Here’s a quick video for you to check out. If you’re just getting started as a freelance writer you’ll want to put together an invoice template. The less time you spend on administrative tasks, the more time you can spend writing. Setting up a template and saving it for continued use will give you the time to do just that!
Welcome to the February 2, 2009 edition of writing success blog carnival.Yes, I know, we’re a couple of days early - but who really wants to compete with the SuperBowl this Sunday? Besides, those of you who are NOT watching football may appreciate some of these posts, and I’m pretty sure this is our biggest carnival thus far - so enjoy! Special thanks to everyone who has made a contribution to this month’s carnival!
Burak Bilgin presents Tools for Beginning Writers posted at Distiller’s Corner, saying, “I discuss some tools that will help you to put your ideas on the paper.”
Thursday Bram presents Review: Using the Social Web to Find Work posted at thursdaybram.com.
Ched presents Flannery O’Connor describing a “sigh” posted at Says Simpleton.
Danielle Branch presents How to Create a Sexy Eye Catching Title posted at Content 123, saying, “So you have written this killer article or blog post, but now you sit trying to think of what the title should be. How can you let the casual looker know what your post or article is about but make it catchy too?”
Harrison presents Starting a Killer Celebrity Blog: 50 Tips and Resources posted at CustomizedGirl Blog, saying, “This is a great resource for anyone who is trying to immerse themselves in the competitive field of Celebrity Blogging”
P.L. Frederick presents You’re On My Mind, For $1,000 posted at Small and Big, saying, “Advertising isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the big of head.”
Jon Swift presents Best Blog Posts of 2008 (Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves) posted at Jon Swift, saying, “My annual roundup of what bloggers chose as their best posts of the year should give any new writer ideas on how to succeed.”
Isaac Yassar presents 2 Requirements Of Definite Success posted at Isaac Yassar’s Overture, saying, “Do you want to be a great writer? Fulfill these two requirements, and I guarantee your success in writing.”
Xquisitlife presents Never let go of your dreams! posted at The best is yet to come!, saying, “This blog discusses how to have success when going after your dreams with passion!”
Thursday Bram presents Why Are Freelancers More Expensive? posted at thursdaybram.com.
Thursday Bram presents 6 Freelance Writers To Pay Attention to in 2009 posted at thursdaybram.com
Trisha Wagner presents Are You Waiting For Your Ship to Come in? posted at Empowering Mom.
Thursday Bram presents Are You Still Listing Your College Clips? posted at thursdaybram.com, saying, “Listing your college clips can make sense for beginning freelancers — you get an automatic boost of having actual clips, even if they were written for a college paper.”
Xquisitlife presents Who Am I? posted at The best is yet to come!, saying, “This blog discusses how to have success when discovering who you are inside and taking that passion to make your life flourish inside and out!”
john c erianne presents Are You Writing a Dictionary or a Short Story? posted at Diary of a Mad Editor.
Thursday Bram presents Writing for Virtual Markets posted at Hyper Modern Writing.
Cheryl St.John presents Letter Writing: The Lost Art posted at Petticoats & Pistols.
Rani presents How to write a short story. posted at Rayray’s writing, saying, “Learn how to write a short story as I divide it into steps and write my own story.”
DebbieDragon presents 11 Tips for a Successful Home-Based Business posted at Empowering Mom.
Kakie presents What?s the best thing that happened to you today? posted at Bur Bur & Friends: Community Park, saying, “Sometimes we don’t have to look as far as we might think to find our muse”
Kathryn presents 25 Simple Mantras for Every Writer to Remember posted at Real Words, saying, “Simple things that new writers can keep in mind when the writing life gets difficult.”
Thursday Bram presents Writing Online Means Reading Online posted at Hyper Modern Writing.
Trisha Wagner presents What I’ve Learned About Working From Home posted at Empowering Mom.
john c erianne presents 10 Things to Consider Before Launching Your Book Tour posted at Diary of a Mad Editor.
BlogMeTheMoney presents Make Money Online With Paid Posts posted at Blog Me The Money, saying, “A collection of advertising companies who pay you to blog with a review and information about each program/company.”
BlogMeTheMoney presents Google Translate Widget posted at Blog Me The Money, saying, “A successful website or blog should be accessible.
A widget that allows visitors to translate your website into their language. Helps to increase your readership base, keep visitors on your site, as well as improving your bottom line if you make money online.”
Broderick Allen presents Persistence posted at Broderick Allen - Personal Growth and Enjoying Life’s Journey.
Laura presents The Great Blog Experiment! posted at laurabeaudin.com.
John Duke presents A treatise on blogging posted at OrangeHornet>.
Steven Lohrenz presents Prediction On Copywriters During The Financial Mess posted at Stephen Dean’s Copywriting And Internet Advertising Blog - Copywriter.
Ruben Ricart presents Want to Reach a New York audience? | Internet Marketing Industry posted at Internet Marketing Industry, saying, “Reach a New Yorker for free - thousands for an entire week..100% free of charge.”
Burak Bilgin presents Blogging: the Perfect Practice for the Beginning Writer posted at Distiller’s Corner, saying, “Blogging is the perfect practice to prepare for a writing career. You can exercise your writing cycle, focus on your productivity, and interact with your readers. And as soon as you feel ready, you can take a step further to your writing career.”
Kevin Dawson presents Case Study: Controversy in Marketing Part 1 posted at Kevin Dawson’s Copywriting & Traffic, saying, “Using controversy in marketing”
Thursday Bram presents thursdaybram.com » Blog Archive » Twitter: The Freelance Writer’s New Best Friend — Part One posted at thursdaybram.com.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of writing success blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: writing success blog carnival, blog carnival.
I thought I’d share a bit of a personal experience today. I’ve been reading the blogs of a few other successful freelance writers and was disappointed to see that one of my favorite blog writers had stopped updating. She literally dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of weeks. After a while she came back and admitted she hadn’t been feeling well but that she was trying to get back on her feet, but she quickly disappeared again. A month later she announced she might have to shut down her business. Her doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
Thankfully, she didn’t end up shutting down her freelance writing business, but she did have to slow down considerably. Want to know what happened? She burnt herself out.
Here’s a quick reminder for those of you who are new to writing and blogging. If you are anything like I was, I know that when you sign up for services you do not read the entire Terms of Service document before clicking the little checkbox that says that you’ve read it while creating your account. Just give me the account already, right?
Don’t be embarassed. It’s human nature.
This usually doesn’t cause problems, but if you’re running Google AdSense on your blog it just might. Here’s why.
Back in early 2008 (I believe), Google made some major changes to their Terms of Service. One of the changes mandated that users running AdSense on their websites and blogs include a privacy policy detailing the fact that third party advertisers may use cookies and other tracking methods in their marketing. I really doesn’t have much to do with your page itself, but with what happens when users click on advertisements in your blog.
Plagiarism is a hot topic amongst freelance writers. There’s so much information available on the web today and it’s often tempting, especially for less experienced writers, to borrow a few key phrases here and there. But is it worth it?
NO WAY!
Plagiarism is, in short, stealing someone else’s work. Sure, you may use someone’s work as source for research, but when it comes down to it you simply can’t say what they said in the same words. Get it?
Note: if you really can’t write something in your own words, you need to learn to use quotations and site your sources. That’s another lesson for another day, though.
You’ve all heard of websites like Twitter and Facebook. You probably use them to keep in touch with your friends and family, posting random thoughts and information whenever you please. But have you ever thought about using these tools to boost your writing business?
I have to admit I was never a huge fan of either application. Lately, though, I’ve spent a little more time on each and have found that if you have something interesting to say people will follow.
There are quite a few different niches you can find yourself working in as a freelance writer. Some choose to focus on feature magazine articles, some publish ebooks, and others prefer blogging. Others incorporate blogging with whatever else they choose to write.
I won’t go into the details surrounding why a person might blog in conjunction with another project - that’s a conversation for another day. I would, however, like to talk about some of the things you should include in each blog post in order to make sure it’s the best that it can be.