13 resources for web writing
This Thursday 13 is all about gathering the resources you need to write online.
1. A good word processing program. I use Microsoft Word, although a lot of clients want things delivered in .txt format. To solve this, save your Microsoft document as a .txt file instead of copy/pasting it into Notepad. I learned this mistake the hard way! Copying and pasting takes all of the Microsoft coding into Notepad and makes it look like gobbelty-gook.
2. A professional looking e-mail address. Professional doesn’t mean boring…it just means something other than sexylover55 @ aol.com or something complicated that’s hard to remember.
3. A paypal account, and a paypal debit card. This makes it so convenient to get paid, and use the money easily. Plus, when you use your paypal debit card, you get cash back. It’s not much, but by buying my groceries directly with my Paypal account instead of transferring the money into my bank account, I’ve made $25 this year.
4. A web presence. If you don’t have a website, my previous post about Squidoo. You can also use a free blog. Or if you are so inclined, you can set up your own complete website. It doesn’t matter how fancy your website is as long as you have somewhere to send people and something to put in your signature file on forums. Make sure to keep samples on your site (I’m breaking this rule on my page at this very moment!) and make sure they are free of errors.
5. Timestamp software. This little program has really helped me improve my productivity. It’s “donation ware” meaning it’s free to download, and if you find that you like it, you can donate some money. Timestamp is kind of like a stopwatch for work, but it also helps you calculate your profit per hour, and how much money you spend when you have “slack time” ie: surfing youtube for 20 minutes instead of writing (yeah…that’s my work vice). It will also help you calculate your cost per project so you can adjust your rates.
6. WinZip. If you don’t have this utility program on your computer, you can get it at here. Most, if not all, of your work is going to be delivered to your clients with Winzip.
7. World Clock This program is great if you have international clients and need to figure out what “tomorrow” is for your client. This can help you avoid a lot of confusion.
8. Cute PDF This program will help you create pdf files quickly and easily. Honestly, I’ve only used it once or twice for a client. But it’s nice to offer your clients PDF creation as part of your services.
9. Get to know a good graphics person. Content may be king, but images sell a heck of a lot of product. You can team up with someone who does graphics and offer package deals on an ebook, an ebook cover and header graphics. To most marketers, that’s an incredible deal.
10. Firefox web browser. If you’re networking with people in forums, you want to present yourself as a writer. This means spelling things correctly. Since forums rarely have spellcheck, Firefox’s built in spell check is a godsend. It’s amazing how many things you misspell when you type fast. (for instance, I misspelled “misspell”) …thanks Firefox!
11. A “swipe” file. Start bookmarking websites and saving e-mails that you can learn from. When you come across a good piece of web content, you should study it.
12. A short list of forums to visit and network in. I’ve found this to be much more lucrative than bidding sites.
13. A positive attitude! Writing online means working for yourself, and that means looking for and securing projects. If you’re leaving the “comfort” of a 9 to 5 job, this may seem intimidating. But actually your success is directly related to your attitude. Keep positive and the work will start coming your way.
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