How to Blog Like Every Day is Halloween

We don’t do a lot of holiday-based posts here on BAFB. However, even though this post is Halloween-themed, the advice in it is “evergreen.” Besides, like the title says, this is how to blog like every day is Halloween. 😉

That said, like most white people, Halloween is one of my all-time favorite holidays. And I’m really feeling in the spirit this month! So much so that I decided to give you BAFBers some Halloween-based freelance blogging advice.

So don your costume, dim the lights, munch on some candy, and get ready to revamp your freelance blogging career in the spookiest way possible!

Go After the Best “Candy”

As a kid, you were probably pretty selective about which houses or neighborhoods you went trick or treating in. You knew which houses were giving out full-sized candy bars and who was giving out slightly-bruised apples or raisin packets.

As a freelance blogger, you need to be equally selective about which clients you take on. Except, as an adult, the “candy” is now money. Which, let’s be honest, is way better. (And you can use it to buy candy, if you really want to!).

Cheap clients who give out terrible “candy” as payment are never worth it.

While you’re toiling away trying to meet the demands of cheap freelance blogging clients, clients that would be willing to pay you top dollar are slipping away. Opportunity is knocking and you’re tied up in the basement, unable to answer the door! (Scary!)

Be a Villain

Villains make the best Halloween costumes! But it goes much deeper than that.

Let’s take a look at something “spooky” musician Marilyn Manson once said:

The hero always stays the same, there’s no character arc, he’s always the hero. The villain is the person who has the chance to change something. They might break the rules, but that’s the thing, sometimes if you don’t fucking break the rules, you’re not going to save anything, you’re not going to change anything.”

Don’t be a hero when it comes to your freelance blogging career. Be a freelance blogging supervillain! Adapt and change your business as it continues to grow.

I’m not saying you should do anything illegal. Don a white hat with your supervillain costume. But remember that your business is an organic thing that needs to change in order to survive. As Manson said: Heroes always stay the same. Don’t be a hero.

Trick or Treat?

Never trick your clients.

Write your own work (don’t plagiarize), do the necessary editing and research, and give them a fair rate.

Just because someone is paying you to write doesn’t necessarily mean they know what writing should cost. Your clients depend on you to set your rates fairly.

Again: Don’t trick your clients. Treat them with the same respect you expect from them. They might not have your knowledge of “the biz,” but they’re not idiots. And they shouldn’t be conned.

Not sure what the fair-priced “going rate” is for a particular service? Ask around. Or get yourself a rate guide. I use The Writer’s Market‘s pricing chart for writers and Be A Freelance Blogger‘s rate guide for bloggers. Between those two books I can usually come up with an average that works out well for myself and the client.

Make hiring you as a professional freelance blogger a treat for your clients!

Atmosphere is Everything

When you’re throwing a Halloween party or setting up a haunted house, you know that atmosphere is everything. It’s not enough to just have a killer costume – you have to have your home look the part as well.

Online, your freelance blogging website is your “home.”

What type of atmosphere have you set up for your clients? It should be one that says “hire me.”

Take some time to supe up your website. Make it responsive, and clean up the copy on your pages. Fix any dead or broken links. And, if needed, give it a complete makeover by changing up the site’s “theme.”

Know Your Audience

I once went to a really rad haunted house as a teenager. It was scary as hell and I had the time of my life.

However, it was set up in an area that was mostly old folks and little kids. It didn’t last very long (it didn’t even make it to Halloween night!). And that’s because “hardcore scary” was not right for their local audience.

Don’t make the same mistake with your freelance blogging business. Show them what they came to see.

If you’re trying to attract high-end business stiffs as clients, don’t start posting your Firefly erotic fan fic on your blog. They probably won’t dig it. And, of course, the opposite is true as well: If you based your business on delivering sexy snippets to readers, don’t suddenly change course and start talking about marketing mumbo-jumbo.

Believe in the Impossible

Halloween is a night when anything can happen and everything seems possible. That blip floating through the stars might be a satellite…or it could be a U.F.O.! That blur in the corner of your eye might just be an eyeball floater…or it could be a ghost! I could go on and on.

It’s magical.

And, you know what? Your freelance blogging career has the potential to be pretty magical too! But you have to believe.

You really can earn a living as a freelance blogger, but you have to believe in yourself and your own personal brand of freelance blogging magic.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. It’s time for me to put on my costume, carve some pumpkins, and eat my own weight in candy.

Have a good one! And keep blogging like every day is Halloween!