THE INSIDER GUIDE TO FREELANCE WRITING
How Anyone Even If You Are a Novice,
Could Make Up To $2000 Monthly With Your
Writing Skills On The Internet
Introduction: A wake up call
If you have not started making money on the internet or if you still have the feeling that there is no legitimate money to be made on the internet, then you are living behind times. There are several ways of making money on the internet legitimately, but for this course, I am going to divide it into two broad categories. Thus:
1. Selling products
Here you have to sell either your own product or you sell someone’s product as an affiliate. The product that you are to sell might be a tangible product or a digital product.
2. Selling services
Here you are to use your skills, offer a service to somebody or an organization and you get paid for it. Online article writing falls into this category. In this manual, I am going to show you how to sell your services as a writer on the internet and make cool DOLLARS. No matter who you are, whether a newbie or an experience writer, this information has been designed to help you utilize your earning ability as a writer online.
The promise that I am making to you is d two way street. Your willingness to learn and take action is a critical factor in your success as a service provider on the internet
You have to make a true commitment to the following:
1. Learning
2. Focusing
3. Taking action
So once you are ready to do all that I have listed above then be rest assured that you are on your way to greatness as a writer online.
THE INTERNET IS PRIMARILY ABOUT INFORMATION
Think for a moment about why people, including you, use the internet. Why do people go online? Well there are some reasons, maybe to stay in touch with families and friends via email, read news, research for their assignment and project, etc. No matter what is listed the truth is that
YOU USE THE NET TO GATHER INFORMATION
The internet contains large volume of information on virtually every imaginable topic on earth. People all over the world use the internet as a research tool before taking a decision on a particular service or product. Your key to making money on the Internet is
THE HUNGER FOR INFORMATION
You may want to ask how? So let’s go.
Like I said previously, the internet is primarily about information, all the contents that you see on every website were writing by someone. You cannot have a website without content (mostly written work). Most websites outside the shores of your country have websites whose content are targeted on a particular topic. It is this content on the website that attracts most people to it.
Sometimes in order to drive traffic to the website so as to make sales, they will need to submit articles to articles submission directories so that it will be read by people and in the process bring more traffic (visitors) to their websites.
YOU’RE KEY TO ONLINE WEALTH AS A WRITER IS THE HUNGER FOR GOOD AND FRESH CONTENT
For the search engines to pick up website, the content of the websites must be fresh and article directing visitors to that website must be spread across the entire net like a wild fire but
THERE IS A PROBLEM
Most webmasters and internet business owner do not have the time and energy to write articles for their websites or ezines[electronic magazines]. So what do they do?
THEY OUTSOURCE THEIR WRITINGS
And that is where you come in as a writer.
HOW TO EARN DOLLARS WITH YOUR WRITING SKILLS
The opportunity for article writing on the Internet is enormous. There are different types of writing jobs on the Internet thus:
1. Copy writing
2. Special project
3. Proof reading
4. Resume writing
5. Article writing
Each of the above mentioned is lucrative and whichever you choose to go into, you will find it well paying.
ONE BITTER TRUTH
In online business, you don’t need to know everything, you have to do what you know and hire (outsource or out task) somebody else to do it for you.
Using this model, webmasters and internet infoprenuers has discovered that it is cheaper and easier to employ a ghost writer and pay them a few dollars to do their writing for them. Once you are through with the writing, they take over the copy write ownership and continue using it as a promotional or sales tool as long as they want. Apart from writing articles for websites, there are also magazines, newspapers, and research companies’ etc. That needs writers that can be able to write for them from any part of the world.
What kind of freelance writer do you want to be?
GETTING REJECTION YOUR FIRST STEP TO BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL WRITING CAREER
The more I talk about online writing opportunities the more I will say that the first significant mile stone in a successful writing career is your initial rejection. Most people who want to write online never get to this level, but when you do and you handle the situation well, you will go places.
The rejection is always bad [when your writing is rejected by the editor/webmaster], but your first rejection is critical to your career. Just leave the mail, get a soft drink, release and think about your writing. The following are steps to handling your initial rejection.
Review what you submitted
Now that your work has been rejected, get a copy of the writers’ guideline, and everything that is corrected to the writing.
Your goal is to take a good look at what you wrote and try to find out why it was rejected. There are usually three reasons for rejection and your work could be rejected for the following reasons
1. You did not understand the market
2. You did not write well enough
3. Other reasons.
The first two reasons, you can do something about them but for the last you can’t.
Understand your market
You’ve got to understand the market that you are submitting to. Who they are? What do they need? What does the reader want?
The reader is the ultimate reason why writing is published. The more you understand how to approach the reader, the more likely you will write for the reader and make your money. Writers’ guideline will also give you a clue but knowing who you are writing for is the KEY.
Now you will need to check the writing you sent with the reader in mind. What did you miss? What do you see now that you did not see initially? Here you will need to be honest with yourself so that you can move to higher levels.
Poor writing
Sometimes poor writing is obvious and sometimes it’s not. There are obvious problem like poor spelling, incomplete sentence, wrong modifies, etc. You can handle this by paying more attention to details and good proofreading.
THE 3 SECRETS TO SUCCESSFUL WRITING CAREER
Write, Rewrite and Market
Writing is a blessing because it gives us opportunities to share ideas with others. Not many people ever get the chance to inform, influence and entertain people like writers. As you are reading this information, all you want is an easy way to write, get published and earn good money with your writing. In this career, there are 3 essential secret and they are:
1. Write
2. Rewrite
3. Market
Write
For you to be a successful writer, you must put something down on paper. You see nothing happens if you do not write. There is no two ways about it so please write consistently.
Rewrite
Once to have written, you need to rewrite. Rewriting is not easy but it is essential. This is where clarity, conciseness appear. When you rewrite, your personal style begins to shine through, setting you apart from others and this makes your work saleable.
Market
The need to market is what makes you the money; it is a must if you want to be successful. There are websites like www.essaywriters.net where you can get started and grow to a premium writer. You will have the freedom to log into your account and pick any writing job that fits you. In this website, you can earn over 800euros per month [not dollars]. It takes a while to get all the three elements of a successful writer working well together but once you do, you are on your way to your millions as a successful writer online.
MISTAKES NEW WRITERS MAKE AND HOW TO AVIOD THEM
New writers have a difficult hurdle to overcome. How do you appear professional and experienced when approaching a webmaster or an online entrepreneur? Sometimes, unseasoned writer fall into a set of traps. Here are the common ones:
1. Not being familiar with the market: all too often new writers sometimes write for a publication without first familiarizing themselves with the market that they are writing for.
2. Not packing ideas: great opportunities are lost when writers fail to see how to repackage already familiar ideas into fresh new ones. Webmasters, editors and ezine publishers get excited
when writers think outside the box.
3. Failing to pay up their expertise: sometimes when writers approach editors for jobs, they come up with words like “I have never written before”. For you to succeed as a writer online, play up your expertise for example if you are writing an article about farmers, mention that you have farmed before.
4. Pitching undeveloped ideas: editors and webmasters aren’t interested in receiving a list of undeveloped ideas online. As a writer and marketer of your ideas, you need to convince them that you have done some initial leg work and that you have thought your ideas through.
5. Deserving: sending emails to editors and webmasters on a writing project is not a big deal but constant mailing after sending your query is plainly unprofessional.
6. Being big headed: confidence is one thing, but as a new writer, you need to start from somewhere. So do what you can to take up the little writing jobs that come your way. You can grow from a $3 per 200 words article to $1,500 project.
HOW TO READ WRITERS MARKET LISTING
Editors and publishers issue market listing that describes what they want from writers. Successful writers follow these listings to the letter.
All market listing tends to follow the same pattern. The name of the publisher/publication will appear on the top. A description of what they need from writers will take a few lines. An indication of the pay will follow plus whether they will pay on acceptance or publication. Below are examples of writers market listings. (Click on name for profile)
EXAMPLE 1
Registered User
Currently Offline Posts: 1
Join Date: July 2006
Looking for a professional to write 20 – 40 real estate articles a month, ranging from 500 – 1200 words. If interested, please contact me immediately, with some writing examples. We will pay based upon quality of end result, which will be based upon creativity, ability to do research and create unique solid content that is very appealing to read. Email me at mdmbud@gmail.com, with the subject Real Estate Articles. Please include work examples and desired rate and turn around estimation. I will get back to you immediately.
Thanks, Dave
PS We are looking for someone ASAP, so please respond quickly if interested.
Email me – I Want To See Your Work Ability!
EXAMPLE 2
Registered User
Currently Offline Posts: 2
Join Date: November 2005
I am looking for 500 words (approximately) personal essays that will appeal to a target audience of 25 – 50 years old affluent women. Submissions can be funny or poignant but need to resonate with that audience. I do not want how to or self help stories. I will pay $300. Please email completed essays for consideration to homestyle.ed@mac.com.
EXAMPLE 3
Registered User
Currently Offline Posts: 1
Join Date: April 2006
THIS GIG HAS BEEN FILLED – will be posting new assignment on Thursday. We are looking for a series of 6 Health & Beauty articles for an online celebrity publication. We are looking for interesting investigative stories and reports that are relevant to “Celebrity watchers” in the US. This may include fashion, plastic surgery, vacation hotspots, etc.
Articles are to be 300 – 500 words.
The first article is due on Friday June 9th.
Payment is $100 per article via PayPal or Western Union upon completion of each article.
Email beautytips@hotmail.com your qualifications and a sample article.
EXAMPLE 4
Registered User
Currently Offline Posts: 1
Join Date: July 2006
Description: we need someone to help us finish our health, detox related book ASAP! We’ve been laboring sporadically on this project for 8 months. The project should have a significant amount of research. Need someone knowledgeable in the health, detox field.
Pay is based on experience and expedience… up to $2,000 for finished product. There’s opportunity to participate in residuals – negotiable!
Approximately: 200 pages!
Part of the project will also entail a summary that would be reproduced on CD –
Approximately: 15 minutes worth.
Contact: David Floyd.
EXAMPLE 5
Registered User
Currently Offline Posts: 3
Join Date: February 2006
I am in need of some writers that can deliver fast and decent articles. The topic varies, and so does the word count per article. You must have a fast turnaround time, without coping from any resources. Yahoo IM is a must so that we can communicate as well.
Pay is $3.00 per article. However, work will be plentiful for the writers that are chosen. Please send an email to keywordwriters@yahoo.com to get started today. Thanks!
Please note that these market listings are for real, but DO NOT send queries to these guys, the jobs are gone. There are better ones for you out there. In the market listing there is some key information that is vital to your decision to query the editor.
HOW TO READ AND USE THE LISTING
1. Find out if the editor pays on publication or pays on submission.
2. Look for the pay rate. If it’s not what you want, please stay away. As a beginner, you may start with $3 per 400 words.
3. Pay particular attention to words like “focus” addressing other words or phrases that tell you the purpose of the writing.
4. Look for “current needs or a similar phrase that tells what editor wants.
5. Find out how they want the query. Some editors want email queries while some want snail mail try and pitch email quires.
6. Prepare your query and send it.
HOW TO GO ABOUT YOUR WRITING
Writing a project or an article is not easy task but for you to easily out tones of written materials you will need to start with the purpose statement.
So write down the purpose of your project or article then get standard. Your first time to write may be in the morning or at night.
Some chapter may be easier to write than the other, but just keep on with your work and sort them out later.
When it’s time to rewrite and edit your work when writing a project or an article, it gets to a stage when you will need to focus on rewriting and editing them more.
The two major goals of rewriting and editing your work are:
1. To make sure that your book/ project flows logically and completely.
2. To make your final manuscript as error free as possible.
HOW TO PROOFREAD YOUR OWN WRITING
After writing your book/project, you will need to proofread the writing. Proofreading your own work is difficult but here are some ways to go about it.
1. Pay extra attention to your Microsoft word spell checker
2. Read the final manuscript aloud. Your ears will certainly pick errors.
3. Put the manuscript away for at least 24 hours then revisit it with fresher eyes.
4. Ask someone else to read it. Make it clear to the person that you only want him/her to spot spelling and grammatical errors.
5. Read the manuscript backward, from the last word to the first. If you find it hard to do, then read the difficult passages backward.
PROOFREADING TIPS
1. Proofreading should be done after you’ve finished with editing.
2. Carefully select the readers that will go through your work. Make it known to them that their job is proofreading only.
3. Proofreading is a must, though not easy but it makes the difference.
HOW TO AVOID THE TROUBLE OF STARTING A WRITING PROJECT
For you to avoid the trouble of starting a writing project, all you need to do to get started is.
First, you will need to create both a purpose and a working table of content with your clients.
You need to know your audience, the market you are writing for and what they want to hear you say.
Writing a purpose statement helps. A purpose statement is like a road map to your writing. The purpose statement helps you to identify the ideal reader you are writing for.
A purpose statement is not supposed to have more than 10 words, it looks like this.
HOW TO EARN DOLLARS WITH YOUR WRITING SKILLS
This purpose of this article/book is: your 10 words tips for writing a purpose statement, let’s assume that you are to write an article on travelling. This article can take many forms; it could be a review about a beach resort, or travelling to trouble spots. In case like the travelling article, you will be able to develop your purpose by asking yourself some questions like:
v How old is your target reader,
v Is the person a solo traveler, group traveler or has a partner or children?
v Do they want luxury travel or they want to hitchhike.
v Would the person/reader want to be among people like himself/herself or foreigners?
v How long will the trip last?
After asking yourself those and other questions, you may come up with purpose statements like
1. 10 ways to save money while camping.
2. How to be pampered this weekend.
3. How to travel on a shoe string budget.
Now you are done with your purpose statement, put your purpose statement on the top of your writing material boldly. Read your purpose statement as you begin editing and rewriting. Set it to guide and inform your writing.
ARTICLE WRITING, A GOLD MINE
WHAT ARE SEO ARTICLES
SEO simply means search engine optimization articles. These articles are usually needed online and they can be easily picked up by search engines like Google, AltaVista, and Askjeeves.
Most internet marketers normally use a method called article marketing to promote their products and services.
HOW TO WRITE SEO ARTICLES
As an article writer, you will need to pretend that you are going to give your readers a twinkle. Try and keep your offering short and sweet. The readers of your article will want to see the articles as if they are specifically written for them. So you will have to be a bit personal when writing your article.
Try and be as descriptive as possible and always paint a clear picture up front for your would be readers, so that they will know what you are presenting to them.
Get to the point.
According to researchers, impatient seems to be heightened while on the internet. The reader will not like to scroll down screen after screen to get the important information. So know what to say and don’t bring them under useless details.
The Shorter the better.
It is recommended that you keep your sentences at about 25 words or less when possible. Keep your paragraph short as well and let your paragraph not be longer than 8 so as to sustain your readers’ attention.
Organize well.
After writing use your rewriting, editing and proofreading time to organize your articles. Divide your information into logical clusters with each group of note focusing on your purpose statement and your specific market.
Use Keywords.
An SEO article is not complete without keywords. Using keywords will not only lure your readers to the text, they will also give a definite insight into what is next to follow. Keywords can also be riveting words that will make your readers stop. Been imaginative, Clever, witty is just as effective as being precise.
Keyword density.
A keyword is a particular word that reoccurs so many times in your article. When we say keyword density, it usually refers to the number of times a word or a group of words will appear in an article. Keyword density is very important because all searches conducted on the internet are based on keyword and most internet marketers use keywords to steal free traffic online.
Finishing touches.
After writing your articles, you need to use the same rewriting, editing and proofreading tips mentioned previously.
You will need to arrange the information in order of importance by following your purpose statement.
After all these you will be amazed that you’ve come out with an amazing article that will catch your readers fancy and make your client/editor give you more jobs.
WHERE TO GET EDITORS/WEBMASTERS TO GIVE YOU WORK
There are a number of places on the internet where you can get writing jobs. You can get started from: www.essaywriters.net.
As the name implies, the jobs you get from this website are mostly essays and projects. This website pays between $1 - $17 per page of the project/essay you write for them. They pay you through Western Union or Money gram and they have lots of jobs for you.
Note: While filling the form on their website, please do not be in a hurry. Answer the question on paper before filling the forms.
This is to make sure you are accepted as a writer. Once this website accepts you and you do your job very well, you are in your Dollars.
It’s another good website with loads of jobs for you. Just like www.esaywriters.net, it’s full of projects and research jobs.
This website is very rich and it’s versatile. The jobs in this site vary from
1. Copy writing
2. Editing
3. Article writing
4. Special projects
5. Proofreading.
The two most important places in the website are:
1. Morning Coffee:
This is a news letter that is published every Tuesday. It contains advertisement of people looking for writings of different categories. From the home page, look out for morning coffee, click on it and you will see the listings.
2. Career Center:
In the career center, you will find so many writing jobs in different categories. You can also place advert on the section, but for you to do so, you will need to register. The good News here is that registration is free. Once registered, you will get your own user name and password and this will enable you to logon to the members area any time you want.
There are other good websites where you can also get writing jobs, they include the following:
1. www.online-writing-jobs.com
5. www.guru.com
6. www.freelanceportfolios.com – here you will need to create your writing portfolio show casing your services to your clients.
HOW TO GET THEM TO CONSIDER YOU
1. Competence: your prospect wants to be sure that the person doing his writing can deliver a quality job. This includes proficiency and attention to details. You will have to convey the feeling of being able to do the job perfectly in your letter.
2. Enthusiastic: this is very important to the webmaster because when doing a job in a good mood, you tend to deliver well so your letter to them must convey passion and energy about the prospect of doing the job to your would be client.
3. Available: here you will have to create a sense of availability to your client. The client wants to be sure that when they give the job to you, that you will be there to do the job.
4. Sincere: I will like you to be sincere in your dealings with your client. Do not pick writing jobs that you cannot do. There are several jobs out there for you to choose from. Lastly, try and use action words on the reader of your resume so as to get quick response. Some of the words are:
v Achieve
v Remarkable
v Improved
v Excellent
v Proficient
v Effective
Different resume should be used for different writing jobs so adjust your resume to fit different client. Below is an example of a resume
Gerald Smith
204 Greenfield lanes, Sarasota, Florida 34230
P.O Box 2989, USA
OBJECTIVE: Researcher/ Writer/ Proofreader/ Editor
PROFILE: Researcher/ Sub Editor with more than 3 years experience providing contents, proofreading and editing magazines, newspapers and newsletters for publishing houses.
CORE COMPETENCEIES
v Top-class writings
v Powerful research skills
v Impeccable English
v Captivating and incisive writings
v Ability to meet deadlines
v High knowledge and usage of the internet
v Ability to cut stories without losing the necessary information
v Uncommon ability to spot errors in writings
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
New York Times (daily Newspaper)
Staff Writer, Researcher and Proofreader, 2005 to present. Researching and writing about self development and entrepreneurship. Proofreading contents for newspapers and magazine.
Coordinator: workers union, 2005 – present
Sending out periodic newsletters to members of my list. Organizing periodic seminars and conferences. Administering my blogs and website, which included providing content and updating them.
EDUCATION
Harvard University USA
M.Sc. Mass Communication 2004
Like I said earlier there are different resumes for different jobs so please it should be strictly tailored to suit the writing need of the employer.
WHERE TO ADVERTISE YOUR EXPERTISE FOR FREE
You can advertise your writing skills online for free without paying a dime. So let’s go.
Logon to www.elance.com, click on register, while writing your profile, give them your detail and what you do, also tell them you are doing well.
You can also advertise yourself in the following website: www.guru.com
HOW TO SEND YOUR WRITING
After you must have finished the writing, rewriting, editing, proofreading and spell checking your work you will need to send it to your editor/client. Here you will need to send your writing by email.
But the total amount of work you will be sending will be too bulky, so you will need to zip the work. Zipping your work will help to reduce its size, thereby making it easier to be attached to your email.
How to zip your work
1. Right click on your desktop (not on any particular icon) scroll down and select create new folder.
2. Name the folder
3. Copy your work and paste it in the folder that you just created
4. Right click on the folder that contain your work, select zip and click on it
In few seconds you will see the zipped folder on your desktop
Log on to your email box, select compose, then select attach files, a window will appear. From the window, select BROWSE, another window will pop up click on the drop down button and select Desktop, from there attach your zipped folder and wait for the files to be attached, your email box will prompt you to click Continue, just do it, include your editors/clients email address, the subject and send your work.
Now you are go to go. To your success.
Labels: WRITER001
posted by Gmoney at
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