Keep Track of those Contractors

By on October 13, 2011 in Business Strategies

I logged into my Odesk account this morning to reply to a message and was greeted with a list of not two, not three, but 7 contractors I’m currently outsourcing various aspects of different projects to. These are all tasks I couldn’t perform if I wanted to – graphic design, server-side script installation, programming, etc.

But, it was still kind of incredible. I somehow had managed to successfully hire and manage the contracts of 7 people from various corners of the globe – most of them on behalf of clients – and didn’t realize how many there were.

On one hand, it was a little scary.… Read More

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How to Write an eBook – Research

By on September 10, 2010 in Freelancing, Writing Guides

Last time, I called research the backbone of all good content. After all, what’s the point of writing? You’re trying to convince someone that you’re an expert on a topic, or in our case that our clients are experts. So, how do you do that if you don’t learn everything there is to know about the topic before slapping your eBook together?

I know it may seem like a whole lot of extra work – especially considering you’re on a budget and have a timeline in which to get the book done, but there are a number of ways to speed the process up and get more done in less time while still learning as much as possible about the given topic.… Read More

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Ghostwriting in a New Niche

By on July 22, 2010 in Freelancing

For a freelance web writer, there are millions of projects available every year. There’s just one problem. They are generally about topics you have no interest in, no knowledge about, or very little desire to write about. It’s a pretty common problem, and unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do other than suck it up and write about less than glamorous topics, or eat a lot less and hope you get lucky. Eventually, you’ll grow beyond the necessity of doing “whatever comes your way”, but early on, few of us get that luxury.

So, what do you do when a fantastic job opportunity comes along in a niche you’ve never written about?… Read More

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Can You Ever Really Spin an Article?

By on July 20, 2010 in Freelancing

A lot of newcomers to freelance writing have asked me whether the article spinning projects are a good idea. They are easy to get and they generally represent ongoing work – or at least that’s the argument.

And to be honest, I completely understand the attraction. When you’ve been writing for a few weeks and cannot get enough work to feed your family, let alone pay the bills, anything starts to look attractive. But, before you honestly consider taking on “rewrites” or “spinning” projects, consider a few things.

Your Time Investment – The argument most clients use here is that rewriting takes less time than original content.… Read More
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How to Write an EBook – Outlining Your eBook

By on October 15, 2009 in Writing Guides

The all important part 2 of writing your eBook is here and is going to be an incredibly important aspect. Not only is this the part where you actually start to commit your ideas to the screen (a profound moment for any project), but it is where you start to see just how much cool stuff there is to talk about.

How Should an Outline Look

Personally, I like an extremely detailed outline – for a couple of reasons. When I used to work on projects, well before I became a freelance writer, I would just wing it. My college papers were done the night before and I didn’t outline anything.… Read More

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How to Write an Ebook – Choosing Your Topic

By on October 11, 2009 in Writing Guides

I try to be at least a little modest every now and then, but there are some topics I know pretty well, based pretty heavily on the experience I’ve racked up in recent years. One of those things is how to write an eBook, so I thought I’d bring that knowledge to bear here for a short course on how to do just that.

The next few parts in this series will cover exactly how to brainstorm, outline, and write an eBook that can be sold as an informational product or used to promote something else you’re trying to sell. Despite what some of my colleagues would say, I always like to think that the content comes first, so I take this process very seriously and alway pour a good bit of energy into creating well written, highly focused eBooks that are actually valuable to their readers.… Read More

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When You’re Bored

By on January 8, 2009 in Freelance Lifestyle

I’m taking a break from my “informational” posts and the novel I’m working on because I don’t feel like delving into anything too deep right now. My computer got a virus last night and shredded by files to little pieces. Luckily, when I was bored a few weeks ago, I took the time to back everything up properly and now perform regular backups simply because I often get bored and I might as well keep it up to date. I didn’t lose any files this time around and I was

Not quite melted, but that Trojan did a number

amused by the fact that it was merely because I was bored – seems like an odd reason for my computer to remain intact, but I’ll take it. … Read More

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