“I have a writer website, so why aren’t clients knocking down my door *begging* to work with me?”

That’s a valid question.

You knew you needed a writer website, so you eagerly built up your little corner of the Internet. Yet…nothing.

It’s frustrating. Like, I-give-up-and-I’m-just-going-to-to-hide-in-the-corner-now frustrating.

But fear not. It’s possible.

How do I know? Because I’ve done it. And I’ve watched other writers do it, too.

Want to know their secrets? Take a look at these 9 tips for landing clients with your writer website from bloggers who have done it.  [Read more…]

It’s frustrating, isn’t it?

You keep hearing how quickly video is growing online, like how 80% of the world’s internet traffic will come from video by 2019, and how mobile video will grow 55% per year through 2020.

And you’ve decided you want to be a part of this party and make an explainer video — a short video that explains what your freelance business does — for the home page of your writer’s site.

But there’s so. Much. Information.

Where are you even supposed to start? Just googling the phrase “how to create an explainer video” pulls up over a million hits, and most of those are aimed at corporations that have thousands of dollars to spend on an explainer video.

You’d have to read through several of these articles to scrape out a few tips that apply to you specifically as a freelance blogger looking to make a simple, effective explainer video for your site.

Or you can just read this blog post and call it good. 😉

That’s right, this post will walk you step-by-step through creating your own explainer video so you don’t have to scour the internet to learn how to do it yourself. I’ve included the only information you’ll need to get your first writer’s site video up and running, all while keeping in mind the fact that you’re a freelancer and not some mega-business with a mega-budget.

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.  [Read more…]

Not to knock BAFB’s Pitchfest, but I have to say it: pitching sucks.

It’s so time-consuming! You could spend hours each week pitching and sometimes still not get anywhere.

While I appreciate having an opportunity to hone my craft as a blogger by creating short, to-the-point, attention-grabbing elevator speeches, every time I’ve done a pitch or written up a topic sample to submit for a guest blogging opportunity, a voice in the back of my head whispers, “How much are you getting paid per hour for this?”

As a stay-at-home mom, what little time I have to write between preparing snacks, changing diapers, talking down tantrums, and neglecting housework is valuable to me.

Plus I used to be an actress and pitching reminds me way too much of casting calls where hundreds of talented people line up, hoping to outshine everyone else and get the gig. Like most actors, I spent the majority of my time in auditions, only to be judged and rejected — and not getting paid. It wasn’t a healthy or lucrative way to focus my creative energy and I promised myself I wasn’t going to do it again.

So about 2 months into my freelancing career, I decided to stop spending all my time and energy on pitching, and try a different strategy to get work.

Guess what? Once I started treating writing like a business with its own brand, target audience, and social media strategy, my freelance blogging career took off. Here’s how you can do the same.  [Read more…]