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Happy Memorial Day

May 31, 2010 By 2 Comments
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Just a quick post today to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day. As someone who is participating in the family countdown of my brother-in-law’s return from Afghanistan, it is the first year I have a personal connection to what today is really about.

In your “first official weekend of summer” celebrations, take a moment to remember what we are really celebrating. Remember those that have given their lives so that we may have the freedom to jump on our blogs everyday and tell the world what we think. Hug someone who has sacrificed time away from his family and children so that others around the world can someday feel as safe in their own homes as we do here. Say a prayer for the safe return of those stationed around the world that are missing out on the barbeques, picnics and pool parties with their loved ones this weekend.

We love you Rusty, and pray for your safe return everyday.

Filed Under: Working at Home

My Mixed Bag Week

May 28, 2010 By 4 Comments

I usually stay strictly business in my posts, but this has been a weird week filled with things I need to get off my chest. Most of it relates to the online world, so I’m putting it out here.

First, it has been a busy week. Professionally, I have accomplished a lot of things I am very proud of. I have gotten out of my comfort zone and tackled some projects that I was insecure about. I find a lot of joy in discovering I can do more than I lead myself to believe sometimes.

I have also had a lot of disappointments this week. In researching the writing world of online income, I have been reading forums and having one-on-one discussions with a few online writers. My disappointment comes from my own naivety and “help everyone” attitude. Not the first time. The rundown:

1. EzineArticles – I am very proud of the content I put up over there. I love seeing the traffic generated in my blog stats. I have, on occasion, sought out “experts” on EZA to get help with things I am not knowledgeable in. When their TOS states “you are the author,” I take that to mean author=writer. I was a little stunned to find out author=writer is not always the case.

I started seeing writing calls for large numbers of expert articles for EZA submission on some job boards. I started digging deeper and found out EZA really doesn’t have a problem with purchased ghostwritten material. To each his own, but I’m not a big fan. I develop a lot of trust issues when I find out someone I looked up to is sharing someone else’s knowledge for personal gain rather than their own. Who is really the “expert,” the writer or the person that slaps their byline at the bottom?

It has really cheapened my experience with EzineArticles and I don’t think I will publish much over there anymore, backlinks or not.

2. Having to Hide What You Do – In chatting with online writers, reading blogs and scanning forums, I have found a lot of appalling behavior. I was told my more than one writer that they are hesitant to disclose they write for content sites. Doing so has brought them a onslaught of feedback informing them they must be “uneducated and an inferior writer” if they write for sites as opposed to private clients. So they keep that hidden as much as possible.

I don’t believe in hopping on someone’s blog or hijacking a forum post to tell someone they stink. There is nothing productive that comes from that. And I don’t care if you deliver newspapers or work at McDonald’s. If you are supporting your family, you should be proud. If you love your job, you should be able to tell the world without someone beating you down.

I also see a lot of contributors on content sites that have extensive educations and the degrees to back that up. Uneducated? I think not. I have also ran across quite a few published authors on content sites. Inferior writers? Highly unlikely.

3. Forum Bashing – I have talked about forum etiquette in the past, but apparently not everyone reads my blog. I don’t notice this behavior so much on general work at home sites, but when I dig through niche forums there are some that are disturbing. Forums are a place to share and help others, not a place to exert your superiority at others’ expense. When someone new asks a question, the proper response is not “you obviously don’t belong here, you have no clue what you are doing,” or “I can’t believe they let you in.” I don’t get that, but maybe they think those replies help.

So, that’s that. Those are my gripes this week. Hopefully, someday we can all play nice. In the interim, try to ignore the naysayers and don’t let anyone get you down. I think you’re awesome.

Filed Under: Working at Home Tagged With: , ,

Demand Studios Review

May 26, 2010 By 7 Comments

I have been getting a lot of feedback and questions via comments and email in regards to my freelance writing posts. You know by now that gets me motivated to go out and bring you back some more information.

I spent some time digging through the AC forums for other paying online writing gigs. One that sparked my interest was Demand Studios. A lot of my fellow AC Contributors write for DS and make a darn good living doing so. (*The Work at Home Wife’s definition of “darn good”: around $2,000 per month with working no more than 25 hours per week. It’s not “damn good,” but it’s getting there.) I needed to try it first hand before recommended it, so that is the reason for my absence.

My Demand Studios Review:

You have to apply, and you have to prove you can write. They do not just let anyone through the door. This became evident when I applied with a personal email address and found out apparently I had applied at some point in time in the past. (When? Who knows? I have only been actively writing online for the last year, so I seriously don’t recall when or why I would have applied there. But, obviously I did.) This told me I better take it seriously, so I took some time to update my resume with my writing experience and choose a writing sample I was extremely proud of. Did it, submitted and waited, not expecting much.

Within 48 hours I got an acceptance email and welcome package. I was informed of three sites I was approved to write for and that I would need to review their materials and submit three articles for review, after which my fate would be determined. Thankfully, I was approved to write for Garden Guides. I chose one title to start and got to work.

Demand Studios has strict writing guidelines. They spell everything out very clearly as to what they want and how they want it written. It is imperative to read over all the materials and writing examples they give. I do not suggest just jumping in thinking you know what you are doing. They want informative articles backed up by research. I have always been a big nerd when it comes to research and reports, but I was still intimidated. Especially when I discovered how much my writing voice has changed over the years without structure. I have gotten in the groove of writing for conversation not information apparently, so that took a little getting used to.

My first article went through within 24 hours without a rewrite request. The editor gave me some good feedback on things to work on and I headed off to claim my next title. My second article came back for rewrite, nothing major that couldn’t easily be fixed. The third went through without incident. I then waited anxiously to find out if I could stay or would be shown the door. I got to stay!

I have spent the last week dedicating an hour or two to writing for them everyday until I feel comfortable with the requirements. It is taking me about an hour to write one article, but I’m still very new and $15/hr to start isn’t too bad until I can pick up speed. DS pays twice per week via PayPal, so I am happy to see I don’t have to wait 30 or 60 days for payment.

At this point, they get thumbs up. I don’t mind constructive criticism and see it as a chance to become a better writer. If something would come back and I don’t feel it is worth my time to rewrite it, I always have the option to let it expire and submit it for payment at AC. I understand some people despise their guidelines and editing, but compared to some clients I have worked for in the past I have certainly seen worse. If I get frustrated, I can walk away for a bit as there are no crazy minimum activity requirements.

If you enjoy writing, give Demand Studios a shot. If you are looking for another writing avenue because you already work for DS or maybe you have had a bad experience, you can always try AOL Seed. I haven’t tried them out yet, but you can find a review on The Freelance Farmer. Linsey and I go way back. We went to high school together and I trust her freelance opinions. Linsey has had a lot of success as a freelance writer and was a motivating factor in my online writing endeavors. Check her out when you have a chance.

Filed Under: How to Find Clients and Keep Them Tagged With: , , ,

Do You Read Newsletters?

May 21, 2010 By 9 Comments

At the beginning of the year, I noticed just how many newsletters I get each week. I also noticed that I rarely, if ever, read any of them. Information, or the hope of potential information, is the one thing I packrat. I can do a total home purge, giving away everything but absolute necessities to Goodwill, but if I think MAYBE I might learn something from someone someday I can’t stop following.

I made a conscious decision to start reading all these newsletters I had signed up for along the way. I would give them a fair amount of time to gain my trust and teach me something new, and then they either get to stay or go. Many no longer get to visit my inbox, but some I regret not taking the time to see what they had to say sooner.

I have won almost $400 worth of online courses through newsletter contests. I have been the proud recipient of a few great business books (who knew business buffs still published actual BOOKS? Hard cover and everything.) I have received some free ad space for the next year. I have also received a lot of great information and discounts within these little inbox treasures.

My apparent “luck” this year makes me question if I am the only person reading these newsletters. I think I am as one newsletter announcing me the winner of something had a note, “It pays to read our newsletter.” I must have been the only person that responded to enter. Their loss is my gain, I guess.

So, do you read newsletters?

Filed Under: Working at Home Tagged With: ,

Article Marketing Check-In

May 19, 2010 By 5 Comments

Two weeks ago I told you about the Hundred Articles in One Hundred Days Challenge going on at EzineArticles. I told you I was participating and some of you expressed interest, so I thought today we could share our status updates.

I set a reasonable goal of just 30 articles in the next 100 days. I thought that would be reasonable with my schedule. I’m happy to say I have done much better than I expected. I have actually been writing one or two articles per day instead of 3 per week.

I did however change my platform. I’m a Greedy Gus and I like to think my time is valuable. When I started churning out articles at a good pace I calculated the time I would spend in the next 100 days to be at around 34 hours. I decided I needed to make some money from my writing somehow.

So, I started submitting them to Associated Content. Some I have submitted for performance pay only, some I have submitted for upfront payment. I am pleased that I have earned almost $20 off of my articles thus far. Sure, it’s not much. At least I am getting a little bit of cash for the time I would have spent anyway. I also made Platinum Status at EzineArticles with my submissions over there, so they sent me some nice swag. Bonus!

Oh, I was also very surprised to see a lot of my fellow Virtual Assistants are regular contributors over there. One more area I am a late bloomer in apparently. We are a motivated group of entrepreneurs though, late or not.

Leave me a comment with how you are doing with your article marketing goal. I would love to hear how it is going!

I have also written a few articles that may be beneficial to your writing and marketing plans. Feel free to take a gander and hopefully pick up a few new tips and tricks.

How to Syndicate Content Effectively

Your Social Bookmarking Guide

SEO Article Marketing: A How-To

Getting the Most Out of Word of Mouth Marketing

Note: This is an older post. Please take a look at my Future of Article Marketing posts.

Filed Under: Working at Home Tagged With: , ,

Office Exercises

May 17, 2010 By 5 Comments

Keeping in shape is hard when you work at home. The long hours in front of the computer can lead to dreaded “secretary spread.” I saw this video at the beginning of the year and was reminded of it by Shell’s post on LBS today.

If you are looking for a quick office workout, check out this video from Susie Shina.

Filed Under: Working at Home Tagged With: ,

Link Building Training

May 14, 2010 By 3 Comments

Anyone with a website or blog has heard that they need to start building links. This can be confusing. Where do you put your links? What kinds of links are most effective? Is it a hard process? Does it take a lot of time? Why do I even need links?

Links increase search engine standing. This is the number one reason to start a link building campaign. The more links you have in the right places, the more important your website or blog is seen in the eyes of search engines. You must have something important to say if you have links all over the internet.

Links bring traffic. How many times have you started looking for one thing only to find yourself later looking at something totally differently? How many times did you go to one site to purchase something and end up purchasing through a site you hadn’t even heard of before? This happens because those websites or blogs have strategically placed their links where you will find them. Many of my website treasure chests have been discovered this way. You can take advantage of that too!

Easy Link Love – 13 Week Link Building Class is a course designed by Susanne Myers. I was introduced to Susanne through Nicole Dean’s blog. (You know Nicole, don’t you? She’s amazing!) Easy Link Love is a 13-week training program developed to teach you where and how to build links. Susanne amassed an incredible 50,000+ links over a period of 2.5 years. While you aren’t expected to do that, she does send you a 2-5 page lesson each week. These lessons include a weekly assignment to get you in the routine of constantly building links and bringing traffic.

As someone who recently suffered from “lack of link love” when a website I had been throwing links at for sometime went down for maintenance, I now know the importance of spreading things around. I was spreading my links among too few websites. If one should go down permanently someday, so would my traffic.

It probably wouldn’t have taken much for me to jump into Susanne’s course with her reputation alone, but she gave me a price I couldn’t refuse. Wait for it…..$29 per month for 3 months. That’s it! No long term commitment. No large investment. She makes it incredibly affordable and breaks it down into payments.

I highly recommend Easy Link Love – 13 Week Link Building Class. If you have been avoiding building links because it seems overwhelming, confusing or time consuming, this program will bring it down into easy to digest steps. Let those links build some love!

Filed Under: How to Find Clients and Keep Them, How to Make Money with a Blog Tagged With: , , , ,

Why Freelance?

May 12, 2010 By 2 Comments

With the economic troubles we have seen the last few years; many people have awakened to find they no longer have a job. Some have chosen to keep their skills at home as a freelancer. This may be because they cannot find outside work right away. Others see the loss of their job as an opportunity to pursue their long time entrepreneurial dreams. If you have not yet started freelancing, you may ask yourself, “Why freelance?” Here are six reasons people freelance today.

Security – As stated above, we have been experiencing very uncertain times. Companies have been downsizing or closing all together. As a freelancer you have the opportunity to work with several different clients. You no longer have to worry about having only one source of income. If one client leaves, you will have others still paying while you get a replacement.

Freedom – As a freelancer your dreams are no longer stifled by someone else. You are free to do the work you choose on your schedule. You can focus on the skills you love and leave everything else behind.

Balance – You are better able to balance your work and family lives as a freelancer. You do not need to ask anyone else for time off. You can be there when your children are on school vacation. You can attend functions and activities you missed out on in the 9-5 life.

Career – Becoming a freelancer is making the decision to have a career. This is not just another job stop. When you work your passion, you will never leave.

Variety – You are no longer tied down to monotonous duties. You can diversify yourself as little or as much as you would like. You can work with several clients in several different industries on a variety of tasks. No day is boring and no day is the same as a freelancer.

Income – No one else dictates your pay when you freelance. You know you worth and you have clients that will pay it. You can pursue your passion without the weighing fact that you are only making a small percentage of the income your hard work generates.

The reasons for freelancing are too many to count. Every person has their own reasons for making a change. Your future is in your hands when you freelance, no one else’s.

Filed Under: Running an Online Business Tagged With: , , ,
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