English: Book and apparatus for writing. Engraving (prints). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1.  Don’t set yourself a writing routine or stick to it.

2.  Always make sure that doing your writing is at the bottom of your list of priorities, and even when you are writing, if something else you have to do that day springs to mind, then go and do that instead.

3.  If one of your friends comes round to invite you out for coffee, just go, no matter how busy you are with your writing.

4.  Whenever you’re writing, answer the phone every time it rings and answer the door every time someone knocks.

5.  Always feel guilty for doing your writing instead of doing what other people want you to do.

6.  Don’t read any articles about writing, especially if it’s written by an expert.

7.  If anyone ever tells you of a simple and profitable way to make money from your writing, don’t believe them and never try it.

8.  Never take a writing course to hone your skills.

9.  Don’t visit any writing sites on the internet, and never subscribe to their newsletters.

10. Don’t join any writer’s forums or participate in any online discussions.

11. Don’t get your own website to showcase your writing ability and writing services to the whole world.

12. Do everything you possibly can not to get your name known in the writing world.

13. Keep your work secret.  Always put your writing away in a draw when you’ve finished and never show it to anyone – especially editors and publishers.

14. Don’t enter writing competitions.

15. Don’t submit articles to paying websites.

16. Never even think about writing a book.

17. Especially don’t consider writing a profitable e-book.

18. They say you should write at least 5 article proposals or short stories every week.  If you do write them, don’t mail them.

19. If a magazine or publisher offers specific guidelines for submissions, don’t follow them.

20. If an editor likes your work and publishes it, never offer to write for them again.

21. If you send in a query to an editor and don’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, start ringing them and don’t stop until they make a decision about whether or not to publish your work.

22. If one publication rejects your work, assume that it’s worthless and unsuitable for every other publication and don’t send it anywhere else.

23. Whenever you receive a rejection letter, take it personally and throw your work in the bin.

24. Never ever consider the possibility that, if your work’s written from a different angle, it could be suitable for another market and sold again.

25. And if all that doesn’t make you fail, you can always just give up writing.

25 Ways to Make Sure You Are a Complete Failure as a Writer is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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So, I’ve talked a lot about residual income on this blog and I decided that it was time that my residual income efforts and reports had their own place.

Well, Squidoo helped me decide that.

I had a lens at Squidoo called 400 Days of Residual Income.  It was about my personal challenge to do something for 400 days straight to build my residual income – even if it was small.  People liked it.  I got lots of comments.  And when I didn’t update I heard about it.

Then Squidoo locked it.  I guess they decided that they didn’t like the topic much or something. Whatever.

Instead of crying about it I bought the domain and set up the site.

You can find it here.

The site is set up a little bit different than a standard blog.  There will be blog posts but a lot of the posts will actually be links to articles that I’m writing in other places online.  There will also be links to other people’s articles that I think are valuable.  And of course, there will be a daily report – at least one!

So, if you’re one of my followers, I hope you will come over to the blog and check it out.  Sign up for the email newsletter on the site so that you can get notified about new posts daily. The email newsletter goes out daily at 5PM CST.  There’s no sales involved – just posts of topic that will be of interest to anyone that is interested in making money online.

Come and join me at

400 Days of Residual Income

Join Me in 400 Days of Residual Income is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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YouTube has become a favoured site for many marketers looking to generate leads and improve revenue for businesses around the globe. When you think of a blog you think of an informative and interesting article that is written and linked back to your company.

These days YouTube is so popular because in essence it is a blog, just in a video format. You gain followers and are able to keep your target audience updated on the latest trends and developments, of course leading them back to your website to improve your website traffic.

While so many companies concentrate their online marketing efforts to their own web page, their social media platforms and their written blogs, recent surveys have shown that more businesses are now putting their marketing efforts into video blogs, as another useful social media tool.

When combining video blogs with a host of guest blogging services, companies are able to achieve success, improve visibility and increase their traffic exponentially in a short period of time. When you think of a social media platform such as Facebook you are targeting a much younger audience, the majority of users are under the age of thirty.

Using guest blogging services, your own business blog and video blogs you reach a much larger audience and are guaranteed to reach your specific target audience no matter the age, as these days everyone uses the internet whether on their home computer, tablet PC or their smartphone.

The internet has changed the way we market our businesses and making the most of the social media services available, companies are able to achieve success on a minimum budget.

Ian Phillips, a freelance writer, believes that through guest blogging services and video blogging a company is able to gain maximum exposure without exceeding their limited marketing budget.

In The Fast Lane – The Road To Social Media Marketing is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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I’ve just learned how to make my own infographics so I thought I would share one with you.  This is one I created for one of the sites I write for, Bubblews.com

You can use this infographic on your blog if you want to!

Bubblews Infographic is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Minimal modern writing desk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Can you remember the fear of waking up on the first morning after becoming a freelancer? That eerie yet exciting feeling of being your own boss starting to settle into your bones? It is a strange feeling that can become fear, stress and boredom very easily if you don’t keep yourself fresh and keep the momentum moving in the right direction.

When an ordinary person goes to work, they have a predetermined schedule that keeps them in check. Their boss wants them to start at 9am, so they jump out of bed, get ready and go. When you work for yourself you are the boss, and motivation and your working day is all on you. It can be easy to get an extra hour in bed and then have to play catch up for the rest of the day. You make your own hours, and motivation is incredibly important. If you’re not a self-starter you could see yourself become a freelance procrastinator instead of a freelance writer, and they don’t get paid well!

Set Yourself Goals

A freelance writer should set themselves goals just like any other worker. When somebody asks “where do you see yourself in five years?” you should have an answer for that. Maybe you want to have a series of eBooks published? A blog that is an authority in its niche? Either way, you should set yourself these goals and devise a plan that keeps you moving towards them every single days. It will give you extra motivation to stay focussed and avoid the rot settling in.

Keep Varied Interests

Even if you love what you write about more than you love your own friends and family, everyone can become stale and bored from time to time. This is where having hobbies and interests can really help out to reinvigorate you and keep you on the right track. Sitting down and writing for 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week is going to drive anybody a little crazy, so make time for you to step away and take part in some activities that have absolutely nothing to do with writing. When you step back into the writing zone you’ll be back on track in no time.

A Bit on the Side

No, this isn’t what you guys sniggering at the back are thinking! Freelance writing is a pretty solitary sport, so having some work that isn’t related to writing can bring in some extra money or just be a way to get away from the blinking cursor. A lot of freelance writers engage in charity and volunteer work or hold workshops and seminars are people looking for advice and direction in fields that freelancers might be able to help with. Like hobbies and interests, it keeps you social and engaged with the community at large, and that is so important.

Make Connections

There are thousands of freelance writers out there, and even more people who are looking for great writers to help shape their websites, their content and many other aspects of their business. But you won’t find them by sitting at home all day at your computer. Although a lot of your clients will probably come about by online contact, there is nothing more rewarding and more invigorating for a freelancer than making connections face to face. If these relationships blossom into business clients, that’s great, but even if it’s just some networking events where you can engage with people, it is an exciting and rewarding experience. You will find that the more human contact you have as a writer, the more goodwill comes your way. Strike up a balance between online and offline connections and you will always have somewhere to turn for advice or just a friendly chat.

Leave The House!

It is such an obvious point to make, but it really is something that a lot of freelance writers forget to do. Waking up in the morning and heading downstairs to the laptop and coffee machine can become the main objectives of the day very easily, and make for a pretty poor hygiene and fitness routine. Wearing sweatpants and a three-day growth isn’t an appealing look after a while, so it is really important to get into a routine of getting regular exercise away from the writing desk. If you have a dog it will certainly help, as you can help each other keep fit. But even if you don’t, there’s a big world out there and it isn’t going to be explored with a sedentary lifestyle. Keep the blood circulating from the brain to the legs and the legs may return the favour and get ideas and motivation flowing to the brain as well.

Don’t Be Afraid to Say No

Nothing puts a freelance writer under more pressure than having a client that is a bit of a pain in the backside. Demanding and challenging clients are great when they are paying well and their demands keep you focused and invigorated, but when they are just being a hassle, it might be time to say goodbye. Unfortunately, a lot of freelancers feel that they are in a privileged position when they have clients, and they might not have the confidence to feel like they can walk away. Trust in yourself. You are good at what you do and you can afford to say no. Sometimes you need to toughen up and cut the clients who are more trouble than they are worth. Having a good roster of clients will keep you fresh and motivated, and so will having the confidence to step away when you feel a relationship isn’t mutually beneficial.

Daley is a freelance writer who wants to help his fellow writers to get out there fully confident and armed with great writing. He can be found struggling with his own career at www.daleyjfrancis.com

Keeping Fresh as a Freelance Writer is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Image via CrunchBase

Since its official release in 2006 Twitter is constantly gaining power and popularity, and today it is a key factor in online business. Due to the fact that Twitter is a dynamic and constantly developing social network it could be the perfect place where you can build online reputation for your business, increase your sells and promote your company website. Here are some important facts and statistics aout Twitter that may influence your business:

- 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy brands that they are already following on Twitter

- Companies that use Twitter lead in their sales almost twice over companies that do not use the social network

- Do not forget that Twitter has more than 200 million registered accounts

And here is the question: Why do I need Twitter when I already have a Facebook page? 

The answer of this question is really simple – one social network is not enough topromote your products. In order to gain popularity and build the online reputation of your business you will need every possible place. Here are some differences between Twitter and Facebook:

While Facebook is focused on each individual connection that you build with a new user, with Twitter you have the ability to focus on building your reputation among professionals relevant to your business niche. Your presense on Twitter can bring traffic to your website from real potential customers.

And just like Facebook, with Twitter you can gain traffic for your website, where your potential customers can learn more about the products or services that you can offer them. The ability to promote your products to new potential customers is essential for your business and your marketing strategy.

You should keep in mind the the optimizing of a website does not only refers to building links. It also includes creating quality content and promoting that content online. As most of you know creating quality content is known as part of the onsite SEO process and promoting this content is included in Offsite SEO.

Each time when you are submitting your website in different directories you are actually promoting it. Each time when a link to your website is published somewhere on the Internet someone is visiting your website. Keep in mind that the users do not care about term like no follow atributes. If the user see a link that leads to interesting content he will probably click on that link. It is important to say that when a user clicks on a link many metrics are triggered like number of unique visitors, number of visiting the page etc. Since most of the other metrics (links and keywords, which are also matter of spam and black hat SEO strategies) are easy to manipulate the search engine machines pay a lot more attention to these metrics.

No matter that Twitter is social media created for communication and building new connections we can definitely say that it has value for every SEO campaign. With Twitter you can have positive influence on your website rankings in Alexa and make more people visit your website. If you can do that with Twitter, this is definitely an advantage that you must consider.

And in conclusion we have to say that if your presense in different social networks as Twitter is stronger you have bigger chance for higher rank n SERPs and more customers for your business.

This article was written by Vasilena Trendafilova, who is currently working as a SEO specialist. She is interested in SEO, online marketing, and social media websites. If you want to read more of her tips and ideas regarding SEO you can follow her on Twitter.

What Are The Benefits From Twitter For Your SEO Campaign? is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Who Will Win The Social Networking Battle Between FaceBook And Google+?

When Google launched Google+, their social network in 2011, it was the most direct and aggressive reply to FaceBook. Everybody wondered whether this was finally the social network that would defeat FaceBook. Two years on, the results are still not clear. FaceBook is still far ahead, but Google+ too has millions of users.

Why FaceBook could win

FaceBook has a leg up in many aspects and there is a reason it is the number one social network:

• It has 8 years of experience with how people use social network

• It is, at least for now, the default destination for people to hang out and share pictures

• It has an established ad network that is growing steadily

• There is not much reason for people to switch from FaceBook (other than privacy concerns)

Why Google+ could win

At the same time, Google+ has a few aces up its sleeves too. Some of the reasons people are optimistic about this social network’s chances are:

• It is backed by the largest internet company in the world

• It’s concept of Circles makes much more sense than FaceBook’s Friend lists

• Google already has the largest ad network in the world

• People who want to optimize their websites for search engine rankings are much likelier to switch to Google+

• Google+ has better privacy options than FaceBook as of today.

The case for businesses

The biggest selling point of social network for businesses is that their products can go viral and they get more exposure here. FaceBook has “Fan Pages” and Google+ has “Business Pages” for this very purpose.

Now, here is where Google+ can be much better for companies than FaceBook. Google+ allows “do follow” backlinks, which means that it can be used for link building. On the other hand, FaceBook has “nofollow” backlinks, so they cannot be tracked and they are of no value for search engine optimization.

Therefore, websites that use Google+ are likelier to get higher rankings on search engine results than those using FaceBook. The latter may change their stance on links, but as it stands, Google+ is the winner in this particular aspect.

Privacy

This is by far the biggest concern people have about social networks whether it is FaceBook or Google+. People are worried that these services have too much information about them and it makes them very uncomfortable. Both networks have privacy control features that will let you choose exactly what can be seen on your profile by different people.

Google+ makes it much easier for you to share information safely because its privacy controls are easy to use. FaceBook too has very good privacy controls but they are very difficult to use. It is much easier to inadvertently share information with the wrong people on FaceBook.

At the end of the day, FaceBook and Google+ are two different social networks with different points of focus. FaceBook is more suited for personal use because your friends and family are on the network. Google+ is much more suited to businesses who want to play well with the search engine.

As it stands today, FaceBook still has a big lead over Google+ because they are highly functional. Bug Google+ is still the only social network than challenges them and can beat the in the long term

Alex has written this article. I am into content creation business, and quality has always been our topmost priority. If you wish to buy essay according to your custom needs, feel free to visit buyessayonline.org now.

Facebook Vs. Google – Who Will Win is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Coupon examples (Photo credit: Christopher S. Penn)

I confess – I LOVE online shopping.  I buy as much as I can online.  I hate the waiting for it to be delivered but I love the fact that I don’t have to go out and get it.  It just gets delivered to my door (or sometimes to the post office because I live in a tiny little town) and I sign and it is mine.

But not everyone feels the same way because they aren’t finding the deals that I find.  Seriously.  There are a few secrets that you should know about.

And I’m going to share them with you today.

1. Beyond the Rack

I honestly don’t know why more people don’t know about this online store.  It is freaking awesome.  I have gotten some great deals here and there is almost always something that you need (or want).  It’s easy to use and they have some pretty decent customer service.  They have clothing, shoes, housewares, beauty stuff, and even electronics sometimes.

CLICK HERE to get your special invite from me to Beyond the Rack and start saving as you shop!

2. Facebook and Twitter

Seriously – you need to be utilizing these two social media networks if you want to really find great deals.  Follow your favorite online stores on Twitter and join the Facebook page of stores you like. Why?  Because many online stores reward their fans and followers by giving them limited time discount codes that they can use on purchases!  If you’re going to shop online anyway, just bookmark the items you want to buy and wait for a special discount code to come out and then save a bundle!

3. Look for coupons or coupon codes

It is so easy to find coupons and coupon codes for almost any online store these days.  If you aren’t sure where to find them, use Google. Type into the search engine (name of your store) coupon codes.  If they exist you will find them.  You might have to go through a few pages to find the most recent ones but try it – you’ll be amazed at what you find!

3 Secrets to Getting Deals Online is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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These ebooks are free on Kindle today.  If you don’t have a Kindle ereader you can read Kindle books for free with an app on your phone or on a tablet or you can even read them on your computer.

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Write, Edit, Revise: Learn Writing Skills, Editing Skills and Revising Skills

How To Become A Freelance Writer

9 Books for Freelance Writers that are FREE on Kindle Today is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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English: Eiffel Tower Deutsch: Eiffelturm Français : Tour Eiffel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s hard to get inspiration to write guest articles, blog posts, or even your own works of fiction when you’re sitting at home on your bed in a suburb outside of Pittsburg. A new trend in expanding your knowledge and learning more about different kinds of products, companies, and writing techniques, is to do it completely over the internet. However, if you want to stand out from the other freelancers, get more diverse clients, and write quality content, getting experience outside of your bedroom is a great place to start.

Many of the best articles I’ve read online come from those who have other careers and hobbies outside of just blogging. Career counselors who have been in the industry for several years give the best advice for those seeking jobs, scientists write the most convincing and educated articles about the chemistry of new cleaning products, and those who have been part of the business and marketing world and worked in the industry write the most unique and up-to-date information on SEO.

Getting experience…somewhere else!

With today’s networking tools like Facebook, Linked-In, and every single blog and forum on the internet, there is little need to even go outside your home to meet new people and learn about new and interesting places. However, if you’re a serious blogger and writer and want to write about more diverse topics and grow your clientele, you might want to consider getting off your bed and gaining experience for your articles. If you’re from outside the US and you’re writing for mostly US companies, you might consider getting a temporary visa to the USA to increase your knowledge about US companies through more than just internet research. Also, if you’re from the USA, living or visiting abroad will give you invaluable knowledge and experience that will augment your writing abilities.

If someone wanted to know more about the Eiffel tower, you’d tell them that they can either read about it, or that they can feel the metal on the tips of their fingers and take the elevator up to the top to breathe the Parisian air for themselves. There is no better way to understand a new or foreign topic than by getting off your couch and learning about it for yourself! Consider getting an internship in another city, or even a different country to gain more experience and increase your credentials to write about more topics. Trust me, one week abroad will open your eyes to an entirely new world and help you to understand a new culture, language, behavior, and even economic system in a way that will make your writing more interesting and remember able in the seas of blog posts.

The morning exploring…the afternoon writing!

If you have a new client that wants you to write articles about pest control, you could either study about different kinds of noxious weeds and pests, or you could put the company’s techniques to work and test and try out your own methods. Spending the afternoon exploring new places, or trying new things will lead to an afternoon of incredible writing!

An afternoon of writing will fly by after sampling new printer ink at the local print shop, trying a new cleaning product, asking your friends or even strangers at the store how they use search engines, or even watching what people order in McDonalds can give you something new and interesting to write about.

So the next time you find it difficult to write a convincing and educated article on different kinds of paint soluble, consider getting out and trying it yourself. Expand your work, your education, and your clientele by deciding to travel, intern and experience different atmospheres, products and lives!

Gaining Experience to Enhance your Writing is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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