My Top 5 Reasons why freelance writers run out of business

Posted on June 3, 2011, 4:26 am, by admin and received No Comments ».

The online freelance writing market continues to grow rapidly as all websites need quality content to grow and rank high on the search engines. Website owners are looking to outsource their blogs and articles to freelance writers. The competition among freelance writers for different writing projects is fierce and most writers find it hard to make a full time living, let alone do well. I wanted to compile a list of the top 5 reasons why freelance writers run out of business. This list is not exhaustive by any means and if you have reasons of your own as to why online writers fail, please leave your comments and I will try and respond to each one of them….

#1. A poor product
If you are a bad writer – you will not succeed – it’s just that simple! If you have bad grammar, poor syntax and run around in circles while writing, you will not be able to make a decent living as there are better writers out there. So if you really want to make your mark as an online writer, then you need to invest quality time in learning how to deliver great content consistently.

#2. A lack of long term clients
You could be a great writer but if you do not have clients giving you orders on a regular basis, then you will not have work and your income will dry up. This is 2nd reason in my opinion as why writers fail because they are not good with sales nor do they know where to find high paid freelance writing jobs. If you need to know where to find high paid writing jobs on the internet, you can visit www.writingchangedmylife.com

#3. A lack of professionalism
One of the reasons why freelance writers fail at sales is because they are completely clueless with regards to techniques about retaining and converting a one- time customer into a regular client. When a freelance writer has poor work ethics and submits work that is past the deadline, or content that is plagiarized or does not respond regularly to the client’s emails, the client loses confidence and then searches for another freelance writer.

#4. A lack of relationship building skills
When you work in a virtual world and do not have face to face interaction with your customers, you need to develop a new set of skills that is fine tuned to the virtual world. Most freelance writers focus on writing and do not focus on relationship building. When you build a relationship, you create a platform of trust and mutual respect where the client is not only comfortable but also confident in your ability. You become his favorite writer and someone he can trust.

#5. No clue about VAS
Value added services are important for not only retaining customers but also building up a new stream of business. It is essential for a freelance writer to understand what business his client is into, why is he ordering content and what the freelance writer can do to add value to his clients business. A good example would be for a client who is adding content to his blog on a regular basis. As a freelance writer you might want to throw in a value added service of free blog uploads. This reduces the client’s time and also lets him know that you are willing to do extra work (a blog upload takes less than a minute) as you value his business. Note – you can also charge for blog uploads when a client has lots of blogs that need updates on a daily basis – thus you generate a new stream of income as a freelance writer.

If you can think of more reasons as to why a freelance writer fails with his online business, please feel free to leave your comments. Register yourself for a fee membership at www.Writingchangedmylife.com

12 things every Freelance Writer should own

Posted on May 7, 2011, 8:40 am, by admin and received 9 Comments ».

#1 – A Laptop

I believe this is a MUST HAVE for any freelance writer. While going on vacation or travelling to visit family, you can still access your e-mail and be able to work – if required. If you are stuck on the traditional desktop then you will be limited to one place and may not be in a position to respond to clients or send out work on tight deadlines which could infuriate a customer. A laptop does not cost much, you can even buy refurbished laptops at great prices. Just make sure you get a laptop that has over 3 hours of battery backup and a descent processor.  Windows over Mac here as most client work with MS Word…

#2.  A portable hard drive

I take a backup of all my work on the 15th and 30th of each month. As a writer, over a period of time you are going to accumulate a lot of quality content on your hard drive. Content is king and content is money – always save it. NEVER delete anything you write. Keep it with you….always!  I have a 360 GB portable hard disk that I use and keep safely. It is also useful to back up your list of clients/phone numbers/accounts and other important information, in case you have a hard disk crash or your laptop gets damaged or stolen.  This is one place where you can get great offers on portable hard disks.

#3.  A printer with a scanner

If you make your living as a full time writer or you are looking at becoming a full time writer, this is a must. A printer with a scanner is a must for me because when you take on a new client, you generally get asked to sign a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) and you need to sign and fax/scan it back to them. You also want a printer to take a hard copy backup of all contracts and contact numbers/e-mails of clients.
CNMMP620 – Canon PIXMA MP620 Multifunction Photo Printer
#4.  A whiteboard

You need to constantly be aware of delivery schedules and deadlines. One of the keys to being a successful freelance writer is to meet the deadlines of your client. I use a whiteboard that has a daily list of clients and deadlines that I must meet. I update this as soon as I get an assignment and take it off the board the minute I get paid for it.

#5.  A Paypal account

Paypal is a monopoly because it is the best online payment system at the moment. Almost everyone uses paypal and it is a must for you to set up a paypal account. When you get a new client, you can ask them to pay you via paypal. All you need to do is give them your paypal account and you will be able to receive cash in any currency. To get a paypal account you can sign up at www.paypal.com

#6. An Invoicing Template

One of the really crazy things about freelance writing is that most writers are not good with numbers or accounts. They sometimes do not keep track of the number of assignments they are taking on or sometimes make a mistake on their invoicing and bill for a wrong amount. If you cannot get your invoicing/accounts right, then you will be losing money. I personally use an automated MS Excel invoicing template that works really easy for me. You can find out more information about this template by visiting my website and signing up at www.writingchangedmylife.com

#7. A subscription to Copyscape

Plagiarism is a HUGE NO for a freelance writer! The quickest way to go out of business or build a bad reputation is to submit plagiarized work. I have a subscription with www. copyscape.com  and run all my articles through them and only when I get a 100% green signal, do I go ahead and submit the assignment to my client.  On some occasions, a client will request for an article to be rewritten and then it becomes even more important to run the rewritten article through copyscape.com  to ensure that it is 100% original for the search engines.

#8. VOIP Software

It is important for you to be able to speak to your client – if and when the need arises. While there are loads of VOIP software out there, most clients use Skype. I shuffle between Skype and another software called Nonoh. I use both these software’s for voice calls.

#9. A Great Headset and Microphone

I personally use a Logitech, it was a little expensive but the quality and clarity is exceptional. The last thing you need when talking to a prospective client or any client for that matter is bad sound. I believe that one should make an investment and get a quality headset and microphone.

#10. A Webcam

Sometimes a client will want to see who they are talking with and who they are doing business with. A photograph used to be sufficient in the past, but now to make things more interactive, it is always good to have a webcam at hand. You can use a webcam on Skype or any of the other instant messengers like yahoo and google. I use a Logitech webcam and have had no problems with it.

#11. A personal journal and two quality pens

For some reason I never seem to have a pen when I need it the most. It could be a client on the phone giving you a website which he wants you to research, or a couple of keywords that they want included. It could be a friend giving you an e-mail and you have no pen to take things down. Keep a couple of pens ALWAYS at hand’s reach. Ensure you have a journal where you take down important information.

I personally spent extra money and bought a really good journal. The journal will always serve you and when you spend the extra cash on it, you will make sure that you not only use it but that you also preserve it. It’s value will only be found out over a period of time.

#12.  A Universal Travel Plug Adapter

If you have travelled internationally you know this can be a real cause for concern with the different plug points. It is advisable to pick up one of these worldwide travel charge adapter plugs which will fit into any plug point in any country. They are extremely handy and are a must have even if you do not travel much as you always want to be prepared!

If you know of any other items that are a MUST-HAVE that I left out, please leave your comments on my blog www.writingchangedmylife.com/blog

 

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What makes a good freelance writer a great freelance writer?

Posted on April 19, 2011, 10:38 am, by admin and received No Comments ».

Every freelance writer needs to learn techniques of retention and conversion – this one technique alone could be a life saver to your online business and teach you how to make regular income through your freelance writing jobs.

So here is the question again: What makes a good freelance writer a great freelance writer?

After being in the freelance writing business for years and making a 6 figure income, that’s a pretty easy answer based on experience….

The Ability to CONVERT a one-time business offer into REPETITIVE or CONTINOUS BUSINESS…

Good freelance writers have numerous clients – most of them one time or small volume clients – who generate close to $400 or $500 worth of business each month…

Great freelance writers have learnt techniques of how to convert a one- time customer into a long term client who sends in business of over $1,000.00 each month.

Repetitive business with a client establishes trust and relationship and also secures a steady source of revenue…

One of the reasons why most freelancers suffer with finding work is because they are unable to turn one- time customers into long term clients. In my New Method: How to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs in 29 mins and 33 seconds, I go into depth with a screen cast video tutorial teaching you the techniques I have used to turn one time customers into long term clients…some of them continue to do business with me even after 4 years on a REGULAR monthly basis!

Every freelance writer needs to learn techniques of retention and conversion – this one technique alone could be a life saver to your online business and teach you how to make regular income through your freelance writing jobs.

Remember you can visit www.writingchangedmylife.com to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs on the Internet…just leave your name and your e-mail and you will get information that will give you information on my New Method: How to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs in 29 mins and 33 seconds.

 

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How to “WRITE” your Check Today? (Part 2…)

Posted on April 13, 2011, 6:10 pm, by admin and received No Comments ».

If you are reading this, without reading PART 1 – you need to go check out Part 1 first…

So, the question I left you with yesterday was?

How can you increase your revenue working the same number of hours with the same price on each article?

Well here’s what I do…when I get a client asking me to do let’s say 15 articles on a daily basis for 5 continuous days; I may not want to work an 8 hour day (2 articles an hour). So, I will find myself a good writer who can help me with the overflow. Since I have developed a method of finding the highest paid writing jobs on the internet, I know that you can find writers out there who will work for $10 or less for an article.

So my strategy during these days is to work for 3 hours straight writing and the remaining 2 hours editing. That’s right!

I have my backup overflow writer, help me complete the remaining articles for $10 and I then take the time to check and edit those articles (takes about 10 minutes to edit each article). I am now able to complete around 4 to 6 articles in one hour and make 50% of it.

That’s simple right…so let’s do the math…

15 articles @ $20 each would give me – $300 but also take me 8 hours to get them done.

My strategy

Write 6 articles @ $20 in 3 hours and get $120

The other 9 articles get written by my overflow writer and I then spend 10 minutes on each to edit them and bring them up to the quality that I expect. I pay the writer $10 and I get a balance of $10 with just 1 hour of editing work.

So within 2 hours, I have 9 articles edited. 9 x $10 = $90 plus the $120 that I initially made = $210.

So I made more money working a lesser time frame J

How’s that for a strategy….you work less but earn more…that’s just one of the simple tips that I will be teaching (actually showing you as it will be on video) when you go to www.writingchangedmylife.com

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How to “WRITE” your Cheque Today?

Posted on April 8, 2011, 5:33 am, by admin and received 2 Comments ».

Pretty interesting topic – if I might say so? No more stupid- silly-mundane- job that has you on a fixed income! You finally had the “sense” to realize that we are in the 21st century and you can make money on the internet by writing.

Now if you have been to my website you know I am not talking about blogging and earning affiliate commissions or going to one of the many websites and bidding on an article for a few dollars (more?)!

I am talking about getting a minimum payment (let’s say $20 – that’s pretty darn reasonable for a start) for a 500 well written article. Now if you need to learn how to do this, just go to www.writingchangedmylife.com and I’ll show you how.

Now if you’re thinking like me, you should be asking yourself a question which goes something like this.  If I need to make a $1,000.00 that would mean I need to write an average of 50 (500) word articles to make a grand. That is a lot of work!

Look if someone tells you that you can get rich sitting on a beach and sipping on a pina colada, then the guy’s probably smoking weed or is a slick con-man. Let’s do some math before we close this post…

If I take 30 minutes to write 1 – 500 word article (which can be done easy – provided you can TYPE!) then I can do 2 articles in an hour. In other word’s your getting paid $40 an hour…so if you work 5 hours in a day, you end up doing $200 worth of business – MINIMUM.

Tomorrow, I want to continue this post and show you how you can earn even more than $200 a day, with the same $20 per article and within the same time frame of 5 hours….

If any of you have an idea of how you can increase your revenue working the same number of hours with the same price on each article, I would be PRETTY DARN INTERESTED to see your comments!!

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The TOP 5 Reasons Why Freelance Writers fail at making a succesful living online

Posted on February 8, 2011, 8:43 am, by admin and received 4 Comments ».

My Top 5 Reasons why freelance writers run out of business

The online freelance writing market continues to grow rapidly as all websites need quality content to grow and rank high on the search engines. Website owners are looking to outsource their blogs and articles to freelance writers. The competition among freelance writers for different writing projects is fierce and most writers find it hard to make a full time living, let alone do well.

I wanted to compile a list of the top 5 reasons why freelance writers run out of business. This list is not exhaustive by any means and if you have reasons of your own as to why online writers fail, please leave your comments and I will try and respond to each one of them….

#1. A poor product If you are a bad writer – you will not succeed – it’s just that simple! If you have bad grammar, poor syntax and run around in circles while writing, you will not be able to make a decent living as there are better writers out there. So if you really want to make your mark as an online writer, then you need to invest quality time in learning how to deliver great content consistently.

#2. A lack of long term clients You could be a great writer but if you do not have clients giving you orders on a regular basis, then you will not have work and your income will dry up. This is 2nd reason in my opinion as why writers fail because they are not good with sales nor do they know where to find high paid freelance writing jobs. If you need to know where to find high paid writing jobs on the internet, you can visit www.writingchangedmylife.com

#3. A lack of professionalism One of the reasons why freelance writers fail at sales is because they are completely clueless with regards to techniques about retaining and converting a one- time customer into a regular client. When a freelance writer has poor work ethics and submits work that is past the deadline, or content that is plagiarized or does not respond regularly to the client’s emails, the client loses confidence and then searches for another freelance writer.

#4. A lack of relationship building skills When you work in a virtual world and do not have face to face interaction with your customers, you need to develop a new set of skills that is fine tuned to the virtual world. Most freelance writers focus on writing and do not focus on relationship building. When you build a relationship, you create a platform of trust and mutual respect where the client is not only comfortable but also confident in your ability. You become his favorite writer and someone he can trust.

#5. No clue about VAS Value added services are important for not only retaining customers but also building up a new stream of business. It is essential for a freelance writer to understand what business his client is into, why is he ordering content and what the freelance writer can do to add value to his clients business. A good example would be for a client who is adding content to his blog on a regular basis. As a freelance writer you might want to throw in a value added service of free blog uploads. This reduces the client’s time and also lets him know that you are willing to do extra work (a blog upload takes less than a minute) as you value his business. Note – you can also charge for blog uploads when a client has lots of blogs that need updates on a daily basis – thus you generate a new stream of income as a freelance writer.

If you can think of more reasons as to why a freelance writer fails with his online business, please feel free to leave your comments.

Sign up at http:/www.writingchangedmylife.com to find the highest paid writing jobs

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What must a good Freelance Writer Do to Become a Great Freelance Writer?

Posted on February 8, 2011, 8:39 am, by admin and received 1 Comment ».

Every freelance writer needs to learn techniques of retention and conversion – this one technique alone could be a life saver to your online business and teach you how to make regular income through your freelance writing jobs.

So here is the question again: What makes a good freelance writer a great freelance writer?

After being in the freelance writing business for years and making a 6 figure income, that’s a pretty easy answer based on experience….

The Ability to CONVERT a one-time business offer into REPETITIVE or CONTINOUS BUSINESS…

Good freelance writers have numerous clients – most of them one time or small volume clients – who generate close to $400 or $500 worth of business each month…

Great freelance writers have learnt techniques of how to convert a one- time customer into a long term client who sends in business of over $1,000.00 each month.

Repetitive business with a client establishes trust and relationship and also secures a steady source of revenue…

One of the reasons why most freelancers suffer with finding work is because they are unable to turn one- time customers into long term clients. In my New Method: How to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs in 29 mins and 33 seconds, I go into depth with a screen cast video tutorial teaching you the techniques I have used to turn one time customers into long term clients…some of them continue to do business with me even after 4 years on a REGULAR monthly basis!

Every freelance writer needs to learn techniques of retention and conversion – this one technique alone could be a life saver to your online business and teach you how to make regular income through your freelance writing jobs.

Remember you can visit www.writingchangedmylife.com to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs on the Internet…just leave your name and your e-mail and you will get information that will give you information on my New Method: How to Find the Highest Paid Writing Jobs in 29 mins and 33 seconds.

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