Freelancing in any niche is a tough task, requiring you to play the roles of boss, employee, client hunter, marketer, and motivator each and every day, a workload much more demanding than many more traditional jobs! Being successful and moving upwards may be tough, but it’s entirely possible; you’ll just need to stay on the cutting edge of what’s new, exciting, and useful in your field. Planning to take your freelancing career to the next level? Check out any of these five freelancing seminars to sharpen your mind and build your contact list:
5 Seminars to Visit if You Plan to Take Your Freelancing Career to the Next Level
March 19, 2013. Leave a Comment
International Mom Freelance Bloggers Meetups
November 13, 2012. 1 Comment
As a mother and blogger, you’ve got a full plate, juggling more in the way of demands than any corporate position entails as you work to please your children and your readers, all at the same time. Given the extreme importance of your dual positions, whether you blog for fun or for business, you’ve got to stay sharp at every moment. Luckily, conferences aimed at moms with home offices are abundant, offering workshops and networking opportunities that will help you to hone your skills in every department as you learn from the busiest and best of your peers! Connect with [Read more…]
How to Use the Google+ Contributor List
January 19, 2012. 7 Comments
The world of freelance writing has no doubt shifted to the Internet. Although some freelance gigs may want to keep your writing anonymous, most put your writing on a website for the world to see. This works great because it gives you a nice portfolio of writing to send to future writing gigs you hope to land. You can tell a potential editor to check out the article you wrote on a particular website, and you can even link right back to that article in your email pitch.
How Not To Suck at Freelance Writing
February 24, 2011. 20 Comments
Being a freelance writer isn’t an easy gig. Many people wake up on January 1st and after staring at themselves through a hazy fog of cheap champagne and celebratory glitter decide that this would be the year they took the big step and pursue their passion for the written word. Three months and several rejection letters later they sit alone in their basement home office muttering about being an under appreciated, true artist. Instead of writing for a living, they spend the majority of the day failing at freelancing. Fortunately, after spending a fair amount of time sucking at this [Read more…]
Creating Your Own Freelance Writing Gigs
November 30, 2010. 7 Comments
I believe that one reason writers aren’t in higher demand is our collective shortcoming in marketing our gifts and their value. We have a tendency to wait until people see a need for us when we should be telling them why we’re so damned valuable. When you’re rainmaking, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
PR Newswire Launches ProfNet Connect
October 21, 2010. 5 Comments
PR Newswire’s ProfNet service has been around since 1992 and made it easy for writers to find expert sources for quotes, interviews, and more. Now, ProfNet Connect has launched and replaces the ProfNets Expert Database. It’s still free to join (either as a writer seeking sources or as an expert), and offers a more interactive approach to connecting experts and journalists. With ProfNet Connect, you can search for experts and communicate directly with them through messages, forum posts, and blogs. Expert profiles include a lot more information than they did during the ProfNets Expert Database days. For example, a profile [Read more…]
Freelance Writers and Typo Paranoia
May 14, 2010. 11 Comments
The freelance writing community is getting a little paranoid. I find I can’t hold a casual online conversation with someone without that person apologizing for typos or errors. It’s getting a little silly. Excellent writers are posting thought provoking comments on blogs and in forums, and then turn around and post again apologizing for typos most others wouldn’t have noticed in the first place. Relax, people. You’re human. You’re allowed to make mistakes. When Freelance Writers Should Mind Their Typos The purpose of this post isn’t to say we shouldn’t be diligent about our writing and do our best to [Read more…]
(Mis)Communication in the Social Media Age
May 10, 2010. 10 Comments
I miss the pre-social media world sometimes, back then ignorance was bliss. Communicating Back Then Growing up in the 70′s meant no cell phones or Netbooks. We sent all our correspondences via snail mail and any phone calls came to the house or office. Most of us had one phone in our homes, but some of the more well off families had extensions upstairs, and even separate phones for the kids. No one ever called during dinner hours or after 9:00. We received our news from newspapers, magazines or one of a half dozen television stations and always had to [Read more…]
Do You Know What You’re Retweeting?
April 26, 2010. 10 Comments
I’m thinking about retweeting today. Let me rephrase that, because I’m not looking to repeat my day and I’m not planning on using Twitter to send out links to my day over and over again. Rather, on this day, I have retweeting on my mind. I’m just back from a Skype Chat/interview with the lovely proprietrixes of Freak Revolution, Kyeli and Pace. During one of our many tangents, we discussed retweeting and whether or not people are retweeting because they appreciate the Tweet and what it stands for, or if they’re just echoing their favorite guru. Do You Read Before [Read more…]
Are You Driving Traffic Away From Your Blog with Social Networking?
April 25, 2010. 12 Comments
The Freelance Writing Jobs Facebook Group ( I prefer the term “Group” over “fan page” or “like page,” don’ t you?” ) is a rousing success. Every day More new members sign on and we participate in discussion topics and visit issues affecting freelancers. We also throw in some fun stuff too, in order to break up the day and even share our favorite resources. Watching this social network grow by leaps and bounds is so rewarding, but it also has me a little troubled. The Freelance Writing Jobs community is growing more each day. Between our feeds, blog readers, [Read more…]
Twitter Branding: Are You Confusing Your Followers?
April 20, 2010. 11 Comments
In the past few months I’ve noticed several freelance writers changing their Twitter handle more often than some of us change toilet paper rolls. I think that’s because when we’re confused about what to call ourselves online, or how to present ourselves to clients, we continue to reinvent ourselves. Here’s something to consider: if you’re confused about your branding, your followers are even more confused. If they don’t know what to call you, they may not call you at all. Hear me out on this one Defining Yourself on Twitter I don’t believe there are any hard and fast rules [Read more…]
How to Use Twitter Lists to Find Freelance Writers – and Freelance Writing Jobs
April 5, 2010. 7 Comments
Twitter lists have me torn. On one hand, they seem like a popularity contest with the most popular Tweeters landing on the most lists. However, at second glance they become something a lot more useful; directories listing freelance writers and freelance writing clients. Honestly, I don’t know many folks who use the various Twitter lists each day. I ignored them until recently, but finally realized they were valuable both for those looking for work and for clients looking to hire freelance writers. What are Twitter Lists and Why Should I Care? Twitter lists are user-generated lists of people and businesses [Read more…]
56 Ways to Use Social Media for Fun and Profit
March 29, 2010. 8 Comments
Social media enables us to handle a wide variety of tasks, yet so many of us think of it as only blogs, Facebook and Twitter. The truth is, social media encompasses so much more. To truly tap into its potential could mean to take your career to a whole new level. If you think social media has nothing to do with freelance writing, you couldn’t be more wrong. Building an online presence can be an important step towards becoming a successful freelance writer, even if you’re doing something so innocent as playing a game or sharing music. Below is but [Read more…]
3 Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Your Client Base
March 24, 2010. 3 Comments
If you’ve been following me for a while you know I believe there are no right or wrong ways to use social media, and often complain of “social media police” telling us how we should Tweet or use Facebook, However, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe we shouldn’t use social media to give our careers a boost. There may be no exact rules, but there are certainly tried and true methods for using the social networks and other social media tools to achieve success. What I like about using online tools for networking and landing clients is how they’re so [Read more…]
Why I Don’t Want to Be Number One Anymore
March 18, 2010. 10 Comments
Being the top blog for freelance writers used to mean a lot to me and I worked very hard to achieve that goal. I wasn’t necessarily working to become number one, being a success was more important than being the top blogger in this very crowded niche. So I worked hard to be a success and the number one thing happened. You know what? I don’t want it anymore. I want to enjoy blogging without the pressure of being the top blogger. If that means I lose some traffic, so be it. Being part of a wonderful community of writers [Read more…]
What is Your Twitter Sharing Personality?
December 8, 2009. 9 Comments
It’s interesting the way different folks share via the social networks, isn’t it? Part of the fun of social networking is to turn others on to new things. I don’t know a better venue for sharing blog posts, articles or new tools than Twitter. I enjoy seeing the echo effect as a worthy link goes viral. I especially enjoy watching a good discussion unfold. Just as there’s plenty of information to share, there are also different ways to share on Twitter. After observing my fellow Tweeps for a couple of years now, I think I’m becoming pretty good at recognizing [Read more…]
10 Ways Twitter Helps Me to Become a Better Freelance Writer
December 2, 2009. 6 Comments
If you know me, you know I spend a lot of time on Twitter. I find Twitter to be an amazing tool. It’s just as effective for networking as it for procrastination. I can ask a question, give an interview and share recipes at any given time of the day. The thing I like the most about Twitter is it makes me feel as if I’m never alone. As freelancers we don’t necessarily get to to hang out at a water cooler, yet Twitter is the same idea. It’s a conference table, a lunch counter and a social media conference. [Read more…]
5 Reasons Online Relationships are Important for Freelance Writers
November 20, 2009. 8 Comments
You probably see me on Twitter…a lot. The truth is, I like Twitter for many reasons. for example, it breaks up the monotony of the day when I’m home alone. There’s more to it than that, though. I find the networking to be invaluable. Twitter has enabled me to build on so many different types of relationships with clients, sponsors, community members and friends. In 2010, anyone wishing to be a success in business, needs to consider the various social networks as a way to meet others and build up buzz around a product and brand, even if the brand [Read more…]
The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Blogs and Blogging
November 19, 2009. 7 Comments
Deb’s note: This is part three in our “Freelance Writer’s Guide to Social Media Series.” Also see: The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Twitter and a Freelance Writer’s Guide to Facebook…and stay tuned for the accompanying ebook. It almost seems as if everyone who writes for a living has a blog about writing, doesn’t it? That’s not a bad thing as it gives us plenty of places to share ideas and learn. Even writers who don’t have blogs can benefit, though. In this”guide” we’re going to take a look a the different ways blogs and blogging benefits freelance writers. Blogs You [Read more…]
The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Facebook
November 13, 2009. 9 Comments
When my social media clients ask me the difference between Facebook and Twitter, I tell them it’s all about communication; Facebook is the extended family picnic while Twitter is a rock concert. Both Twitter and Facebook are important networking tools, tools to use to build relationships online, while knocking them out of the ballpark by taking them offline. To be honest, I was reluctant to embrace Facebook. I wondered if it was a more grownup version of MySpace except not as spammy. To my delight, Facebook continues to evolve for the better. Many people use it as a place for [Read more…]
The Importance of Networking – With the “Competition”
November 7, 2009. 3 Comments
I spend at least an hour each day visiting an assortment of freelance writing blogs. I find it important to network and show support for the bloggers and blog readers in the freelance writing community – and even other communities. Though I know there are some people who feel other bloggers are competing against each other, I don’t find this to be the case at all. I harbor no animosity or bad will towards other freelance writing bloggers, and I hope they all do well. To me, the Internet is like one big networking event except without the catering. (Hopefully [Read more…]
