The biggest challenge of any freelancer is to get organized: (1) there’s no boss for you to control your time; (2) there can be a lot of clients and you should learn to distribute your time among them and (3) there are plenty of distractors online. Therefore knowing your organization tools is so essential! I love my iPhone. Not to sound like an Apple fanatic (I’m not, I promise), but I love everything about it. The speed, the design, the features, and especially the apps. The wide range of applications that are available in the iTunes store have changed my [Read more…]
6 Great Infographics About Freelancing
June 21, 2012. 2 Comments
Choosing to become a freelancer is both a positive and risky decision. You are setting our on your own, giving up the safety net of a steady employer. You are taking a step to be dependent entirely on yourself and no one else. It is liberating and terrifying, all at once. Whether you are currently a freelancer in any industry or you are just thinking of taking the leap, these infographics can help. They are full of useful information and statistics.
Is Your Typing Speed as Fast and as Accurate as Most Freelance Writers?
February 21, 2012. 4 Comments
The idea of paying for typing classes is almost laughable to many freelance writers. If you’re a freelance writer, you know how to type! The more you practice, the faster your typing speed will get. Freelance writers should spend their time writing, not typing nonsense to increase speed. Your work gets done and you feel like you are typing at a fine pace. There has probably never been a time when you got frustrated and thought to yourself, “this would have been done two minutes ago if I were typing faster.” It just doesn’t happen. You get paid because of [Read more…]
Going Green in Your Writing Office
March 17, 2011. 7 Comments
Bring up the topic of green living and people think recycling and light bulbs. These are, of course, important parts of caring for the environment, but they are not the only things each of us can do to save, reduce and reuse resources. The office presents several opportunities to lessen our personal impact on the world around us. Paper Control Cut back on paper use. Writer’s use a lot of paper, including to hand -edit pieces. That’s why it’s important to keep a bin next to the printer to deposit used paper. The paper is can be reused for back-side printing, [Read more…]
Freelance Writing Jobs Blog – The Best of January
January 31, 2011. 1 Comment
Every month, the bloggers at FWJ work hard to provide quality and helpful content. Hardworking freelance writers click through looking for great leads and info, but let’s face it, some posts may slip by in the daily hustle and bustle. Here’s some great posts you may have missed: Writing From Home: Warnings & Tips on How to Survive When You Have No Office by Robin Parrish Robin captures the writing from home experience perfectly. My favorite: Get Out of the House. As important as it is to guard your at-home work time, sometimes you just have to get away from [Read more…]
Article Quickie: Freelance Writing Jargon
January 5, 2011. Leave a Comment
Deadline These are those all important dates that you never miss. It’s when an article is due, when the editor wants it in and when excuses will be tough to take. Dek A quickie summary of what an article is about, it usually is placed in the table of contents or under the article headline. Editorial Calendar The theme and publishing calendar for a publication. Most print publications have calendars set far in advance, some as far as six months which is important to remember when sending queries. Writers also use an editorial calendar to schedule their work and organized [Read more…]
2011 Writing Prep: Editorial Calendar
November 29, 2010. 4 Comments
We are barely past the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and here I am crashing through all the fun of the season by bringing up January. There’s no point sticking your head in the sand. The new year is coming and with it comes new responsibilities. To put a positive spin on it, it brings new opportunities to get organized and to create the cushy work environment of which you’ve always dreamed. In my dreamland, all of my calendars – editorial, home, kid activity and husband, are perfectly synced and color coordinated. In reality, my editorial calendar clashes with the other calendars [Read more…]
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…]
Tools to Record Interviews Using Skype
July 27, 2010. 13 Comments
Last week, I published an article called 5 Online Tools Freelance Writers Can Use to Make Life and Business Easier, which offered my suggestions for free and cheap tools that any freelance writer can try. One of the items on that list was Skype, which enables you to make free calls (including international calls) from your computer. Skype is free and not only helps freelance writers manage client communication, but it’s also an incredible tool for conducting audio and video interviews. Want to see a sample of a video taken via a Skype call? Check out the videos I took [Read more…]
