Starting Out as a Freelance Writer

Freelance writing makes a great job for bloggers, single mothers and others who want to work from home. If you're a really good writer and find out where to search for writing work, it is possible to earn a decent amount of money from your writing. Here are a few pointers to help you get started as a writer.

Steer Clear of Job Bidding Services

Elance, Freelancer, oDesk, and other sites for freelancers that make you bid for writing assignments have something in common: these sites all seem to be crowded with foreign laborers who are able to write articles for extremely low prices. If you bid for work on these websites, place your bids based on what you feel you're worthy of, and refuse to get caught up in a price war. If you find yourself working for three dollars an hour, you will just wind up feeling stressed and you'll get burned out quickly.

Content Broker Sites Are Great for Getting Money Quickly

Everyone endures a situation in which the budget is tight from time to time, and for those times, websites specializing in content brokering are often the perfect choice. The Content Authority pays weekly, and Textbroker pays twice per month. The amount that these sites pay is not great, but there's almost always work to be found and the revenue will prove useful until you are able to find writing jobs that pay more.

Webmasters Constantly Need Articles

There are countless sites online that are looking for fresh content. Many Internet marketers write their own content, but quite a few of them outsource the task to writers. If you've got good writing skills, you can probably get more money for the content you write by promoting your article writing service in forums where website owners spend time.

Magazines

If getting your articles published in magazines seems unrealistic, let me assure you that it really isn't. You don't have to have a college degree to get your articles published in a magazine or newspaper. The only thing you really need is the ability to write query letters pitching article ideas to magazine editors in a convincing way, along with the ability to do the research and craft the articles in a timely manner. It is much easier to sell yourself when you have two or three publishing credits to list as experience, but quite a few freelance writers have sold magazine articles with no prior publications. Get the Writer's Market book for the writer's guidelines of magazines that accept articles from freelance writers.

From Blog to Book

How many times have you thought or heard someone say they would like to write a book when the time is right? Writing a book is a noble goal, but hard to accomplish. If you postpone it until the time is right, that time may never come. Even if you finish the book, there is a lot of work involved in getting it published and promoted, with no guarantee of success.

There is one thing that can be done to make this process much easier and more likely to succeed. Start a blog. It can be very helpful to just start writing about your subject. This doesn't have to be a big project. A few hours a week is more than sufficient. It's a great way to organize your thoughts. Also, reader comments can give you valuable feedback before you go through the trouble of submitting your manuscript to publishers. I like to include a good blogroll that includes links that are valuable to me in my research. Your readers will also appreciate this.

By the time you finish your book, it's likely that you will already have readers who are interested in purchasing it. Even if the book is never finished, you have still produced something you can be proud of. You might even be able to make some income from the blog from advertising or affiliate programs.

One of the most important steps towards finishing a book is just getting started. Starting by organizing your thoughts on a blog is a pleasant and easy way to do this. If the time comes for you to seriously tackle a book writing project, then you will have already laid a good foundation to help you succeed.

A New Three Column Template for the Profile Directory

Well, I finally switched from a two column template to a three column template. I like this much better. The profile directory didn't leave much room for anything else in just the one sidebar. Now I have an extra sidebar to fill up. I'll probably add some more links to blogging sites and resources.

I would have done this a long time ago, but I've done this before and had trouble with losing my sidebar widgets. It would have taken many hours to redo all my sidebar information. Now Blogger lets you save your widgets so they aren't automatically deleted when you change templates.

If you would like to install a three column template on your Blogger blog, it isn't very difficult. There are many sites that offer free three column templates. I got mine here. They are based on the basic two column Blogger templates that are offered when you sign up for an account. Other more exotic templates are available elsewhere.

Installing it was very easy. I went to the layout section from the Blogger dashboard and clicked on Edit HTML. It's important to download the existing template as a backup in case something goes wrong or you change you mind. I then uploaded the new template and indicated that I wanted to save the widgets. I then previewed the template and clicked save template. It only took me a few minutes.

How to Have a Killer Blog

10 Ways to a Killer Blog

View more presentations from yizmo.

How to Embed Videos

I apologise for not posting in a while. I had to take a break and work on other things for a while (like microtonal music). I have been keeping up with new listings in the directory.

People often ask me how to embed videos. It's really much easier that it sounds. It's mostly a matter of of finding the embed code at places like Youtube or Google video and copying it and pasting it into your blog post. Here's a video that describes the process.

Embedding Videos and Slideshows in Blogger and Wordpress Blogs

Videos are a great way to add interest to your blog. They are also useful if you don't have the time to do a more traditional post. I even have a blog that is just for videos. Also, if you choose good keywords for the video titles, it can really help you to improve your search engine traffic.

A New Blog Directory

Bobby Griffin has started a new automated directory, the Blankest Blank Blog Directory. This is part of a larger site where you can view blogs, jokes, videos, etc. You can even vote for the Best Blog, Funniest Video or Funniest Joke. You can visit this page to add your blog to the directory.

Blogger Tips and Tricks

So far, the vast majority of profile listings at this blog come from bloggers with Blogger blogs. (Of course, other bloggers are welcome to submit a listing if they have an appropriate profile or about page.) I'm sure many of you will be interested in the blog, Blogger Tips and Tricks. It offers help in using the many features of the blogger platform. I have often been frustrated with the official Blogger help pages, but I have found a lot of useful information from Blogger Tips and Tricks.(Apparently many others have also benefited, judging from this comments page.) I hope you will pay it a visit.

Page Rank

This blog has recently received a page rank of four. I wish I could take credit for this, but I haven't been doing much posting lately and I know the real credit goes to those who have chosen to link to me. Thank you! This is good news for everyone listed here, because it increases the value of the link to your profile page.

For your convenience, I have added a page rank checker at the bottom of this blog. I would be interested in hearing if getting listed here has increased the page rank of your profile page.

Top Blog Mag

What is a blog magazine? Well, it's a lot like a regular magazine except that it comes in the convenience of a blog format. Top Blog Mag is fairly new, but it has already published some great articles by our fellow bloggers. Visiting this site is a great way to become acquainted with some of the best bloggers around. Better yet, you can submit entries for publication with the hope of receiving additional exposure for you and your blog.

So why not pay them a visit? If you consider submitting an article, please read their rules first.

Visit the Infinitely Crazy Blog Carnival

After much anticipation, the Carnival of Craziness is up and running. I hope you will visit and enjoy the crazy collection.

If you missed out on this carnival, don't worry there is another one coming up. Visit the blog Infinitely Crazy for submission guidelines.

I would also like to thank The Crazy King of Clowns for awarding this post (at one of my other blogs) a coveted badge of honor.

A Carnival of Craziness

The Crazy King of Clowns will be hosting a crazy blog carnival at his blog Infinitely Crazy. You may submit one entry per blog. Badges of honor will be awarded to the best article in each category. So why not join in on the craziness? The deadline for submissions is Sunday, March 25.

Blog Directory Reviews

Blog directories can be a great way to increase the flow of traffic to your site. It's unfortunate that submitting your blog to these directories can be very time consuming and, in some cases, futile. Some blog directories require reciprocal links and then take a long time to list you, if they list you at all.

Fortunately, there's a blog that can help us to avoid this frustration. Blog Directories Reviews is a blog that offers reviews of blog directories. This is a valuable service. I plan on using it to find out which blog directories are worth my time.

Knots and Things

I love unusual blogs, especially when the blogger chronicles a hobby that I know I would enjoy if I only had more time. One such blogger is Stormdrane. His blog is filled with photos of what can be done with decorative knots. It might seem that tying knots wouldn't make for a very fulfilling hobby, but this blog will likely change your mind.

A Links Blog

Do you want another link pointing to your site? Just visit A Links Blog and leave a comment with your blog's url, title and a brief description. It's that easy. Just don't forget to first leave a comment here asking me to list your profile page.

See also:
Blog Review-The Bestest Blog of All-Time (Free Link Exchange)
Get Links to Your Blog