in love with our own business that we simply forget that the customers you’ve set your eyes on may not feel the same way - and it could prove to be detrimental to your startup.
Building a solid customer profile is something that requires time and knowledge. If you’ve never done this before and never attended a business school lecture in your life, you might want to consider handing this one over to someone who knows what they’re doing.
A professional will be able to map out exactly who you should propose your products to, how you should target them, and where you’re most likely to find them. It’s the kind of stuff that ensures your business the best possible start.
Outsource the right tasks
When you’re still fairly young and new to the game, it’s a good idea to save as much money as possible and avoid hiring too many people. You’d still like to get the job done, though, and this is where outsourcing comes it; you can learn more here if you’d like to read up on outsourcing for small businesses.
Tasks such as payroll, for example, bookkeeping and accounting are one of these. The work is more or less the same every week, and by not spending any more time on it in-house, you’ll free your hands and mind to focus on other things.
A lot of business owners realize the benefits of not handling these tasks themselves, either because they feel under-qualified or because they simply don’t have time, so they assign it someone else in the company.
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping is, of course, another way to make sure that your startup doesn’t spend too much money. Focus on investing in the right places, give your business an edge that your competitors don’t have - and rely on excellence through a great team.
6 Major Disadvantages Of Becoming A Freelancer
Like most other things in life, freelancing is not without its downsides. If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, here are six disadvantages you must consider.
What is the first thing you think of when you imagine going freelance? For most, it’s one of the many advantages, such as the unlimited income potential or the flexible schedule. These benefits make going freelance an incredibly attractive idea, especially when your boss or work, in general, is getting you down.
However, like most other things in life, this venture is not without its downsides. If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, here are six disadvantages you must consider.
1. Poor Work-Life Balance
Most assume that being your own boss offers a better work-life balance than traditional work. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Because you tend to work at home, it becomes difficult to distinguish between your personal life and work time. This is especially true when handling inconsistent workloads. That being said, https://medium.com does offer some helpful advice.
2. The Initial Cash Investment
Like most other businesses, your freelancing venture may require an initial cash investment to get it up and running. This may be used to pay for office equipment, computer software, office supplies, insurance, and other must-haves. You’ll also need to invest in marketing to find clients. You can find funding to cover these costs, but, to avoid debt, many choose to save up instead.
3. A Lot Of Legwork
Working a traditional job means that projects are handed to you when you walk in the door. This isn’t the case for freelancers. You’ll have to find your own work, as well as wear lots of hats, including accounting and marketing. Thankfully, there are professionals out there, such as http://www.sabioit.com/ to lend a hand. They will manage your IT services, saving you the job.
4. Income Can Be Irregular
Your freelancing income depends entirely on the work that you do. This means that, if you don’t or can’t find any work for a while, you won’t get paid during this time. This inconsistency and instability can make it difficult for you to pay bills or prepare for the future. To boost your financial security, you should start to build an emergency fund to cover expenses when you’re out of work.
5. Lack Of Employee Benefits
Working for an employer means that you’ll receive certain benefits. Depending on the company, these could include paid days off, health insurance, overtime pay, and more. When you work for yourself, however, you’ll receive none of these, which can increase your living costs. With that in mind, you should aim to earn more than your previous income to combat these expenses.
6. Always Working By Yourself
Most freelancers work at home, which means that you’ll spend your working days completely alone. Although this does have its advantages, it can also get quite lonely, leaving you feeling isolated. To remedy this, you should make more of an effort to get out of the house each day. Head to the gym, grab a coffee, or just go for a walk, and try to speak to people along the way.
Freelancing is great, but it definitely isn’t easy. Before you jump into the life, you need to decide whether the positives truly outweigh the negatives.
5 Incredible Software Programs All Business' Should Consider
Running your own business can be incredibly hard work, so it's important you're doing absolutely everything you can in order to make your life easier. Whether it's outsourcing work, using software to automate processes or using external companies to assist with IT and security - every little can help. With that in mind, here are 5 incredible software programs all business' should consider.
Running your own business can be incredibly hard work, so it's important you're doing absolutely everything you can in order to make your life easier. Whether it's outsourcing work, using software to automate processes or using external companies to assist with IT and security - every little bit can help. With that in mind, here are 5 incredible software programs all business' should consider.
Social Media Scheduling Tools
Social media is an incredible tool for businesses looking to increase their visibility online. While it can do amazing things for a business’ growth, often entrepreneurs and small businesses don’t have the time to schedule things on a daily basis.
To help, there are lots of social media scheduling tools that are available - giving business owners a chance to spend 1-2 hours a month getting all of their scheduling out of the way. For tips and tricks on scheduling your social media, you can visit this guide here.
Email Marketing Software
If you’re planning on using email as part of your marketing strategy then email marketing software is probably the best way to go. Using dedicated programs you can set up an email system that will allow you to sign up new subscribers, give you a chance to segment people based on their interests, and allow you to create well-designed emails that you can send on a schedule. For those with little time, this is a great option.
Marketing Automation
If you want to take your email marketing a step further, marketing automation is a great route to take. You can use email marketing and other useful data to create targeted campaigns that send out automatically.
That means once you have set them up once, you never have to worry about them again. Whether it starts when someone buys a product, when they sign up to your newsletter or when they leave a review - you can keep them in your sales funnel for as long as you want.
IT Support And Assistance
If you’re looking for software that will help when it comes to all of your IT support, there are lots of different options you can choose from. Whether you want a dedicated email system, your own server or antivirus protection - you need to ensure you’re doing everything you can to support your IT systems. For more information on IT management solutions, you can visit this site here.
Accounting Software
If you’re not going to be hiring an accountant to help with your finances, finding an accounting software that works for you is important. You can find software that will send invoices, track payments and, at the end of the year, help you create your tax return.
If you’re lucky, you may even find that your perfect accounting software is available for free, as there are many unpaid options that will do everything a small business may need.
Are you looking to make your life as a business owner easier? What software you could you use? Let me know in the comments section below.
World Sleep Day: 61% of Americans Don’t Know About Circadian Rhythm
You know I like to report on the latest sleep studies. Sleep is just so darn important to a writer, and it’s often hard to get. Sleep Cycle, the best-selling alarm clock application, has today released the results of a new survey in tandem with some internal data.
You know I like to report on the latest sleep studies. Sleep is just so darn important to a writer, and it’s often hard to get. Sleep Cycle, the best-selling alarm clock application, has today released the results of a new survey in tandem with some internal data just in time for World Sleep Day.
The survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of Sleep Cycle in March 2019. It looked at how much Americans know about their circadian rhythm, the steps they take to protect it and how they are affected when it’s interrupted. The internal data also examined the impact of daytime sleep schedules on “shift workers.”
The Rhythm of the Night
The human body’s sleep-wake schedule — along with many other biological functions — is governed by 24-hour cycles that are collectively referred to as “circadian rhythms.”
Almost 4 in 10 Americans (39 percent) know about circadian rhythm. Of these, a majority (58 percent) actively take steps to protect theirs:
About half (49 percent) go to bed at the same time each night and eat meals on a regular schedule (48 percent)
43 percent keep specific evening routines
34 percent make it a point to get good exposure to daylight each day
33 percent dim the lights in the evening to prepare their bodies for sleep
32 percent make exercise a priority
Additionally:
60 percent feel their circadian rhythm is affected by their work-life balance
A full third (34 percent) say their partner’s sleep/wake schedule interferes with their circadian rhythm
The Early Birds and the Bees
Of Americans who care about their circadian rhythm:
71 percent of men and 52 percent of women sleep better after having sex
A full third of men (34 percent) and 19 percent of women have sex in order to enhance the quality of their sleep
Men are slightly more willing (23 percent) than women (20 percent) to turn down sex if it risks interfering with their sleep schedule
19 percent of men and 10 percent of women have put off having children because they don’t want their sleep disrupted
Forty-three percent of these Americans describe themselves as “night owls” (even though only 23 percent regularly go to bed after midnight) and 32 percent are early risers (27 percent are in bed by 10 p.m.).
More than three-quarters (80 percent) have noticed their circadian rhythm changing as they age: 39 percent report going to bed earlier and 30 percent stay up later.
Significantly more women (48 percent) than men (32 percent) report that, as they get older, they wake up more often during the night; 34 percent of women also struggle more with insomnia, compared to just 21 percent of men.
Women, Interrupted
What are the biggest enemies of circadian rhythm?
Americans who pay attention to their circadian rhythms rank stress (40 percent), lack of sleep (35 percent) and staying up too late (35 percent) above the usual suspects like travel (13 percent), daylight savings (18 percent) and blue light from technology (18 percent).
Women especially report suffering negative effects when their circadian rhythm is interrupted:
Women Men
Have less energy 62 percent 53 percent
Need more naps 35 percent 22 percent
Need to go to bed earlier 30 percent 24 percent
Eat more junk food 30 percent 23 percent
Have a hard time remembering things 28 percent 17 percent
A Hard Day’s Night
“Shift workers” — Americans who regularly work late-night or overnight shifts — are forced to sleep at hours in opposition to their natural circadian rhythm. How does this affect them?
Internal Sleep Cycle data that looked at more than 385,000 “days” of sleep for people sleeping between the hours of 3 a.m. and 9 p.m. found that people who regularly sleep during the day sleep longer and more deeply, on average, than people sleeping normal nighttime hours. But they also wake up in worse moods:
Shift workers sleep an average of 20 minutes longer (7 hours 49 minutes) than the rest of the population (7 hours 29 minutes)
They enjoy a higher sleep quality (78.29 percent) than the rest of the population (76.44 percent)
But their wake up mood is lower (56.43 percent) than regular sleepers (57.73 percent)
People who only ever sleep during daytime hours (as opposed to sometimes sleeping regular nights) have the worst wake-up mood of all the groups (56.15 percent)
About Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is the world’s most popular intelligent alarm clock app that analyzes users’ sleep, records findings and wakes them during their lightest sleep phase so they feel rested and refreshed. The app generates nightly sleep reports, tracks long-term sleep trends, and logs how daily activities impact sleep quality. With millions of users worldwide, Sleep Cycle has also become the world’s richest repository of data on global sleep habits. The newly formed Sleep Cycle Institute puts this data in the hands of five multidisciplinary health and wellness experts to provide individuals and public policy makers with deeper quantitative insights into the relationship between sleep and overall health and well-being.
For more information — and real-time, interactive sleep data from around the world — visit https://www.sleepcycle.com/.
How Can Writing Be Therapeutic?
It’s no secret that getting out your worries, fears and dreams can make you feel better. For those that have no one to talk to, or for those that just like to put their ideas on the page, writing can be helpful. For more about therapeutic writing, I contacted Beth Carvin, CEO of JamBios. Here is what she had to share.
Woman using JamBios
It’s no secret that getting out your worries, fears and dreams can make you feel better. For those that have no one to talk to, or for those that just like to put their ideas on the page, writing can be helpful. For more about therapeutic writing, I contacted Beth Carvin, CEO of JamBios. Here is what she had to share.
What Does Therapeutic Writing Do?
Expressive writing is an acknowledged therapy with 200+ academic research studies scientifically proving results. Some of these are astonishing such as:
- improving the immune function by increasing white blood cells
- having fewer doctor visits for flu and upper respiratory conditions than those who wrote about ordinary events
- reduced work/task errors
- increased GPA of students
- improved lung function in asthmatics
- reduced irritable bowel symptoms
- lessened the distress of migraines
- increased rate of unemployed being hired
and of course, reduction of stress and anxiety and improved social relations and life enjoyment.
As you can see, these kinds of benefits can help a wide range of people. Most of us, even the happiest, have some emotional events in our past that we may not have completely worked through, even if we don't know it.
How Does it Work?
There are a variety of theories on why expressive writing works so well. Some researchers believe that it turns those painful life events from a sensory experience into a concrete narrative that our brains can then set aside. You can think of past painful experiences as being like a cloud or vapor that is always floating around our brains with no way for us to let them go.
They interfere with our working memory, the part of the brain that helps us perform tasks. Researchers believe that the language and structure of writing turn the untenable into something solid that can be stored appropriately. Once properly placed, these memories no longer use up our unconscious processing power.
How JamBios Can Make Writing Easier
The JamBios platform was developed for writing, sharing and saving life memories.
We've been surprised at how many people come to JamBios while dealing with various traumas, stress and illness. One user, Sunshine, came to JamBios while dealing with severe kidney disease. She would write stories about her life for her children while on the dialysis machines. (She has since received a kidney transplant and continues to write her memories.) Another, Sue, has written about past drug abuse and how she escaped from a low point in her life. She told us that in writing and sharing her stories it released her from the shame she had tucked away. We've had users writing about memory loss from traumatic brain injury, about severe depression and about simply not fitting in.
You can also magnify the positive benefits by sharing your personal writing with others. Whether you do so publicly or just with close family or friends, it further lifts the burden. The woman mentioned above who shared her writing on her past drug abuse stories was astonished at how much love and support she received. Even from her mother who did not know the extent of her journey.
But Writing is Not Just for People With Great Trauma
Many of us, myself included, find it stress reducing to write about our enjoyable memories from our past. When the news on television, in the newspapers and social media get to be overwhelming, it's a refreshing break to take 10 or 20 minutes to write and reminisce. After writing about my favorite first pet, or meeting my husband for the first time, or my (mis)adventures with skiing I always feel recharged and energized. Plus I get a burst of positive emotions when my sister contributes a memory to my story that I have forgotten or never new.
While writing does not replace other necessary treatments, it's a wonderful way to help ease mental burdens both large and small. It's free, it's fun and it is drug free.
Why You Have To Be Ready To Freelance Full-Time
Here’s a peek at what life is like as a full-time freelance writer.
To some people, he idea of going freelance is glamorous. No more boss. No more working hours. Way more freedom! And yes, while all of those things are true, the freelance world isn’t always that easy. Nor is it glamorous.
If you want to go freelance because you think you can work less and get paid more, you may be wrong. Sure, a LOT of freelance writers can do this. But, they get there after a lot of hard work. It’s not impossible, of course, but it does take time.
And this is why you have to be ready to go freelance - especially to make the leap full-time. Let’s take a look at what life will be like.
You’re On Your Own
So first of all, you need to recognize that now, it’s just you. There’s no boss guiding you or to ask for help. There’s no sales team or customer service team or finance team supporting you - you are all of them. So alongside the writing aspect, you need to also keep track of what you’re earning, sell yourself, and communicate with your ‘customers’ the editors, too!
Pitching Can Be Ruthless
Now, the world of freelance writing is largely made up of pitching day in, day out. If you want work, you need to ask for it. And it can be ruthless.
Of all the pitches you send, say 100, maybe a handful will come through. But, the more you practice, the better you’ll get. So you need to get comfortable with firing out pitch after pitch and coming up with a ton of different ideas for different publications and media outlets all of the time.
It’s Non-Stop
Another thing to be aware of, is that it’s kind of non-stop. You pitch, you write. You pitch, you write. You pitch, you write. And you get paid. You also market yourself, maybe you even blog too. But it’s kind of like one big cycle that you get yourself into. But it can be fun!
Don’t panic! Eventually you’ll get a stable of reliable clients and won’t need to pitch as often. It takes time, though.
You Get Back What You Put In
And it’s not all bad! Because if you love writing, you’re talented, and you have something to say, you’ll want to give this your all. And the harder you work, the more it will pay off for you. That’s the beauty of being freelance, your earning potential can be endless!
Nothing Is Guaranteed
And finally, it’s important for you to know that you’re never really guaranteed to be paid! There’s no set monthly payday! You’ll be paid when you’re paid, and sometimes you have to chase money down.
Yes, you have options such as BCashflow Positive for this, but you should really factor this into your budget. It’s why it’s so importantly to have a safety net of cash ready before you take the leap so that your living expenses are covered.
So, ask yourself - are you ready to go freelance? If not, what do you need to do to get into the position where it’s possible?
How to Get to Know Your Freelance Clients Better
So how do you change your listening routine so that you are where your customers are and speak their language? This graphic explains it.
If you've ran a freelance business a long time, you may think you know everything about your customers. What you might know about your customers, though, may not be up-to-date. For example, you might use old lingo that none of those customers have even heard of. You might not be hearing what they’re actually talking about, either—you might be missing the terms they use instead of your industry lingo.
And if you rely on your routine, you might miss out on the new places where those customers are, like a social media platform that you haven’t heard of, or even a competitor’s site that they check out from time to time.
So how do you change your listening routine so that you are where your customers are and speak their language? This infographic explains it.
Click To Enlarge
Via Salesforce
How to Use Mind Maps for Article Ideas
When you write for several different outlets, coming up with a continuous flow of article ideas can be a challenge. When I get stumped, I break out a piece of paper and draw a mind map. Mind maps are a form of brainstorming where you use colors and shapes to stimulate the brain.
Here's how I create article ideas with mind maps.
When you write for several different outlets, coming up with a continuous flow of article ideas can be a challenge. When I get stumped, I break out a piece of paper and draw a mind map. Mind maps are a form of brainstorming where you use colors and shapes to stimulate the brain.
Here's how I create article ideas with mind maps.
I start by drawing a shape of the thing I want to write about (or just a circle). Right now I need to come up with some art article ideas, so I drew an artist's palette.
I write the subject inside the drawing.
I draw wavy lines spiking out from the drawing, with each line a different color (usually).
On each line, I draw a word that comes to mind when I think of the central idea.
Then, I draw branches coming from those branches focusing on words I think of when I think of the words on the larger branches.
By this point my brain should be connecting words into ideas that can be turned into articles. With my mind map I came up with the article Recycled Art Studio Furniture and Gear.
Try this technique out and let me know how it works for you!
Here are some other mind maps I've made:
how to brainstorm blog posts
how to get ideas
Here's how other people do mind maps:
30+ Writing Tips from Writers Like You
I find writing ideas and inspiration in a place you may not have thought of: Instagram. Here are some of the fantastic tips for writers I've found on my feed and some from my own Instagram account.
I find writing ideas and inspiration in a place you may not have thought of: Instagram. Here are some of the fantastic tips for writers I've found on my feed and some from my own Instagram account. Remember, if you find some advice you like, follow the writer on Instagram. Show some love!
Use Google Translate to Proofread Your Writing (Seriously!)
They say one of the best ways to find errors in your blog posts, book or articles is to read the sentences out loud. An even better method is to have someone else read your piece out loud. This can be difficult if you're a typical writer, alone in your home office. Instead, use Google Translate.
They say one of the best ways to find errors in your blog posts, book or articles is to read the sentences out loud. An even better method is to have someone else read your piece out loud. This can be difficult if you're a typical writer, alone in your home office.
No problem. A bot can help.
You can use Google Translate as you’re editing co-worker. All you do is paste your text and the tool can read it back to you so you can find the flaws. Best of all, it’s free.
How to Use Google Translate to Edit
Just go to the tool at https://translate.google.com.
Copy and paste your text into the box on the left.
Click the sound button.
Google Translate will read your piece out loud so you can find the errors. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Are These Creative Habits Hurting Your Success?
If you aren’t careful, the artistic streak which sent you down this path could see you packing up shop. To make sure that doesn’t happen, it’s important to recognize and manage these more destructive tendencies. And, to help you do that, we’re going to look at the creative habits which are harming your success right now.
Anyone who wants to make a career in a field like writing needs to be in tune with their creativity. It’s your creations, after all, which stand to earn you an audience, a living, and a reputation. Unlike many other businesses, your content is your product.
The trouble is that, when you get down to it, a fair few creative tendencies are at odds with the working world. If you aren’t careful, the artistic streak which sent you down this path could see you packing up shop. To make sure that doesn’t happen, it’s important to recognize and manage these more destructive tendencies. And, to help you do that, we’re going to look at the creative habits which are harming your success right now.
You Don’t Think About the Cold Business Stuff
You’re a creative. You can’t clutter your mind with cold business facts. You don’t want to think about profit margins or expenses. Who can write their best stuff with taxes on their mind? The problem is that all this stuff is essential if you want to make a real go of this.
Creative field or not, you’re never going to succeed if you don’t spare some thought here. You may even find that you benefit from doing an online mba in business intelligence or other such qualification which makes it easier for you to handle this stuff.
If you really can’t bring yourself to think about this, at least bring accountants on board. They can make sure your finances stay above the water while you take care of the creative side.
You Always Wait for the Muse
When you make art for fun, waiting for the muse is part of the process. Nothing beats that moment when inspiration strikes. But, when you’re writing for a living, waiting for the muse is asking for trouble.
Career novelists and content writers alike will tell you that, when your earnings depend on it, you have to be your own muse. If you always wait until the ideal moment, you’ll struggle to earn enough.
Instead, get into the habit of jotting down ideas when they come to you, or freewriting when you’re stuck. The more you exercise that part of the brain, the more you’ll be able to produce quality stuff at a moment’s notice.
You’re Too Far Against the Grain
In history, writers and artists who have gone against the grain have made the most impact. Think James Joyce or Virginia Woolf. They were so far from commercial that it was crazy. Now, they’re worldwide names.
If you want to make money with your writing, though, you might want to pay a little more attention to what works. Doing your own thing is fine, but you’ll struggle to find an audience for it. And, no audience = no earnings.
It’s essential, then, that you learn to rein those creative impulses sometimes. Not everything you create is going to be groundbreaking literature. Still, that doesn’t matter if it appeals to your audience.
21-time New York Times bestselling author, Jerry B. Jenkins recently released an in-depth blog post revealing the 10 steps he recommends aspiring writers take to launch their career (based on his 40+ years of experience and 190+ books written). The post also has a detailed list of all the different types of careers in the writing field. Check it out here.
Brain Hacking: Reprogram Your Brain to Create Writing Goals
To Achieve More with Your Writing Career Than Ever Before, Reprogram Your Brain with a Specific Plan!
To Achieve More with Your Writing Career Than Ever Before, Reprogram Your Brain with a Specific Plan!
“If you’ve ever attended a seminar and been inspired to make great change, only to find yourself right back where you started, you’ve experienced the enormous gap that exists between setting goals and actually reaching them,” says John Assaraf. “Whether you’re trying to do something as simple as exercise once a week or something as daunting as leaving your job to start a business, that gap is always there.”
So how can people overcome this gap between setting goals and achieving them? The key, John asserts, is in creating a specific plan.
“Plans can help bridge that gap between goals and achievement,” he says. “Without plans, your goals are really just dreams. The reason plans work so well is because of the way they impact the brain.”
Here are four distinct reasons why “Innercising” your mental-planning muscle can make all the difference.
brain hacking
HOW and WHY Work Differently in the Brain
Goals with a high emotional value can create a dopamine release in the brain. If you set a goal with a powerful why, you experience that first dopamine hit. But while that why is critically important to creating your goals, it’s only a first step on the road to accomplishing them. The old saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” isn’t quite accurate. Where there’s a will, we also need to create a clear way. We need to make sure we activate not just the parts of the brain that help us create the goal, but also the parts of the brain that help get us there.
Spend all your time in “why” and you’re a dreamer who never takes action. Spend all your time in “how” and you might be busy, but with what? When you activate these various parts, an important switch takes place. You move from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind; you move from the realm of imagination to the realms of belief, action, and, eventually, productive habits.
Your Brain Thrives on the Mini-success of Plans
The initial boost of dopamine you get from setting a goal is helpful — and you can continue to support your efforts by focusing on your goal — but that’s not enough. Big change is almost always a long-term project, and for that you need the ongoing motivation that comes from regular dopamine infusions. Fortunately, that delivery method is prewired into your brain. Every time you succeed at something, your brain releases more dopamine. It’s a reward system designed to keep you doing more of what works, and less of what doesn’t.
The secret to those tiny bursts is a clear plan created from small steps. Each baby-step success provides a dopamine boost that motivates you to take another step, and on and on. With enough doable steps, you can create a virtuous cycle that ensures you have a steady supply of motivational fuel to reach your goal.
goals with brain hacks
Goals are Loose Ends in the Brain
One of the surprising paradoxes of change is that goals can actually distract you from… well, reaching your goals. Because your brain is so goal-oriented, it keeps focusing on your goals even when you’re not actively working toward them. When you want something and you don’t yet have it, your brain continues to allocate resources to “keeping the goal alive” until you can accomplish it. This would be fine if we only had one goal to think about. In reality, though, your daily life is filled with a multitude of goals of wildly varying sizes. Even the act of brushing your teeth is fulfilling a goal.
The result is that goals become a kind of loose end in the brain, and those loose ends can distract us from the work of actually tying them up. It’s a surprising contradiction, but one we have to resolve in the brain. The best solution for this is planning.
Your Two Brains are Time-Conflicted
Imagine that you’ve set a goal to lose weight. To accomplish this, you’ve decided to change your diet. Setting the goal has likely inspired you, yet, almost without realizing it, you find yourself adding less-healthy choices to your shopping cart or sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of something sugary. What happened? How can you be so motivated in one moment and so off-track the next?
The culprit in this case is how different areas of your brain view time. You see, parts of your brain have the ability to set goals for the future while other parts are more inclined toward immediate gratification. Once again, planning is the bridge. A good plan tells you what to do next. Without one, you can feel a void that you’re likely to fill by reaching for default unhealthy habits you’ve been stockpiling over the years.
About: John Assaraf is a serial entrepreneur, brain researcher, and CEO of NeuroGym. In the last 25 years, John has grown 5 multi-million dollar companies in real estate, internet software, brain research, and life and business coaching and consulting. He is the author of two New York Times best-selling books: “Having It All” and “The Answer.” His brand-new book is called “Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power” (Waterside Press, 2018). John has made frequent appearances on Larry King Live and has been featured in eight films, including the blockbuster smash hit “The Secret” and “Quest for Success” with Richard Branson and the Dalai Lama. He is one of the leading behavioral and mindset experts in the world, with a unique ability to help people release the mental and emotional obstacles that prevent them from achieving their very best in life and business. John is a vegan who creates and eats his own hot sauces, meditates daily, and exercises six days a week. He loves skiing, traveling, taking cooking classes, listening to the Bee Gees and Enigma, and being a dad, husband, and mentor.
Edit Your Writing: How to Use Commas, Quotation Marks and Semicolons
Creating clean, mostly error-free content is important to freelance writers. Copy full of errors look unprofessional and can really turn off potential customers. You don't want to be lumped in with noobs! Edit!
Creating clean, mostly error-free content is important to freelance writers. Copy full of errors look unprofessional and can really turn off potential customers. You don't want to be lumped in with noobs! Edit!
Emails, blogs and social media encourage speed over accuracy, lulling many into the feeling that close is good enough. If you plan on being a successful freelance writer, though, almost isn't good enough. Here are some tips to help you get closer to perfection.
When to Use Commas
Get it right, or scare people away.
One of the most common problems even more skilled writers run into is how to use commas properly. A comma is defined as a punctuation mark used to indicate the separation of ideas or elements or a pause in a sentence.
The biggest misuse of commas is often overuse. When in doubt, use a comma when there is an audible pause while saying the sentence out loud.
For example:
Jan, can you write the story, please?
This sentence has definite pauses when said aloud. Proper use of commas also keeps the meaning of a sentence clear.
For example:
Wrong - Jan loves to draw fish and write.
Jan likes to draw fish?
Right - Jan loves to draw, fish and write.
Notice that a comma wasn’t used after the word “fish.” It has become common to leave off the comma before “and” in a series, especially if you are writing for magazines or websites.
The last use of a comma is with a direct name or title.
For example:
The writer and artist, Jan, is my old friend.
Or
Would you draw me a picture, Jan?
Or
Jan Lang, Ph.D., is the author of some impressive articles.
punctuation edit
How to Mix Quotation Marks and Punctuation
Using punctuation with quotation marks isn’t the mystery some think it is. In fact, there are only two major rules to remember:
Always use punctuation inside the quotation marks.
For example:
“The article is finished. It only took a week to do.”
And
Jan said, “It only took a week.”
Also, always use a comma before or after a quote is introduced.
For example:
Jan said, “The article is finished.”
And
“The article is finished,” cried Jan.
“Said” in the first sentence tells you that a quote is coming so it is followed by a comma.
In the second sentence, “cried Jan” tells you who just made the quote. In this case, there is a comma before “cried.” Remember, the punctuation is always found inside the quotation marks.
editing quotes
When to Use a Semicolon
Semicolons are an unloved punctuation, mostly because it is misunderstood. If used correctly, though, semicolons are an easy way to spice up a writer’s prose, or at least show an editor that the writer is competent.
The rule to follow is: If there are two sentences that are complete thoughts and don’t have a conjunction, you can use a semicolon to join them.
For example:
Jan’s article is interesting; it is full of great quotes.
Sure, you could put a period between these two statements, but it sounds so much better with a semicolon. Basically, a semicolon shows a close relationship between two sentences and a pause just a little shorter than a period, but longer than a comma.
Now that your copy is treated with respect, romance will be on the way. Your customers will undoubtedly fall in love with the work and you can ride off into the sunset with a check in-hand.
22 Ways to Create Fresh Blog and Article Ideas
Have you tried brainstorming and mind mapping and still need some creative content ideas for your blog or articles? Here are 22 ideas to get you out of your writer's block rut.
Have you tried brainstorming and mind mapping and still need some creative content ideas for your blog or articles? Here are 22 ideas to get you out of your writer's block rut.
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.
Fluffy Content is Bad Customer Service
Are you giving your clients and readers bad customer service by creating content that doesn't have enough meat? Here’s how to avoid fluffy writing.
I know I harp on this a lot, but I am going to say it again: Don't put fluff in your articles! I’m called the No-Fluff Writer for a reason. It’s because I like to get to the point and give readers what they are looking for without any extras.
Content fluff is bad customer service.
Fluff is content that really isn't saying anything helpful. It's basically used to fluff up the word count to appease the SEO Google gods, or a demanding client. Are you giving your clients and readers bad customer service by creating content that doesn't have enough meat?
Think about it while I tell you a little story.
Fluff and Angry Customers
The other day I was on Facebook and I saw a post by a popular women's magazine. I liked the title and preview linked in the post, so I clicked and read the article. IT. WAS. BAD.
The article was supposed to be about laundry secrets you just must learn ASAP. The article, though, gave washed up (no pun intended), old advice that anyone within their target audience would already know. A few old tips and done. Nothing meaty and useful to the reader.
I was curious to see what others thought of the article, so I clicked back to Facebook and looked at the comments on the post. Almost every single comment was about how basic the article was and how the title was very misleading.
Over the next week or so, I started checking the comments on other articles. The articles that I felt didn't live up to their title or gave simple information that most people already know had so many negative comments. What really shocked me was the multiple offenders. These publications continually drew in readers with flashy titles, then served up mediocre articles that left their readers yawning, confused, or even worse, angry.
Don't make your customers mad with crappy content.
Angry readers matter, my friends. Many of those ticked-off readers that I came across voted with their clicks. In the comments, they stated that they were unfollowing the website and/or canceling their subscriptions.
You know it didn't stop there, right? Those angry people probably told their friends, which probably lead to more bad feelings toward's the website and the brand.
How to Stop the Fluff that Leads to Bad Customer Service
Articles or blog posts aren't just a great way to bring in views to your site or your client's site. They are, in a way, a customer service. Sure, you aren't talking directly to potential customers to complete or help with a transaction, but you are talking to your customers. You're providing a service with your content.
If you don't spend time crafting a great piece that will be interesting to your readers and delivers on the promise made in the title, then you're giving them poor customer service. I don't need to tell you that poor customer service makes you lose customers. You know that already.
Give customers what they want: great content!
Here's the elements of a meaty article:
Research in the form of quotes or data
Tips that are different from the million other articles on the web on the same topic
A personal story to illustrate a point
Testimonials
Media like gifs, photos, graphs and videos
If you can't come up with ideas for new, interesting content, take a look at this article for tips. There is no reason for posting fluff. Just don't do it. Give your customers what they want.
20+ Free Ways to Get Photos and Multimedia Content for Blog Posts and Articles
There are plenty of websites out there that help you make your own GIFs, maps, charts, memes and more for free, in just a few minutes. There are also plenty of sites that let you use their multimedia content on your site.
Here are 20 of my favorites:
Search engines love when you use more than just text in your website content. Plus, media makes your content much more appealing to visitors, which is even more important. You don't want people to come to your posts, see nothing but boring text and click away!
Think creating multimedia content takes too much time? Don't worry. There are plenty of websites out there that help you make your own GIFs, maps, charts, memes and more for free, in just a few minutes. There are also plenty of sites that let you use their multimedia content on your site.
Here are 20 of my favorites:
Creative Commons for Creative Common photos
YouTube for embeddable videos
Easel.ly for infographics
PhotoPin for Creative Commons photos
DaFont for fonts
Office Sway for presentations
Pond5 for historic media files
Survey Monkey for surveys
NVD3 for charts
Mapbox for maps
OpenClipArt for clip art
GetEmojis for emojis
Pexels for modern, clean photos
PhotoPin finds Creative Commons photos
MapBox for maps
Microsoft Sway online visual creator for newsletters and more
Pexel Videos for free stock videos
Pikwizard.com is a free stock photo website
Also, here's a nifty way to make YouTube videos into GIFs:
Do you have any sites that you really like? Don't be shy! Share those suckers!
Use This Data to Get Your Best Sleep
Poor sleep equals a poor writer. This 2019 study can help you figure out which habits are inhibiting your sleep.
We all know writers need a good night’s sleep to put out their best work. Sleep Cycle, the best-selling alarm clock application, just released the inaugural report of the Sleep Cycle Institute. The new institute is a group of multidisciplinary health and wellness experts who examine Sleep Cycle’s internal data. While studying the data, the institute discovered who are the best sleepers and why.
I thought this information would be useful for helping us writers figure out habits that we need to take on, and which ones to nix, to get the best sleep. Here’s the information Sleep Cycle sent over about the study.
An Overview of the Data
The Sleep Cycle app has more than three million active monthly users, and this report looked at three years’ worth of data, for a total of 148,116,221 nights of sleep.
Americans spend an average of 7 hours and 18 minutes in bed each night. They go to bed at 11:39 p.m., wake up at 7:09 a.m., spend 23.95 minutes snoring, have an average sleep quality of 74.2 percent, and rate their wake-up mood at 57 on a scale of 100.
As a population, Americans got six minutes more sleep in 2018 than they got in 2015 — 7 hours and 21 minutes, up from 7 hours and 15 minutes. Their average sleep quality has improved from 72.9 to 75.3 percent, but their wake-up mood remains unchanged at 57/100.
Sweet Dreams Are Made of These
What do we know about the best sleepers in America? According to the data, the two factors that most significantly contribute to a good night’s sleep are exercise and simply getting enough of it.
Americans who exercise enjoy better sleep, regardless of gender or age
Americans average 10 extra minutes of sleep when they work out during the day
Exercisers snore less (21 minutes) than non-exercisers (25 minutes)
Americans who get more than 8 hours of sleep enjoy an average sleep quality of 82 percent — the highest sleep quality of all Americans
These Americans have an average bedtime of 10:45 p.m. — almost an hour earlier than other Americans
Perhaps surprisingly, daytime coffee or tea drinking also correlates to higher sleep quality: Americans sleep an average of six minutes longer when they drink tea or coffee, and their sleep quality increases by .5-1 percent.
Early bedtime — independent of sleep duration — also correlates with positive sleep outcomes: Americans who wake up in the best mood (87/100) also tuck in early (11:04 p.m.) and average 7 hours and 33 minutes of sleep.
What Poor Sleepers Have in Common
Which Americans are getting the poorest sleep? Not counting Americans with newborns, here are a few things bad sleepers have in common:
They eat late at night. Late eaters enjoy a poorer sleep quality than people who’ve had a stressful day.
They had a stressful day. When Americans have a stressful day, they get even less sleep than late eaters (7 hours and 14 minutes) and wake up in a worse mood (54/100).
They live in Hawaii. See “Geographically Sleeping” below.
Mars and Venus in Dreamland
The data suggest that there are some fundamental differences in the way that men and women sleep — and these differences are more pronounced at different life stages. For example, on average:
Women get 14-20 minutes more sleep nightly than men, depending on age
Women age 55-74 spent the most time in bed (7 hours and 35 minutes), and men age 35-54 spent the least time in bed (7 hours and 9 minutes)
At age 18-34, men are the last to bed (11:57 p.m.) and last to rise (7:25 a.m.); by age 35, they are up earliest (6:37 a.m.), and, by age 55, they are first to bed (11:07 p.m.)
Men snore 4 minutes more than women, although both will snore about 20 minutes more at age 55+ than they do at age 18-34
Men consistently wake up in a better mood than women, with men age 55+ at one end of the spectrum (67/100) and women age 18-34 at the other (56/100)
“In the research literature, we commonly see that women tend to sleep more but find their sleep less restorative than men and are at greater risk for insomnia,” said natural sleep expert Dr. Catherine Darley. “Knowing, too, the high number of women who experience sleepiness each day but push through with their activities regardless, it is not surprising that women wake with a lower mood than men.”
Geographically Sleeping
Geography also affects how Americans sleep: the Sleep Cycle data shows some interesting — and surprising — differences between states. For example:
Wyomingites go to bed the earliest
New Yorkers stay up latest and wake up latest
Ohioans and Marylanders report the worst wake-up mood (57/100)
South Dakotans report the best wake-up mood (64/100)
North Dakotans snore the least (20 minutes)
Alaskans snore the most (35 minutes)
Hawaiians spend the least amount of time in bed, are up earliest (6:34 a.m.), and have the poorest quality of sleep
Vermonters spend the most time in bed (7 hours and 29 minutes) and have the highest quality of sleep (76 percent)
“In addition to factors such as climate, seasonality and daylight times, variations in culture may account for some of the geographical differences in sleep — like what time we have dinner, when we socialize or if we stay up late to do homework,” said Dr. Frida Rångtell, Ph.D., a doctoral student in the Department of Neuroscience at Uppsala University, Sweden. “Reasons for geographical differences in sleep are most likely interlinked, and regional differences in socioeconomic status, stress, crime levels, unemployment, educational levels, and incidence of chronic disease are other probable contributors. Obesity, for instance, is tightly linked to sleep disturbances. And, of course, people living in urban environments have more exposure to things like traffic noise and light at night that can also disturb a good night’s slumber.”
About Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is the world’s most popular intelligent alarm clock app that analyzes users’ sleep, records findings, and wakes them during their lightest sleep phase so they feel rested and refreshed. The app generates nightly sleep reports, tracks long-term sleep trends, and logs how daily activities impact sleep quality. With millions of users worldwide, Sleep Cycle has also become the world’s richest repository of data on global sleep habits. The newly formed Sleep Cycle Institute puts this data in the hands of five multidisciplinary health and wellness experts to provide individuals and public policy makers with deeper quantitative insights into the relationship between sleep and overall health and well-being.
For more information — and real-time, interactive sleep data from around the world — visit https://www.sleepcycle.com/.
Powerup Online: Keep Your Writing Skills Sharp With These Tips
Here are some ways to sharpen your writing skills while you’re online.
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. Here are some ways to sharpen your writing skills while you’re online.
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.
Don’t forget to join the No-fluff Facebook Group while you’re at it.
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. Here's my tips on getting a big Twitter following.
Here’s an example of my Instagram feed:
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.
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!
Writers! This Multitasking Tip will Make You More Productive
I've found one multitasking solution that gets me up and makes me more productive as a writer. You'll find this tip particularly helpful if you are a work-at-home mom or dad.
Okay, I have a bad habit of sitting on my bum all day. I mean, I'm a writer, so it's hard not to. I sit until I finish my article, or my blog post, or my whole day's worth of work. Research shows, though, that taking regular breaks make people more productive. Also, sitting all day can make you sick. I know it's given me a plumpness never seen before on this body! So, I've found one multitasking solution that gets me up and makes me more productive. You'll find this tip particularly helpful if you are a work-at-home mom or dad.
SET A TIMER!
You've heard this one before, I'm sure, but my tip has a twist. Be sure your timer is connected to something important. For example, before I start a work project, I throw a load of laundry in the washer. When the timer goes off, I make myself get up and put the laundry in the dryer. When the dryer buzzer goes off, I get up and put the laundry away. Then, I start the whole process over again.
This works with cooking, too, if you're a home chef. After you put food in the oven, sit down and start a task. When the oven timer goes off, get up and check your dish.
This way, I get stuff done around the house, plus I give my mind a break and give my body a break from sitting.