In this edition of Freelance Friday I want to highlight freelance writer Angela Swanlund. Angela has been around the Internet for many years and published on many websites. Her best work has been for places like The Encyclopedia of Arkansas, where she did extensive research into the gruesome killing spree of Ronald Gene Simmons. She’s also been published in Cuckleburr Times and Ozark Farms and Neighbor Newspaper.

Angela is a prolific writer with a style that is uniquely hers; sometimes extremely serious, sometimes light and funny. No matter what topic Angela tackles she handles it with panache and professionalism.

Last year she did something almost unheard of in today’s society; she unplugged for an entire year. Yep, that’s right. She disconnected her phone service and her Internet service and devoted the entire year to writing her first full length novel. Actually, she went a bit overboard and it ended up being the length of two novels. She is now in the process of trimming it down and getting ready to send it off to publishers. She’s also begun working on her second novel. This one has been a bit difficult due to that fact that she’s contending with the Internet this year. She may have to unplug to see it’s completion.

Most writers would never dream of walking away from their freelance career for a year to pursue writing a novel. Many try to juggle the best of both worlds and end up frustrated in the process, never giving due diligence to either project. Angela is living proof that you can go off the grid, write a novel, and survive life without the digital age.

Many of us need the income we receive for our freelance work. Angela just buckled down and lived frugally for a year so the loss of income would not be such a strain. You have to decide which is more important; ordering pizza every week or getting your novel out.

When asked why she took such extreme measures, she admitted that self-control can be more difficult than actually unplugging. Without the tease of getting online for just a few minutes, she was able to focus her sole attention to her novel.

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We will be adding some new features here at the Stafford Scribe. One of them being Freelance Friday where we will cover many topics in the world of freelance writing. At times we will even showcase some of the most talented freelance writers on the web.

Other features will be announced soon. Look for The Scribe’s Scope in an upcoming post.

If you feel you have something to contribute to our Freelance Friday section, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

Be sure to check out the Guest Blogging guidelines. Don’t worry, they are really easy.

Happy Writing!

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How many ads do you skim that ask for writing samples?  Almost all of them, right?  I’ve posted before about not sending freelance writing samples and why.  Read: Never Send a Potential Client “Writing Samples”.

But I wonder if I should re-think this position.  I personally believe if you have an online portfolio with writing samples included, this should suffice as to whether or not you can write well.  I’m also thinking there may be another way to let the client see your work, while protecting it at the same time. Hearing back from them will still remain to be seen and I will post an update if and when I test this new theory.

My new theory is to send the potential client the writing sample, but make sure it’s already on your website with a copyscape protected logo.  Also send the potential client the link to that page on your site under the article itself.

This way, they get a writing sample in the body of your email, but they also become aware that if they use it without your permission (as many have) that it’ll be duplicate material and caught by copyscape.

I suggest you decide which niche topics you prefer to write on, write some sample articles and then upload them to your website for future use to send to clients for writing samples.  I see no reason why freelance writers have to create something new for each client when you can show your ability in your niche topic with one or two samples already written.  After all, a photographer does not go take new pictures for every client they apply for.  They build a single portfolio, add to it with their best work, and it speaks for itself.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?  Do you have a better way to deal with writing samples?

Happy Writing,
Patti Stafford

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If you’ve been writing very long you know about rejection.  It really doesn’t matter how you’ve been writing either–you’re going to get rejections.  One of the most painful parts of rejections happens when they come in waves.  I’ve received more than my share lately.  It’s reminded me that Stephen King received an ungodly amount of rejections before his big break, and it also reminded me of a post that Angela Swanlund did recently.

But even knowing all of this, the sting of rejection still takes a little bit of soul away, or it seems like it does.

Enjoy Angela’s article:
Dealing With Rejection

Happy Writing!
Patti Stafford

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by Angela Swanlund

Freelancing refers to the process of offering your services for someone else on a per project basis. The best way to explain this is through an example.

Supposing you possess excellent writing skills. There are millions (and I’m not exaggerating) of webmasters and internet marketers out there who are in need of fresh content and new products on a daily basis. Their demand for digitally written works is so great that even if they are blessed with just as much writing prowess, they won’t have the time to come up with everything that they need. Hence, they resort to outsourcing.

And this is where you enter the picture.

As a freelancer offering your writing services for a fee, you could take in some projects they will give you. You will be paid per delivery, and once that’s done, you could take in more clients for consistent earnings.

But freelancing is not only limited to writing, or ghostwriting as it is technically known. There are other services that you could offer, depending on the area of proficiency you possess. Here are more examples:

* graphic creation and design
* web creation and design
* software development
* data encoding
* translation to specific languages
* marketing consultancy
* strategic placement consultancy

There are more, of course, ranging from something as complex as creating advanced scripts to something as seemingly trivial but as surprisingly effective as forum posting (yes, I kid you not! You’ll get paid per post you make!). The bottom line is, if you have some services to offer that can be delivered digitally, freelancing is always available for you.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this earning opportunity. Let’s take a look at the distinct benefits you can reap from this option.

* You can work anytime you want, from the comforts of your own home. Your only concern is to deliver high quality products on or before the deadline your client has set.

* Freelancing requires minimal investment, or none at all. Promoting your services can be done without spending a single cent. But as with everything else, the best advertising vehicles are often those which you have to pay for. Be that as it may, you won’t be promoting heavily, and any financial investment you will be forced to make will not cost you a fortune.

* You have the liberty to accept the projects that you want, and turn down the projects you’re not happy about. Orders will come from your clients, but you remain your own boss.

It’s not entirely a bed of roses for freelancing. Let’s take a look at the disadvantages of this trade.

* You will earn an amount equivalent to the work you have done. If you could only do so much in one day, you could only earn just as much. Surpassing that threshold is quite improbable.

* You will have to work, many hours on occasions. Freelancing may afford you certain liberties, but the same principle applies: no work, no pay.

* Expansion is also quite improbable. You’re only a single person. There is only so much you could do.

* Your orders would be dependent on how efficiently you market your services. There are other earning opportunities that promise more rewards for less work using the same marketing vehicles you will be forced to take.

If you want to dabble in freelancing, here are some splendid places where you could advertise your services and solicit some clients:

www.elance.com

www.rentacoder.com

www.scriptlance.com

www.guru.com

The choice is yours, dear friend. If you’re looking for sure profit fast, then freelancing is a great option indeed. But if you want to plan long-term, I suggest that you explore other earning opportunities as well.

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File this one under the sad but true category, folks. We are considered the ‘bottom feeders’ of the freelance writing industry – by the freelance writing community. The two main reasons are this:

1. Regardless of the topic of our content, a heavier focus is paid to the key word density of the article than the actual informational value of the piece as a whole. In other words, our buyer sometimes doesn’t even care if we use proper English or good grammar, as long as we use a good key word saturation. This all too common practice reduces the overall merit and value of web content articles in general. Nay, you say? Ask yourself these questions. Have you ever wondered how in the world a blog barely in English, with the worst grammar you’ve ever read – had a PR of 5? Or how a landing page of nothing more than links to eternity and one center frame piece of content could pull a PR4? Have you ever stared in utter disbelief at what just sold on a content marketing website – and wondered why anyone, anywhere, would have paid a dime for that piece? Hello.

2. Paid to post text link ads within our blog that are completely irrelevant to the content we present. We’ve learned how to link computer stores within the content of a post about decorating an infant nursery by slapping the a href tag around the word “monitor” in the phrase – set the baby monitor within two feet of the crib. Yes, a clever bunch we are! Not.

 It’s no wonder we take such a beating in ratings by the freelance writing community, we‘ve brought this wrath onto ourselves. But it does not have to be this way! We can take back the control of our content and raise our own personal standards to beat this bum rep.

 How?
When you begin a web content article writing assignment, literally forget that list of key words your buyer supplied. For the moment, focus solely on your topic. Approach this topic as if you, yourself, were in search of the information. What would you want this article to tell you? After you have the general concept in your head, do your homework. Research. Have you fully answered the questions you had concerning this topic? Have you covered this topic as thoroughly as your word count allowed?  Read your article aloud, does it flow with a good cadence? Is it an easy read, or did you stumble? Next, correct your grammar. And last – absolutely last – work those key words into the piece. In other words, write a real article.

When you log into the admin of your favorite paid review website, don’t let greed overwhelm you! Decline the tasks that do not specifically relate to a normal topic addressed in your blog. Respect your own readers more than this! Only accept tasks that you feel would be of real interest or importance to your readership. And when you write these reviews, do your homework. Visit that website, learn about those products or services, and present this information to your readers in a concise and informative manner. In other words – write a real review.

That takes Too Much Time And I’ll Lose Money!
Oh really? What would you say if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached personally by advertisers instead of through the paid link marketing website? What if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached by content buyers personally? Then would you be willing to take the risk? Then would you be willing to decline those mis-matched tasks and tighten up those web content articles? I bet you would. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee you squat. I know, horribly anti-climatic, my bad. But I will offer this challenge. Try this method of writing for 6 months and if you don’t see significantly better offers and gain significantly more readers – I’ll personally feature your work on my websites, and help to promote you. Deal?
Angela

If you frequent many job boards for freelance writers you’ve seen plenty of ads wanting to see samples of your work.  Never send these out.  More than likely this is simply a ploy to get a lot of content for free. 

It’s extremely important that you build an online portfolio.  Read my article, “Creating a Successful Portfolio in Economic Hardtimes” to find out more about a portfolio.  Any legitimate content buyer will not mind getting a link to your online portfolio.  If they do, then you probably don’t want to work for them anyway.

I’ve applied for these jobs that request writing samples and I send a link to my portfolio.  I’ve never heard from any of them.  Why?  Because they weren’t interested in hiring me, they wanted free writing samples.  Think about it.  If 500 writers each send a writing sample, that’s 500 pieces of unique content they’ve just acquired for free.

Of course there’s nothing to stop them from copying your content from your portfolio, but they do risk the duplicate content penalty by doing this.  A much easier solution is to post a free ad on craigslist and request writing samples.

Happy Writing,
Patti Stafford