FreelanceWritingGigs Becomes A Network

Freelance Writing Gigs.com which is headed up by one time Performancing contributor Deb Ng has announced that, she has turned the site from one blog into a network of six blogs. This move will enable visitors to quickly find the content they enjoy the most from specific authors. When asked about the move, Deb responded:

“This is a natural progression for the site,” says Deborah Ng, who founded the site in May of 2005 to help work-at-home moms find better writing opportunities. “We have multiple contributors now. By providing six different blogs, we’re making it much more readable. Community members can subscribe to the different blogs rather than scrolling down deeper and deeper to find the content that interests them. This design will provide our readers with much more freedom.”

FWJ is strongly considered by many to be the premier site for freelance writers, especially those looking for a job. In terms of content, FWJ is covered by a variety of experienced writers such as Jodee Redmond, who blogs about writing jobs, including popular job listings, and other matters; James Chartrand, who blogs about the business of freelance writing; resident article writing expert Terreece Clark, as well as well-known bloggers Jennifer Chait and David Peralty, who blog on a wide variety of topics important to bloggers.

So while RWW has disbanded its network, others are creating them. Congratulations to Deb for being able to make the move and Performancing wishes her all the best.

Freelancing In Tough Times

Copyblogger has a good article worth reading if you’re a freelancer entitled, Where Have All the Freelance Writing Jobs Gone? The economy is creating tough times for Freelancers as more and more site owners slash budgets and cut costs. However, Yuwanda Black provides some tips on how to turn a down economy into an opportunity by looking at current trends and then providing information based on those trends.

One thing I think helps freelance writers get more writing jobs is to consider themselves as “information consultants” rather than freelance writers.

When you become an information consultant, your mindset shifts. Then you start looking to capitalize on trends.

For example, the trend right now is on information related to business, finance, and mortgages (sub-prime). It seems like everyday, we see, hear, or read news concerning one or more of these trends. That’s why, if you position yourself to be a leader in covering these trends, this downturn in the economy won’t be so bad.

At the end of the article, Yuwanda offers a 2008-2009 Freelance Writing Jobs Report in PDF format that highlights the hot niches and sub-niches for which Freelancers should be positioning themselves to write about. The report also contains four tips for recession-proofing your freelance writing career.

The Dangers of Freelance Indecision

If you freelance write/ blog for a living, you might have run into a problem that’s cropped up for me in the past: that of working on two articles at once for one client, unable to decide which one will get done sooner. While you might have the freedom to decide, it’s possible that neither one gets done on time if you’re indecisive.

The importance of pillar/ flagship/ comprehensive content on a blog has been much touted. However, when you do it for a client, it’s potentially more of a money-loser if you’re indecisive. To wit, if you have the option of six short articles at $20 each or one larger article at $120, which do you choose? That $120 article might take a bit of research, writing and editing, whereas you might be able to write the short ones with little to no research.

Even worse is when you have the option to work on several large articles, all of which might require an yet unknown amount of research. What if you spent half the week scoping out four articles, starting two or three, and then got stumped. Maybe it’s the fifth article that you didn’t scope out that you could have completed by now.

Four articles half-done means no billables for the week. Obviously, this method of writing can be a real money loser, especially if you have too many open options. If you have this sort of problem, here are a few tips to conquer it:

1. Stay in tune. Creative personalities (i.e., us writers) do go through periods where we question our self-worth. It’s natural. Deal with it by keeping up to date in your niche(s). At the very least, maybe you can reflect upon goings on, if you are having trouble with something original.
2. Scope it out. If you have ten articles to write this week and you are not disciplined, you’d better spend an hour or two on Monday (or better yet, Sunday evening) scoping out ALL ten articles. You can make a list, but I prefer to mind map what I’m working on, in a single map, to get an overview of my week’s work. I can add details as necesary. Estimate how much time each article will take, and what type of tasks are necessary to complete each one.
3. Make a decision. When you’ve scoped everything out, trust your gut instinct (built up from your experience) as to which article to work on first. I know that every single time I don’t trust myself, I end up with an unproductive week and no billables.
4. Get to work. Made your decision? Good, now get to work. Add details to your mind map, for your given article, or just simply start writing. It depends on your technique.

Us creative types do get moody, but you can increasing your effective DPH (dollars per hour) with a little bit of planning, and being aware of what your options really are.

If you do get stuck on the article you’ve picked, you’ll have to make a tough decision: stick with it until it’s finished, or pick another article to work on. Before you do the latter, though, try taking a break or a change of scenery. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

11 Skills That A Freelance Blogger Should Have

So you think you’re a good writer and you’ve read Skellie’s 10 tips for freelance blogging income, in which she says that you shouldn’t accept less than $50 for a 400-word post – even when you’re starting out. I agree that good bloggers deserve this (though whether they’ll get it is questionable). But are you a good blogger? What skills do you have that warrant getting $50/post?

Here are at least some of the “skills” (which include knowledge and activities) that I feel you should aim for if you want to be a consummate bloglancer and command the rates that Skellie suggests.

1. Conversational writing style. This is a given, of course, but so many new bloggers think this is the only skill they need.
2. Topical knowledge. Build a thorough understanding of the topic you’re writing about, else you’ll just be regurgitating. (Regurgitation can be purchased for far far less than $50/post.) If you’re still learning a topic, then at least start by offering your viewpoint.
3. Analytical skills. The reasons for this are many – but one reason is so that you can read X other posts about a topic and produce one solid post from your viewpoint (with appropriate references). Question: can analytical skills be taught, or are they built up over many years?
4. Building dialogue. Ability to build and maintain a dialogue – i.e., get visitors to comment, especially on a regular basis. (Though don’t get depressed if this doesn’t happen right away. Most visitors don’t comment, so without lots of traffic, you might not get responses. Ask friends to comment regularly, if you have to. Visitors are more likely to comment when someone already has.)
5. Deep linking. An understanding of why deep linking is important to building a successful blog, and actually doing it.
6. Building backlinks. Ability to build/ solicit/ induce/ seduce backlinks – especially quality links.
7. Traffic building. Ability to build suitable traffic, either by promotion or by writing secondary articles – posted to other sites – that link to the main article.
8. Web metrics. An understanding of web/ blog metrics, and the use of a good package, such as Performancing PMetrics or Google Analytics, to analyze visitor behavior and site performance, and to determine the effectiveness of activities #5-7.
9. Socializing. Spend time “socializing” online, building up social media friends to help you promote articles. Suggestion: join the Hive.
10. Being a watcher. Willingness to stay on top of the trends, by monitoring your niche. This helps you to
11. Monitoring your work. How much time are you spending on paid work? Are you achieving your desired average hourly/ weekly/ monthly rate, all while still managing to have a life outside of work?

Do You Deserve A Better Rate?

Now, if you happen to have ALL of these skills (or more), and can successfully apply them, then you deserve more than $50/post. Though if you build only your writing skills, then you don’t. Plain and simple. (However, there are a lot of good bloggers out there. How many of you are actually getting $50/post gigs, let alone are finding them?)

I should point out that I left a comment on Skellie’s post saying that I felt her suggestion of asking for $50/post when you start out was unrealistic for most bloggers. If you’ll recall, I just wrote a post about leveraging your research to make the best of $10 and $20 per post fees. I hadn’t read her post at the time, but I’m not totally in disagreement with her. I strongly disagree with a couple of points, but I also strongly agree with most of the other points.

Can the Market Support Increased Article Rates?

The real issue is whether the online market can support that rate. Only two years ago, $10 was about the top rate. Then I’d heard last year from some people that $25-30 was standard, but only for experienced bloggers. A couple of very popular tech sites pay $100, but those posts are much longer than 400 words and typically require a fair bit of research.

Can the market currently support $50/post as a basis for qualified bloggers? I seriously don’t believe that’s the case. Having once been a struggling print publisher, I know the feeling of wanting to pay writers more (or anything at all), but also the feeling of whether I’ve got enough to pay the bills. I happen to know a lot of “successful” web publishers who’ll admit they really aren’t making all that much. Web publishers don’t have costs such as newsprint and printing, but there are other costs.

Now I don’t want to be all pessimistic. I do believe that the market will change, and that qualified bloggers will be able to make a good living, comparable to what many successful print freelance writers make/ once made. For the present though, you have to make the best of the work that’s out there.

Should You Blog For Yourself or Freelance?

Do you have dreams of making a living working online, possibly through blogging? Do you have a plan for how to achieve that? This year marks three years of serious blogging for me, though I have been a freelance writer and published author for much longer. Since becoming a committed blogger, the tough decision has always been whether to blog for myself or to freelance. Both have their positives and negatives.

Here I am nearly three years later and still mostly freelancing, not putting enough time into my own web properties. But in general, I’m questioning if there’s any future in pro blogging for the average person wanting to be a web publisher. Don’t get me wrong. I’m almost never short of opportunities for paid work online. But some months are real downers, or the stakes per project are high. So if I miss a deadline or cannot complete a project, there’s that much more to lose. There’s no half-billing if I only finish half of a project. But my own properties are so neglected that they earn very little. Quite the dilemma.

If you’re just starting out in the blogosphere, what should you do? Short answer: learn the good and the bad aspects of both blogging options. Here are just a few of both that come readily to mind.

Pros and Cons of Blogging For Yourself

1. Freedom to blog whatever topics you want.
2. Lots of choices for ads and monetization.
3. Might take a long time to build enough traffic.
4. It’s easy to get discouraged when traffic doesn’t come, and yet another blog on the topic pops up.
5. You brand your own web properties.
6. Your income is not limited to a per-article or per-project fee. If your site’s earnings increase, the money’s all yours.
7. A lot of the highest-earning niches are often very saturated or tough to crack the cliques.

Pros and Cons of Blogging For Hire

1. You might build your reputation and personal brand, but not on your own web properties.
2. There’s a market for bloggers, with lots of opportunities.
3. The pay isn’t always enough for the amount of effort.
4. The pay isn’t always enough to quit a “real” job, and income can fluctuate significantly.
5. If your contract ends and you’ve invested time in learning a niche, it may not always be easy to replace the work. You may have to switch niches.
6. Freelancing in a niche might require that you maintain your own blog(s) in that niche, as part of promotional efforts.
7. Freelancing full-time leaves you little time for your own blogging.

Conclusion?

My preference is to follow a mixed schedule of freelance work and my own projects, but it’s not easy. To build your own web properties – and your reputation – it takes a lot of initial effort. I used to believe it’s an exponentially decreasing curve of effort, getting easier each year. Well, that’s true, but only in very minute amounts. I am spending less and less time blogging (including research) each week, but my overall monthly average income doesn’t seem to want to budge.

Now, all that said, I don’t want you to go away with a picture of doom and gloom. My father’s favorite saying when I was a kid was, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” What’s more, my experience will not necessarily be yours. My health affects the amount of time it takes me to write, and it’s a catch-22 for me. I can’t get better unless I get out of my chair and become active again, but if I do that I’m worried that I won’t get my work done. (Though as I’ll discuss in the future, this is a self-imposed illustion.)

Still, I’m gravitating back to offline work in the next few years – not because I think there’s no hope for online careers but because I actually miss the social aspect of working offline. But for those of you dedicated enough to do what’s necessary, blogging can be rewarding.

Interview With Jon Phillips of FreelanceFolder

Jon Phillips is one of those guys who it pays to know. He’s smart, and keeps his eye on the ball. In the world of social media marketing Jon Phillips is one of those guys who just gets the job done; and you can’t help but admire his work ethic. Smooth, efficient and a great marketer/networker, I’ve gotta say that there are few others online that I envy in terms of work efficiency and productivity. If you don’t know him from SmartWealthyRich (a site that he has now sold) or his current site FreelanceFolder, then you are definitely missing out.

How long have you been blogging and how did you get started online?

I started blogging about a year ago, but have been working online for a couple years, mostly affiliate marketing and adwords which I no longer do. I started blogging ‘just like that‘, I had heard of WordPress and was bored one evening, so I downloaded WP, installed it and voila! I then joined sites like BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog, and I met Liz Strauss who helped me understand what blogging was about and gave me a ton of helpful advices. That’s how I got started.

How did you get so much traffic so quick since you have a relatively new blog? any blog launch tips?

I launched Freelance Folder in July 2007, but already had many loyal readers on Smart Wealthy Rich (my other blog which I recently sold), so this was enough to give Freelance Folder a head start. I simply told my readers I was planning on launching another blog, a multi-author blog, and was looking for writers. The response was great and I decided to do it.

My best advice would be to set realistic goals, my personal goals for the first month were:

• 1000 rss readers
• Alexa rank in the 70K range
• Technorati around 15K

I think setting these goals is what made people want to write on this blog. Writers don’t have to worry about managing the blog or doing the time-consuming social networking and promotion tasks. One person told me something like ‘it’s fun to write on your blog, I don’t have to do anything except write posts from time to time. It’s nice to know someone has goals and will do whatever it takes to reach them‘.

Then making the Digg frontpage a couple times definitely helped.

Tell us a little about how important networking has been for your blog? Any tips for the new blogger?

I find a lot of new bloggers don’t spend enough time making friends on social networking sites, it sure is time-consuming but it’s worth the efforts. I’m not interested in numbers and traffic that much, I want to meet people, chat with them and check out their blogs, whether they grab my rss feed or not.

My best tip: take a minute and send a private message to that blogger who voted your post up on StumbleUpon, just say ‘thanks‘, it is always appreciated and that person will be more likely to stumble your posts again in the future.

I’ve seen you on StumbleUpon. How effective has StumbleUpon been for your blog as compared to other social voting systems?

StumbleUpon is definitely my favorite, sure Digg can send massive traffic but I find that stumblers stay longer on the site and are more likely to subscribe to the RSS feed. I’m probably the one who knows the least what he’s doing, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Digg is great but if I take a look at my stats I see traffic from SU every single day, traffic from Digg will die after 2-3 days.

Do you have any goals for expansion in 2008? What are the next steps you want to take with regards to Freelance Folder?

I honestly don’t have a plan or strategy, but here are some of my goals for Freelance Folder this year:

• Find more writers (if you’re interested let me know)
• Add a CSS gallery/portfolio showcase section
• Write an ebook (or two, or three). I’m currently working on one
• Not necessarily related to Freelance Folder: finish building my portfolio site.

What is your number one monetization tip?

I used to put adsense ads on every single post I wrote but not anymore, Freelance Folder is ‘adsense free‘, now I focus more on finding private advertisers for 125×125px banner ads. My best monetization tip would be not to charge more for a banner than it’s actually worth, go read some ‘advertise‘ pages on other blogs to see how much they charge and make sure you compare with blogs the same size as yours. Who wants to spend $400-$500 for a 125×125 banner on a blog that has 300 readers and 500 visitors per day? $30-$50 seems more appropriate.

Which Internet personality (blogger, seo, etc.) has had the biggest influence on you?

My answer is in question #1, Liz Strauss is definitely someone who influenced me a lot. When I started blogging I had no idea what this whole thing was about, Liz helped me out and I learned a lot with and because of her, she’s a good friend.

What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as an Internet entrepreneur?

I would say my biggest mistake was to not have a schedule. Building a blog, networking, replying to e-mails, chatting on Skype, designing blogs, writing guest posts, marketing, etc.. you really need a schedule or else there is no way you can get everything done and meet deadlines. I don’t have a ‘day job‘, so I have to treat every aspect of blogging like a business.

What are your three favorite blogs?

I have a lot more than 3 favorite blogs, but these 3 are at the top of my list (in no specific order)

Skelliewag
Successful-blog
IttyBiz

Four twitch responses: PC or Mac, Chow vs Schoemaker, Brandable or Keyword based domain, Jamie Lynn Spears is_______________

• Mac, definitely. Sorry Mr. Gates.
• Schoemaker! Chow is cool but too evil for me.
• Brandable
• lucky to have such a cool sis? (I had something else in mind but I’ll keep it for myself)

Freelance Writers: The One Skill That Will Set You Apart

Over the last few years I’ve hired many, many writers. More often than not, when making the final decision, I have to make the tough choice between several very talented writers.

So what’s the single biggest differentiating factor I use in choosing a writer?

Social Media Marketing Experience

Do you have an account at Digg? Reddit? StumbleUpon? Propeller?

If not, chances are that you’re at a disadvantage in the freelance writing job market. And chances are that you’ll be competing against someone who has this experience.

So why does a blog owner like me prefer writers who can help promote their own stories? Well, for a number of reasons. First, it shows an added level of investment and commitment to the job (i.e. it’s not just writing for writing’s sake). Second, social media is all about diversity of numbers. The more people involved in the promotion of a story, the better it’s chances of success. Third, it helps shape a writing environment in which articles are gradually shaped to fit the interests of the readership.

Whatever you think of these reasons, the fact is that all freelance writers should add “social media marketing” to their resume. It makes a huge difference to me, and I assume it makes a huge difference to other site owners too.

Top Ten lies every freelance writer or artist must know

If you plan to do freelance work as an artist, writer, graphics designer or whatever you are thinking about … This fine list I found on reddit.com today and all those lies are well known and the list is worth being printed out.

Top 10 Lies told to Naive Artists and Designers (by Painter Creativity)
The classical arguments everybody doing freelance contract work knows or should know.

1. “Do this one cheap (or free) and we’ll make it up on the next one.”
2. “We never pay a cent until we see the final product.”
3. “Do this for us and you’ll get great exposure! The jobs will just pour in!”
4. On looking at sketches or concepts: “Well, we aren’t sure if we want to use you yet, but leave your material here so I can talk to my partner/investor/wife/clergy.”
5. “Well, the job isn’t CANCELLED, just delayed. Keep the account open and we’ll continue in a month or two.”
6. “Contract? We don’t need no stinking contact! Aren’t we friends?”
7. “Send me a bill after the work goes to press.”
8. “The last guy did it for XXX dollars.”
9. “Our budget is XXX dollars, firm.”
10. “We are having financial problems. Give us the work, we’ll make some money and we’ll pay you. Simple.”

Beside this simple list the page offers counter arguments for every single point. Very useful and recommended to anybody planning to make freelance deals.

Inhale those counter arguments and find your own friendly standard answers before you hear those arguments!

Technorati Tags: business, money, advice, article, contract, interesting, List

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Freelancers: Never Rely On A Single Income Source

So. You’re a serious blogger now because you secured your first blogging client. Seasoned freelancers know about the 80/20 rule: the bulk (80%) of your revenue will come from the least number (20%) of your clients. It’s sometimes called the 70/30 rule.

However, Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of the Long Tail book and website, says that the Internet turns the rule on its head for some types of digital media, in specific situations, thus giving certain content more sales life. Or at least, that’s my interpretation.

But the fact is, in any business, it’s generally easier to secure repeat clients than get new ones. But unless you (1) are a very disciplined saver, (2) have great faith in your biggest clients, or (3) have a partial stake in a venture, you probably do not want to rely on a single blogging client.

The Internet, and services like this new bloggers-for-hire/ Exchange community that Nick and the P-boys have set up, will give you a a better chance at finding more clients. But in practice, at least initially in your blogging career, you may not have a lot of choice about the number of clients. That’s mainly because blogging for pay is a relatively new phenomenon. So you have to consider alternate income sources.

Blogging/ writing monetizing options include running affiliate programs on your own sites or writing your own articles on the topics you are writing for clients. (With contextual or CPA/ CPM ads.)

Finally, take it from me. If you’ve never been a freelancer before, and are planning on relying entirely on your blogging skills to earn a living, learn how to budget. Save your extra money in an interest-bearing bank account – say an online savings account. If you have a banner year, and have the wherewithal to invest in stocks or mutual funds, you might consider that as well. Because pools do dry up sometimes, here are some important freelancing tips. [via MediaBistro]

P.S. MediaBistro, a great resource site for freelance writers, has a short article about negotiating your way to greater pay. The rates apply to print articles, but the advice applies to blog writers as well. Just keep in mind that at this stage, blogs and websites, on average, do not generate enough ad revenue to pay the same kind of rates. There is an immense difference, unless you’re copyblogging, which will require crack writing skills.

Right Way, Wrong Way, Your Way

You know what they say, opinions are like noses, everybody has one. (Although there are other, more vulgar versions of that phrase that obviously I would never repeat, *cough*). When you are starting out with something with as many variables as blogging, all these opinions on what is right and wrong, what works and what doesn’t, good and bad, well it can get a bit confusing. We are probably as guilty as any of adding to this confusion, although I hope we are a help most of the time.

Thing is with blogging there isn’t any right or wrong path. There is always another way to do this right. Blogging is an art rather than a science and it depends almost as much on individual personality as it does technique. So rather than there being a “right way” there is only “your way”.

So what am I saying, why am I telling you this?

OK, it might not be a whole bunch of help me saying that you should do things your own way. Especially if you are only just starting out. But that is precisely what you should do. How you find out what “your way” turns out to be is the important bit.

A lot of the advice I read from bloggers could lead someone to think “I need to focus on this” or “that tactic worked for so and so, it must be the way forward”. I’m not saying don’t read the advice and take note of it, quite the opposite. Try everything and see what works for you. Once you have tried something test the results, check back and see if it works for you. Follow your instincts for what fits you most naturally.

Or course some really great tactics will not work for you right away, some through bad luck, others through faulty implementation, others through just plain bad advice, some things will just be wrong for you. You will have to work out which it was.

Blogging is wide open for experimentation. Saying you are a “blogger” does not precisely define what it is you do any more than saying you are a writer. Are you a diarist, a technical blogger, do you blog the news or write tutorials? Is your blog product focussed or all about sarcastic wisecracks?

Here at Performancing we try to give advice based on our own experience, what has worked for us and what has not. I know Darren at Problogger does the same. We are all learning, our experience of blogging changes daily and so do the tactics we use and the approach we employ. It’s really all we can do. Be wary, the advice you read might be just speculation, rehash of others advice or dodgy recommendations in order to sell affiliate products and there is enough bad advice out there without adding to it.

Not all tactics will work for all bloggers equally and in reality it takes a combination of tactics to be truly successful. It is rare that any one thing will work in isolation. When you find something that works for you, do not ditch all your other activities. If you hear about something you are not doing, do not worry overmuch if it looks promising just see if you can incorporate it into your strategy.

So next time you see someone telling you that the only way to success is through SEO, or social bookmarking, or free article sharing sites, or forum spamming, or any of the other multitude of tactics, do try it and see if it works for you but don’t believe you have found the “one true way” either, YOUR WAY is the only way.