It doesn’t really matter why you chose the non-traditional way of making money by freelancing. If you’re still doing it, you’ve definitely found out it’s a tough business. And one of the reasons is that employers often expect to find cheap services from people in need of money and with a lot of time on their hands – which is almost never the case.
Here are some of the reasons why you should never accept less than what your work is worth from an employer and never compromise. [Read more…]
We’d like to say a big thank you to all of you who supported us when we ran our survey last November. As we promised, we are sharing the results of the survey with everyone.
We asked freelance writers questions that provide insight into our work and industry as a whole and put together the data into one graphic.
To give you a quick overview of the results, here is a summary of the key points. [Read more…]
Freelance Writing Jobs is one of the oldest, most trusted community for freelance writers. Founded by Deb Ng, who worked long and hard to build the community, the site was eventually taken into the fold of Splashpress Media, the same network Blog Herald belongs to. So yeah, FWJ is family, and as it goes with family, we’d like to share something special the FWJ crew has been working on: the FWJ Resources Area, a collection of freelance writing resources.
What’s in it for you?
Allison Boyer is a freelance writer who is most known for her work with New Media Expo. New Media Expo or NMX for short, is the world’s largest conference and tradeshow for online content creators. Make sure you stay tuned for the end of this post as Allison has a special surprise for Blog Herald readers :-)
How did you first get involved with freelance writing/blogging?
When I was a senior in college, I kind of freaked out because I suddenly realized that I didn’t want to write for a newspaper or teach. What else do you do with an English degree? I had no idea. What I did know is that I enjoyed the part-time freelance work I did from time to time. So I decided to give it a go as a full time freelancer. From there, blogging kind of fell into my lap when I just happened to get a job working for a blog network. The pay was horrible, but I really loved the conversational style. So, I slowly phased out other types of writing jobs and started working exclusively as a blogger, both for clients and for my own blogs.
One thing I noticed early on is just how difficult it can be to break through all the noise, and establish consistent work for yourself. What’s some advice you have to those wanting to make a career out of writing or blogging for a living?
What worked for me is to start on the very lowest rung and climb up. No one wants to work for $10 an hour, but hard work pays off in the end. If you’re a new writer, it doesn’t matter what you think you are worth. People who hire bloggers need to see a return on their investment, so you have to prove yourself first. If you do an amazing job every single time without fail, you’ll soon find that you don’t have to look for work anymore. Opportunities will come your way because people recommend you. And remember, it’s about more than just being able to write. Without a strong work ethic, it doesn’t matter how well you write. [Read more…]
Maybe you’ve read an article with this same or a similar title before. You know Twitter and Facebook are important for your brand, yet you just haven’t made yourself sign up for Twitter yet. And your LinkedIn profile is barren, with an incomplete job history and no portfolio examples. Your blog seems to be doing OK, but you know it could be better.
If this is you– I challenge you to get set-up with social media ASAP. And once you’ve done that, create time in your daily routine for social media. Even 15 minutes per day can help you craft a regular online presence.
You know you should be on social media, but if you are a blogger or representing any of your work online, not having a regular social media presence can hurt not only your blog traffic, but your online persona as well.
