Get Hired 14 - Be a Freelance Blogger

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Win $100 For Your Guest Post: It’s Another Pitchfest!

Are you new to Pitchfest? Wondering what it’s all about?

Long story short: this is a contest that gives you a chance to wow us with your best guest post pitch and win $100 on publication of your post.

See, I used to pay one guest blogger per month $50 for their post. But those paid guest spots filled up months in advance, which meant newer pitches didn’t stand a fair chance.

Now I’ve taken that same budget and added 2 months’ worth of guest blogger pay into one $100 prize that everyone gets an equal chance to win.

We’ve had three Pitchfests so far (here, here and the original here) and each time we do this, we’re overjoyed to see the range of fantastic ideas freelance bloggers can come up with.

But the real point of Pitchfest is that you hardly ever get to see how other freelance bloggers pitch — what they say, what they leave out, and what the editors they’re pitching to think of it all. Here, the whole process is public so everyone can learn from it.

Let’s get into the details of how to enter.

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By Jovell Alingod

7 Clever Moves to Land Freelance Blogging Clients If English Is Not Your First Language

Consistent cash flow is what all freelance bloggers want.

But good-paying clients seem to be the most aloof people on the planet. And if you’re a freelance blogger whose first language is not English, you can’t help but feel this pursuit is made even more difficult for you.

On the other hand, if you really want to level up, you’ll do what you can to stand out and be noticed.

If this is you and you’re up for the challenge, keep reading while I share how I succeeded as a blogger even though English is not my mother-tongue. That’s right, I’m giving you permission to steal my moves.

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By Karol K.

“Freelancers Are Unreliable!” How to Show Your Clients You Won’t Let Them Down

Okay, you’ve seen the headline so maybe my question is a bit pointless, but what would you guess is the #1 objection clients have with freelancers?

Is “lack of reliability” high on the list? It should be, because that’s exactly what your prospective clients think.

If you need proof, here are a couple of quotes from business owners about their dealings with freelancers (and this is only the beginning… plenty more quotes later in this post):

“Firms have relatively more to lose (reputation, lawsuit), so while freelancers are cheaper, quality and reliability are also lower with freelancers.”
-Vlad Solodovnyk, business owner in web and mobile development

“Firms are more process oriented which means that there are checks and balances in place and the delivery is not dependent on skill or mood of individual.”
-Sameer Jain, business owner in software development

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock or something, but for me, seeing these opinions was somewhat a surprise. I didn’t think we had such a shady reputation. And the rep itself isn’t even the worst thing here. The worst thing is that it almost certainly has an impact on the success of our businesses.

Some business owners simply don’t believe that the average freelancer can be trusted with a project.

This opinion hasn’t been dreamt out of thin air. The people who think this way have been burnt by freelancers in the past — or heard horror stories from someone whose freelancer let them down — and now they’re afraid all freelancers are the same.

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By Sophie Lizard

Why Freelance Blogging is NOT a Numbers Game

You hear it all the time:

“Freelancing is a numbers game. You have to send out a ton of queries to get a few people to say yes.”

Ouch! Stop it. Don’t you know that every time you buy into this numbers crapshoot, a freelance fairy dies?

If you send out a ton of GOOD queries, you’ll boost your chances of getting hired.

No matter how many terrible queries you send, all you’re likely to get is an empty inbox. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and find one or two leads willing to give you a shot at $5 per post.

Dashing off sloppy pitches to every blog in the universe is not the most profitable use of your time.

So, where do your pitches or queries stand on the spectrum from good to terrible? And how can you spend your time the best way to get the biggest rewards?

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By Sophie Lizard

Pitchfest: Win $100 for Your Guest Post!

Every pitch you ever send to a blog editor or potential client is an entry into a contest for money.

When you pitch most blogs, you don’t get to see the other submissions they received that week.

Here, you do.

Let me explain. Pitchfest is a guest post pitching contest for freelance bloggers.

You pitch us a guest post idea in the comments section, we comment back with advice and encouragement, then we choose our favourite ideas to publish here on Be a Freelance Blogger. We do it all in the comments section of this post right here, so everyone can read the pitches and learn from the process. And there’s a $100 prize for the winner. 🙂

So far we’ve done this twice: here in December 2013 and here in February 2014. Both times, we got some fantastic entries and enjoyed in-depth conversations about how to create and improve your blogging pitches.

Now it’s time for another round. Are you ready?

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