As a writer, you can collect positive reviews from your satisfied clients. However, many potential clients today, go beyond profile reviews. They have now started to dig for more information about you. Below are the tools you can use to monitor your online reputation as a writer.

Google Search

Take time to search your name or business name frequently on Google. In this way, you will have an idea if there is new mention about your product or service. In addition, you will get to know if someone is using your articles without your permission. You may find it useless but by searching your name online, you will know if your reputation is in jeopardy.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts let you subscribe to every update for your chosen keyword or category. You can sign up for Google Alerts, and you will be immediately notified when your name is used or posted somewhere.

Google Alerts is free to sign up, so you have no excuse of not doing it for the sake of your online reputation as a freelance writer. In this way, you will not have a hard time searching for your name anymore because the alert will be delivered directly to your inbox.

Online Reputation Monitoring Services

If you are too busy to monitor your online reputation, you can try the service of those companies offering online reputation monitoring and management services.

They have the tool that provides companies the brand protection they need and defense strategies, and they always make sure that your reputation online is well managed and monitored at all times. In this way, you can focus on your service or business and leave the reputation monitoring to the experts. It can mean more time for writing and more income.

Yahoo! Site Explorer (Bing Webmaster Tools)

Use Yahoo Site Explorer if you want to monitor the external links to your site or blogs. If someone writes something about you — a negative or positive write-up — he or she will provide a link back for your site, profile or blog for her or his readers to follow and read.

Technorati

If you are into blogging, you might be familiar with Technorati or even a subscriber. Technorati is a popular search engine of blogs. It has millions of blogs indexed on a real-time manner. With the help of Technorati, you can monitor conversations or bloggers. Subscribe to Technorati’s RSS feed and you will be able to monitor if it has comments about your blog.

Delicious

Delicious is one of the popular social-bookmarking sites that many bloggers, marketers, and more are into these days. Like Google Search, you can also do a search of your name on the Delicious search box, and you will find results both positive and negative about you and your service.

Twitter

This popular social-bookmarking site will let you monitor your online reputation, because members of this site are free to express what is inside them. Subscribe to an RSS feed and be alerted when something is tweeted about you or your company.

SocialMention

This tool is perfect if you want a real-time update about what people are discussing in social media or if they are talking about you or your company. SocialMention will immediately alert you through email.

Conclusion

Building a reputation is hard. If you are an avid user of social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more, make sure you only posts updates that will not send any negative message about you. Once you have built a profile, make sure to guard the gained positive reputation using the above-mentioned tools.

Olivia blogs for PsPrint, an online printing company specializing in brochure and poster printing among other popular services. Follow PsPrint on Twitter and Facebook

February brought most of us in the States snow storm after snow storm, Valentine’s Day and some really informative posts from the FWJ crew. Here are a few of the most popular:

Applying for a Freelance Writing Gig Without Looking Desperate by Jodee Redmond

In this post Jodee cautions against oversharing when looking for writing gigs.

Is Your Blog Dressed For Success? by Gayla Baer-Taylor

First impressions are important. Gayla shows you how to make sure your blog turns heads.

I’m a Ghostwriter (Get Over It) - by Jeffery Reyes

In this terrific guest post, Jeffery hits on the many misconceptions people have about writing professionals.

How to Influence Editors and Make Friends – By Terreece M. Clarke

Some writers get all the breaks? Actually, those writers position themselves for breaks by delivering professionalism.

Why You Want to Keep Your Copyright – By Jonathan Bailey

“In short, having copyright in your freelance writing projects not only gives you a guarantee that you will always own your work and a means to enforce the terms of the contract, it also gives you peace of mind.”

A Radical Response to Piracy – By Robin Parrish

Robin explores the silver lining in having your book pirated.

5 Common Ways Freelance Writers Get Scammed – By Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan hips writers to a few of the common scams that are out there.

Non-Errors in the English Language (Part 1) - By Noemi Twigg

Noemi points out some of the common errors that aren’t really errors. Whew!

Freelance Writing Success: Are We There Yet? – By Jodee Redmond

Defining freelance writing success your way.

Job Security in Freelance Writing - By Jodee Redmond

Can you really make a living as a freelance writer?

Did we miss one of your favs? Tell us below!

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

Some commenters argued that revshare sites were a credible “first step” for new freelancers. A few maintained that it was possible to generate a sizeable passive revenue stream via revshare contributions. I’m still convinced that my position is correct in most cases and I may eventually get around to answering some elements of those objections in future posts.

This post, however, will address another set of comments. More than one reader remarked that it would be nice to hear about some alternatives to revshare operations. I thought that was a more than valid request. While a pure critique may have value, it’s almost always better to combine one’s attack on one option with a workable alternative.

So, if you think I might just be right about the limited utility of revenue sharing sites, here are a few things you might want to do instead. Consider these options the next time you’re about to tap out another article in hopes of capturing a percentage of someone else’s ad revenue.

Build and Improve Your Own Writing Property

If you don’t have your own website, you should. If you’re serious about establishing yourself as a credible freelancer, you should have some presence on the web. Obviously, the quality and scope of that presence will be even more important if you plan to focus on ‘Net-based markets. Your site is a means by which people can find you, learn more about you, discover your skills and contact you. It’s important.

Consider spending some of the time you’d otherwise dedicate to revshare contributions to building or improving your existing website and related elements of your online presence. Admittedly, these efforts don’t directly generate revenue. However, they do create the foundation you need to secure better gigs. In the longer term, it’s a much better investment than revshare work.

Build and Improve Your Own Other Properties

Instead of funneling your awesome articles to a non-appreciative revenue sharing site, keep ‘em for yourself. Build a site or blog dedicated to whatever non-writing topic that happens to trip your trigger or in which you have expertise. If you’d love to be a subject matter writing specialist, hone in on that subject area.

You can buy a domain for under ten bucks. You can get hosting for under five bucks per month. It’s free to install and use WordPress if you’d like. It’s a teeny tiny investment that can really pay off. Even if you’re not interested in aggressively promoting and monetizing the site, you can still point potential clients to your work, making it a showcase for your writing skills and knowledge base. If you do put forth a little effort, you can probably start earning just as much from your posts to your own site as you can with your revshare submissions.

Spend the Time Marketing Yourself or Pursuing Paying Gigs

Tom Chandler, the head honcho at The Copywriter Underground, recently commented on a post at my site. The rant in question objected to the way people automatically tend to make assumptions about one’s position on all freelance writing issues based on one’s position with respect to a single topic. I illustrated my complaint by referencing some of the comments left at my anti-revshare post. In his comment, Tom made a point about the world of lower-paying gigs that certainly applies to writing for revenue sharing outlets:

I firmly believe that investing the same time spent writing $10 articles in new biz development (cold calls, client searches, etc) offers better ROI down the road.

He’s right, too. In most cases, the return on smart self-marketing has the potential swamp the value of revshare contributions other lower paying gigs. If you’re ready to give up on collecting fractions of Adsense clicks, you might want to spend your time working to secure more substantial opportunities.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I think lower-paying options are a mistake for all people under all circumstances.  That will probably become clear as I keep moving through my list, but I just wanted to point that out.

Take a Crappy Writing Job or Two

The alternatives presented thus far don’t directly put cash in the coffers and I know that’s an issue for many people. If you’re ready to give up on the revshare game but aren’t ready to wait to bring in at least some cash, reach out and take a few gigs that don’t pay particularly well.

If you do, you’ll make some money. Not much, but it will be as much as you’d make with revenue sharing contributions in the short run (actually, it will actually be a little more). Plus, it will give you something you don’t get by writing for the revshare sites–a real human contact on the other end of the transaction.

If you’re completely new to the game, the process of working with an individual will help you get experience with client communication, invoicing and all of the other processes that will become a part of your freelance writing business. That low payer may be willing to spend more money with you when he or she sees how damn awesome you are. He or she may spread the word to others who could use a writer. He or she can certainly write a positive review or testimonial you can use in your own marketing efforts. The nickel and dime material you write will show up somewhere, and you’ll be able to point future prospective clients in its direction. And trust me–those articles will carry as much, if not more cache, with future potential clients than something tossed up at AC or Infobarrel.

A few el cheapo gigs can put a foot in the door while dropping a little change in your pocket. The gigs at the shallow end of the rate pool may not be what you want in the long run, but if you need a few quick bucks and something that passes for experience, they’re probably better than an article at Bukisa.

Those low-pay gigs aren’t hard to find. If anything, they might be too easy to find. The Internet marketing forums are crawling with potential clients and Craigslist is overflowing with “I need ten articles about _____”-style clients.

Work for a Slightly Better Mill

Instead of writing revshare articles, you could always write for a content mill that pays you a little more than the potential of future money. It will only take you about thirty seconds to find a year’s supply of articles and blog posts decrying sites like Demand Studios and other pay-per-piece content mills. I’m not interested in answering the complaints. I’m not interested in defending this option, either.

This option and snagging a few lower-paying gigs may not be great ideas for everyone. Some folks may benefit more from some of the other ideas. I’m just saying that it makes more sense than writing for most of the revenue sharing sites.

Volunteer Your Talents

If your goal is experience and an opportunity to create materials you can use to prove your competency to others, consider volunteering your writing talents to make the world a better place. Offer someone engaged in a charitable pursuit a little pro bono copy.

No, it doesn’t pay. Then again, revshare doesn’t usually pay much. You’ll be trading a little hunk of dough for a much heftier hunk of feeling good, I guess. Oh, and pointing others toward this material will undoubtedly work better than showing them your ListMyFive posts.

I was going to put “Try Your Hand at Affiliate Marketing” on the list, but decided it wasn’t a great fit. Even stripped down versions of so-called “bum” article marketing strategies require a great deal of non-writing work. It’s a credible option for those who want to learn how to make it work, but it just didn’t feel like it was part of the same world, so to speak. That applies to a few other online moneymaking plans that involve content production, as well.

Well, there you have ‘em–a few alternatives to writing for revshare sites for new writers. I think they’re all credible alternatives to using your professional skills to supply user-generated content to sites willing to pay you only a fraction of the ad revenue they generate and that have so many other shortcomings.

I mentioned my overall disdain for involvement with most revenue sharing sites in the front-end of my post and thought I’d go into a little more detail about why I feel the way I do.  I’d hate to think that my story of an exception to the rule would encourage anyone to dive headfirst into the revshare waters.

Here are four reasons freelancers shouldn’t be contributing to revenue sharing sites–and why there are occasional exceptions to the anti-revshare rule.

Note:  Just to be clear, I’m talking about sites that will accept your article submissions and will subsequently pay you based on a percentage of ad revenue the article generates, the number of page views it attracts or some other secret formula.  That includes a massive number of sites including Associated Content, Bukisa, Infobarrel and others.  While sites like Squidoo and Hubpages may have additional utility to some Internet marketers, many writers utilize them as “pure” revshare outlets, as well.  Though some revshare sites (like Associated Content) may offer a nominal up-front payment, the criticisms still tend to stick.

PAYMENT UNCERTAINTY

If you’re writing for a hobby and aren’t actually worried about using the income you generate to pay the bills, revenue sharing sites may occasionally provide you with a little pocket money.  If you feel an overwhelming urge to express yourself on a pet topic and think you might expand your audience via use of a revshare site, you might also make a little dough while standing on principle.  Who knows?

Nobody knows.  And that’s a problem.

Those of us who actually rely upon our earnings to pay the bills should be acutely aware of what we’re making and how much time/effort/etc. it requires.  When you fire off an article to a revenue sharing site, you have absolutely no idea what you’ll make.

Sure, you can make predictions based on past experience.  Overall, you may be able to project your like per article earnings over any given time.  However, making safe assumptions requires a sufficiently large sample size and an adequate period to assess results.  So, you’re going to be sinking a fair amount of time into a revshare experiment before you can even do that.  And once you have done it, you’ll realize that those averages are just that–averages.

Some articles may perform admirably.  Others will turn out to be nearly useless.  In time, you’ll begin to think you’re developing a strong feel for what works and what doesn’t.  You’ll improve your keyword analysis and selection skills.  You’ll learn to write the “right” way for the sites.  Then, you’ll discover that the highs and lows are still far removed from the average.

My lucky article may very well earn over a grand before it dies.  Others in the same niche with superior keyword optimization (produced at the same time as the lucky one) have earned next to nothing by comparison.

Why do some kick ass while others lurk unseen in the back of the Internet’s junk drawer?  It could be just about anything.  Maybe someone more serious than your revshare mill of choice decided to go after the same keyword.  Maybe your article caught a lucky backlinking break.  Perhaps Google just hiccupped and the algo failed (or succeeded, I suppose) to your benefit.  The list could go on and on for pages, but all of the potential explanations share one thing in common–they’re out of your control.

So, unless you’re planning on doing a lot of tracking, refining, and writing for the revshare sites, youR likely earnings for any individual piece of work is virtually impossible to predict.

Again, that’s fine if you don’t care about money.  If you do, it’s an ugly state of affairs.

SITE CHANGE RISK

When you sell your work in a revenue sharing environment, you’re almost telling the buyer to pay you whatever they’d like, whenever they’d like.  You’re also agreeing to trust them to present their site, themselves and your article in an effective manner.  That’s a whopper of an agreement.

What happens when your favorite revshare site decides they need to keep more of the cash their content is earning and they opt to change their payout system?  You’re at their mercy.  Check the terms to which you agreed when making a submission.  In a best case scenario, you may have the right to yank the material off the site.  Whoopee.  Where are you going to sell it now that it’s been out there for months or years and has been scraped by a million lousy sites operated by those who really don’t have a grasp on intellectual property right?  Are you just going to try to dump it on another revshare site?  Check their terms with respect to material being previously unpublished.  Oh, and remember these five reasons why the whole strategy tends to stink in the first place, too.

What happens if the revshare site decides to make changes in their structure, promotion or design and Google isn’t happy with them?  Tough luck, Bub.  What if those changes result in inferior ad placement and fewer click?  Sorry.  What if the whole site shuts down or changes direction?  You’re back to square one.

When you start performing those incredibly imperfect revenue projections, they don’t account for these “risk of ruin” situations.  Once again, unpredictability is a huge problem.

CRAPPY PAYMENT

Revshare sites don’t pay much.  If they paid a lot, they couldn’t make money for the people running them.  That’s not an insult to site operators.  It’s a fact.  You’re getting a percentage of your contribution to a business that’s based on volume–and unless you’re a two-handed army, you probably aren’t a volume producer.

I know the idea of creating a passive income stream is enticing.  The thought that you could eventually just sit back and watch the residuals pour into your bank account is the stuff of dreams.  However, it just doesn’t happen absent insane volume.

Every day, I see people talking about how to maximize their revshare earnings.  They provide tips for others who’d like to give it a shot.  You could write a five-volume dissertation on revenue sharing strategy.

Do you know what I don’t see very often?  Credible evidence that anyone is really making a living from revshare article money.  That’s not because the big winners are keeping their success on the down low.  It’s because the success stories are so few and far between.

Look at your flawed per article earnings projections.  Now, do the math.  How many of those revshare articles will you need to write to be in a position to develop a truly meaningful (and, we should remember, always at-risk) revenue stream?  Big number, right?

Now, ask yourself how much you could make per article if you wrote them for a reasonable payment.  Multiply that number by the total you’d need for your dream passive income stream?  One last question:  Would you rather have that amount of dough in your coffers months or years earlier or would you prefer to roll the dice on the value of your high volume output?

That shouldn’t be a hard question to answer.

EXTRA WORK

The revshare hint-givers will tell you that you need to promote your articles in order to encourage the page views necessary to generate a reasonable income.  When you’re playing the revshare game, you’re not just a writer.  You’re an Internet marketer.  Unfortunately, you’re marketing someone else’s product for a potential share of advertising revenue.

I don’t know about all of you, but my workload is heavy enough without becoming a backlink builder for a third party in hopes that it might make my little article slightly more valuable.

When I look at some of the strategies I see people using to promote their revenue sharing articles, I scratch my head in utter amazement.  If those individuals built a simple landing page for a product with an affiliate program and promoted it with equal vigor, they’d make much more than they do helping the revshare mills.

Even if you put that alternative aside, anyone playing with revshare must account for the time and energy expended in the promotion of their content when determining whether process is anything other than silly.  That means taking opportunity cost into consideration.  What could you do instead of promoting your content and would it be more or less valuable than what you’re doing?  Just about anything is going to be a better deal, by the way.  That includes walking your neighbors dog for the change he found under his couch cushion.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE

Sometimes there are moments where a revshare article may make sense.  However, most of them don’t apply to folks who consider themselves to be writers exclusively.

In some cases, they can be used as a means of backlink development.  They serve as a paying version of article directories like EzineArticles.com.  Of course, that is limited only to those sites that don’t over-restrict your ability to successfully link out to the site(s) of your choice.  One should also do that only if they can find a series of revshare sites that don’t insist on completely original content–those links, after all, aren’t that valuable considering the sites upon which they appear and the likely Google mojo of your article’s page.  This exception would also include those who are experimenting with variations of “bum marketing” and other article-driven marketing strategies.

In other cases, one can use a series of revshare articles as a means of adding to an overall presence on the web.  It’s not that valuable for a freelance writer, but some businesses may find it worthwhile to improve the number of search results featuring company names or non-competitive business-specific keywords.  That would also apply to those who might use the revshare outposts as a means of pushing back other search results as part of an overall reputation management plan.

There are rare cases where one may have surplus content due to a client’s order cancellation or some other bit of weirdness where dumping the stuff on a revshare site or two would be a better option than letting it rot.  However, there are usually better options available–even for those who aren’t interested in using the content to create their own sites.

There may be situations where the revshare component of providing an article to a website is secondary to the exposure it may provide.  If a top-notch site that attracts the specific audience you’d like to reach is willing to toss a little coin at you, that wouldn’t be the end of the world.  However, if it’s not the kind of place for which you’d write GRATIS anyway (i.e. a wonderful guest-posting opportunity at an authority site in your niche), the revshare probably won’t be enough to tip the scales.

IF YOU INSIST ON DOING REVSHARE WORK

If, for some unfathomable reason, you just can’t bring yourself to give up on the idea of writing articles for revenue sharing sites, at least try to participate in the most sensible way possible.  That would mean:

• Spending very little time writing each article
• Streamlining your keyword analysis process
• Targeting the best revshare sites
• Looking for opportunities to use the content in multiple revshare settings
• Automating the bulk of your article promotion efforts

Even then, in the immortal words of WOPR, “The only way to win is not to play.”  At least that’s the way I see it.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Writing for revenue sharing sites is not the road to riches.  It’s not the road to a middle class existence.  It’s not even the road off food stamps for most people.  There are better ways to make more money.

This is coming from someone who has experimented with the option and who often finds himself on the opposite side of the “fair rate” debate with those who argue against the so-called exploitation of writers.  In other words, if I’m telling you it’s a bad idea…  Well, I really think it’s a bad idea.

I can’t wait to hear from those who do the revenue sharing thing to tell me how I’m wrong.  I would love to find out if they’ve “cracked the code” and make a solid living from a revshare passive revenue stream.  Really.  All I can tell you is there are plenty of folks talking about how they’re working toward that goal and not too many who have reached it.

To me, it’s all a matter of making the smartest possible choices with the most important finite commodity you have–your time.  On an hour-per-hour basis, it looks like there are much more lucrative things one could be doing.

So, am I wrong on this?  Let me know.  I can’t imagine that I’m too far off-base, but I’m more than willing to entertain arguments to the contrary.

FYI: Per commenter request, I’ve put together a list of alternatives to revenue sharing sites.

You’re not alone.  I know that because I get emails asking, “How in the hell can I get decent clients?” on a regular basis.  I know that because I see folks quizzing discussion board participants with variations of the same question.

I decided I’d take a stab at answering the question.  Here’s my seven-step recommendation for those who want to find their own clients in the not-always thrilling but sometimes cool world of writing web content for dough.  I suppose you should consider this more of an outline than a definitive, detailed guide.  On the other hand, this really isn’t rocket science.  If you can write and you really want to write web content, you can secure a good client base.

If you follow these seven steps, you’ll soon find yourself sleeping on a mattress stuffed with C-notes.  At the very least, you’ll have more than enough work to keep you busy.*

Step One:  Buy a domain name. That’s right, my first step requires you to spend a few dollars on a .COM domain to call your very own.  If you have some super-clever business name, feel free to use it.  If you can get your own name or some variation thereof, that’s not a bad idea, either.

If you’re not willing to spend less than ten bucks to secure a domain name, I think it’s safe to say that you’re either too risk-aversive for the whole entrepreneurial scene or that you’re so dead broke that you should probably be more concerned with finding a way to generate some immediate cash instead of focusing on building a career.

Plunk down the money.  Yeah, you can make Blogger.com blogs look pretty these days, but it just isn’t the same.  You need a credible home base.

Step Two:  Spring for hosting. Yep, another expense.  Don’t worry, you can find cheap hosts.  A few bucks a month.  Stop griping and pry open your wallet.  It’s time to put that domain to use.

Step Three:  Put something decent together. Now, get a website up and running.  It doesn’t need to be the most awesome website of all time.  It does need to be credible and readable.  It should be something that doesn’t embarrass you.

I personally recommend building on a WordPress backbone.  Don’t think of WordPress as a mere blogging platform.  It’s actually a relatively strong content management system and it makes building attractive, structurally sound websites incredibly easy.  There are 384,429,083 good-looking free themes available and about 238,488,992 of those are customizable if you’re interested in doing a little extra work.

Your site needs to have a few things.  It needs to have enough information about you to convince people that you might be worth trusting.  It needs to have readily accessible contact information.  A contact form (easily created with one of many simple WordPress plugins) is a good idea.  You can take it from there.

If you want to build a massive site complete with a regularly-update blog, go for the gusto.  If you want to create a front page, an about page and a contact page and call it a day, that’s okay, too.  The critical thing is building a credible outpost for yourself.

Step Four:  Be easy to find. I’m not talking about dominating the search engines for “freelance writer” queries.  I’m not talking about paying for pay-per-click advertising, either.  Those are potentially smart moves, but they warrant several other long discussions.

I’m talking about getting yourself in front of people and spreading your good name around the ‘Net enough that when people try to find out more about you they can get some idea of who in the heck you are.

There are a billion ways to do that.  They include:

• Guest posting on other blogs
• Commenting on other blogs
• Utilizing Twitter
• Joining the ever-growing ranks of LinkedIn users
• Writing and submitting articles to directories for distribution/syndication
• Creating and publishing press releases
• Blah, blah, blah

At this point, you need to worry a little more about giving your name and presence some breadth.  You can concentrate more on depth as you refine your approach.

Oh, and don’t forget that you should be utilizing these opportunities in a way that allows you to share as much contact information as you can.  Your URL.  Your email address.  Your phone number.  Your address.  Your photo.  Your _______.

Did I say phone number?  Damn straight.  Many newer writers seem reluctant to hand out their numbers.  I can understand that.  However, I can also tell you that seeing a phone number tells people that there’s a real human being on the other end of things and they like that.  It’s a credibility builder, as well as a contact outlet.  It makes people feel better when they know they can pick up the phone and talk to you.  If you don’t want to give out your real number, use Google Voice to snag a free one and have it forward to your cell.  Or invest $30 a month in a cheap Cricket cell phone.  Get a cheap VOIP line.  Whatever.  Just get a number, okay?

Step Five:  Perfect your pitch. This article isn’t about how to run your business in general terms.  It’s about landing regular web content clients.  Eventually, you should be in a position to have clients find you.  When you start, you’ll be finding them.  That means scouring leads like the ones here at Freelance Writing Jobs and elsewhere and following upon the ones that look like a fit.

When you contact those people, you need to have a nice little pitch ready to go.

I’ve hired writers on several occasions.  Most of the come-ons fall into two categories:  Crappy ones and really crappy ones.  Very few are good.  The good ones exude confidence.  They’re short and to the point.  They’re specific to the ad to which the writer is responding.  They prove the writer knows his or her way around the keyboard without forcing the hiring party to wade through too much material.  They include handy links back to the writer’s website (see how it’s all coming together?) that provide necessary biographical information and or sample materials.

When you build your little ad response pitches, keep one thing in mind.  Most of the folks who are hiring content writers aren’t the Executive Vice Presidents of Fortune 500 companies.  They’re not shining the buttons on their Brooks Brothers suits from behind glossy black desks in high-floor corner offices overlooking the city.  They’re more likely to be geeky people in T-shirts who value good ideas, talent and quick thinking over formality and standard-issue resume filler.

Make use of your website in these pitches.  Put the link in the email.  Put it under your name at the bottom of the email (along with your phone number).

Step Six:  Pitch, Pitch, Pitch, Pitch and Pitch. A significant percentage of those you approach will never answer you.  Some will answer you, revealing that they really want someone to do a helluva load of work for very little coin.  Some will be cool with you but will opt to go with someone else.  In other words, you won’t be thick with private clients if you’re answering one call for writers per week. Go for the gusto.  Answer every ad that looks potentially appealing.  If you end up not liking what the advertiser is cooking, you can also politely decline.

Step Seven:  Kick rump. Do a good job.  Meet specifications and exceed expectations.  If you do good work, they’ll come back for more.  And they’ll tell their friends.  They’ll vouch for you when someone else needs a reference before hiring you.  Before you know it, you’ll have business coming to you and you won’t be spending as much time digging through the ads for writers.

There you have it.  You, too, can stay busy writing web content for individual clients.

*The success of this process is wholly dependent upon your ability to actually do the job.  If you’re a miserable writer, you’re doomed.  If you can’t bring yourself to sell your skills, you’re doomed.  If you don’t have the ability or knowledge base necessary to implement these steps, you need to figure things out and/or find someone who knows what they’re doing to help you.  Otherwise, you’re doomed.  The good news is that it’s all relatively easy.  At least it’s easier than many initially intimidated people think it will be.

Money for Nothing

I was planning to write an incredibly long, detailed post about the not-so-wonderful world of writing for websites that operate on revenue sharing models.

Part of that post was going to discuss a throwaway article I wrote several years ago for a revshare site on a lark, just to test the waters.  Due to a lucky combination of good timing, optimization for a virtually unexploited long tail keyword in a big money niche and what one can only describe as stupid luck, I’ve made approximately $600 from that article over the course of five years.  It took me approximately five minutes to find the primary keyword (there’s that luck) and about ten minutes to write the simple article.

I’m not underpaid, but I generally don’t make $2,400 per hour for lousy little pen-named articles designed for content mills.  I still chuckle every month when I see the mill make a deposit into my checking account.

Anyway, I wanted to mention that article because stories like those are one reason why so many people hop into the revshare world.  Unfortunately, they’re flukes.  Anomalies.  Luck breaks.  You can’t count on them.  They don’t happen too often.  I was going to put that particular article’s numbers up against the other four I wrote in the same week for that site long, long ago to illustrate the point.

I was plodding through the post about revenue sharing while listening to George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh and just as I started detailing the story of the miracle article, I found myself half-singing along with Ring Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy”.

It don’t come easy,
You know it don’t come easy.

It don’t come easy,
You know it don’t come easy.

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don’t come easy.
You don’t have to shout or leap about,
You can even play them easy.

Well, in my case it did come easy.  I goofed around as an experiment and made a big ol’ chunk of cash from writing that I’d objectively value at approximately nothing.

Some days, Starr’s lyrics do ring true for a self-employed writer.

However, there are times when it does come easy.  The cosmic tumblers click into place and weird little miracles appear.

Accentuating the Positive

Instead of writing a post about the way things don’t come easy in the world of revenue sharing, I decided to write a post about the times things do come easy.  I figured it might be nice to celebrate the crazy flukes and accidental victories instead of focusing on the ugly grind of making a living with a keyboard.

Here are my favorite easy moments…  In no particular order:

The $600 Revshare Non-Masterpiece: This is the article mentioned above.  A nearly effortless bit of experimentation continues to pay dividends years after its creation.  There really is no logical explanation for why this article continues to earn and earn every month.  Somehow, it continues to fly below the radars of those who work in the niche and Google, pumping out steady earnings for the content mill and me.

The Three-Page Report that Made Over $5,000. I was driving down the highway and a simple idea crossed my mind.  Bum marketing (a simplified form of article-based affiliate marketing) was a hot topic in the Internet marketing world.  I realized there was a very easy way to boost the value of the articles and to insure at least some up-front cash value for them.  That relatively small cash payment could serve as something of an insurance policy for those who were writing free articles for directories in hopes of generating affiliate sales.

I came home, sat down and outlined the exceedingly simple process.  I added introductory and concluding paragraphs, converted it into a PDF and posted it for sale as an information product on a popular IM forum with a little off-the-top-of-my-head sales copy.  I set up a PayPal button and a quick automated download process for anyone willing to buy the guide.  From top to bottom, it took about two hours.

The next morning, I woke up to over $2,000 in sales.  Within three days, I made $5,000 off that simple idea.  The almost equally awesome part was the fact that the folks who bought the report actually liked it.  It didn’t take long for the concept to escape the confines of my hastily produced ebook and sales ground to a halt shortly thereafter.  I wasn’t complaining.

The Luckiest Celebrity Blog Ever: I noticed that my wife was watching a TV show featuring a woman I had seen on another show the day before.  Out of curiosity, I did some quick Googling and realized that her career was absolutely on fire and that she was poised for a major breakthrough.

At the time, I was experimenting with new keyword mining techniques and generating income via blogs monetized with contextual advertising.  A few minutes later, I had claimed a Blogspot blog with a domain name featuring a common misspelling of the celebrity’s name and was setting it up with a number of quick posts that were little more than silly notices of other articles about the celebrity, combined with a brief excerpt of the source material and a link to the original source.  It was a very crude homemade news aggregator, in a sense.

The site started making about $1 per day in Adsense earnings, so I kept adding occasional little posts.  The celebrity’s star power increased to the Nth degree and earnings went up, up and up.  Soon, it was making a solid $10 per day.  Then $20.  Then $30.  I outsourced one hundred additional news aggregation-style posts with some of the earnings, loaded them up and set them to drip feed at a rate of two per week.  The investment paid for itself within two months.

That site made a small fortune before people with real resources, strong content and a commitment to doing things the right way realized that a crummy little Blogspot blog was ranking in the top three for a series of high volume searches.  The competition didn’t find it hard to knock me off, but that blog put a stack of fat Adsense checks in my pocket before they did.  For what it’s worth, the site still generates about a buck every other day and I haven’t so much as looked at it in over two years.

Common Traits

All three of those weird winners share a few common traits:

They happened because I was willing to experiment. If I had been wholeheartedly committed to following THE plan and only THE plan, they wouldn’t have happened.  This serves to remind me that keeping an open mind and trying new things can be a lot of fun and a source of profits.

They all defied duplication. Efforts to replicate the results with similar projects invariably fall short of those anomalous originals.  I did have some luck with other Adsense-monetized blogs (enough that I still get a check every month from Google) and I’ve sold a few other information products here and there that have been well worth my time, but I’ve never come close on another revshare article.  This reminds me that luck matters more than we’d probably like to think.

All three of these happy accidents share one other trait.  They happened three or more years ago.

And You Know it Don’t Come Easy

I think that last fact may contain the most important lesson my three examples offer.  In the last few years, we’ve witnessed an absolute explosion in the number of people trying to make money online as writers, Internet marketers and everything else imaginable.  I think it’s an overstatement to say we’re near a saturation point, considering the web’s continued rapid growth, but the online world is certainly more crowded and competitive today than it was a few years ago.

I really do believe it was easier to mix some rudimentary knowledge with a little skill and a chunk of action to generate healthy chunks of cash back in the “good old days” (which aren’t particularly old at all, truth be told).  As I think about other cool little bursts of luck I’ve had, most of them happened during or before 2008.  I know I haven’t stopped experimenting with new ideas and I’d like to believe that my skills have improved.  I know my knowledge base is more expansive.

So, either I’ve hit a long luckless streak or it’s getting tougher to hit the big time with little effort due to increased competition.

I wanted to go from a somewhat negative post about the doomed nature of 99.99% of revshare writing efforts to a positive reflection on the times when the money rains upon request.  Instead, I think this post could still end on a somber note.

These days…  Well…  It don’t come easy.

Your Glory Days…  And a Prize!

Ah, who wants  to end on a down note?  Maybe it can come easy.  Even if it doesn’t, it did at some point and that’s worth a little party, right?

I open it up to you, the FWJ readership.  Let’s hear your stories of glory days, your memories of times when things that shouldn’t have been successful turned into moments of accidental greatness.

Maybe it was the unedited, typo-riddled query that still landed you a plum contract.  It could’ve been the time you sent off a piece of work you personally hated that the recipient loved so much you developed a profitable on-going relationship.  Perhaps you had a magic revshare moment, too.

I don’t know what’s happened to you, but I have to believe you’ve had times when it all came easy.

Tell your story.

Oh, and just to encourage participation, I’ll tack on a prize.  The best story wins a free copy of The Concert for Bangladesh on DVD.  You get Harrison, Clapton, Preston, Dylan and even Ringo in their full bearded 1971 glory!

Let’s hear your tales of mysterious moneymakers, accidental brilliance and those unexplained moments of magic when very little effort resulted in a massive payoff of some sort.

Brett Giddens has a slightly less dramatic secret life.  Then again, he’s a real person.  He’s an Oklahoma high school basketball coach by day who spends his nights singing in small casinos as an Elvis impersonator.

I have a secret day/night life, too.  Mine doesn’t rival the Angel story and it isn’t as fun as Giddens’ tale.

Sometimes, in the evening, I write things that pay next to nothing.  And I do it just for fun.

Tonight, I noticed a content writer on a forum who mentioned that she was struggling with a deadline and had some overflow work to do.  I couldn’t resist.  Within an hour I was composing a series of six SEO articles on an incredibly uninteresting topic.  I just finished them moments ago.

Last night, I signed up for a little-known content writing site that supplies material to webmasters who believe the road to awesome SEO is paved with short keyword-heavy articles.  I actually wrote one of the entry-level articles for a rate that would make even the staunchest content mill supporter blush.

When I’m done with this post, I might take a minute to write a “Top Five” list at ListMyFive.com, which may or may not produce more than a dollar in annual ad share revenue.

Brett swivels his hips for Oklahoma grannies willing to take a break from the slot machines.  Angel scoured the sad streets of late night LA for tricks while avoiding murderers.  I check forums and search out low-rent content sites.

I don’t spend much time on these endeavors–just an hour or or so here and there.  Sometimes, I’ll do a little something as a break in the action between my everyday work.

Why?

Why would an honor student become a hooker?  Why would a seemingly normal guy want to paste fake sideburns to his face and singe “In the Ghetto”?  Who knows?

Okay, Angel had to do it to make ends meet.  North Oaks was an expensive school.  And lots of people dig Elvis.  I suppose I do need more of an explanation than they do.

Here’s why I maintain my secret life:

• I’m buying my neighbor’s 150cc Tank scooter and I don’t want my wife to find out.  Thus, I need secret cash.  That’s not really why I do these things, but it will be fun to buy it without anyone knowing how or where I got the dough.
• It’s a nice change of pace from the rest of what I do.  I guess it’s sort of like those perfectly normal people who have an inexplicable love of a stupid sitcom or who spend hours reading the worst romance novels you can find at a granny’s garage sale.  It’s a mental break.  I turn the brain off and play with words for awhile.
• It’s a zero pressure situation.  I don’t need to sweat every word.  I don’t need to play with multiple title variations or fix that inadvertent use of the passive voice in the third paragraph.  It’s a liberating kind of writing because, quite frankly, almost anything goes.
• I meet cool people.  Many of the folks I’ve met doing things like this turn out to be good buddies and great people.  Some are new writers who are just getting started.  Some are experienced content writers who grind out articles on the side.  Some have no idea of what in the hell they are doing–but they’re still cool.
• Occasionally, real opportunities emerge.  Occasionally, you’ll accidentally kick open a door that leads somewhere more interesting and more lucrative.  It doesn’t happen most of the time, but it does happen.  In other cases, I’ve been able to do something for someone and then convince them to do more/better/different/etc.  That’s always fun!

How about you?  Do you have a secret life?  Do you do things that would make Angel blush?  Maybe you impersonate Elvis Costello instead of Elvis Presley?  Are you churning out Associated Content articles under a pen name?  Watching sitcoms?  Are you racing me to find these stray gigs at odd hours?

I can think of few sillier endeavors.

Money Talks

The ICSC thinks ad spends should go to the producers of rock-solid content.  That wouldn’t be a bad argument if they could convincingly demonstrate that an investment in top drawer material would yield a superior return on investment compared to buying space with the content mills.  If they could prove the link between “quality” content and higher profits, they wouldn’t even need to worry about the mills.  The market would dismiss them and they would wither away, as do all non-competitive business models.

Unfortunately, they don’t appear to be winning the argument.  As Mike Shields noted, the content mills are generating massive traffic numbers and they supply advertisers with highly-targeted eyeballs very efficiently.  Companies spend dough to make dough, not to support an organization’s interpretation of what constitutes proper writing.  When they see a positive ROI with the mills, they take their wallets to the mills.  It’s that simple.  Right now, they’re lining up at the mills.

Constantine von Hoffman noted that there are already sources of content that would undoubtedly meet any standards the Council might cook up.  We all know that The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. are there for us.  Their content tends to rank well, too.  Oh, and they get good traffic.  Yet the money isn’t flowing in their direction–at least not enough of it to keep the big boys plump and happy.  Why do these quality sources with trained professional editors and acclaimed writers struggle while an army of cut-rate freelancers and the mills who pay them thrive?

Welcome to today’s economic realities.  You might think they’re ugly.  You might not like them.  They are real.  The mills are delivering bang for advertising bucks.  As long as they continue doing so, all of the quality credentialing in the world won’t make a difference.

Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe the big ROI lies far, far away from the mills.  If all of those people are putting their cash in the wrong spots, all the Council needs to do is to present those facts.  If they could conclusively demonstrate that spending with sites that carry a higher grade of content would increase profitability over the alternative, the alternative would be gone.  Poof.  No need to credential a single word.

A Problem with Standards

The Council’s initial proposals with respect to content quality don’t really do anything to change the character of the allegedly rotten mill pieces.  They quickly recognized that the subjective nature of writing quality made it impossible to set standards.

Instead, Ellie Behling notes:

The point of the guidelines is not to evaluate content itself — which would be a subjective task — but to develop procedures companies can use in creating or publishing content, said Tim Duncan, executive director of the ICSC.

More specifically, the four principles push for proper fact-checking, clearly stated dates of publication, timely corrections and updates, and clearly displayed credentials of the information sources, according to a release from the council.

Wow.  That’s really going to keep the ‘Net free of shitty content.  Factual content?  Dates?  Corrections?  Credentials?  Give me a break.

When someone writes the 9,278th content mill article about removing stains from your carpet, she can probably manage to maintain factual accuracy.  The mill can slap a date on the page.  She can write up a paragraph discussing her unquestionable qualification to address a common consumer issue.  If someone points out a mistake, I suppose corrections could follow.  That still won’t address common mill-related gripes like

• Redundancy and lack of originality
• A lack of writing talent
• The fact that the article will play well with Google

The standards themselves are ridiculous because they fail to address the real problem ICSC members have with the mills–it’s stealing business, money and power from established industry veterans.  However, if they really went after mill content with the degree of transparency required to ‘fess up to that motivation, they’d be left with no alternative but to engage in obvious, untenable cries to credential or approve content on the basis of whether or not it’s something they like.

They may be trying to get to that point through the backdoor.  Matthew Ingram mentions that another proposed guideline is to ““ensure that all content submitted is vetted by established and qualified editorial reviewers.”  Whatever that means.  Established by whom?  When?  What qualifications?  Why?  What standards should these eminently qualified professionals use?  The questions are legion.

It Starts with a “G”

The Council is tilting at the wrong windmill in the first place.  The content mills exist and currently succeed because they understand something others don’t:  Search.  They know that money word starts with a “G”.

Google.

The mills kick ass on the search engines right now.  Thus, they get the eyeballs.  Thus, it makes sense to spend with them.  If people didn’t rely on search to find the kind of information supplied by mills and their writers, no one would want to partner with them.

Content mills succeed in search because (1)  they’ve figured out the long tail of search, (2) they’re creating content in response to expressed market desires (i.e. providing information for which people are already searching), (3) know how to build G-friendly sites, (4) capably exploit the limitations of Google’s search algorithm and (5) recognize that Google is interested in providing relevant search results, a goal that doesn’t necessarily line up with providing quality results.

Nonetheless, the Council is making content standards a priority instead of fighting Google.  When they do address the issue of search with respect to mills and the perceived deficiency in content quality, they do so very carefully.  Do you think they’re more comfortable griping about the mills than they are in actually confronting the core cause of mill popularity?

After all, as Frank Reed argues

In all honesty, unless the action comes from Google itself …there will be little that will be done. Consumers will have to ultimately judge what content they like or dislike and then advertisers can say whether or not they want to be linked to it.

And for that to happen, someone will need to show Google the err of its ways.  Here’s a hint:  The only persuasive arguments are the ones with dollar signs attached.

I’ve personally maintained that a change will, in time, come from Google.  That won’t happen because some insider Council dislikes crappy content, though.  It will come when actual users grow sick of search results that don’t measure up to their expectations and when Google starts losing numbers because of that dissatisfaction and/or the appearance of alternative means of information organization and acquisition.

Until then, all of the standards, credentials and concern about the allegedly lamentable state of Internet content won’t make much difference.

Note:  I’ve intentionally avoided discussing whether the Council’s initial assumption–that content mill articles carry the stench of inferiority–has any basis in reality.  That’s because (1) I’m not really interested in another discussion of quality, mills and the folks who write for them and (2)  it doesn’t really matter–even if the Council were right, their approach wouldn’t fix any problem. I’ve also intentionally avoided trying to portray the Council as a group of old-schoolers who just don’t “get it” or who are simply scurrying about, looking for a way to preserve their incomes.  While it would be convenient to run with that notion, I don’t think it’s quite fair.  Quite.

Now, it’s on to the next gig! That’s bad.

Well, it’s not really bad to move on to another gig. It’s just bad to look at assignments as one-off opportunities.

Most of the freelancers I know don’t make that mistake. They follow up with previous clients. They make calls or send emails, trying to scare up a little more work. They do a decent job of reminding the client to get in touch the next time he or she needs something.

That approach will create return customers and it’s something every freelancer should be doing. In fact, writers should have an organized system to maintain regular contact with past customers.

I don’t think it’s enough. Getting work is wonderful, making it is even better. Writers need to put their creative thinking, experience and skills to work to create new projects.

Your client is in the famed widget industry. She asked you to revamp ten pages of web content. You did a great job. The two of you got along very well and you’re pretty sure she’s going to contact you the next time she needs something.

Then, you happen to read a news article about these shoddy little Sri Lankan widgets that are flooding the marketplace. Apparently, these knock-off widgets don’t perform particularly well, but it’s hard to tell them apart from the world-class Canadian widgets your client sells.

You could hope that she sees a need to address the Sri Lankan widget invasion in a way that necessitates your golden pen. You could even send her a copy of the article along with a note mentioning your availability if she has plans to address the controversy. Alternatively, you could try to create new work.

What would happen if you sent that article along with a note outlining a way she could make a little lemonade from the Sri Lankan lemons? Let’s say you pitched her on the idea of a press release related to her commitment to maintaining only Grade-A Canadian inventory in the face of the weak widget onslaught. What if you mentioned the potential value of an additional page of site content about the matter? Do you think she might be interested in hiring you to ghostwrite consumer-friendly copy on the topic for syndication?

Obviously, we don’t always get lucky enough to see a client forced to fend off an invasion of Sri Lankan widgets. We can’t always turn morning headlines into new work. Sometimes, we might need to think a little harder.

Let’s say you have a system for maintaining regular client contact (again, if you don’t, you need to get your butt in gear). Consider making a point of proposing a new project to each and every client the next time each is due for an email or a call. Instead of sending a “just checking in with you” note, you’ll send them an actual idea that you can implement for them, along with a price tag.

When you’re writing, you’re learning. You know your client’s products, niches and approaches. You’re always working and you’re adding new tools to your writing workshop every day. You’re constantly coming up with clever ideas of some sort. When you add all of that together, you should be able to come up with something that will appeal to your client. Even if you miss the mark ever-so-slightly, there’s a good chance your idea will spur them to think of something they’d like you to do.

I recently worked with someone who uses Craigslist on a regular basis (no, not in some kind of “spam every city with my next golden multi-level-marketing scheme” way). During the larger project, I realized that he wasn’t getting the most out of Craigslist and introduced him to a number of design and copy improvements that have really, really worked well. I created another job for myself while finishing the first one.

I also created several other jobs because of it. I went through my client file and approached six who make (or who could make) use of Craigslist and introduced them to the concept. I explained what we could do and why it would work–without handing them an instruction manual, so to speak–and gave them a price tag for the service.

Here’s what I received in response: Two declined. One said “maybe”. Two said “yes”. One hasn’t answered yet.

I can live with that. Two new chunks of work–all because I “came up” with something new for another client and thought of ways the others could benefit from the strategy.

Marketing isn’t all about finding new clients. It’s about helping your existing and former clients, too. If you take care of them and take the initiative, it shows your genuine commitment to their success and your continued interest in their niche. Plus, you already know them, what they do and what the need! Talk about hot leads!

There’s nothing wrong with finding new clients and new markets for your work. Just don’t forget about the folks you already know and love.

I spent a few minutes with him discussing how freelance writers can build their own personal brands in order to build their businesses.  Dan’s insightful answers to my questions are included below.  Be sure to read the Building Your Freelance Writing Brand series here on Freelance Writing Jobs for more information about how you can start developing your own brand to boost your writing business.

Susan Gunelius: How can freelance writers benefit from personal branding?  What can they learn in your book that can help them get started?

Dan Schawbel: Over 30% of the US population is freelancers, and in my opinion, everyone should have a freelancer’s mentality. You should always be looking for work and new opportunities, even if you have a full-time job.

Being a freelancer makes it easy and critical to build a personal brand. Freelancers can benefit from personal branding because they need to differentiate themselves, be found online through searches, and build portfolios to display their work. A freelance web designer will be judged based off of the website they create for themselves, and writers will be judged based on online clips from published sources. Me 2.0 helps freelancers discover, create, communicate, and maintain their brand over the course of their lives. It’s imperative to take advantage of your brand now, so that you can attract the right opportunities.

Susan Gunelius: What is your response to someone who says they don’t need a website or an online presence for their freelance writing business?

Dan Schawbel: I would probably look at them like they were crazy, to be honest. It’s hard to imagine a freelancer that doesn’t have a web presence. For freelancers, I recommend that you have your own website (yourfullname.com), as well as your full name as a vanity URL on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It’s also important to have your full name as an email address (first.last@gmail.com is what I recommend). If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t be found which is a major competitive disadvantage. I haven’t made one sales pitch in three years. I get new clients and opportunities based on being found, and it works.

Susan Gunelius: You’ve achieved a lot of success at a young age and even have an internationally best selling book to your credit.  Could you share some of the story of how you got to this point and specifically share the story of how you got your first book published?

Dan Schawbel: I wrote the entire story on my blog in length, but will summarize it for you! I had eight internships, seven leadership positions, and a consulting company during college. I got each internship by showcasing my “personal branding toolkit,” which was composed of my business card, a website, resume, cover letter, references document, and a CD portfolio of my work. This impressed employers and I considered it to be “marketing myself” back then before I knew the term “personal branding.” Despite all of this hard work, I was afraid to network, so it took me eight months, meeting fifteen people, and getting rejected twice, to get a job at EMC corporation.

I started the Personal Branding Blog on March 14th 2007, and then created a video series, wrote articles for magazines, started the Personal Brand Awards, and launching Personal Branding Magazine on August 1st with an interview between Donald Trump and Guy Kawasaki. Fast Company wrote about my six month journey, and my life changed at rapid speed. I was asked to speak at Google and was recruited internally by a VP to lead the social media efforts in communications at EMC. I had the idea to write Me 2.0, once I flipped the recruitment process over, and was given a job based on my personal brand outside of work. I went through seventy agents, and three publishers, before I received my publishing deal with Kaplan in January of 2008. I started my company in January of this year.

Susan Gunelius: For a freelance writer who does not yet have a website, blog or other branded online destinations, what are the first steps they should take to begin developing their personal brand?

Dan Schawbel: The easiest part is crafting your online presence, and the hardest part is to figure out what you’re passionate about, what your current writing skills are and what you need to improve, as well as your short and long-term goals. Ask yourself “where do I want to go with my career, and in twenty years, what do I want to do”? Then, craft your personal brand and your long-term positioning. It’s not about the job you’re doing now, but where it all leads you in the end. That’s what counts! What’s your mission, your values, and what lasting impact do you want to have on the world?

Susan Gunelius: Many freelance writers are confused about how to brand themselves online — their personal name, a business name, a pseudonym?  What do you recommend from a brand-building/business-building standpoint?

Dan Schawbel: If you’re a freelancer, than you are your business, so you have to brand yourself, and not some random corporate name. You don’t have a team, which means if people hire you, they get YOU. I recommend that you use your name everywhere, and connect it to your expertise.

Susan Gunelius: What are your thoughts on writing for websites for free as a marketing effort to build your brand?  I’m a strong proponent of it but many freelance writers can’t make the shift in thinking from requiring payment for their writing to using it as a marketing/advertising/publicity tool.  Where do you stand on that debate?

Dan Schawbel: That is an extremely good question Susan. As an expert in my field, I look at freelancing as a loss leader and something that is used to just promote my book and other assets. I never set out to make a living off of writing for magazines or sources. For writers who depend on money to survive, you should charge based on your experience, talents, and supply/demand for what you cover. If you need to write a few articles for free to get a brand on your resume, it could be a good idea for you. The only problem is that you’re writing won’t be looked highly upon and it might hurt your chances of getting paid by that brand later.

Susan Gunelius: What’s next for Dan Schawbel?

Dan Schawbel: I’m working on a new book concept right now that I can’t reveal of course. I’m launching the 14th issue of Personal Branding Magazine on November 1st, which I’m very excited about. I’m also speaking at Harvard Business School this month, and receiving an award by the Massachusetts Governor. You won’t see me expand my platform by creating more websites and blogs anytime soon. My goal for the short-term is to build upon what I already have, and create a monetization funnel that can support me and my employees. I see live events as being a huge part of that, especially since that’s where TechCrunch and Mashable make all their money.

Susan Gunelius: Where can Freelance Writing Jobs readers go to learn more about you and your book?

Dan Schawbel: Personalbrandingbook.com and on Amazon.

About Dan Schawbel

So, FWJ amigos…  Opinions?  Insults?  Accolades?  How do you do it?  Discuss.

A freelance writer should:

• have a website
• maintain a blog
• actively participate in the online community
• participate in social media
• make marketing an everyday priority

To varying degrees, I’ve believed all of those oft-repeated recommendations.

Today, I’m questioning conventional wisdom.

I’ll spare you my long tale of personal navel-gazing and the various mini-epiphanies that led me to reconsider many aspects of my business model over the last few months.  Let’s just say that I’ve decided to change a number of things and that decision forced me to take a brief hiatus from many of my usual online activities.

As I slogged through the last month, I was a little worried about not having a fully operable website (it’s still awaiting completion and a re-launch as I write this).  I worried about not blogging.  I wondered what a dramatic decrease in community involvement and social media might do.  Mainly, I wondered how in the hell I was going to make a change if I wasn’t actively marketing myself in the process.

My decision led to a very rough patch as I moved from one set of policies and procedures to another.  There was a major cash flow hiccup as I moved from Model A to Model B.  Not pretty, but temporary.

Now…  Well, things are good.  Hell, they’re better than ever.  And that’s happening even though my domain currently points to a little Blogger.com blog that says, “I’ll be back soon”.  It’s happening even though I haven’t been blogging.  It’s working without much professionally oriented social media utilization, without spending a great deal of time interacting with the freelance writing community and without an intensive marketing effort.

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not as if things are just magically happening.  I still work.  I just haven’t been involved on those fronts lately and it really hasn’t had a negative impact on my business.  If anything, my abandonment of the conventional wisdom is making me money right now by providing me with more time to focus on writing.

It’s possible that I’m an exception to the rule.  The conventional wisdom may be conventional because it’s true for most folks.  I realize that I started in this field a few days after YouTube launched and that I have a network of contacts that new people don’t have.  If I was starting today, what I’ve been doing probably wouldn’t work.

All I can tell you is that I basically took a month off from this “world” and nothing horrible happened.  I had a brief and pronounced cash flow dip (which I could have avoided if I had enough patience to roll with Model A for an extra month), but it was brief.

I’m here to tell you that there’s no law requiring you to blog twice per day.  There’s no rule demanding a professionally designed website.  You can live without Twitter and Facebook if you’d like.  You don’t need to comment on this post to show that you’re a part of this community in hopes that will somehow put  money in your pocket.

Everything is optional.

Maybe I’m just really slow.  Maybe I just wandered off into some very high weeds and became slightly lost .  This post may seem like common sense to many of you.  This whole learning experience has been eye opening for me, though.

I’ve long laughed at conventional wisdom, but I’ve held close to it in many ways with respect to building my business.  Not anymore.

I’ve decided it’s about my/your plan and not THE plan.  Again, everything is optional.

This realization has been liberating.  Now that the world is spinning a little slower, I can get back into the things I love and I can ignore the rest without worrying that I’m going to somehow doom myself.  I know better.  I slammed on the brakes for a month and lived to tell the happy tale.

When I get my site fixed to my satisfaction, I’ll slap it up there.  I do have some blogging plans.  I do plan to be active in certain discussions.  I’m making those choices based on what I want to do, however.  I’m not making them because I think they’re essential.

A good plan is a good plan.  Even if it runs contrary to conventional wisdom.

I hope.

With the risk of sounding like I’m ranting, I’d like to talk about wasting your time as a freelance writer.  There has been a lot of discussion here at FWJ about where to focus your priorities.  We’ve talked about building skills, about establishing a well-balanced portfolio, and about making an awesome first impression.  A lot of you are taking that advice to heart, and I can only assume you’re seeing the success because of it.  If not, keep pushing – good things take time to build.

But a lot of writers, in my opinion, are wasting their time – and I don’t mean going past your allotted time browsing the New York Times or Newsweek.  Some examples that I’ve seen this week – and as I write this, it’s only Wednesday:

• Flogging their Twitter and Facebook streams for votes for contests, instead of spending time on researching niche markets that probably would pay better.  Doing nothing but entering contests is like playing the lottery – maybe you’ll win, but probably you won’t.  You’ll win bigger by working on relationships that continue to pay over and over again, and you’ll have a lot more control over the results – without the need to pull every Joe, Tom, and Sally you’ve ever met on social media to help you.
• Publishing way-too-personal and a little-too-opinionated rants on their blog, which can be a huge turnoff when an editor is checking out your website after receiving a query.  Sure, controversial titles will get clicks, and heated articles get comments, but is that really what you’re after?  Why not write and publish work that gives you an opportunity to refine the skills in whatever your “thing” is - narrative, prose, etc. and ask readers for their comments on feedback and tweaks.  As an editor myself, I know I’d far rather see an interesting conversation about a related topic to the niche rather than something a little too heated.
• Moaning about the state of affairs – think content mills, guest posts, and other buzzwords – incessantly.  I know these are important and difficult topics for our industry.   I think they should be discussed.  But I also know that being a freelance writer is really hard work.  Lots of work.  I work long hours, so I’m surprised to see some writers that have so much time to spend worrying about the future instead of working in the now.  Instead of moaning, how about  hustling to make a few more pitches, explore a few new niches, and educate yourself on a few new technology tools and writing concepts instead?

I have always said that the best strategy for personal success is to do whatever other people aren’t.  But some things, I have to say, are a total waste of time.  Look at your time tracker for the past week (you do track your time, right?), and ask yourself if a portion of the time spent on those tasks could have been better spent doing something more focused on results.

I don’t mean to imply that interacting with your fellow community, or that letting off some steam now and then isn’t helpful – in fact, it is healthy.  But letting that get out of balance is dangerous, and as a writer – or anyone whose business is primarily digital, I think – it is really too easy to lose focus.

What ways have you wasted your time, and what did you decide to do with that time to make it more productive?

Photo Credit: grahambones

I had the pleasure of working with Gayla while she was a channel manager at b5media, and I was constantly impressed by her ability to connect with people, engage, and share part of herself as well as offer her guidance.  I know she will become an important part of the Freelance Writing Jobs community!

To get you acquainted with Gayla, here is a brief bio:

Gayla has made her own success in the world of online writing and community building.  Her blogs and websites, including MomGadget.com, helped her become a 5 figure affiliate blogger and gave her the opportunity to develop and sell multiple sites over the years, ultimately earning over six-figures from those combined sales.  Today, she writes and manages several blogs and sites, including her blog network, GadAboutMedia.com.

She has ten years of experience as an internet professional in a variety of positions, including:

• Channel editor and manager to as many as 80 writers for a large blog network
• Marketing and support to a major online niche dating website
• Content eeveloper
• Webmaster
• SEO Consultant
• Work at home coach
• Blog training
• Advocate
• Public speaker
• Event organizer
• Online community director
• And last but not least, Mom and Chief of my family

Suffice it to say, Gayla has vast experience in working from home, being your own boss, and building your own career and business.  She will begin publishing content here on Freelance Writing Jobs next week.  Until then, you can connect with Gayla across the social web, and you can learn more about her at GaylaBaer.com.

Please join me in welcoming Gayla to Freelance Writing Jobs!

In other words, if you want to get paid for your writing, you need to make sure you can do the things in the list below.

1. Spell

If you can’t spell and you choose not to use a dictionary or effective spell-checking tool, then you won’t get far as a freelance writer.

2. Follow Grammar Rules

If you don’t know where to put commas and when to capitalize, then you need to learn how — quickly!

3. Proofread

As you write, you need to be aware of spelling and grammar, but it doesn’t end there.  You also need to proofread your work.  Keep in mind, proofreading your own work is never full-proof, but you should try to catch and fix as many errors and inconsistencies as possible.

4. Write Well

If you can’t write well, you won’t get quality writing assignments that can truly grow your career and business.  Make sure you get feedback on your writing by joining a writer’s group or taking some courses.  You can also pursue self-study online or through books about writing to ensure you can actually craft clear, compelling, and well-written content.

5. Market Yourself

You can’t be modest when you’re trying to get work as a freelance writer.  Instead, you need to turn into a marketer and really sell yourself as the person for every gig!  It takes a while to learn how to market yourself, so be prepared to spend time on this part of your business.

6. Research and Fact Check

In order to write, you’ll often need to do research, double check that facts used in your writing are accurate, cite sources, and make sure you can backup your claims.  If research bores you, then freelance writing might not be right for you.

7. Learn New Things

The worlds of publishing and media are changing so fast that writers need to be prepared to write for a wider variety of media and to learn new skills applicable to new media.  For example, writing for the web often requires a knowledge of search engine optimization writing techniques.  Today’s freelance writers are constantly learning new things.

8. Think Like a Business Owner

Freelance writers who work for themselves are small business owners.  They need to manage expenses, pay taxes, invoice clients, collect payments, and more.  These are all business-related tasks that take up time but can’t be avoided.

9. Be Thick-Skinned

Freelance writers need to be able to handle rejection and criticism.  If you’re easily offended when someone tells you they don’t like something you wrote, then freelance writing is probably not the best career choice for you.

10. Be Professional and Communicative

Freelance writers have to communicate with clients, editors, and more on a daily basis.  You need to remain professional at all times.  While the worlds of publishing and media are changing, they’re still proverbially small worlds — which means your reputation is at stake with every interaction because word travels fast within both worlds.

Image: stock.xchng

Why are you screwing around commenting on some joker’s blog while the fine folks at Discover are perfecting ways to stab you in the chest with an interest rate ice pick that barely avoids running afoul of the new CARD Act provisions.

You’re going to get old and when you do, you’re going to be staring at a pantry that contains little more than canned tuna and store brand mac and cheese if you don’t get your you-know-what together. So, why are you answering some question to help someone else on LinkedIn?

What’s with taking ten minutes out of your Thursday to IM back and forth with someone you’ll probably never meet face-to-face when you have deadlines and paying clients?

Why are you wasting midnight oil and adding to your sleep deficit just to write a guest post for someone?

Blah, blah, blah. Etc.

We talk about community in this amorphous Web 2.0 sense. We talk about the “freelance writing community”. All of that community comes with a price tag. Hours. Precious, precious hours, minutes and seconds. And time is money. Every moment spent being friendly and contributing is real life cash money you’re not making.

You could make the argument that having big virtual arms that hug the population of Writersville is good for business in the way it increases your recognition and credibility.  You’d probably be at least a little right, too.  But I think most of us could find more efficient ways of achieving those ends if we decided to pull the plug on making friends and participating.

So, why don’t we retreat into our individual cocoons and devise improved client-facing marketing strategies instead of setting aside time to share our thoughts about writing with other writers.  Why are we bothering reaching out to newbies in the field to offer our perspectives?  Why do we opt to be part of a community?

Ego? Maybe for some.  Not for me.  I’ve been just as full of myself while sleeping on a buddy’s sun porch on a fast-leaking air mattress without a dollar to my name as I am when I’m dispensing gems of wisdom from an online platform.  I may have an ego, but I’ve had it since I was wee and history has proven that it’s unrelated to anything I actually do.

Companionship? Maybe that’s a big motivator for people.  It’s not really my thing, though.  I’m not a misanthrope, but I’m close enough.  I could handle solitary confinement for a year or two if it wasn’t for the fact I have two adorable tiny tots and a bad-ass wife.  I’m not the kind who needs a large number of amigos to survive.

A Genuine Desire to Help Others? This one does apply to me–at least a little.  I like the idea that some of my participation could actually benefit someone.  I try to be helpful.  I really do.  However, I don’t wake up in the morning hoping to find a way to better the lives of all freelance writers in a meaningful way.  Some people do.  Not me.

Somehow, though, all of those reasons and some that I didn’t mention sort of combine to create this pull toward being meaningful and at least somewhat actively involved.  Try as I might, I’ve never been able to put my finger on why I feel that way, though.

Last week, I really figured it out.

A series of wacky events, unforeseen expenses and a history of spending like I am a Rockefeller and my wife is a DuPont  mixed with my traditionally poor approach to cash flow management.  Of course, these bits of nastiness hit right as our planned vacation date with the non-refundable airline tickets approached.  In other words, I needed some dough until a chunk of my A/R paid up.  Fast.

Shaking the usual trees landed me a few great projects–alas, none will pay until next month.  Even the oft-dreaded content mills weren’t going to get the cash turned around fast enough.

I decided to send out a few emails to a handful of special clients with good connections and to a few of those writers who comprise part of the “community”.  I didn’t pull punches.  I explained my temporary predicament with those folks because I trusted them and because I wanted them to appreciate just how serious I was about making something work.  The results were fantastic.

One of my virtual amigos was kind enough to send out a series of emails to people in his social circle who might be able to take advantage of specific things I do that he does not.  That worked.

Another writer–someone I’d paid for work in the past–was just as cool sitting on the other side of the table as she was when I was writing her a check.  She kicked a nice gig in my direction and paid me in a hurry.

Another writer who’s part of the “community” helped me out, landing a rush project for me.

You get the idea.  Thanks again, folks.

When I needed something, other members of the “community” made sure it was there for me.

It was almost like–gulp–having friends.

And really, that’s why we should be doing all of this stuff.

The social media and social marketing worlds are rapidly becoming a numbers game for many people.  People are trying to build these “connections” that consist of little more than one automated tool agreeing to befriend another automated tool.  Bob’s mannequin is agreeing to be “friends” with Sheila’s robot.  It’s a drag.  And, to tell you the truth, it’s pretty damned stupid.

The whole idea of networking, communicating, collaborating and sharing really only works when it’s a sincere person-to-person thing.

I have a few thousand Twitter followers.  I could’ve broadcast an SOS to that list every hour on the hour for three days.  Do you know what would’ve happened?  The same handful of people I emailed would’ve probably been the only ones to respond.

I guess I’m extending an invitation with this post.  It’s an invitation to operate on a more sincere level than others might sometimes use.  It’s an invitation to provide something of value to others–to really make human contact.  That’s not just because you’ll have someone to hit up when you confront an issue.  It’s also because you’ll be able to help other people when they need it.

In the end, that’s how we all get by, isn’t it?

Yeah, it’s a Lennon/McCartney Beatles song, but I think Joe did it better than anyone…

Another writer I know mentioned that she landed a sweet little gig.  The client paid her at or above market rate for a series of five articles that were right up her alley.

Good news, right?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  We may never know.

What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You (or Your Income)

Here’s why:

The client approached her on a referral.  They exchanged a few emails about the job before they finalized the arrangements.

And that’s where she may have screwed up.

She didn’t ask enough questions about how the client was planning to actually use the material.  She knew that they’re offering a new service, but she didn’t ask them about how they were doing it.  She doesn’t know if they had a blogging plan in place.  She doesn”t know if the articles were going to be used as top-level site content, backfill or for article marketing or guest posting purposes.  She’s not sure if they’re building a list and, if they are, what they’re using as an inducement (if anything).  She doesn’t know how aggressively they’re approaching SEO concerns.

You get the idea…

She knew about the project specs.  She wrote the articles.  The client liked them.  The end.

She doesn’t know how much money and work she may have left behind, though.

Multiplying Projects

If you’re asking the right questions, you’re opening doors to additional opportunities.

Those five articles may have turned into ten articles, some additional web content, a better squeeze page, a white paper or special report for list building, a regular blogging gig, assistance in constructing additional content for inbound link creation and who-knows-what-else.

Those questions are business multipliers.

Plus, they have a fantastic upside even if the client really doesn’t need a hand with anything other than the base assignment.  When you know the answers to all of those other questions, you have a better idea of how your work will fit into the bigger picture.  That allows you to produce the best possible work, which is always a good idea.

An Example

Someone approached me about helping with the editing of a business plan.  We talk.  She didn’t have anyone to write a letter or brochure to go along with the plan to the prospective investors.  She didn’t plan to create a web presence to aid in the project.

I asked questions.  Now she has a copywriter on board.  A great little interactive WordPress-driven website that will feature key information about her project along with some video and plenty of visuals is on its way.  She be able to direct people to the site as well as asking them to read through the paper materials.  She has a contained social media presence to help her out, too.

That’s good news for me.  More importantly, it’s good news for her.  Everything I’m offering will undoubtedly help her with this project.  I can’t share the details here, but I can tell you that this is a “perfect fit” situation.

That little “help me with this business plan” request has turned into a mutually beneficial working relationship.

What about You?

That’s just an example.  You might not be interested in some aspects of projects.  You may not do the training and consulting thing.  I understand completely.  However, I do think everyone can benefit when people actually take the time to discuss the bigger picture and the way its component parts are working instead of having insulated conversations about discrete elements.

So, are you multiplying your business or are you taking it as it comes?

If you’ve had a positive experience after taking an extra step to get a wider understanding of a project, feel free to share it.  I have a feeling that a number of people have turned small assignments into big money because they dug a little deeper.

Luckily, the guy was spared from a beat down.  I was in a hurry and didn’t have enough time to work him over.  Okay, the fact that I wasn’t really that upset was part of the deal, too.

In any case, my thick skull was finally penetrated by the indisputable fact that burning the candle on both ends is rotten and that my approach–tossing it directly into a steel smelter is even worse.

So, took advantage of this handy platform to write a long diatribe filled with elements of my personal story that couldn’t really provide much value to you.  I tacked on a plea for ideas at the end.  My goal?  Work half as many hours without bringing in less bacon.  I wanted your tricks, tips, hints, ideas, theories, recommendations, commiserations and maybe even a few ninja kicks in the ass.  The only rule?  I asked that no one talk about increasing rates as a means of decreasing workloads.  That seemed to easy.

Oh, and I promised a free order of nachos to the person who gave me the best chunk of time-sparing wisdom.

That post generated over 40 comments and I think only one of them was from me.  Almost all of them contained great advice and those that didn’t tended to provide equally important context.

My comment, which came only after 20+ FWJ readers decided to contribute, was simply to encourage even more input (which I received).

It became pretty clear to me that the ideas you provided could serve as the core of a great text about creating an efficient and streamlined freelance business.  A few bigger themes emerged and they were coupled with concrete recommendations and examples.

All in all, it was an incredibly valued idea dump and everyone who added $.02 or more created one of those great situations in which the comment discussion is 100x more valuable than the actual blog post on top.  Kudos to you all.

Anyway, I wanted to do two things before walking away from that post and implementing those good ideas.  First, I wanted to write a “wrap” post about the recommendations, noting the prevailing themes, providing my reactions to them, etc.  Second, I wanted to give away the free nacho prize.

You’ll note that this post is labeled “Part One”.  You’ll see “Part Two” next week.  I’m going to use “Part Two” to break down all of the advice, to provide kind words of thanks to the geniuses who provided it and to come up with what I hope to be a few Marvelous Insights of my own.

This part?  Two things are about to happen.  Keep on reading.

Community

Community.  It’s an extremely over used word in the social networking field.  It’s been overused in the blogosphere for half a decade or more.  Everyone is always talking about building communities, community management, community participation, community this, community that…

Usually, it’s more jibber-jabber than reality.  We use the term “community” to refer to even the least tightly knit groups.  We’ve drained much of the power and meaning from the term by tossing it around as convenient shorthand whenever we’re talking about anything that involves more than one person.

Occasionally, you actually see community in action and understand what it can mean.

I know this has nothing to do with my quest to work half as much without losing money, but it’s probably one of the biggest lessons I’ve seen in real community.

I asked a whole mess o’ people–most of whom wouldn’t recognize me if I bumped into them on the street–to give me good advice.  Yeah, I dangled the magic of nachos as a reward, but no one (I hope) was actually excited about the joke of a prize.  On a superficial level, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, for them to gain by providing me with a recommendation.  In fact, they spend valuable time doing it.

Yet three dozen or more people did do it.  They took the time and effort to comment and to offer something meaningful.

Now, we can make the somewhat cynical argument that people contributed because they’re trying to boost their own name recognition or because they hope to grab a little comment link traffic, etc.  And it’s true that being an active participant in a larger “community” can have some pragmatic benefits along those lines.  I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the people who spoke up weren’t really concerned about that, though.  Some are already well-known and well-read amongst the FWJ population.  Some didn’t bother to even leave a link.  They seemed sincerely motivated to provide people interested in maximizing efficiency with some good advice.

They wanted to share for the sake of sharing.  And that is a big part of what community and social networking in general is really all about.

And none of that happens without Deb Ng, who’s grown this site up from square one.  Her dedication, constant adjustment and all-out effort to create a quality space for freelancers is a big part of why this works.  It may seem ironic, but online community really often starts with a significant effort by one person.

I’m making a big fat point of this because, as most you know, Deb sold Freelance Writing Jobs to SplashMEDIA.  She’s still here, handling the transition.  However, in July, the new crew is gonna take the controls.

That makes this a perfect moment to thank Deb for a job well-done.  It’s also a reminder to the new ownership that they’ll be filling some big shoes and, if they can pull it off, they’ll have one really great community on their hands.

Nachos

After a great deal of consideration, I’ve decided to extend an invitation to all who commented to join me for nachos at El Torreon in Overland Park, KS if you’re ever in the area.  Just drop me a line and we’ll hook up for our nacho date–on me.  I don’t cover the margaritas, though.

Knowing that few of you will venture into the KC suburbs for nachos and pleasant conversation any time soon, I’m also specifically awarding a plate of my favorite vice to Brad.

Interestingly, Brad didn’t really give me any advice about how to reduce the amount of time spent working.  Instead, he reminded me of how some folks wouldn’t mind being that busy and made me think about f-ing obnoxious it probably is to publicly gripe about having too much work in the midst of an ugly recession.  Thanks for the reality check, Brad.

Here’s the comment:

Well I would say to run around in circles as long as possible before your circle gets taken away from you.
Being an IT guy I’m used to running around in circles.

However since Dec 19,2008 when the president of the company I worked for decided they made a mistake in hiring me because I had 4 years experience and not 10 and laid me off, I would love to have a run around in circles experience again.

I like thousands of other people just realized that my last unemployment check that I just spent on food and other household necessities will be my last for a while until Congress and the Senate can work together to pass an unemployment extension bill.

I wish I had a job with people driving me crazy again. I have been unemployed for almost 2 years with no hope in close site. I’m going to school in hopes that an increased education will increase my employment opportunities.

I would love to have someone asking me stupid technical questions right now. When I go back to work someday I’m going to be smiling a really big smile the whole time and saying yes sure I can help you with that and be glad that I can.

Brad, drop me a line and I’ll take care of your cheesy, chippy needs.

Back next week with “How You Made My Life Easier, Free Nachos and Other Delights (Part 2)”

But this time, I’m being a little selfish.  This post is about me and how you can help me.

I’m doing it anyway.  Why?  Because I want your opinions.  I’m also doing it in hopes that my story isn’t so weird and unique that it precludes others from finding value in the advice you might give.
Part One:  In which I imagine beating the crap out of some guy…

I was in a store, efficiently grabbing a specific item before I rushed back to my car.  This other guy was in the same small shop, wandering around as if he was mildly confused.  The clerk engaged him:

CLERK:  Are you finding everything okay?
GUY:  Yeah, not really looking for anything.
CLERK:  Just let me know if you need a hand.
GUY:  Don’t worry about me.  I’m just killing time.

And at that moment, I wanted to go nutso on the guy.  Have you seen High Infidelity?  Remember the scene where John Cusack imagines what it be like if he and his record store homies went crazy on Tim Robbins?  I was right there.  I wanted to find a window air conditioner and heave it right on top of the guy.

Killing time?

KILLING time?

KILLING TIME?

The audacity.  And I don’t mean that in a good kind of Obamaudacity kind of way, either.

Who in the hell did this guy think he was?  Killing time.  It makes me sick.

• Why does this guy have extra time when I can barely find a second of it?
• Why does this guy have so much extra time that he feels he can waste it with impunity?
• Doesn’t this asshat realize how extremely precious time really is?

Killing time?  You might as well be killing yourself.  And rubbing it in the faces of all of us who’d like a little more life.

I can’t think of an expression I despise more.  And I certainly can’t think of a practice that seems more wasteful, sick and twisted.

Part Two:  In which I discuss the value and importance of time…

Time is valuable.  In fact, I think one could make an argument that time is the only thing that’s truly valuable.  After all, it’s a prerequisite for Everything else you do, want or experience.  You can run out of money and coast for a while.  If you run out of time, that’s it.  Adios amigo.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule.  Most of us have at least a few things we could imagine dying for.  We’d take a bullet for our family.  Some of us willingly take the risk for country or God.  But really, aside from those outlying moments of heroism or idealism, it’s all about time.

Tick tock.

Upon further reflection, I realized that I wasn’t just hacked off at Mr. Time Killer just because of his wastefulness and failure to value the most precious of precious things.

I was jealous, too.

Because I don’t have enough time.

Part Three:  In which I discuss my lack of time…

No, I haven’t been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  I just have a life that currently doesn’t afford me enough time to do all of the things I want to do.

I’ve tried the work/personal life separation thing in an effort to increase available non-working hours.  It failed.  I failed.  We failed.

I’ve recognized that I have no choice personally but to integrate all of it into one big time-stew lacking definition and clarity.  I’m okay with that.  In fact, I like it.  Love it.

However, I still don’t have enough hours, people.  I need more time.  I have a baby who’s growing up fast.  I have another baby who’s going into first grade.  I have gray hairs, slowly worsening vision and occasionally experience heartburn after spicy meals.  Time is not my friend right now.  I need to do some things NOW if I’m ever going to do them.

Yes, go ahead and say it.  It’s true, after all.

I’m having an ever-so-slightly premature mid-life crisis.

Fine.  But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong about this.

In fact, I’m convinced that I’m so damn right that I’ve done what a billion other people before me in this exact same situation have undoubtedly done:  I’ve made a plan.

Only I’m going to be different from the bulk of my predecessors because I’m going to make my plan work.

Part Four:  In which I reveal my incredibly simplistic plan…

My plan is simple.  I’m not going to kill time.  I’m not going to waste time.  I’m going to free up as much time as possible to do the things that matter most to me.

I don’t sleep much.  In fact, I don’t sleep nearly enough.  That’s probably why I have Exploding Head Syndrome (not made up).  It’s also one reason that my 40 year-old midsection is destined to be considerably bigger than the 20 year-old model.  They say that messed up sleeping patterns encourage that kind of unwanted growth.  The nachos don’t help, though.

In any case, I don’t log a lot of pillow time.  So I can’t steal another moment from the Sandman to free up more time in my life.

When you take sleep out of the mix, I’m generally doing one of two things.  I’m either working or I’m with my family.

You can see where this is going.  If I want to free up more of that precious time to do the most important things, I have no choice but to take the time from work.

And this, in all honesty, scares me.

Part Five:  In which I reveal my workaholic nature…

I have a work ethic worthy of a Soviet propaganda poster.  I’m a machine.  I produce.  These tendencies have been at the very foundation of my freelance career from Day One.

My ability to work like a team of dogs has always been my trump card.  I’ve never worried that other writers are more talented than I am.  I’ve never worried that they can work for less than I can.  I’ve never worried about a damn thing when it came to making a living in this business because I’ve always known one thing:

I will work harder and longer than anyone else will.  I will crush them while they sleep, if necessary.

That’s been such a part of my freelancing that it’s become ingrained in so much of what I do.  I know a lot of you have 30-, 40- or even 50-hour work weeks.  I laugh at you (not really, of course)!  I double up on that range every single week.  At least.

Unfortunately, this is a major undertaking.  My wife is a teacher.  I’m not earning optional income here.  The idea of cutting my work hours in half (approximately) raises the ugly specters of poverty, repossessions and general brother-can-you-spare-a-dime despondence.

Solutions?

• Focus on the things that pay the most
• Increase rates
• Improve efficiency

My responses?

• The things that pay the most aren’t the most fun and that matters
• Sure, I do that all the time and will continue to do so
• I’m a well-oiled machine these days already

Part Six:  In which I beg you to solve my problems by offering sage advice…

So, here’s what I want from all of you freelance writing geniuses who visit this website and others, collecting wisdom and ideas, synthesizing them into a larger portrait of the Best Ways to Do Things.

I want you to dump your brains right here in the comments section.

I want your best piece of advice (two or three or four pieces will work, too) about how I can slice my work week in half without earning appreciably less dinero.

Oh, but there is a rule for this game:  I don’t want anyone to even mention the topic of rates in their advice.  There are a number of reasons for this, but the biggest is the fact that we all know you can make more by charging more.   I want to see some less-frequently discussed pearls of wisdom.

Well, what are you waiting for?  Give me some advice.  And give me the good stuff.

I’m sure someone else is out there thinking about this stuff, too, so don’t feel like your wasting your A game on me.  Some perfectly decent and innocent soul who wants to cut down their work hours will appreciate the advice, as well.

Let ‘er rip!  Best piece of advice gets a free order of nachos.

One Thing Leads to Another…  And Another…  And a Few More

On Monday, I felt the urge to write a short blog post about Memorial Day. Nothing big, nothing complicated. Just a nice little Memorial Day post.

In the middle of this little holiday gem, I referenced a historical event. My fact-checking and anti-embarrassment instincts compelled me to verify that I had the stated date right.

While double-checking that information, I ran across a reference to another historical event. Out of curiosity, I did a little research into that and realized it was an even better example for the post. I did a little more homework on this particular event. Then I did some more. And that made me think of something else. And that new thing seemed to tie into the original post idea but also had a connection to yet another little chunk of history.

You see where this is going, right?

Now I have a folder stuffed with material about a post-Civil War US military excursion in Asia, the nature of Ireland in the waning days of the potato famine, the nature of immigrant recruitment by the US Marine Corps, the 7th Cavalry Regiment’s participation in Reconstruction efforts, how three Americans died at the hands of spear-wielding Koreans serving a hermit king, a biographical sketch of a gray-eyed Irish carpenter named Hanrahan, the story of an old Irish drinking song’s use in Custer’s army, a series of quotations about faith, snippets of dialog from Clint Eastwood’s lousy Grenada invasion flick, and more…

That little post became a bigger post and then moved right into A Very Big Idea for something that couldn’t be a single post. In my mind, all of these little snippets of history and the stories they tell are slowly but surely clicking together in the form of a story. A novel, perhaps.

I didn’t write the post. I saved the notes. I put them in a folder. That folder is stuffed with other folders. Each of them has notes about an idea of some sort.

Not Quite Raisins in the Sun, but Still a Lousy Situation

I rarely crack those folders open. It’s sad.

I’m not saying that every one of them contains something unbelievably awesome. I’m sure most of them don’t. A few of them might, though.   Who knows, if I toss in a few vampires, a murder mystery, a busty Kentucky belle with an eyepatch and three Zombie Sioux warriors in the hull of a warship, my Memorial Day thing might actually become a hit!

All kidding aside, some of the ideas really are good.  Or at least I think they are.  And I feel a real urge to test them or to prove them.

But I spend my days writing to keep the fridge stocked and the kids fed, you know? I spend non-writing time lining up more work, perfecting systems, etc. The free time I have goes elsewhere. Those moments of inspiration, excitement and ideas don’t get the attention they should.

I’ll make a few guesses:

• Most writers have these moments of inspiration and ideas to do something new, different, creative, smart or interesting.
• Most writers don’t revisit those ideas with any frequency.
• Most writers don’t transform their ideas into actual work product.
• Some of those ideas have the potential to be Truly Great.

And that’s why I’m a little bummed. I’m thinking that these potentially awesome, heartfelt, genius pieces aren’t in progress and that few of us are going to write them.

I’m not just talking about the random novel ideas, either. I’m thinking about the interview you’d love to do or the article inspired by that other article that takes a new angle on an issue. I’m thinking about impassioned essays and short poems. I’m guessing that the idea folders of the writing world are holding onto more great comedy bits and more tear-jerking eulogies than I can imagine.

And they sit there, rotting while we chase paydays and clock hands.

It’s a bummer.

Am I Alone Here?

Maybe I’m all alone on this and the rest of you find a way to tackle your great ideas and to bring them to life. If you do, share your tips for making that happen, please.

But if I’m right, and I’m part of a big crew of writers who are leaving plenty of ideas and dreams deferred, I’d like to do my little part to encourage folks to push back at the stockpiling of ideas without followup.

I’m making a point of revisiting my ideas folder and picking something each and every week upon which I can spend some time and effort. I’m not going to let the ideas sit in purgatory indefinitely.

A Challenge…  Interested?

How about you? If you’re in the same boat, would you consider making a commitment to bringing some of your ideas to life–the ones from which you’ve walked away?

If so, consider this a challenge.

Fill the comment sections.  I want to know how others handle (or fail to handle) this and whether they feel just a little guilty for letting great ideas sit around day after day, too.

In Search of Separation…

Being a freelancer guarantees weirdness.  Unpredictability is the only constant and the bizarre twists and turns of everyday life constantly squash efforts to create that ideal professional/personal balance.

How in the hell are you supposed to balance your work with the rest of your life?

Sure, writing copy so beautiful it brings tears to your eyes is mega-fun/rewarding, but so is making homemade spaghetti sauce, catching an afternoon ballgame on getaway day, dancing to the Godfather of Soul with your kid, making out with your spouse and, to a lesser extent, keeping your house somewhat tidy.

What’s the big secret to separating the wild yet wonderful world of freelancing for a living from the rest of your life?

If you want suggestions, they’re easy to find.  Drawing the work/life line is constantly buzzing topic.  You can find freelancers who’ll suggest setting regular hours, dressing as if you’re actually heading off to a day at the office, putting up signs to keep your family away while you work and a million other things.

You’ll hear lectures about time management, recommendations about working smarter instead of working harder and pleas to turn off your phone, computer and everything else even remotely related to your profession during the weekend.

My Failure to Divide…

Some of that stuff probably works for some people.  It hasn’t worked for me.  Not even close.  This is my experience:

The need to run to Price Chopper for diapers can shred a well-planned schedule.  A weekend free of work sounds ideal until you chop off the tip of your index finger with your favorite Wusthoff on Wednesday (just try writing anything other than “ewoek/lifer supaeratioij u s so dalmn haard” at three a.m. with a bandage on your hand).

The idea of dressing for traditional success makes me a wee bit queasy and all of the smart work in the world can’t solve for an overflowing toilet plugged with a small stuffed giraffe and three plastic Strawberry Shortcake figurines.

If you can tidily separate your work from the rest of your life and that’s what you want to do, congratulations.

I’ve given up.  Completely and intentionally.

Integration vs. Separation…

I realized that I don’t really want a separation between the professional and the personal.  I don’t want regular hours, a regimented schedule or a sign on the door of my basement office.

Screw separation.  I want integration.

I love working for myself for a number of reasons, but the biggest weight on the scale is freedom.  I spent a long time being a damn good employee who secretly hated being on the payroll because I didn’t have that freedom to do what I wanted to do how and when I wanted to do it.

The joy of freelancing isn’t just the money or the satisfaction of those occasional moments of copy perfection.  For me, it’s the fact that I can do things on my terms.

After wrestling with time and experiencing a never-ending series of scheduling snafus, I realized something.  I don’t wear suits for a reason.

Weddings, Russians and Realization…

Let me explain that last part about suits.  A few weeks ago, we were up in Iowa for a wedding.  I decided to dress appropriately.  I was standing in front of the mirror, wearing a suit and marveling at just how freaking weird I looked.  My wife says I look snazzy in a suit.  Maybe she means it.  Maybe she’s just being nice.  All I know is that I think I look like someone else.  I hate the damn things.  I have broad enough shoulders without the jacket’s enhancement.  Neckties are too silly (and phallic) for my tastes.  I generally dislike shoes and hold particular animosity toward dress shoes.  I dislike them on an almost visceral level.  They conjure up feelings of conformity, caste and rigidity.

Unless I’m at a wedding, a funeral or taking the stand in my own defense, I really don’t want to wear a suit.  I don’t like them.

Then a question occurred to me.

Why would someone who hates suits make an effort to run his business as if he’s wearing one?

In what turned out to be a happy coincidence, my websites and email accounts were serving as a playground for a few Russian hackers while I was standing in front of the mirror.  When I returned home and surveyed the damage, I decided to burn things to the ground instead of repairing them and to start anew.

Authenticity and a Liberating Integration Casserole…

On a superficial level, this switch freed me to blog about things like the death of Jose Lima, my status as a victim of Exploding Head Syndrome and Kalae All Day–things I usually would’ve avoided because they didn’t match “The Brand”.  It allowed me to tweet about the lapse in sanity exhibited by Royals third base coach Eddie Rodriguez last weekend and to dial back the formality of my client communication.

We talk the authenticity talk more than we walk the walk, I think.  At least I did.  Not any more.  I’m retiring from thinking about being authentic.  I’m just doing it.

That has included embracing my inability to maintain traditional, set hours and all of the other stuff that usually goes along with separating work from the rest of one’s life.

I’m not separating anything anymore.  It’s all just one big crazy, gorgeous, wacky, depraved, enlightened, messy, tasty casserole.  Yum.

It’s been a liberating experience.  I’m bobbing between work and parenting.  I’m weaving between being a husband and making a living.  I’m cool with a two-hour client call on a Sunday and I’m just as happy to tell someone that I’m too busy buying diapers and freezer pops to take a call on a Wednesday afternoon.

Interestingly, this new outlook isn’t creating waves with clients.  It’s allowing us to float closer to one another.  It’s breaking down barriers and encouraging more human connections.  It’s as if we’re all actually having fun for a change.

I’m sure someone will find this kind of authenticity worrisome.  Discovering a blog post that includes a piece of Haiku about a baby kicking my ass may very well dissuade someone from doing business with me.  There are traditionalists who want appreciate that sort of thing.  I can accept that.

It’s a small price to pay, really.  Besides, who knows how many ultra-cool people might actually like it?

An Alternative to the War of Separation…

If you’re fighting and losing a bloody war of attrition in the effort to defend or establish a dividing line between work and home, consider waving the white flag and walking away from it.  It may not be the right fight.  Consider integration instead of separation.

It’s okay if your peas touch your meat, folks.  That’s true whether you hate shoes like me or if the idea of dressing like a corporate bigwig gives you a thrill.

At least that’s my experience.

What’s yours?  Are you having a great time keeping your freelancing career and your personal life separate or do you feel like a struggle?  If it is tough, do you think it’s a fight worth having?  Can you imagine surrendering to overlap and to integration?

I’d love to know.  I see many people writing about keeping things clearly delineated and very few, if any, advocating wholesale integration.  It probably won’t change my perspective, but I’d like to know if I’m a nut-case.

Originally this post was to have been called “Are the Freelance Writing Blogs Telling You Stuff You Already Know?” so we could have a big discussion about how redundant and unoriginal we all are. Let’s face it, every freelance writing blogger says the same thing, we just use different words. We all want to convince you we’re the best in order to get your traffic, but most of all have the same background, got the same sort of start and now we’re each competing to give you information you already know.

None of you are dumb. You don’t need hand holding and you don’t really need wake up calls. Bloggers like to be very dramatic with our headlines to suck you in and makes you feel as if you don’t know any better…but you do know better, don’t you?

Most  things discussed on this and other freelance writing blogs are common sense. Perhaps our posts serve as reminders or nags, but deep in the back of your mind, you know this stuff. Maybe you don’t want to admit some of us are right on about things like rates and clients because you don’t want to step out of your comfort zones. Or maybe you’re just happy in your situation and think to youself, “ho hum, she’s going off about raising rates again.” In any event, I’m not bringing you anything new, and really, neither is anyone else.

This is no big reveal.

Behold:

Top 10 Things Freelance Writing Blogs Tell You That You Already Know

Check out this list and tell us if there’s anything here you didn’t already know.

1. Freelance Writing is a Business

Yawn. How many posts have you seen in the past year discussing how freelance writing is a business and you need to make grown up business decisions. You don’t need us to tell you to set your rates with things like taxes, overhead and medical expenses in mind, in addition to the cost of the project, because everyone knows this. Perhaps it’s not something everyone does, or even thinks about, but everyone knows to ensure the bottom line makes sense. Now, the one thing we can’t tell you is how to run your business because everyone’s situations are different. However, every decision a freelance writer makes is a business decision.

2. You Can Charge More

You don’t need freelance writing bloggers to tell you can earn more money because you already know. You see it in the job ads and you read the heated exchanges on blogs and in discussion forums. You know you can charge more than what you earn now (whatever that is ) but whether you do so or not is entirely up to you.

3. By Charging More You Get to Work Less

Work smarter, not harder…isn’t that what we tell you? The more you charge, the less you work. You can work ten hours at $15 per hour or 6 hours at $50 per hour.  Charging more can mean weekends off and nights free. Whether you’re starting low to get your foot in the door, or because you simply like the work you’re doing now, you know that when you’re ready you can request a raise or find higher paying clients.

4. There Are Plenty of People Who Would Like to Take Advantage of You

Blah, blah, blah. Don’t work for free, don’t work for $1, don’t pay someone for a job. Really, is this something you need us to tell you?

5. With Flexibility Comes Responsibility

We all enjoy being able to set our own hours and make our own rules. However, our businesses won’t succeed if we spend more time enjoying the flexibility part and not enough time handling the responsibility part. Every writer knows when they flake on a client it’s irresponsible, even if they used the best excuse in the world. We all know when we blow off deadlines or what will happen if we don’t work in favor of having fun. You don’t need me to tell you to be a responsible writer, you know you’ll lose work and damage your reputation if you don’t remember, first and foremost, this is a job.

6. Use Social Media

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, forums and other social media tools all have purposes beyond the obvious. How can you not know this? It’s written everywhere–even the news and weather channels are getting involved. Social media helps to grow a business and client base. You may be resisting it for any number of reasons, but there is no way you don’t know that so many of us find social media useful.

7. Always Make a Good First Impression

I shouldn’t even have to blurb this puppy. Who lands the gig – the slovenly fool or the person who takes the time to research the business, know the subject matter and make the best presentation?  Every time I talk about proofreading I get a handful of snarky remarks from the peanut gallery from folks who find typos on my blog posts. My blog isn’t looking for a job, people, you are…and you don’t need for me to tell you that it’s the first impression that matters the most.

8. If it Looks Too Good to Be True it Probably Is

You know those ads featuring lots of exclamation points promising $25,000 per month writing for the web just aren’t true. Even the people who apply for these gigs know they’re not true. If those claims were true, don’t you think more of us were doing it?

9. You’re Going to Be Rejected

There’s no way you can’t know writers are always rejected. You probably also know most of the time rejection doesn’t have as much to do with talent as it does fit. If you’re not the right fit for a magazine or website, they won’t accept your writing. It hurts, but seasoned writers brush themselves off and move on. But you don’t need me to tell you that, because you already know, right?

10. A Successful Freelance Writing Career Doesn’t Happen Overnight

Very few freelance writers land their first gigs or even earn enough to leave their day jobs in the first few months. It takes time for a career to develop and for clients to trust you enough to give steady work and referrals. Most aspiring freelance writers know this or else they would quit their jobs first and then find work, instead of the other way around.

What are some of the things you don’t need us to tell you? What did you already know before entering into freelance writing?

In order to encourage the freelancer writers in this community, I like to keep the tone light and positive. Though I don’t take the “in your face” approach to blogging, I’ll agree that there are plenty of times when freelance writes need to have the truth laid out for them in order to view all sides of the picture. With that in mind, I’d like to discuss some of the things that aren’t so pleasant and hopefully inspire struggling freelancers to re-evaluate their career choices and goals.

To be perfectly blunt, there are times freelance writers need a wake up call. If they’re struggling all day, every day, and no money is coming in, there’s something wrong. This doesn’t always mean they’re not in the right career, but oftentimes it does.

Let’s explore some of the reasons freelancers may want to reconsider their career choice, or, at the very least, come up with a new business or marketing plan. Most of us chose freelancing to have a positive experience, if that’s not happening some self and business evaluation is necessary. Struggling freelance writers would do well to explore the reasons behind their lack of success and decide what they’re going to do about it.

Here are a few situations when freelance writers need to rethink their strategy – and maybe even their career choice.

When they’ve been doing this for years and still earning $5 an hour

Simply put, freelancers need to profit from their work. Most of us think it’s nonsensical to put in a full day’s work and only receive enough in return to pay the bare minimum bills, if that. Indeed, in the “real world” we expect cost of living increases and the ability to put at least a little bit into savings. If you’re trying to make a living as a freelance writer but only barely earning pocket change, you need to rethink your earning strategy. Some writers feel the flexibility and work at home lifestyle are perks that make up for extremely low pay. Consider that eight hours of work is eight hours of work -regardless of whether you’re home or in an office. Your time is worth something. In order for our clients to value our time, WE need to value our time. The beautiful thing about freelance writing is that we don’t have an employer telling us how much we can earn, or how much of an increase we may (or may not) receive. We make our own rules, and that includes the amount we wish to receive per gig.

Wake up call: You’re not earning enough money…why is this? Is it because you’re not choosing the right kinds of clients or setting the right amount for your rates? As freelancers we should always make the choices that are best for us and our situations. However, if your freelance writing lifestyle isn’t contributing to a better situation, you need to analyze why. Sometimes it’s a simple as raising your rates, other times, it’s because you’re only focusing on entry level opportunities. Take a deep breath and make the changes that will enable your bank account to grow with your career. This can include a client overhaul, a new specialty, a new business plan and especially, a raise in rates.

When they’re receiving nothing but rejection

Nothing is more frustrating and disheartening than rejection. Usually our stock answer to freelance writers regarding rejection is to consider themselves in good company and remember it’s a way of life for this career. However, we can learn a lot from rejection. Sometimes an editor will add a useful note to a rejection letter telling us why we’re not a good fit and offering tips for submitting or applying again. Sometimes a second pair of eyes on our cover letters and writing samples tell us what we need to know too. When we receive rejection every time we apply and absolutely no one is biting, it might be more than a typo or a bad fit.  I’m not one to tell people to give up, but no gigs after five years of trying might be telling you something.

Wake up call: If no one wants to hire you, it doesn’t necessarily mean you might not be a very good writer, but that might well be the case. I know writers who have applied to hundreds of jobs over several years and only find work paying small residual change for places without a strict acceptance policy. If this is you, consider whether or not you’re cut out for writing, or if this is the result you’re looking to achieve. If you belong to a writing community, ask trusted members to critique some of your best writing. I know it’s hard to hear criticism, but it’s often necessary in order to know what we’re doing wrong (and right.)

When all their spare time is spent working

There are two main reasons writers spend all day working. The first is because they love what they do and lose track of time. The other is that they’re trying to earn enough to make ends meet and the only way to do that is work 15 hours a day.. .and even that’s not enough. So now we have a problem, we work at home in order to have freedom, but we’re chained to our desks 80 hours a week. Is it worth it?

Wake up call: If you’re working all day because you want to earn $60,000 a year, you may want to rethink your approach. It’s one thing to work four to eight hours each day to earn that much, it’s another to spend every waking hour with low paying gigs in order to pay the bills. It’s time to work smarter not harder. Instead of taking a $7 project, find a similar project paying, say $30. Now you’re earning quadruple the rate and you can reach your goal income in less time. Every six months to a year, reassess your situation and see if you need to increase your rates again.

When they’re not happy

Damn it, it’s not enough to be “boss free.” Your happiness counts for something too. If you hate your job and hate writing, why are you doing it? It’s funny how we fantasize about leaving our office jobs but we’re much more hesitant to leave a work at home lifestyle because we don’t want to give up the flexibility.  To be honest, I had more time when I worked in an office job because I left my job at 5:00 each day and didn’t go near it on the weekends.

Wake up call: Um, hello? When did your happiness become so insignificant? If you’re not enjoying yourself, explore why. Is it a particular client? Decide whether or not he’s replaceable. Is it because you don’t enjoy writing?  Decide whether or not this is the career for you or consider other types of work from home opportunities. Is it because you’re lonely? Make sure to find time for friends and family. Go to lunch with “the girls” or have a movie night with your friends.

Understanding the Reasons Behind Your Lack of Success

Maybe other freelance writers can weigh in her too, but for me examining why I’m not a success always helps me to achieve success. Every now and then when I have a dry period of potential clients aren’t so receptive to my queries, I do a little analysis to see why. I go over my writing samples, cover letters and resume. Every now and then things need updating, you know?

Something else I learned is that a second set of eyes helps us to see what we’re missing. Understanding the reasons behind our lack of success will help us to determine whether or not we’re doing the right thing or going about things the right way. The important thing to remember is you’re not a failure if you decide this life isn’t for you.

We’re freelancers because we want to enjoy life. When we’re not happy or not successful we’re not enjoying anything.

What are some of the wake up calls you received regarding freelance writing? What did they tell you and what action did you take next?

It’s no secret I don’t use a pen name. I prefer the “what you see is what you get” approach to writing. Aside from a (very) brief stint writing a sarcastic humor column, I have never written as someone else. I’ve had other people write as me, however – but that’s another post for another time.

The reason I don’t use pseudonyms has nothing to do with a right or wrong approach, but more a personal preference. I prefer to know exactly who I’m taking advice from so it would be kind of hypocritical for me to blog under an assumed name. . Everything I do, in my name, is representative of me. Thus, I won’t be everything to everyone, or change monikers to suite different roles. I use the same name for my books, my blogs and my jobs. I wouldn’t feel right using a pen name.

Again, this isn’t to say writers who use pen names are taking the wrong approach. It’s all about what works best for you, and what makes you most comfortable.

Why I Don’t Use a Pen Name

I don’t use a pen name for several reasons:

• Personal branding: I don’t want to have to brand a million names or worry about some fake person taking credit for my writing. If folks are going to give me a Google, they’re going to find exactly what I do. I don’t mind if they find that I comment on blogs and forums and wrote for content sites in the past. I don’t mind people seeing my early writing and the mistakes I made in my journey. There’s some pretty negative stuff directed towards me and that’s OK, too. Potential readers, clients and friends can all draw their own conclusion. Everything I wrote in the past is part of who I am and I don’t mind those who want to hire me knowing about it. I am my brand and I’m proud of my name.
• Vanity: I like seeing my own byline. Call me vain or call it a steaming pile of ego, but that’s the nuts and bolts of it. I’m proud of my work and I don’t care who knows it.
• Clips: Clients don’t want to see my clips with someone else’s name on it. They want to see my byline on my writing samples. What if my best piece of writing has some random made up person’s name? What if a potential client finds my very best article and wants hire me, but can’t find me because I use a pen name? What if a client learns I haven’t been honest with him about who I am and doesn’t trust me anymore?

It’s my feeling that when you’re honest about who you are, clients, potential clients, readers and community trusts you more. That’s my preference but other writers feel differently.

Why Other Writers Use Pen Names

There are a variety of reasons why writers use pseudonyms and it’s not necessarily for privacy reasons, or because the writer has something to hide. A conversation taking place at the Freelance Writing Jobs Facebook page revealed a variety of reasons for pen names. Including:

• To avoid confusion: What happens when another writer has the same name? Some freelancers use middle names, maiden names or create a whole name altogether so their names aren’t confused with others.
• To be taken seriously: Freelancer P.S. Jones feels using her initials is better for her professional image than her real name, “Princess.”
• To avoid embarrassment: Some writers cringe when they see their early works on the web. Rather than write them off as newbie content, they create a new name so as not to be associated with the bad stuff.
• To see how life is on the other side of the fence: “James Chartrand” claims gender bias kept her from using her real name.
• To keep employers from finding out about a second career: Some writers don’t want their day job bosses to find out they’re moonlighting.
• To have separate online and offline personae: Some writers value privacy first and foremost and don’t want their private information open to Googlers.

Should you use a pen name?

Pseudonyms are a matter of preference. I find them totally unnecessary for my purposes, but I know plenty who disagree. We all have our own paths to freelance writing success and it doesn’t mean there’s a right or wrong way to do the name thing. So let’s hear your thoughts about pen names and what you think about the folks who use them.

Do you feel those who use pen names are less trust worthy or have something to hide, or does it make smart business sense?

Discuss…

Doing a financial health check is an essential part of running a successful writing business. In fact, it’s the only way to be sure that you are meeting your goals and targets. But how do you do this successfully? Here are some suggestions.

Set Your Goals

Before you can assess your writing business, you need to have something to measure it against, so set some goals for the business. These might be reaching a certain income target each month, or for the year as a whole, or working a certain number of hours each week, or attracting new clients paying a certain amount. If your goal is income, remember to consider taxation, sick days and holidays in your calculation. (In other words, don’t assume that you will work 365 days of the year when it might be as little as 200).  Make your goals specific so they will be easy to measure.

Track Your Time

Knowing how much time you spend on writing is an essential part of assessing the health of your business because it’s the only way you will know:

• if you are spending too many hours working
• what rate you are getting for your work
• which jobs are really worth it.

There are so many time tracking applications out there that it’s difficult to pick on one that does the job. Lately I’ve been using online timer Toggl, though RescueTime is also a good way to see what’s happening on your computer. Don’t just track the time you spend on client work, but also make a note of the time spent on marketing your services, researching new writing gigs, bidding and working on your own projects. The more you track, the clearer the picture will be.

Keep Records

Most time trackers will allow you to print out handy reports of where your time has gone, but that’s not enough for your financial health check. You also need to track clients and income. You should already be doing this to keep on top of your workload, but just in case you’re not, now’s the time to start. I use a simple spreadsheet with the date,  job/invoice number, client name, job name and income, with a notes column where I write info such as when I’ve invoiced, whether I’ve been part-paid, if a deposit has been received and so on. Remember to log any additional income from advertising or product sales too.

Crunch The Numbers

Once you have logged the time spent and the jobs done, then it’s time to crunch the numbers.  Start by adding up how much you will make this month, and see how it compares with previous months. I also keep a running total of my annual income, where I see how much I am earning per month and per week, compared with the past four years. I like to see those numbers rise – not spectacularly, but steadily. That tells you where you are now and may also help with assessing whether you are on track with your goals. You can also see how much each client is bringing in and assess the hassle factor to see if it’s time to show your appreciation – or move on. Also, divide the pay you get for a client’s job by the number of hours you spent on the job to see if the hourly rate meets your target.

Forecast

But it’s the last step that will give the final piece of the puzzle. Having a healthy writing business is not just about what’s just happened or is happening now, but what will happen in the future. I track projected income in two ways. First, I reserve a section of my income spreadsheet for jobs which are booked in. Since I quote for the jobs, I have an idea how much I will earn, so I always know what’s coming in and when it’s time to look for new work. Second, I look at what I’ve earned from regular clients in the past few months and uses those figures to predict my income over the next year. Then I can see at a glance where the peaks and troughs will be.

Although it can take a while to crunch the numbers initially, once you’ve done the financial health check the first time, it’s simple to keep it up to date and to make sure that your writing business remains healthy.

Sharon Hurley Hall is a professional content writer and blogger. See more of her posts on writing at Get Paid To Write Online.