Posts Tagged ‘ freelancingandmore ’

Another dubious distinction at Freelancing and More

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Another dubious distinction at Freelancing and More

Sometimes it’s fun to write about milestones that one hits on their blogs. In fact, I recall briefly writing a post when I hit the 500 posts written mark and wasn’t sure what to do next. I also wrote about the number of subscribers to this blog (which is pathetic to say the least).   But today, I have another dubious distinction to report. Remember those spam comments? Over the last six months or so, I’ve reported many spammers who have placed countless comments on this blog and even called some of them out by name.   There was Kizi Games, there…

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May 2013: A tale of goal setting failures

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May 2013: A tale of goal setting failures

Ironically enough in April I sort of took myself to task for failing to meet many of my hard-set goals. Well, if April was bad, May was a complete failure in terms of nearly all of my goals. I cannot even begin to explain most of the problem although I have been sick most of the month so if needed I will blame that. Ironically enough, private clients accounted for nearly all of the work I did in May which is probably a good thing since the other stats were so bad that I’m almost afraid to share them! Blogs: Yuk!…

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Cheap freelance rates hurt EVERYONE

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Cheap freelance rates hurt EVERYONE

Many of you have read my rants and raves about oDesk on more than one occasion and you have also read about my complaints about new freelancers who insist on lowering their rates to land that first assignment. My contention is that these cheap freelance rates hurt every freelancer. I have many times suggested that we (as freelancers) need to stop undervaluing our work and stop trying to compete with freelancers who are charging rates that our children would not work for. In fact, the lower you start off, the harder it is to increase your rates to  levels where…

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oDesk: Another Epic Failure

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oDesk: Another Epic Failure

Several days ago, oDesk decided to roll out another “feature”. Now, I’m not sure who thought this was a good idea (or for that matter WHY they thought it was a good idea) but the overall failure of this feature is evident in reviewing the response from contractors (most, not all).  The feature is called “Similar Contractors” and it is placed in full living color on the right hand side of the users profile. The worst thing about this “feature” is the total lack of foresight oDesk displayed in implementing it. Failure number one: Communication Never, never roll out a…

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Content Mills: Like it or not they are valuable

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Content Mills: Like it or not they are valuable

I recently read a very well written blog post from a freelance writer who made the argument that freelancers should not start off their careers using a content mill. The theory is these sites encourage poor writing, encourage writers to accept lower rates of pay and stunt the growth of most writers. However, in my personal experience, this is simply false in many ways. Experience matters For many freelance writers who are just getting started (myself included), they may have not written anything since their school days. While there is some truth to the fact that many graduates who have…

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Evaluating Online Business Opportunities

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Evaluating Online Business Opportunities

The Internet has opened up several online business opportunities that can turn into full-time income generators. While there are many legitimate online business opportunities, many more are frauds. When researching opportunities, research will help ensure the opportunity is legitimate. Some of these include: Contact information Numerous companies offer affiliate marketing opportunities as well as the potential to start e-commerce businesses.  All too frequently, these sites are shadow companies that are set up for the specific reason of collecting fees from unsuspecting entrepreneurs. One way to avoid this problem is to review the website and look for the companies contact information.…

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Writing Site Reviews: Blogmutt

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Writing Site Reviews: Blogmutt

Most of you know I am always looking for new writing sites to experiment with. While I have some private clients, the work load varies from month to month.  Oftentimes, I sign up on writing sites and “watch” long before I write anything there and this new site was no exception. Meet Blogmutt. What is Blogmutt? The service is a platform for blog owners to purchase content at a fixed price for a specific number of posts per month. For writers, you can write as much as you want and are paid $8 per post. The good news about this…

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Update: Microsoft Support

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Update: Microsoft Support

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a purchase of Windows 8 and complained about a vendor that really gave me a problem.  However, I do want to follow up on this post because something really remarkable happened. After this post I went back and read the forum where I had posted my original complaint and saw that the person responding suggested I should contact Microsoft Support. I honestly did not expect to get anyplace with this but decided that it wouldn’t hurt to check.  So I called them and I spoke to a very nice young man and…

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Writing Site Updates: Media Piston

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Writing Site Updates: Media Piston

One of my most “popular” writing site reviews was the one I did on Media Piston. Admittedly I was fairly new to the site when I wrote it and to be honest, I’ve had sufficient amounts of work that I really have not spent much time on the site.  I was aware that as an oDesk contractor, I could sign into Media Piston with my oDesk login but never did it that way because this change seemed to occur after I signed up. After a couple of weeks, I discovered that oDesk users were confused about Media Piston as you…

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An Update on Textbroker

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An Update on Textbroker

I have to admit that I’ve been a bit skeptical about Textbroker because too often, I feel that the ratings by the editors (or whoever does them) is far too subjective.  While I am well aware of my propensity to either over or under use commas, I feel that for the most part, my writing is good enough to pass most editors.  For the past several months, I’ve continued to work at TB even though I am squeamish about some of the rates. However, with that said, I am fairly confident that going into 2013, that TB will work well…

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Year drawing to a close

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Year drawing to a close

Who would have thunk it? 2012 is drawing to a close and I’ve gotten around to reviewing what my plans were for 2012. While some of my plans came to fruition, it appears that they got somewhat thwarted around mid-year meaning I had to change course!  Last year at this time I was planning on starting my new website, No Scam Work at Home to help identify and call out scams. For several months, this worked out pretty well. The problem of course came in that my site was hacked around mid-year and I had to rethink what to do…

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The best way to market your company

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The best way to market your company

Marketing for growth One of the many challenges of owning a business is marketing. Without a successful marketing plan, chances are that your business will stagnate and over time, you will see a decline in sales. When sales begin declining, it may be too late to start a new marketing campaign to revive your business. That means that you must have a plan in place when you begin your business and one that is flexible over time. To determine your best options for marketing you must have some basic knowledge including: Your customer base – you need to know who…

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Twitter – How effective is it for marketing?

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Twitter – How effective is it for marketing?

Maximizing Twitter’s effectiveness Freelance writers, online marketing professionals and bloggers may be overlooking the potential for a great Twitter advertising campaign for their products or services. Learning how to use Twitter effectively is one of the most important steps that must be taken to get the most out of Twitter. While Twitter is free to use, it is important to understand that it is a tool that can be most effectively used when reaching out to an audience. Interaction and information are the two primary things that are required to be effective when using Twitter. The art of interaction It…

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How do you select great writing topics

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How do you select great writing topics

Defining your niche market For many writers, the biggest obstacle to writing is selecting a worthy topic. For some, this is a fairly straightforward process while others struggle to come up with the right ideas. There are some things that may determine how a writer prepares to create new work. Interest, political leanings and even educational levels may limit a writer’s ability to find work they want. Some writers have identified niche areas that work best for them. For example, a writer with a good grasp of law or medicine may focus on these topics exclusively. Oftentimes, education and life…

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Essential elements of a successful blog

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Essential elements of a successful blog

Never overlook the importance of small things It’s easy to set up a blog, and with the variety of social media sites that are available, it’s easier than ever to find a group of readers who are interested in your site. Of course setting up your blog well and getting readers is crucial to long-term blogging success, there are some things that can make or break your blog regardless of how many readers you may have. Here are some of the components that make up a successful blog. Interlocking pieces There are pieces that all work together that can help…

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