~ By Jennifer Chait I recently received an email from another blogger. I had left a comment at her blog. Her e-mail to me said, “Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Please consider subscribing.” At first glance, I thought this e-mail idea was clever. I rarely get e-mails thanking me for visiting a blog, so it stood out. Plus, I’ll admit, it did make me feel cared for (sort of warm and fuzzy). Then, oddly enough, a blog client of mine, mentioned to some other bloggers and I, that we should try sending thank you notes by e-mail. So, I [Read more…]

~ By Jennifer Chait Before publishing your next blog post consider two little words. Those two words are, “So what.” As a college sophomore, I was handing in a writing essay to one of my writing instructors. I gleefully said, “Here’s my essay.” She replied, “So what?” At the time, her comment made me really upset. I thought she was being extremely mean. Honestly though, it’s one of the best writing tips I ever got.

~ By Jennifer Chait The theme this week at FWJ seems to be working smarter not harder, originating with the recent post Deb wrote about responsibility in the writing world. In the comments, some said that they wish established writers would teach them how to market themselves, so they won’t have to take $3 gigs. Still others commented that we can’t blame writers who take these cheap gigs because they’re just trying to make a living. It’s an interesting comment thread, but I don’t think the opinions change the fact that when writers work dirt cheap, writers are thought of [Read more…]

My blog pals all seem to have similar goals this New Year’s – to slow down, take on less work, and to have more free time. Letting go of work when so many bloggers are out there looking for more new gigs may seem counter-productive to the success of your career. However, having fewer jobs doesn’t have to mean less success or even less income. Look for better opportunities. You don’t have to take that lower paying gig. This can be the year you reach for the stars. Believe me there ARE higher paying blogging gigs out there you just [Read more…]

By Jennifer Chait The question of how much money you should make as a professional blogger pops up a lot; at forums, in my emails from people, etc. The problem with this question is that there is no clear answer. It’s a personal question on top of an already extremely variable paying market. Just how variable is the market? Well, I’ve seen blogs advertised lately paying $10 a week but personally I won’t blog anywhere for under $100 a month and that’s low end – the posts would need to be extremely manageable (or the perks stellar). I also have [Read more…]

~ Jennifer Chait Is your own. Do you re-read your own blog? I hope you said yes. If not it’s time to start. If you have many blogs this can be a daunting task; especially if your blogs are older, with plenty of content. Some of my blogs are old and stuffed so I break it up. Once a month I read one month’s worth of posts from each of my blogs. It doesn’t take that long, it’s a nice break from my regular work, and re-reading offers me plenty of perks such as… It offers me new ideas: One [Read more…]

By Jennifer Chait Because I love blogs and blogging so much, it’s hard to admit that the relationship between a specific blog and I are over. I put a lot of time into all my blogs and when it comes to paid positions there’s the additional fact that you know all these other people applied but you won the slot. It’s hard to let go. It’s honestly akin to real life break-ups; at least for me. Also, I hate feeling like I’ve failed (which by the way is not true — quitting a blog does not make you a failure [Read more…]

By Jennifer Chait This has been a terrible week for me. My life got in the way about ten times over and as a result I’ve been a pretty poor excuse for a blogger. For instance: I haven’t come close to posting regularly nor did I even bother to contact anyone and tell them why. I didn’t surf new blogs or visit any of my usual blog haunts. I’ve sworn off social networking for the week. Plus I have no clue what’s going on in the world because I didn’t even read my feeds this week. The kind of damage [Read more…]

By Jennifer Chait Last week Karen asked, “Any advice for those of us who can’t seem to land a blogging gig? I’ve kind of given up on it as I’ve applied for a few for which I was super qualified but never heard a word. Is it a case of “who you know”? Or is there just too much competition out there?” It’s a good multi-layered question and while there’s no magical spell for getting paid blogging work you can do it. Step one: Be a blogger. The first step to working as a professional blogger is to have a [Read more…]

 by Jennifer Chait I’m occasionally asked the question above. My short answer would be that blogging is the best job in town. However, it’s not a general question. I can only give an opinion based on my experience which is… I started out writing business copy, moved on to querying magazines, and somewhere along the way took a paid blogging job and got hooked. Six months ago I decided to blog full time and I quit querying other work. Now I have one ongoing article project and the rest of my income is blog related. To give you an idea [Read more…]

I’m a blog stalker. I’m also choosy about the blogs I regularly stalk. I wasn’t always this picky. I used to mainly write business copy, grants, and the occasional magazine article. Now that I mostly blog for a living I’m more selective. I chalk that up to being online too much. I don’t have time or the inclination to stalk blogs that fail to make a good impression quickly. What qualifies a blog as non-stalk worthy is terribly subjective but some of these issues are problems that come up over and over again between my band of blogging pals and [Read more…]