Essay Online

Blogging (short for “web logging”), born from the Internet age, is one of the newer venues for freelance writing. The Internet has generated a lot of news about the financial possibilities open to bloggers: an audience of potentially millions — along with possible corporate sponsorship, a byline, and infinite creative control — captures the imagination of many prospective bloggers, and makes blogging seem like an infinitely desirable, lucrative field.

The truth is it is much more difficult to become a successful freelance blogger. A good knowledge of marketing, web design, and being consistent are skills you need to make a living (or a comfortable extra income) from this new form of media.

The reason for this is the low barrier of entry. Anyone with access to web space can start a blog. Sites like Blogger, Livejournal and even MySpace offer free web space to anyone willing to sign up. This has resulted in millions of blogs in existence today, many of them literate, many of them wildly popular, and nearly all of them free to read and browse.

That variety of free content makes it difficult to charge for access to your writing, no matter how good it is. You could be the greatest expert on foreign policy or nutrition known to man, and few people would be willing to pay $5 — or $1, or one cent — to read a blog post by you, the expert, when there are thousands of semi-qualified (but bright and engaging) writers giving away similar material.

So your main sources of revenue are going to come from advertising and from whatever paid content you can fit into the site. Luckily, web advertising is becoming less dicey than it was a year ago. Google’s “AdSense” program is a good baseline for a page, providing targeted advertising based on your content and paying you, directly, per click-through (although the pay rate per click is low.) You can supplement that amount with other forms of web advertising, from the comparatively unobtrusive banner to pop-up animations that “float over” the text.

This brings us to the “double-edged sword” problem in web advertising. The most effective advertising is obtrusive advertising; that is, advertising that blocks valuable content until the user clicks on it either to make it disappear or to take you to a different website. However, obtrusive advertising also irritates your readers, which can lead to a lower reputation for your blog overall. On the Internet, reputation is the single best determinant of your web traffic. Using obtrusive advertising can significantly lower your traffic and make your blog that much less attractive to potential advertisers.

So you’ll need to find a happy medium between heavy advertising (and light traffic) and little to no advertising (and high traffic, but little revenue.) Luckily, the instant responsiveness of the Internet, along with the commenting features available on nearly all blogging software, make it easy to ask your readers about exactly what level of advertising they’d be willing to accept. Reader connectivity is one of the most important features of any good blog: not only does it allow you to fine-tune your blog over time, eliminating features that readers find irritating or off-putting, but it also allows you to develop personal connections with your readers, the kind of connections that build loyal audiences.

There are other ways to make money by blogging, such as the following:

1) It’s possible to sidestep advertising altogether by making some of your content unavailable, except to subscribers. For example, you might only keep your most recent five or six blog entries unlocked, and require a monthly subscription fee to read the rest of the archives;

2) Or you might keep your current posts and your entire regular archives active, but produce some longer or specialized entries or other content and charge a set fee for these;

3) You could even compile some of your best entries into a physical book, along with some new content, and offer it for sale. Even if all the entries are available online, you’d be surprised how many people are willing to pay to have something they can hold in their hands;

4) Additionally, you could go the Salon.com route — make all of your archives available to anyone willing to watch a short full-screen advertisement — or you could rely on readers’ willingness to support content that they find worthwhile by asking for donations outright.

Many prominent blogs and online content providers have done this and found themselves able to make rent and pay all of their bills every month on donations alone.

No matter how much advertising or subscription services your blog has, it’s all worthless if people don’t want to read you in the first place. And there are three simple rules to make your blog popular:

1) Write on something you care about

2) Write consistently and thoughtfully on a regular schedule (daily is best)

3) Read and comment on other blogs

People read blogs because they provide a source of information and analysis on topics that traditional media sources only cover sketchily and hastily, or don’t cover at all. Don’t try to figure out an ideal money-making blog topic and proceed from there. People care about blogs because blogs are about personal, in-depth viewpoints and thoughts.

If you can provide those to your audience regularly, and you can set up a minimally-intrusive but still worthwhile revenue system through advertising or subscriptions, there’s no reason why you can’t become a successful blogger.

When it comes to meeting deadlines, one way to manage your timetable effectively is to divide the large jobs and farm them out to several freelancers.

Let’s say you’ve been awarded a writing job to write an e-book on childcare with 10 chapters for $2,000 over a 45 day period of time. Bid out each chapter separately among 10 freelancers and allocate, say, $100 for each chapter over a 25 day period. This way you don’t have to worry about the deadline because you’ve given yourself a 20-day buffer and you stand to earn $1,000 for your efforts.

If you are going to handle a project in this manner, then you must be able to rewrite the articles to make sure the entire book “flows” seamlessly and that the same style and tone of voice is consistent throughout.

1. Cultivate a strong talent pool

In many cases, this is the most important asset you need to subcontract work to others. Here are a few additional tips to help you out in this regard:

a) Know how to hire a good coder

There are four things you should look at when hiring a coder &ndash their resume, their samples, their rating, and their client testimonials.

The last two are critical because it is easy to prepare a bogus resume and samples, especially on the Internet.

If you look at those four things and feel you have found the person you are looking for, hire them.

b) Know how to keep them happy

A happy coder always delivers better work than an unhappy one, given the same skill level. You keep your freelancers happy by dealing in a polite and professional manner, paying them on time and understanding them when they fall or falter (and believe me, they will miss a deadline now and then). Give them respect and they will give you their best.

2. Nurture your current roster of clients

Here is the main reason why quality counts &ndash it is quality, more than anything else, that will make your customers come running back to you again and again. Always put a premium on quality. First-class work is sometimes hard to find, especially given a limited budget. If you consistently deliver first-class work, you assure yourself and your freelancers of a prosperous business well into the future.

There is a popular saying in sales which says that “It is eight times easier to get new business from your current clients than it is from cold calls.” In other words, make sure you ask your clients for referrals from people they know or work with who may need the service you provide.

Some freelancers hesitate to ask for referrals because they feel it is unprofessional. They feel asking for referrals is like asking for a favor. That is not the case. If you have faith in your ability to deliver good work you are actually helping your client because of your willingness to provide quality work to their friends or business associates. That will reflect well on them too. It is a two-way street.

Writers are very much in demand these days because of the rising demands for their online content. The pay is oftentimes better and the hours are not so long. Many even freelance full-time.

Freelance writing extends to several different categories. Before you begin looking for work, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want to get credit for your writing. If you insist on a byline, you may have difficulty finding a lot of paying jobs. Byline jobs are out there if you look. However, the most money to be made is from working as a web ghostwriter.

There are several different categories of freelance writing. When you see the term “content writing” you will normally be providing text for an existing or new website. Your writing will have to be engaging and clear for website visitors. Article writers concentrate on providing articles for websites, newsletters and blogs. Generally, articles for the web are between 400 and 800 words each. Any more than that is difficult for readers to sit through while looking at a computer screen. Copywriters are challenged with putting readers in the mood to buy. They write copy for Internet sales letters and marketing sites. Ebook ghostwriters provide clients with full-length books on a variety of topics.

Freelance writers need to be professional in their online presence. This means spell-checking all writing, including e-mails to clients. It is also a good idea to get an e-mail address that is specifically used for your writing. A personal e-mail address with a goofy handle will make you appear unprofessional. Your first and last name or a combination thereof is a good choice for your web writing e-mail address.

Writing for the Internet has a few differences from writing essays in school or writing for print magazines. Readers online have short attention spans, and you’ll need to keep your sentences short and your paragraphs clear.

The other difference is the use of “keywords” in certain writing assignments. Keywords are words that have been selected by your client to be used in the article. These words have been selected because they are Internet search terms and your client wants their website to show up for those search terms. Keyword articles will require you to use the word or phrase a certain number of times in the article. Sometimes it can be difficult to use the words without making it sound forced. Experienced web writers have developed ways to make the keywords flow naturally into their articles.

Below are some of the areas and industries where freelance writers are needed. Read on and find the freelance path that is right for you.

MAGAZINES

Freelance writers are frequently hired to contribute articles for magazines. In fact, this is one area where you can actually get regular assignments as a freelance writer especially if clients find your work good. The rate for every article is quite generous especially if it involves interviewing. Some writers even kill two birds with one stone by also taking photographs for the interview. This way, the client also pays for the pictures that accompany your article.

NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT

Another area where you can get freelance work is the newspapers, where editors often hire freelance correspondents (sometimes called “stringers”). This is especially true with areas that are outside the city. Newspapers find it cheaper to hire correspondents and pay for their services than to send their own staff writers to cover an event.

ONLINE WRITERS

As mentioned before, online writers are in demand nowadays because writers are needed to update website content. Magazines that maintain their own websites hire freelance writers just to do online content. In fact, not all the write ups you see on the Internet can be found in the magazines and not all articles in the magazines are used for online content.

PR WRITING

Public relations writing is a cost-effective way to advertise products. Because of this, companies hire writers to do their PR write ups for them.

BLOGGING

Blogging is yet another way to make money as a freelance writers. Blogs are an ever-growing form of Internet media. Blog writers generally provide their own content. You can make money as a freelancer by starting your own blog and posting to it daily. If you love to write, you can start several blogs at once and multiply your earnings. Once you become an experienced blogger, you can apply for blogging jobs and post for other people.

GHOSTWRITING

Many freelancers find success with ghostwriting. When you work as a freelance ghostwriter you provide writing services for clients who will then use the work as their own. Ghostwriting is a lucrative opportunity, especially when you focus on web writing. For the most part, the Internet is a text and image based platform. Companies and individuals who run websites constantly need text to make their websites attractive to visitors. Since writing is something that a lot of people would rather not do, this leaves plenty of opportunities for people who love to write.

Once you’ve gotten a few web writing assignments under your belt, you can decide what type of web writing suits you best. You can find work on writing message boards, freelance writing job sites, such as .FreelanceWriting.com, and classified ad sites like Craigslist.org. Whenever you apply for a job, make sure to include your contact information and a few well-selected writing samples.

People interested in other freelance writing careers usually look upon copy editing with disdain. Copy editing doesn’t involve attention to the actual structure of a piece, they say, and involves little research and fact-chasing necessary to create a lively, memorable article or story. However, copy editing carries its own unique challenges; such as:

1) you need to pay careful attention to the basic mechanics of writing; and

2) you need to pay attention to accuracy, both in facts and in language.

Freelance copy editing isn’t just a simpler offshoot of freelance writing in general, but an important discipline in its own right — and a rewarding one.

To become a successful copy editor you need to know how to use style guides. With some exceptions, editors of newspapers, magazines, and other print publications require you to write in a homogeneous style, both to compensate for writers with occasionally sloppy spelling and usage and to ensure consistent terminology over time. (This is important with newspapers: the names of foreign leaders, organizations, and other foreign-language nouns are often subject to variant spellings.)

The most commonly used style guides include AP (Associated Press), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago. Any budding freelance copy editor would do well to own a copy of each of these, and to become familiar with their use before applying for jobs. Prospective employers will not hire copy editors who lack knowledge of style guides. Use a product like StyleEase software to help with style.

Fact checking is another prime skill for copy editors, as it is a publication’s first line of defense against accusations of libel or misrepresentation. Fact-checking is a simple procedure: call the author of the article, ask for his or her sources, and, if warranted, call the sources directly to confirm quotes or statistics. Different publications will have different procedures for fact-checking, all of which should be explained when you take a job.

Beyond that, all that it takes to become a successful copy editor is a sensitivity to cumbersome phrasing, grammar, and spelling, as well as a sensitivity to an author’s personal style. Many novice copy editors take a far too forceful approach to their work, effectively rewriting a reporter or other writer’s article for them in line with style guides and their own ideas about what makes good writing. This isn’t the function of a copy editor. Yes, clarity, grammar, and other issues with writing mechanics are all important, but a writer’s ego is important as well, and a too-free hand in the editing process can alienate a publication’s staff reporters and foster general enmity.

Since rewriting someone’s article causes you more additional work as well, why would you want to do it? Instead, just try to achieve sufficient clarity while leaving as much of the original article “as-is” as you can. If there are any substantial portions of text that inhibit clarity or exhibit serious mechanical errors, talk to the writer personally before making any changes. Yes, it’s an extra step, but one that ensures professional respect in the workplace.

If you don’t want to work for a publication, there are plenty of opportunities available for freelance copy editing, both for corporations and for private individuals. Educational publications, in particular, are always looking for good copy editors, and book publishers and literary journals always have a few spots available. You can find out about these opportunities through classified ads, or by making inquiries directly to the company. There’s typically a lot of competition in these sorts of jobs, so a solid interview technique and some excellent samples are mandatory for securing work. Once you have your foot in the door, though, corporate copy editing can provide a stable — if occasionally dull — source of income.

Copy editing projects offered by individuals are another option, and one which can bring you a more varied body of work and a much more informal attitude toward style guides and format restriction. But this option carries with it some heavy caveats. Often, copy editing projects given by individuals amount to ghostwriting without appropriate compensation, and pay rates can be sketchy as well, ranging from low to nonexistent (with a promise of “resume experience,” maybe.) Although when work is consistent, low pay isn’t necessarily a problem, individuals can rarely guarantee a sufficient volume of work to ensure your livelihood and a decent career.

Before you accept individual copy editing projects, make sure that you know how much you’ll need to make per hour to make the project financially worthwhile (as well as an estimate on how many hours the project will take), and don’t accept less than that hourly rate. You may get less work with this approach, but clients won’t rip you off either — an important consideration for professional copy editors.

Copy editing is a good, low-stress writing job, enjoyable on its own merits or as practice for other freelance writing goals down the line. You can succeed as a freelance copy editor if you familiarize yourself with style guides, and have a good grasp of grammar, spelling, and style usage.

Becoming a successful freelance public relations writer requires you to write persuasively and analytically. The key to persuasive writing is the key to good writing in general: know your audience. Public relations work requires you to address various audiences, such as:

1) Your customer base. Your customers already have some idea about what your client does;

2) Potential customers. Most won’t know about your client directly, but they might be familiar with similar products, services, or programs;

3) The press. They are interested only in whether the service or product your client has to offer is worthy of mention in their publication.

When you get a public relations assignment, your job is to take in all the data related to whatever your client has to offer. Maybe your client is offering a new product line, a new community outreach program, or news about a change in ownership. Your job is to: 1) analyze that data for key points; 2) determine how the data might affect the marketplace and consumers; and 3) communicate the data in a clear, concise form.

Taking in the data is the easiest part. Your client should provide you with all the data you need, plus any contact information you might need to interview people for quotes, statistics, point-of-views, etc. You need to think about how to connect what your client is offering with the needs and desires of his audience.

Example 1:

If a high-end brokerage firm wants to distribute a press release about their response to a recent rise in gold prices, you may need to research the stock market to determine what that means to investors. If you know your target audience, then you know exactly where to look to find out their typical concerns. Typical research methods may include Internet searches, investor forum posts, guides to investment, etc.

Example 2:

If you need to generate PR aimed at a particular trade group or a segment of an industry, such as promoting a local cleaning service, then you need to brainstorm ways in which your client’s cleaning service provides cheaper or better care than his competitors.

Once you’ve done the background work, writing PR is simple. Your client should provide you with all the pertinent information about length and venue. What you need to do is communicate the details, connect it to audience’s desires, and present any information that links the audience back to the client with the use of contact information, store locations, event dates, and so on.

Since there’s an expectation that PR is persuasive, advertisement-like material, you have slightly more leeway with the writing than you might with informative, research-based material; but again, the audience comes into the balance.

If you’re writing a report on the release of a new video game aimed at a teen-centric gaming magazine, a dry style won’t be of much use to you. If you’re writing about the breakthrough of a new control chip for an overseas microprocessor, you don’t want to make too many assertions about how this will “revolutionize the industry,” or anything that a highly-trained engineering department can’t back up. In general, stick to the facts as closely as you can. Your articles should have the blend of rational restraint and promotional zeal so you communicate effectively.

Where do you get public relations jobs? Corporate PR departments are your best bet for well-paying, steady work. Some large corporations will have their own in-house staff of marketing writers, and may not be interested in taking on freelancers except at certain times. Another good choice would be local non-profit groups, political organizations, or social clubs. These rely on effective PR to grow and thrive, and you can pick up a good deal of work from just one or two groups. A drawback to non-profits or other groups is they may not have a big budget or they may not be able to pay consistently. Make sure you trust the group before you commit to full-time PR work.

Above all, be careful of doing PR for individuals. This type of PR can be among the most enjoyable assignments, depending on your interests. Individual PR projects may include promoting someone’s self-published book or writing press releases for a garage band, and so forth. The downside is individuals typically have little or no budget for PR, and they often want you to work for free, alleging that “it’ll be good for your reputation” or that “once I get successful I can pay you.” Never do PR work (or any freelance writing work) for free. It wastes your time and it won’t advance your career, except for building a portfolio of writing samples. At worst, it can lower average writing rates to the point that good freelancers go out of business. It’s not good for you, for your trade, or for your fellow writers. So don’t do it!

If you have the ability to analyze complex material quickly and convey it clearly and persuasively into words that your audience understands, then you are on your way to having a successful career as a public relations writer.

In the industry of freelancing, among the most in demand are writers. This is especially true with the birth of the Internet, which tripled the need for writers because of the various websites and online content that are constantly being updated.

There are actually lots of work a freelance writer can go into especially if they have established the right contacts. Freelance writers are needed for writing online content to boost website viewership. In fact, online content is fast becoming one of the major sources of freelance assignments, not only for writers, but also for other freelancers, such as photographers, web designers and graphic artists.

Even though there are lots of assignments and freelance jobs waiting on the sidelines, this does not mean you’ll be getting a fair share of them. You still have to compete with a lot of freelance writers for these jobs. To make sure you stay competitive, here are some tips:

MARKET YOURSELF

If you plan to freelance, make sure people know you do freelance. How else will they know unless you tell them? When you meet people, don’t hesitate to give them your business card and tell them that you do freelance work. Self-marketing is essential as this will give you the contacts you need to start a freelance career.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST

It is important you always do your best and make sure you take care of your work reputation. Your work, whether they are PR write-ups or newspaper articles, will be the basis for clients hiring you for future freelance work. So make sure you always give your best in every assignment.

ESTABLISH A SOUND AND SOLID REPUTATION

It is not only your work you should take care of, but also your attitude in dealing with people. You can be the most brilliant writer, but if you are known in the industry as difficult, you will find it hard to get freelance jobs. Take care of your reputation especially in terms of work ethics and meeting deadlines, as these are important factors that employers consider in hiring freelance writers.

LOOK FOR JOBS

Of course, it is not also right that you just wait for people to give you work. You can actually look for assignments yourself, just to tide you over before actual assignments come in. There are many ways to look for freelance jobs.

You can log on to job sites where they have a special section that posts freelance jobs or part time jobs. Some are even located in different states, which you can actually accept since most just require telecommuting and not your actual presence.

Another way to look for jobs is to ask people you know for referrals.

An excellent resource to learn about launching a freelance career is Andy Anderson’s book or audio book, “How to Make Money from Home as a Freelancer,” published by .PaydayPublishing.com.

HOW TO BREAK INTO FREELANCE WRITING

One of the best things about being a writer is you can hold a permanent job and still write on the side. That is the good thing in having a creative profession. You can do freelance jobs in your spare time while still being employed. In fact, many magazine writers and journalists accept writing and editing jobs on the side, while others who can afford not to have a permanent job will settle in with freelance jobs.

There are some freelancing jobs that can pay a lot and can even exceed a person’s monthly pay. Permanent writing jobs, however, provide the security. You wouldn’t want to wake up one morning without money to pay the rent, right?

Freelance writing jobs are a dime a dozen especially with the advent of the Internet. Writers are frequently commissioned to do online content to keep websites updated and informative. Still, one needs to know where to look and how to look if you want to get regular assignments. I find many of my paying freelance writing jobs at .FreelanceWriting.com.

Below are some tips to get freelance writing jobs:

GO ONLINE

There are a number of writing jobs you can find on the Internet, and you can do most of these freelance jobs at home. You can submit most of your finished projects to the client by e-mail, and get paid the same day.

ESTABLISH A NETWORK

Being a writer, you have to establish a network of people who will recommend you for jobs and writing assignments. PR professionals, for instance, look for writers who can do assignments for them. The same goes with owners of companies who advertise on the Internet or those who maintain websites which you can write for. Editors of magazines and newspapers also regularly seek freelance writers for articles and editorials.

There are a lot of individuals and companies who look for part-time or freelance writers. The bigger your network is, the more people can help you find freelance work.

ASK FOR A REFERRAL OR A RECOMMENDATION

The first step in asking for a referral is to do such an outstanding job that your client will want to refer you to his colleague. Although writing is big business, the industry is actually pretty small. Chances are your boss will also know someone who is doing a similar project. Ask for a recommendation to another person who needs a writer. This is one way to get assignments.

WRITE WELL

The key to having a great freelance writing career is to take care of your reputation, not only in terms of your writing, but also in the way you deal with people. For instance, you can write so well but if you are always missing deadlines, no person would want to deal with you. Remember that writing involves deadlines and you have to keep up with it if you want to succeed in the industry.