Catapult Your Freelance Writing Career This 2014!

New year comes with a call for a fresh new start. What are your new year's resolution this time? Mine actually includes a vow to write more and hopefully inspire more to people with my and my family's experiences. While I have a career in public service, I still do write blogs and pursue a freelance writing career on the side. For me this is not merely for the additional income but also for the the continued practice and exercise of my craft. 

A lot of people also want to join the growing trend of of freelance writers. But what does a freelance writer really do? A freelance writer is considered as an independent contractor who provide services to different company or industry who may hire them.They are self-employed and have no formal ties with any company so they can work for one or as many as they can handle. 

How does one become a freelance writer?

People who choose this type of career, must write a lot and enrich themselves with modest education on "search engine optimization skills" and be able to drive traffic to a website. Companies clients or potential employers will not be looking at your educational degree but some may prefer if you have good background in English, Journalism, Marketing and others.  

Your absolute credentials that you can present are to your potential clients are your creativity, courage, your passion for writing and your willingness to show the real story behind what needs to be written. 

Starting a career in this industry can be easy, however, you have to learn the rules of writing and some of basic skills. If you are really serious about this shift, learning will be a piece of cake! Once you've armed yourself with the right values and skills, you'd develop a certain level of confidence to promote yourself to potential clients. Communicate with them so that you will learn and understand your client's needs and be able to produce the articles that they want and need. There are hundreds of freelance writing jobs that you can find today. If you manage this career well, you might be looking at a long term home-based freelance writing career that you love!

Finding Inspiration for Writing

Writing wonderful articles for me is not something that can be easily pushed or pulled. It takes a lot inspiration and motivation to come up with articles that I can proudly claim to be my own - even if it's only a ghostwriting task that I can't even claim. 

Some writers find great art inspiring so they take a look at pictures - nature photos, landscapes and seascapes. Others find inspiration from soulful music or instrumentals from their music player. Bloggers and online web managers constantly create content for their readers. I often wonder where they find inspiration and how they motivate themselves to write great posts every now and then. 

After several months of keeping house, being a hands-on mom to my son, an office girl, I continuously search for what will make me move and inspire me every time I feel like my creative juices has run dry. Here are some tips that have helped me get through this quell. 

Visualizing

Picture what you have to do or write about - find a photo or a journal in an outline form and start describing what you want to say or do. 

Find Some Quiet Time

Sometimes, disconnecting yourself from all the social media and gadgets helps in refreshing your mind. Enjoy the silence and simply breathe. Pray or meditate, relax and calm you senses. Listen to that inner voice then start writing.

Read

Most writers are also readers but because they become very busy with all their assignments, they forgot all the other things that they are passionate about. Have a break and read books about people who are movers and shakers. If you want, you can also watch movies. Many people also are encouraged by victorious and happy endings. 

Go Out and Explore

I'd like to consider myself as a travel writer so of course, nothing would inspire me more than going to a new place or destination. I'd suggest taking long walks along nature trails can stimulate the mind and see things in a new perspective. Exercise also rewards the body, produces endorphin to make you feel happy and clears your senses so that you can write more.

Talk to Friends

Remember that no one is perfect and every one is entitled to some down "moments" in their life. Listen to others. Ask for help and other's opinion then move on with your writing.  

Wherever you are, you can find inspiration and motivation for you to start writing again. You can also be one of the reasons for others to be motivated and inspired - open up and share what's in your heart and see the positive impact you have for others. 

Will Write For Chocolates: Consoling a Desolate Writer

Over the past couple of weeks, I was caught in a roller coaster ride of celebrating the holidays, vacationing, travelling and preparing to move out to settle in my home province. I also needed to juggle a couple of client's tasks that we're needed in time for the holidays.

All these took on an overwhelming feeling of mixed fear, apprehension as well as a bubbly excitement for the unknown. I will be having a new career, this one is bound to be more in-line with my writing. Yet I still couldn't let go of the job I learned to love for the past two years. I am also feeling really down especially when I think about leaving all the people that I've and also have treated me like family. I always wonder now what will my new working environment would be like.

But despite all these, my days would go on whether I like it or not. The only consolation I have right now is this pouch of my favorite Reese's peanut butter cups that Baba bought before I fly back from Sabah.

I'm not liking the way my thoughts and my words are going at the moment but I know things would turn out just fine. If I consume a little too much of these chocolates, then I doubt if I would be fine! (Hello Tonsillitis!!)

Work on the Road: Choosing Hotels with Wi-fi Connection in Kota Kinabalu

I recently took a 4-day trip to Kota Kinabalu to spend time with Baba. I booked flights from Clark, Pampanga to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in after considering if I should grab cheap flights to Atlanta by using promo code FL15 on CheapOair instead. AfterwhichWhen travelling to another country, wi-fi availability of great importance especially if you carry with you online tasks and assignments. So this is my number 1 requirement when I looked up hotels for my first ever trip out of the country.

The three accommodation arrangement I made are:

1. City Park Lodge at Jalan Pantai

Among the three choices, I wasn't really sure about booking this because of the "Pleasant" rating it has on Agoda, but arriving here was really a "pleasant surprise." The place looked clean and well maintained. The staff were all friendly and the wi-fi connection is really good! They charge from RM 64-73 per night and wi-fi is available at the lobby/reception and public areas. I actually gave this hotel a very high rating (8.7)

2. Borneo Gaya Lodge

We were a bit disappointed with our stay here though the wi-fi connection is good enough to reach the rooms. I booked a double room from Agoda for RM 68, the pictures looked nice but we were given a room without a window and the hot shower wasn't working. If it's not located centrally in Jalan Gaya, I wouldn't give it a passing rate. Next time I visit Baba in KK, we won't be coming back to this hotel.

3. Cititel Express

For our last night in Kota Kinabalu, I choose a nicer hotel and though there are several complaints on the small-ish rooms, we were quite satisfied and really had a great stay here. I booked a sea-view room for RM 103 and we paid an extra RM10 for 1 day unlimited wi-fi connection. The hotel was a short walk to the waterfront and surrounded with shops and restos. Baba and I decided that this hotel was really a great choice, though we wish that wi-fi will be free next time!

Que Horror: A No-Internet Connection Horror Story

Recently, I took a vacation to my parent's hometown in the sleepy island of Ticao Masbate. With the crowd of people taking the time off as well, it was a rough ride going there. I looked into the possibilities of taking freelance online writing jobs but decided against it. I know how backward the island is, and reliable internet connection will only be wishful thinking.

I finished all my assignments before heading out and travelling all of 16 hours via ordinary bus plus 2 hours sea travel via an outrigger boat and 30 minutes of motorcycle ride to finally reached my destination.

I discovered there is some-sort-of-an-internet connection via my mobile phone and made do browsing facebook and messaging/chat through it. I had a few relaxing days with my son and explored the beach in the afternoon. I got a message from one of my clients on facebook a couple of days before I'm due to travel back. I thought it was an easy task and I only need a few sources to come up with the article required so I accepted it. I brought out my alternative broadband stick(Smartbro) and a bunch of patience for I know it's going to take some time for each page to load. I retrieved the tasks the night before I left the island and started my search. Started working on it, sent it out after finishing and turned of my lappy.

The next morning, I work up extra early for my trip starts at 5am. While on the boat I checked my facebook messages and surprised that I need do a couple of changes on one of my articles. I replied and promised my client the revised article after 2 hours because I was still on the boat. When I finally reached Bulan port in Sorsogon - I almost cried! No internet connection available! Que Horror! Really it was crazy and I don't know what to do.

These situations should be expected but I didn't expect it this time. I hastily send another facebook message using my mobile and informed the client of the situation and asked for a couple more hours extension. I hurriedly hopped on the next bus to Legazpi and after 3 hours, I was able to finally send the article to my client.

How about you, what freelance writing horror stories do you have? Did power shut down or unreliable internet connection also disrupted your schedule and your work?

Understanding the Role of the Ghostwriter for Blogs

I have recently been accepting on-demand ghostwriting jobs for several bloggers and I'm starting to like it. For one it pays really well and there's not much technicalities to the articles required.

The key to being a successful ghostwriter really is about understanding your role in the process. You are writing for someone else and you have to put yourself into their shoes most of the time. In most cases, I read about my client's blog first to understand how they write. I have to set aside my own ideas in approaching specific topics and learn to keep my ego in check. I may be the one writing it, but really the client still has the last say.

Collaboration with the client is also important as you need to regularly check whether your material really captures the voice and ideas of your client. You need to do researches and provide output that puts your client on the active voice. Being flexible helps a lot when you work as a ghostwriter, with this you can develop long, productive working relationship with your blogger clients.  

Online Work beats the Traditional!

The latest survey from oDesk shows a significant increase in online hiring as more and more now prefer such time saving, money saving and hassle free method over the inconvenient traditional ways. oDesk presents us with an infographic on how online work has disrupted the traditional ways of hiring:

Cost-Effective Tools Newbie Freelance Writers can Use

There is an overwhelming number of freelance writers today. You can't ignore the fact the many will even under price themselves to get a project. How much harder it is for these newbies to purchase freelancing tools then?

As newbies to the world of freelance writing, there are still tools that you can use to upgrade your services for free or inexpensively. These are my top tools for working more productively and write more effectively:

1. Netbook and wifi connection. These of course, are important tools for wandering freelance writers. Those who have a home office already set up, you may still want to consider getting a netbook for those times when you need some change of scene to boost you creativity and writing power.

2. Online Thesaurus. Aside from the synonyms and antonyms that you can use via MS word, there are other online thesaurus and dictionaries that you can use to help you as you struggle to find the right words. There are free sites but there are also those that require a subscription. The Visual Thesaurus for instance gives a free trial so you can decide if you want to push through with their monthly subscription.

3. Skype (YM, Gmailchat, etc). Skype has been one important communication tools that's cost-effective. When an Aussie asked me to become her VA for a short time, we used skype all the time. It allowed us to make calls for easier guidance and better work relations through effective communications.

4. Copyscape. This paid tool is actually my favorite. It helps ensure that my work is plagiarism or duplicate free. You can also subscribe to help protect your writing or type in a URL to check a specific document.

5. MS Excel, Google Spreadsheet. I don't have any invoicing device so I just use a spreadsheet to create my own invoice. Sometimes google spreadsheet is also an excellent invoicing tool where I update it and share it with my client so he/she can also check it and make necessary changes.

There are so many tools that you can explore to help you work more productively as freelance writers. With these simple tools you can upgrade the quality of your output and gain more satisfied clients. As you move along, you may also start more effective and extensive tools which require subscriptions and fees.

Freelance Writing and Location Independence

I wish I could easily claim to be location independent when it comes to my freelance writing job. Though I love to write, I still love my full time job so still I stay where I am. The biggest benefit of having freelance writing assignments for me is that it allowed me to take vacations, have the funds to pay for them and work tasks and jobs while I'm somewhere sunny and sandy - that's as close as I can get to being location independent i guess.

Being location independent allows web-savvy professionals to work anywhere they want by setting up a virtual office. However, not every job can be taken anywhere, thus I stay weekdays to report to my office. For those who have the capacity, training and opportunity start a mobile office, kudos to you.

Location independence greatest allure is the promise of travel and adventure while you keep your job. But I think it's not all pros of course. The shift into being a virtual worker should be taken slowly. Unlike me who keeps a full time job, freelance writers, web developers, researchers and so forth can easily tweak and turn their schedules to accommodate tasks and jobs even while they're exploring the ruins of Angkor Wat or testing the sweet waters of Maldives.

But freelance writing for me is more of past time, a hobby and a way of putting thoughts into words. I love writing and travelling, and I'd place a lot of consideration on being a location independent full time researcher if I lose my job. Presently however, I love my job the way it loves me, and I won't be losing it anytime soon.

Freelance Writing: Realizing When Less Means More

One of the worse mistake that freelance writers can probably make is to bite off more than they can chew. One can easily get hung up, (not to mention burnt out) with the lots and lots and the more and mores.

Big project are not always good especially if you talk about the quantity of the projects that you single-handedly write and edit. In many instances, fewer is actually better. But can fewer projects be better in terms of earnings? While most new freelance writers complain about not having enough projects, what many of us really need is a lot less but gives us more earnings.

Quality vs. Quantity
An online writer's monthly earnings can go for as much or as little as possible. Let's imagine that you aim to earn P25,000 in a month as a freelance writer(just a figure i thought of). There are many ways you can earn this in a month's time. Depending on the clients you have, there are some situations for earning that are more desirable than others. (Figures are on an average)

• Short Articles. You can write 25-30 short articles (100-150 words) and earn around P60 for each.
• Mid-size articles and blog posts. You can write around 10 articles of 300-350 words long for P150 each.
• Full page web content and SEO articles. These articles range from P250-300 each and you can write at least 5 articles per day to achieve your target earnings for the month.
• Many established freelance writer also offer bundles writing services and high-end-turn-key projects for 2-3 clients in a month and earns as much as P25,000 on each client.

But can you really handle all the requirements of the job to reach your desired earnings and more?

Until you're drowning with too many projects at a time, when you'll realize that having too many writing projects is in fact, bad. Having too many writing projects and juggling a number of clients at a time can -

• Lower output quality. Because you're rushing to get things done and reach the daily quota you've set for yourself and earn enough, it's highly impossible for you to maintain your quality of work.
• Less time to find high-end clients and market their talents. Freelancers working on multiple projects at a time are usually left with every little time for themselves much less for marketing their skills and talents to other high-end clients.
• High Impact of break-ins. For freelance writers relying on their daily quota, missing a single day of work can significantly impact their targeted monthly income. 
• Stagnation of skills. Because of a freelance writer's commitment to high volume of assignments, they also have very little time to update their talents.
• Burn outs. Happened to me and can happen to any freelance writers churning out volumes of work everyday just to reach their goal. I can say that your target figure can work as a motivation, but for many it just ain't enough. 

Focusing more on the quality of work for quality clients is the better way of doing freelance jobs. You get a better working environment and you provide better work results for your clients. Many freelance writers choose to work on multiple project types in a month, but hopefully, more would be enlightened to work more for quality than quantity.

Coffee Sets the Mood Right for a Weekend of Writing

It's weekend again and like the last post I've written, I'm experiencing some downsides of freelance writing. We'll for one, the issue with my eyes caused me to stop accepting or applying for assignments from oDesk. My regular client for ghostwriting has a limited assignments for the time being which means that I won't be able to meet the quota I've set for the month.

hot caramel cappuccino for the weekend writer

Browsing around for potential jobs disheartening. My only pick-me-upper for today is my favorite cup of coffee from a quiet nook here in the mall. A hot caramel cappuccino that has a strong bitter-sweet blend, just the way I want my coffee. Saturday mornings makes me think of Baba and the coffee he fixes for me and the way he pushes me to start writing while he does other house hold chores. Anyways, I have to get right back to my search and some updates for ze blogs. Thank goodness for my sweet cup, nothing beats coffee for a weekend of writing.

Downsides of Freelance Writing Jobs

Working freelance and loving what you do can easily keep you motivated and passionate about your writing. It has indeed a lot of perks and advantages over any regular day jobs. But there also some downsides which you must prepare for.

Many articles and writers do rave about the perks, benefits and the great things about working online, but trust me it is not always like that. There are days that really suck! I do love writing, but well, like everything else, there's always a good and a bad side to it.

Keeping Yourself Motivated

Working without a boss or a superior can entail a lot of distractions and temptations. You are free to work at your own time just as long as you meet your deadlines and provide what your client needs. There will be no one else to tell you what needs to be done, there won't be anyone to push you around. Might be a great arrangement, but for those who are new to being their own bosses, this can be a big drawback. You must keep yourself focused and find ways to stay motivated to work for online writing jobs even during the laziest days.

Building a Clientele

Finding clients and keeping them is probably one of the most significant issues that freelancers have. You need to learn to promote yourself and handle difficult clients accordingly. Be ready to deal with clients who are not sure what they really want as well as clients who are never satisfied with anything you write. There will clients who suddenly disappears and those who will not pay for your work.

It was a lesson learned the hard way. So be cautious with whom you're dealing with and make sure you verify your clients capacity to pay, and understand what they want to ensure that you provide the best results for them.

Variable Income and Lack of Bonuses

Freelancers are not entitled to bonuses that regular employers receive from their companies. There are no awards or recognition given. Feedback may be great but they usually don't come in with any financial value.

Apart from this, you also have different income ranges each month. Depending on the flow of your assignments and your clients. Large swings in your monthly income can make budgeting difficult. For newbies in the field, earning and finding decent freelance writing jobs can be very frustrating.

Longer Work Hours

Contrary to what many people think, working on freelance writing jobs will also entail long and sometimes round the clock work hours. If you have clients from other time zones, you need to meet their schedules and probably sync your time with them as well.

Moreover, you also need to deal with marketing, billing and other administrative needs of your home business.

Lack of Job Security

Many businesses fail within the first two years of existence so if you want to move into full time freelance writing, you might want to hold on to your regular day job first. Make sure that your freelancing is already stable with an established client base before pursuing a full time freelance writing job.

Coffee Cravings of an Online Writer: Brooks "Dripresso"

Brooks Coffee, a recently launched global coffee sensation sent me samples of their famous European coffee blend and the Japanesque Blend which is a combination of matcha and coffee. I love coffee and I got curious about the "dripresso" thing and the drip bag coffee design of their products so I hurriedly opened the European blend pack. At first I was really clueless what to do with it, and the pack has Japanese characters written all over it and I cannot find the exact instructions. Luckily there were pictures around which is what I followed through to set it correctly.

The European Coffee blend is a definite hit. It has a strong aroma and it hits the spot the way coffee shop-espressos do. Brook's has a wide range of coffee products that lures coffee lovers like me to buy and try. Based on the samples I got, their products will be worth every penny of your purchases.

Down Times for Freelancers: Getting Sick and Out of Work

Freelancers and online writers do get the freedom they want. As a freelancer, you are you're own boss, you work when you want and take vacations when you wish. In my case, freelance writing jobs are best for my supplementing my income. However, getting sick is another issue. Most freelancers couldn't take much time off when they get sick, why? It is simply because, for each day you're ill, is a day without earnings.

jonathandallen.com

Every one is bound to get sick and succumb to illness sometimes. A couple of days of being is seems okay since you'd be able to make up for lost time and work over the weekends or a few overtimes into the evening soon as you feel well.

But if you need to take off a couple of weeks to recuperate, your freelance career could become a bit shaky. This is especially true if you have upcoming projects and you really need work your part. If you don't have any back up plans for such situations, your client may soon become an ex-client. They may decide to take another freelance online writer to handle projects meanwhile then just continue with the new writer even when you're back on your feet.

working sick

How to Deal with Sickness and Take Off from Your Freelance Jobs?

One of the best ways to take your much needed rest without worrying about losing a client is to contact other freelance online writers that you can trust. Make sure that they can provide the same level of service and satisfaction that you do. These people are the ones you can call for big projects as well as cover for you when you're sick and unable to work.

referrals

However, sickness cannot be planned ahead and your fellow freelance writers maybe busy and unable to handle more - thus you also need a small group of freelancers whom you can divvy your workload around.

Moreover, make sure that your freelance helpers don't charge less than you when they directly bilk the client!

Where to Find Freelance Writing Assignments?

I've been an online writer for several years now. I admire top writers and freelancers I've seen in Odesk, but I know they've also struggled to reach their status. Finding freelance writing jobs online can be a little daunting especially for beginners. My first try with some online job markets placed me on the lowermost level - with no feedback, means lesser chances of getting a job. So where can you really find freelance writing assignments that actually pays?

where to find freelance writing assignments?

Referrals

Mine was a lucky start. I got referred to someone looking for writers. They seemed satisfied with the articles I produce and became a regular provider for their projects. And because they are local clients, I also got to meet them personally. I think being referred is one of the most effective way to land writing assignments that pays. Ask your friends and colleagues about writing gigs, copywriters and editors who may need writing services you can provide.

image from http://www.inst.org

Bidding Sites

After months of having a writer's block, I slowly got back to writing and finding freelance writing jobs which are very demanding. I checked out Craiglist, eBay and Sulit.ph for possibilities. I know these are not the places where people looking out for jobs would probably check out, but I got one of the most productive job from a Sulit.ph job posting.

Online - Freelance Job Markets

After establishing myself back and learning more about writing styles, techniques and more about SEO, I tried applying for writing jobs posted in online job markets, most specifically - oDesk. There are other job markets that have hundreds of freelance writing job assignments that you can check out such as:

• Freelancer
• Guru
• Elance
• Pro Blogger

Among the many online writing job markets, I am actively pursuing oDesk. I was hired for several projects here and also got re-hired by many satisfied employers. I was really happy working for their projects and they seemed to be quite happy with the output too, thus I've raised my feedback score to 4.8/5!

One thing that you should always remember is to to accept only assignments that you can do and avoid overlapping your tasks to ensure that you write only quality articles. This way you can keep your clients happy and would never hesitate to give you more writing assignments in the future.

Online Writing Jobs: How I Started as an Online Writer

Going back almost 6 years ago, I can still remember my struggles to find a decent part time job to supplement my income. I had a growing baby and I need to earn a little more to ensure that I can save despite the ballooning expenses.

I tried a couple of rackets gimmicks including:

• Online selling on eBay and Multiply
• Blogging (Mommy Cotz and Teloyski), and
• Online Job Markets (Odesk and Freelancer)

Starting from scratch truly is frustrating and depressing especially if you don't see any results at all. I earn a little by selling used stuff, but blogging was another story. I was overwhelmed by some of the technical stuff (page rankings, back links, SEO and a lot more). I keep a personal blog and ruled out monetizing it and just proceeded with online job markets where I also failed to make some income. The competition was tough and many other nationalities offer really low prices for their services.

I was lucky enough to be offered a  writing assignment by a local client. I was referred to her by one of my office mates and for the next 3 years my writing world revolved around the assignments she sends me.

I wrote different types of content - press releases, short articles, SEO articles and more. I wrote about different topics - freelance writing, shoes, bags, health, fitness, solar and wind energy and many others. I learned about writing original content, keyword placement and densities. I loved what I do and I was happy to earn and learn with my writing.

But at one point, I also went through what many would call a "writer's block." I felt I could no longer write - I struggle with words, much more in composing articles. Nothing comes out of my brain anymore and I wasn't satisfied with my writing. It lasted for a year, may be more.

I got my vibe back slowly and painstakingly. I started activating my blog once again and wrote little by little. Travel and spending more time with my son provided motivation and ideas for writing. I started applying on local online markets - Craiglist, Sulit.ph and eBay for content writer and got another local client with a good pay. It was a good motivation as well - money.

Soon I thought about having direct clients and tried one more time with Odesk. I elaborated on my extensive writing experience and provided some of my works. I also created a portfolio for clients to check. And this time I succeeded in getting more clients and assignments. I also got an overwhelming number of invitations for interviews and some of clients re-hire me with an upgraded contract.




But since I consider writing as a hobby and not as a primary source of income, I learned to choose my assignments and dealt only with topics that I like and I want to write about. This way I was able to give it my best and provide quality, creative and value-for-money services.

Writing and Beyond!

Hey there! This blog is about the usual day of a freelance online writer. Busy days with SEO articles on demand, zero article days, online writing markets, vents on crazy clients, coffee, cakes, foodies and trips in between!