If you have a blog to maintain, you may find it tedious and challenging to post original content on a regular basis. You are however painfully aware that in order to maintain a readership, or to grow your readership that you must post quality, regular content. There are some ways that you can provide regular fresh content to your website with the use of tools that are available free of charge.

RSS feeds

Many blogs and some websites have RSS feeds readily available. You can utilize these RSS feeds to provide a blog post when you simply are not up to writing one. Simply type into your search engine your topic, and RSS feed. Once you do this, you’ll be presented with a list of sites that provide RSS feeds. One word of caution, the plus side of RSS feeds is that that individual post will likely update on a regular basis. While this is great for search engine optimization, you can also provide you with some embarrassing information. Make sure that you carefully review any site that you are using an RSS feed from to ensure that the content is “family-friendly”.

continue reading "Freelancing|Your own blog posts"

What is it about some clients that makes them think a freelance writer should work for peanuts, and take on responsibilities way beyond the scope of the assignment?

Sad to say, but in most cases, it’s us. The freelance writers, who fail to stipulate the terms of our agreement properly before beginning work. We’re also often all too eager to please, and stretch the boundaries of what we will and won’t do just to keep the client happy.

Your clients, understandably, want to keep their costs down. You, on the other hand need to maintain a livable working wage. Striking the balance between providing good quality content and meeting clients’ expectations, and not being taken for a ride can be a challenge, to say the least.

Clients will almost always come up with ideas to improve their business that involves extra work for you. In the early stages of the relationship, it’s tempting to agree to small changes without charging extra, because you want to make a good impression. If you’re not careful, though, your client will assume you are happy with the current rate, and expect you to take on more and more work with no additional payment.

Once you have got into this situation, resentment builds. You feel put upon and taken for granted, and when you do broach the subject, your client may be taken aback, and react defensively. They may even use the fact you’ve agreed so readily in the past against you.

The best way to avoid this situation is to be clear and decisive upfront. When you take on a job, have the parameters set out clearly in writing, and state that additional work will incur additional charges. Then comes the hard part: stick to your guns.

The first time a new client changes the brief, let them know that you would be happy to oblige, and remind them of your agreement. Let them know how much extra work is involved for you, and how much extra this will cost. Yes, some might balk, and even threaten to find another writer. Most will either accept the additional fee or negotiate a smaller increase.

My advice for dealing with those clients who threaten to dump you? Although it’s tempting to either cave in and do the extra work for free or tell them where to stuff their job, neither is going to help you in the long run. Instead, point out that they hired you to do a specific job, and that as agreed, alterations to the job are subject to rate negotiations. Remind them, in their own words if possible, how happy they have been with your previous work.

Then explain if you take on additional work at no extra cost, you will have less time to devote to the existing work, and the quality will inevitably suffer as a result. Ask if they would be happy with this lower quality work, or if there is any part of the job you are currently doing they would like you to neglect in order to do the additional work without extra time input. Suggest maybe some of this work could be contracted out to someone else so that you can concentrate on the important areas.

Make it clear that you value your time, and that you care about the quality of your work. You are not being unreasonable, you are being professional. After all, you have standards you want to uphold.

I have had many such conversations with clients over the years, some of which have resulted in the simple, repetitive tasks being passed on to other freelancers (or even back to the client) while I was able to concentrate on writing copy and content, and very few of which have not been amicably resolved. When you are writing under someone else’s name and suggest that their demands are going to reflect badly on them, it tends to make them rethink.

On the few occassions where a client has refused to listen to reason, and repeatedly threatened to take their business elsewhere, I’m sure you can imagine what my reaction has been.

If they don’t believe their business is worth the additional time and cost, who am I to disagree with them?

As we have discussed in a previous post, working at home comes with some specific issues that are unique for freelancers. Your choice of web browser, can seriously impact your freelancing business. This is especially true for freelance writers.

Web browsers

While most new computers come with Microsoft Explorer, today there are a variety of free Web browsers that are available that can add more functionality. One great example of this is Mozilla Firefox. With a significant list of tools that help increase functionality, Mozilla Firefox can be a significant time-saver for a freelancer.

Google chrome is another free web browser that is gaining popularity. Much of how you make the decision on which Web browser to use, will be your personal preference. Each web browser has their own specific “feels” as well as additional tools that can be added on to increase their functionality.

I’m going to focus primarily on Mozilla Firefox since this is the one that I prefer. As of this writing, I have been using Firefox for approximately 3 years. One of the best tools that I have found is a simple little tool called X-marks. This plug-in (and it may work and other browsers) will allow you to store bookmarks, as well as passwords. This means that wherever you may be, you can quickly gain access to information that you may need.

Plug-ins

There are a variety of tool-bars, and plug-ins that offer great functionality and extend the usability of web browsers. Plug-ins also can change the look and feel of your browser. If you are someone who has a number of different clients, you may have websites that you visit specifically for those clients. In that case, you may be interested in a plug-in that will help organize your bookmarks into folders and keep them readily visible right on your browsers bar.

Blogging

There are also plug-ins for your browser’s that can help you blog directly without having to login. These plug-in tools are free of charge, and merely take some setting up. This can save time, energy, and effort as you will be able to directly blog without having to log into numerous websites.

Necessary tools

There are other tools that are free of charge they can be very important. One of these is a plug-in for page rank that is offered by Google. This can be especially critical for those who are writing website content, or those who are engaged in search engine optimization.

Another interesting tool that is offered by Google is the wonder wheel. The wonder wheel can help you determine the appropriate keywords for your content. This can help ensure that you are properly targeting the words that will ultimately get blogs and websites ranked.

Summary

These are only a few of the tools that can help you when you are freelancing. There is no possible way to discuss each of the plug-ins, or the benefits and drawbacks of each browser. Each freelancer must make a decision of whether they are going to focus on one browser, and utilize their plug-ins or use a variety of browsers.

One thing that is important to remember, is that if you are developing blogs or websites, they may look different from one browser to the next. It can only help you if you take the time to review websites and blogs from all of the primary browsers to ensure that they look the same to all visitors.

If you type in private label rights articles into your search engine, you will find a wealth of information. Although private label rights articles have some definite advantages, they can often have as many disadvantages. While private label rights articles can save you a great deal of time, and also help you drive traffic to your website or blog, there are some things you need to be aware of.

The good things about private label rights articles

Private label rights articles can be very useful if you are just starting your blog, and are having some challenges driving traffic. Use of private label rights articles can establish your credibility in any specific topic. You can use these articles as is, and post about a variety of topics in a very short time. This is especially helpful if you are just getting started and do not have the time to post regularly.

If you are considering writing an e-book on a specific subject you may find that using private label rights articles can help you with early promotion. You can post a number of blog titles that will allow you to establish your credibility in that field. In addition, you can also combine a small group of private label rights articles into one batch and give them away as a free gift for ordering your book.

The bad things about private label rights articles

One of the most significant challenges of private label rights articles is the overall structure. Often times, these articles are not broken out with bullets, nor are they structured to draw the most attention. Most of them (as a general rule of thumb) are so stuffed with keywords that they are barely intelligible. More often than not, a single batch of private label rights articles will contain a large number of “spun” articles. This means that somebody has taken one or two articles and rewritten it numerous times until they make no sense whatsoever.

What’s ugly about private label rights articles

Perhaps one of the worst things about these articles is the repetitive nature and the “sales.” nature. More often than not, you will find large amounts of articles that are promoting a program. If this is the case, you’ve definitely purchased the wrong batch of articles.

Before you purchase any batches of private label rights articles, try to see what the topics are that are contained in the batch. One of the good things about many of them, is that they will contain a variety of subjects. If you were trying to specialize in one field, such as affiliate marketing for example, you may want to purchase a batch that only focuses on affiliate marketing. However, you may find that you will get a better deal by purchasing a “generic” batch of private label rights articles.

Summary

If you are just starting to develop a web presence, whether it’s on a blog or a website, private label rights articles could be a very good investment. They are typically very low cost, and even though you will get numerous articles that you cannot use you will get an equal number that you can use.

One thing to be aware of  is if you do purchase private label rights articles, be prepared to edit them. Some articles will require heavy editing, while others only minor editing.

In today’s society, it is not uncommon for a small business owner to hire several freelancers to help manage their business. You may have a team of freelancers who are doing entirely different tasks, while assisting you with the same client.  Many small businesses now maintain fully virtual offices.

One of the challenges of this is ensuring that these freelancers are made to feel like they are part of your team. This is not necessarily that difficult to do. Even when your team members are working across different time zones, there are methods to ensure they are working together.

One option is to introduce your team to each other via e-mail. When they are working on the same project, it’s helpful if they are in direct communication with each other. Let’s for example say that you have one person designing a website, and another person creating the content of that site. Rather than all of the information going through you, it may be just as easy to have them communicate with each other.

continue reading "Freelancing – Why Teamwork Matters"

It’s easy to fall foul off optimistic estimates of what you can achieve in in given time frame, and it’s beyond your control when things happen to prevent you from completing work. The difference between a professional freelancer and an amateur is in the attitude you take to getting the work done when things go wrong. An amateur might wait until the deadline, hoping against hope to get the assignment done in time. A professional will keep lines of communication open, and have back up plans in place for contingencies.

It’s important as a freelancer not to accept work you don’t think you’ll be able to complete, on time and to specification.

Of course, sometimes you’ll have to do some research before you can provide the article your client wants to the standard they require, and it’s possible to underestimate the amount of research a given subject might take.

It’s also possible to accept an assignment and then have ‘life happen.’ A good example of this would be having the power supply on your computer die on you at a critical time, or losing your Internet connection.

So just what do you do if you find yourself suddenly in a position where it looks as thought you might not be able to meet a deadline?

First, don’t give up at the first hurdle. When it comes to research, it’s important not to panic if a subject turns out to be more complex that you initially imagined. Instead, make a list of the questions you need answering and allot as much time as you have to it, then work through the list, getting the best answers to the questions you can.

If your client is more clued up on the subject than you are, a quick phone call or email asking for clarification on one or two points won’t generally go against you. Certainly it won’t damage your client’s faith in you as much as writing an article with inaccurate information or faulty argument.

It’s also sometimes OK to include points of confusion in your article. Sometimes you can’t find a satisfactory answer, or are confronted with differing opinions because experts disagree. In these cases noting the opposing opinions and who supports which, giving your readers the opportunity to make up their own minds is the best way to go.

As far as ‘life’ goes, signalling issues as they arise to clients, and how you hope to overcome them, is a better move than disappearing off the face of the Earth with no explanation. You might re-emerge days later with excuses hoping your client will forgive your lapse. Even if your client doesn’t dump you like a hot brick, they will have lost some of their trust in your abilities.

If instead, you communicate technical or other issues as soon as you are aware of them, a minor disaster could actually end up growing your client’s trust in your reliability.

If you lose Internet access, remember you can always ‘borrow’ it from somewhere else. Get into the habit of storing files relating to clients’ work online, on a service like Google Docs or something similar. Keep their contact information on your phone, and keep a paper record as well. Sadly, it’s possible for more than one technological device to die on you at once. In the same vein, keep multiple records of assignments, guidelines and due dates.

As part of our ongoing series offering hints for tools to work at home, we continue today with time tracking and task management.  Whether we want to admit it or not, all of us waste a fair amount of time. There are ways to curb waste of time, but first you must identify how you wasting time. There are several free tools that are available for tracking exactly what you are doing online. One of the easiest ones I have found, is a free open-source program called WR Time tracker. This program allows you to set up a free account, turn on the timer, and make notes of what you working on at the time. What this will allow you to do, is at the end of a specified period of time you can go back and see how you’re spending your time.

One of the biggest challenges with freelancing, is making sure that you use your time to the best advantage. remember, when you’re working for yourself time is money. The more ways you can identify to cut back on wasted time, the easier it is for you to invest our time and money making.

continue reading "Work at Home Requirements V"