Get Paid to Write Online » promotion

Toot Your Own Horn – Use Testimonials to the Advantage of Your Writing Career

Dana Prince — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:09:40 +0000

Gotten a great testimonial? Hope you’re taking advantage of all it can do for you!

The other day, Sharon Hurley Hall was elated when she had a rave review from a happy client. Don’t glowing testimonials just make your day? Mine, too. One day this week I had a particularly difficult assignment and when I sent it off, I was waiting for it to come back with red pen all over it. But it didn’t. The client said, “This is great. Thanks so much for all your hard work!” If you’ve had great testimonials, don’t sit on them or smile and then file them away. Share them with the world. Seriously. Toot your own horn. It’ll help you immensely. Here’s how:

-Add it to a testimonials page on your website. This page will show prospective customers how past customers have felt about your work. More content on your website equals more potential traffic, too. Every time you update your site, search engines could come visit to see what you’ve added and then send you increasingly relevant traffic. If you look at Sharon’s testimonial linked above, you’ll see another reason why clients find her and offer work to her. Her testimonials help her with her online marketing. marketing. How? That testimonial is on its own page on her writing site with a keyword optimized permalink structure, relevant category, and tags that relate to the type of writing and to testimonials. This strategy ups the chances that someone looking for those specific services will find Sharon and find out that not only does she offer resume writing services but also that people LOVE her work. I have a testimonials page on my website today but think I’ll take a cue from Sharon and re-create individual pages on my blogs for those reviews as well.

-Send the kudos out to the social sphere. Mention it on Twitter, Plurk, Facebook… wherever you hang out online. A prospective customer may read it and contact you for a quote. (Hint: This works well when you use the Twitter widget on your blog, too. Clients can see those testimonials in your sidebar when they browse your website to see if they’d like to approach you for a quote.)

-Add some short but rave reviews to your bidding template. Do you use a template when you apply to writing gigs? If so, a few blurbs about what existing and past customers have said about your quality of work could help tip the scales in your favour.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to consider when posting testimonials:

-Don’t post the client’s name unless they give you permission to do so.

-Do consider linking back to the client’s site or the source of work you’ve done, if the client is agreeable and you aren’t going to be breaching any ghostwriting / confidentiality agreements, of course. Then, you can show prospects what all the buzz is about.

-Don’t be afraid to ask . If a client seems happy, ask them if you can have a testimonial. Offer to link to their site, if they like. Links are coveted online and offering a link could make your client jump at the chance to write a recommendation or… to sign off on a recommendation you’ve written for them about you. (A client of mine didn’t have time to write one but responded when I told him I was offering links on my testimonials page and he gave me the green light to write the testimonial for him and to tell the world how much he valued me. )

-Do consider joining and using LinkedIn. This site is great for creating a professional profile and networking. There’s a feature on the site where you can get and give recommendations and those are updated in your time line so those recommendations are viewable by others (after you approve their going live). If people recommend you on LinkedIn, you may want to add those recommendations to your own site or blog as well. Don’t be afraid to recommend great clients on LinkedIn and perhaps they’ll return the favour.

The next time you get a pat on the back, I hope you’ll use it to your advantage!

Toot Your Own Horn – Use Testimonials to the Advantage of Your Writing Career was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Can Online Profiles Replace Your Resume?

Sharon Hurley Hall — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:53:09 +0000

Some time ago one of the people I worked for asked me for my CV so they could put it on file. I agreed and searched my desktop for an up to date version of the document. To my surprise, the only version I could find was last updated in 2006. Why was this?

In part it’s because I use social media a lot and the place where my most up to date work information can be found is on LinkedIn. I tend to add new gigs there when they happen and to collect testimonials and expand my network. I also have several online profiles on freelancing sites as well as my own portfolio site. All of those are more up to date than my resume. Does that mean that I don’t need one? I’m not entirely sure.

You see, although I spend a lot of time online, I always advise writers that they shouldn’t ignore the offline market – newspapers, magazines, small businesses looking for marketing material and the like. If you take this tip, then you will perhaps need to have a physical meeting with someone (remember those?) and take in that piece of paper that outlines your credentials. Not everyone you meet will be web savvy and many people are more comfortable with the format they know.

That doesn’t mean I’ll stop updating my online profiles. On the contrary, keeping them up to date is essential for anyone who makes their living online (or who wants to be found by those searching online). However, I’m also taking my own advice, so I’ve updated my offline resume as well.

This post was originally published in Writing Lab News.

Can Online Profiles Replace Your Resume? was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

10 Ways To Raise Your Online Writing Profile

GuestWriter — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:49:23 +0000

Networking is a key way to build your online writing profile.

Making money by writing online is a lot easier if your name is well known. Rather than constantly seeking out work, you’re more likely to be offered attractive jobs. So here are my top tips for promoting yourself online.

Maximise your email sig

The easiest first – make sure you use your email signature to market your skills. Describe your talents, and include a link to either your site or an example piece of work. You may consider updating your sig on a weekly basis to alert readers to your latest article or job.

Use social networks

Make sure you have an account in your name on the key social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Add updates regularly, sprinkling a good mix of both work related and social comments – you’re more likely to get friends and followers if you say things of interest rather than pure self-promotion.

Contribute to key forums

You may already read forums within your subject area, but make sure you join and contribute posts. Aim for quality rather than quantity, and try to build a reputation for expert opinions and contributions. Make sure you always use a consistent display name when registering on each site.

Edit Wikipedia

Think about registering as a Wikipedia editor in your specialist area. This is less of a public role, but you’ll become respected within the community and it will give a great addition to your CV. You’ll also get some great editing experience which will in turn improve your own writing and research skills.

Write for a rev share site

Open an account on a advert sharing site such as Wikinut – not only will you be able to generate cash from any existing articles you’ve written, but you’ll be able to build up an online portfolio within a community of online authors.

Join a freelancing site

Middlemen such as Elance will put you in touch with potential clients, and also allow you to submit a profile to their site.

Get in touch with old colleagues

Use professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to re-establish links with past work colleagues. You’ll also be able to submit a CV and work experience to these sites, so even if you’re just starting out as a writer you can show off your other skills and experience.

Become a guest poster

Contact blog owners you respect and send them some example guest posts. Ensure you try to target your writing for their style, and always provide a short bio of yourself. By building relationships with a few high traffic blogs you’ll be putting your name before potentially huge audiences.

Write a blog

Create a blog for yourself, as a show piece for your talents. Use it as a place to promote your work, recent jobs, as a portfolio, to air your thoughts on writing… basically, anything that puts you in a good light. Spend a bit of cash to get your own domain name for that professional look.

And finally

If you do have your own blog, ensure you spread your content far and wide. Utilise feeds such as RSS and Feedburner to syndicate your content. Create a mailing list, and send out regular newsletters with relevant, original content interspersed with your self-promotional content.

Andy Walton is a co-founder of Wikinut, a new publishing platform that pays lifetime royalties for your writing on a massive range of topics. Use promo code “5more” when joining www.wikinut.com today, and get an extra 5% in royalties. (Photo: lumaxart)

10 Ways To Raise Your Online Writing Profile was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

A Freelance Writer’s 2010 Resolutions

Dana Prince — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:02:47 +0000

What are your writing goals and plans for 2010? Do you have writing resolutions? I have resolutions every year about getting healthier, getting more organised, making more money… Here are some of my 2010 writing career resolutions — off the top of my head.

Organise my taxes and accounting as I go, rather than wait until tax time to scramble.
Put money away for taxes throughout the year so tax time doesn’t result in a big shock.
Be more ergonomic. (Dana uncrosses legs and straightens up) Spending so many hours a day isn’t so good for the back, the wrists, etc.
Do more marketing. Marketing is a vital aspect of self-employment and every time I take the time to do it, it pays off. (You can get marketing and promotion for writers tips here.)
Work more at my passive writing income efforts. Isn’t it nice when an article you write once pays you many times over? The more I do it, the fewer hours I have to work so I’m going to try to get back to spending a few hours a week on my own monetized websites.
Exercise more. Sitting at the desk 40-80 hours a week ain’t conducive to maintaining svelte.
Stop eating at the desk. Taking breaks is good for the brain, the belly, the muse, and better for the electronics. (Dana taps keyboard gently over garbage bin. Ewww)
Raise rates. My expertise has been elevated in many areas and just like those working for others, self-employed freelancers need a raise too.
Manage my time better. When it’s 5:pm and I have only earned $44 but have been at the computer all day I know I’m doing something wrong. Being more conscious of time suckers will result in fewer nights at the computer until (and past) midnight. I’ve gotten away from setting a schedule and need to do more of that.
Start taking most weekends off. I generally work almost every day. One of my goals for being self-employed was to have more time for my family so in the next year, I’m hoping that my marketing and passive income efforts, along with some personal goals will allow me to do that.

We all know that a lot of resolutions don’t last past the first week in January. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set goals and work to achieve them. Even one or two achievements out of a list of resolutions will result in continuous self improvement.

What do you want out of 2010?

(photo credit: www.sxc.hu/profile/ilco)

A Freelance Writer’s 2010 Resolutions was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Passive Writing Gig Hunting – Get Paying Clients to Find You

Dana Prince — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:25:12 +0000

When you work as a freelance writer, job hunting can be a big part of your day and because time is money, doesn’t it make sense to handle it in a way that saves you time and increases your income? I try to handle job hunting in the same way as making passive income. Here’s how I do it:

A lot of writers augment their income with passive article writing sites like eHow, Askables, InfoBarrel, and HubPages. If you’re making time to do that, you can also make a little time for self-promotion — which can be an even more profitable way to increase your income.

Passive Income Benefits

When working for passive income streams, actions done today can pay you back repeatedly. I know people making $1,000+ a month cumulatively on articles that they wrote last year. It may take time and effort now for payoffs tomorrow but it might pay you tomorrow and the next day and the day after that as well.

So, why not perform an action that can get more results more than once with respect to hunting for writing jobs? With passive writing income sites, you can write once and get paid many times. Consider promoting yourself online with actions that you take once but that can lead to repeated results. Let’s call this…passive job hunting.

How do you do this? Self-promotion. Self promotion for writers is vital in terms of building your brand so that clients come to you. Self-promotion can take time and cycles now but can pay you off repeatedly in the future. Some freelance writers spend an hour a day querying and applying to jobs and while you should continue to keep your eyes and ears open for great job opportunities, doesn’t it seem easier to try to have people also come to you because they’re looking for an expert at a specific niche or writing style and found you listed as an expert somewhere?

Google – A Writer’s Best Friend

Google can be used to build you up as an authority by telling people who search for a press release writer, white paper writer, legal blogger, or (insert your specialty here)_____ writer, that you are the most relevant result. Because most web writers, through writing for clients and content factories, get to pick up a thing or two about search engine optimisation and social networking, they can do a great job of promoting themselves by applying the principles they use for clients to their own promotional efforts. If you’re helping your clients rank as #1 for the widget they sell, you should be able to help yourself become #1 in the SERPS for the widget that you sell.

Here are three tips to help you do that:

1. Start a website. Create a professional-looking business website. I started mine at Hostgator for $45 ($35 for 3 months of hosting and $10 for my URL) two years ago and it has done wonders for me! The site builder made it easy to set it up and I did it over a weekend.

2. Write articles for article directories and link them back to your site. Optimise them for the keywords you want to rank for.

3. Social bookmark your articles on places like StumbleUpon, Mixx, Reddit, Twitter, etc.

4. Repeat steps two and three each and every week.

Even one article a week over time can help you. Instead of having to troll job boards every week to fill up your schedule for the following week, you’ll eventually begin to get a steady stream of queries from clients who find you online. Your one application for a job gets seen once. But your self-promotion efforts can result in articles and your site being seen by many.

When people find you, it’s much easier to land the job. They’re already partially convinced that you’re right for the job and you can often make even more money this way because you set your own pricing.

You spend time every day searching for jobs and reading the blogs you love to read so why not take an extra few minutes and write a self-promotional piece for yourself?

Passive Writing Gig Hunting – Get Paying Clients to Find You was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

How I Put My Site On Steroids – Again

Sharon Hurley Hall — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:57:13 +0000

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 steps I outlined then still held true.

Article Marketing

The first step I took back in 2006 was to use article marketing, writing articles with a link back to my site. That worked well and still does. In fact, I am still getting traffic from articles I wrote back 2005. I no longer write reviews for consumer sites, but if I were going to do it, I’d probably write those reviews on Amazon as their profile features are now much better.

Leveraging Your Blog

The second step was to get a blog and submit my site to directories. That still works too, although I would argue that getting a social media presence is far more important. If I were writing this post from scratch, I’d suggest people get a Twitter account, Delicious account and Facebook profile or page (depending on whether they are promoting themselves as individuals or businesses).

Navigation

Making your site easy to navigate is still a valid way to boost traffic, so yes, having a search box and sitemap are crucial. Once your blog has a bit of content, it’s useful to use a layout that makes it easy for people to see content in different categories. I also like having a tag cloud, because it tells me both what your blog focuses on and how to find it easily. There are also dozens of plugins which highlight your content such as related and popular posts plugins – use them. (For example on this blog, I use related posts, random posts, featured posts and a tag cloud.)

Social Media

One piece of advice which I didn’t give in the original post was to participate in the social media. When you connect with others on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Stumbleupon and through blog comments, you encourage them to visit your site. The more you reach out, the more you get back. And that’s a great way to build both a network and site traffic.

I know these steps work, because my traffic has increased more than tenfold since I wrote the original post. What else would you use to put your site traffic on steroids?

How I Put My Site On Steroids – Again was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

Top Tips On Promotion

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:27:09 +0000

Get your writing career on track with these promotion tips

I’ve been writing about promotion since 2005 and over that time, I’ve learned a lot about the topic. Many people think Self Promotion: What’s The Point? My question to you is Are You Invisible? If you are then it’s time to find out about How To Build Your Own Buzz. If you’re stuck for ideas, here are a few of my other popular posts on promoting yourself, both generally and as a writer.

Promote Yourself With A Portfolio

Writer Without Portfolio

Article Marketing

Social Promotion

Finally, check out my Promotion Is Free series, which looks at several aspects of self promotion.

Comment Competition

Sharon Hurley Hall — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:41:27 +0000

I’ve been thinking for a while of running a competition on this blog, and a recent offer from UPrinting has given me the chance to do just that. So I now present (drumroll, please): the Get Paid To Write Online comment competition. The rules are simple.

1. Leave a comment on this post to let me know that you are entering. Feel free to say what you will do with the business cards if you win

2. Leave a useful and interesting comment on another recent post on this blog. I’m looking for comments that add something to the discussion.

There are three prizes up for grabs. The winner (as judged by our panel of one – me) will get 500 free business cards from Uprinting, and the two runners-up will get 250 cards each.

Closing date: Wednesday 15th October. UPDATE: The competition is now closed. Thanks to all who entered. Winners will be notified soon.

Uprinting provides business cards on a range of stocks, including eco friendly business card printing.

Writers – Promote Yourself On Wrideo

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:14:31 +0000

AsÂ a writer, I am often frustrated when promoting my work on the social bookmarking sites. Many of the sites don’t have specific categories for writing, and they certainly don’t have sub categories that relate to the writing business. If you’ve ever tried to decide where to put one of your writing posts on Digg, then you will know what I mean.

Digg For Writers

A friend of mine has recently started a site that could be the solution to this problem. It’s called Wrideo, which is free to join. Site owner Achilleas Tsoumitas thinks of it as a place where writers can show off their best work to other writers. Put another way, Wrideo is like Digg for writers. Once you have created an account, you can submit useful content so that others can vote for it and can comment on submissions. The best posts will appear on the home page or on the home pagesÂ for the initial categories: writing, freelance, ghostwriting, home business, publishing, marketing and monetization.

Feeds Galore

One of the things I like about the site so far is that you can grab feeds for each member of the site, as well as the individual categories and popular and upcoming stories. Site members can also create profiles which include their latest submissions. I think the site has a lot of potential and have been talking to Achilleas about ways to make it even more useful to writers. I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.

Launch Contest

The site will only work ifÂ there isÂ a thriving community of writers, so to kick things off, Wrideo is offering a prize for the member who signs up the most members by October 31. Writers love to read, and you’ll be able to indulge yourself with aÂ shopping spree on Amazon. There are three prizes of $50, $30 and $20. You don’t even need a special URL. All you need to do is sign up, Â link to Wrideo from your website, or add a submit button to your posts on writing and your referral will register automatically. The more you promote the site, the better your chances of winning. Spread the word on your own blog and see if you can win. Full contest rules are here.

Writers – Promote Yourself On Wrideo was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.

How To Promote Yourself With Squidoo

Sharon Hurley Hall — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:21:22 +0000

A recent gig creating lenses for a client reminded me of how useful Squidoo can be for self promotion. I have to be honest: although I have eight lenses, I don’t promote them very much so I don’t get the full Squidoo promotional juice. In spite of that, at least two clients have come to me as a result of finding one of my lenses.

One good reason to use Squidoo is that you can get a web page to promote yourself without the hassle of getting hosting. Although I always advocate buying a domain name and creating a blog or website, Squidoo can be a good starting point for getting the word out about your writing services. The service is based on the premise that everyone is an expert in something and you are sharing your expertise with the world. Promoting yourself with Squidoo can be done in a few simple steps. All you need to start is to get an account and write your bio.

Step 1: Write The Content

This will change depending on whether you are creating a biographical or an informational lens. If you plan to provide information, write an article on a specialist area that you want to promote. Fill it with details that will be useful to readers, because if they like it, they will help with the promotion.

Step 2: Create A Lens

This is simple. Once you sign up for an account, you are invited to create a lens. You need to give it a title and add appropriate keywords (you can edit those later) To help you, Squidoo also provides a few templates to get you started or you can go freestyle (which is my favorite option). You can add different sections to your lens for including text and photos, RSS feeds, affiliate products from Amazon, Ebay, Cafepress and more. There are dozens of things you can add to your Squidoo lens.

Once you have decided what to add, preview the order of the modules, rearrange them (this will make sense when you’re doing it) and click save. You will have a page with several boxes to add content. The top box allows you to add an introduction and photo, a table of contents and links to related lenses. Once you have more than one lens, you can cross link them in this box.

Step 3: Add The Content

Your next step is to put your article in the boxes. I usually put each paragraph (or couple of paragraphs) in a new box with a subheading. This makes it into a good web article. You can use HTML in the boxes for links and bulleted lists. A good tip is to save each box when you have finished with it and to click ‘save this draft’ at the end of the page to keep your changes. Don’t worry; it won’t be live till you publish.

Once you’ve done that, you can add a few more items. I always add some Amazon books and my blog’s feed, but you may have other products to promote. Once you’re done, preview the lens, and publish.

Step 4: Promote

When you have the lens, promote it in all the usual channels (see my Promotion Is Free series for ideas) as well as within Squidoo itself. Look for active groups on Squidoo and join them. The members will visit your lens and may favorite it, giving the lens more prominence. Email your friends and let them know you have a lens. The more traffic your lens gets, the higher your lens rank and the more prominent it will be. You will also make money from the products you promote in Squidoo – and you won’t even need an affiliate ID.

Step 5: Repeat

The more lenses you have, the more promotional juice you get. People with dozens of lenses make money from them and also attract attention from clients. You can too – and all you need to invest is your time.

Over to you, now. I know a couple of regular readers use Squidoo all the time, so if you have tips to add, please feel free to do so in the comments. I’d love to know how you have used Squidoo for promotion.

(Want me to create a lens for you? Here are several I created for Julie-Ann Amos)

How To Promote Yourself With Squidoo was originally published on Get Paid to Write Online, copyright 2005-2010, owned by Sharon Hurley Hall. If you are not reading this in an RSS reader, please contact Sharon.