Not Writer’s Block: How to Cope If You Physically Can’t Write

Writer’s block is not a valid excuse for not writing. You can break through it by using one of the many kick-ass resources available on how to find ideas, re-slant articles, improve your brainstorming skills and more.

But what if you literally can’t write? What if your wrists give you too much pain when you touch a keyboard, or try to hold a pen?

Life-threatening or permanently damaging health conditions aside, a hand or arm injury is one of the worst things that can happen to a writer. And thanks to our constant love affair with our computers, hand injuries are becoming more common among writers.

In May 2013, I was diagnosed with nerve entrapment in my wrists. The pain was driving me crazy. At one point, it hurt even when I wasn’t doing anything.

The pain had been going on for 3 weeks when I got my diagnosis. It wasn’t the first time I’d had this problem. The condition can last anywhere between a couple of days and several months, depending on how serious it is and what you do to get better.

As someone who takes her health seriously —or, more accurately, as someone who would go nuts unless she could start writing soon— I followed my doctor’s instructions, which included using an ointment regularly, taking vitamin B, resting my hands as much as possible and wearing splints, especially while typing.

And while it’s extremely frustrating, it’s not the end of the world.

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By Sophie Lizard

Let the $100 Pitchfest Begin!

If you read my emails you’ll have seen the advance notice I sent out about this a few days ago.

[If you don’t get my emails, tell me your email address and I’ll start sending them to you — then you can enjoy all the fun, insight and profanity that comes from my brain direct to your inbox.]

Last month’s pitching contest was fantastic, with pitching tips and personalised feedback from Be a Freelance Blogger’s guest post editor Lauren Tharp. Instead of talking about it in the BAFB forums or inside email conversations like we usually do, we had the whole conversation there in the public comments of that blog post and everybody could check out the winning pitches.

That one contest brought us Alicia Rades’ $100-worthy guest post, cunningly titled 5 Ways to Rock Your Guest Post After They Accept Your Pitch, as well as excellent guest posts from runners-up who might never have pitched if there were no prizes up for grabs.

The level of learning and discussion going on in the comments made me feel we’d really touched a point that people want to talk about: what makes the difference between a “works for us” pitch and a “not for us” pitch?

I think we should talk about that in more detail and with as many specific, personalised examples and tips as possible. So we’re doing it all over again this month, and we’ll keep doing it every two months for the foreseeable future.

Being writers, we couldn’t resist giving this $100 guest blog pitching contest a special name.

Welcome to Pitchfest. 🙂

Read on for the rules, the $100 guest post payment, and the all-important comments section!

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By Sophie Lizard

How to Sell Your Blogging Services While You Sleep

When a potential client lands on your freelance writer website, what’s the one thing you want them to do?

Contact you, right? Get in touch and let you know what they’re looking for. After all, you need to negotiate the project scope, the timescales… there’s a lot to do before you can finalise that sale, and you need the client to give you a ton of information before you can even guesstimate your fee.

Or, you could make the sale faster and simpler. Let your clients buy your services there and then, if you want.

All you have to do is package them appropriately and set up an automated sales process to handle the transactions for you. Once that’s done, a visitor can land on your website and buy your blogging services even while you’re asleep. 🙂

If that sounds like it’s easier said than done, well, it takes a little time —mostly thinking time— but it isn’t difficult to set up.

I’ll walk you through the whole process in this post, so you can get going with this idea immediately.

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By Shanna Mallon

How to Succeed As a Marketing Agency Writer

After three years of working in a cubicle, I became a full-time freelance writer in 2010—and from the first day I left my office job, I’ve been learning what it means to write from home.

While I started with multiple clients, today, I write predominantly for one Chicago-based marketing agency, a routine that gives me increased stability and more consistent hours (a freelancer’s dream come true!). And after years of writing for this marketing agency, I’ve also seen what it takes to succeed in this role.

Are you interested in freelancing for a marketing agency? Do you wonder what’s involved if you do?

If so, here are some tips from my experience. These are the habits to practice when you’re managing one single client instead of a handful of them, writing regularly in one style instead of many different ones, and reporting to one company instead of juggling dozens of contacts.

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By Sophie Lizard

Thank You for Reading: It’s Be a Freelance Blogger’s Birthday!

One year ago, on January 15th 2013, I published this blog post — the first post on Be a Freelance Blogger.

Most of the universe paid no attention. But my life changed completely.

That blog post’s received 222 comments. Some of those were from me and Lauren replying to your comments, but that’s still about 200 comments more than I was used to getting anywhere else.

People were talking to me. I mean really talking — not “Great post!” but long, thoughtful comments. People emailed to thank me. And I felt kinda stupid, because Jon Morrow and Dann y Iny told me this would happen, and I secretly didn’t believe them. I couldn’t imagine a life where more than 10,000 readers visit this blog in a month, and 5,700 people subscribe to read my emails.

Now I can’t imagine it without you.

I spent 2013 meeting so many new people with brilliant minds, heartfelt passions and genuine ethics. I’ve chatted with freelance bloggers and entrepreneurs around the world. I’ve taken beach holidays while I created online training programs, just like those spammy ads on the internet keep saying everyone can do… except that this isn’t an infomercial. It’s my life. It’s really happened.

It’s happened because you read, and think, and talk to me. Because you tell me when I’ve helped (and when I’ve screwed up).

It’s my blogiversary, and I’m happy you found me.

As a writer, it pains me to admit I haven’t got the right words — there aren’t enough words in existence — to tell you how much I appreciate you.

Well, either there aren’t enough, or there are only two that will do it.

Thank you.

Now go sit over there and read some birthday messages from the blogosphere while I pretend I’m not crying, dammit. There’s a big fancy prize to win at the end.

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YOURS FREE: THE ULTIMATE LIST OF PAID BLOGGING GIGS

Thank you.