There are a lot of reasons why working from home as a freelance writer is great. The reasons vary from person to person and these are just a few, but they are definitely some of the best.
Make Your Own Hours
Though there are exceptions, most freelance writers who work from home make their own hours. For most jobs if you want to work all night and turn in your work in the morning, this isn’t a problem.
If you like to start your day out early and turn in your work in the afternoon, this is typically just as fine. In addition to deciding when to work, you can also decide how much to work. For the most part in the world of online freelancing there is plenty of work and a lot of flexibility for a freelance writer.
If you want to take a week off or sleep in on a Monday this is usually quite easy to arrange without issue. If you want to work forty hours one week and then scale back the next week, simply take on less work. It is all possible in the world of freelance writing.
Free Daycare
Though it isn’t the optimal situation for everyone, parents of young children can typically work their schedule so that they can write and still make sure their children are cared for at home. This not only allows children to stay home with their parents but it also saves the parents money on babysitting and daycare.
Decide Your Income
For the most part freelance writing pays out what you put in. This works in two ways. In the first sense you are able to take on as much or as little work as you see fit, so you are already making a financial decision right there.
The other way that this works is that you are able to set your price for most jobs and even for set price work there are a wide range of pay levels for a freelance writer.
So once you have gained a little bit of experience and developed some references you can refuse to work below a certain price and you will probably find enough work to fill your needs—as long as the price isn’t too ridiculous.
In the service providing business, it is inevitable that you’ll receive complaints from clients.
In business, civility and respectfulness should always be practiced when dealing with client complaints.
You want to preserve two things here: your credibility as an excellent service provider, and the business relationship that you have with your client.
There are a few things that must be done when faced with such concerns:
Listen To the Client
Listening is always an important part of any relationship, all the more for a business relationship. There’s a saying that goes, “The customer is always right.” Although this is not necessarily true of course, you still have to give your client the benefit of listening to what they found undesirable or lacking in your service.
Find Out the Flaws in Your Service
It may be that the customer’s complaints are invalid, and they may simply need reminding about the terms of your agreements. It might even be that the complaints are the result of a mere mis-communication. It is only when you know what truly causes displeasure to your client that you will be able to do something about it.
Keep Your Cool
It never helps to have two hotheads trying to make the other person see things there way. Remember that you are the service provider and the client being the paying party. Be humble and civil especially if you’re dealing with a temperamental client. Keep your professional cool and don’t allow yourself to get riled. This could be disastrous to your relationship with the client.
Do Damage Control
You can only resolve client complaints fully and effectively if you’ve gotten your facts straight. Damage control measures should be done as soon as possible in order to pacify a demanding client.
Look At The Bright Side
Although client complaints are something to worry about because it indicates slip-ups, this is also a good opportunity to double-check the quality of service that you are providing for your clients. Do not see client complaints as setbacks to your credibility as a freelancer, but appreciate the opportunity to improve your services for the better.
As a Freelancer you do your best to provide exactly what your clients require at the most competitive prices.
Your main aim being of course is to secure ongoing work from your clients and enjoy new business that comes as a result of the positive feedback (hopefully).
But you cannot just sit back and hope that others will pass around the news of the good work that you do or you will most likely be flat broke in no time at all.
So, with that in mind here are five steps to take to ensure that your online public relations are in order for your Freelance business:
LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site that allows you to build an online presence and maintain a list of professional contacts in your profile. This is a great online tool where you can form ‘connections’ with satisfied and repeat clients. LinkedIn also allows you to obtain recommendations from your connections which will add weight to new clients making the decision to provide you with their business.
Facebook – Social Media is a very important business tool these days. Major corporations like Coca-Cola who were established in 1886 now have Facebook Fan Pages. It is important to ensure that if you are using your personal Facebook account for business that there is no unsavory photo’s or messages that will turn-off potential clients. Alternatively create a Facebook Fan Page which you can use to create a social interface to clients.
Twitter – You could probably add Twitter in with Facebook under the Social Media banner, however even though Twitter has been around for some time and many businesses have already joined in on the phenomenon, Twitter is still a great medium to utilize for not only online public relations but also traffic generation purposes.
Personal or Business Website – This one is probably a given, however I see many freelancers who either do not have their own website or have websites which look like they have been recently created or not updated in several years. You do not have to spend thousands of dollars on a website and with great CMS products available these days like WordPress you’d be simple wasting your hard-earned if you do. Creating a personal website, or even better a web log (blog) will allow you to publish frequent content which will continue to build authority and increase the ranking of your business website.
A great thing about these online public relations tools is that they also rank very high in search engine results.
If any potential clients are doing some homework on you (which I am a firm believer in), the profiles that you have created in these sites will most likely be the first to show up, so it makes sense to utilize them to their full potential.
Taking online public relations steps for your freelance business makes sense when you look at the return on investment. Taking a little time now to setup and maintain such online public relations tools will yield many benefits for years to come.
Starting or growing a small business is one of the most exciting and potentially one the best steps that you can take. A Small Business Blog can help to accelerate a very simple idea or a passion into an income producing venture.
Why? Because when you work on something that you consider your passion it’s not considered work.
And if you already have found your passion and are making an income on it, you know that you will sometimes spend 12 or more hours on it – not because you have to, but because you want to.
Regardless of whether you are a new or established business, with the growth of technology and the every decreasing spare time that we all have, many people are looking to get the information that they desire in as short amount of time possible.
This usually results in a potential customer navigating through to a search engine like Google and entering in a phrase made up of several keywords to find what they are after in 0.04 seconds.
So if you want to grow your online exposure and have your bite of the cherry online you need to develop a strong online presence and there is not better way to do this than to start a blog (or web log).
Traditional websites have been the norm since the inception of the Internet and while many businesses still implement these traditional static websites, there has been a real take-up on the use of blogs to release fresh, relevant content which not only brings in web traffic but also increases the online presence of the business.
Advantages of a Small Business Blog
There is a multiple array of advantages to starting a Small Business Blog:
Increase Primary Websites Page Rank and Subject Authority – By creating a blog that is updated frequently containing links back to your primary business website, the Page Rank and Authority of the primary website will increase.
Low Start-Up Costs – Many people start up their Online Business purely by utilizing free tools such as Blogging software and Social Media websites.
Multiple Streams of Income – With the endless amount of ways to make money online, such as Traffic Trading or Affiliate Marketing you can setup a Online Business using the Parthenon Principle.
Drive Natural Search Traffic – Search Engines pick up on what your blog is producing. If you are consistently publishing content regarding pool supplies, then search engines know that ‘pool supplies’ is the primary niche of your blog, hence when somebody searches for “pool supplies”, your blog will appear is the search results.
Disadvantages of a Small Business Blog
These are not specially disadvantages as such but still fall into this category as these points may not be the most favorable part of operating a small business blog:
Posting New Content – As you begin to create content and post it to your blog, people are going to start to follow you and expect that you will continually deliver the great articles, videos, etc that you provide. This may take a portion of your time so it is important to plan for and management your time. You can also consider using PLR Articles for high-quality low cost content.
Developer Costs – Depending on what you want your blog to look like and perform, you may need to employ the services or a website developer. This should be the only real cost to setting up the blog as domain names and hosting services are fairly cheap these days. A good website developer will have an understand on the current and future technologies and implement something that is user friendly, fast and versatile.
If you want to get serious about driving natural search engine traffic to your blog or website you will need to adopt Search Engine Optimization or SEO techniques. There are simple steps that you can take yourself, or employ a SEO specialist to do the work for you.
The most important thing to remember is that it is never to late to start. Thousands of websites are started daily, however just as many as abandoned. Consistent nurturing of your blog is required for true success just as you would for your small business.
At some point in time you may be faced with a decision where you are looking for help in delivering content to your website. This is where Outsourcing Content Writing comes into play.
Many businesses and individuals look at Outsourcing Content Writing due to two main factors:
Not having the time to produce regular content
Not having the expertise to produce quality content
Regular high quality content on your blog aides in driving traffic to your website and with high quality content this can be the deciding factor where you place in the search engine results.
Content Writers
Writing content for the internet is a little different to other forms of writing and this may take some time and experience to get use to. By Outsourcing Content Writing you can find writers who have a proven track record of producing high quality content for the web and utilize their skills in producing content for your website.
Many content writers specify their skills and also provide samples of work so you can read and decide whether the writers style will suit your websites niche.
Costs Associated with Outsourcing Content Writing
Outsourcing Content Writing is not as expensive as you may think. Many article writers charge competitive rates and offer various styles of writing to suit your needs.
The cost of a article differs depending on the expertise and location of the writer. Some article writers from western countries charge higher rates, however you are almost guaranteed a high quality article. If you decide to accept the services of content writers from countries where English is a second language you may find yourself with a lower quality article.
Some content writers also employ Search Engine Optimization techniques which will aide in your search engine rankings but may carry an additional cost.
If the cost of outsourcing your content writing is above your budget, you may want to consider PLR Articles.
How to Find A Good Content Writer
Finding a good article writer for when you are ready to outsource content writing is not always easy. You need to ensure that you take the time and do your research so you are not left spending money on articles that do not meet your expectations.
Some very important things that you should do prior to accepting the services of a content writer include:
State very clearly what you require (number of articles, on what topic, word count, etc)
Ask for at least 2 samples of work on similar niches to what you require
Set a time-frame on delivery of work or part delivery of work at certain dates
Define any keywords that you want the writer to include in the articles (including the Keyword Density)
Any special structure that you would like the article to follow
Resources For Outsourcing Content Writing
There are many options available when you are looking at Outsourcing your Content Writing. Some of the best ways include:
Upwork – Upwork is probably one of the biggest outsourcing services available. Elance allows you to post jobs online and potential writers or companies will contact you with their offers for completion of your posted job. Elance provides a workspace where you can contact the writer and discuss further details or negotiate on specifics of the job. Payment for Elance is through secure Escrow and also allows a eBay-like feedback function based on your experience on the service and content delivered from the writer.
oDesk – oDesk is similar to Elance in that it allows you to post a job and prospective employees to bid on it.
Buying PLR Articles – PLR articles or Public Label Rights articles is content that is written for a specific topic and sold on a mass scale. PLR Articles are a cost effective method of publishing content. The best PLR articles are those that are sold in a limited release set. This way there is less similar instances of the same content in circulation.
Outsourcing Content Writing can be beneficial for you in many ways. It is important that you take into consideration all of the items above before you accept the services of an article writer and hand over your money. Remember, content is king, you will not receive the same quality from a $3 article that you would from a $12 article so do your research.
Writer’s block is one the biggest challenges that professional writers have to deal with.
Writer’s block is basically the feeling that there is nothing left to write. For whatever reason the mind shuts off and it is impossible to come up with anything to write about.
This is extremely common in both the creative writing world and the non-fiction world. Fortunately there are many tricks of the trade for over-coming writer’s block.
Here are a few that you may find useful:
Don’t Panic
Panicking about not being able to write is just going to make it worse. If you feel like you can’t write, take a breather. Take a break, take a nap, have some lunch. Sitting at the computer all day with nothing to write is as frustrating as lying in bed when you have insomnia and just as ineffective.
Stick to your schedule, but still work in some wiggle room to just walk away for a few minutes or even a few hours, when things get too tough.
Brainstorm
One thing that adult writers often neglect is brainstorming. There was a purpose to all those writing lessons you had in school. Sit down for a few minutes and make yourself a nice brainstorming chart. Don’t worry about going into detail, that isn’t what brainstorming is about.
Make a web like you would have in grammar school or simply jot down some ideas on what way you could go with your paper. It’s surprising how much this can help with over-coming writer’s block.
Try a Different Project
Most of the time writer’s block is a result of boredom with a topic. This is especially true in the non-fiction world. If you have a paper that is really getting to you and you are running out of stuff to say, switch to a different project for a little while to clear your mind. Many writers find this surprisingly effective.
Clean Your Work Area
Something I have realized is that when my surroundings are messy my brain gets that way too. Most of the time I feel writer’s block creeping in I am in a messy situation. Cleaning up your work area is often a great method of over-coming writer’s block.
Having effective concentration techniques is a huge part of writing.
As a freelance writer you will often be put in situations where you have to write about unfavorable or uninteresting topics.
During this time it can be easy for your mind to wander. Other times you just may be distracted by outside forces.
Everyone’s attention span is different but there are many concentration techniques that have proven to be very effective at extending the amount of time one can focus and concentrate on a particular task.
Concentration Techniques You Can Use
Take Care of Personal Issues before Work
Personal issues are the biggest concentration killers ever. Even for a normally very attuned person with a great attention span a day at work can be shot worrying about something that happened the night before or a bill that is overdue.
It is important to either fix these issues before even sitting down to work, or if you can’t to block them out of your mind.
It may take a little bit of time at first to accomplish this but it can be done. One way to take care of things that are on your mind that can’t be easily fixed is to write the worries down a slip of paper before beginning to work. After you have listed your worries put them to the side and let them remain away from your mind and your hands until work is over.
Though it might seem silly, this is a very effective concentration techniques of “putting away” your worries and of course you are free to pick them up again once your work is complete.
Regularly Partake in Crosswords and Memory Games
Crossword puzzles and memory games are great concentration builders. Though these concentration techniques take place away from the office, if done regularly during spare time you will soon find that your concentration is growing during other times in your life. Skip the TV some nights, since it is a known concentration killer, and try a crossword puzzle.
Always Practice Mindfulness
Always aim to stay in the moment. If you are writing a paper, than write the paper. Do not spend that time thinking about what you want to do after work or what you are cooking for supper. Whatever you do in life always devote yourself completely to the task at hand. This is one of the best concentration techniques around.
These days no one wants to get bound by work or get into any long term commitment with employers (mostly). This is where looking for freelance jobs could be right up your alley.
Freelance jobs are the best options available for such people to get work according to their liking and to work under flexible time schedules, while at the same time continuing to earn a living.
But getting such jobs are tricky unless you are well aware of the market conditions and also aware of your own skills.
Kind of Work
There are various freelance jobs available such as web designing, content writing and editing, internet support work, data entry, photo editing and graphic designing.
But you have to be aware that there’s no guarantee of continuous work from the same employer as there is no binding contract between the employer and the freelancer.
However jobs are abundantly available once you register yourself at numerous freelancing websites and you would to be wise enough to choose the right kind of work that suits your expertise and expectations.
Professional Outlook
Any job requires professionalism, so you ought to maintain work ethics even while working as a freelancer. Every project is time bound and has to meet the expectations of the employer so you have to show quality in your work.
Once you meet such expectations your reputation as a freelancer would boost and you’d get more jobs.
Tools Required
You need to be equipped with a laptop and have every kind of software installed that you require in your field of work. Regular access to the internet is also required to find freelance jobs continuously and regularly. Today the internet has brightened the way business is done all over the world so getting jobs online is far easier as you reach out to a broader network of prospective employers.
Besides, the internet is also required to be constantly in touch with your employers and even to do research work.
Money Making from Freelance Jobs
Lastly, getting freelance jobs would seem tough in the beginning but once you establish your credibility and work over a period of time there would be loads of work available and it would be hard for you to choose a job.
You may have come across the term PLR and wondered what that is or how it could benefit you.
So What Exactly Is PLR?
PLR stands for Private Label Rights and it basically allows you to purchase a package of articles and use them for whatever purpose you want.
Private Label Rights articles or PLR articles are articles that have been written by other people where you the right to purchase and use the content in any means that you see fit.
Private Label Rights articles give you the flexibility that you need in content without the cost of hiring a freelance content writer.
Using PLR Articles
There are many ways that you can use PLR content to bring maximum benefit not only to yourself but also to the readers of the articles.
Here are 5 Tips For Using PLR Articles:
Post the PLR content to your website or blog to grow your site’s Indexed Count and authority.
Add the PLR content to your newsletters to build the relationship between you and your subscribers.
Add multiple PLR articles into a single report or eBook to give to your readers as a free gift or as an enticement to subscribe to your mailing list.
Rewrite PLR content, adding new content to create a unique article.
Turn PLR content in to an autoresponder series to provide real information to new members of your mailing list.
PLR articles should be used as your aide, not purely a supplement. Using PLR Articles means that if you spend a decent amount of time editing the PLR article, you will have a unique article – Not a duplicate!
This not only saves you from expensive copywriters or sub-standard ghostwriters, it also saves you a tremendous amount of time writing all the content yourself.
There are many ways that you can go about using PLR Articles – it just takes a few minutes to work out how the content can work for you!
In the first stages of establishing yourself as a credible freelancer, you put out offers for good services. Getting plenty of job orders from first-time clients is important because it provides a good starting income.
But if you want to generate a steady income, you have to establish a steady client base.
This means having to Acquire Repeat Customers. The income that comes in from regular patrons is what keeps even the most established businesses afloat and functioning. This makes it important for any freelancer to learn how to acquire repeat customers.
Make a Good First Impression
Leaving a good first impression to first-time customers is a sure way to encourage them to come back to you. In dealing with business affairs, most people refer to past experiences when making decisions.
Be respectful and diplomatic in making negotiations, especially if disagreements arise. Show clients that you are more than capable of meeting their standards and they will entrust their future projects to you.
Study Your Clients
Learn more about your clients and their area of business. You might find that there are other services you can offer them, other than the usual ones that they ask of you. Keep up to date with their current needs and see to it that you can keep up with the increasing demands of a client’s growing business.
This way, the client will know that you are sincere in establishing a strong partnership and they will keep coming back to you. This is a sure fire way to Acquire Repeat Customers.
Be Very Professional
A good way to encourage clients to come back is to make them feel that their regular patronage is well worth every penny. Meet deadlines on the dot and even beat them as much as you can. Double-check your work and be critical of yourself. Try to look for any flaws and correct them.
Make Follow-Ups
Doing follow-ups is also an effective method of acquiring repeat customers. Asking clients for some feedback on your services will keep the communication lines open. This is particularly important if you belong to a team. It will be a chance to offer any new services that you can provide.
Remember that keeping repeat customers costs less than attracting new ones. Form strong working relationships so that you can secure your future as a freelancer.
