Guest Posts 24 - Be a Freelance Blogger

How Anonymous Blogging Hinders Your Freelance Writing Career (And What You Can Do About It)

Anonymous blogging is thrilling.

If you’re a nervous, new blogger who’s terrified by the idea of putting your words out into the world for strangers to dissect, it’s much easier to find your courage under an assumed name.

Even if you’re comfortable with having a spotlight on your writing, it can be immensely freeing to write for an audience that can’t associate your words with you.

You can vent your innermost thoughts; discuss topics you’d never speak aloud; rant about your colleagues with impunity.

People might dislike what you write — or they might adore it. But with the protection of anonymity, it’s easier to deal with the emotional impact of throwing your work under the gaze of others.

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By Thursday Bram

Blog Comments and Social Media: What Your Editors Expect After Publication

A freelance blogger is hired to write blog posts, right?

The job title makes it sound that simple, but it’s rare that your client really just expects you to line up some words and stop there.

Formatting text and finding photos is almost always part of the workload. It’s pretty common for a blogger’s work to include some SEO and other tasks to make sure that the finished blog post is a polished product, ready for readers.

But some blog editors expect work after a post has been published. That post-publication work can include responding to comments and promoting your work on social media (including on your own posts).

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By Karen Marston

11 Ways to Boost Your Confidence on the Phone to Prospective Clients

So you sent the perfect query letter to your ideal client — the one whose blog you practically dream about writing for (that doesn’t make you a loser, right? Right.) — and you’re so freakin’ excited because they want to hire you!

But… not until they’ve spoken to you on the phone first.

Ah, shit.

Knowing you’re actually going to have to talk to somebody, using your own voice and your own brain full of your own thoughts, is terrifying. What if you ramble on, or stutter, or say something completely moronic that ruins your chances of ever being hired by anyone EVER AGAIN?

Fact is, some people simply will not hire you without talking to you first, either on the phone or via Skype. [Skype? Video calls? Double aargh!]

They want to hear your voice, know you’re trustworthy —professional— and that you are who you say you are. Basically, they want to get a feel for you (minds out of the gutter, please). More importantly, they want to know you’re going to be able to do the job justice. That you know the subject, can write about it in an informed manner, and have your own insightful comments to add.

And the worst part is, you know you can do it… you’re just not sure you can convince somebody of that over the phone. After all, you’re a writer, not a speaker. Shouldn’t your written words be enough, damn it?

Sadly not, mon petit pois. But fortunately, there are a few things you can do to up your on-the-phone game. Here are 11 tips to boost your chances of being hired to write for your dream blog (or, you know, any blog) over the phone:

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By Ivy Shelden

How to Rock the Freelance Blogging Community: A Time-Saving Guide for Newbies

So you want to learn to be a freelance blogger. What do your first moves look like?

Let me guess, something like this:

“Oh! Oh! I need to know this for sure!” Click. (Spends hours clicking from post to post, blog to blog.)

“Oooh this blogger looks cool!” Click-click. (Stalks them for 30 minutes.)

Or worse:

“Ohh, I need that!” Clickety-click click. (Spends 45 minutes clicking through training class advertisements and products, reaches for wallet.)

Four hours later you’re slumped over your computer, brain scrambled and eyes glazed over. Even worse, your path to success isn’t any clearer and you’re down a couple hundred bucks.

Time to admit you have a problem. You need a tour guide to help you trudge through the vast wasteland that is the internet. Allow me to assist. I’d like to show you how to get your feet wet in this community without overwhelming your brain, your inbox or your wallet.

And chill out with the clicking—time’s a ticking!

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By Kara Andersen

How to Start a Blogging Business When You’re Broke: The Magic of Profit from Zero

You know that feeling that you’ve completely lost control of the situation? That terrifying, groping-around-corners-in-the-dark sensation that accompanies the death of a really good plan you had?

That’s how my blogging business was born.

Around the time I was financially desperate enough to scrounge for stray dimes rather than use my debit card to pay for a coffee, I decided it was time to start a business.

There were a few things that led up to this decision. I wanted to be a freelance writer working out of cafes in Buenos Aires, but I was a broke intern in Chicago. To bridge that gap I accepted a full-time job with a salary and benefits, only to be laid off almost as soon as I’d started.

For me, that was that moment in life when you realize it’s time to take matters into your own hands. And you head back to the drawing board to examine the overwhelming options — none of which will actually fix your paralysis, because they’re all just steps in another plan that you have to create from scratch.

They say it takes money to make money, but I’d already lived for several months not knowing how I was going to pay the next month’s rent. I had to make something out of nothing, fast. Here’s how you work that instant blogging business magic:

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