Bartering Your Professional Skills

by Sandi Valentine

When I started working at home as a writer a year ago, I had virtually no other web based skills. I knew less than nothing about SEO, Wordpress, niche websites, or Internet Marketing. It was like walking into a different world and not knowing how to speak the language. However, a close friend had told me that webmasters were in need of content, and would pay good money for it. I just had to learn how to put this fact to work to my advantage.

 

I began by putting up a post on the Warrior Forum, stating that I was a new content writer and wanted to offer my services. I set my rates low, and explained to customers that I needed to get some testimonials under my site and build a website. After that, rates would be going up. Literally, within five minutes, my inbox was full of messages from webmasters and marketers, offering to help me set up my own business. Up until that day, I was doubtful about being able to work from home. Afterwards, however, I never looked back.

 

Since then, I’ve bartered my writing skills for graphics, software, Wordpress plugins, and four websites. I’ve also been able to get technical support, coding, and marketing advice. Generally, all it takes to put your writing skills to work is taking the time to ask – there’s almost always someone with the skill you need who is willing to exchange their time for yours. Simply put up a polite post on any marketing forum, explaining what skills you have and what you’re in need of, and you’ll soon have more help than you know what to do with!

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Sandi is the owner of Valentine Content Creation. She blogs about balancing working at home and family at From Diapers to Deadlines.


June 12, 2008 | Filed Under Making Money, Techniques and Tips, Resources, Organization, Marketing | 3 Comments 

Five Signs that You Need to Say “No”

For any of you musical theater fans, you’ll know what I mean when I say I’ve been the “the girl who cain’t say no” lately in my freelance career. It all started with the “holiday rush,” which has lead right into the “paying the closing costs on our new house squeeze.” All in all…I’m one burnt out writer.

I know a lot of writers, including myself, advise to stay busy whenever possible since you never know when you’ll be going through a dry spell. But experiencing my circumstances right now, I’ve been thinking about the times where it’s not only okay, but it’s necessary, to say “no” to clients - old or new.

1. You are chained to your computer.

If your family doesn’t recognize the look of your face without the laptop in front of it, it’s time to take a break. Writing is a creative process, and sometimes takes a lot longer than people expect it to. If your clients are piling up tight deadlines, you may find yourself working back to back on projects, and missing out on the rest of your life. If you’re already piled high in work, pass the lead onto another writer.

2. Your quality is suffering.

“Sure, I can write 10 pages a day” you think when you accept a new assignment. Then when it’s time to actually write the ebook, you find yourself needing to do a lot more research than you thought you would. Close the doors on your business, finish the project with an adjusted deadline and keep your quality high.

3. Your productivity is down.

When you get burnt out, your daily word or daily page count may decline. Writing isn’t automatic, and it’s hard to write when you’re feeling tired, frustrated or overwhelmed.

4.  You have to excessively outsource.

Crowding your schedule with work leaves you with two options to get that work done: outsourcing or delivering late. Since you definitely don’t want to develop a reputation for late delivery, you’re stuck with outsourcing…which can eat in to your profits and possibly cause you more work in the long run. Unless you really, really trust someone to write like you, outsourcing when you’re under the gun can be risky business.

5. You’ve lost your love of writing.

This is perhaps the biggest sign that you need to take some time off, or at least free up your schedule. Take some time off, do some other things and then come back to writing when you feel inspired again.

February 24, 2008 | Filed Under Techniques and Tips | 7 Comments 

Daily Article - Any opinions?

Sometimes you need something to fill in the gaps between work. My first choice recommendation used to be Associated Content, but their pay has decreased in the past year so much that I wonder if it is worth it.

There may be a new solution for when you have an article to sell and need a marketplace. Daily Article (www.dailyarticle.com) looks pretty promising. According to the FAQ, a writer submits an article to their marketplace, sets their own price and then the buyer has full ownership of the article once they purchase an article.

Founded in the Fall of 2007, the site is pretty new. There seems to be a lot of writers who have content there, but I wonder about the rate of buying. Looking at the Alexa rankings, the site has some work to do with building up their traffic and popularity with buyers. A search for “buy articles” on Google shows no signs of the site. There are only 3 adwords ads so some Pay per click marketing may be in order to get the site some visibility.

The fact that the sales are limited to full rights means that you’ll be able to fetch a higher price for your articles. But your chances of selling an article may be low until more buyers are visiting the site. If you are a writer for the site, I’d love to hear how it’s working for you. Are you helping to promote the site and get more buyer traffic? How have your sales been?

January 22, 2008 | Filed Under Techniques and Tips | 7 Comments 

What’s Your Sign? and other Bad Ways to Pick Up A Client

Have you been applying everywhere you can and still getting no response?

You may need some work on your “pick up line” before you start getting bites on your writing services. Just like in the dating scene, your introduction to a potential client can ruin your chances for getting any further.

From what I’ve discovered, a lot of people are making very basic mistakes when they are applying for jobs including:

*not proofreading their e-mail

*sending a one line “i’m interested. what’s the pay?” response. (This is seriously a response my client got recently and the lack of capitalization is intentional)

*not reading the details of the job requirements

*asking the client to contact you if they are interested in you, without providing enough for them to make that decision

Based on some discussions I’ve had with some clients, and from my own experience in hiring writers for projects, there are some of you out there who need to brush up on the basics. Here are the major guidelines for making that all important first contact.

*Realize that your clients are busy, busy people.

When someone posts a request for writers on a forum or places an ad on Craiglist, they are flooded with responses. You aren’t unique. You’re one of many dozens if not hundreds of applicants. They don’t have time to read through a lengthy letter that explains why you were inspired to write, who your favorite authors are and your personal philosophy on web content. Keep your e-mail short and to the point.

*If you don’t cover the basics, they won’t get back to you.

Even though you want to keep your e-mail succinct, it’s important to include everything that a person will need to make a decision on hiring you. A short resume, your rates, samples (either attached or links to where they are posted) and contact info are absolutely essential. Forget any of these are you are destined for the recycle bin.

*Be respectful

If a person is offering a low rate, don’t berate them for their stupidity. Some of the behavior I’ve seen on forums is nowhere near professional. Give you information and let them know you’d love to work with them if their budget ever grows. I’ve done this a few times and when the client gets tired of $3 who are dropping the ball, they’ve been more than happy to pay for quality work.

*Make yourself stand out with a simple “connection” statement.

Yes, I did say not to go on and on about your experiences. But if you have a connection to a topic, let the client know (briefly!). For example:

“I know that I can provide you with great articles on natural childbirth. Having had both of my daughters at home and studying a lot about the subject, I can draw from my personal bank of knowledge to make your articles unique.”

Before throwing in the towel and declaring that there isn’t work out there, evaluate your pick up strategy and make a better first contact.

January 15, 2008 | Filed Under Techniques and Tips | 6 Comments 

How Do I Get Started? - My Two Year Retrospective

Every few days I see posts like this in some of the writing and work at home forums that I belong to. I just celebrated my second full year of working at home, so here are my tips for getting started as a web writer.

1. Get mentally prepared. At first, I had a big sign on my bulletin board that said “I am a writer.” It was just a little mental reminder of what I was there to do and a bit of a confidence boost.

2. Ease your way into it. We creative types are sometimes hurt by criticism. A bad journey out of the shell, and we automatically crawl back in. My first two “jobs” were doing some overflow work for Carson Brackney (who used to own Content Done Better - a blog I miss very, very much) and writing for Associated Content.

These jobs were perfect for different reasons. The overflow work was great because I didn’t have to worry about marketing myself, setting up a website, or bidding on jobs, etc. I just reported directly to him. He also clearly laid out what he wanted. Since he was a writer himself, he didn’t give vague instructions and expect to be “wow’ed.” He gave me a style sheet, told me exactly how to do it, and then gave praise where it was due and advice where it was needed.

Associated Content was great because, at the time, they took just about anything. This isn’t to say that the work I did for AC was bad. But being published online was an ego boost, and just seeing that I could earn something from my writing convinced me that this was worth pursuing further.

3. Pick one method and stick to it.

There are hundreds of ways to make money online. There are dozens of ways to make money writing online. You shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket, but you shouldn’t spread yourself to thin initially. Stick to blogging, or article writing, or product creation, or PLR, or getting bidding sites, etc. Get good at that part, and then expand.

4. Try everything at least once.

If you start working on a bidding site and think “This is for the birds!” don’t give up entirely on making money writing, or even making money online in general. I have some online acquaintances that are great at parts of this business that don’t appeal to me at all, and vice versa. Writing online, just like writing off line, is not one size fits all. If you find that a particular method of doing work isn’t for you, try something else. There’s a lot to choose from.

5. Keep the long term vision of your business in mind.

I’ve had some incredible writing opportunities, and also some really lame jobs. What got me through the bad ones was keeping my goal in mind. My long term goal of creating my own products and developing more passive streams of income was enough to keep me going. I looked at those non-ideal jobs as paid training for what was down the road.

November 18, 2007 | Filed Under Techniques and Tips, Web Writing Basics | 10 Comments 

Newbie Web Writer? Start with Articles

A lot of new writers choose to stick to articles for a while, and with good reason. They take less time to write, which means that you can get them done quickly. They are also less of a monetary investment for your client. If you’re brand new, a client is more likely to trust you with $50 worth of content then $1000. Once you do a great job with a set of articles, your client may turn around and order a larger project from you.

It’s also a lot easier to come up with 400 words on ab muscle exercises than an entire report. Until you get the point where you can turn away work that isn’t appealing, it’s good idea to stick to offering just articles.

Plus, there will always be plenty of work for article writers. Most of the Internet Marketing business models heavily rely on articles. There will be a need for fresh content each and every month from your clients.

Starting with articles means that you only have to concentrate on writing one type of product well. After dozens of articles, the process will become so easy that you’ll be able to do it in your sleep.

-Excerpt from “The Content Chef” (coming soon!)

November 16, 2007 | Filed Under Making Money, Techniques and Tips, Web Writing Basics | 1 Comment 

Article Marketing Domination - Super Special Offer Today

Mondays are always insane because we have a playgroup in the morning, but I just had to jump online and let you guys know about a special offer today from one of my Internet Marketing heroes.

I’ve been a big fan of Josh Spaulding, especially since he runs the majority of his business through article marketing. I read about his book, Article Marketing Domination, but hadn’t purchased it yet…until today!

I belong to a special *free* club that has a discount info product each day. I haven’t purchased much, but when I saw Josh’s Product on sale today for just $18 I couldn’t resist.  It regularly sells for $37.

I just finished reading it….and WOW! As someone involved in the article writing business, I can honestly say I learned a lot that I’d never even considered before. This is going to make a huge difference in how I market my articles online.

I wanted to give you guys the heads up, since using article marketing is a natural extension of writing web content for others. It can be a great way to get some passive income coming in from your writing and diversify your business.

All you have to do to order your own copy is joing Deal Dot Com for free. There’s some great deals on some good products, but Article Marketing Domination is only available today.

November 12, 2007 | Filed Under Techniques and Tips, Marketing | Leave a Comment 

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