Generic Topics

What part of self-employed did you miss?

There are some days when I could just thrash someone – actually, that’s probably most days. One of the things that constantly baffles me is what part of self employment people miss. I always understood that being self-employed meant you were undertaking some form of risk. However, too many freelancers want to have their cake (e.g., be self-employed) and eat it too (e.g., not taking risks). This blows my mind! Now I have certainly discussed this before in the post “Freelance marketplace trap” and I have railed against “protections” for freelancers in “Why I think Freelancers Union is bad”...

I tripped over a fascinating website today doing my usual perusal of online work options. I actually found a site that encourages companies to hire people to work from home but with a couple of fascinating twists included. First of all, they are not interested in freelancers, they are actually searching for people who are interested in being employees. The site is very clear – they do not contract out any short term assignments, they are ONLY there to provide long-term full-time opportunities. But then it gets squishy from there. Here’s why: First, I started going through the sign...

I recently did some tweaking of my blog(s) to try to encourage people to submit comments. I am still not 100 percent sure that I have them set correctly but I can tell you one thing – spam is alive and well on the Internet. Thank heavens that WordPress has the feature of allowing you to “flag” certain urls and web emails and they go directly to spam. It is pretty good, I’ve had 782 page loads in seven days and almost 300 pieces of spam – that’s only on this blog. I wanted to share some of...

I had some time to review some of my posts both here and on my other blog No Scam Work at Home. In the process, I decided to take a look at some of the statistics of these blogs and I have to admit to being not only stunned but seriously disappointed! The first post on this blog was made in November of 2008 and it it now March of 2012. Over that time I have exactly 23 subscribers! Holy smokes! I have 20 subscribers on the other blog. Where did I go wrong? I try to write relevant...

Websites that accept donations for major charities Learn about legitimate options for making donations online. Understanding how causes spend money Every time you donate a dollar to a special cause somewhere in the back of your mind you wonder where that money is going. Here are some hints for finding out where your money is going. What role does a board of directors play in a nonprofit? Many nonprofit organizations board of directors do not understand their roles. The board of directors are crucial to the success of any community organization or non-profit entity. How to write meeting minutes...

Just over a week ago, I decided to take a long-overdue break from writing. I literally turned my computer off on Friday afternoon and did not turn it on again until Monday morning. In the four plus years that I have been writing online, this is a complete anomaly, I nearly always at least check email and search for new assignments daily. My “normal” schedule is to begin working around 7am Monday through Friday, take a break around 1pm and then hit the computer again. I take a dinner break usually between 6pm and 8pm and sometimes after that...

Those of us who write online have a diverse set of interests. In fact, it is not unusual to find a mix of high-school dropouts and those who have degrees that some of us cannot even pronounce “hanging out” in the same writer forums. Now this often presents some challenges, causes some conflict and can cause tempers to fly also. However, these “spats” are only one of the challenges that those of us who write online are facing. Here are some observations about writing online. Egos don’t stay in check We’re an ornery lot! We don’t take criticism well...

What you should know about blogging

How to make a free blog look professional Why your blog needs a privacy policy Your blog should have a site map Gaining credibility as a blogger Why your blog should have evergreen content SEO Tips and Tricks How to write effective SEO copy Proper use of anchor text Should you outsource your blogging How often you should post on a blog Plan to drive traffic to your blog Great content does not make a blog successful Inline text advertising Why blogs fail Prevent blog content theft Tweet About Doreen MartelWell-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid...

For most bloggers, it is easy to think about not posting to a blog on a daily basis. After all, most bloggers are not earning enough money from AdSense or other advertising programs to make posting daily a really profitable past-time. However, for those bloggers who take a look at their accounts, there is an argument to be made for posting on a daily basis. Keywords in posts For the most part, those who post to their blogs tend to work on the same basic theme all of the time. Depending on the individual niche, bloggers work in their...

Football fans all across the nation will gather around their televisions. Whether it is for the excitement of the game or for the iconic commercials, the half-time show or some other aspect of the “big game” people will join together for the afternoon. This always leaves the problem of how to feed people and not miss anything. There are some simple Super Bowl party snack ideas that can help keep everyone glued to the television that are easy to prepare and will satisfy the pickiest eater. Grazing time Snacking during the Super Bowl is common, after all, this event...

Thanksgiving seems to have vanished before our eyes and Christmas is breathing down our backs. Now, we’ll be busy with friends, family and shopping. The holiday season often makes it difficult to focus on our work and stay on track. However, there are some things that you can do to make sure that your holiday’s don’t spell disaster for your freelancing work. Here are some simple ideas that are easily implemented and can help you survive the holiday season. Don’t accept too much work – This may sounds simple but it’s not really as cut and dried as you...

I have bragged about how much I love Internet Brands, it was a steady source of revenue for me for quite some time. Unfortunately, client work took me away from the site for a long period of time. With less client work and fewer content sites paying decent money, I decided to try going back. Unfortunately, since I was “gone” for a long time, I had to “reapply” which was fine with me. Hold onto your seats though, it wasn’t all that easy! When I originally applied for Internet Brands, I had to submit a writing sample that covered...

A while back, I published an update on writing for Seed. However, it’s time for another update! As earning abilities have dried up on other sites, like most writers, I’ve gone back to some of my “old haunts”. One of them was Seed. However, when I logged in I was surprised to see not a single item available and I had a blurb that had been there since January of 2011 so I decided to email. I was informed that “Seed” as we know it, no longer existed but, that “Seed II” was being launched and if I was...

We have all had slow days where there does not seem to be enough work to keep us busy and help us stay focused. However, there is no need to allow those days to go to waste. For a freelancer, having a free day can be a bonus – having a slow day can be even better. One of the many challenges of freelancing is that we must do our own marketing and promote our own work. It is not always easy to create and work on a marketing plan when we are incredibly busy trying to meet deadlines...

There is constantly a need to put out articles and blog posts. The challenge becomes one of quality versus quantity. Quantity helps you gain search engine recognition with additional ease while quality can assure that you continue to get readers. It is not uncommon to find people who feel that the most important thing is updating their blog on a regular basis regardless of the quality of what they are writing. All too often, people fill their blog with information that has little or no value to readers. One of the ways this is done is by filling a...

Page 1 of 7

1 2 3 … 7 »

Generic Topics

What part of self-employed did you miss?

Freelancers not welcome!

Spam is alive and well on the Internet

Preaching to the choir

Financing community organizations

Writing Challenges: Objects in motion

Challenges of writing online

What you should know about blogging

Posting frequency matters

Super Bowl Sunday – Super Snacks

Holidays and freelancing

Writing Site Updates: Internet Brands

Writing Site Reviews: Seed Update II

Slow days – How to stay productive

Quality versus quantity

Search the Site

Subscribe by EMail

Subscribe by RSS (Feedburner)

My Sites

Learning Center

More Helpful Stuff

Meet the Authors

Businesses We Trust

Categories

AdSense

Another Disclaimer

Blogroll