Crayon Writer

Freelance writing means different things to different people, and there are certainly several different roads to freelancing. While you can specialize in one type, it might also make sense to try several kinds until you’re sure what works for you. Let’s explore some of the paths.

Commercial or Business Writing

This is the type of freelancing I’ve been focusing on for several years. I contact businesses and offer my services writing newsletters, press releases, ads, brochures, and other marketing materials.

Some argue that this is the most lucrative type of freelance writing, perhaps because companies often have the money to spend on one-time or even repeat marketing collateral. Also, the writing they’re buying functions to bring them more business, and, therefore, more money.

Newspaper Reporting

Newspaper freelancing is a field I’m planning to try very soon. Small and large newspapers can be found in every city and town, and they often rely on freelancers. Newspapers generally pay by the story.

I almost got a gig at a local paper, so I’m encouraged. All it took was an email to the publisher, along with some sample clips. The next step is to find a paper that currently needs another freelancer.

Magazine Writing

Magazine freelance writing is what many people think of first when I tell them I’m a freelance writer. I haven’t pursued this avenue yet, but articles that are accepted can pay pretty well.

The trick seems to be in finding the right magazines (there are a lot of smaller publications that are easier to break into), and then writing the right story. And it seems to be a “query and wait” business. I’m not that patient right now, so I’ll try it when I have more time and more money (so waiting won’t be so painful).

Online Article Writing

This type of writing includes blogging and writing copy for online magazines. This may be the easiest to break into, but potentially the least lucrative. A lot of online companies want to pay pennies for online writing, even though the act of writing takes just as much time and energy as print writing.

Be careful with this market. If you accept a low-paying offer, consider writing it super fast. In my opinion, those that offer pennies should get what they pay for. But that’s just me. Ideally, none of us will accept pitiful offers, but we all have to decide what works best for our situation.

Your Turn

What paths to writing have you tried? Do you have a preference, or do you try a healthy mix of several types?

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I recently talked about writing for review sites, and PayPerPost is one of the best known. I just started seriously writing for them , and I think it’s a great deal.

Writing for review sites requires that you use sound blog ethics. For instance, I won’t claim I’ve used a product I haven’t, and I won’t say I love something I hate.

So why PayPerPost? With their new ranking system, I don’t have to worry about my Google rank in order to make money. In the past, a lot of the advertisers wanted blogs with a certain Google rank, but Google’s recent “slaps” works against this system in a drastic way. PayPerPost, whose parent company is called IZEA, came up with their own ranking system to alleviate this problem. This means I don’t have to write a bunch of $5 posts for companies I’m not interested in.

Right now my blog earns anywhere from $5 to $20 per review. Not too bad.

PayPerPost guidelines help keep people from littering their blogs with paid posts, which of course would be a disservice to the advertisers. You can’t write more than a few per day, and your blog has to have a balance between paid and non-paid posts. Fair enough, right?

If you haven’t tried it, and you’re looking for a way to monetize your blog, do your research and see if it’s for you. It’s free to sign up.

Interested? Just click on the logo above and you’re on your way!

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One of the perks of owning a home-based business is that you set your own hours. You can work late at night, early in the morning, or during “regular” hours. It’s up to you!

But when are you most productive? It probably depends on the task you have to complete, and also on your lifestyle.

For me, mornings are best for dealing with clients and for marketing. I work with clients all over the country, so I need to be able to contact people who live on the east coast. If I wait too late, they’re usually gone for the day. I’m most productive in the morning hours once I’ve woken up, eaten, and cleaned up.

My writing is best done late at night. I’m no good during the middle of the afternoon. That’s when I get overcome with sleepiness. So I’m kind of a night owl, and I get my second wind after 9 p.m. This might be because my daughter is blissfully asleep then, and I can’t write well when she’s up running around.

Blogging activities (replying to comments, dropping Entrecards, writing posts) are another story. When my daughter’s at home I can usually take care of most blogging tasks, but sometimes I wait until the wee hours of the night/morning.

What are your most productive times for the jobs you do at home?

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Recently I mentioned that I was writing articles for blogs who “bought” my services with credits from Entrecard. I gave it some thought, and decided against it. Why?

While Entrecard is great, and while Entrecredits can be used to “buy” advertising space on other blogs, Entrecredits aren’t worth enough for me to sell my services in exchange for them.

Some people have started selling ECs on Ebay, getting as much as $20 for 1000 EC, but often much lower. And I don’t remember high school economics that well, but I do believe there’s a reason the government limits the amount of money in circulation. If money keeps being created, the value of a dollar decreases. With Entrecard, you earn 1 EC whenever you drop a card, and 1 EC whenever someone drops you a card, and the only limit so far is in the number of cards you can drop each day.

All I know for sure is that ECs are not legal tender.

At this point I’ve decided it’s a better use of my time to write guest articles if the mood hits me, since guest blogging is a valuable form of advertising. But when I write in exchange for ECs I feel obligated to write, and I prefer to be paid real money for obligatory creativity.

One thing I learned from the Entrecard experience is that people are looking for great content. And they’re willing to pay something for it (of course, we all knew this anyway).

Let me direct your attention to my newest header tab: Article Writing Services. If you’re a blogger or website owner, and you simply don’t have the time to write lots of great articles, Crayon Writer is your new source for excellent web content.

Contact me so we can figure out your needs, and I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.

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If you’re a blogger too, you’ve no doubt heard about the latest social networking tool, Entrecard. I was skeptical at first, and I guess I’m still a bit cautious, but I decided to jump in while it’s still hot. If it stays that way, so much the better.

At first I was just clicking my way through the “Drop Yours” widgets like the one you see in my sidebar.

But then I realized there’s a “Shop” on Entrecard that allows its members to sell things for Entrecard Credits (EC). Sure, EC isn’t a real form of money, but it does have value. You can use EC to get your own personal 125×125 ad (check out mine at the top of this post) placed on other people’s blogs. The trick of the system is to have enough EC to place a lot of ads that hopefully get clicked on by regular street traffic.

I’m a writer, right? So what better thing to sell than my writing? Besides getting EC to advertise on other blogs and increase Crayon Writer’s exposure, I’m also letting others see my talent even if they don’t feel like reading here. I’m hoping to get clients that pay real live money for writing services.

I’ve already written for a few bloggers who paid me EC.

Here’s a big thanks to James from Total Web Review for buying an article from me and letting his readers know about my services.

The only problem I have with Entrecard right now is the amount of time it takes. But for now, I do think it’s worth it. I’ve met a lot of other bloggers already (I joined on January 26). Unlike MyBlogLog, you have to actually visit a person’s blog to get any benefit.

Anyway, expect to see me write a little sporadically as I figure out how to use Entrecard to market my business, continue to look for a day job, build my writing business, and, of course, my most important and demanding job, take care of my daughter. At two-and-a-half years old, I’m finding she is busier than ever!

Guess it’s time to get back to business and stop playing hooky.

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man to be honored and remembered for helping this country drag itself out of a hate-filled cesspool. We still have a difficult and long struggle ahead of us, so it’s important to be vigilant and to never forget what has been done for us.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also known for being an extremely accomplished writer. He wrote speeches, sermons, papers, published books, and has several unpublished materials. Stanford University is one of many institutions dedicated to compiling Dr. King’s writings.

Today is a day for reflection, planning, and action. We can sit quietly and watch what Dr. King and so many others fought and died for unravel around us, or we can take a stand.

Like Dr. King, as writers our pens and sharp minds can be our weapons. Our papers and computers can be our shields. Our voices, spoken or written, can be an inspiration.

Today we honor and remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Years ago I realized I was a good writer. I would say it started in elementary school when my teachers always told me how creative I was. In college, I helped friends edit their papers, and even though my degree was in biology, my first job after college was as an assistant editor.

So it makes sense that I’m pursuing a writing career.

More recently, I’ve figured out that I prefer writing for businesses. I write website content, newsletters, press releases, sales letters, correspondence, brochures, and more. Basically, I’m a freelance commercial writer.

A new freelance writer asked me to recommend some books that helped me get started. There are two that I found particularly useful for commercial writing, and they’re both by the same author.

Peter Bowerman’s books include The Well-Fed Writer and Back for Seconds. The best thing about his books is that they give explicit instructions for building your commercial writing business. It’s not a bunch of, “Look how great I am!”

Peter’s first book, The Well-Fed Writer, is very specific but primarily based on the way Peter built his business. It’s great for learning about an effective business model. When I followed his directions, I definitely made progress.

His second book, Back for Seconds, includes lots of examples from other writers’ experiences. You’ll learn from people from all walks of life who are running their own commercial writing businesses.I also appreciate that Peter responds to his email messages even though he’s clearly very busy. He has a new book coming out soon, and I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of it.

In the meantime, if you’re serious about a freelance writing career, grab these books and get to work. I pick them up whenever I need a boost.

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Freelance writers often write for businesses or magazines so we can make a living. But deep inside many, and not so far down in quite a few, is the desire to publish their first novel, or even some of their poetry.

It can be scary putting your “babies” out there for the world to see, and it’s heartbreaking if you get rejected. Luckily for you aspiring published authors, there is help available. I recently checked out Greendoor Publishing, a site that can help you get your poetry, fiction publishing, and writing dreams accomplished.

I like what Greendoor Publishing stands for. They believe every writer deserves a chance, and they’re willing to publish, free-of-charge, anything their editors think is worthwhile. The company encourages experimentation in writing, so you don’t have to write the way you think you “should.” Be yourself.

Even better than publishing your work, Greendoor will help your work reach its true potential with their online editing service. You send just 4 pages for a free appraisal, or send in your entire piece for a small fee. Their editors will let you know how much help the piece needs. When you’re ready, let their experienced team enhance your already great writing.

If you need a nudge getting started, perhaps with your personal memoirs, take advantage of their ghost writing service. All you need is a synopsis of your story, and you can begin getting great advice about where to go from there. 

Check them out when you get the urge to write the next great novel. Who knows? You may have the next Harry Potter on your hands.

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I write using my keyboard most of the time. My typing speed is pretty good (65-75wpm, depending on inspiration), so typing as I’m thinking usually works for me. In fact, with horrible handwriting and an extreme dislike for writing by hand, typing is the only option. Or so I thought.

Here are three reasons I’ve started writing the old-fashioned way (by hand).

1. You can write while you wait. The other day, I was waiting my turn in urgent care (I was fine, it turned out), and happened to have my “idea notebook” with me. I was waiting, so I started writing. And writing. My hand hurt (see why I hate writing by hand?) but I was getting work done.

2. Children are drawn to computers. I’ve found that my daughter doesn’t interrupt me quite so much when I’m writing by hand. If I even lean toward my laptop, she finds some reason to notice my existence and comes up with some urgent need that only Mommy can tend to. Or she decides it’s time to “play a game” on the computer.

3. Writing by hand is an excellent way to write reviews of online documents. If you do everything on the computer, you have to deal with several open windows. You have to read the site or online document, then switch to Word, write something, switch back, etc. You get the picture. Or you have to print out your document, wasting printer paper, printer ink/toner, and some electricity. I now write reviews by hand while I’m looking at the computer screen. Much more efficient.

Do you tend to write on the computer, or do you use pen-and-paper writing too?

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Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of the same types of writing mistakes across the blogosphere.

I’m sure most of the bloggers know the correct words to use and the proper grammatical techniques. Writing online kind of makes us lazy, so we bend the rules a little (some writers seem to just throw them out completely).

This past week I decided to take note of some of the common offenders. And as I explore the blogosphere, I’ll be writing a “writing tips of the week” post from time to time.

On to the writing tips for this week!

1. Complimenting someone is saying something nice about them. Complementing, though, is when two or more items go well together.

2. When you write pretty long sentences, try saying them out loud. Even though commas don’t always go at a “natural breath” point, chances are you do have to pause at some point during the sentence. So be sure to use a comma somewhere. But be careful. I don’t know which is worse; using commas all over the place or not using any at all. Watch those commas!

3. Try not to overuse certain words in a post, unless you’re trying to use a keyword on purpose to boost your SEO. Use your thesaurus, or just go back and check to see if a certain word is repeated 5, 10, or even 15 times in a 100-word post. Nothing’s more annoying that the annoying habit of using a word that becomes annoying after a while.

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