writing and research http://writingandresearchbiz.com Make money with your freelance writing and research business Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:46:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Freelance Writing: Keyword Research and Other Writerly Things http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/freelance-writing-keyword-research-and-other-writerly-things/ http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/freelance-writing-keyword-research-and-other-writerly-things/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:46:25 +0000 suejeff http://writingandresearchbiz.com/?p=175 There are millions of freelance writing blogs and websites all over the internet, which makes it difficult for the writer to find keywords that will help make their site stand out from the rest. The words, freelance writing may need to be part of your keyword structure, but you need other, less frequently used words and phrases in your keyword list. Over at the Mom Writes there are some great resources for freelance writersincluding a really useful, and free, keyword research guide that has been put together by Lisa Russell.

Putting the Effort into Your Business

I have read the keyword guide that Lisa has on her website and I have to say that it is really good. If you want to put it into practice it will require some work but it seems to me that if you haven’t already done something like this with your website or blog then now is the time. I know, I can already hear the groans about how much work you have on, but if you don’t do it, you’ll only regret it later. Your website is where you showcase your business and so putting this aspect of non-client time in is well worth the effort.

Anyone who is looking for a tool to monitor their daily, weekly and monthly income should also head on over to Lisa’s site as she has put together an awesome tracking sheet tha she is giving away. If you are looking for a good read with valuable information for writers then I would recommend you take a look at Lisa’s website and then head on over to The Mom Writes when you feel like giving yourself some time off from the money making aspect of your freelance writing business.

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Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/freelance-writing-keyword-research-and-other-writerly-things/feed/ 0 A Dog’s View of Freelancing http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/a-dogs-view-of-freelancing/ http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/a-dogs-view-of-freelancing/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:06:35 +0000 suejeff http://writingandresearchbiz.com/?p=169 My ageing dog enjoys his sleep
And though my writing earns his keep,
He’s not amused when I am writing through the night.

He lifts his head each time I move
And when I’m in a writing groove
You’ll barely see a finger linger on the keys.
His head keeps bobbing up and down
Between his eyes I see a frown
Directed at the laptop sitting on my knees.

If he could speak I know he’d say
“Put that writing thing away, go up to bed
And let a poor dog rest his head and scratch his fleas.”

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Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/a-dogs-view-of-freelancing/feed/ 1 Writing Through the Night http://writingandresearchbiz.com/writing/writing-through-the-night/ http://writingandresearchbiz.com/writing/writing-through-the-night/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:52:12 +0000 suejeff http://writingandresearchbiz.com/?p=165 Most freelancers end up writing through the night on occasion, either to avoid missing a deadline, or because they have overloaded themselves with work, or because sometimes, life just gets in the way of writing.

From time to time I try to update my daily working regime, either to try and get a quart out of a pint pot, or simply because I feel like a change. I am not sure whether this process helps or hinders my writing, but when I do it I feel virtuous – and it looks as though I am not the sort of writer who ends up writing through the night a bit too often.

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Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://writingandresearchbiz.com/writing/writing-through-the-night/feed/ 0 Marketing Your Freelance Writing Business http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/marketing-your-freelance-writing-business/ http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/marketing-your-freelance-writing-business/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:05:13 +0000 suejeff http://writingandresearchbiz.com/?p=161 I am not that good at marketing and promoting my freelance business so recently I have been setting myself tasks in each of these areas to improve my progress. This last few months I have tried to be more proactive in selling my services, and I have to say it has paid off.

I have picked up a couple of regular clients, large orders, at a rate of pay that is not great, but it is acceptable. When it comes to freelance writing

Webmasters’ Forums

There are good and bad Webmasters’ forums, especially when it comes to marketing your writing. Certain forums in particular attract people who will offer to write 500 words for a dollar. Very often, the person buying them finds they are often badly written and sometimes plagiarised, which means he or she has to get them written again. Having said that, there are still plenty of people buying this stuff. f you are new to freelancing and have tried some of these forums you will know what I mean. It is possible however, to advertise your services on a forum and get a decent rate of pay.

It is a good idea to try webmaster forums ending in .co.uk. They may not pay a huge amount but if you offered to write an article of 500 words for £4 you would end up with $6.50 US, not a lot I’ll grant you, but seven times more than some people want to pay.

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Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/marketing-your-freelance-writing-business/feed/ 4 Pace Your Freelance Writing Self http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/pace-your-freelance-writing-self/ http://writingandresearchbiz.com/the-business-of-freelance-writing/pace-your-freelance-writing-self/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:09:53 +0000 suejeff http://writingandresearchbiz.com/?p=153 I have just finished reading ‘Do You Recognize the Early Warning Signs of Freelance Writing Burnout’ over at Freelance Folder and have to admit that I have been down this route more than once. When you are trying to run your own freelance writing and research business it is all too easy to keep pushing yourself until your writing becomes stale and wooden. I’d all ready posted on the RA page here how RA and its associated fatigue can interfere with your writing life, so I suppose people who do suffer from rheumatoid arthritis need to be doubly aware of burnout.

Permission to Take a Break

Sometimes we just have ot give ourselves permission to take a break from the business of freelance writing without feeling guilty. Learning to pace yourself as a writer will not only help to prevent total burnout, it should add more freshness to yur writing. I know full well that by the time I have written ten articles on bad credit or on home insurance, I am beginning to wonder whether sanity has gone out of the window. I’ve found that breaking up tasks and working on one project for part of the time and then on another, helps to break up the day and give me a fresh perspective on the rest of the project.

Most freelance writers will have experienced burnout at some stage of their career, the secret (as the above post appeared to be saying) is to recognize what is happening and to do something about it before catastrophe strikes. Try taking your laptop to the local coffee shop for an hour or two. Sometimes a change of surrooundings can do wonders for flagging creativity. So, take a break, pace yourself, write somewhere else, and last but not least be kind to yourself.

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