Writing
What to Do When You Miss a Deadline
Donnerstag, 7.Januar 2010Freelance writing has now become one of the most popular ways for people to earn money over the Internet. With the effects of the financial crisis still being felt by most people around the world, more and more people have been turning to the Internet to find opportunities for them to make some much needed additional income. For many, it has now become a lucrative career which provides them some freedom that being employed in the corporate world cannot provide. There is no need to clock in at a particular time and clock out at another time to be paid. Freelance writers can work at their own pace right in the comfort of their own home. The important thing, after all, is to make sure that the deadlines for the writing assignments given are met.
However, there are instances when unforeseen events can occur, which can cause writers to get delayed in submitting their writing assignments. For freelance writers, this is the last thing that they really want to face. Missing a deadline with a client, especially a new one, could mean not getting paid for all the work that they have done, and even lose the client altogether.
Much as writers do not like to admit it, there are occasions when they would, once in a while, miss the deadline set by their client. Whether it was a bad case of writer’s block, a family emergency or an act of nature, deadlines would once in a while get missed. When this happens, the freelance writer must take it upon himself or herself to face the situation head on and fix the situation. Here are just some helpful tips on how to go about this.
Do Not Panic!
You have been slaving away all day and all night to complete a writing assignment, only to realize that you would not be able to make the deadline that has been agreed upon. The moment you realize this, the last thing that you want to do is to panic. Panicking about the deadline will do more harm than good to any situation, including completing your writing assignment. As a writer, you need to have your mind cleared out to be able to compose the assignment given to you without compromising its quality. Panicking will cause you to focus more on the problem at hand and as a result, you will be in a position to be unable to think and finish the work that needs to be completed.
Inform Your Client
Communication is crucial to any business negotiation, including freelance writing projects. The moment that you have gauged that you would not be able to complete the project by the appointed deadline, make sure that you inform your client in a polite and courteous manner as soon as possible. Provide the client with a copy of the work that you have completed so far so that your client would see that you have been working on the project and are not just merely making an excuse for not meeting the deadline that has been agreed upon. On top of that, give your client an estimated timeframe that would allow you to complete the project without compromising on its quality, and complete the assignment within the timeframe that you have given to the client.
Plan Ahead
Finally, make it a point to plan your schedule further next time. This is especially true if you are completing multiple writing assignments for different clients. Quite often than not, many freelance writers tend to simply take whatever assignments that are offered without taking into consideration the amount of time that they would need to complete just one. You are in the best position to gauge just how fast you work. Keep a realistic track on just how long can you be able to work on a particular assignment. After all, it is still better to get a few assignments that you can be sure to meet the deadline than to take a lot and miss one or even all of the deadlines altogether.
Freelance Writer Can Make $4,800 A Month
Samstag, 2.Januar 2010Some people, who are not familiar with the writing business believe freelance writer are poor fellows. I write this post to straighten out, that it is not true.
Many freelance writer I know are making far more money than people are making in their 9-5 jobs.
Here’s a little calculation:
It’s easy to write 3 quality articles each 1000 words per day. For this calculation, the rate I’ll take is $0,03/word.
Here we go… 3 * 1000 = 3000
3000 * $0,03 = $30
$30 * 30 days = $900 a month
In some countries is $900 a month more than enough.
Let’s do the calculation again, but this time with a rate of $0,04/word and 4 articles per day.
4 * 1000 = 4000
4000 * $0,04 = $160
$160 * 30 days = $4800
Now someone shall tell me a freelance writer doesn’t make money!
Honestly, someone who starts his writing career will not make this kind of money. It comes with the time. Creating connections with good paying clients. Increasing rate as a result of increasing quality.
A good place to find writing work is textbroker.com and the DP forums.
Writing a Good SEO Article
Dienstag, 28.Juli 2009A good SEO article must fulfil three criteria – give information to the reader, gain good ranking, and increase the backlinks. Simply writing out content to fill your website is not a good practice. Always write good SEO articles by complying with the standards and rules of SEO writing.
There are certain guidelines to write a good SEO article:
1. Primarily, it must provide the correct and relevant information to the reader. It must be in unison with the topic of the article and must be based on facts.
2. Keep an eye on your word count. Do not give a very lengthy write-up.
3. Concentrate on the topic and provide only the required information. So always choose focussed topics for writing, rather than choosing general topics. General topics can evoke disinterest in the readers. If they feel that the information is useful and to the point, the probability of getting backlinks and traffic to your site is more.
4. Always pay attention to the use of the keywords in the article. It must be moderately used. For the sake of ranking, do not overuse it. Use it tactically and where required, so that it doesn’t sound monotonous to the reader.
5. Keyword selection also is an important process in writing a good SEO article. You have to carefully research before choosing the right keyword. This can enhance the visibility of your article on the net. There are keyword research tools available on the net, which can help you in the process.
6. Knowing your audience is an important factor. If you are writing for a topic centred on a blog or a website, stay close to the domain. Never write on contrasting or varied domains. Well, you can add some creativity by linking different topics to your focussed topic. This can attract new readers. Always target readers first and then the search engines.
7. The perfect method to write a good SEO article is by first structuring a good copy with relevant information and then tweaking it to meet the SEO techniques such as keyword insertion and density, titles, tags, and the like. After the first draft, try to make your write-up a bit intriguing and catchy. Add attractive and to-the-point headings. If your title is rich in the relevant keywords, you are sure to get more visitors.
8. You must have heard that in SEO writing, content is the king. If your content is not good enough, your article can get pushed off by the search engines and readers. Concentrate more on improving your content and writing quality stuff. This is an important step in writing a good SEO article. Choose the information to be added and omitted, diligently. Structure your writings to make them more informative and compelling. Choice of words relevant to the domain, technology, or business also is required.
9. Try to follow the ethical SEO techniques to get good and long lasting visitors. If you use unethical practises, you can be banned by the search engines! Avoid using black hat techniques.
10. Meta tags on each page play and important role in a good SEO article. These tags must have a short title and a detailed relevant description.
Follow some basic writing tips for polishing your article. Check if your article has a flow in it. One point must lead to the next. The reader must not feel a jerk when reading the next point. The flow must be continuous. Take your time to write. Do not hurry and mess it up. Write relaxed. And don’t worry if it doesn’t come well in the first round. You can do a second good draft! Re-read your article and restructure it. Rephrase sentences in better ways. Edit and proofread it. Check for mistakes and errors. If required re-edit it. By following these tips, your quality of writing will definitely increase. So you can go ahead and start writing, well!
Starting As A Freelance Writer
Donnerstag, 25.Juni 2009Becoming a freelance home writer can be a fun and challenging career. From personal experience, freelancing is a great way for someone to supplement his or her income or you can even make it full time. You do not need a lot of experience either. All you need to do is build a client base and from experience the happier, your clients are the better off you will be. There are other factors to consider though when starting your own home based freelance writing career.
Work ethic
Freelance writers work on deadlines. You must meet these deadlines but you must meet them ethically. You cannot just simply locate an article on the subject you are working on, copy, and paste it. This is both unethical and illegal. You must also be willing to work hard while following your ethics. If you are not willing to work hard then this will not be a career for you. You must also be willing to pitch in when your client needs you. If someone is unable to finish the work in time, offer to take it over. This will build your work ethic as a hardworking freelance writer.
Writing skills
You do not need a degree in writing to get a job as a freelance home writer, but you do need to have a basic knowledge of writing in a professional manner. The more professional your writing appears the better you look. You also need to either know how to spell well or have a good spell check program. When you turn an article in that has spelling errors it makes you look non-committed and it is unprofessional.
Find a mentor
A mentor that is already in the freelance home writing business will be able to offer you advice on how to get started and what you will need to do. From experience, your first mentor may even be your first client. They will assist you in being your best and improving your skills. If your mentor does happen to be your first client listen to their criticism and suggestions, they will help you in the long run.
Have samples
Having samples will help you land the jobs. The more professional appearance that your sample portrays the better chance you will get the job.
These are just a few things that you should do to get started with if you want to become a freelance home writer. The others will come to you as you go along. A great place to check out to start your career would be freelancehomewriters.com. This site offers several different sites inside their program that can help you get started with your freelance career.
No matter what the reason is that you wish to start your freelance home writing career – it is a great career to have. Where else can you go to work with a cup of coffee and in your pajamas? The advantage of working in your own hours is the greatest advantage. However, bear in mind that sometimes you have to work according to your client’s hours too!