Shut Up and Write Already!

This week I have posted about writing specialties and publishing platforms. This is valuable and important information for freelance writers - both experienced and inexperienced. However, I've realized that this advice could throw up huge roadblocks for some writers, preventing them from doing what they want to do most - write.

I've realized this because I'm a bit OCD, and if I were a freelance beginner, or another experienced writer who was also OCD, those two posts could easily get in my way.

If the information that I gave in those posts has brought your actual writing to a screeching halt, forget about it for now and write. Write about a topic that interests you, and don't worry about anything else. Once you have written your final draft, and you are happy with your work, only then think about what niche or sub niche the work belongs in, and then consider which publishing format will work best - not only for the information you have provided, but also in terms of the niche, the length of the work, and the audience that will be most interested in what you have to say.

The point is - Don't over think it...just shut up and write already!

Do You Have a Writing Specialty?

As a freelance writer, it is important that you determine what your specialty is, and that you hone your knowledge in that specialty. Many new freelance writers have no idea what their writing specialty is, and many experienced writers have never taken the time to find their niche either.

It is possible to specialize in more than one niche, but you do not want to have too many specialties. The following information will make my point clearer.

What is a Niche - 

A niche is simply a category. For example, when you submit an article at Constant-Content, you must choose what category the article belongs in, such as health, sports, or business among others. These categories are all "top level"niches. However, each of these categories has subcategories, such as weight loss, football, and business finance.

These subcategories are also niches, and they can still be broken down into even more distinct niches, such as weight loss for women, professional football teams, and small business loans.With some thought and research, these categories can become even more targeted.

Internet marketers always try to narrow down their top level niches as much as possible because it is easier and more profitable to market to a very select group of people. You should use the same philosophy when you select your writing specialty.

What is a Specialty - 

When you have a writing specialty,this could mean two things...the niche that you write for, such as health or sports - or their sub-niches, or the form in which your work will be published, such as web content, books, digital books, magazine articles, newspapers, etc.

I'll save the merits of various publishing platforms for a later date, because you need to figure out what your niche specialty will be before you think about the type of publishing that will work best for that niche. You also need to determine the style of writing you prefer for the niches that you choose. You can learn more about that by reading the post "What Kind of Writer Are You?".

Right now, the important thing is to determine what writing specialty - or niche - will work best for you.

How to Find Your Writing Specialty -

Ask yourself these questions to figure out what your writing specialty should be.

• What topics do you enjoy writing about?
• What topics do you enjoy reading about?
• How much knowledge, experience, or education do you have on the topics you enjoy reading or writing about?
• Is there a market for content in those areas?

As you can see, these are very simple questions, but you should give deep thought to your answers for each question before you determine which writing specialties you want to go with. Remember that you can have more than one specialty, but you will have greater success as a freelance writer if you avoid branching out to too many specialties.

Fancy Words Do Not Make Your Writing Better

If it is your habit to continually utilize cutting-edge vocabulary in your writing in an effort to produce outstanding work, think again! You are actually making your writing less valuable because it is not targeted to the average reader.

Take a look at the first part of the first sentence here:

"If it is your habit to continually utilize cutting-edge vocabulary..."

This sentence would read better like this:

"If it is your habit to always use advanced words..."

It isn't fancy, and to a professional wordsmith it isn't as pretty or as polished as it should be, but to the average reader, it is concise and to the point.

For more information on fancy words that you should avoid in your writing, visit Laurel Shane's blog, Let's Just Be Clear. She has a wonderful post entitled Are You "Utilizing"Useless Buzzwords that every writer should read.

Are You Spreading Your Freelance Writing Too Thin?

As I demonstrate in  my book, I used several different platforms for my freelance writing, and that ensured that I had a good income each month. However, when I first started out as a freelance writer, I was guilty of spreading myself too thin.

Let me explain.

As you probably know, today there are numerous bidding sites, content mills, and other outlets for selling your writing skills. When I first started out, this was not the case,

Elance was available, but a membership fee was required, and even if you could afford to join there was a great deal of competition. At  that time, I found my clients by using a signature file on my posts and comments on internet marketing forums. I was very successful in finding clients in that way, so I didn't join Elance.

So how was I spreading myself too thin? I was using about ten different forums at that time, writing for too many clients at one time, and churning out content for the mills.While this is a focused method for selling writing services, I should have focused on just two or three of the best forums, I should have charged more money and taken on fewer clients, and I should have avoided the content mills altogether.

The point here is that you should reign things in and get control of your freelance writing business. Are you using numerous bidding sites? Narrow it down to the one or two that bring in the most income for you, and focus on those platforms more. Are you writing for content mills and making money from this endeavor? Chose to write only for the one or two that are bringing in the most money, and ditch the others.

At the same time, compare what you are earning from the mills to what you are earning through the bid sites. Is it comparable? Would you do better to redirect your efforts solely to the bid sites - or solely to the content mills?

Do you have steady clients? Are there some who pay too little, or who are very difficult to deal with? These clients are sucking your time away. You should fire those clients, and focus your attention to the better clients.

Along with all of this, there is your blog, the forums that you participate in, and all of the social networking platforms that you use. All of these things take up yur time. Are you earbing any money from these things? If not, you should cut down on these activities, and focus on the activities that are actually earning money.

The overall lesson here is to determine what online activities are earning you income - the best income - and redirect all of your focus and energy in that direction. Otherwise, you are spreading yourself too thin, and this is greatly reducing the income that you can earn.

A Way for Freelance Writers to Report Deadbeat Clients

During the course of my freelance writing career, I've come across several deadbeat clients - those who never paid at all, those who did not pay the agreed upon amount, those who paid later than promised, and of course those who requested sample articles and then stole them for their own use. I've never had any real way of collecting what was owed to me.

Today, that has changed to some degree.

At Beacon Reader, there is a section entitled Please Pay Me, where you can report clients who have failed to pay you as agreed. You can post the clients name or company name (Media Outlet), your name (optional), a description of the work you were hired to do, the total that is owed to you, and the number of days the client is late paying you.

This of course does not guarantee that you will get paid, but it may give your deadbeat client more incentive to pay up. Warn the client that you will be reporting him, along with a link to the site. Let him know that you will be reporting him there in 48 hours if you have not received your payment. If you do not receive the payment within the allotted time, fill out a report, and let the client know that you have done so.

Wait a day or so, and if payment has not been received, let the whole world know about it. Link to your report at "Please Pay Me" on your Facebook, your blog, the forums that you participate in, and on the discussion lists you are a member of.

If your client has any business sense, and wants to protect his reputation, he or she will take paying you what is owed more seriously.

The Advantages of Having too Much Time to Think - What I Learned About Writing

As I mentioned in my last post, I was sick for over a year...very sick. When I was awake during that time, the only thing I could do was watch mind numbing television or entertain myself with my own thoughts.There is a lot to be said for having too much time to think...I discovered very important things about myself, my life, and my career.

When I first started writing, I did it because I loved it. Writing is my outlet. It is how I express my thoughts best, therefore, it was a very natural career path. Back then, the experts told me that due to my level of passion for my craft, success was guaranteed. They were right...I've always had success in my writing career - right from the very beginning. I'm not bragging, I'm just being honest because it is necessary for the point I am trying to make.

As I grew more successful, my passion for writing dwindled. While I had nothing but time to think, it dawned on me that I had lost my passion for writing because my hobby had become a full time job, and then a more than full time business...with all of the stress, problems, and headaches that go along with running your own business. Somehow, my lack of passion did nothing to slow my success, but my success did slow my desire to write.

This past year has taught me that passive income is what I need to solely focus on. The year proved that the passive income I already have, combined with my husbands income is enough money for us. While I was ill, I was still getting paid from Constant Content for articles that were still in my catalog there, and I was also still getting royalties from my book sales.

By creating more of this passive income, I can write under completely stress-free conditions.No deadlines, no clients, no need to earn a certain amount of money each week, and no fear about how my health will affect my career or my income.

Although by creating passive income I am earning money, I am no longer writing for the money. Instead, I'm going back to that state where I write for the sheer love of the craft...I will continue to build my catalog at Constant Content, I will continue to write and publish books, and I will continue to blog here. This is why I won't be setting up my websites again...I'm only going to do that which I truly want to do :)

I hope that all of you take care not to allow your freelance writing jobs to steal your passion for writing away!

Moving to a New Website

I've finally decided to go ahead and purchase a domain name for this blog, and to move it on over to my hosting service. The new address is www.contentwriterslife.com. I hope you will update your bookmarks and join me there :)

My First Book in Progress, Indecision on Back Burner

So, today, I am starting work on my very first, full length book. My book - not a book that I am ghostwriting. A full length book - not just a short report or mini book. I won't mention the title or the subject at this time. I wanted to start this project some time ago, but one thing was stopping me from moving forward. The details.

I was getting far too wrapped up in the details, and those details had more to do with what I would need to do after the book was finished than it did with the actual work of writing the thing. For instance, I have no idea whether I should sell it as a Kindle eBook, or go a different route. Should I sell it only as an eBook, but not a Kindle eBook, or should I go with print? Should I sell it as a Kindle eBook and in print?

I finally woke up and realized two things.

1. I can't sell something that I don't yet have, so there is no point in determining how it will be sold at this time.

2. I could wrestle with these decisions from now until the day that I die and never reach a final decision. I am a Libra after all, and we are notorious for being indecisive.

So, with a much clearer perspective, I've put all of those thoughts and decisions on the back burner and I'm moving forward. I'm going to write, and I'll work out the details later, when the book is finished.

Freelancing Success with Constant Content

If you are a freelance writer who hasn't realized much in the way of success working through the various freelancing websites - where the competition is tough, and the bidders are tragically cutting their rates to win projects, you may want to give Constant Content a try.

I only joined the site on July 21st, which was just ten days ago. In that time, I have written and submitted 7 articles. Of those 7 articles, three have sold. Two were sold under the usage license, which means that they can be sold again and again, and they will retain my byline, and one was sold under the full rights license, which means that the buyer can remove my name, rewrite it, or do whatever they want with the article.

I've read what a lot of other writers have had to say about Constant Content, and I feel very confident that as I add more articles to my inventory, my sales will increase, and my income from that site alone will greatly increase as well. I'm just writing and submitting one article per day at this point (5 days per week), because I'm still working on other projects, and doing other writing work as well.

I'm happy to see that the little bit of time that I am dedicating to this endeavor each day is paying off :)

New Freelance Writing Website

Today, I've received two press releases about a new freelance writing site that is being widely publicized. When freelance websites that are writing specific advertise, that's great for the writer's who work through that site, but that may not be the case this go around.

First, I went to check the site out. The company is Real Writing Jobs. I clicked on the FAQ and read what it was all about. There's really not a lot of information there, but I was able to get a few vital bits of information from what I read, which lead me to not recommend using this website for freelance writing.

1. While the site did all of the proper things to protect itself against being accused of making false claims, they do tell you that you can make up to $10,000 a month. As a freelance writer, I know that to be extremely unrealistic, and I will even go so far as to say false.

2. This site does not pay you for your work, the clients/companies in their database pay you.

3. There is a membership fee for joining, even as a writer. Especially as a writer. You see, this isn't actually a place to find writing work. Instead, this is a membership website, where you will find links to sites where you will find writing jobs. I haven't joined the site, but I suspect that you will find the usual freelance sites listed inside, such as freelancer.com, vWorker, iWriter, etc. You do not need to pay for this information. You can easily find it on your own.

4. The company claims that even if you only have an eighth grade education, you can make big money writing. In fact, there are additional services that the company will direct you to if you do not write well. You can bet that this company will get commissions when you pay other companies to teach you how to write. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against anyone making money online - not even this company. What I am against is the way that they worded their squeeze page, making it seem like you will work for them, regardless of your writing skill, and promising big money for it - for a free of course, when in reality, it is just a database of links to other, free writing sites.

It just feels sleazy.

What Kind of Writer Are You?

I think one of the biggest mistakes that I've seen writers make is to not to have a definition for the type of writer that they are. For example, I am a writer. That is a very broad term, and could mean just about anything in the writing world. If I had said I am a healthcare worker, that could mean that I am anything from a Candy Stripper to a World Class Surgeon. In order for others to understand what you do, you have to be more specific. Additionally, if you are new to freelance writing, it is essential that you define - for yourself - the type of writer you are, and the field or genre of writing that you are interested in.

Here is a list of various types of writers:

• Freelance Writer
• Staff Writer

As you can see, there are only two types of writers. As you probably know, a freelance writer writes for various clients. They are not employees of any of these clients, and are usually paid by the job, and not by the hour. A staff writer, on the other hand, writes for one client or company. These writers are usually paid a set salary, or paid by the hour, and are rarely paid by the job or written piece. A freelancer rarely works in the clients place of business, while a staff writer will either work in the physical workplace of their employer, but may also work from their home, or at a location specific to what they are writing about for their employer. 

Now, with that cleared up, what kind of writing do you, or will you, do? Here is another list: 

• Copywriter - A copywriter typically writes content such as sales letters, short ads, scripts for commercials, sales copy for websites or brochures, and things of this nature. They may be freelancers or staff writers. 
• Journalist - A journalist usually writes about current events or less current events for periodicals. There are many different types of journalism, such as investigative journalism. Sports writers, who only write about sports, are also journalists. Journalists may be freelance writers or staff writers. 
• Academic Writer - Academic writers are rather hard to explain. These writers are usually already employed or studying in a specific academic field, such as science or a subset of science, and the writing that they do relates to the field that they work or study in. They are, for all intents and purposes, freelance writers, but they rarely write for money. Getting published is important to them, as their future in their chosen field depends on it. 
• Columnists - Columnists are another tricky breed to explain. They may write about one specific topic, or many topics in one field, or a variety of topics in a variety of field. They may write facts or opinions. They usually write for periodicals, such as newspapers, but may also write for online magazines. They may be staff writers or freelance writers. 
• Ghostwriter - A ghostwriter is almost always a freelance writer. They may fall into many fields of writing as well. The main thing that sets a ghostwriter apart from other types of writers is the fact that they do not get credit for the work. They get paid for it, but they do not get a byline or any other credit. Instead, they are paid to write something, and another person gets the recognition for the work. The ghostwriter goes into the assignment or job knowing this is to be the case. 
• Grant Writer - Grant writers are typically freelance writers, but they could be staff writers as well. They are typically employed or contracted by universities, non-profits, research labs, and things of this nature for the purpose of writing grant applications for government grant money. 
• Novelists - Novelists are also called authors, but not all authors are novelists. They usually write fiction, and their work is almost always found in the form of a book. These days, that could include an electronic book. Novelists are freelance writers, and there are many different types of novelists, based on the types of fiction that they write. One example of this is a romance novelist. 
• Play Writers - Also known as play-writes, these writers write scripts for plays or theater productions. They are freelance writers in almost all cases, and they typically only get paid for their work in the form of royalties. 
• Screen Writers - Screen Writers write scripts for television and movies. They can be staff writers or freelance writers, and they may work in groups with other writers for one television show. 
• Speech Writers - As the name indicates, these writers are in the business of writing speeches. Those speeches are written for other people to deliver. They may be freelance writers, but they usually work for just one client, or at the very least, one client at a time. Most politicians or those running for public office have a speech writer on staff. 
• Technical Writers - Technical writers write things such as manuals for products. They may also write documentation for products that are being developed, as the product is being developed. They may be staff writers or freelance writers. 
• Content Writers - Content writers write content on a wide range of topics or on a very specific topic. They may be staff writers or freelance writers. I am a content writer. Additionally, since I write content that is meant for use on the Internet, I am known as a web content writer. Some may even refer to me as a SEO Writer, or Search Engine Optimization Writer, meaning that I write content that contains keywords used in a certain way, not only for the purpose of engaging and informing the reader, but also for the purpose of getting the search engines to rank the web page higher in search results when that keyword is searched for. Content writers may also be staff writers for print magazines. 
• Business Writers - Business writers write about business. They may write about a specific aspect of business, or about a specific industry. Typically, they must have vast knowledge and personal experience in business. They may be staff writers or freelance writers.
• Game Writers - Game writers are a relatively new breed of writers. These writers write story lines for video games such as role playing games. 
• Poets - Poets, of course, write poetry. They are freelance writers in most cases, but may also be staff writers for greeting card companies. 
• Resume Writers - As the name indicates, these writers specialize in writing Resumes for other people. They may be staff writers or freelance writers, and they usually have copywriting skills as well. 
• Reviewer - These writers write reviews, and little else. They also specialize within their field. For example, a food critique is a reviewer. After they have eaten at a restaurant, they write about their experience with the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. A reviewer can be a staff writer or a freelance writer. 

So what kind of writer am I?

I am a Freelance Web Content Ghost Writer when I write for clients, and a Freelance Web Content Writer when I write for my own projects. 

What kind of writer are you?

iWriter Ratings and the Support System

One of the things that many writers do not like about iWriter - aside from the low pay - is the rating system, and how requesters, also known as buyers or clients, use the system so unfairly. As I stated in a previous post, I have been compiling a list of iWriter requesters that should be avoided, and I'll be happy to share it privately with other writers, but aside from avoiding those requesters, there are a couple of other things that you can do to protect your iWriter ratings.

1. Avoid doing work for clients who reject work more than they accept it. Some writers won't write for anyone with an approval rate below 85%. Personally, I feel comfortable writing for those who have an approval rate of at least 70%.

2. Just as a requester can leave a bad star rating for writers, writers can leave bad star ratings for requesters. Make sure that you look at those star ratings before you pick up a requester's job. See what other writers have to say about that requester. If the requester consistently gets great reviews, and has an approval rating that is acceptable to you, there shouldn't be any problems providing that you do have command of the English language, and you can string sentences together well.

3. If you get a bad rating, do not fly off the proverbial handle. Instead, read over the article that you've submitted, and see if you really deserved a better rating. If you honestly feel that the rating was unfair, contact support, and ask them to review the article, and to determine whether the rating should be adjusted or not. Before you do this however, make sure that you met the requesters requirements and that your spelling and grammar were perfect. Let support know the name of the requester and the title of the article so that they can check it.

For my first - and only - article rejection so far, the requester left me an extremely unfair one star rating, which I wrote about yesterday. I did not rate this particular requester, and said nothing to him or her. Instead, I looked over the article, made sure that it was indeed to spec, with proper spelling and grammar, and then I sent a very nice message to iWriter's support. Today, I received a reply from support, and happily, they changed that one star rating to a five star rating.

What to Do with Rejected Articles

As a freelance writer, you should expect for your work to be rejected from time to time. If you work one-on-one with a client, or through one of the freelance sites such as vWorker, and a client wants you to make changes to the work, this is easily done, and usually has no affect on your rating. Once those requested changes are made, the client generally accepts the work, and you get paid.

This is not the case on freelancer sites like iWriter. Once a client has rejected an article, the article is rejected. They may ask you to make adjustments, and to resubmit it, and you should do this, providing that the requester has not given you a bad rating. If the requester has given you a bad rating, you don't want to submit any further work to that client.

You should, however, give that client a bad rating as well - especially if you know that the work was good. Do this with the star rating system, without using words. In other words, rate them at one star, and do not leave a message with your rating. Your words could easily get you banned from the site, and this is true for any freelancing site out there. You should also keep a list of clients who reject what you know to be good work, or clients who give low ratings for good work.

I'm not sure how iWriter would feel about me publishing the names of requesters that should definitely be avoided, so I won't do that here. However, if you want my personal list, you can contact me, and I will be happy to share that list with you.  If you have such a list, feel free to share it with me as well!

So, what should you do with your rejected articles? Publish them as fast as you can. Set up a free blog or submit them to an article directory. You can also use them to make Squidoo Pages or Hub Pages. It doesn't matter, as long as you publish them fast. This way, if the requester or buyer is trying to steal the work - and there are many out there who actually do steal the work by rejecting the work - they will be publishing duplicate content, since yours is published first.

A day or so after you have published the work, run it through CopyScape to see if the requester/client was stupid enough to use the work anyway. If they were, report them to their Webhosting service, any company with which they are affiliated, and of course you should report them to the freelance site as well. Do not let them get away with it if you can stop them - but if you can't stop them, rest in the knowledge that Google knows which work was published first, and their site will be penalized for duplicate content.

Taking Action and Moving in a New Direction

As I have stated in previous posts, I have Lupus. This has demanded that I cut back on the amount of writing that I can do significantly, and because of this, I have been looking for a new direction that will still allow me to do what I love - write.

I've finally decided on a direction, and I'm taking action on that decision. Today, I started a new blog, The Lupus Way of Life. I am also working on plans to publish a Kindle book, and to start writing and selling original PLR (Private Label Rights) content. These activities will allow me to continue to write about topics that interest me, while also allowing me to write on my own schedule. This also gives me greater control over my income as a writer.

I still plan to write for clients on a limited basis, and to write through freelance sites, again on a limited basis, but the majority of my time, energy, and focus will now be on this new direction that I have chosen. Sometimes, you have to get past your fears, step out of your comfort zone, and jump!

Over Thinking Your Writing

You may not think that it is possible to over think when you are writing, but in some instances, it really is. One prime example of this is when you are writing for a client who will use the work in article marketing, or for the purpose of moving up in search results with SEO content. This is why it is so important to have a clear understanding of how your client intends to use the work that you provide them with.

That is not to say, under any circumstances, that your work should be less than perfect. It must be perfect when you are being paid for it - or if you are OCD like I am. What over thinking means, in this context, is that you do not have to get in every nitty, gritty detail on the topic.

Most clients in the online freelancing world are not looking for Pulitzer prize winning content. They know, for their purposes, how long the article should be in terms of how many words it should contain. They know what the topic that they want to cover is, and they know which keywords and keyword phrases they want used, and usually also know how many times they want them used. Beyond that, they want proper spelling and grammar, and they want the article to make sense (good flow of content and good sentence structure).

Their purpose for this content is to get traffic to their website and/or to sell a product. The website or product is where the in depth information is, if in depth information is even required for their purposes. This isn't usually what they want you to write, and if it is what they are wanting you to write, they are going to be requesting a great deal more than 500 words or less - and they better be willing to pay a great deal more for that type of writing.

I once hired a young woman to write for me, to help with some overflow. She did not last long. This wasn't because she wasn't a good writer...she was! It was because she took too long writing articles, simply because she was over thinking them. It would take her three or four days to write one five hundred word article. I'm not kidding or exaggerating. The girl went to her local library to do research for articles that simply did not require that level of information (or work). I could not get that idea across to her, no matter what I said.

As a freelance content writer, you cannot over think the content. If you are finding that it takes you more than thirty minutes to do one 500 word article, you are most likely over thinking it. Ideally, you should be able to do this type of article in 15 minutes or less, including the time it takes to do research.

Topic Ad Nauseum...Writing About the Same Topics Over and Over

I love being a freelance writer. I love the fact that I can sit on my behind, at home, and make money. I would  never - could never - go back to leaving my house to work at a regular 'job' after enjoying the freedoms of being a freelance writer. Some days, however, writing just makes me want to throw up.

These days generally occur when I've spent several days doing a bulk article job on one topic. I hate jobs where the client requests 50 articles on a specific topic, and wants me to come up with the article ideas for that topic. I can do it. I do it all of the time. I do it well. I just don't like it. I hate it even more when the topic is incredibly boring to begin with.

So, what do you do when you've written about a topic to the point of feeling nauseous? Well, I don't know how you handle it, or will handle it, but I can tell you how I handle it.

I suck it up and keep writing until the job is finished. 

The sooner I can get the job finished, the sooner I can get paid and move onto something else. If I am especially sick to death of the work, and the work is not finished, I take a short break, and then get back to work.

Once the job is finished, I take a deep cleansing breath, close my eyes, and just enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that always comes with completing a clients work - but that feeling of accomplishment somehow feels even better when I'm absolutely sick to death of the topic.

The next thing that I do is make sure that the next job I take has a more interesting topic and that it is a smaller scale job (fewer articles on a specific topic).

Being a freelance content writer is absolutely wonderful, but as with any other career, there will always be days or projects that you simply do not enjoy doing. You have two choices - quit or suck it up and keep writing!