reginapaulwrites

I get this question a lot from people interested in breaking into freelance writing. The truth is paying anyone to get leads in my opinion is a waste of money. There are a number of reasons I believe this, one of those reasons is my own experience with having tried one of the paid services when I first decided I wanted to write full-time. What I discovered astonished me because at the time I was under the impression that all writers got their start that way. What I discovered is that most job leads that a paid service gives you can be found elsewhere for free. That’s right for free. Fortunately for me I was able to get my subscription cancelled before I lost more than $32.95, but I know a lot of beginning writers aren’t so lucky. Another reason paying a service is a bad idea is that the jobs are rarely updated. I frequently found jobs on the one paid for site that I had a subscription to that had been openly posted on free sites as being filled and no longer available. Many of these paid for sites can be found as Google ads, saying things like, “Make $1000 a day with your writing!” and other unsubstantiated claims. I usually avoid any Google ads with writing gigs for this reason. Another trick they use is where someone will put up a one page website that lists these so-called “services” where you pay a monthly fee to get job leads, keep in mind these are just leads, not actual jobs as the Google Ads sometimes deceptively give the impression of.

I’ll bet you’re wondering about bidding sites right? Well, bidding sites can give you jobs, it’s true, but the problem with them is that there is always going to be someone that is willing to bid much lower than you. Quite frankly I’ve never been able to win jobs on these sites because I refuse to accept less than what my work is worth, even for a good review. Throw in paying a monthly fee to be able to move around and bid on the number of jobs I want, and you begin to see why I think they are a waste of time. If you decide you do want to try a bidding site anyway, Odesk is the only one that doesn’t charge and gives you a large number of monthly bids. But again, while you don’t pay a monthly fee, what I’ve found on the site is that people are willing to get paid almost nothing in order to outbid you and get the job.

The best way that a beginning writer can start making money is by writing for one or more of these sites:

 Associated Content (they pay a flat rate as well as pay for every thousand hits)

E-how (this is revenue share unless you sign up with Demand Studios then you get revenue share and a flat rate of pay ususally $15.00/per article)

Hubpages (revenue share)

Squidoo (revenue share)

These are just a few of the places that pay writers. I work regularly with the top two listed and then the others sporadically as I have time in between my higher paying gigs.  You can also look on Craig’s List which posts thousands of writing jobs weekly.

Remember you don’t have to pay anyone to find writing jobs!

Good Luck!

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Something that can be a downside to being a writer is dealing with editors. Sadly, not all editors are professionals, and you’re not always going to agree with the changes they want you to make to your writing. I’ve personally been dealing with this a lot lately with one of my clients. Here are some tips for handling editors who are not so professional.

 1. Don’t react to an editor’s comments if they are offensive or nasty. Within reason make the changes they ask for and then forget about it and move on.

2. If you disagree with a change that an editor wants you to make then don’t be afraid to say so. The key is having a back up argument. Kindly explain to the editor why you disagree with the change, make your statement and then see what he or she says. Most editors will be willing to work with you and if you can provide a compelling reason as to why you disagree they will ususally work with you.

 3. If an editor is vague in explaining what changes they want then ask him to be more specific. There is nothing wrong with asking for clarification, editors are people too and they make mistakes just like anyone else.

4. If an editor turns the situation into a personal attack don’t be afraid to report him or her, and do report him or her. An editor’s only job is to make requests/suggestions for how to improve your writing, they don’t have the right to attack you personally, so be sure and report any editor who does this. Chances are you are not the only one he has done this to.

5. If you’re having serious multiple issues with an editor, keep a copy of everything this editor sends you such as e-mails, and messenger discussions. Also keep a written account that has the time and date for each incident. Sometimes  you will not be believed by the person who is the editor’s supervisor, so having proof can be critical to proving your point.

These are just a few of the ways you can deal with an unprofessional editor. It is unfortunate that some editors begin to believe that they can do no wrong, or that their position gives them such power over others that they can do and say whatever they want without consequence, but they are out there.

I’m not only a writer, but an editor as well for a large name book review site, so I’m familiar with both sides. I never let myself forget that writers are people too, and that I am by no means always right when it comes to making changes. Editors and writers are meant to work together to make a piece it’s very best, and this is something that is  well worth remembering.

Wow! I woke up yesterday morning and discovered the blog here had won an award! Very nice. So, first of all, thank you very much wantingtowork, I truly appreciate it! And everyone be sure and visit wantingtowork’s blog, here’s the link:  http://wantingtowork.today.com/

So, now  it’s my turn, here are the six blogs that I would choose as Lemonade award winners!

http://writerwahm.today.com

http://mompreneur.today.com

http://internetstrategies.today.com

http://wurdburd.today.com

http://onlinewritingincome.today.com

http://workingfromhomewithkids.today.com

If you appear on this list your next steps are:

1. Create a post including: the Lemonade Award logo a thank-you to the person who nominated you, with a link to their blog a list of blogs you feel are worthy of the award (ten, if you can, and they don’t all have to be Today.com blogs). Make sure all the links work!

2. Place a comment on each of the blogs you’ve chosen, telling them they’ve won the award and telling them where to find the instructions on your blog.

While it is possible to get writing gigs even if you don’t have a portfolio, it definitely makes getting gigs a lot easier when you do have one! When I made the decision to write full-time I knew I was going to need samples of my writing and if those samples were actually published this would be in my best interest. Not wanting to take the time and energy to put up a website I decided instead to look for places that I could post articles for payment whether by revenue sharing or a flat payment or both. The two places that I chose to write for initially were Associated Content and E-how. Associated Content has both flat payments and what they call a bonus program where you make a certain amount of money each month based on the number of views your articles receive. E-how has a revenue sharing program that has become quite lucrative for me and I know of others who make up to $1000 a month on E-how.

So, why am I tell you this and how does it relate to having a portfolio? Well, it relates in this way. Since I started my freelance writing career, two of my longest standing gigs came from people that came to me and asked me if I wanted to write for them because of articles they’d read that I’d written on Associated Content. That’s how writing for websites like Associated Content and E-how can really pay off in terms of both money, gigs, and having a portfolio. People that need writers look at websites like Associated Content and E-how for writers, and when they see someone whose writing they like, they do offer that writer a job.

Websites like Associated Content, and E-how can not only help you make money writing, but they can help you build a portfolio that brings you more money because they can net you writing gigs. So, the moral of this story, yes you do need a portfolio, Virginia. However, why not get paid to create your portfolio while you are waiting for those higher paying gigs to come along?

Have you ever wondered what all the talk about affliliate marketing and blogging is all about? Well, believe it or not as a blogger ie writer you can make more income, passive income in fact by combining your blogging with marketing affliliate products.

Affliliate marketing is where you promote someone else’s product for them, and if you make a sale for the author of the affiliate product, they pay you a portion of that sale.  Here’s what you need to be able to successfully market affliliate products:

1. A high traffice blog on a subject of interest. Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog that  gets a lot of traffic or if you are just starting out. The important thing is to build your blog and your traffic first. This can take up to a year, but I’ve seen some that were able to do it in six months.

2. A click bank account so you can look up different affililiate products that relate to your blog’s subject, or if you already know of affiliate products then use those.

3. Some knowledge of HTML. The way this can work is that rather than putting ads up on your blog for affliliate products which it has been my experience turns readers off, you can instead find words in your blog postings that relate to the the subject the affiliate product is on and then make those words a link to the affiliate product’s page. It doesn’t guarantee a sale, but at least people may be curious and click on the link to see where it goes. Be sure that you don’t litter your posts with these. Don’t link to anymore than three affiliate products in one post, otherwise you’ll turn your readers off.

 Oh, and keep in mind that Today.com does not allow this sort of promotion in their blogs. You’ll need to put up another blog at Blogger.com or some other platform to be able to put this into motion.

I love the holidays as much as anyone, but it is also the time of year that makes me crazy trying to keep up with everything. I woke up this morning with the realization that I had completely let my regular yoga routine go to the point that I hadn’t done an asana in months. I also hadn’t kept up with my journaling, another thing that really helps keep the stress levels to a minimum. So, this morning when I got up, I did about twenty minutes of yoga and then journaled for another twenty. Forty minutes in all that made my day go much smoother, and made me feel much more like I was able to take on the day and this month.

Sometimes trying to juggle working at home and holidays can be a really stressful thing. Particularly with Christmas as I’m one of those people who refuses to purchase anything unless I can pay for it in cash. I hate credit, having had the experience of getting in way over my head when I was in my twenties, credit cards are now one of my no no words. So, that means not only must I make enough money to pay for my rent, groceries and utlities but gifts too. So, that coupled together is enough to make Regina a very stressed girl, that is if I don’t do what I have to take care of myself.

Many don’t realize it, but working from home can actually be more stressful than having a job. With a job you know that you are guaranteed a certain amount of money for a certain amount of work, and when you go home, in most cases you have the option of leaving work at work. But when you work from home, work is always there. My computer is always sitting there in my office saying “turn me on, write, write, write!” even when I’m really too tired or stressed out to write so much as a word.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that self-care is important all year round no matter what you do, but it’s absolutely critical during the holidays if you don’t want to go batty. So, I’m going to be doing my yoga and journaling thing in the morning as much as I can to make sure that I’m taking care of myself as well as getting that writing done.