Ashley Gainer - Be a Freelance Blogger

About Ashley Gainer

Ashley Gainer is a freelance writer, editor and content strategist who also helps entrepreneur parents succeed while putting their families first. You can find her online at www.ashleygainer.com or on Twitter @ageditorial.

By Ashley Gainer

When to Get Training/Coaching VS. When to Just Do the Work

By now, you’ve probably heard the concept that “investing in yourself is always a good idea.” And what that advice is usually referring to is paying for training, coaching, and other “learn and grow” info products.

I really hate this advice.

It’s not that I don’t agree; in many cases, I do agree. I’ve spent a lot of money over the years — even when money was exceedingly tight — “investing in myself” to get the training I needed to do better than I’d been doing previously.

It’s true that you can lose your stuff but you can’t lose your education. (Losing your mind, however, is something we’ll get to in a bit.)

There are definitely times when getting yet another course, watching yet another webinar, taking yet another 5-day or 2-week or 30-day challenge via email, joining yet another mastermind, and the like, are anything BUT a true investment in yourself.

Want to invest in yourself? Great. But don’t get it twisted: sometimes what you actually need to do to “invest in yourself” is put your head down and just do the actual work in front of you.

[Read more…]

By Ashley Gainer

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.

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By Ashley Gainer

How to Be Ruthless and Win at Freelance Blogging

Most of us learn from an early age that to please others, we have to mind our manners and be prepared to compromise.

But that approach to life doesn’t work so well in freelance business, where being quiet and polite means going unnoticed — and accepting too many compromises leaves you working too hard for too low a rate.

I grew up in North Carolina, the land of sweet tea and southern belles. I was a nice girl — friendly and deferential, without too many strong opinions.

Then I suddenly became a single mom, with no income to speak of. I decided to give a real go at freelancing so I could stay home with my baby.

Without warning, all my plans were out the window and the safety net became very, very small. I had to roll up my sleeves and do some hard work. And with the little guy taking up most of my time, I didn’t have time for wheel-spinning, cowering, and other nonsense.

You don’t have time for those kinds of shenanigans, either.

If you really want to make a go at this freelancing thing, you need to be ruthless.

[Read more…]

By Ashley Gainer

When Your Freelance Blogging Fears Get the Best of You, Use These 3 Reminders

I’m no stranger to fear — the kind of gut-wrenching, heart-stopping, I-don’t-want-to-do-this-anymore fear that crops up every time I’ve got something big going on.

And if you’ve ever tried to start something big, new, or important, you’ve probably dealt with fear. Especially if you’re trying to pave your own way as a freelance blogger.

There are big names to compare yourself to, big-price programs that promise major success right off the bat, and big visions of what your career could be. Talk about intimidation.

For me, nothing was bigger or more important than freelancing. Not making it happen — not providing enough income for my family to survive — was simply not an option.

I had a lot on the line. I had everything on the line.

And when you’ve got everything on the line, you get a lot of visits from the fear fairy. She takes all kinds of shapes and forms, disguising her real identity:

anxious thoughts keeping you awake at night
distraction and “shiny object syndrome” as you look for your golden ticket
fearful predictions about what you won’t be able to do (for me, I had a weird recurring fixation on being unable to buy my son new shoes when he grew into a new size)
thoughts about looking stupid or making dumb mistakes
feeling like you don’t know enough yet
good old-fashioned procrastination

You’ll encounter a lot of fears when getting your freelance blogging off the ground. And you’ll have to learn how to deal with them. (Or else.)

There’s no magic pill, silver bullet, or super-secret method for getting rid of fear. In fact, I don’t really think it’s possible to “get rid of” fear entirely. But what is possible is moving forward despite the fear.

Here are three fear-busting truths I repeated to myself constantly while I was in my most fearful years…and these days, too, as I keep leveling up and branching out.

[Read more…]

By Ashley Gainer

Freelance Blogging With No Time and No Money: How One Single Mom Made It Work

How much — or how little — could you earn and still be able to live above your “survival” threshold?

Who’s depending on you, and are you able to meet their needs? Could you make it work even if your income stuck you below the poverty line?

These are questions few people really need to answer, let alone consider. But not long ago, these weren’t just hypothetical questions I pondered. They were my life, day in and day out, for three years. Freelance blogging and editing became the answer to all of those questions. That, and a steely determination not to fail.

Today I’m sharing the ins and outs of what I did in my first three years of serious freelancing. Let me just say right here that my path from dabbler to successful freelance blogger and editor was not smooth. I had the skills to do the actual work of writing and editing, but I lacked skills in pretty much every other area necessary to get my business off the ground.

My story is not about a quick rise to the top. I never broke $4,000 in a single month, and I won’t tell you about how easy-peasy it was to become a successful freelancer. Because for me, it wasn’t easy. I made a lot of mistakes, learned most of my lessons the slow way, and wasted a lot of time.

That said, I did go from know-nothing beginner to being a paid blogger and editor capable of supporting my little family, with few resources and very little time to make it happen. Here’s how I did it.

[Read more…]