Haneef Davenport

About Haneef Davenport

Haneef is a freelance writer and blogger for hire who writes articles and blog posts about women's topics such as beauty, fashion, crafts/DIY, women's health and wellness, and pop culture. She also enjoys writing on topics such as blogging, entrepreneurship, social media, and local/regional attractions of the Washington DC metropolitan area. You can see examples of her work on sites like Writers Weekly, TheTalko, and her own blog, rosegoldpearls.com. Follow her on Instagram, @hellohaneef and Twitter @haneefiman.

Switching Freelance Blogging Niches? Here’s How to Do It Right

As a freelance blogger, you probably already have a niche: a certain subject or specific industry clientele that you know and write about well.

It’s important to establish your niche so that you gain trust from potential clients, can command higher fees, and your business runs along much smoother and easier than if you wrote about any and everything, for any and everyone.

But sometimes after you’ve chosen or established yourself in a certain niche, you’ll find as time goes on that… you honestly don’t want to write about this stuff anymore.

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to start writing in a new niche or industry. Maybe you’re running into too many not-so dream clients in this niche. Maybe you find it difficult to command higher rates for the niche industry you write for. Maybe it’s just plain boring now.

You decide that it’s time for a change, but you run into a little problem: you have no idea how to go about it.

For lots of freelance writers and bloggers in this situation, the big question is “How do I transition from one niche to another without looking like a fool or an amateur?”

Well the answer is easy, my friend! I’ve got five practical tips for you to use to transition into a new niche smoothly.

[Read more…]

The Blogging Pitch Template That Gets You A “Yes”

Pitching potential clients, businesses, and other bloggers and websites (guest posting) is probably the hardest part of a freelance writer’s work. Being ignored or rejected is the last thing we want happening, especially in the beginning.

When you’re first starting out, you’re usually in an especially desperate state because let’s admit it: you’re trying to get paid! You’re not one of those people that want to write all these awesome posts and articles for free or for “exposure”. Simple exposure is not going to help you put food on the table right now. You’re not a hobbyist.

You don’t put in countless hours of work to help get someone else’s monetized blog more revenue for free. You want money. You need money, and we aren’t talking about pennies. Pennies are what you get at those terrible content mills. (Who else cringes just at the phrase “content mill”? Makes you sound like some factory worker, writing your ass off for pennies. Gross.)

One of the biggest questions besides what is the right way to pitch is what is that one way to pitch an editor or business that is 100% guaranteed to get them to say yes? Sadly while there are never any guarantees, there is a way to pitch that will certainly increase your chances of getting your prospect to strongly consider signing you on and paying you what you’re worth for your time and hard work.

Guest posting is a great way for writers to get their name out there, and getting paid at the same time. Who wouldn’t want to get paid while building an impressive portfolio? When a website calls for guest posts or you’re cold pitching, some are confused as to what exactly an awesome guest post pitch looks like. Whether you’re experienced or just started, these tips and the template I have here are sure fire to get you exactly the response you want.

Side note: If your reply is no reply, there’s nothing wrong with following up. Sometimes your email may have just gotten lost in the spam folder or the editor just missed it. If they don’t have a specific response timeframe given, just wait a week before contacting them again. If there’s still no response after the second follow up, just consider this a dud and move on. [Read more…]