Daily Power Words

Like Freedom of Information? Protect the Internet !

2012-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

For my American friends,

Today is a day of protest across the internet and if you are not familiar with the issue of the SOPA/PIPA bills it is imperative that you become aware. The idea of stopping piracy and protecting intellectual property rights is noble. I am a writer and I have dealt with theft of my work - HOWEVER, these laws as written are dangerous and a threat to free speech and freedom of information. The threat is so real that many large web entities are participating vigorously (thankfully) to help put a halt to this.

These laws, if passed, would essentially put all websites at risk. If someone say visited my blog and used a copyrighted image or text - if someone complained, my site could be shut down by the government without warning and with no recourse. Is that what we want? All under the guise of protecting us from criminals? There will always be criminals - and they will find a way to circumvent any system - why should innocent people potentially suffer at the hands of unreasonable laws?

We cringe at human rights violations when other countries censor the internet (like China for example) - Don't let the citizens of our country meet the same fate because of Hollywood and entertainment industry lobbyists. They already HAVE the power to sue and get peer to peer sights shut down (remember Napster?) Think about it - These laws are too far reaching and a HUGE risk to a free people.

The freedom of information we enjoy every day should never be taken for granted - call or write to your representatives and tell them why you are against SOPA/PIPA and let's give these bills the knockout punch they deserve. It's easy to do type in http://www.google.com TODAY and on their landing page they link directly to the petition you can sign - a minute of your time for your freedom? Yes. I think so.

Sorry to go political on you all today - this issue however is extremely important to me. I have been passionate about it and fighting it for months now because I know how easily it can be used to put the deathblow on small businesses, not to mention what it has the potential to do for freedom of information. Thanks for hearing my side of the issue

There are Multiple Ways to Earn Income From Writing

2011-12-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

I've spend the past couple of months researching freelance writing and writing fields overall in an attempt to discover just how many different types and styles of writing careers there actually are.

The results were kind of surprising and kind of not - I mean if you think about it words are absolutely everywhere from descriptions on menus and in catalogs, to magazine articles, new stories, and even technical manuals (yes some people do read them ;) )

In fact there are so many writing fields and ways to find gigs as a freelance writer that I dedicated a whole website to it with all the information. There is even a forum there where I encourage you to join for free and post a link to your own portfolio.

Learn about the many types of writing careers, the average salaries, the training required, how to break into that particular field and even where to look for jobs.

You can also learn a bit about why it is NEVER a good idea to accept a pittance for writing work. Writers I have come to believe devalue themselves WAY too often, and people are out there ready to prey on that.

Do we have to compete with writers from foreign countries who will write for a buck an article - yes. It's a fact of life, does that mean that we can no longer find writing gigs that pay a decent rate? Absolutely not! There are many ways to find decent paying gigs and actually earn a living wage and decent or above average income AS A WRITER.

So join me over at the Income from Writing website which we are going to devote solely to professional writing, finding work, and creating your image etc. This site and blog will remain dedicated to writing of all kinds and encouraging you and inspiring your creativity - but the nuts and bolts belong in their own place where others can easily find this information - and it's all free!

http://www.IncomeFromWriting.com - please join, share, tell your friends. I think this can be a great resource to help put people to work and once you see it you'll know there is enough work out there for ALL of us :) I hope you will use, enjoy and help me promote this resource!

An example of how to do Niche Websites

2011-11-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

Last post I spoke a bit about how and why Niche websites can be a great way for writer's to earn money.

I also stated that to be the best at this you should stick to Niche's that are part of areas you are knowledgeable about and have experience with. This allows you to speak to people on a personal level and reach out with genuinely useful and relevant information.

Have you ever searched for something on the internet and then clicked a link to a website or article only to find the content was fluff and you could have written something more detailed and in-depth yourself? And this was for something you were looking to learn more about!

The internet unfortunately is full of these kinds of websites - keyword driven for profit only without a purpose and it's sad. I think there can be room for both and I've found that by using both marketing techniques combined with strong writing skills and a deep passion for my subjects - I can build websites that people will actually find useful.

My hope is of course - that I spread some sunshine into the world :) but also that I have shown people that I am a trustworthy source of information and that maybe they will consider using my resources, clicking on my suggested product links etc. and in the end I'll make some money out of it.

An example of my niche work is the website I just launched last night. I have been living with Celiac for a couple of years now having to learn to go Gluten free. I recognized that the learning curve can be steep - so I chose to focus a Niche site specifically around gluten free foods - I then searched for a name that reflected the subject I wanted to write about and develop around. http://www.glutenfreefoodlist.info was available so I registered that. (.info domains are less expensive than .com/.net/.org also) I spent the past couple of days designing, developing, and writing the content for my website. (I will do some more tweaking as time goes on) uploaded it. Now I submit to search engines, share it with my friends and network and hopefully due to the strong content and the great domain name choice it will place well in search engines. Also, hopefully people will find the information useful enough to share the link with others... voila a Niche website is born. I have others as well, but this was a good example of a very simple website - no real bells and whistles, but good information and good placement of advertising.

Anyway, hopefully I've inspired some of you writers to give this idea a go. It takes time, but over time this technique really does work. I have several others in the works too :).

Building Niche Websites is Lucrative for Writers

2011-11-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been buying domains and building Niche websites. My goal with this is to not throw together poorly researched fodder like many adsense websites. I actually buy domains around subjects I am passionate about, write all of the content in a professional manner and put it on my own website.

I am a web designer by trade also, but there are many software and content management systems that don't require a huge learning curve that you can use. This has generated residual income for me that is very nice to have each month. It also allows me to share my knowledge and hopefully provide genuinely useful information to those who are searching.

To get started doing this there are some things to consider...

First of all it doesn't happen overnight, quality matters, and you must be patient. It took me over a year to start getting monthly adsense payments above the threshold. ($100)

The beauty of websites you own though is that if you use a webhost that allows you to host unlimited sites - you only pay one hosting fee per month. I pay mine yearly and get a steep discount.

Domains are inexpensive as well from 5-10 per year depending on who you go through.

Once you build your site with quality content and work regularly to promote it and add it to search engines etc. the traffic and income is there for a lifetime.

You can join affiliate programs or just sign up for Google's adsense program. Follow the rules and don't try to cheat! If you try to cheat Google will blacklist you and remove your site(s) from it's search engine - so play fair and stick with "white hat" promotion tactics and don't be tempted by places that say they can promise you tons of backlinks etc.

Overall I feel that having my own websites and promoting them is more lucrative for me long term. I do still write articles and hubs when I have time for other websites as well and it is useful for getting followers and backlinks and simply sharing my love of writing.

Over time I have built up by developing "evergreen" content and sites and now make around 250.00 per month on average with adsense - and this is with only a few websites live and running. I have several more in the works and hope to expand my residual income from those as well.

It's hard work - it takes a lot of time, but it is also rewarding and I feel I am doing something I love and that it is helpful to others.

Updates on freelance writing and hubbing

2011-10-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

a lot of you who work with Google's adsense program may have felt the frustrations of the up and down fluctuations of the past couple of months due to the Panda algorithm changes.

When this all started in August, I saw my adsense revenue go down overall by about 20% and many people bottomed out altogether. It seemed a bit distressing at first, but gradually as Google's algorithms have changed and they have been weeding out a lot of the crap and content fodder and focusing on quality - my earnings the past two months have almost doubled! For those of us who produce quality content and write about what we know and are passionate about (rather than keyword stuffed, article spinning nonsense) we are now seeing the rewards from our devotion to quality and our passion for writing - hooray.

It's a very nice bonus for my family in a tough economy to have this extra residual income every month coming in - and it has kind of restored my faith in the internet being a great place for writer's (real ones) to actually make a difference.

Once Hubpages took their initial hit, they split up into subdomains, with each writer controlling his/her own. This gave them a measure of quality control they didn't have before and my earnings there have gone up despite not having had the time to publish hubs regularly the past few months. The quality of my content is so good that my subdomain already has a google pagerank of 3 - not bad! I actually get consistent search engine traffic I wasn't getting before because now I am not competing with article spinning software and junk content as much.

I am very happy that Google has dedicated itself to cleaning up the internet - it means more quality information being placed front and center. I love Panda :) and I am sure that those of us striving to provide high quality content (not merely for a profit) are liking it too now that the dust is settling a bit.

Writing, Speaking - or both?

2011-10-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

I recently signed up to take a public speaking class. I was down to the wire and my original class had been cancelled. To keep my scholarship I am required to take at least 12 credit hours this semester. In a panic, I had to search through the few classes left and the only one I found that would work with my current work/school schedule was a public speaking course - gulp.

I love to write. Writing is my passion and there was never an English class that I didn't feel confident about. A 30 page research paper fully cited over summer semester you say? No problem - bring it on! Been there did that, but public speaking... oh my. I am not an outgoing person at all. In fact, many writers that I know are not either and for many of us writing is our "voice".

Although I am somewhat nervous, I do feel this is going to be a great experience for me. As writers, we have to be able to communicate verbally as well. Think about it. How else will you promote your writing? If you can build confidence in your ability to speak with as much passion as you write you suddenly have an edge in a very competitive field. I know that this class is going to benefit me in more ways than a letter grade at the end of the term. My hope is that it is going to build me up and help me speak with poise and confidence about my writing.

I had never really stopped to consider before this how beneficial a public speaking course might be. I know though that the universe has a way of leading us to the right place at the right time and so I am going to roll up my sleeves, swallow that lump in my throat and go for it! Hopefully it will help me in the future when it comes to promotion - and well, just feeling more confident in general.

Where NOT to look for writing jobs - unless you like slave wages.

2011-09-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

It boggles the mind how many people are hiring content writers these days - and what is even more puzzling is the amount of pay they list for these various jobs. I have seen people advertise for a "job" that pays $1 per 500 word article. They also stipulate that it must be well-written by a native English speaker. I have seen listings like this all over and it bothers me immensely.

No one can make a living on that kind of money. If you are a seasoned writer it takes at least 20 minutes to come up with a decent article let alone proof read it. You may end up making $2 per hour. It angers me that people post jobs for these rates, but what really irks me are the writers who devalue not only themselves, but all of us - by accepting these ridiculous rates.

I know many newer writers feel pressured to "take what they can get". What these writers need to realize is that they are doing themselves a great disservice (and they are to the rest of us as well) These kind of clips for your portfolio are NOT going to get you anywhere when it comes to finding real work.

Here is what I suggest for content writers who want to make themselves some money - rather than help others profit by taking advantage of them.

Write great content and place it on HubPages, Squidoo, etc. At least on sites like that you build back links to your website(s) and also earn revenue. You can earn through Adsense and Amazon affiliate programs on these websites.

Use a website like http://www.constant-content.com and name your own price for your work! People who are wanting to purchase quality material do go there and they do purchase articles.

The websites I have found that offer the most ridiculous rates for articles/content are freelancing sites like 0desk and Elance. Once in a great while you might see something that pays "fair" - but mostly it's the same slave wages postings and not worth your time for the writing jobs.

I have also seen absolutely ridiculous advertisements for "writing gigs" and "writing jobs" on Craigslist. I can't count how many times I've seen the following variation for both web design and writing.

I have the next greatest thing since sliced bread idea. I want you to write/build it for me and I will give you a percentage of the profits when it takes off..... Give me a BREAK. The thing is they wouldn't keep advertising crap like this if it wasn't for naive people being duped into thinking they'll get rich down the line.

Folks, if the people with the great idea don't have capital, don't have talent to develop ideas themselves, or write that book - do you think they have marketing skills and the ability to "stick to it" required to push a new product/idea into a huge profit maker? No - they don't they are clueless and that is why they are looking for someone to do all the work for them for a "percentage". A percentage of 0 is 0. No writer or designer should spend those kind of hours working on a project that may never (and probably wont) pay off in time.

Do all the rest of us freelancers a favor and stop writing for pennies an hour and developing projects for free. It devalues our entire profession(s) and makes finding real work harder for ALL of us.

Soapbox finished....

Remember - If you are willing to work for pennies - at least get an Adsense account and a blog and let those pennies be for you - not the other guy who is essentially taking your hard work for slave labor prices and making a huge residual lifetime profit on it.

You CAN build up your own residual income. I started off never reaching the 100 dollar Adsense threshold each month, but over time and with continued efforts my Adsense residual income is always over 200 per month - for things I wrote that were evergreen and just sit there. Much of my content makes search engine rankings which gives it the ability to generate income. That means that essentially I do very little for that money once I put in the initial effort. The more content and information (that is valuable by the way not a 5 minute throw together) that I develop that is useful - the higher the search rankings over time and the more residual income I generate.

Now think of these marketers who just bought your article for a measly $1.00 - do you think they are not making nice residual income off of that or reselling it themselves for a huge profit?

Think about it - and then think long and hard before taking a writing job that pays a pittance. You aren't only harming yourself!

The Importance of Building Backlinks to Get Your Writing Noticed

2011-08-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

I touched on this in my post yesterday about how every writer needs a personal website to get noticed. Backlinks (quality ones) are a very important element of SEO(Search Engine Optimization).

As you work to build your portfolio or hubs, blogs, etc. you want to be sure that you are getting links to your work to help it rank higher in search engines. You will also want to use sites like PingoMatic to "ping" out the feeds to your most recent posts.

I have also started using a site called SocialMonkee to help me build free quality backlinks. You can use it for free and submit one url for 25 backlinks per day. a Handy little tool that is very easy to use. I would suggests using it to help boost the ranks of your blog posts one at a time.

You don't want to "overpromote" websites as that can be considered "spammy" and that's not cool and will get you slapped by search engines if they catch on to you. However some promotion is necessary and required if you are going to make it in the sea of writers and marketers out there.

Other ways to get backlinks include answering questions (in a meaningful way to establish your credibility) on sites like Yahoo Answers as well. You get to talk to others, help them, and ultimately gain some name recognition in the process as well as the all important backlinks to your webpages.

You can also comment on blog posts - in a meaningful way that shows you are participating - and get backlinks to your work that way. Be sure that you are actually contributing to forums and blogs and not just spamming! Do unto others applies on the net as well - though many people seem to forget that!

Every Writer Should Have a Personal Website - It's a Vital Tool!

2011-08-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

In my latest hub I share my perspective as both a web designer and writer why a personal website is not only a good idea - but vital to building your reputation as a writer.

If any investment in yourself ever pays off this will be the one. Why? I can almost hear you say. There are several reasons

1)Establishes your credibility and gives you a professional, businesslike presence
2)Gives people a convenient place to read your work
3)Gives you a convenient place to organize and store your work
4)Helps you build traffic and increase your ad revenue and reader interest. Backlinks are vital for your business.
5)You can link your primary portfolio to other sites and cross promote, establishing a larger presence and more name recognition.

Learn all of the reasons in detail by visiting my latest hub and see how you can establish your brand for a lot less than you think. It's a time investment, but ultimately it will lead to more success for you.

Why Every Writer Needs A Personal Website

Restoring Photos - Another Way to Earn Income In Addition to Writing

2011-08-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't decide to do it as a sideline, it still makes a great gift idea for others - digital photo restoration!

Old photographs can be digitally archived and reworked/touched up. People will pay for this service and although there is a lot of competition - it's a great business to develop using "word of mouth". Do a few free restores for family and friends and ask them to show them off to others and give out your business card.

I do this as a small sideline business and people absolutely love to see their photographs restored - especially ones they thought were beyond repair. I have trained extensively in Photoshop and because of this I can take on some major projects that others may not be comfortable with.

Typically though you'll find plenty of old photos that really only need minimal work. I wrote a step-by-step tutorial on how to do a very basic restoration
http://christins.hubpages.com/hub/revive_photos . Check it out and see if this might help you generate some more income yourself among your friends/family.

Summer will end soon and before you know it the holiday season will be upon us. If you want a thrilling gift restore some old photos and place them on a digital frame (or have them printed) I did this for my folks last year and the looks on their faces were as the commercial says "priceless"... :)

Help me out and vote for my hub as a hub nugget award :)

2011-08-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

My hub "9 fatal query letter mistakes and how to remedy them" has been nominated for an award. Please visit the link below and scroll down to the section on the books, literature and writing nominees and give my hub a vote if you find it to be a worthy contender :)

http://koffeeklatchgals.hubpages.com/hub/A-Step-Back-in-Time-A-HubNuggets-Tea-Party

Thank you very much I really appreciate your support
Christin

How to Outline and Write a Book Quickly

2011-08-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

I am one of those many writers who wants to get a manuscript published. I know what I want my book to say, I am filled with ideas, but I struggle in figuring out exactly how I want to organize and present them. This makes it difficult for me to sit down and write a book, because I am stuck in a mindset that says I need to do it in "linear fashion" in much the same way I write articles or blog posts.

So what happens? I start to feel overwhelmed, and because I feel like I am standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, I do something else because it just seems like too much to do right now... and alas the book sits in my brain and not on paper.

The hard truth is a whole book is not going to come out in perfect order without some organization in place. It will have to come in chunks and be arranged later (against my writing grain)

So this is what I have come up with and it is working very well. It breaks the whole process down into "doable" tasks that are actually fun. You get the benefit of free writing where you can explore fully multitudes of ideas because you are not worried about structure.

You can use a free software like "free mind" or use index cards or whatever you feel comfortable with.

The idea is to sit down each morning and write ten ideas - express them well and place them on a card or in your mind map software - even on notebook paper. If you're like me you'll find you don't stop right away and may come up with 20 or 30 "thought capsules" a day. Do this every day and keep the ideas all separated and don't run them together. At the end, you'll be cutting them out into little slips of paper or if you used cards and hand wrote them (something I don't have the patience for) you can simply arrange the cards in a recipe box in order.

Write whatever you like without worries about structure, grammar, spelling etc. and keep it until you are finished (usually a few weeks) and at the end print off your sheets and cut out the ideas and spend a couple of days sorting them. What goes with what? make piles and then those will essentially be your full outline... you'll have them in order and can develop your table of contents from them and all you have to do as you write your chapters is "flesh out" any ideas you didn't fully express in your notes or cards.

You can then retype them and as you do you will likely note any grammatical/spelling awkward wording and can fix that as you write the second time.

This makes a seemingly ginormous task of writing a book - more like some short daily exercises. After all 30 minutes on a treadmill is easier and much less daunting than running a marathon right out of the gate ;).

Good luck with your writing!

Write Your Passion and the Money Will Follow

2011-07-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Hub I wrote about the 12 universal laws in a nutshell became very popular. It has inspired me to devote a whole blog/site to the subject so that I can delve into the universal laws in-depth.

It is a subject I am knowledgeable and passionate about and I believe it is a way for me to further use my writing/creativity to help others. For anyone interested the link is: Universal Laws Explained.

The main reason I am writing this post however is not for shameless self promotion ;), but to share my theory on why it is important to write about what you LOVE - and do it regularly.

As a writer - writing your passions is the best way to start. I read once that writers should take time to write what they would also love to read. If you spend all of your working time writing things that are purely for money or don't really interest you - your writing will lose that "spark" that special something that gets people to take notice.

Have you ever noticed that you can completely disagree with someone's opinion, but if they are an engaging and passionate writer you will still want to hear what they have to say? Why? Because we "feel" the person who is writing and we long to understand their passion and experience. That passion is what brings a whole new level to the words on the page. Words can be "just words" or "just info" or they can be moving and thought provoking.

Writing your passion, even if not for profit directly, (like sharing on a blog) gives you exposure - which in time can lead to great paying opportunities. It may even lead to paying opportunities writing about your passion - even better right?

Write what you know, write what is in your heart and share that knowledge. It's a gift to others that will return to you.

Don't have a blog? Share writing on HubPages - my Hubs in one short month have been visited and read over 2000 times! Why? because writers there are passionate about writing. They read, they share, the encourage and they help you. I wrote engaging hubs to help others and they have been recognized. Just yesterday the Hub newsletter went out and my Hub 101 Free Tools Every Freelance Writer, Web Designer, and Graphic Artist Needs was featured.

Today, I found out that I have had many new visitors and from the comments people have left they truly appreciate that I took the time/effort to create a resource that is valuable and useful. I am getting exposure as a writer and freelancer because that hub links to my portfolio as well. I did something that helped others, and it also provides reciprocal benefits.

From a business perspective, Hubs are also a great way to generate back links to your own websites and blogs which will help improve your search engine rankings as well. Ad Sense can be used to monetize your Hubs for residual income.

On a personal note, I take pride in knowing something I created is giving benefits to others. I believe that what we put out is returned to us. Use this in your writing practice - do what you love - show your passion! It's that passion and drive that will ultimately sell you!

Query Letter Fatal Flaws & How to Avoid Them

2011-07-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

If you're like me the art of querying hasn't been without it's bumps and bruises along the way. Pitching at the right time, to the right person in a manner that is engaging and gives a great hook can seem intimidating at first.

Over time, you kind of start to develop a system though and every rejection I have chosen to view as a lesson in tweaking my system.

Writing is a competitive field and there are many players so it is important to not only follow tips on "what to do" - but also what NOT to do and my hub today shares 9 "fatal flaws" that will kill any query letter and what to do to remedy or avoid them. Using these tips will help you to write good query letters that have a better chance of being accepted.

Learn more: 9 Fatal Query Letter Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Cheap or Free Ways to Market Yourself

2011-07-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

My hub today talks about 25 ways to promote a business on the cheap. Many freelance writers don't consider themselves to be "a business" and this could be costing you a lot of potential customers.

As a writer, you can list yourself locally as a copywriter or as providing Editing services. this allows you to list yourself for free locally which can dramatically increase your viewership and customers.

Although my hub today is about "small business" in general, don't make the mistake of thinking solo work or freelancing work is not an "actual business". You can enjoy many of the same advertising perks that brick and mortar businesses do.

Learn more at my latest hub 25 Cheap or Free Ways to Market Your Small Business

Totem Wisdom - My Latest Creative "baby"

2011-07-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to do a website on animal totems for as long as I can remember. I love animals, always have. I also believe that humans have revered the animals throughout time because they truly do show us a lot about ourselves.

When I developed this website with Nick, our goal was to look at an animal, learn about it's habits, diet, where it lives, and it's most unique traits. We then blended those qualities into individual totem animal pages that show viewers how different animals carry lessons that they can use on their path.

Totem animals have often sparked my creativity and I had written about them before, but I wanted to create a place where I could use all of my skills - graphic design, web design, and writing all in one place to create something beautiful that others would enjoy as well.

This project was the funnest thing I have done in ages and I am going to keep expanding on it, adding more animals and custom art.

Please stop by and let me know what you think. Perhaps a free totem reading will spark your creativity today.

www.TotemWisdom.com

Self-Promotion - The Importance of Backlinks in Marketing Your Work

2011-07-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed lately, I have posted links to articles I have written on HubPages. There is a good reason to write content for a few larger websites. The revenue you earn on these sites is not very high, but what it does allow you to do is build "backlinks" to your primary websites and blogs. This increases your exposure to new readers, and brings traffic to your own websites or blogs where you can also share your expertise with others.

Backlinks help your website or blog to rank higher on search engines, particularly is your sites and articles are getting backlinks from well established websites. In my few weeks hubbing, I have met a lot of great writers and my website traffic to all of my sites has increased noticeably as has my AdSense revenue.

Writing well on other sites also helps you to establish your credibility in your area(s) of expertise and can be great to use as clips when you are looking for freelance writing jobs online or in print.

That being said, avoid websites that are merely link farms or that have tons of low quality content. You don't want your name associated with websites of poor quality. If anything and everything gets approved and there is no efforts in place to maintain quality standards, you want to stay away from them.

Another benefit to cross promotion and more exposure is the chance for things that you have written to "go viral" on social networks etc. The more something you have written is voted up, shared, etc. the higher it will climb in search engines.

If your content is useful and "evergreen" - meaning it is something people will value for a long time to come, residual income and future contacts will always flow your way from that work. Some people see a few cents a day on sites like Hubpages as not worth the effort, but they are not considering the larger picture. Don't be those people ;). Persistence and strong, evergreen content pays off for an unlimited time.

Be sure to visit my latest hubs for more great freelance resources for freelance creatives of all kinds!
http://hubpages.com/profile/ChristinS

101 Free Tools for Freelance Creatives

2011-07-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

I did a contest entry hub for the HubPages share and share alike contest. The post I entered features 101 very carefully selected and reviewed links that are the best free resources around for freelance writers, freelance web designers and graphic artists.

It is my hope that this post will give freelancers some new tools and that you will find it useful and share it. There is something there for every freelance creative. I can't believe how much I learned simply compiling it. I brought together a lot of my current favorites and to flesh it out I researched even more resources. It has turned out to be an excellent compilation and I plan to bookmark and use it myself LOL.

Please view my Hub "Every Freelance Writer, Web Designer, and Graphic Artist Needs" Vote it up, ping it out to your friends on Facebook and Twitter and spread the word. I really appreciate it!

How to Write With More Purpose

2011-07-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

I spent some time this morning on Hubpages sharing with other writer's a detailed explanation of how to do a Writer's Collage.

Although it can seem a bit daunting or like a lot of work at first, the benefits are so amazing.

It's ironic that pieces of my past writing were actually able to illuminate future goals for me that I hadn't considered. I learned so much about myself in the process of doing the exercise that it not only helped my writing, it proved to be quite cathartic to me personally as well.

I believe writing heals. It has worked for me since I was a child and I am always in awe of how it seems to show me new things even now. The more I write, the more I learn about myself and the more I am able to use my creativity to encourage and inspire others. Writing is the tool I use to realize my larger goal of helping others find their own inner light.

Visit my hub and learn how to do a Collage for yourself. This is a great exercise whether you are a new writer or a seasoned pro. You'll definitely gain something new from the process and I hope it will inspire you to write in new ways, with more purpose and meaning.

101 Writing Prompts for Creative and Non-Fiction Writers

2011-06-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

I believe our writing flourishes when we experiment with different writing styles.

Creative writers benefit from learning the more structured forms that non-fiction writing adheres to, while non-fiction writers are better able to make their content engaging when they make it creative and connect well with their readers.

Please view my latest hub for 101 writing prompts that are challenging for every type of writer! Challenge yourself and grow - both personally and as a competent writer.

http://hubpages.com/hub/101_writing_prompts

The prompts here will provide great ideas for articles, short stories and self-discovery journal writing. Enjoy! :)

The 12 Universal Laws Explained

2011-06-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Many of you are probably familiar with the "Law of Attraction" due to popular movies/books like "The Secret".

While I also enjoyed that series very much, I've found that there is a lot more to it than that and a lot of people are left without the full knowledge they need to truly manifest their desires.

I have spent a great deal of time learning and pondering the various laws of the universe - long before I knew the specific names of the laws ;).

This has led me to write my latest piece The 12 Universal Laws Explained in a Nutshell

The Law of Attraction DOES work - but not without the full application of all the other universal laws which correspond with it. This article teaches the other universal laws by describing them with real world examples. I hope you will find it useful and pass it on :)

Sincerely,
Christin

Daily Power Words - Freedom Video

2011-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hub Pages - What I like about them

2011-06-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

I just discovered the whole Hubpage phenomenon and I think it will give me a good venue to show off some of my other writing.

Writing a Hub is easy and allows you to produce articles about whatever subject(s) you are knowledgeable about. You earn revenue through Adsense and Amazon, but I think one of the best things about it is using it as a way to showcase different writing styles.

I have used it so far to publish some articles on herbal remedies (another passion of mine that doesn't fit in with any of my established blogs) and a short story. I am of course just getting started with it, but I hope it will generate some sideline income. Like anything, you get out of it what you put in. Needless to say I have "hopped" some really beautiful writing there and some just made my cringe.

If any of you reading have used HubPages please comment and let me know what you think of them. I'm happy to follow your hubs if you follow mine :)

3 Simple Steps to Take Your Power Back

2011-06-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

As you all know - I am a big advocate for personal growth and self-discovery. I believe each person comes here to learn and that all experiences have something beneficial that can be gleaned from them.

I found this article this morning - something I wrote a long time ago and hadn't shared yet so I thought I would post it because it is relevant :).

Take Your Power Back in 3 Steps

Take your power back! The few steps outlined below will start you on the path to liberation and show you how to live a more rewarding life.

Acceptance: This is the first important lesson to living an empowered life. Living in the past does not allow us to move forward. Let go of futile things like regret. We don't always have to like what happened, or what others have done that is harmful, but dwelling on things only keeps us stuck. Holding onto pain ultimately hurts us more than the original transgression anyway. Accept what has come before, that is the first step to finding peace. This doesn't mean "like it" - but accept it and look for the lessons that can be gleaned from it.

Secondly - Forgiveness. We don't have to "forget" to forgive, but in the act of forgiveness we say "I am not going to allow this person or this situation to have power over my life". When we make a conscious decision to forgive, we allow ourselves to move forward with a new sense of freedom. Forgiveness is the ultimate act of taking your power back.

Finally, Release. Once we have accepted the person/situation and made a conscious decision to forgive ourselves/others etc. we are free to release that burden from our soul. In release, comes the ability to rebuild and start fresh. Release lifts the weight of the negative emotions of anger, regret, sorrow. When we release them, we open up to higher vibrational frequencies which in turn draw more positive people and circumstances into our world.

Once you have worked on these steps, it is important to keep the ball rolling. Accountability is the final lesson for leading an empowered life. Stop being a victim, stop blaming others. Take ownership of your own life. You are in control of your destiny based on your choices and actions. You cannot control the actions of others, but you can choose your own. Recognition of this fact allows the individual to feel more in control of his/her own destiny as opposed to feeling victimized by circumstance.

3 Quick Tips to Beat Writer's Block that Actually Work!

2011-06-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

There are tips galore for breaking the grip of writer's block. Writer's block happens to the best of writers and it can be a very foreboding feeling - especially when you depend on your writing to help feed the family and pay the bills.

I have an ironic inner issue that I have learned to play along with - and it has prompted some of my better writing. I feel amazingly pressured by deadlines - so much so that I freeze. However, when I am playing a game I love the pressure to solve a puzzle or do something as quickly as possible - which leads us to tip one.

Beat Writer's Block Tip 1

The little game I play with myself is to get ideas down on paper - everything else can come in revisions later. It involves a timer and free writing.

I do this in a couple of ways - either by choosing a subject or just writing whatever comes out. I set a timer and the idea of the "game" is to see how many ideas I can come up with in the allotted time. Usually just one "round" of this free writing will get my words flowing. Sometimes, the brain is still stubborn though and in that case I set the timer again and "compete" with myself to get more ideas during the second round.

The key components to excellent free writing:
Granted some of these can be harder than they sound, but keep practicing and you'll find free writing techniques the most valuable for overcoming writer's block and allowing words to flow more easily and frequently.

* Forget punctuation, spelling and other distractions - it's only for you
* If you get off topic keep writing anyway sometimes you'll come around full circle and end up developing even more well-rounded ideas.
* Allow your ideas to flow freely and don't try to "correct" them as you write - let go and ALLOW yourself to just write - without fear or consequence just do it.

Beat Writer's Block Tip 2

Sometimes it's just difficult to come up with ideas. A few things I do for this is consciously ask questions. Watch the news or read a magazine and as you do ask deeper questions - "why would someone do that" or "what lead to this", "how else could you...?" etc. Those questions can lead to neat new ideas to explore.

Another idea is to use SEO tools to see what people are searching for - what do they want to know? Find something interesting and write an outline for that type of article to pitch (or write the article and sell it as online content right away)

Beat Writer's Block Tip 3

set up a mic and voice record - ask questions, talk about what's on your mind, share insights you had about something you read etc. It's the "speaking" equivalent of a free writing session, but allows you to get a lot more ideas out in a short time. Later on listen to your recording and glean ideas from that.