Associated Content and Others: Why You Shouldn't "Give" Your Content Away

I found out today exactly WHY I do not generally use sites like Associated Content or eHow to make a little extra money between gigs or even just for fun. Some people swear by these sites to earn a little extra. They keep paying over time, and if you write enough, apparently you can make quite a bit of money. Also, they help get your name on Google more, and keep you writing and it's one more way to market yourself.

BUT there's one caveat that really keeps me from submitting to these sites...

As I was browsing submission guidelines to various publications I came across a pub that paid $150-$300 per article. So, a looooooong time ago on a similar article site as Associated Content, I posted an article that I realized today was a perfect fit for this publication.

And of course, guess what? They do not accept previously published material, online or otherwise. Now, I actually still own all the rights, unlike the various rights options you have at AC, but I still was unable to submit this article because it was previously published. Not a cool feeling at all.

Now, I suppose I could revise it, but the type of article it is and involving personal experience, it just didn't work that way. Years ago when this article was put on the web it never entered my mind that I would use it later and here I am kicking myself because I could have possibly sold it for a whole lot more than I originally got for it.

Before you submit to these sort of sites like eHow and AC, hold onto it for awhile and look around for other possible submission options. There is a need for all sorts of articles out there and even if you only get $15 for it, that's likely still more than you'd get at AC or others, not to mention it would probably be a bit more credible of a source that you can send potential clients to.

Nothing against AC, eHow or the like, just exhaust your options before you virtually give your content away. You may be seriously kicking yourself someday if you don't.

Freelance Writing and Clients: Effective Communication

As freelance writers we work online A LOT. We do much of our communication through email, forums, IM, contact forms, etc. If you haven't been living under a rock out in the boondocks you likely have used email and you know that the words you are trying to convey in email aren't always interpreted the way you want or expect them to be. This can result in a multitude of problems with clients including: incomplete projects, incorrect projects and on the far end of things, loss of a client.

If you are working with a client solely through email what may seem clear as an OCD's window to your client may be as clear as my nicotine-covered windshield on a sunny day to you. And it goes both ways of course. You have clients who need to provide you with the information you need to complete their project, but they may not know how to communicate that effectively. This is where you swoop in and save the day (or at least your client's project so you can be paid), you need to become the authority on effective communication and gently lead your client toward the answers you need. Yes, clients are sometimes high-maintenance. And that's ok. Most people are about one thing or another.

So here's what you, as a freelance writer, can do to coax those words out of your client:

1) Number your questions and separate them by paragraph breaks. If you are finding yourself emailing your client over and over asking the same questions because for some reason they don't seem to be reading your questions it may be because those questions are tied up in paragraphs. People, especially busy people, have this tendency to scan paragraphs looking for the info they want or need. This is perhaps what you have done to get down here to these points, scanned for the bold and numbers. Separating things, numbering them and even putting them in bold drive your reader and client to the most important parts and can help you get the answers they need. It's much easier for them to add in some answers real quick if you've already given them the room to do so.

2) The "Fluff Factor": This is a lesson in customer service. I worked at a bank a while ago and my boss was a big fan of the "fluff factor" when emailing internal and external customers. Our emails were tailored to prevent the recipient from getting defensive in any way. Often consisting of smiley faces, nothing in all capital letters because that can be patronizing or seem like yelling, lots of "Thanks!" and friendly exclamation points, not the ones that rhetorically state: "what the #%$^ are you doing!?!?!?" But even the most well-intentioned emails can be misconstrued and put certain people on the defense which causes them to shut down their receptivity. All in all, it's just good practice to be professional and friendly...although your email doesn't have to look like a high-school girl's notebook with flowers, hearts and smiley faces drawn all over the place.

3)Separate your subjects into separate emails. For efficiency and calarity's sake I like to get as much said as possible in emails. Anything that I can think of that impacts communication with that person goes into those emails. I may have several questions, then some ideas, then some contract details to work out, or whatever else. However, I find that when I separate these topics into respective emails I am much more likely to get the responses I want and need. But don't bombard your client with five emails at once, that will just annoy. Prioritize them and send one at a time and let the responses and communication flow naturally from one topic to the next.

A lot of people don't have these communication problems with their clients, but I find that I do quite frequently. Many of the clients I work with don't know exactly what I do for them, they may think I just write their content so they may not understand why I need to know these things in order to complete their project. They are not freelance writers themselves and often just don't get what we do. They just know they need their content.

Blogging: How to keep up your blogs and keep stress levels low

Lately I've been having an issue with keeping up my blogs. I either feel like I don't have time, or I'm exhausted or my brain is in a fog and I can't string thoughts together easily.
So to help myself I'm trying something new and thought it may be helpful in some way for you as well if you don't already have a process.

I've started creating an on going list of drafts in the posting area back here behind-the-scenes. Every time I get an idea for a post I come over here and simple just type the title in or a few words to get me going and it usually spawns several other ideas to which I will do the same thing. Then I just log on and type in a few lines here and there or if I'm feeling focused I finish a whole post.

Right now I have 10 posts sitting back here waiting to be written and it takes a load off knowing if my brain is in a fog I've already made things a lot easier. I can just pop in and write a bit here and there.

I'm constantly looking for ways to decrease my stress level and make things easier and more efficient. Although we may work at home and some people think we don't do anything all day, it's the same as running any business and there's always stress of some kind no matter what.

What do you do to help ensure your stress level is low?

"When it Rains, it Pours" and probably some other cliches

My mother always said: "don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
As freelancers starting out we crave work. Some of us will take anything, work for free, or what about all those "Elancers" out there who are bidding to write 30 articles for five bucks? I certainly don't have that much time for WAY less than minimum wage. There comes a time when you find you have TOO much work and what do you do? Turn it down? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Feast or Famine...when it rains it pours and so on. At times like this though, if you want to keep your clients and continue to gain new ones you may want to consider alternatives when you are bombarded by work. It's not good for so many reasons: possible burn-out, stress, less focus on each project, etc. It can end up hurting you more than helping you.

There was a recent post on Avid Writer's blog in which she talks about outsourcing your writing when you just have too much to do. Some people have quite a few freelancers they work with and pass work out to. This could be a great option for you, especially if you are finding you are not getting in enough time for marketing, accounting and other administrative tasks.

Here's another option: outsource your administrative tasks. In his book Getting Started as a Freelance Writer, Robert W. Bly talks about how he outsources all of his Fed Ex/mailing, his accounting, research, etc. I think this is a great idea, it allows you to retain your actual freelance writing work and your clients while someone else takes care of the tasks you don't have time for or don't want to do. Get a college student who perhaps wants to learn the business (I think I've been watching too much Sopranos because that somehow sounded "mafioso-ish" to me) or maybe you even get one who is working toward a marketing degree to help you out with some marketing. Get them to help you out a few hours a week, just enough for beer money and Waffle House. Call it an internship of sorts.

Point is, you always have options instead of overloading yourself to the point of mental collapse. That's probably one of the worst things you can do as a freelance writer. Just wanted to reiterate the point and make a few other suggestions after reading Avid Writer's blog post awhile ago since I think it's very important for all of us to keep a level head!

Finally added a Contact button on the top right....

Please feel free to contact me at any time regarding freelance writing questions, comments or whatever is on your mind. Tell me how I'm doing, tell me what you want to see more of or you can just write to gripe about anything on this planet--there's plenty of material out there for that! Seriously, anything that's on your mind, but also, to help me maintain this blog as what the readers want to know maybe throw in a little query here and there.

The death of glossies? I don't think so!

With all of the newspaper layoffs at The LA Times, NYT and others, and Conde Nast publications having fallen significantly in ad revenue this first half, it appears it's a sign of the times that print is all moving to the cheaper online distribution practices and out of your mailbox, whether you want it or not. Bad for staff writers, sort-of great for freelancers...although many writers still love the print, it's sexier, it's comforting, it's some writer's milk and honey, writers love the print.

Are we watching the death of print? Will we wake up and discover in the very near future that Ray Bradbury was a modern-day Job? Or did someone just need to come up with a brilliant solution for all the overstock magazines laying around....

In an article on Foliomag.com, Dylan Stableford writes "If you can make a PDF, you can now publish a magazine," talking about Derek Powazek's genius brainchild MagCloud, a print-on-demand magazine publishing solution that is currently in beta. If you are a freelance writer who has always wanted to publish your own magazine but were afraid of the stacks and stacks of undistributed copies or high printing costs with no financial backing, then this may be the solution for you. Powazek wrote in an e-mail to FOLIO:. “MagCloud wants to be the people's printing press.” Not only that, but all you have to do is upload your magazine, MagCloud handles the rest as stated on Foliomag.com: "printing, mailing, subscription management, and more.”

So you can basically kick back and focus on marketing your mag and leave all the after-design grunt work to Powazek and MagCloud. Genius.

Click here for Derek Powazek's Blog Post Announcement
Click here for a Foliomag.com interview: An Interview with the Dudes Behind MagCloud

Does Your Website Reflect Your Writing?

For awhile now I have been noticing websites that offer a certain service, but that service is not reflected on their website.

I came across a few web design sites and immediately turned away because they were hard to navigate, hard to read, had way too much content all over the place, disorganized, links I wanted weren't in plain view, the design wasn't creative or it was TOO creative and there were no readily visible links. I imagine the bounce rates on these sites are high, but I could be wrong.

If I were to hire someone to do a service for me then it should be clear on their homepage whether they would probably be a good fit for me in order for me to move into the site.

The same thing goes for writers. I see freelance writers who list SEO content on their website as one of their services--sometimes their specialization, yet their own site is not optimized. If one of your visitors notices this, you will likely lose some credibility and a potential client. Even if you have great examples of your SEO content in your online portfolio on your site, the potential client probably won't get that far. Your site and specifically your homepage is often your first impression, so make sure you are delivering to yourself what you are offering to your customers.