How to Use Google Alerts to Help you Find Freelance Writing Gigs

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GoogleAlert

If there is one thing freelance writers have in common, it’s that we are constantly marketing ourselves. It’s not a good idea to get too comfortable in a gig, even if it has been steady and lasted for a long time, and even if the client has hinted that it will continue that way for some time. Things can change in the world of work for employees as well as freelancers very quickly, and while you always give your projects your best effort, you need to understand that you only have work as long as the client needs your services. It’s absolutely nothing personal; it’s just business. One way you can stay search for gigs is to set up Google Alerts for different keywords and have leads come to your In box.

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5 Companies That Hire Freelance Writers

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hire freelance writers

While you love the flexibility that comes with a freelance writing career, you don’t necessarily love having to always look for a job, either. If only there were a way to secure a semi-permanent freelance writing position, you’d have the perfect work-life balance. There are companies that do hire remote writers on a more consistent basis than others, which allows you to do what you do best: write.

Here are just five companies that hire freelance writers.

About.com`

One of the largest companies to offer freelance writing jobs, About.com is one of the biggest sites on the Internet. A plethora of people (aptly called “Guides”) write the content for About.com, to the tune of 2.8 million articles on over 70,000 subjects—and growing. This company is constantly expanding its topics lists, which provides steady work for scribes everywhere.

Current Flexible Jobs at About.com:

Guide—Wedding Style; Guide—New York Giants; Guide—Baby’s First Year

LoveToKnow Corp.

LoveToKnow understands that the Internet is loaded with information, but much of it can be useless or incorrect. The goal of this online media giant is to provide accurate, targeted, high quality information to Internet users in an easy-to-understand format. LoveToKnow consistently hires freelance writers and editors as it continues to grow.

Current Flexible Jobs at LoveToKnow Corp.:

Blogger Recruiter-Telecommuting; Writer-Editor; Hair Writer

Rodale

One of the top publishers in the health and wellness arena, Rodale publishes well-known lifestyle magazines and books—all with a health-oriented slant. For example, Rodale publishes Women’s Health, Prevention, and Men’s Health, in addition to popular books like Eat This, Not That and The Flat Belly Diet.

Current Flexible Jobs at Rodale:

Food/Health Freelance Writer; Editorial Aide; Online Editor

Shmoop

Founded in 2008, Shmoop’s mission is a noble one. With a goal “to make you a better lover (of literature, poetry, US history, writing, and more),” Shmoop helps students and regular folks alike better understand literature and culture in a fun way. The organization also focuses on college readiness and believes that education can be fun. Shmoop offers freelance jobs, part-time jobs, and telecommuting jobs.

Current Flexible Jobs at Shmoop:

Project-Based Curriculum Writer Art History; Curriculum Writer: Computer Programming; Content Writer: Culinary Arts

Thrillist

A New York City-based organization and website, Thrillist boasts the best in entertainment, clubs, food, and other must-visit venues in major cities throughout the United States. Each week, The Thrill List gives its readers recommendations for hotspots that many people may not know about…yet. The company continuously hires freelance writers to provide content for its ever-growing website.

Current Flexible Jobs at Thrillist:

Freelance Writer, Portland; Freelance Expert Bachelor Party Journalist; Writer, NYC

Sure, it’s important to get new clients even if you have enough regular work. But just because you want a job as a freelance writer doesn’t mean that you will always have to hunt for work. Creating a connection with a company that consistently hires freelance writers is one of the best ways to ensure steady work—and to write your way to better work-life balance.

This post was written by Jenifer Blais who works at Flexjobs.com as Partnerships Coordinator.

Update your Plain Text Resume with Infographic Resume Builders

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InfographicResume2

You have decided you want to update your resume to give it a more modern look but you are all thumbs with the idea of working with an infographic resume template, and the idea of paying someone to create your resume for you is not in your budget. You are not out of options yet – infographic resume builders can help you get a polished and professional looking resume by doing much of the heavy lifting for you.
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Infographic Resumes for Freelance Writers: Use Words and Images to Attract Clients

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Resume

In the right circumstances, infographic resumes – using words and images to convey to a potential client who a freelancer is and what he or she can do for them – can be a wonderful way to get a potential client to sit up and take notice. If you are going to go this route, you’ll want to make sure that you are using this tool in a manner that presents your skills and abilities in the best possible way.

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Easy Tricks for Spotting Freelance Job Scams

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Protect your identity and integrity by avoiding fraudulent freelance job offers.

Image credit: Studio City Neighborhood Council

Image credit: Studio City Neighborhood Council

Because freelance job listings characteristically involve short-term telecommute work, they’re easier to fake than full-time, salaried job postings. If you’re a freelancer looking for a new project, get familiar with these easy tricks for spotting freelance job scams:

Take a Step Back from Start-ups

Start-up businesses should not be universally painted with the job-scam brush; however, it’s important to understand that con artists exploit the entrepreneurial spirit of start-up businesses to weave their web of deceit.

Beware of freelance job listings from newly established businesses that promise income from future earnings or a percentage of profits after “X” amount of labor. If an employer cannot afford to pay you now, then you cannot afford to say yes to the job offer.

Non-payment for freelancers

Image credit: Kimberly Back

Never Pay to Work

Although this sounds like career advice from Captain Obvious, job scammers resort to inventive methods to coax freelancers out of money. Never agree to pay for a contract, design or training materials, or distribution costs.

Protect Your Samples

It’s difficult to envision a freelancer in 2014 who does not have an online portfolio of work generated from educational assignments, internships, or previous employment. When a potential employer presses you for additional work samples or detailed outlines pertaining to a specific project proposal, recognize that you may be on the fast track to getting swindled.

Image credit: EAGNews

Image credit: EAGNews

Working for free on the promise of a job offer is bad business. Make sure you are always under the protection of a contract. If you readily provide free samples, don’t be surprised if you find your uncompensated work online, credited to someone else.

Avoid Calls for Inexperienced Workers

When have you ever contracted with a legitimate employer who is not interested in the professional and educational backgrounds of their freelancers? Even entry level positions require some measure of basic demonstrable skills or competency.

Jason Voorhees Trust

Image credit: Kimberly Back

Freelance job ads that boast “IMMEDIATE START – NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!” should be treated with as much caution as Jason Voorhees at a summer camp.

Respect Your Instincts

Similar to how you would refuse email lottery winnings from a “Nigerian prince,” go with your gut when conducting online searches for freelance employment offers. Remember to not take unnecessary RISKS:

• Research employers with accredited agencies, like the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
• Investigate employers on social media sites and with other freelancers
• Skip the spec work
• Keep your guard up when asked to provide sensitive personal information
• Stick to this promise: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Image credit: Manner Effect

Image credit: Manner Effect

If you are solicited by a freelance job scam artist, do your part to stop the cycle of employment fraud and report the incident to the BBB’s Scam Stopper or file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Have you been fooled by freelance employment fraud or are you aware of current scams circling the Web? Share your stories and tips in a comment.

Kimberly is the Social Media and Content Manager at Virtual Vocations, your one-stop shop for freelancers looking for legitimate telecommute jobs. Connect with Kimberly on Facebook and Google+.

17 Places Where Freelance Writers Can Find Magazine Markets

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New MagazinesAre you a freelance writer looking to break into the print market or an experienced writer looking for new places to pitch a story idea? We’ve compiled a list of places online where writers can find magazine markets online.

Before you take the time to send in a pitch, be sure to check out a copy of the magazine to get an idea of the types of stories that have been covered recently. Some of them will have an editorial calendar, and this will help you when you are pitching your ideas. You’ll also want to make sure you have the latest version of the writers’ guidelines, since they include important details such as how the magazine likes to receive pitches (electronically or via snail mail), amount of compensation, and whether you will be paid on acceptance or publication.

Writer’s Market

Whether you are looking to sell an article, a manuscript, or a book, the Writer’s Market can point you in the right direction. Use the rate chart to get an idea of how much to charge for different types of gigs. Sign up for a full year’s subscription or pay monthly.

Writer’s Weekly

This site lists original market listings on its website each week. They are received from the editors at each publication. Sign up for the newsletter and get the listings delivered to you by e-mail.

Funds for Writers

Go to the Funds for Writers site to see a selection of magazine markets. For more magazine opportunities delivered directly to your e-mail account every week, you can sign up for either the free newsletter or the paid subscription. The free option provides 15 opportunities per week, all of which pay at least $0.10 per word. The paid subscription costs $15.00 per year for 26 biweekly issues. Each one includes over 75 opportunities for freelance writers.

Absolute Write

Absolute Write’s Water Cooler Paying Markets section has paying opportunities from editors. You’ll need to bookmark the page and visit it regularly to check for updates, though. There is no way to determine how often new threads will appear or if there will be something that will appeal to you.

All Indie Writers

The Writers’ Markets section of this site has a directory of magazines. Search by title or category (health, business, science, travel, home and family, etc.) to find the one you are interested in. Listings provide links to writers’ guidelines on publications’ websites.

Sunoasis

Sunoasis lists magazines by genre. Click on the link to go to the writer’s guidelines page .The list includes a number of regional magazines, as well as travel, entertainment, hobby and craft, sports, science, music, computer, gardening magazines, and more.

All You Can Read

This site is all about selling magazines, but it has links to numerous publications from all over the world, including contact information for editors. Do a bit of digging and you will be able to find new markets for your writing and get guidelines.

NewPages.com

New Pages has published a Big List of Alternative Magazines on its website. Click on the links to go to individual websites to learn more about the magazines and request a copy of the guidelines.

Peter’s Place

This list of American magazines (general, business, and trade) last updated in February 2013. It also includes links to several magazine publishers and a number of writers’ magazines.

OfficeThirty Thousand Feet Aviation Directory

If you are interested in writing for the aviation market, you’ll want to see the magazine listings posted here. They range from aircargo and transport magazines to airline interest publications to airport-related publications and inflight magazines. Aviation history, aircraft model, and aviation news magazines are also listed here.

Brint

Brint lists magazines and e-zines in alphabetical order. You will also find a number of journals grouped by subject matter here on various topics, such as e-commerce, biology, medicine, law, mathematics, and psychology.

JewishLink.net

Visit this site to access links to a number of Jewish periodicals online. The site also provides links to News Associations and newspapers.

Kendall Hanson – Trade Magazines by Industry

This directory is described as a “work in progress.” Several categories are represented here, and include Arts and Entertainment, Beauty and Fashion, Financial Services, Recreation/Amusement, Retail, and Transportation/Freight.

OnlineNewspapers.com

There are several categories of online magazines represented here. Simply click on the one you are interested in to see a list of magazines in English, as well as other languages.

Oyster Boy Review

This resource has listings for magazines, as well as a number of academic and independent journals.

Towse’s Links to Online Submission Guidelines

Paying markets are listed alphabetically. Click on the letter to see a list of magazines. The listings indicate whether the magazines pay on submission or on publication if that information is readily available.

Trade Magazine Publications

Trade magazines are an untapped source of income for many freelance writers, and TradePub.com lists them alphabetically and by topic (agriculture, engineering, human resources, retail, sales, utility and energy, etc.)

 

All image credits: sxc.hu

How to Break into the Greeting Card Market

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Greeting Card 1
According to the U.S. Greeting Card Association, we love sending special messages to our nearest and dearest. About 1.6 billion Christmas cards will be purchased this year to send our best wishes to friends, loved ones, neighbors, and coworkers. These very healthy numbers mean there are many opportunities for freelance writers who can master a turn of a phrase to capture a person’s interest and make a greeting card feel as though it were written to express the thoughts or emotions of the person who wishes to send it.

This kind of writing is very precise. You have a very limited space in which to work, and you will need to choose every word with care. Either your card is going to grab a person’s attention and fit exactly what he or she wants to say on a particular occasion, or it will be left on the shelf, so to speak.

Study the Market Before You Submit

This market is like any other, so you will need to do your homework before you submit any verses to a greeting card company. Go online and do some research. Find out what types of cards different companies offer and click on the most popular ones.

Get a feel for each company’s particular style before you start trying to compose anything. Look at the length of the verses, the type of wording used, and the subjects that the cards deal with. If you excel at writing humorous greeting cards, your contribution may not be the best fit for a very traditional publisher.

Follow Submission Guidelines Carefully

When you are ready to submit your work to a particular greeting card market for freelancers, make sure that you follow the instructions to the letter. Some of them still want to receive submissions by regular mail, while others are open to hearing from writers by e-mail. If you are asked to send in your idea for a card on a cardboard card in a particular size, then that is the size that the publisher wants to see. Don’t send in your submission on plain paper.

Do tell the editor exactly to whom your card is directed. If you are writing a greeting card for a father, mother, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, friend, husband, wife, or sweetheart, you will want to set this up by sharing some directions with the reader before starting the verse.

If your concept involves a specific image, share this as well. You will need to set the visual scene so that your idea will be implanted in the editor’s mind before he or she starts to read your idea. Simply sharing a verse without this extra information may not be enough to clearly convince the person reviewing your work that it will be enough to get your point across.

Submit Several Poems for Submission at Once

To make it worth your while to submit your work to a greeting card company, do submit several poems at once. Since this type of submission is relatively short, it makes sense to wait until you have a number of poems to share. Some freelance writers send in a batch of 10 or 20 at a time to an editor to review and have the chance of getting a larger pay if they have multiple submissions accepted at once.

11 Greeting Card Markets for Freelance Writers

If you feel that you have the chops to break into this highly-structured type of writing, here is a list of greeting card markets that accept outside submissions.1.

1. Amber Lotus Publishing  E-mail pdf with sample of your work.

2. Artists to Watch  Submissions are reviewed quarterly, so you will need to be patient if waiting for a response.

3. Avanti Press  Fill out form to be considered for future writing opportunities.

4. Designer Greetings Accepts submissions from writers by mail; no electronic submissions for greeting cards accepted.

5. NobleWorks  Submit online form to request copy submission guidelines.

6. Moonpig Review online guidelines before submitting by regular mail or electronically.

7. Comstock  Adult humor greeting card company. Download submission guidelines from website.

8. Freedom Greeting Card Company  African-American greeting card company. Send e-mail query for creative submissions.

9. Warner Press  Christian greeting card company. Read submission guidelines online.

10. Calypso Cards  See submission guidelines on website.

11. DaySpring Cards  Christian greeting cards. See submission procedures online.

Greeting Card 2

Consider Submitting Art to Greeting Card Companies Too

If you are a talented artist or photographer as well as a writer, greeting card companies are also looking for people who can provide images for their cards. Check the submission guidelines to see whether the greeting card company you are interested in will accept both types when you are looking for this type of freelance writing gig.

photo credit: Cranky Pressman via photopin cc

photo credit: TexasEagle via photopin cc

6 Resume Tips for Freelancers

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Resume JackIt may seem a bit strange that a freelancer, who is running a business, is preparing a resume to present him or herself to a client, much like someone who is applying for a job would do. While freelance writers and other professionals do bill by the word, hour, or project, and don’t get paid a salary like an employee, clients do need to have a way to evaluate whether someone would be a good fit for a particular project.

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