Best Of

77

One of the issues writers always struggle with is what to charge for their writing. Here’s how I advised a friend recently. She was contacted by someone asking her to guest post for a set fee and wanted to know how to respond to them, as the money didn’t seem ...

77 comments Read the full article →
27

It’s taken years, but the world has come round to the type of writing I like to do. When I was in high school and university, my teachers were unimpressed by the brevity of my essays. As a language student (English, French, Spanish) I had to write lots of essays, ...

27 comments Read the full article →
17

Writing business lessons turn up in the strangest places. Here’s what I learned from the guttering guy about landing and retaining new clients.

17 comments Read the full article →
16

Sometimes your online life can be far too cluttered and it can get in the way of writing productivity. I’m feeling a bit like that now. In part, it’s my own fault, because I love trying out shiny new web stuff and have to do it for one of my ...

16 comments Read the full article →
14

I enjoy helping other people.  I don’t get chance to help others as much as I would like to, but I received such a large amount of help when I was first starting out as a freelance writer that I try to give back as much and as often as ...

14 comments Read the full article →
17

As a new freelance writer, it can take a while to find good sources of writing work. If you’re new to the game, how can you tell the difference between sites that offer below-minimum-wage gigs and those that give you a great chance of earning a living from writing. Even ...

17 comments Read the full article →
11

My writing business has changed a lot since I started freelancing. Then, I did lots of one-off jobs for a wide range of small clients, getting many of them through copywriting agencies and the occasional job board posting or ad. Now, I work for a few bigger clients, and many ...

11 comments Read the full article →
16

We all hit a bit of a lull in our freelance writing careers. For some, it’s not a massive problem as they’re fully prepared. For others, however, the dip can seem like it’s going to be devastating. Fortunately, if you fall into the latter group, there’s one thing you can ...

16 comments Read the full article →
11

I sing the praises of Google’s Google Alerts tool regularly. It definitely makes my job as a freelance writer and a professional easier.

11 comments Read the full article →
11

While economic cutbacks may have benefited many freelancers there is one consequence that is not so welcome — when your client has a cash flow crunch and can’t pay you. What do you do in a case like this? Here are some ways to work out your next course of ...

11 comments Read the full article →
23

I am a writer, blogger and editor. I am an avid reader and a keen Scrabble player. I am a mother and wife. I am a black woman. All of these things are part of who I am but no single one defines me. I was reminded of this when ...

23 comments Read the full article →
18

How I Put My Site On Steroids has proved to be one of my most popular posts, but it’s been three years since I wrote it. In today’s exercise for Problogger’s 31DBBB project, we were urged to update an old post. I decided to go back and see whether the ...

18 comments Read the full article →
44

These days you can often find me hanging around on Twitter. Part helpdesk, part virtual water cooler, it’s a great place to connect with people in the writing business – or just random strangers who have something interesting to say. However you feel about it, Twitter is currently an important part ...

44 comments Read the full article →
34

When I first started this blog’s predecessor back in 2005, I knew all my readers. Most of us were just starting our blogging journey and we grew and learned together. One of the great things about blogging is building a community. With thousands of visitors each month and hundreds of ...

34 comments Read the full article →
9

Bidding can be one of the hardest things to get right. Someone asked me the other day if I had a bidding template. I’ve discussed bidding before, but for those who missed it, here’s a snapshot of my approach to bidding. 1. Read The Brief I start by reading the ...

9 comments Read the full article →
4

If you’re planning a writing career, then you need to have a way of showing off your work to prospective clients.  Most people don’t just jump into writing; they have written all kinds of things for years and like the process enough to think of turning it into a career. ...

4 comments Read the full article →
40

This may turn into a rant. Yesterday, I submitted a bid for some work. I took my time over it, addressing all the points in the client’s project outline. The client wanted a blogger to produce posts of a certain length, and I quoted him my normal rate for that. ...

40 comments Read the full article →
29

Give me my money! That’s what most freelancers want to say when they have done a piece of work but have not been paid. When you freelance, there’s always the chance that you might fall victim to a seasoned scammer – there are lots of them about. Three Freelance Writing ...

29 comments Read the full article →