Crayon Writer

As you may or may not know, I was going to be a lawyer in my past life. So anything law-related catches my eye, and we all know that the legal system needs plenty of good writers. If you’re a freelance writer, make sure to approach lawyers too.

Though I was primarily interested in being a prosecutor, I know that our justice system isn’t complete without good defense attorneys. After all, being accused of a crime doesn’t mean you’re guilty. And even if you are, the punishment should fit the crime. Defense attorneys are critical to help keep things fair.

If you are a resident of Los Angeles and you need a federal criminal lawyer, or a federal courthouse lawyer, check out the Los Angeles Federal Attorneys Lawyers site.

The site is full of information about how the federal system works in Los Angeles, California, including federal sentencing guidelines.

Even if you’re not in LA, you might learn something new about how the criminal justice system works. It’s fascinating, whether or not you agree with it (part of the reason I decided not to pursue criminal law).

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One of the blogging trends I’d like to implement is treating my blog like a newspaper or magazine. Both have regular features, which helps keep the publication current, and helps the publisher think of what to write next.

I’ll be featuring websites or links that I find during my internet travels, and hopefully you’ll check them out and let us know what you think.

This week I found out about the Japanese American Citizens League. This non-profit civil rights organization is based out of Los Angeles, California, and began before World War II. I particularly like that the group honors a Woman of the Year, pays homage to its elders, and even offers a scholarships to at-risk youth.

The JACL is dedicated to promoting and preserving the values and culture of Japanese Americans, and they do so much for the community as a whole.

Even more impressive, the Downtown Los Angeles JACL fought for, and won, compensation for Japanese Americans that were wrongfully put in U.S. concentration camps during WWII. At the same time, tens of thousands of Japanese Americans volunteered their services as soldiers during the war. The JACL is hoping to get the U.S. Postal Service to honor these brave men with a commemorative stamp.

Take a look at the Downtown Los Angeles Japanese American Citizens League site to learn more. The history of this group of Americans is rich, and as I always say, you can never learn too much. My thanks to George for telling me about this amazing organization.

Stay tuned for next week’s website or link of the week. Please let us know what you enjoyed about this one.

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Interested in some good reading about web hosting?

When looking for hosting for a new or even current blog, doing your homework also includes reading what others think. Not just what others think about your potential host, but also what people think of web hosting in general. There’s so much to learn, and I’m fan of research. That’s probably why I’m addicted to the Internet.

I just found a new blog with lots of web hosting articles.

From my understanding, the rest of the website isn’t launched yet, so don’t be turned off by the articles. There’s more to come, including tutorials and more specific web host information.

If you check out the site, let us know what you think about it.

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I mentioned a while back that I joined Entrecard, and I thought it might be time to tell everyone how much I like it.

Entrecard Pros

One of the best things about Entrecard is that I’ve met a lot of other bloggers. I’ve made some new online friends, I’ve found some really great blogs, and I’ve even made some money.

With the influx of traffic comes clicks on my sidebar items, so I’ve made a few sales and some Adsense money. I’ve also written several guest posts, which has brought me even more traffic. Recently, a cool site started a contest that featured my blog. (Thanks Leisa!)

I’ve also decided on an Entrecard philosophy for dropping cards. I don’t drop cards on blogs that I don’t want to support for whatever personal reasons. I like the idea that Entrecard popularity could wind up being a democratic process, so I do my part by not “voting” for some.

Entrecard Cons

Entrecard can take a bit of time, because you have to visit a lot of sites to drop your card (which earns you Entrecredits). And if you’re like me, you can’t help but read some of the posts as you go along.

Besides the amount of time it takes to maintain a high position or to grow your site, I have one more complaint. Though Entrecarders do visit often and even leave comments, my subscribership hasn’t budged.

I also gave up offering my writing service for Entrecredits. For now. I wound up taking on too many projects, and I wasn’t sure that the amount I was “charging” was really worth my time and effort. I wound up refunding (plus interest) several buyers’ credits. My time is probably better spent trying to get new clients that pay real money. Now that Entrecard is starting a service for buying and selling credits for real money, I might start again, but I’ll only do one project at a time.

Have you tried Entrecard? If not, why not? If so, have you noticed any particularly good or bad things so far?

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In the not-so-distant past I was a substitute teacher for about six years. More recently, I’ve toyed with the idea of subbing again, or possibly even going back to school to get my certification. For me, substitute teaching was actual teaching, not just babysitting. I made it a point to follow the regular teacher’s lesson plans, and I brought along my own plans just in case.

As a freelance writer or home-based business owner, you may consider substituting because you’ll have some flexibility in your work-life, and you can even teach kids about your profession.

If you do decide to teach, check out this new blog for teachers called, appropriately, Teacher Lingo. It’s chock full of lesson plans, teacher blogs, and a helpful forum. I would love for it to have a special section for substitutes, though.

If you’ve ever taught, you know that teachers do talk to each other, but aside from lunchtime, you don’t really have a chance to connect with everyone. Teacher Lingo is basically a really cool social networking group.

Just like any other social networking site, there are contests from time to time. You can win a $50 gift card to either Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com if you share one of your lesson plans in March.

Even if you’re never going to teach, I think it’s an interesting blog that could serve as a model for others.

Have you ever been a teacher? Would you consider substitute teaching as a way to supplement your freelance income?

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Are you a work-at-home parent? Even if you’re a home-based entrepreneur without children, this resource list is gold.

The list includes 100 resources, from articles to blogs (mine is included…very nice), to networks and miscellaneous information. Everything’s online, so there’s no need to run to the library.

Even if you don’t have time right now, just go to The Bootstrapper’s site and bookmark the WAHM’s Toolbox. This is a list you don’t want to ignore.

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In my Entrecard sitehopping I’ve found a lot of gems. One of the great things about Entrecard is that the users let the company know when there are inappropriate or spam blogs. So I’ve found nothing but quality blogs so far.

If you’ve looked at any of my articles in the sidebar you know that I used to have pet rats. So when I found a blog that talked about the history of the Chinese New Year’s Year of the Rat (2008), I couldn’t help but be intrigued.

For Singapore Entrepreneurs Only is a really interesting blog with a lot of useful information for entrepreneurs anywhere in the world.

The post about the Year of the Rat taught me how the rat came to be on the Chinese calendar, and gave some interesting predictions about the year 2008. Rats are fascinating creatures, known to be intelligent and tenacious. The Year of the Rat promises to be eventful with major political changes and a calm stock market.

Read more about the predictions for this year at For Singapore Entrepreneurs Only. While you’re there, take a look around. There’s something for everyone.

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I’ve written a few articles for Associated Content now, as I said I would in a previous post. I’m not thrilled, I must say. Sure, there’s a learning curve as to what they want, but I don’t know if I have the patience to figure it all out. Of the 7 or so articles I’ve submitted, two have been accepted for upfront payment for under $4.

Several others were declined for various reasons. One article was determined to be “humor,” which they don’t usually offer upfront payments for. Another had spelling “errors” (I disagree with their spellchecker, but I fixed the words their system “caught”), and another one or two just weren’t the types of articles they offer payments for (current events and articles that aren’t “in-depth” enough.

Luckily, I’ve been able to take some of the declined articles and sell them elsewhere instead. Otherwise I’m just leaving them as “Performance Paid” articles, and we’ll see what happens.

So check out my AC posts and my recent HubPages posts. Enjoy, and let me know what you think:

Training your cockatiel to whistle

Thinking of getting a pet cockatiel?

My first pet rat

Male or female rats?

Starting from scratch with a new laptop

Calming a toddler: Count to 20 method

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If this isn’t your first time visiting Crayon Writer, I would like to extend an invitation for you to subscribe.

Most of you are bloggers, so you’re familiar with subscribing to blogs.

But in case you aren’t, take a look at the pretty orange square thingee under my picture to the right. Either click on it to subscribe in a “reader,” or put your email address in the box below it. It’s completely free.

(To learn more about readers, check out Yaro Starak’s post about rss feeds.)

Either way, you’ll get updates from my site on a regular basis, saving you the trouble of traipsing over here to see if I’ve written anything new.

I didn’t know I had it in me (or I forgot), but I recently increased my MyBlogLog community by over 100 in just a few days (in response to a contest).

So now I’m going to challenge myself to increase my blog’s subscribership by at least 50 before Christmas.

I’ll start with repeat visitors, like you. Subscribe for a month, and if you don’t find my blog useful, feel free to unsubscribe (hopefully you’ll let me know what went wrong).

For those of you who are already subscribers, thank you so much! Please let me know how I’m doing, and wish me luck on my challenge.

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Freelance writers are the answer to the question, How am I going to find the time to do this, too?
Maybe you can write the copy, you can proofread, and you can do layout without any outside help.

But do you have the time? Can you do everything quickly and well?
A freelance writer can step in and take at least one thing off of your To Do list.

The advantages:
1. Don’t worry about benefits, vacation time, taxes, etc.

Freelance writers take care of their own taxes, vacations, and insurance needs. You only pay for the service you need.

2. Hire a writer as-needed, rather than pay for down time.

When you have employees, you have to pay them even when they talk to their co-workers, surf the internet, take bathroom breaks, or just dawdle. Freelancers are paid only for the time-on-task.

3. Freelance writers are customer oriented.

Employees are not necessarily loyal to the employer, but you can bet business owners are loyal to their own businesses. As business owners, freelancers have a strong desire to do their best work for their clients. Happy customers are essential to a prosperous business.

4. Freelancers are committed to your project.

Freelancers are able to accept assignments they want to do. There’s no boss telling them they must do a particular project. That means your job is important to the  freelance writer, hand-picked, rather than just another assignment from an employer.

A freelance writer’s job is caring about your business as much as her own.

The question is, why wouldn’t you hire a freelancer?

If you need a freelance writer to help with web content, articles, blog writing, proofeading, or more, hire me!

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