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Freelance Marketplace Cover Letters

Even though you are not applying for a “job” freelancing opportunities still require you to bid on a gig. Making sure that you know what works and what does not work can help you land more gigs. Knowing the competition Cover Letter If you are active on freelance sites such as oDesk or Elance or one of the other hundreds of options available for freelancers, you might be wondering how you can possibly compete with the hundreds of other users that might be bidding on the same job that you are. One of the biggest...

One of the challenges that face writers is understanding the models that are used by sites for payment purposes. Freelance writing is not for the faint of heart, it can be boring, tiring and mean long hours. If lay out a sensible plan, you can make a great living as a freelance writer, but before you do, you need to understand what sites can do what for you. This guide will walk you through some tried and trusted steps and help you understand the value of each of them. Disclaimer Disclaimer I would like to include a disclaimer...

Nearly anyone who is involved in freelancing as a career choice will tell you that at one time or another they have been unhappy with their rates. This is an even more common complaint among those who freelance using online marketplaces such as oDesk. However, in many cases, this is more a mindset of the freelancer and not necessarily indicative of how most solid buyers treat freelancing as a whole. Understanding Business Freelancing professionals have a business to run. As with any other type of business, a plan is necessary to fully reach...

This is really an “old” gripe, I used to do most of my freelancing through oDesk. I left oDesk about 8 months ago, because of changes to their terms of service. Here’s my story. Make sure that you understand freelancing terms before you begin your freelance career. Don’t get overwhelmed! This is an example of one site that named clients “employers”! When Freelancing Terminology Matters! Definitions matter There is an ever-growing cry for proper terminology for freelancing professionals. In fact, some of the popular freelancing sites like oDesk have recently changed their terms to help clarify some...

In these difficult economic times, saving money is even more important than ever before. Here are some great money saving tips and tricks that can help keep you financially sound regardless of the economy. 7 tips on saving money If you are interested in saving money every day, there are some simple things that you can do that can increase your ability to save. These methods range from cutting back on unneeded items, saving money on energy costs and using bartering and swapping to get more value for your dollar. For those who...

Back to School | Defraying the Cost of College

Regardless of how you look at it, the cost of college is high and anticipated to be even higher in years to come. Parents are often shocked when they take stock of the costs that might be involved in preparing their children for higher education. College costs involve far more than tuition fees. There are other things to consider including pocket money, lab fees, food, transportation, medical expenses and housing expenses. It does not take much to make a parent cringe when they measure what they have been able to save against what is going to be an extremely costly...

Throwing Money Away | Simple Ways to Save

There are times when we are all guilty of spending money on things that we do not really need. However, there are a number of items that are ridiculously over-priced and you can find simple ways to save by avoiding them or exploring alternatives. You might be surprised that some of the items that you do not even think about wind up costing you money that you might as well dump in a trash can! Here are some of the items that we are either paying too much for that we could pay less for or we are spending unnecessarily...

Freelancing Risks: What happens when weather gets in the way of productivity

Weather happens! No matter where you live, no matter what country, continent, city or state, we all have challenges with the weather. Cold days, sunny days, rainy days and snowy days can often change how productive we are and can have a serious impact on our mental state. Our mental state will typically define how productive we are on any given day. Most people don’t suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) but some do, although weather still plays a role in how we act, react and how productive we are. Here are some of the interesting reactions to weather. Rainy...

Freelancing Risks: What to expect and solutions

Do not be lulled into thinking that freelancing is all sunshine and roses. As mentioned in our previous post about what to expect and solutions, freelancing is fraught with hazards. Our first post focused on non-paying clients and time management issues that are commonly faced hazards for all freelancers. But what about some of the other things that are typical for freelancers. Let’s talk about freelance writers and some of the challenges that they may face: Hazard – Lack of work – Make no mistake about it, being short of work is not only frustrating but it is also scary....

Summertime should be fun for everyone

Summer time often means being outdoors more often. This can increase the risk of sunburn, heatstroke as well as bug bites and bee stings. There are some simple things you can do to help protect your family this summer from the hazards inherent to this time of year. Keep everyone hydrated – Make sure that you and your family drink plenty of fluids when you are going to be outdoors. Do not let a family ballgame result in someone collapsing from heat exhaustion. Read up on the symptoms of heatstroke and be aware of what your family is doing at...

Finding a job online is not always easy and it comes with many associated risks. In addition to the risks of finding work online, there are still risks once you have been successful in identifying a legitimate offer. Here is part one of our series about risks and how to overcome them. Risk of non-payment Those who have taken the time to carefully research a company and have determined that they offer legitimate work at home opportunities still run some risks. Non-payment is a serious problem that almost all freelancers run into at one time or another. Sometimes a client does...

Strategy for earning more from writing – Part three

Post Panda most freelance writers are searching for strategies for earning more from their writing. This means exploring new sites and often exploring new methods of earning. In the last part of our series, we talked about using Twitter for more effective article marketing. This particular post is going to focus on using duplication as a means of getting information out about online articles. Before panicking however, this does not mean copying and pasting articles in their entirety to another site. What it means is making use of the sites that you already write for and in some cases,...

Strategy for earning more from writing – Part two

Writers prefer to write and hope that their work will be discovered. While this is probably not a perfect strategy, it does work for some. One of the challenges in the freelance writing market is how to get your articles noticed, gain readers and hopefully earn a little bit more money from having them online. Many writers depend on revenue sharing from various sites like Helium, Suite 101 or Bright Hub (to name a few) and are disappointed when they discover that they have hundreds of articles but only a small handful of readers. Earning more money from writing...

Strategy for earning from writing – Part one

Let us be honest, not all blogs are going to be as wildly successful as Huffington Post or similar sites that have crept up from starters to household names. The fact is that many bloggers have a small audience and if they are fortunate, they are cashing out with their AdSense accounts a couple of times a year. Worse yet, take a look at some of your inline advertising and find out how badly they fare in this market! As if that is not depressing enough, more sites are clamping down on content submissions and paying less than ever...

Writing in Post Panda World – Overcoming obstacles

Were you one of the hundreds of freelance writing professionals impacted by the Panda update? If so, you may have finally begun to see some signs of recovery. The Panda update caused untold grief to several writing sites, to blogs and to countless numbers of freelance writers. However, post-Panda, many are beginning to see signs of recovery. For freelancers who have continued to write during the Post-Panda crisis you are likely to notice the following: Research is harder One of the worst things about the Panda update is the research that is available. Over...

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Blog Archives

Freelance Marketplace Cover Letters

Freelancing and Business Plans

Proper Freelancing Terminology

Smart Money Saving Guide

Back to School | Defraying the Cost of College

Throwing Money Away | Simple Ways to Save

Freelancing Risks: What to expect and solutions

Summertime should be fun for everyone

Freelancing Risks: What to expect and solutions

Writing in Post Panda World – Overcoming obstacles

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