I’m so pleased to welcome Anne Wayman as a guest poster on Get Paid to Write Online, since I’ve been following her writing blog for years. Today she shares her views on must-haves for a successful freelance writing business.

Don't panic about your freelance writing business - show some moxie instead.

Ask a dozen people, or do a search on the ‘net, about what you need to start a freelance writing business and you’re likely to end up with a list as long as someone’s proverbial arm.

Online you’ll be told about something called the entrepreneur’s personality. This type of article almost always offers test purporting to tell you if you have such a mind or not. Everyone who can fill out their email form correctly passes and qualifies for a course on starting a business that costs – well, there’s that arm again, along with a leg.

You’ll also find lists ranging from 10 to 50 things you must have in place before you dare to step out on your own. Ten might make sense, 50 is a stopper as far as I’m concerned.

Friends and family will have another set of suggestions about what you need that is often comes in the form of “What! Are you crazy?” or some variant.

While some of this information can be helpful, particularly if you take it in small bites, it can also be so overwhelming it will make you think starting your business is impossible – it’s not. There’s a huge difference between what you really need to start a freelance writing career and what’s nice to have.

Three Must-Haves for a Freelance Writing Career

Here are the three things you absolutely must have to start a freelance writing business:

Some writing talent. You don’t have to be Pulitzer Prize material or in line for a columnist job at, oh say, The Atlantic. You do need the ability to recognize and write complete sentences, do some basic research and recognize that ideas are everywhere. Chances are if you love to read and you grew up in an English speaking country you write well enough.

A computer and an internet connection and somewhere to use it. You can set it up on a desk in your bedroom or, dare I mention, the kitchen table featured in so many get-rich-quick schemes, or on your lap in your living room. I have at one friend who runs the majority of her writing business from various coffee shops around town with her laptop.

A bit of Moxie.  Moxie is an old fashioned word meaning, among other things, including. “1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage. 2. … initiative… ”

The Most Important Quality for Writers

Of the three I, suspect moxie is the both the most important and perhaps the most difficult to come by. It’s not the skills that are difficult, although there is certainly some of that required. It’s that “ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage” that can be hard to come by, as well as the “initiative.”

Make no mistake about it, starting a writing business or any other for that matter, requires “imitative” and I can guarantee that you will meet difficulties that a bit of bravery will help you solve.

I know from my email that many who say they want to be freelance writers lack the moxie to do what it takes; I’m not sure why.

Some, of course, are just looking for an easier, softer way.

But many suffer from one or both of two fears – rejection and/or not getting it right.

When you have moxie you may have those feelings, but you don’t let them stop you.

That means that although you’re totally panicked at the idea of submitting a query, you do it anyway. Maybe you set a goal of getting it out in the next five days. Even when the fear becomes so strong you can barely type it out, you do it anyway, and you get it in the mail, E or snail.

Or maybe you want to start corporate writing. You determine to contact one local company a day by email for two weeks. As you compose the email you find you’re making typos because of the fear that someone will laugh at you or that that no one will respond. You send the emails anyway and you do it again the next week, making the emails better each week.

And when you get a response from a query or an email you sent regarding corporate writing you open it right away. And you read it until you’re sure you understand what it says.

If it’s a rejection, and in the beginning it usually is, you take a deep breath, and pin it to the wall in celebration because you’ve begun to actually take the steps that will lead you to a successful freelance writing career.

If, as occasionally happens, it’s an acceptance, you celebrate and then get on with the writing so you can do it all over again.

What do you find you need for your freelance writing business?

Anne Wayman is a ghostwriter and writing coach. You can find her at AboutFreelanceWriting and other websites including PowerfullyRecovered! and WhenGrandmotherSpeaks. Her professional site is AnneWayman.com.

Photo credit: Simon_K

By Lori Widmer

It’s tough when you’re first building your writing career to make the right choices. The easy choices aren’t necessarily the best choices, but when you’re fresh at it, how do you know?

When I first started freelancing, I chased the money – meaning I never turned down a client no matter how bad the fit was. The result: lousy working conditions, terrible pay, and referrals from cheap clients that led to even more cheap clients. I was stuck in a rut.

No more. Thanks to lessons learned the hard way, and lessons taught by other freelancers, I can now spot a lousy deal in milliseconds. I’ve now adopted three rules by which I judge all clients and offers.

Rule #1: Don’t pay for access to clients. That includes bidding sites, sites that require a fee in exchange for “access” to projects, and clients asking for “processing fees” or any other remuneration in exchange for a job. The idea behind freelancing is to be paid for your work, not the other way around. Worse, these sites often offer “premium” projects the likes of which can be found on Craig’s List – $4 an article? Really?

Rule #2: Don’t bid. Refer to rule #1. Let me qualify this because we do have to provide bids to clients frequently – don’t bid against writers in any open forum. That cheapens both the writer and the fee. Also, don’t bid on any project without contacting the client directly or knowing anything about the project. Instead, set your own rates. Do negotiate with clients so that you come to mutually agreeable terms, but don’t attempt to barter on a job board. You’re a professional. Professionals don’t beg.

Rule #3: Don’t weed through ads. I can’t remember the last time I scored a client gig through an advertised job. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I even looked at the ads. There may be true jewels among the rubble of job listings sites, but each one you find is also being found by thousands of your peers. Instead, choose your own clients and contact them directly offering your services. This does two things – it allows you to reach clients who truly value your skills, and it allows you to control your own earnings. Job listings usually state a rate, and it’s usually not up to what you should be earning.

By following these three rules, you can shed the low-paying gigs and lift yourself and your career out of an ever-deepening rut. It requires a little more work from you, but once you’re earning to your potential, you’ll be glad you put the effort into it.

What rules have you established for yourself and your business?

Lori Widmer is a veteran writer and editor who holds fast to her own rules. Her specialties include business and trade writing, and she teaches marketing and business development skills to freelance writers. Her e-book, The Worthy Writer’s Guide to Building a Better Business, is now available.  She blogs daily at Words on the Page.

Photo credit: Bruno Boutot

I enjoyed this guest post from Victoria Virgo, which shows how she has started the writing year right by booting out procrastination.

The first thing is admitting you have a problem. OK, here goes. Hi my name is Victoria and I am a procrastinator. I will find any excuse not to get things done but this year I am trying to figure out how to achieve my goals while suffering from this unfortunate affliction. The good news is that I have now learned a little secret that is helping to keep me on the straight and narrow and towards the righteous path of achievement and success.

It is the beginning of a brand new year and just like scores of other people all over the world I have prepared a well crafted list of things that I hope to achieve over the next 12 months. The majority of New Year’s Resolutions lists normally comprise of something to do with weight loss, perhaps getting a new job or even finding true love. Actually, to be honest with you I have left that last one off my list for this year and am instead opting for a cosy water bottle to keep me warm on a cold night. Well frankly there’s no room left in my bed what with the pile of self help books and self improvement magazines that have now taken up permanent residence on the left side of to the bed.

Anyhoo back to the point of this post – I am sure that by now you can be in no doubt that I am a procrastinator and will take any opportunity to go off at a tangent. Focus, Victoria, focus.

The Secret To Achieving Your Goals

The little secret that I have discovered is actually not that much of a secret. Everyone knows what it is but we seem to conveniently forget it every time we look failure in the eye. The secret to success comes down to proper planning and execution, plain and simple. If you are serious about hitting your targets you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What is My Goal?
• What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?
• When Do I want To Achieve This By?

As you can imagine, these questions will send someone like me off to procrastination heaven. I have therefore given myself permission to rest my chin in the palms of my hands and look out into the middle distance as I ponder the what’s and wherefores of these three valid points. Actually I allow myself about 5 minutes then snap back to reality and write out a step by step response to each question.

The Goal Setting Process in Action

Here is how I have used this simple process to achieve one of the goals on my New Year’s Resolutions list.

What is My Goal?

To write an article and get it published as a guest blogger.

What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?

Make a list of blogs that accept guest posts. Find out about the site owner and the type of articles that they are looking for. Create a suitable article and submit it for publication. I will write a fresh new article and submit it to a blog owner at least once a week.

When Do I Want To Achieve This By?

Within 3 months.

The Results

I happily got to work and lookey here, this is my first guest post. Hurrah! By getting organised and breaking my goal into bite size tasks, I was able to tame the procrastinator within and get the job done.

This process can be applied to almost any goal that you set for yourself. Once you know what you want you can then work out the steps you need to take in order to succeed. I hope this approach works for you too. Good luck fellow procrastinators.

(Image: By Jorge Barrios (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Victoria Virgo is a freelance writer from London, England. You can visit her personal blog My Daily Cuppa to discover how she is dealing with procrastination. She also owns Two Pretty Things where she writes reviews on whatever takes her fancy. 

Spike Wyatt’s book on freelancing grabbed me from the title. ‘Going the Half Hog?’ I asked myself. Did this mean a half hearted approach to freelancing, as opposed to going all out aka the full hog? No, it didn’t. Instead this is a book for those who want to make a part time income or work part time as freelancers.

The book is subtitled Freelancing without Marketing – another draw for me. Sure I can get my writer marketing done in a short time, but not marketing at all? I was intrigued.

Going the Half Hog Contents

I found Spike’s book an easy, no-nonsense read. The contents list includes:

• How to freelance as a writer
• What you need to get started as a half-hogger
• The basics of online content creation
• The “natural marketing” alternative that takes almost no time or effort
• Where to find freelance writing jobs that suit you
• How to sort through the crap jobs and find the gems
• The major ways to earn – all with their pros and cons
• Avoiding the cheats and scams
• The editing and proofreading route to success

The Best Bits of Going the Half Hog

I knew I was going to love the book when I read the disclaimer, which stated: ‘the author has been known to talk crap’. From then on, I was clear that this was going to be a down-to-earth read with no pseudo-guru-speak – yay! And I was right.  Spike promises ‘real information with actual, explicit ideas and guidelines’ and that’s what he delivers. Among my favorite bits were:

• on what clients really want – most just want a reliable, professional writer who will produce high-quality work on time, every time
• on getting paid – Repeat after me: you deserve to be paid the same as full-time freelancers of similar talent for similar work.
• on running a writing business – There is no ‘right’ way to run a business, beyond a few simple concepts such as honesty, integrity, producing quality work and meeting deadlines
• on how to freelance successfully – Provide solutions. Create accurate specifications. Offer simple, clear contracts. Keep deadlines. Do quality work.

I also liked the 5 principles of being a good freelancer – simple rules which anyone can sign up to – and the questions you need to know the answers to when you get started. These are especially useful for new writers. New writers will also get value from the section where Spike provides a simple structure for writing articles for an online audience.

My one point of disagreement with Spike was on the importance of spelling, grammar and punctuation. He says: ‘I’m not saying that spelling, grammar and punctuation are unimportant: they just don’t have to be perfect for the majority of online media.’  I say: people notice these things, even if subliminally, and it’s important to get them right. That’s the only niggle – and I’m still prepared to recommend the book.

I know the experienced writers out there are wondering what’s in it for them. I can tell you where I learned something – in the section on scams and cheats. I’ve seen my share of writing scams, but Spike added a couple twists on them which haven’t yet come my way (probably because I stay off the bidding sites.) It’s always good to know about these things in advance.

The Verdict

Overall, I think Going the Half Hog lives up to its description:

With this unique, straightforward book you’ll learn everything you need to get started as a freelance writer, including content creation, ways to earn online, where to find freelance work that suits your skills and schedule, how to sort through the rubbish jobs and find the gems, how to avoid the cheats and scammers, a “natural marketing” alternative that requires almost no time or effort and lots more to build a solid foundation that you can scale up whenever you want.

With all that value, at $7.50 it’s not hard to see this as a good investment in your writing career.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Going the Half Hog and I like it so much that if you click on the links below and buy it, I might earn a few cents.

Check out Going The Half Hog: Freelance Writing Without Marketing (or the Kindle edition) on Amazon.com

Check out Going the Half Hog: Freelance Writing Without Marketing (or the Kindle Edition) on Amazon.co.uk

Apart from being seasonal, this image doesn't have much to do with the post - but isn't it beautiful?!

Take a look around most freelance writing blogs at the minute and you’re likely to see the same type of discussions – how the last year has gone and setting goals and aspirations for the coming year.

Last year, I followed suit. We looked at how 2010 had been and discussed what goals we’d like to meet in the coming year, all before the Christmas season had started.

While I believe reflection on the past 12 months is still imperative before Christmas, as you can’t determine how successful the year has been and therefore you can’t plan your coming year without doing so, I realised something this year about planning and preparing for the coming 12 months.

Over Christmas, I spend a lot of time with friends and family. It’s the only time of the year where I truly move away from work for any length of time and for a week or so, I focus entirely on relaxing and having a great time.

When I set my goals last year for 2011, while many of them were still relevant after the Christmas break, I may not necessarily have chosen them first and foremost.

The reason behind this is leading up to Christmas, I’m almost solely focused on work. I want to get as much done as possible before I stop for Christmas, so it seems that I’m working – or at least thinking about work – for most of the time I’m awake.

Although this means that I’m able to reflect on the past year fantastically, it often means that any goals I set for the coming year are heavily business orientated.

Some of you may now be thinking “isn’t that the point?” and on one hand, yes, it is the point – you’re setting goals to achieve within business.

What I’ve realised this year, however, is that the goals set are almost always done so in a way that will help me professionally and not necessarily personally.

Perhaps I’ve had a bit of an epiphany, but these past few months I’ve realised just how important it is to think and plan when it comes to friends, family and myself as much as it is when it comes to business.

So this year, I’m going to try something different – and I’d like you to, as well.

I’m still going to reflect on the last 12 months and see if I achieved my goals (something I’ll do next week), but instead of setting goals immediately, I’m going to wait until early January.

I want to feel properly relaxed and in a different frame of mind than I do now, as by planning goals now, they’ll all be business orientated – leave this side of my work until after Christmas and I believe I should be able to define goals that although business related, will allow me to achieve a better work / life balance.

I love work and being able to write for a living is fantastic, but I do think I – and I’m sure many others – can become to obsessed with it and need to spend more time setting goals that will be of benefit personally, rather than just professionally.

Image:  Vicci (Moon Stars and Paper)

by Dahlia Valentine

When I went to bed on September 18, 2011, I pinky swear I wasn’t thinking about starting a press release writing business the next day. I mean I had every intention of doing it… eventually.

You know, as soon as I had the website up and running… as soon as I’d written some killer website copy… as soon as I wrote a special report to convert the tire kickers… as soon as – well you get the point.

But when I woke up on September 19, I just had one of those ‘today’s the day’ feelings. I launched my press release writing service that afternoon and got my first three clients the same day.

The back story behind my impromptu launch

Part of the reason why I felt so apprehensive about launching the service without a website was my obvious lack of experience. You see, I don’t have a public relations degree resting on my mantle. In fact, I’d just written my first press release (ever!) less than 30 days before I decided to launch the service.

My informal education consisted of reading through 10-15 hour’s worth of press releases on PRNewswire and PRWeb. For my at-home-internship, I wrote 7 press releases for my blog and ebook.

My first release took three insanely meticulous hours to write. All the while I wondered if some pedigreed editor at Google News would see my obvious lack of PR-ability.

Apparently not. Google News isn’t curated by humans and the algorithm found my work good enough to rank in the #1 spot for my keywords. I was hooked!

You don’t need a website when you have friends in the right places

By the 7th release I was generating ebook sales through pure press release power. That’s when I started thinking about launching a website to promote my services. Problem was, while I enjoyed writing the press releases I was in no mood to waffle around with another website.

My saving grace came in the form of an Internet marketing forum I’d joined in August. Earn 1K a Day is a $40 a month private forum where Internet marketers talk shop and sometimes sell their products and services.

The site boasts many long-time members. And the fact that they’re constantly shelling out cash to be there means they’re serious about making money and they’re obviously making good connections.

So I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me when I launched my service on Earn 1K a Day and started getting clients within two hours. But it did surprise me. And it taught me a valuable lesson about selling my writing services.

Forums can be a writer’s best ally

It’s not that you need a big portfolio or a degree or even a website to get started. When I posted my ad on the forum I had a link to one of my press releases and a screenshot showing that release ranked in Google. I’m sure those two things helped my case.

But I’m inclined to believe it was my brief spurts of participation on the forum that helped me when I came courting with something to sell. Being a member there gave me credibility by association.

You don’t necessarily have to join Earn 1K a Day to see these types of results. My point is, get involved with a forum sooner rather than later. This way when you’re ready to hang out the “Hire Me” shingle, you’ve already established yourself.

In my next post, I’ll give you a list of forums where you can get started.

———————-

Dahlia Valentine is a blogger, an ebook author and a (happily) working press release writer. You can find out what she’s doing to make money in her writing business by visiting her blog at That IM Thing.  (Photo: kokouu)

As part of my never-ending quest to learn new things, I recently signed up for Enhanced Freelance, a new course/forum run by Thursday Bram and Jennifer Kentmere. I asked them both to tell me more.

Jen, Thursday, can you give us a snapshot of your background?

Jen: I trained in management, specifically project management, in the public sector in the UK – I did one of those shiny graduate development schemes where you get parachuted into different departments and thrown head-first into projects. I learned a lot but it wasn’t for me. I started my own business in 2008, and marketed myself to small business owners who needed help organising their businesses. Now I mainly write, but I still put my ‘consultant hat’ on from time to time.

Thursday: I freelanced all through college, but after I graduated from college, I figured that I had better get one of those real jobs that everyone seems so enthusiastic about. I started searching for a job that would let me keep using my writing skills. I actually found one of those jobs after just a few weeks of looking. But I hated every minute of it — I lasted less than a week before quitting.

So I went back to freelancing. It took me a little while to ramp up to a full-time income (maybe eighteen months to match what I would make working full-time for an employer), but I’ve been so much more happy without having to deal with an employer.

What’s your logline/elevator pitch?

EnhancedFreelance gives freelancers the help we need to up our game.

What makes Enhanced Freelance different from every other writing course and forum out there?

Thursday: EnhancedFreelance is different from the forums that we’ve used and participated in over the years — first of all, we’re geared more towards freelancers who have been in business for a little while. We’re not here to get people started as freelancers so much as help freelancers move forward. We’re also geared very much towards building better marketing and business practices. We’re open to all freelancers, not just writers, because there isn’t a lot of intermediate or advanced level information available for freelancers in general.

What’s the one thing you hope an experienced freelancer will get from Enhanced Freelance?

Thursday: One of the big things that I want experienced freelancers to get from EnhancedFreelance is the ability to implement a lot of these strategies a lot faster — it’s not impossible to go out and try out each of the strategies we talk about on your own. I know that because for the past several years, I’ve done exactly that. But trial and error can be expensive in terms of both time and money and I know I would have loved resources that would have let me skip that.

Jen: I’d like it if members felt they had a new focus for the way they do business, particularly if they’ve felt a bit stuck in a rut, which will either allow them to make more money in the same amount of hours, or to be able to get back some work/life balance.

Do you have a vision for Enhanced Freelance? What is it? 

Jen: I love the idea of a community where we can all get together and inspire each other. I already have a handful of freelancing friends who do this, I’d love to be able to replicate that with our members.

Why are you limiting the numbers/closing applications so soon?

Jen: We want to focus on the members we have and make sure we can give them all the attention they would expect. We’re a new site, so we want to ask for feedback from existing members to make sure we are doing things right before opening it up again in the future.

Thursday: We’re planning to reopen on a regular schedule to add new members as we can integrate them and support them. That, of course, has to be balanced with adding new content to the members’ area.

I’ve been a member of Enhanced Freelance for a few days now and can confirm that it has great articles and worksheets on several aspects of running a freelance business. These help you to work through the issues you face so your business will improve. The course will be closing to new members on October 21, so if you want to be in at the start, check out Enhanced Freelance now! (Yes, I signed up as an affiliate because I know Thursday’s work well and have followed her for years. Here’s my disclosure.)

By Jeanna Rutledge

While I’ve been a writer pretty much a good chunk of my life, and have written professionally for some years (including a year stint as a freelance writer for a single newsweekly), this is my first time ever running my own freelance writing business.

And let me tell you: it’s not easy! It’s challenging and extremely rewarding, but not easy. Being your own boss is definitely not a walk in the park.

Thing is, there’s so much advice out there. It can all be pretty overwhelming getting started. There’s always something you can be doing: tweaking your blog, seeking clients, staying up-to-date. Oh yeah — and writing (!), either for yourself or your clients.

It’s no wonder then why after only a short time in the game, many fizzle out.

With all that being said — I’m not trying to fizzle out. I love what I do and would like to continue. So, in an effort to make that happen, I’ve thought of what has been helpful so far in my journey to keep it moving and keep those “I’m so overwhelmed!” feelings at bay.

May these tips help you as you navigate your life as a newbie freelancer.

1. Find and Follow One of Those 30 (or so) Days to Freelance Writing Guides

There are several great ones out there. I like them because they give you a specific task to focus on each day.

This way, instead of asking, “What should I be doing?”, or getting sidetracked by the next if-you’re-not-doing-this-right-now-you-are-absolutely-doomed-to-fail posts, you can exert your energy working on something that other experienced freelancers have found to be necessary in creating the foundation of your new business.

Here are a few no-cost freelance guides that I’ve found useful:

• 31 Days to Start a Freelancing Business (or Make Yours a Better One) by Alexis Rodrigo of The Savvy Freelancer
• 31 Days to a Brand New Blog Challenge by Rosetta Thurman of From Blogger to Entrepreneur
• 30 Days to Become a Freelancer by Skellie of Skelliewag.org

All were inspired by Darren Rowse and his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program.

I still refer to these guides from time-to-time to help me stay on track. They each have something unique to offer.

2. Pick One Thing and Do That

With all that needs to be done, you may find yourself jumping from one task to another. Not helpful. You’ll look up at the clock and see all kinds of time has passed while you’ve accomplished nothing. This then creates anxiety for you, which then leads to procrastination, which then leads to you not doing what you need to for your business, which ultimately leads your business to a bunch of nowhere if you don’t get back on track.

Decide what needs to be done for the time being and work on it until it’s complete.

Seeing that you’re making progress can encourage you to keep going.

3. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others 

OK. So all of those top writers doing their thing on the Internet, showing up all the time in your Twitter feed, being referenced in every blog you read, sought after for all kinds of interviews, pulling in all kinds of bucks — they have likely been doing this freelancing thing for a while, or have been able to apply what they’ve learned pretty quickly and it’s working for them.

That right now may not be you, and that’s all right.

Remember: You are unique. Yes, that’s way cliché’ but it’s the truth. You are! What’s someone else’s journey is not yours — and vice versa. Honor that.

You do not know what others have gone through or are going through to be where they are right now. Don’t underestimate the work that goes on behind the scenes. What you are seeing out front is the pretty picture, not the struggle.

Instead of spending your time looking at what everyone else is doing, admiring their success and feeling bad about how you’re not in the shining lights and rolling in the dough — work on you. Write those blog posts you’re taking forever to write, start building that Facebook page, make that prospect list so you can get started with those query letters and cold calls.

4. Just Do It!

You can read all the blog posts, articles and books in the world, but until you actually put yourself out there and apply what you’ve read, your business will remain a dream and in theory. In order for something to happen, an action must take place.  The best learning comes by doing and by making mistakes, and using those mistakes to do better next time.

So yes, gather the information you need in preparation for launching and managing your freelance business. But know that while it’s great to learn from the mistakes of others, sometimes we just have to learn our own way, from our own stumbles. As it’s said, experience is the best teacher — so fear the fear and do it anyway.

Jeanna D. Rutledge is new to the land of freelance and enjoys writing about it and other writing awesomeness on her blog. You should definitely visit to read tidbits here and there about her freelance journey, and connect with her on Twitter to see an example of “learning by doing” in action.

Image: Jason Prini

How easy is it to be a location independent writer? Not as easy as you might think, as Claire van den Heever discovers.

From the minute I walked through the arrivals hall, I was hit by that hot, tropical smell infused with spices – unique to India. The smoke from joss sticks floating through the air, the frying and boiling of cumin and cardamom: they all made my senses soar. It was India in her full glory and, finally, I was there again. Only, I couldn’t be just yet; my mind had to remain in China for a few weeks longer.

A Writer’s Dilemma

I had, for the first time, undertaken to work as a location independent writer. Arriving in India gave me my first taste of what would become a perpetual dilemma. I had imagined gloating about earning a living against such magnificent backdrops as the Himalayas, or while soaking up the contagious energy of a city like Bangkok. In reality, I was to discover, my writing would rarely benefit from an appreciation of my location. Until my writing projects were focused on the particular place I was in – which would not be the case for several months more – it was far more likely to distract than inspire. While watching the sun rise and set from a series of frighteningly generic coffee shops, I began to resent the work I was doing, blaming it for keeping me away from wherever I’d chosen to go.

I was finishing a book. It was a mammoth project – a commission about Chinese contemporary art – that I’d taken on a year and half earlier while living in Shanghai, but still not succeeded in completing. I had come to India to finish the book. There, I imagined, in the peace and quiet of inspiring surroundings, I’d find the energy. It was my only goal, having left behind the other work I was doing in Shanghai, and I thought that my undivided attention was all it needed.

But all this time India was around me: as a mental construct or, sometimes, as a vibrant place that I was passing through. My body was in India – and my spirit longed to be too – but my mind was forced to stay in China. China, which I had left for a life on the road, was the setting of my book, and the place from which my words and ideas came from. But every day, India appealed to me from behind the glass as I worked, as I tried to shut it out. I came to see the country as little more than a distraction. My focus simply had to be the book – if I was ever going to finish it.

Unfinished Business

After three months, I left India with mixed feelings. I felt a deep sense of regret about neglecting my host country – failing to explore and embrace it as I had done on trips before. I also felt frustration. Surrounded by India, I hadn’t been able to keep my head in China, and still, the book was unfinished.

I flew to Thailand. In Bangkok, cutting myself off from a city that I’d never visited before just did not seem like an option, and a sudden sense of urgency spun me into a writer possessed. If I didn’t get out and explore very soon, I would never forgive myself.

For the next few days, I woke at 5am, making use of the guesthouse’s coffee machine before padding barefoot upstairs to the desk in our room. I wrote feverishly, fuelled by caffeine and my urgent desire to reach the end of a story I’d been writing for 16 months. I traipsed between the desk and the restaurant, where I ate all my meals. In the evenings, once the afternoon’s caffeine had lost effect, I drank beer and wrote in the guesthouse garden.

Location Independent Writing – At Last!

On the fifth day, the first draft was finished. And only now could I experience what is, surely, the most rewarding part of the travelling writer’s existence: closing your laptop to find yourself in one of the most appealing places you could imagine. After a marathon slog, rather than celebrating by heading to the local pub or a party, as you’d do at home, you can instantly be on holiday in your very own choice of quiet Thai island.

For me, my own intense sense of accomplishment came before I made it as far as a Thai island. I was in Bangkok, where the traveller in me was reawakened. There – in, perhaps, the most dynamic city I’ve visited – the sacrifice of occasionally shutting out my surroundings made the joy of embracing others that much more vivid.

Claire is an overland travel addict who is currently on the road between Shanghai – where she lived for three years – and Cape Town, which she last called home eight years ago. She can usually be spotted beside a tall, gangly South African who doesn’t carry her backpack, but is her partner-in-crime in all things – not least, Old World Wandering, their travelogue.

by Hayden Jackson

What does success as a writer look like on Elance? For me, it means working with great clients from all over the world, including worthy non-profit organizations, innovative tech startups, and interesting small businesses. It means only accepting work that pays professional fees. And it means working on projects that I’m proud to add to my growing portfolio.

And where does that kind of success begin? Not with delivering great work. Not with crafting a stand-out proposal. Before anything else can happen, successful Elance writers need a great profile.

Your profile is often your first point of contact with a potential buyer, and as a writer, it’s your chance to showcase your persuasive way with words. Yet many writers don’t make the most of their profiles on Elance, and it’s preventing them from making the most of this profitable freelance marketplace.

Don’t underestimate the power of your profile

If you have been putting all your efforts into crafting superstar proposals on Elance, pull back and take a closer look at your profile. Although proposals are important, a great profile can attract just as much business.

In two years, I have probably gained a dozen great, long-term clients who have contacted me directly after browsing my profile. The great thing about attracting clients in this way is that you don’t have to compete with other contractors to win their work. You’re pre-selected. You’ve pre-sold them on the value of your work, and you can confidently state your higher-than-average fee without worrying about being underbid by competitors.

Even in cases where you are one of many contractors bidding on a job, serious buyers WILL visit your profile, and if it stands out, it will win you the job.

So don’t neglect your profile and assume a great proposal is all you need to nose ahead of the competition.

Pump up the volume: Add creds, visuals, and substance to your profile

As a copywriter who specializes in writing for the web, I’m a big believer in saying things in as few words as possible. But when it comes to your Elance profile, less is NOT more. A sparse profile may be easy to scan, but it will look bare and underdeveloped next to a profile with lots of test scores, work samples, service descriptions, and so on. Fill your profile page with as much information as you can to make it look full, lively, and interesting:

Overview. Craft an overview that describes your best selling points and, if possible, put a testimonial from a previous client front and center. A third-party endorsement is far more powerful and convincing than anything you could say about yourself. If you can, include a link to the client’s website or LinkedIn.com profile so that readers can see that this is a legitimate testimonial from a real person.

Portfolio. Fill the portfolio section with your best work samples, and make sure the full range of your writing talents are represented: creative writing, marketing copy, reports, etc. Make sure they’re your most visually appealing pieces as well as your best written. Clients will respond more favourably to writing that is attractively laid out on a web page or print brochure than they will to an ordinary Word document.

Skills. Take some Elance tested skills. Although most Elance buyers won’t make a decision to hire you based on your tested skill scores, they do form part of the overall impression, and offer proven verification of you skill in specific areas such as business writing, creative writing, editing, and so on. They also fill out the page, making it look more populated and authoritative.

Service Description. Use this section to provide some details on the specific services you offer. It’s also a good idea to list every type of writing product you’re comfortable creating: brochures, newsletters, taglines, B2B letters, etc. Don’t be afraid to build a long list: buyers will appreciate knowing exactly what you can do for them, and they might see something on the list that they hadn’t even thought of: “Hayden ghost-writes blog posts? Our company blog is looking a little neglected these days—maybe we should ask about that service…”

Employment. If you have held jobs unrelated to writing, leave these off your employment list. Even if you were the CEO of PepsiCo, it’s not going to be of interest to prospective purchasers of your writing services. The only exception is when a job helps you write in a particular niche: for instance, your work as an RN will give you credibility if you plan to focus on health writing. Other than that, focus on writing jobs, and feel free to include freelance work here as well.

Here’s an extra tip: to pack an extra punch, you can include a short employer or client testimonial in the job description field. A testimonial straight from the employer or client will be much more compelling than a dry description of your specific duties.

Education. As with your employment, omit anything that’s not directly related to your writing career unless (as an example) you have a degree in biology and you specialize in science writing. If your education section is looking a little thin, there are a number of inexpensive writing and editing courses you can take online or through local continuing education. Your education list doesn’t have to be limited to degrees: you can include non-certification courses and workshops as well.

Get verified. Choose one or two of your most relevant and impressive credentials and get them verified. For US-based credentials, the fee to have them third-party verified is $15—for non-US-based credentials, it’s $25 per verification. Verifying your credentials provides an added layer of reassurance for your buyers, and it also improves your ranking on Elance, so you’ll be more visible in search results.

Make your Elance profile letter-perfect

One final tip—and it’s the most important of all. As a writer, your Elance profile should be proofed and proofed again until it’s letter-perfect. A single error will destroy your credibility among discerning buyers. Don’t just review it yourself—even if you’re an experienced writer, you’re sure to miss something. Make sure another writer or editor you trust looks it over carefully.

Hayden Jackson is a freelance writer and successful Elancer. She is also the author of “72 Insider Tips for Elance Writers,” a comprehensive guide to earning money and building a freelance writing career on Elance.com. Find more Elance tips and tricks on her blog at http://www.72tips.com.