Monthly Archives: April 2011

Blogging for Freelance Writers–How to Get Paid to do Blogging for Business

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Freelance writers who are looking for a side income stream to fill in when client work is low might consider providing blog services to local businesses in their city or town.  I’m sure you must be aware of the popularity of providing online marketing services to your local mom and pop businesses.  If you already know how to write a blog, then you can put your online writing services to work and get paid to blog.

Of course you’d first need to have your own blog set up and getting a decent amount of traffic so that you can demonstrate your results to prospective clients. If you’ve already got that step down, then the next thing you would do is to pick a niche or topic that you are comfortable writing about, have an interest or passion in and then do a search for local businesses within that topic area.  Just doing a quick Google search will tell you a lot about which businesses are web-savvy and which ones aren’t by how they are showing up (or not showing up) in the search results.

When you have found a few businesses that have old, outdated websites that are languishing on the third page of their search results, or if you know of a local business or two that isn’t online at all, you may want to contact them and offer your blogging for business services. You can pick up the phone and call them, or you might consider mailing a postcard with a short description of your services and what results you could generate for them with a blog.

After you have finished creating a blog for a local business, be sure to ask them if they would refer you to some of their local colleagues who might also want a blog. You can create special coupons to give to your clients that they can hand out to their friends extending a special, limited time offer for your services.

Professional blogging can be a fun business, or you can just take the occasional blog setup job in between other client projects, but it’s a great way to earn some extra money with your online writing skills.

I welcome you to subscribe to my RSS feed, or get blog updates by email. Keep on writing. ;-)


 

 

Mother’s Day Gift Guide for Moms Who Love Writing (and Reading)

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I just posted a Mother’s Day Gift Guide at my healthy snack blog, where I unabashedly admitted that it was simply a selection of stuff that I like and stuff that I would not be mad about receiving as a Mother’s Day gift. Well, it looks like I have no shame whatsoever because here I go again doing the same thing on my writing blog.

I’m a mom who loves all things related to books, writing and reading, so I’m pretty easy to shop for. In fact, when my eight-year-old was stumped about what to buy me for Mother’s day, she threw up her hands and said, “Why don’t I just give you a bookstore gift card, because all you ever do is buy books!” What a smart little girl I have. I will ask for an Amazon gift card and then take great pleasure in choosing one of these items:

OK, Hello? Has Santa been ignoring my plaintive requests for a Kindle? I will admit to being a complete, and total book snob, but I have grown fond of the Kindle app on my iPhone. When they first came out I turned up my nose at the Kindle swearing I’d never use one and that they would never catch on. Umm. I was wrong.

I write longhand in a journal each morning and sometimes before I go to bed at night, so I have a bit of a blank book fetish. This one’s got 40 reviews on Amazon, and I think it would make a fabulous gift for the mom who loves to journal or for those who are just getting started keeping a journal.

Does Mommy have a bit of a flair for the dramatic? Is she working on her version of the ‘Great American Novel?’ Give her this fabulous Calligraphy Pen set and she’ll feel like royalty and she might even be inspired to write more often with such a fancy pen.

I am such a fan of Julia Cameron’s work, that if I don’t hold back right now this post will go astray so I will just tell you that Cameron’s work has inspired many writers, and her book, ‘The Writer’s Way,’ was instrumental in my path to giving myself permission to become a writer. I wholeheartedly recommend this book because morning pages will transform your writing practice like almost nothing else can.

I will tell you that i”ve not read this book myself, but with contributors like Maya Angelou, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Ann Lamott, how could you go wrong? It looks like a beautiful, inspiring book about the beauty and pain of motherhood.

So, there are just a few of my picks for Mother’s Day gift ideas. I say just get her a Kindle. I know that if you were my child and you gave me a Kindle for Mother’s Day I’d have a hard time not calling you my favorite child ever.

Have a happy and blessed Mother’s Day, and don’t forget to make your mom feel special.

Passive Income Ideas for Web Content Writers

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Passive income is one of those things that’s kind of like the ‘Holy Grail’ of online marketing. Many people who have online businesses are looking for ways that they can generate passive income streams so that they can leverage their time and effort for a return later on. I’m going to share what I am learning about how writing on the web today can lead to passive income down the road.

I’ve been a web content writer for several years now. I love the work, and I enjoy working with my clients and being able to call the shots in my own business. In many ways I’m living a dream that I held for years when I would go to work each day and plop down in my chair in my cubicle in jobs that I did not enjoy but I felt at the time that I had to do them to pay the rent and feed my children.

When I first started out doing web content development and ghostwriting for clients I began to feel like maybe I had traded my 9-5 for yet another dead-end situation because I was still trading time for dollars, but I was not getting paid sick days or vacation days. As time went by I kept my eyes and ears open to the opportunities that were available to me as I learned more about Internet marketing and making money online.
I learned that as a web content developer I could begin to start earning a passive income by writing articles much like the ones I was writing for my clients and publishing them online and getting paid a share of the advertising revenues that the content generated for the site. Now, in addition to the valuable service that I provide to my clients, I am also investing in my future income by maintaining a portfolio of blogs, and writing and publishing content that I get residual payments on month in and month out after having done the work once.
Here are a few ideas for generating passive income for freelance writers:
Blogging
Blogs can generate passive income in a couple of ways:
Ad revenues: Through programs like Google AdSense or other contextual ad programs you can receive a check each month from the ad revenues that your content generates.
Affiliate marketing: Promoting products that would appeal to your blog’s audience and getting paid a commission when your visitors click on your affiliate link and purchase a product.

Content Sharing Sites:
You write and publish original articles and publish them on these and several other content sharing websites and then get paid monthly for a portion of the ad revenues.

  • Hub Pages
  • Associated Content
  • Helium

Product Creation:
You can create your own product and offer it for sale on your website. This could be an ebook about a topic that you have some knowledge or expertise in, an audio program or a how-to video series. You create the product once, and you continue to get paid for it each time you sell a product.

The trick is to schedule time each week to write and submit content either to your own blogs, or to the content sharing sites. It takes several articles before you start generating more than a few dollars a month, but the good news is that as long as the content is on the site you will keep getting paid.

I welcome you to subscribe to my RSS feed, or get blog updates by email. Keep on writing. ;-)

The Think Big Manifesto Book Review

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I came across Michael Port’s book while I was on Amazon purchasing his previous boo, Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling
, for a book club that I had joined on the bizchicksblogs.com When I was browsing the virtual shelf I saw the title: The Think Big Manifesto: Think You Can’t Change Your Life (and the World)? Think Again, and I thought it sounded intriguing so I grabbed that as well. Both titles are on my Kindle app on my iPhone, but I will say that I am giving this one my attention more so than, Book Yourself Solid, for the moment.

I am so inspired by this book. My blog readers know how much I love books, but I love this book because it is all about encouraging people to empower themselves to think bigger and change the world. Port is speaking to those who have been playing small in their lives and trying to just get through the day. He wants people to wake up to the possibilities and the potential that each of us holds to do big, amazing things.

Along with the book Port has started a social networking site, thinkbigrevolution.com, where other fans of the book can congregate and share energy, ideas, inspiration and encouragement.

We live in a world that is so full of disappointment, tragedy and pain, but each of us has the power that God gave us to rise above our present circumstances and aspire to something greater. One of my favorite quotes from the book is this one: “Inspiring others to think big is perhaps the single most important act of any one individual thinking big.” So, if you decide to think big, just by your actions you will influence and inspire those around you to think a little bigger themselves.

It’s like my favorite Margaret Mead quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does”

So, if you’re someone with a vision to change the world and impact the lives of others in a positive way, I recommend that you pick up this book, read it, and start a revolution of your own.

I welcome you to subscribe to my RSS feed, or get blog updates by email. Keep on writing. ;-)