Guest Posts 33 - Be a Freelance Blogger

Here’s What Real Blog Editors Look For in Your Pitches

The rise of blogs that accept freelance posts has led to the creation of a particular type of creature: the blog editor.

Much like a magazine or newspaper editor, a blog editor is responsible for choosing the content of the publication she manages, maintaining a style and generally ensuring that what gets published is worth reading. Blog editors are the gatekeepers you need to work with to get your posts published.

Blog editors are the people we freelance bloggers have to impress and win over. They’re the ones who decide what posts should be published and which bloggers get staff positions. That means you need to know what blog editors are looking for in each pitch they open, as well as how to impress them.

[Read more…]

By Kristen Hicks

5 Reasons You Owe it to Other Writers to Start Charging More

You just got a new lead. In the midst of all of the excitement of possibly gaining a new customer and making more money, you start to feel that familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Goddammit, you’re gonna have to have that dreaded conversation again. The one about pricing.

For most of us, figuring out our rates and discussing them with clients is the worst. There’s always that worry that as soon as you mention money the client will disappear, or tell you straight to your face that you’re not worth that much.

We all remember those days starting out when we’d see job ads demanding what sounded like an obscene amount of work for a tiny payoff and thought “is it even possible to make money at this?” (Then we discovered people like Sophie and Carol Tice and learned better.)

Here’s the problem: jobs like that can only exist as long as there are writers still grossly undervaluing t heir services. As professional bloggers, our biggest competition is not other professional writers, it’s the mistaken mentality that writing is cheap.

[Read more…]

By Heiddi Zalamar

6 Steps to Rise Above Rejection and Be a Better Writer

Let’s face it, rejection happens. We get rejected in every facet in our lives.

For writers, that rejection happens when we send out a pitch that isn’t accepted. Sometimes it isn’t even acknowledged. Then it’s easy to fall into a cycle of negative thinking. Rejection becomes fear becomes lack of effort, or giving up entirely.

As a mental health counselor, I say feel the rejection. Many posts written on rejection teach writers how to get past it. How you can shake it off or let it roll off your back.

As a person who has dealt with rejection in the past (and has low self-esteem to boot), it’s hard for me to do that. Even more so, I find that those two sayings are crap. It’s like telling me to sweep my feelings under a rug.

Why is it so hard for some people to feel rejection? Because it royally sucks! Rejection leaves you thinking negative thoughts. You focus on them… way too much. How do you move on?

These six steps will help you get beyond rejection in your freelance blogging career and any other aspect of your life:

[Read more…]

By Linda Formichelli

Not Sure What to Write About? Here’s How to Discover Your Most Lucrative Niche

This is an excerpt of Write Your Way Out of the Rat Race…And Step Into a Career You Love by Linda Formichelli.

You want to be a writer. You know that.

But what you don’t know is what the heck you want to write about.

And there are so many choices it can leave you feeling like a kid confronted with all 100 flavors of Ben and Jerry’s.

I’ll help you figure out the best path to take. And don’t worry: You can develop more than one niche, and if one type of writing doesn’t work out for you, you can choose another. It’s not do or die.

Dream vs. Reality

You dream of writing articles about gardening, or blogging on travel topics for a large audience, or writing case studies for non-profits focused on children. Worthy goals!

I know you don’t want to start out writing on topics you’re not passionate about. But I need to tell you that you’ll have the best luck ramping up your writing business fast if you leverage your job and educational background to start getting samples—and money—coming in.

[Read more…]

By Cindy Brown

Freelancing Takes Balls [And Yep, You’ve Got a Pair]

Being a freelancer takes a certain amount of balls. Men, you’ve got this in the bag.

Lord Almighty, did I just say that? Perfect pun, unintended. That rocks.

It’s true. In a general sense, men seem to have more cojones, not just of the physical kind, but the metaphorical kind as well. Men tend to be more brave, bold, and courageous when it comes to taking a risk, putting themselves out there, and asking for what they want when they want it. They’re pack leaders, hunters and gatherers by nature, and heads of corporations.

Lucky for us women, even though we don’t have our male counterparts’ family jewels driving our need to survive and thrive, we have our own similar attributes to draw from. We’ve got… melons. [That’s right. Now, go make some melon balls and put them to use.]

You want examples, you say? No problem. Observe, and I shall teach you the ways of the force, young writing Jedi.

No matter where your balls are located, here’s how to use them for freelance writing fun and profit.

[Read more…]