Google Tools for Writers

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

What is it? Google will let Google account holders set up an instant or periodic notification system that tells you via email about certain keywords appearing online with links.

Here’s how I use it in my writing career:

Tracking a Name

By setting a Google Alert for a name, particularly my name, I can see when websites mention that name or when articles get indexed.

My Websites

I have set an alert for some of my more focused website addresses. This way, I can see references to the site on other pages as well as see when I’m getting indexed and this helps me track my search engine rankings. I find this much faster than combing through my site statistics.  (I still do that but this way I see quick alerts daily or even instantly)

Writing Job Alerts

If I want to know about newly listed writing jobs in general or about specific types of writing jobs, I can set an alert for Google to tell me about new listings.  This could help me uncover opportunities pretty quickly and delivers job postings to my email box rather than my having to dig for them through job boards.

Writing Project Research

I set alerts for topics and keyword phrases that I have regular assignments for.  With many clients in different industries who rely on me to write with authority and knowledge about their industry, Google Alerts helps me do that in a way that saves me on research time. I can set file folders up in Gmail to save information to read later and that way I don’t miss important news or information about a topic.

My Articles

At times I’ve set alerts for article titles of mine  or articles I write for customers that I wanted to track online. I once found an instance of plagiarism that I was able to deal with swiftly thanks to Google Alerts.

Alerts can be set and turned off as and when you need them. Google has some great tools for writers. I also use Trends, Adwords, Google Docs, and am starting to dabble with Google Buzz. What’s your favourite Google tool?

Google Alerts: A Great Freelance Writing Tool is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Not one finger touched the keyboard in the making of this post. Instead, I dictated the post using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This is not the first time I have used the software. I first tried Dragon NaturallySpeaking back in the early 1990s. I was writing a dissertation and I wanted to save myself some time and trouble by dictating it. It wasn’t that successful. The software did not recognise my speech very easily, it took weeks to train and I spent so much time making corrections that it would have been easier just to type it out. So I was intrigued to see what would happen this time around.

Installation and setup

It only took a couple of minutes to install the files, set up my microphone and do a couple of other housekeeping tasks. Then I started the training process. To my surprise, it was extremely quick. It took no more than 5 to 10 minutes to read through the training file, which also gave some handy tips on how to use the software. Once it had saved my voice files, I was ready to start using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I decided to put it to the test initially by dictating a paragraph or so see how accurate it was. I was pleasantly surprised by how easily Dragon recognised my voice, coped with my UK turns of phrase and generally got it right. There were very few errors. Once I had finished dictating, I closed down the program and it saved my updated voice files. This process enables Dragon NaturallySpeaking to learn and to improve accuracy over time.

Putting Dragon to the test

Then I decided to give it a real test by dictating this post. To get started I clicked on the microphone and the Dragon bar, opened Windows live writer and began to dictate. You can see the results for yourself. While there were a couple of minor errors, I didn’t spend any more time correcting those than I would have done had I typed out the entire post. I would say that I had to make no more than five corrections in this post of more than 800 words.

Mastering voice commands

One area that can be tricky to master is the use of voice commands. These can be used to handle standard program functions, though the standard version of the software does not allow commands for all programs. For example, when I dictate text into Microsoft Word not only is it easy for me to create new lines and new paragraphs, but I can also save documents, format text, create bulleted lists and more. When dictating in Windows live writer however telling the program to save did not work.

Old issues resolved

When I originally bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking, one of the things that annoyed me was how long it took to start the software and how slow it made my computer. Neither of these issues applies now. Another issue that has been sorted out is that the program no longer interprets every breath as a potential word. That means I can take time to think without having to turn the microphone off. That said, the microphone is very sensitive so if you fumble your words by dictating everything that it thinks you have said will appear.

Useful features for writers

There are far too many features in this program for me to list them all in this review, so I have tried to focus on the ones that writers will find most useful. For example, you can import documents so that the program becomes familiar with the phrases you usually write. You can change the program mode to allow you to focus on numbers or spelling. You can correct certain words to help the program understand your local accent.

Health benefits for writers

There is also a lot of additional functionality in other versions of the program, such as the ability to run your whole computer without having to type anything. Even with the standard version that I am running I can see the possibility of reducing the amount of typing that I do — and this is one way in which I see the software being particularly useful for writers. If you are suffering from the occupational hazards of wrist strain, tendinitis or RSI, using Dragon NaturallySpeaking means that you will be able to keep working — or writing — without impairing your health. (Of course, you may find that you drink a lot more. I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend a lot of time talking when in my home office.)

The verdict

If you are the kind of writer who thinks faster than you can type, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will certainly be useful. It is worth learning the voice commands that work with each program as this will make you even more efficient. But even without those you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking effectively. My verdict, one day of use, is overwhelmingly positive (which is why I’ve signed up for their affiliate program). If this is what you get after only five minutes of training then I am looking forward to seeing how the program improves after days and months of use.

If you have ever used Dragon NaturallySpeaking or other speech recognition software, then please share your experience in the comments. And if you have specific questions that I haven’t covered in this review, please feel free to ask.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Review is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

One of my recent writing gigs introduced me to a new piece of software – and now I don’t know how I ever lived without it. It’s called OfficeTime and it’s a time tracking application. There are dozens of time trackers around. In the past I have tried RescueTime, which was great for showing me where I spent most time online, and Slife, which showed me which desktop applications I used most. OfficeTime is different – this shows me how much time I am spending on actual, billable work – and it has a number of features which make it a real boon for freelancers.

OfficeTime screenshot

No Learning Curve

Chief of these is that there is no learning curve. If like me you already have too many ways to spend your time, then you will be pleased to know that once you install OfficeTime you can start using it right away. Click on the greyed out play button in your taskbar to start timing, click again to pause or stop. But the question is – what are you timing?

Setting Up OfficeTime

That’s where it’s worth spending five or ten minutes to set it up.  OfficeTime works with projects and categories, and here’s how I use those to keep track of productivity. I have created several new categories for the activities I do most: writing, blogging, promotion, talking to clients on the phone and bidding. For each category I can add an hourly rate. I also created a project for each client. Now, when I am ready to start a project, I click on the client’s name, make sure the category is correct and leave the timer running. It’s fun to see the money adding up – and it also makes me more aware of non-billable time.

Killer Feature

Another killer feature is that the program detects if you have left your computer for a while and keeps track of how long that’s for. When you return, you get the option of subtracting that time automatically from the current timer. And if you start doing a job but forget to start the timer, you can edit the time easily from within the same mini window. And there’s more – you can also add notes which will help you to remember exactly what you were doing – great if you want to note down an article title, for example.

Reporting Functions

I love stats and reports and OfficeTime provides plenty. A click of a button allows me to see recent activity (by day week or month) segmented by project or category. Another click lets me summarise activity into a Word invoice (and you can edit the template if you need to). The default template isn’t particularly attractive, but it does the job.

The Verdict

There really isn’t anything I would change about this application, though one addition would be useful – the ability to mark time as unbilled. When I was writing this review, I created an invoice to check the functions and forgot to check the box which would allow me to keep it unbilled – now I can’t find a way to fix it. I know it’s my own fault, but it should be easier, I think. That aside, I love OfficeTime. Though it’s a bit pricey at $47 (especially with all the free timers out there), it has a lot of useful functionality.

Be More Productive With OfficeTime is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

I mentioned in my last post that I was doing something about getting organized. To help me, I’ve used two Firefox extensions, GTDInbox and Remember The Milk for Gmail. I’ve reviewed these elsewhere (links are to the reviews), but here’s how they help.

Achieving Inbox Zero

GTD Inbox makes it a snap to deal with your email (in Gmail). You have five email statuses (next action, action, waiting on, some day and finished) that you apply to your email when it comes in. The theory is that if you can do something immediately, you should, otherwise you apply a priority label and archive it. Then you deal with items in order of priority.

This has worked well for me. My inbox is almost always empty (the famed ‘inbox zero’) and I know exactly which emails are most important. So, what if you don’t use Gmail? The system will work with any email program that allows you to use tags, labels or smart folders. My friend Mitchell Allen has outlined a similar system which he uses with Thunderbird. (These labels also work for processing real mail. I instituted a six-tray system under the influence of my DH some time ago. Labels are now, soon, file, read, info and pass on.)

Making Lists And Getting Organised

Once I had the email sorted, I turned my attention to task lists. I’ve made several attempts to get organised when it comes to tasks. I’ve used Google Calendar, with a separate calendar for writing deadlines. I’ve used a paper diary, which is still on my desk. And now I’m using Remember The Milk for Gmail.

I’ve flirted with RTM in the past, but gave up because it just added one more thing for me to do. Now that I can add tasks from the inbox, assign priorities and see a handy list of what I’ve got coming up, it’s perfect. The task list only appears in the inbox list view, which works for me. When you click on an email it disappears. But here’s the beauty of the system.

Working Together: GTDInbox And RTM

Now, when an email comes in, I either deal with it or assign it a GTD priority and archive it, which takes me back to the inbox. I can immediately input a task related to that email, along with a due date. It should mean that I never forget anything important and am always on top of what has to be done. Marking tasks complete is also satisfying, though postponing them is less so.

So that’s how I’m getting organised at the moment. I’m not even using all the features yet, but I’ll let you know when I find out more. I’ve always met my deadlines, sometimes with time to spare, but using these extensions makes me feel more control over the process.

(Photo: arundo)

Personal Productivity: An Interim Report is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

When Research Wizard Pro (also called Search Accelerator Pro) asked me to review their product, I thought I had to check it out. Anything that promised to save me time on research had to be worth a look. They were very efficient in providing an evaluation copy and it took no time at all to install. While it was installing I skimmed through the manual which comes with it, looking at all the things I could do. The manual does a good job of walking you through some of the main features and you need that walk through. Here’s why.

When I opened up the software I was blown away by the number of icons, toolbars and buttons that appeared on the screen. And let’s not forget the sidebar where you input your queries. I could not hope to talk you through these any better than the manual, so let me just say that though the interface is cluttered, it contains a lot of useful features.

The top left of the screen has a few menu links, a date screen (with a couple of other functions and a search box. When you search, additional options appear in the left sidebar. The right of the screen has about five rows of buttons and links and a built in browser window in the bottom right. These allow you to conduct searches on specific engines, in specific countries and for specific types of content (there’s also some fine tuning in the left hand search box.)

So, on to the field test. I had three research projects for which I usually use Google: a real estate article, an article on energy efficient homes and a lesson on journalism ethics. I decided to try Research Wizard Pro on these to see how it performed.

Case Study 1: The Real Estate Article

When I write these articles, I need a map, an MLS search and a community profile. That’s it. So although using Research Wizard Pro helped me find those things, it wasn’t an improvement on plain old Google. I didn’t need any of the bells and whistles for that project, so they were a distraction.

Case Study 2: Energy Efficient Homes

This was when it started to get interesting. While the main window gave me the standard Google search result (and you can change the default search engine if you want to), the side window gave me the option to narrow my search. I could look only for PDFs or for tutorials or for buying guides or for manuals – or for about 15 other things. I clicked on buying guides and got some great guides to energy efficiency in homes.

Effectively the software adds the resource type to your search term to narrow the search. Sure, I could have searched for that myself, but I might not have. The software has given me some additional ideas for focusing my search terms – and I thought I was already a pretty savvy searcher.

Case Study 3: Journalism Ethics

When I did the third search, I was seriously impressed. I had started to research this topic a few weeks earlier so I was able to make an on the fly comparison of Research Wizard Pro. I found stuff that I didn’t know was out there. I was able to search for tutorials, which helped as that was what I was creating. I will be using the tool to research the rest of the lessons in the course I’m creating. It shaved hours off the time I spend looking for quality resources.

More About Menus

Having tried it a few times, I was ready to look at the huge bank of toolbar icons. This time, they didn’t seem quite as daunting. The related searches bar at the top led me to a new tool, KWMap, which connects keywords related to your search. The next row led to some drop down menus for searching other search engines, RSS feed, video and more. The row below included other search tools and the final row had an address bar and buttons for adding bookmarks.

That leads to one minor gripe. I would have liked to mark resources as favorites within the program, rather than having to add them to my browser. However, I’m told that this functionality is coming in the next release. I have no hesitation in recommending Research Wizard Pro. Once you get accustomed to the interface, it puts a range of search options at your fingertips.

Writing Research Made Easy – Research Wizard Pro is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

I must admit to being intrigued the first time I saw an ad for WhiteSmoke software. The idea was simple – this was a piece of software that would improve your written work. Now, you all know how I feel about Microsoft Word – the spelling and grammar check just don’t cut it. so I wondered how this piece of software would compare. I didn’t think I’d get the chance though, as I didn’t want to lay out $100+ just to try it out. Instead, I signed up as an affiliate and persuaded my ad manager to let me try it so I could write my own review (they offered to provide stuff, but what kind of writer would I be if I let someone else do all the writing?)

Getting The Program

The software is available as a download and works with any program. You can paste text in and copy it out, or simply compose in the compose window. I tried the online demo, and there are some minor differences from the downloadable product. However, most of the main features are the same.

So, what does it look like? It’s a bit like Word, Google Docs and other word processing programs. It’s got a simple array of formatting buttons across the top for editing style, font and font size, followed by buttons for bold, italics, underline, creating coloured text and a few more. The second row has buttons for alignment, bullets and numbering, and cutting and pasting. A cool feature is that it will paste text from Word or plain text depending on the button you choose.

The top of the window has three tabs on the left (enrichment, dictionary and templates) plus two on the right for information. The templates window allows you to load one of 600 templates in the commercial, literary, medical or legal categories and customise them for your needs. The dictionary is a lookup window and the main window, where you write and edit text, is enrichment. At the bottom of a window is a WhiteSmoke button, as well as undo, redo and demo buttons. The bottom right allows you to select the type of writing you are doing (great for those interested in business and literary, less so for those of us who blog for a living) If you’re writing a speech, dissertation or letter, you’re covered too. On to the main window.

Error Checking

You can use WhiteSmoke with any application, since it works with cut and paste, and you can also set it to check as you type. When you paste some text in, and hit one of those two buttons you get some text underlined in different colours. The colour code is blue for enrichment/thesaurus, green for grammar and red for spelling, cleverly following MS Word conventions. Here is where it gets interesting. Click on or hover over an underlined word and you get suggestions for improvement. So, how did WhiteSmoke do? I used it to check three articles I was writing for a client.

It picked up well on spelling errors. I use UK English, so it tried to convert them to US English. It found no grammatical errors – I had to insert a deliberate mistake to test that. That’s a major improvement over Word, which always finds grammatical errors where there are none. For me, the winner was the enrichments popup menu. That’s in two parts. The left suggests adjectives and adverbs you can add to enrich your writing, while the right suggests synonyms. Just click to add your changes. I liked some of the suggestions and can see where this type of software would help people who struggle with writing.

There are several different WhiteSmoke products aimed respectively at general writing, business writing, creative writing, legal writing, medical writing and executive writing, as well as a language translator that offers instant translation into 20 languages. There are also pro versions with additional enhancements (currently on sale for $1 when you buy the main program).

The Verdict: This is a useful product, especially for people who are new to writing or who have English as a second language. Even experienced writers will find it useful on a day when the words just aren’t flowing the way you want.

WhiteSmoke Review is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

Everyone’s heard of Copyscape, the super duper plagiarism detection tool. Sometimes it’s the bane of our lives (like when clients who pay 1 cent a word want you to check every article on Copyscape even though you KNOW that you never plagiarise). At other times, it’s a useful tool, such as when you’ve subbed out some work and want to make sure that nothing that has your name attached to it will turn out to be plagiarised.

Most of the time, I find it useful. I signed up for a premium account so I could check blocks of text rather than just URLs. (Five cents a time is a small charge to protect my good name.) The fact is, sometimes you have to use it, but what do you do if it isn’t working? This recently happened to me. I needed to check some work quickly and Copyscape was throwing up error messages. Thanks to the wonders of Google, I quickly found a few alternatives, which I’m putting here in case you can use them.

Article Checker

Article Checker was the most useful of the alternatives I found. You can paste in a block of text and check it against the sites indexed on Google and Yahoo. It’s lightning quick and appears to be accurate. I don’t know how long a text has to be before it flags. I was checking 400 word articles and it seemed ok. I’ve used this tool a couple of times and it’s never found any plagiarism but that doesn’t mean it won’t. Many other writers I know use this tool because it is free. A good feature is that you can upload files for checking, which could be good if you are doing rewrites.

Plagiarism Checker

The Plagiarism Checker was originally designed as a student project at the University of Maryland. Like the other tools, it works by pasting some text into a box and hitting enter. Then you get a list of results for phrases. Interestingly, this check said the article I checked with Article Checker was almost certainly plagiarised. It brought up a list of suspicious phrases and then you could click on a link for more information. That took me to a Google search page which found … drumroll, please … no plagiarism. So I wouldn’t rely on that tool.

DupeCop

DupeCop allows you to compare two pieces of text through its free online duplicate content checker, or to compare up to four versions of spun articles through its spun article checker. I haven’t tested these yet, but this looks like a good service. There are desktop versions of both checkers too.

Other Tools

If you just want to compare web pages, then try DuplicateContent, which has an online URL comparison engine. There are also a few other tools, which I haven’t tested, but am listing in case you want to. DocCop has both free and paid services, but you will need to register to use either service. DupeFree Pro is a piece of free software (I’m still waiting for my registration details to arrive). Finally I-thenticate is a web based product used in business and education. It’s not free. In fact, you have to register just to find out the price, which is why I didn’t.

Anti Plagiarism Tools is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

It’s about time for another roundup of posts that made me think in the last couple of weeks. A post on Dosh Dosh about reaching 10,000 subscribers made me wonder whether all the things we do to promote our blogs are really worth it. Dosh Dosh concludes that great content is the most important factor in getting visitors to subscribe.

That seemed to fit well with a post on Skellie’s new Anywired blog about leveraging a blog. This post is all about adding value – and making money while you do it.

Freelance writers are often overworked, so I was interested to read a post on FreelanceSwitch about the work life balance. The post gives 12 tips to help writers get themselves back on an even keel.

One of the suggestions in that post is to learn to say no. If you’re wondering how to do it, then the Web Content Copywriting blog has a whole post on this topic. Meanwhile, Dana Prince advises us not to let our manners get in the way of getting paid to write.

Finally, here are two useful resources to round out the list. The first is a list of other freelance writing job sites. It’s no secret that Freelance Writing Gigs is my top choice, but it never hurts to have alternatives. (Thanks to Freelancing Journey for the tip.)

And there’s something for all the non-US writers who are looking for the right paperwork to fill out. Sometimes companies ask you to fill out a tax form. If you don’t pay taxes in the US, then they may still ask for a form to meet their reporting requirements. The form you need is a W8-BEN – and here’s how to fill it out. The instructions are for the UK, but they work for everywhere.

Technorati Tags: writing,writing career,writing business,resources,blogging

Posts On Writing is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

It’s time for another writing blog review. This time, I want to focus on the Writer’s Blog by Dana Prince. Although this blog has only been around for six months or so, it’s packed full of useful information. I keep bumping into Dana in other places (she’s a really friendly and helpful writer), so I’ve had the chance to chat with her. Her aim, much like mine, is to help other freelance writers do what she has done – create a successful freelancing career.

So, what’s inside the blog? One of the early posts is Job Search Tips For Wannabe Writers. If you’re applying for your first freelancing job, Dana tells you what has worked for her. If you want to find out about distinguishing between the clients you want and those you should avoid, read Good Clients, Bad Clients and Life Lessons. And one of my favourite posts, which I’ve plugged before, is The Net Value of a Writing Assignment.

There’s lots more good stuff on the blog. I particularly like the freelance writing posts but check out the others as well. Dana is a prolific writer and there are links to some of her other writing ventures in the sidebar. This blog may be new, but there’s not an ounce of fluff on it – definitely one to watch.

Writer’s Blog Review is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.

I’ve been following the Problogger 31 Days To A Better Blog Project, though I’m keeping to my own schedule.  I’m running about a week behind, but since you can do the tasks anytime, it doesn’t really matter.

One of the tasks from last week was to set a schedule for posting. I did a draft schedule for Get Paid To Write Online this week, and although I didn’t stick to it, it made me think about some of the content I try to include.

For example, I am still running the paid to blog site reviews. I have a few more to do before I start a new series related to writer promotion.

I also want to keep giving some tips on writing careers, including working with clients and promotion. And I’d like to do more posts on some of the issues we face as writers.

It’s also important to look at resources for writers, and I’ve decided to include reviews of other writing sites in that list.

And finally, I’d like to share posts of note that I read each week

So that’s my plan for this blog and it’s the answer to the question of what this freelance mentoring blog is about.  The question for you is: do I have the balance right? Is there anything else you would like to see on this blog (other than more graphics, which I’m working on )

This week’s linky love features a a few posts that I bookmarked a long time ago, but which I still think are relevant to writers.

23 Ideas for Finding New Readers for Your Blog

Who is YOUR Ideal Client?

The Monster List of Freelancing Job Sites

12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them

101 Essential Freelancing Resources

What to Do With Articles You Still Own Some Rights To

How to Recycle Your Already Sold Exclusive Rights Article

Article Marketing How To: Getting the most out of it

The Blog is the New Resume

15 Cool Tools for easy Expense Tracking and Budgeting

The Get Paid To Write Blogging Plan is a post from Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall.