Be a Freelance Blogger

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5 Steps to Make Hourly Rates Profitable as a Freelance Blogger

5 Steps to Make Hourly Rates Profitable as a Freelance Blogger

As a freelance blogger, you might have heard that you should get paid per project. Or per article, at least. That this way you won’t be penalised for working more efficiently after spending time and money improving your skills and knowledge. Better you get, faster you deliver, right? But we all know that some clients insist on paying per hour.

One of the reasons behind it is that the financial aspects of freelancing can be very confusing, and not only for the clients. And if it isn’t one of those cases where you would rather lose the deal than accept an hourly rate, your only option is to make the arrangement work for you. So here is how you do it, step by step.

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PITCHFEST: Tell Us Your Tips and Tricks!

PITCHFEST: Tell Us Your Tips and Tricks!

March is nearly over. Bet you thought we forgot about throwing Pitchfest this month, didn’t you? 😉

Well, SURPRISE! It’s Pitchfest time again!!

This time we’re looking for your best tips and tricks for getting published. How do YOU make it past the Pitching Editor?!

Let me tell you how I do it:

I follow the Editor’s guidelines.

It’s honestly that simple.

As an editor myself, I know how annoying it is when writers don’t follow the guidelines I’ve set up. Even as a newbie freelancer, I wrote about the importance of following the guidelines here on the BAFB blog. Then, as an editor with years of experience under my belt, I went into full-on RANT MODE on my own blog about this topic.

Following the editor’s guidelines is of upmost importance when it comes to getting your foot in the door. In fact, many editors won’t even read your pitch if you don’t follow the guidelines — forget about actually getting published!

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Why You Don’t Have to Choose Between Doing the Right Thing and the Profitable Thing

Why You Don’t Have to Choose Between Doing the Right Thing and the Profitable Thing

In the movies, the heroes decide whether to do the right thing, or take the money and run. Our decisions in freelancing can often look similar: Do I take the lucrative blogging gig, even though the client makes me queasy? Or do I starve with integrity? If you’re going to have a successful career as a freelance blogger, you should know right now that this is a false dichotomy.

Reaching your maximum earning potential and maintaining your professional integrity is NOT an either/or proposition. In fact, acting with integrity is actually the best way to earn the most money. It’s true—the top earners in this industry are the ones who stick by their values, whether they’re rolling in clients at the moment or not.

The fact is, acting with integrity is the best way to ensure that you are working with the right kind of clients, and earn the kind of reputation that keeps them coming in droves. Let’s take a look at how we ended up buying into this lie that you can either have your integrity, or financial success.

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Secrets of Being 100% Honest and Dependable as a Blogger (While Still Loving Yourself and Your Work)

Secrets of Being 100% Honest and Dependable as a Blogger (While Still Loving Yourself and Your Work)

Do you want to be known as a freelance blogger with integrity?

Are you committed to all that “integrity” implies? It’s not just about never telling a lie, or being straightforward with your clients, or even finishing everything by deadline.

What “Integrity” Really Means

Word-wise, “integrity” comes from the Latin integritatem or integritas, which meant “soundness,” “wholeness,” “completeness,” “purity,” “correctness,” and/or “blamelessness.” So maintaining integrity as a blogger means being thorough in your writing and editing—and that doesn’t just mean “thoroughly” getting rid of typos. The online world is full of blog posts that are perfectly spelled, grammatically flawless—and achingly dull or incomprehensibly confusing.

Integrity of thoroughness—making a post complete and whole—includes:

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5 Years of Be a Freelance Blogger [Thank You!]

5 Years of Be a Freelance Blogger [Thank You!]

Today, Be a Freelance Blogger is five years old.

5 years! Bring on the “wow” emoji!

You know what was the hardest thing about starting this blog?

It wasn’t the technology, or the content strategy, or the audience-building.

The hardest part was coming up with the damn name.

Seriously. I needed a name that made it clear what my blog was about:

Freelance. Blogging. 

Not freelance writing of any other kind, not personal blogging to push your own message or pro blogging for ad revenue and sponsorship money.

Plus I didn’t want it to sound like a content mill, or like a place to hire freelancers. I wanted people to know from the name alone that this is the place to learn how to be a freelance blogger.

I made a huge list of potential names, and they all sucked at least a little bit.

I’m pretty sure when I told Jon Morrow (my coach while I launched this blog) that the best name I had after two weeks of brainstorming and thesaurus abuse was “Be a Freelance Blogger”…

… yep, I’m pretty sure he was stunned into silence for a moment by my lack of originality. Would people even be able to remember a name like that?

Well, the answer is YES – most people remember it just fine, but also NO – because we still occasionally get emails addressed to “Dear Become a Freelance Blogger.” (Hey, it’s close enough; come on in. In a little while, I’m gonna tell you how you can win a prize…)

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