BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS »

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Freelance Writing Motivation and Inspiration

This is the first installment of this feature.  I asked several freelance writer's a question and they provided fantastic answers that are sure to help all writers find motivation and inspiration to write.  And the question was:

What is the most important piece of advice you can offer someone hoping to break into freelance web-writing?

Fellow freelance writer Sharkbytes said: "After just over three years of trying to earn some money by writing on a regular basis, I certainly wouldn’t say that I have “broken in” to the field. But I have had some success, and feel as if I’ve got a toenail in the door. The hardest thing for me has been to find a balance between being true to myself and writing to pay the bills. When I began I really just wanted to write articles or stories on topics that interest me. But most of my interests are not in the mainstream. I thought that with an on-line venue that I would find enough people of “like mind” to read my articles. The truth is that most people on line are like most people everywhere else... their interests are not mine. Meanwhile, I was able to find some places to do web writing for money. Most of these assignments are not on topics that interest me, and even worse, I must force the writing into SEO format. If there is a sure way to kill creativity, this may be it. But, it’s a job. And there is the crux of freelance writing. You need to find enough ways to express your creative side so that you don’t become too discouraged, while being disciplined enough to write, write, write, and bring home some income."

You can read more from Sharkbytes here:  Sharkbytes on Associated Content
Sharkbytes My Quality Day Blog 
Sharkbytes Book on Books Leaving Footprints 

Fellow freelance writer Patricia Sheasley Sicilia said: "1. Forget everything you learned in college about writing, except for grammar, punctuation and spelling. Internet writing is not magazine, newspaper or essay writing. At least, not if you want to get hits on google. This was the hardest thing for me to accept. Repeating phrases that will be picked up on SEO just ruined the flow of my article, I felt. Plus, forget writing memoirs, human interest or humor stories, unless you're on that particular type of site. If you want to make money, it's SEO all the way.

2. Learn how to manage your time. To make any real money, you must join more than one site.

3. Learn how to rewrite or expand your articles so that you can use them on several different sites. For example, articles done for Demand are typically short and laid out in an outline. That kind of article can be easily expanded into an AC article, and won't take much time at all because you've already done all your research."


You can read more from Patricia here: Patricia on Associated Content 


Fellow freelance writer Michele Starkey said: "Advice to new freelance writers? Join a community like Associated Content or Demand Studios first to ensure that you garner the support of fellow writers. There is strength in community and a writer can get lonely and feel weak. Use your community as a springboard to soar!"

You can read more from Michele here: Michele on Associated Content


More great answers will be posted throughout the rest of the day.  I want to thank everyone who participated.  Your answers and insight will greatly benefit our fellow freelance writers and will surely help, motivate, and inspire all aspiring freelance writers.


 

Announcement

So many new things will be going on on the blog.  First, I will be rolling out a new feature today called "Freelance Writing Motivation and Inspiration".  This feature will be contributed by fellow writers, new and old.  I will ask a question and current freelance writers will provide their insight on all things freelance writing.  I got some fantastic insight this week so be looking for this post very shortly.

More freelance writing gigs.  I have been trying really hard to find the time to research and post about reputable freelance writing gigs.  I will finally have some time this week to do so.  So keep an eye out for some information on writing gigs.

Print gigs.  Here on the blog I will be posting information on some print gigs.  I will post editorial calenders, links, and guidelines for a variety of print gigs.  I will start posting a few here and there, but this feature will officially roll out in January 2010.

Is there something you would like to see on the blog?  Head over to the Ning and tell me about it.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Thanksgiving Article Keyphrase Ideas for Freelance Writers

Myspace Graphics


Thanksgiving is this month so it is time to get those Thanksgiving articles written and published.  This post will give you some great Thanksgiving article ideas, keywords, and the global monthly search volume for those keywords.  I will be doing several posts like this for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day.  Good luck and happy writing!

Thanksgiving history - 40,500 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving story - 22,200 global monthly search volume
First Thanksgiving - 74,000 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving celebration - 4,400 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving crafts - 74,000 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving activities - 40,500 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving dinner - 165,000 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving recipe - 33,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving prayer - 33,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving facts - 12,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving pilgrims 12,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving traditions - 6,600 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving gift - 9,900 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving card - 14,800 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving gift - 9,900 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving decorations - 22,200 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving centerpiece - 6,600 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving printables - 8,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving travel - 49,500 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving party - 18,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving for kids 40,500 global monthly search volume
Preschool Thanksgiving - 18,100 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving kids crafts - 14,800 global monthly search volume
Thanksgiving project - 2,400 global monthly search volume
Vegan Thanksgiving - 5,400 global monthly search volume

Hint: If you want to see what the global daily search volume is just divide the global monthly search volume by 30.

So what is global monthly search volume?  It is an estimate of how many searches were performed on that topic during one month.  The more searches the better.

Use the above keywords in your article titles (as close to the front as possible), in the first paragraph, last paragraph, and a few times in the body of the article.  If you use subheads use them there as part of your main keyphrase.