2010 May

Writing for Income

May 7, 2010 By Angie 4 Comments

Since we have been talking about article marketing so much this week, I thought we would finish the week off doing more of the same. This time we will talk about writing for income.

With my busy Virtual Assistant business, I choose to keep my other ventures as a passive role. I like to get them going and forget about them. This makes it feel like my birthday when I occasionally get unexpected money coming in. When it comes to writing, it’s the same way.

I don’t care to be a freelance writer by day, but I do enjoy writing. That is one reason I occasionally submit articles to Associated Content. Unlike EzineArticles, these submissions are able to generate a small amount of income while still supplying me with links to my businesses.

My articles can generate payment through views or by someone purchasing them. If I am having a slow day and feel like putting in some research, I can also choose an article that is up for assignment and receive upfront payment. Those typically range from $2-$15, but can increase significantly as you build up your content and portfolio. They also frequently have contests where you can earn bonuses for the number of articles you submit.

I chose Associated Content because unlike some other paid-for-writing-sites, I get to choose any topic I want. You aren’t assigned topics with dreaded deadlines. I can do it as little or as much as I want about anything that suits my fancy that day. It could be some celebrity gossip that is unrelated to my blog, but I still can get it off my chest and possibly get paid for it.

If you love to write and aren’t quite ready to take the plunge into a full-blown business, give Associated Content a try. It is yet another way to build your confidence and portfolio in writing while earning a little income.

Note: Associated Content only allows original content. If you are an active EzineArticle publisher, consider submitting your previously published articles on Bukisa and start earning from page views.

Filed Under: How to Find Clients and Keep Them Tagged With: associated content, writing articles for money, writing for income

100 Articles in 100 Days Marathon Challenge

May 5, 2010 By Angie 3 Comments

For those of you already taking advantage of the power of article marketing, you may be aware of EzineArticle’s “100 Articles in 100 Days Marathon Challenge.” If you aren’t, or don’t, this is a great way to get your expert status out there and promote your business.

To qualify, you’ll need to sign up and submit at least 100 qualifying articles of 400 words or more anytime between 12:01AM CT-US Saturday, May 1st and 11:59PM CT-US Sunday, August 8th. Once those 100 articles are approved, you’re qualified! There will be prizes available, but mostly importantly you will be building backlinks and free advertising for years to come.

This may seem like a daunting task, but set your sights within reason and go for it. Personally, I am setting my goal for a minimum of 2 articles per week. At the end of the challenge, I will have submitted 30 articles. I may go over my goal, but this is where I want to be at minimum by August 8.

EzineArticles allows you to repurpose your existing content, so if you have some great informative blog posts or newsletters submit them. If you need some speed writing tips check out my prior post, 5 Ways to Increase Your Article Writing Speed.

You can sign up at any time and the Challenge has only been going on for a few days right now. Go sign up. Best of luck and let me know if you will be participating in the challenge.

Update: As of today, I have submitted a total of 16 articles between EzineArticles and a paid-to-write site which I will talk about on Friday. This is way above my initial goal and I can’t say that motivation will continue. The more I write however, I more I am getting comfortable with the process. I am getting a lot more articles written in a shorter amount of time.

Filed Under: How to Find Clients and Keep Them Tagged With: article marketing, ezinearticles 100 Articles in 100 Days Challenge

5 Ways to Increase Your Article Writing Speed

May 3, 2010 By Angie 8 Comments

Whether writing an article for submission or writing an article for your own blog, many writers complain that they have too little time to be an effective writer. This couldn’t be farther from the truth if you implement a few simple strategies to increase your article writing speed.

First, select your topic carefully. If you want or need to hammer out a few articles in very little time, topic selection is a key component. Choose a topic that you are either knowledgeable about or know where to quickly find information. Research takes a lot of time and can kill productivity. Write about what you know, or at least know a little about and can easily find the rest.

Get your facts together. Now that you know what you are going to write about, get your facts together ahead of time. Before you write your first sentence, spend some time gathering the information you will need to complete your article in one shot. Having to go back and forth during your writing process may get you off topic.

Outline your article. I personally love the 5-paragraph method for writing. Write one introductory sentence for each paragraph. When that’s done, go back and add a few sentences elaborating on each topic. In only five paragraphs with 60 words each, you easily have a 300-word article. This method makes it a less daunting task by breaking it down into easy to overcome pieces.

Clear the mental clutter. Turn off all the noise. A well researched and thought out article or blog post should take no more than 20 minutes to write out. For 20 minutes don’t check your email, don’t answer the phone, and don’t look to see what your friends are doing on twitter.

Get it done. As stated above, set aside your writing time and do nothing else. Stopping and starting will kill your motivation and mental mind-set. Once you stop, you will have to come back and try to remember where you are at and where you were going. Don’t agonize over every word. Quickly write a rough draft. Then go back and do any necessary corrections. Doing too much revision during the process is discouraging and a waste of time. You may never finish.

Implementing these easy steps will improve not only your writing speed, but also your confidence. Once you find out this doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out, mentally exhausting task, you will find yourself writing more and writing better quality content.

Filed Under: Blogging Advice Tagged With: 5-paragraph writing, article marketing, blog writing, writing tips