Writing freelance is no different.

A freelance writer needs a tool kit, it’s just not as big or as red – and weighs a heck of a lot less. Let’s look at the tool “drawers” and examine what should be in each of them:

• Everyday Tools – As you can imagine, these are the tools that you reach in and grab every time you sit down to write. Most of these tools you may not even realize you are using while you are writing but they are nonetheless invaluable to your work. These include your grammar and spelling skills, your sense of text flow, your voice. They need to be sturdy, they need to be sharp.
• Management Tools – These are the tools you use to help manage projects and your freelance business. Management tools can be paper based with a file cabinet or they can be software to help you keep organized. Some tool kits will have both methods in use. Good accounting software and a good word processor are the basics here.
• Contact Tools – Without contacts, your freelance writing will end up being little more than personal journaling – and that doesn’t pay the rent. Your contact tools are all of the means at your disposal to locate and keep in touch with your contacts. These contacts may be the regular visitors to your web site, or maybe they are potential new clients. Regardless, they need constant shaping, so tools like newsletters, e-books and other branding items need to be used regularly. Your social media tools should be in this drawer as well. Do you use and understand Twitter? What about Facebook and some of the other sites? They are indispensable for making new contacts, and keeping old contacts fresh.
• Work Finding Tools – Unless you come to the table with an established client list, you need to have some tools in this drawer to help you find work. If it’s writing experience you need to gain, then this drawer should have some sites where you can bid on and find freelance writing work. Sites such as E-Lance and Textbroker are great starting out tools. Another tool in this drawer is a list of freelance job sites that you can go to every day and peruse for work. Do you think locally? Flyers, business cards and the time taken to contact local business owners directly are great tools that can boost your freelance writing business.

Every writer’s tool kit will look a little different, and that’s okay. The important thing is that you keep a tool kit and you work to add tools to it on a regular basis. Also, make certain the tools you have are sharp and of good quality.

Let’s hear it from you. What tools are in your tool kit that you have found invaluable as a freelance writer?

Image credit: aliedwards

In many cases, the people who bid ultralow are desperate for the work and that in itself is a bad sign. Experienced Freelance buyers understand that desperation is a good indication that quality is lacking. Freelance buyers often weed out the top and bottom bidders and look around the middle. In addition to desperation driving away buyers, an understanding of the project and its parameters is also key. Many people who hire writers on freelance sites automatically discount the two dollar bidders and narrow their search to bids which are around the middle of the pack. In addition, many of these buyers have previously been stung by $2 bidders who rarely do what they say they will do. Buyers understand the work they are offering costs more money to do well. This type of initial filtering by experienced buyers is typical.

Most freelance writers misunderstand the level of expertise the buyers have in recruiting for writers. These buyers generally understand how long it will take to do the job and how much someone living in the West who can speak English fluently needs to earn. More importantly than those two points, they understand that good writers are worth paying well. In many cases, they are doing test projects on freelance sites in order to grab a writer for the long term. They are looking around the middle of the pack in terms of price, but prices can easily be increased over the duration of the relationship.

Freelance writers should try and see past the $2 see the true nature of a large section of good buyers on these sites. Many of them will pay many times more over the long term than they will for an initial project. The freelance writers who understand this are filling their diary in record time at sites like elance.com and guru.com. The ones who don’t are continually under pressure for new business and for a way to increase your rates.

Freelance sites are a bit like a dating agency… you aren’t going to buy a big rock on a first date… but that doesn’t mean you never will.

This guest post was written by: Barry Walls of www.strategicoutsourcers.com/blog. Fellow freelance writers might be interested in Barry’s Strategic Outsourcers course. The course teaches how you can reach $60/hour with freelance writing within a short amount of time.

I broke up the tasks into three categories:

• Things I’ll definitely get paid for – these are things like blog posts at various sites, and a few small projects for reliable clients.
• Things that need to be done that should lead to a paying gig in the future – A query letter for a book that has tremendous potential based on the life story of an amazing friend.  Also, writing the first chapter of a non-fiction book for a ghostwriting project.
• Things that are writing related such as posting on my own blog – These writings do not pay me directly but over time they should be increasing my sphere of influence which should lead to more paying work in the future.

All of these are necessary to my success as a freelance writer. The troublesome task is how to manage these so that the balance is just right.  Focusing on any one category will result in the other’s becoming weaker players in the game. It would be nice to be paid for every word I tap out and in some regard, I believe I do. All of the time I spend on my blog writing tips and inspiring writers comes back to me in some form.  Maybe it’s not cash in hand at the moment, but I am certainly building social capital. Social capital can be invaluable in this highly competitive writing world. Opportunities to connect with people are opportunities for future growth and clients.

The work that I am doing for which I’m not being paid at the moment is important work to do because if it is done well, I ultimately will be compensated for it, perhaps handsomely.

As for the blog posts and smaller client jobs that are definitely paid gigs, they keep the landlord happy and they are great things to have in a portfolio. When a potential client is looking at hiring me I can point out that in addition to my own soapbox, I write for this website and that one as well as the content for these web sites. It all looks good.

The message here is simple, really. Strike a balance for the different types of writing that you do. As long as you are moving your freelance writing business forward with your writing then you are doing the right thing. On a regular basis, take the time to review how your writing day is divided. Balancing your writing will move you and your business in the “write” direction.

I’m curious to know if any of you freelancers out there divid your writing into any other piles. If so, what do they look like? What methods do you employ to ensure a balanced writing plate?

1. A strong website

Your website is often the first point of contact with prospective clients. Unless your website clearly showcases your personality, your creativity and your style, customers will be hard pushed to make the mental connection often needed to align their needs with your services.

A strong USP is a must to tell people what you are all about and how you can help them – so they don’t run off to the guy around the corner.

You can pretty up a website all you like but if you lack a clear USP it is highly likely people will just leave and go to your competition instead. Despite having said this, it is important that your website is nice on the eye. The color scheme of your site is more important than you think! Colors deliver emotions!

The design should be straight forward, easy to navigate with your most important assets easy to spot. If you want to promote yourself as a published print or digital author, I suggest you place your prose in a prominent location – easy to spot for your website visitors. If you suck at web design, hire a pro. It will be well worth your investment.

2. Your business attire

Your business elements of style should consist of proper email communication, excellent reliability and strong copy to have clients eat out of the palm of your hands. Each of these style elements are as important as the next if you want a steady stream of ready-to-buy customers.

Proper email communication: I’m still amazed at how many freelancers fail to communicate in a decent manner in their email communications. To make matters worse, many lack a decent email signature that points people to their prospective online profiles. I also see a lack in professionalism while communicating by email. If you want work from me, PLEASE start out by looking at how you formulate your emails. I can’t stress this enough.

If your first point of contact with a possible client is by email you better make sure the copy rocks!

Excellent reliability: Reliability and accountability is everything if you intend to become a fully-booked freelancers. Your clients need to KNOW that they can rely on you, no matter what. When I see how certain freelancers treat their business, I quickly realize that they will never make it to the next level – they are simply tottering along for the ride, hoping for some leftover crumbs of the successful. Well, I’ve got news for you – you’ll never become what you wish for if you are not prepared to treat your business like A BUSINESS instead of treating it like a hobby!

Strong copy: Strong copy isn’t necessary top quality copy. You can earn a killer income as an average writer and many do so right now. If you still believe that grammar is the most important part of a highly successful freelance writing business then I’ve got news for you. Yes, grammar is somewhat important, but it isn’t everything.

To write strong copy is to combine facts with style while injecting your own personality. Then you present in a way that appeals to your readers. That’s it! Did you hope for more? Even a 12-year old can write strong copy. To write exquisite copy is to help people with their problems, offering them solutions that appeal to them, without making them feel as if they have been marketed to.

If you can master those aspects of style for your business, then I can almost guarantee you will see incredible success.

3. Marketing

The last element of business style is marketing. I admit openly that I suck at selling. Selling yourself is like trying to whore your conscience to the devil. It simply doesn’t work. Marketing, contrary to popular belief is not beating down doors to find new clients -it is more so a subtle approach to branding your online identity. Be everywhere, get recognized.

If people see your name appear on every popular industry blog, website, forum and social networking site their perception of you rises – heck, you could suck so bad at what you do and people still think the world of you because they believe you to be an important person – otherwise why you you be so ever present?

Association with famous people is another great way to market yourself. Many freelancers do this VERY successfully right now. Just look around you. Study the masters and copy what they are doing. It works. No need to re-invent the wheel!

4. Uniqueness

The last element of style in business is the importance to stay unique – be yourself. If you copy the cool guy next door, chances are that people will just laugh at you. Find your own strong core and build on it.

Are you good at networking? Do you excel at design? Are you a great teacher? Regardless what you find within yourself, take it and make it your USP.

Now tell me, what are YOUR elements of style in your business?

Monika

Image credit: topgold

Before you can even think of claiming your spot on the Internet you need to be absolute certain about your strongest assets as a freelancer! If you are really good at SEO writing then make it your own. If on the other hand you prefer to pen poems or write fiction, then by all means claim that niche. Believe me, there is plenty of room on stage for all of us.

Some spots might be more illuminated than others, meaning some writers get more of the limelight and razzmatazz, but does it REALLY matter? Of course not! In fact, you can easily earn double the amount of income than the much-celebrated freelance writer next to you. Just because he or she is favored by others doesn’t mean they make the dosh they could be being quietly in the background – the not so bright spot on stage.

Instead of worrying about being recognized by millions worry about your diary, and how you can best fill it with paying jobs, each week. Did you notice that I didn’t write high paying jobs? That was done on purpose because you can make some great money with a mediocre pay if you learn how to leverage the numbers.

Attaining ultimate success in business is ALL about LEVERAGE! It’s a numbers game and it has much to do with the odds. Once you see the light in that last sentence you really drive your income levels to heights you never deemed possible. If you need more clarification on LEVERAGE, then you might like Barry Walls’ online course. He has recently launched a course for freelance writers helping them to increase their income in a short time span by using leverage in their business.

To finish off this post I want to stress to you that it isn’t important whether you carve a spot in the limelight at all. What IS important is your understanding of business metrics and how to work them to your own advantage. Once you learn this, nothing will stop you from achieving your wildest dreams!

Monika

Image Credits: bluesparrowhawk2008

Web Resources For Health & Productivity

1. 5 Useful Productivity Tips For Web Workers. This guide offers a few tips that will help you on your journey to become more productive with your work online.

2. 7 Important Fitness Tips For Web Workers. This helpful guide provides you with the necessary steps that a web worker must take to
prevent weight gain, mental stress and other health issues as you sit behind a computer day after day.

3. Geeks Guide To Productivity. A guide that comes in the form of a weblog that is dedicated to helping web workers become more productive, and bring greater success to your online business.

4. Secrets To A Healthy Life. An eBook that will give you everything you need to pull yourself out of that unhealthy rut behind your computer and change to a lifestyle full of fitness and good health.

5. The Healthy Living Guide for Web Workers: 50+ Resources This guide provides a list of resources to help deal with the various health related issues that web workers face, such as stress, eating disorders, fitness and more.

6. The Happy Entrepreneur: 57 Tips and Resources to Make Solo Work FUN! This guide lists resources are helpful when working on the web becomes lonely and unproductive.

7. Top 10 Distraction Stoppers. This one is a guide to software and programming tricks that will help you stay focused while you work on the web.

8. Data Mining and Business Intelligence: A Guide To Productivity Gives you a synopsis of how to apply data mining technology in a business setting. This guide offers solutions to a number of problems faced by web workers to enhance productivity and promote intelligence.

9. The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Organizing Your Life This guide covers everything from organizing your job to getting the most out of your vacation.

10. 101 Tips for Telecommuters This guide provides web workers with strategies to enhance productivity, improve relationships and manage a healthy life.

Working for yourself on the Internet makes it easy to procrastinate and put off things that need to be done. Without a boss to breathe down your neck, it is up to you to push yourself to make that deadline. Likewise, without a personal trainer dragging you out of bed each and every day for your morning workout, staying fit and healthy is also somewhat of a chore.

The guides listed above are just a few that are available to you. Remember to visit your local libraries and bookstores for even more
information on how you can be a healthy and productive web worker. Also, check online often, as the resources are infinite.

About the author of this post: Dena White is a freelance author and writes about healthcare career topics, such as how to obtain an online nursing degree, tips for job advancement, and more.

Here is a snippet of the phone conversation:

“Ok then.  How do I get to your place?”

“You know where 4-corners is?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, it’s nowhere near there.” Oy, this was going to be a long conversation. “Hehe, ok you wanna take KGB road for about a mile, turn left at the mailboxes. Go over the creek and make another left after the third guardrail. Go past the Wheeler’s old red barn and turn right on the dirt road, I’m at the end of it.”

I found the place. The directions were fine if not unconventional.

These folks were the ones to do the job.  Joe was friendly with a firm hand shake. Now, the yard looked like the aftermath of an explosion at a John Deere factory, but I could just tell that Joe knew what he was doing. We chatted for a bit and I left, knowing that my lawn mower was in good hands.

I imagine Joe was about as busy as he wanted to be. He didn’t have a fancy storefront with neon signs and a plush waiting room. His business was utilitarian by nature. He was not easy to find and he certainly wasn’t easy to get to.

Joe has a lot of luxuries that freelance writers just can’t afford to have.

We have to be easy to find. There are thousands upon thousands of storefronts competing for clients. If folks have to “turn right after the Wheeler’s old red barn” to find you then you’re not going to make it. And that would be a shame, because chances are you just might be the “Joe” of freelance writing – a warm handshake and a winning smile, all backed up by the best writing around.

Here are some tips to help make you easy to find:

• Make certain your web site is technically correct. What I mean to say is, be certain all of your behind the scenes meta tags and such are all in line.  Have your site maps in place and make certain you are in the loop with Google, MSN and Yahoo.
• Have an attractive storefront so that if someone makes it to your site they want to stay and explore.
• Be an active player in your niche community. Visit other sites in your area of expertise.  Learn from what they have to say.  Comment on their blogs and directly contact them with a compliment or question.
• Get your name out there. Go get yourself Twitterized and Facebooked. Once you’ve signed up with social media, resign yourself to spending some time each and every day connecting with people and interacting.
• Build a local following. Become active in your local business community. Keep business cards with you at all times and hand them out at every opportunity.
• If you have the money, a little local advert in the paper or on the radio can’t hurt. You don’t need a huge budget necessarily. Work within your means and you will still derive benefit.

So, I went to pick up the lawn mower from Joe the other day. It worked just fine. I gave him my card and let him know that if he ever needed some great advertising copy, I’d be the person for the job.

What kinds of things do you do to make it easy for folks to find you?

Image credit: wrote

To re-connect with our creative self we first need to still the busy mind. When the mind is still, we can focus on our dreams, our aspirations and our journey while getting rid of useless mind clutter all the same. Sometimes we hardly recognize that we are stuck because we are too busy getting ahead. So how do we become aware of our need for a mental break – a much needed shift to re-align ourselves with the muse? Read on to find out…

Typical signs of impending burnout

A classic sign of being overworked is when you are restlessness at night. If you have trouble going to sleep, and wake up in the middle of the night screaming because of nightmares or simply find yourself consistently tired – even after a long night of sleep – then these are all very strong signs to stop and take note of your current situation.

Other indicators of possible burnout could be a short fuse; you might blow up easily; nervous energy, you can’t sit still for even five minutes; or you feel depressed without any apparent reason.

Dealing with the situation

To first thing you need to do if you find yourself in this situation is to stop and analyze what brought this on. Perhaps you are battling an increasingly hard to handle workload. It could also be a case of constant distractions in your home, making it hard for you to think and concentrate.

Once you know the culprit/s you can take pro-active measures to deal with the situation. The following suggestions are ideal exercises to claim back your muse if you find yourselves stuck:

• Listen to guided meditation.
• Go for a long walk.
• Keep a diary or daily pages.
• Work out.
• Take a short break (it doesn’t have to be the weekend either).
• Spend some time in solitude.
• Start a creative journal (stick mementos, write prose, brainstorm ideas, etc.)
• Dance like a mad man/mad woman.
• Sing at the top of your voice.
• Meditate.
• Do yoga.
• Cuddle a pet.
• Indulge.
• Luxuriate.
• Insert your own ideas…

Regardless what you end up choosing to re-connect with your muse, the most important thing you can do is to distance yourself from your current problem; the one that is keeping your mind hostage. By keeping some much-needed space between you and the issue at hand you will learn to recognize what is important and what isn’t. Once you get rid of this mental clutter you are once again free to write.

Feel free to share your ideas of how you re-connect with your muse. Thanks for visiting.

Monika

Image credit:laffy4k

As a foreword to this document I wanted to say that in the end we are all responsible ourselves for what we get paid, despite the fact that a lot of the pay rates for writers simply suck!

So please enjoy:

A Freelance Writer’s Declaration Of Independence

When in the career of a freelance writer’s life it becomes necessary to dissolve the restraining pay rates offered by many clients, the writer shall take the matter in his own hands by refusing to work for such insulting amounts.

As proud professionals writers are entitled to remuneration that directly reflects their ability and experience. To believe otherwise is simply insane and self-harming.

Not all writers are created equal, and to believe so is wrong. Our Creator has gifted some of us with a special ability – the ability to take prose and mold such it into lively, beautiful and powerful sentences.

In the pursuit of Liberty and Happiness a writer shall claim his rights to fair pay. He shall not be governed by what is deemed to be acceptable in the industry. Instead, the writer shall secure himself a career laden with clients who appreciate the finer aspects of good writing.

To secure his rights to freedom, a writer has to stop pimping himself out to clients for a measly pay rate. To secure these rights, a writer has to work the job bidding sites used to find work to his own advantages. It is the Right of a such writer to abolish the act of bidding on low paying job offers and alter it to serve his own agenda instead.

Job bidding sites long established should not be used for causes to serve the stingy and tight. In the case of abuse it is the writer’s responsibility to alter the course of the future to secure his rights to fair pay. In the interest of all involved the writer has a duty to throw off these cheap and non-respecting customers by not bidding on their work.

Once such a customer learns to understand the difference between quality and quantity he will be more than happy to remunerate the writer for his work accordingly. A writer shall not be responsible for his repeat injuries of the pride and soul, and suffering of the wallet by working for such customer.

A writer shall not succumb to the absolute mental Tyranny of these clients. To prove his commitment to his cause a writer will:

• Join forces with the likes of mind.
• Stand tall against all opposition.
• Defend his rights to Freedom and Liberty.
• Refuse to work for a pittance.
• Seek ways to find clients who appreciate the finer art of the written word.
• Not feel threatened by the lower end of the market. Instead, he will use this lack of appreciation for his craft to outperform his low-end competitor.
• Not be constrained by his fellow Citizens taken captive by the clients looking for cheap writing whores.
• Take charge of his own destiny as it is his duty to be paid what he deems worthy enough.
• Not succumb to the merciless Writer Savages whose known rule of warfare – to work for pittance pay – is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions in the freelance writing industry.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United Freelance Writer’s Declaration Of Independence Guild are solemnly declaring our intentions to abide by these guidelines and intentions. To support this act we mutually pledge our legions to abide by the above.

Inspirational Sources: American Declaration of Independence

Pledge Your Allegiance:

Feel free to pledge your own allegiance by placing this sticker on your site. A link back to this post would be appreciated but is not necessary.

Write well. In success.

Monika

This is actually a very annoying habit of mine and I know that I have to be better than that. The free tool is going to help me in regards to keeping my desktop clean in appearance. Fences by Stardocks is a free product available for immediate download from their website. Once you install the .exe file (for Windows) you can go about arranging your files into several folders and choose where exactly you want them placed on your desktop.

I don’t even know how I ever managed without Fences in the past and my desktop looks nearly “sexy” now that it is all organized and clean. The good thing is that even if I stuff up and fail to keep the folders in check, Fences will do its own bit to keep the look clean and uncluttered.

You simply can’t beat that! If you visit the Stardock Fences website you can learn all you need to know about this killer desktop cleanup tool. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Monika