Be a Freelance Blogger

Win $100 and Get Published: Enter Our Pitchfest!

Most blogs have a process for choosing whose posts they’ll publish.

And most blogs keep that process hidden in private emails.

They might give you guidelines to help you write and format your pitches and posts the way the blog’s editors like, but that isn’t the same thing as letting you see inside the selection process.

Consider this post (or more accurately, the comments on this post) your window into how we choose the guest posts we publish on this blog. Use it as a place to practice your pitching, or take a serious shot at first prize — or if you’re super-shy, you can just lurk and learn. But we hope you’ll join in!

Now, the ~~million~~ hundred-dollar question:

Do you have a great idea for a blog post that an audience of freelance bloggers would want to read?

Then now’s your chance to pitch your blog post idea to us and win $100 if we choose it as our favourite to publish here on Be a Freelance Blogger. 🙂

Here’s how this works…

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By Ashley Gainer

How to Be Ruthless and Win at Freelance Blogging

Most of us learn from an early age that to please others, we have to mind our manners and be prepared to compromise.

But that approach to life doesn’t work so well in freelance business, where being quiet and polite means going unnoticed — and accepting too many compromises leaves you working too hard for too low a rate.

I grew up in North Carolina, the land of sweet tea and southern belles. I was a nice girl — friendly and deferential, without too many strong opinions.

Then I suddenly became a single mom, with no income to speak of. I decided to give a real go at freelancing so I could stay home with my baby.

Without warning, all my plans were out the window and the safety net became very, very small. I had to roll up my sleeves and do some hard work. And with the little guy taking up most of my time, I didn’t have time for wheel-spinning, cowering, and other nonsense.

You don’t have time for those kinds of shenanigans, either.

If you really want to make a go at this freelancing thing, you need to be ruthless.

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By Cherese Cobb

How to Hide Your Social Media Skeletons: A Freelance Blogger’s Survival Guide

For every freelance blogger, social media can be Pandora’s box.

There’s the good:

The ability to send pitches and letters of introduction at warp speed
Instant access to bucketloads of research
The potential to connect with clients, readers, and other writers worldwide

BUT…

There’s also the bad. Come on. You know what I’m talking about. The video where you’re dancing drunk on a table singing an off-key version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” The quickie post you passionately wrote, didn’t proofread, but still pressed publish.

Then there’s the ugly. Personal information — social security numbers or credit reports — leaked to the masses. Off-color comments trolls made about your writing or business that haunt the first page of Google.

And worst of all: the shiver-worthy nude photos and sex videos uploaded to the cybersphere by vengeful ex-lovers. (Let’s all hope that never happens to us.)

Worried your negative search results will have your clients pushing the escape key? Don’t fret.

Pull out your virtual shovel, roll up your sleeves, google or bing yourself, and follow these seven steps to bury your social media skeletons — and polish your online reputation.

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By Mandy Gardner

Saving for Retirement When You’re a Freelance Blogger

Congratulations! You’re a full-fledged, income-earning freelance writer. You pay your bills, feed yourself and even had some lovely business cards printed for your wallet.

Think you have it all figured out? You’re wrong…

Making ends meet from month to month is just a short-term plan – so what happens after you hit retirement age?

Ask yourself one question: “Do I want to work for the rest of my life?”

If the answer is “no,” KEEP READING!

Saving and investing is the single most important thing you need to do to prevent you from dying at your desk in old age. It’s also the only way you’ll be able to buy a home or send kids to college or university. Face it, you’re NOT going to win the lottery. Start putting money away now!

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By Lauren Spear

4 Ways to Earn Passive Income for Freelance Bloggers

Freelance blogging is hard work. Much harder than some of us expected! What happened to living the dream? To getting our “money for nothing and our chicks for free?”

Well, I’m not sure about how to get your chicks for free, but I can help you with the “money for nothing” aspect. At least to some extent.

At this point in your career you’ve probably heard the term “passive income” at least once. Now, to fully understand passive income, let’s first take a look at what qualifies as “active” income:

Active income is money that you have to earn actively. (Makes sense so far, right?). Money you make from your freelance blogging “job” is active income. As is any money you have to be present to earn. You perform a service once (like writing a blog post for a client), you earn money for it once. It’s the income model we’re all more-or-less familiar with.

Now, what qualifies as “passive” income will vary from place to place, but the basic gist of it is this: It’s the exact opposite of active income.

Passive income can be earned even when you’re not around — it can run on auto-pilot. It’s money earned with little-to-no effort on your part. You perform a service once, you earn money from it multiple times. With no additional work from you!

Sounds pretty good, right? Now, imagine setting up multiple revenue streams, all passive. Each of these revenue streams will take effort to set up initially; however, after they’ve been put in place, you could potentially earn more money than you earn now… for doing nothing at all. Talk about living the dream!

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