Tips on How to Choose A Ghost Writer

photo not mine

Finding the "perfect" ghostwriter to hire is a dilemma that many bloggers, writers and authors experience. You want somebody who will understand you and express your words when you can't. This actually determine the success of an article, a book, or a novel in progress. Here's a few tips on how you can work things out with your potential "writer" and how you can ensure the success of each project.

Discuss your terms. When hiring a ghostwriter, you should be clear with your writer that you will retain exclusive rights to the article, book or song that will be produce. It is your idea in the first place and you have hired them to put into words your thoughts and ideas. 

Experience. A ghostwriter with ample experience writing on various genres should place highly on your list of potential providers. They should also specialize in a certain style or genre since nobody can be an expert at every type of writing or niche. Hiring a writer who specializes in a specific genre will give you better output compared with hiring a generic writer. It is okay to ask for sample articles or work so that you can assess the writer before you hire him or her.

Communication venues. Make sure that you can contact and communicate with your writer for hire. He or she must also provide updates and details about the task regularly through various communication modes.  There are instances when a writer takes up the work and then disappears without any effort to communicate. Updates, feedback and details will ensure that your project is on the right track and any problems will be easily corrected. 

Cost and Timelines. Assess the cost and the timeline of your project. It may also be necessary to pay premium to ensure that you get high quality work, but it rarely means that you have to hire the most expensive provider. Try to work in installments so both of you can adjust to each others needs and requirements. This way you also minimize potential risks and ensure the success of your project. 

Eight Simple Guides to Healthier Eating

New Year means new resolutions and goals. For most of us, being healthy and lifestyle changes for better well-being and healthier choices are significant parts of that resolution. The holidays left many people with unwanted weight gain and some bulges that they wish to lose. So goals made for regular exercising and healthier eating. But despite confusing mass market campaigns, eating healthier meals is not as complicated as it seems.

Anybody can follow a healthier diet whether they are after weight loss, muscle gain or simply want to maintain their current body.  Here are a few guide to help you familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of healthier eating and make you take in your health and wellness a little more seriously.

Go for Good Carbohydrates

Unlike high-glycemic index carbs, good carbohydrates have low-glycemic index and they do not raise your blood sugar level nor promote fat storage. Go for whole grains, oatmeal, whole wheat, beans, vegetables and fruits. Avoid simple sugars as well as refined carbohydrates.

Go for Fiber-Rich Food

US Stats show that many Americans do not meet the recommended daily fiber need. This is because they do not eat enough fruits or vegetables. Adults need more or less 20 to 30 grams of fiber each day and these can be sourced from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oatmeal and beans.

Go for More Fruits and Vegetables

Adults should have at least nine servings or at least nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Fruits and vegetables are healthy, low calorie and packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants so they can be great replacement for high-fat snacks such as pizza or potato chips.

Go Lean Protein

Fatty red meat is a primary source of protein that is saturated in fat. The best choices for healthier and leaner protein sources are turkey, chicken, turkey, fish and nuts. Studies reveal that people who consume more than 18 ounces of red meat at a higher risk of developing colon cancer.

Say No to Trans Fat

Trans fat should be limited or avoided altogether. This can lower your “good” cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein and raise the “bad” cholesterol or low density lipoprotein. Commercially baked goodies, fast food, desserts and food that contain the secret ingredient, “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” has trans fats. There is no safe or acceptable level for trans fat consumption so better avoid it. 

Say No to Sugary Drinks

As much as you can, say no to cola, fruit drinks with added sugar and sports drinks. These beverages may only increase your blood sugar levels with their empty calories.

Drink More Water

Water is very important in keeping your body healthy. This is often forgotten in many healthy eating guide. Thus regardless of your health goals this year, make an effort to drink six to eight ounce glasses of water each day. You can’t have too much water in your body because your kidneys can handle up to 60 glasses per day!

Say No to Dietary Supplements

You might have notice the popularity of health and dietary supplements today. But unless you have some deficiency of some sort, taken more than the required nutritional requirements will not really make you any healthier or help you achieve your health goals faster. Best discuss your physical state with your doctor first before you take any supplements. 

Sneaky Ways to De-Stress for Women

Every now and then, we feel like we direly need to take a break and relax. But being a mom on the go, you are always pressed for time. Until you can finish all your deadlines or file a leave from your work and find time for a spa date, here are some ways to de-stress: 

Watch funny vids online
Laughing is a highly effective way of de-stressing. We all know that laughter is good for the soul but since you don't have the luxury of watching the whole season of your favorite gag show, simply get your funny fix by watching vids online - You Tube is a good place to start. 

Listen to instrumental music
Come up with a playlist of soothing music that you can play on your way to work. It can be the sound of surf hitting the beach, Bach or Enya. This can mute out the irritating noise and lift up your spirits early on. 

Bring comfy slippers to work
Pumps and heels do make our legs look wonderful but they do feel painful! Save this tiis ganda factor when you have to meet with clients or talk to your boss and allow your toes a chance to wiggle when you are working at your desk. 

Convince your hubby to massage you before bed
Demand for a relaxing massage by invoking your wifey rights from your hubby right before going to bed. If he's in a giving mood and good with his hands, you'd easily drift off to relaxed and restive state and wake up feeling refreshed and ready for another day!

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. 

Freelancing Tips: Ways to Deal with Freelance Funk

Having a regular job, a home to attend, a little boy to miss all the time, a long-distance love affair and topped with an online writing job that's  that  is a little overwhelming to  juggle. Yes juggle. A recent movie I've watched starring Sarah Jessica Parker shows a busy woman juggling her different roles and how she managed to do everything with grace is just amazing. She's right in one point, we women always have a list - a mental list, grocery lists, to-do lists, and a lot more. This can be quite helpful in helping us deal with out busy schedules and lessen our changes of developing stressful scenarios. Here is a list of ways to help you deal with the stress that comes with freelancing. 

Acknowledge Your Stressors

To help you balance your many roles out, specify them one by one. I am a mom, a partner, a loving daughter, a public servant, a writer, a friend and others. You must learn to set your priorities from here and when stressed out, recognize the source of it. Knowing your priorities and the source of the problems will help you find the best ways to deal with it. 

Have a Plan

This is where those "lists" come in really handy. Having a to-do list can help you make schedule and allot time for each of your roles and responsibilities. As a daughter you can do you errands for your mom and dad on lunchtime of Monday. As a mom, you can schedule a movie date with your kids on Friday as a reward for their good performance in school. As a long distance wife/gf/partner, you can also schedule movie dates once a week via skype or advance book for a vacation to visit one another. In between work, these fun stuff is really something that you and your loved ones can always look forward to.

Manage your Time

Assess your role and ask yourself if you've accomplished and how you've managed your time for the week. See where you've run short and follow up or tweak things a little bit. 

Learn to Prioritize Things

Determine the importance and urgency of your tasks and assignments. Act according to their importance and urgency. Urgent matters are those with deadlines and demand your attention. These things needs to be addressed immediately, while those not-so-urgent but important schedules such as dinner with the kid or are often neglected. Be sure to finish those urgent tasks over specific periods so that you can have more time with your loved ones. 

Take Care of Yourself

You can only balance everything you juggle when your mind, body and soul is also in top shape. Rest and sleep when you need to. Have some sort of an outlet and getaway once in awhile. Arrange vacation and fun activities with your loved ones to loosen up every now and then. 

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!

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.  

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.

Great Tips for (Solo) Working Moms

Filipinos have close family ties and most families are very patriarchal, meaning the father is the head of the family and decides for everyone. Mine was a bit like that, but I was too mule headed to stay and listen. Like any new graduate, I wanted to discover the world and start a career to earn my own money. So, despite his non-acceptance on my decision to work, he wasn't able to do anything. 

Now with the freedom I experienced also came some sticky situations where soon I found myself on the way to motherhood. And with the very conservative culture of Filipino families, I decided to pursue a more stable career away from home. It was difficult at first, but I know many will agree, when you feel that little being slowly growing inside you, you'll feel utmost responsibility for it and find all means for both of you to survive - he will give you strength in body, mind and spirit.

As a young, solo, working mom, I implored other moms in my circle for tips to make working and mothering go well together.  It's no secret that single parents are sometimes looked down upon in many companies here in the Philippines, lucky for me, I got a welcoming working family who supported me all through out. Here are some tips that my "mommy's nook" gave me in my struggle to thrive and survive being a solo, working mom. 

1. Build a Network of Moms

This I did offline and online. Mother's where I work had been more than helpful with the things that I should expect as I progress with my pregnancy and even after I gave birth. I also started reading fora and mommy groups over internet along with my search for inexpensive hospitals and other baby stuff. I gained friends and confidants who made me feel stronger despite my situation. I received trinkets and useful advice and information ranging from breastfeeding, baby formula, food and a lot more! These moms from both online and offline worlds provided constant support all throughout. 

2. Build Stronger Family Ties

Despite issues that arise over my untimely pregnancy, my parents were insistent upon providing me all the help that they can. Yes, they were nagging, they have a right to be. Well, we are Filipinos and you know that your family will always be there for you no matter what happens. And we let bygones be bygones and started with thriving yet happy days with proud grand parents and strict tita doting over the first baby boy in the family (Welcome, Teloyskie!)

3. Find an Exceptional Yaya (nanny)

For those who don't have their families or relatives in close proximity, finding an exceptional nanny or yaya is very significant in being a career mom. Even if Teloyskie was with my mom, we were still lucky to find someone genuinely caring for him. Yaya Eden was someone that we can trust our home with and one whom we can easily communicate with. Having her during the critical 2-3 years was simply a blessing!

4. Set boundaries that you can stick to.

Work and family time should be well managed. When my son is with me, I try hard to finish work at 5pm so I can be home at 6pm. Once I get home, I won't be available for work related calls until my son sleeps. I guess I am also lucky to find a moderately demanding work where I can have some time off and it's very rarely that I need to work beyond 5pm. 

5. Do what you love and Relax

If you don't love your job, then you'll only be spending the day wishing you are home with your child. It's hard enough to be a working mom, so find something that you love to do so it feels more rewarding. 

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.