Search Results for: pitchfest

Your Freelance Blogging Plan B [How to Survive When Plan A Turns to Shit]

“Oh, holy fuck. Fuck fuckitty fuck fuck….”

That’s what my brain said. That’s probably what my mouth said too, but to be honest I can’t remember because I was too busy panicking.

Why?

Because my freelance blogging career took a nosedive from sweet, easy profit into the frozen, thumb-twiddling hell of I HAVE NO CLIENTS AND NO INCOME.

Plus I was the primary moneymaker in my little family and they were all depending on me to keep them housed and fed. So, y’know, no pressure. 😉

Shit happens

It was early 2012; Google had just updated its algorithms to stop crappy websites from ranking high in search results, and I’d been working 25 hours per week for a client whose websites were definitely kinda crappy. So when Google updated, those websites tanked and my client couldn’t afford to keep me.

I scrambled to pick up a couple of new clients, made sure this time that their websites were not crappy or grey-hatted, and kept on going. I also spent more than $10,000 on coaching and training programs to improve my business skills that year.

Fast forward 3 years to early 2015 and there I am, billing my clients up to $13,000 per month, owning a popular blog, working only part-time and only on projects that suit me, while planning my wedding and honeymoon.

So everything must have turned out just fine, right?

I wish.

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By Lauren Spear

We Want Freelance Blogging Templates! (And We’ll Pay You for ‘Em!)

So, Sophie and I were going through the BAFB archives and we came across THIS POST and we thought to ourselves, “Gee! Wouldn’t it be nice to have another post that involved templates?”

But neither of us felt like writing it ourselves…

So we decided to make “Templates” the theme of the December 2016 Pitchfest!

That’s right: It’s Pitchfest time again!!

We want to see YOUR pitch for the best template-themed post for freelance bloggers. And, if we absolutely love it, then we’ll give you a prize.

More importantly, this is your chance to view REAL pitches from REAL freelance bloggers – and see what REAL editors have to say about them!

This is your chance to get your pitching style critiqued in a “safe” environment. (Sophie and I are both nice ladies and promise we won’t bite your head off if you slip up!).

This contest is FREE to enter and the prizes and knowledge to be gained are fantastic.

Follow the directions carefully, stick to the theme, and have fun!

Here’s how you enter…

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By Sef Cruz

How to Write a Blog Post in 8 Steps: Back to Basics

We all know that Be a Freelance Blogger is the place to go when you want to learn how to become a better freelance blogger. There are articles on how to get hired, how to “stay sane” while working, and how to get paid what you deserve.

Most importantly perhaps, BAFB is great about sharing how to write pitches that “sell” your blog posts. The quarterly Pitchfest contests are great for that – showing freelance bloggers exactly what needs to be said in order to get an idea accepted by an editor or potential client.

However, writing the best pitch in the world won’t do you any good if you can’t deliver on the final product.

As strange as it may sound, a lot of “freelance bloggers” out there simply don’t know how to write a great blog post!

We’ve gotten so caught up in what comes next – getting a raise, or what have you – that we’ve ignored the most basic element of our jobs: Writing blog posts that captivate our audiences and please our clients.

So, whether you’re a complete newbie or an established blogger, let’s go over the basics. Here are eight elements each of your blog posts needs in order to succeed:

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By Jedha Dening

5 Psychology Principles to Create More Compelling Content

Lean in closer, because we’re about to embark on a journey into the human mind to discover what makes people tick.

No, this is not whackadackary stuff. This is a deep dive into the science of our brain matter.

You see, we may think we’re captain of the ship “Me.” But science shows that, more often than not, we’re driven by mental scripts, urges, and subconscious cues.

This is interesting because as bloggers we need to continually challenge ourselves to improve our writing. We want our clients to say “WOW your writing pops,” right?

Well, one of the reasons psychologists rely on theory rather than common sense is that common sense isn’t common. That, and because theory is more reliable in producing a consistent result.

If you want to create content for your clients that always gets consistent, reliable results — but right now you lack the skills, ideas, and structure to do it — these principles could provide the answer.

Let’s delve into some brain matter and explore what science says about reaching people on a deeper level. And to make this as practical as possible, along the way I’ll share examples to demonstrate how to use the principles to create fresh, interesting and more compelling content.

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By Alaura Weaver

How to Land $100 Freelance Blogging Gigs Without Pitching

Not to knock BAFB’s Pitchfest, but I have to say it: pitching sucks.

It’s so time-consuming! You could spend hours each week pitching and sometimes still not get anywhere.

While I appreciate having an opportunity to hone my craft as a blogger by creating short, to-the-point, attention-grabbing elevator speeches, every time I’ve done a pitch or written up a topic sample to submit for a guest blogging opportunity, a voice in the back of my head whispers, “How much are you getting paid per hour for this?”

As a stay-at-home mom, what little time I have to write between preparing snacks, changing diapers, talking down tantrums, and neglecting housework is valuable to me.

Plus I used to be an actress and pitching reminds me way too much of casting calls where hundreds of talented people line up, hoping to outshine everyone else and get the gig. Like most actors, I spent the majority of my time in auditions, only to be judged and rejected — and not getting paid. It wasn’t a healthy or lucrative way to focus my creative energy and I promised myself I wasn’t going to do it again.

So about 2 months into my freelancing career, I decided to stop spending all my time and energy on pitching, and try a different strategy to get work.

Guess what? Once I started treating writing like a business with its own brand, target audience, and social media strategy, my freelance blogging career took off. Here’s how you can do the same.

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