Be a Freelance Blogger

September 24, 2016 by Lauren Tharp, BAFB Managing Editor 72 Comments

Can You Negotiate Your Way to a $100 Prize? It’s PITCHFEST Time!

PITCHFEST! PITCHFEST! PITCHFEST! *dances*

Pitchfest is one of my favorite things we do here on Be a Freelance Blogger!

There’s the excitement of knowing that some lucky entrant is going to win a $100 prize – but, more importantly, I love knowing how much these contests help freelance bloggers become better pitchers.

I’ve received literally thousands of pitches in my inbox since I started working for BAFB over three years ago – and most of them were terrible. And, honestly, that’s not surprising! Most freelance bloggers have no idea what a good pitch actually looks like. And that’s because, most of the time, the pitching process is kept private.

This is your chance to view REAL pitches from REAL freelance bloggers – and see what REAL editors have to say about them!

This is your chance to get your pitching style critiqued in a “safe” environment. (Sophie and I are both nice ladies and promise we won’t bite your head off if you slip up!).

This contest is FREE to enter and the prizes and knowledge to be gained are fantastic.

Follow the directions carefully, stick to the theme, and have fun!

Here’s how you enter… [Read more…]

September 17, 2016 by Emma-Louise Hudson 2 Comments

6 Simple Steps for Optimized Blog Posts That’ll Wow Your Clients

The hours of diligent studying have paid off; you’ve got your first gig as a freelance blogger! You know you should be excited, and you have a great idea for a post.

But your head is full of doubts. Is it enough to just write a post? Will my client’s audience be able to find it? What happens if no one reads it?

You’re scared your client will think you’re an amateur. But there is good news! Improving the visibility of web content in search results is no secret, nor will it take you weeks to learn how to do it.

In fact, you can optimize your blog posts and make them search engine friendly in six steps using some simple SEO techniques. [Read more…]

September 10, 2016 by Ashley Gainer 6 Comments

How to Come Up with Blogging Ideas Forever and Ever

As a regular contributor here at BAFB, my job is to come up with an idea that you lovely readers will find helpful and relevant, and then write it up. I’ve been a reader here for years, and a freelance writer even longer, so usually it’s a lot of fun to come up with a few quick ideas to pitch.

Usually… but not always.

I use calendar reminders religiously to keep track of deadlines (you have a system to help you track deadlines, too, right?). So when I got the reminder that it was time to submit an idea for my next BAFB post, I opened up a new email, tapped out a quick introduction, and waited for the ideas to come.

But to my horror, all I had was… a whole lotta nothing.

Nothing!

I’m kind of an “idea person” — I have pages of ideas for various topics. My favorite part of pitching new gigs is the “send us some ideas” part. I even have an idea generation module in one of the courses I offer, for crying out loud.

But my idea well was completely dry.

What to do when you have no ideas

Whether you’re pitching a new client, trying to land a hot guest post, or coming up with content for your own blog, there will be a time when you don’t have any ideas. [Read more…]

September 3, 2016 by Karen Banes 6 Comments

How to Drastically Improve Your Freelance Acceptance Rate

If there’s one constant we all deal with as freelance bloggers, it’s rejection.

It happens to all of us. In different ways. Sometimes it’s a polite no thank you, sometimes it’s silence, and sometimes it’s a scathing commentary of why our idea sucks on every level.

Whether you’ve sent a quick query letter, spent hours on the perfect pitch, or written a whole piece from scratch, there’s only one thing you want, and that’s an acceptance. There are no guarantees in the world of freelance blogging, but there are some steps you can take to improve your chances. [Read more…]

August 27, 2016 by Ramona Lawrence Leave a Comment

Your Freelance Blogger Tarot Reading

Hey there, fellow freelance blogger!

My name is Ramona Lawrence.

I’m a freelance blogger for hire, but I also do tarot readings.

My most recent reading was unusual though.

I had done it on myself; however, I realized that it could easily apply to you as well. Yes, you, fellow freelance blogger. No, really! Humor me.

Let me take you through your freelance blogger’s tarot reading… [Read more…]

August 20, 2016 by Kristy Rice Leave a Comment

The Ultimate Pre-Pitch Checklist

You know the feeling: you’ve just hit the send button on a pitch to a super-amazing blog and it’s like you have a lottery ticket in your pocket…and the jackpot is astronomical! Your whole body is charged with electric possibility. And then (at a varying percentage rate) comes the let down: rejection. And it hurts. Hell, it downright sucks.

So you buy books full of sample queries of what works and what doesn’t and you sign up for webinars that promise to show you how to fix your shitty pitches and if you’ve done your research before crafting your proposal, great! Obviously something else is wrong.

But what if you didn’t? The number one complaint of editors listed in Writer’s Market is that submissions are not suited to their publication. That means there’s a serious lack of research not going on. But that’s not going to happen to you because you’re going to follow a checklist for researching each and every blog before you pitch them your article and here’s what you’re going to look for: [Read more…]

August 17, 2016 by Alicia Rades, BAFB Moderator 4 Comments

Be the Bait: 4 Tactics to Reel Blogging Clients In

Raise your hand if you like fishing.

Me? Not so much. Maybe it was because my husband took me fishing too often when we were dating, but it’s just not my thing.

Is it ironic then that when I started my freelance blogging career, I wanted to take on the role of the fisherman?

Here’s the thing. You can either be a fish in a sea of other fishes (read: freelance bloggers) and seek out the same clients everyone else is, or you can be be the bait and attract the myriad of fish in another pond. Those other fish? They’re your clients.

When I started freelance blogging seriously, I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to spend all my time pitching to clients. I wanted them to come to me. And now they do.

Here’s how I reel in blogging clients and how you can, too. [Read more…]

August 13, 2016 by Francesca Nicasio 4 Comments

The One Thing You Can Do to Make Yourself Invaluable to Clients

What’s the one thing you can do to make yourself invaluable to clients?

Answer: You have work with them.

Yes, that sounds simple and obvious, but before dismissing my advice, ask yourself this: What did you do the last time a client gave you an assignment or a topic? Did you just write the content and hand over the post? Or did you take a proactive and collaborative approach to improve the idea and come up with the best blog post possible?

If it’s the former, then you’re not really working with the client; you’re just doing what you’re told.

In this post, we’ll talk about why you should consider being more collaborative with your customers. We’ll discuss the benefits of doing so, along with ways to help you work better with them.

Check out the pointers below. [Read more…]

August 11, 2016 by Bree Brouwer 2 Comments

5 Office Hacks To Improve Your Productivity and Boost Your Freelance Blogging Revenue

Be honest with me: how many psychological productivity hacks have really worked for you?

Are you actually motivated to keep working on your freelance blogging career if you allow yourself a cookie at the end of the hour? Does it really make you feel better when you pat yourself on the back for a job well done?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve found that psychological productivity hacks aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Sure, some of them work. Refusing to let others treat me like less than I’m worth, for example, has really progressed my freelancing career.

But I’ve also made some physical changes to the way I do business which have surprisingly made me a better and more productive freelance blogger. And I think they could do the same for you.

So let’s dig into these five office hacks which can result in more noticeable productivity for your freelance blogging career: [Read more…]

YOURS FREE: $13,355 IN BLOGGING GIGS

What to do when you have no ideas