How to Find Writing Jobs

Tokyo Shopping This is the last post in a series on How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

Finally, you will need to find a way to make money as a freelance blogger. No duh. This is going to require a decision:

  • Do you want to make money from your own blog?
  • Or do you want to make money writing for other blogs?
  • Or both?

Making Money From Your Own Blog

Now that you’ve set up your own blog and have been blogging for some time, how do you monetize it? Is it even possible? Yes, it is, but it is extremely difficult to make a living off your blog alone. You’ll have to do a lot more than one blog – perhaps have several.

But never say never, right? Here are some ways to at least pay half of your rent per month. (This list expands on what I’ve written about monetizing blogs before.)

  • Advertising
  • Sponsorships
  • Affiliate programs
  • Digital products
  • Merchandising
  • Donations

Blog Advertising

You have many advertising options for your blog. There’s a whole art & science to optimizing ad payouts, but basically the more in-your-face and relevant the ads, the more likely they will be clicked. As a blogger, you are paid each time a user clicks on an ad. But don’t click on them yourself, or else you will be committing click-fraud and will be banned from that ad network.

Blog Sponsorships

This is only possible with a fairly popular blog and a loyal following. Once you reach that level, you may be able to find advertisers interested in sponsoring some of your content for a set period of time. All you’ll need to do is provide proof of your traffic levels and audience demographics.

Affiliate Programs

Using an affiliate program is sort of like earning a commission each time you sell another company’s products. For instance, you could join Amazon.com’s affiliate program and link to various books (which I do fairly frequently). Every time a customer clicks on a link and purchases a book, you will earn a commission.

Digital Products

You could write a useful how-to guide in the form of a PDF ebook and sell that. Or record a song in the form of an MP3 and sell that. Or create an instructional video in the form of a streaming video and sell that. These are all examples of digital products. You don’t need a fancy shopping cart system to sell them either. There are a few ecommerce engines that will handle that for you, though they require some technical knowledge to set up.

Blog Merchandising

If you’ve branded yourself well, or have fictional characters that may look good on a t-shirt or coffee mug, consider merchandising. Blogs with cult followings tend to do well with branded products. And if you have a web comic, even better.

Blog Donations

If you can manage to get a cult following, not only could you consider merchandising, but donations as well. Some talented starving artists can get by on donations alone, though it is extremely difficult. I’ve gotten a coffee or three myself, but that’s about it.

Must-Read Articles

Here are some must-read articles and resources on making money from your blog:

ShoeMoney

ShoeMoney is a well-known professional blogger and internet marketer whose blog occasionally contains tips on internet marketing and profitability.

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com is another well-known professional blogger and internet marketer with tips on internet entrepreneurship.

ProBlogger

Making Money From Writing for Other Blogs

Some freelance bloggers could probably make more money writing for other blogs than trying to monetize their own blog, mostly because they don’t have the skills, experience, or desire to put a lot of effort into monetization techniques. They would rather be writing. If that’s the case with you, then it’s time to hunt for some blogging gigs using these methods:

  • Word of Mouth
  • Blogging Job Boards

Word of Mouth

This is where your brand, reputation, networking abilities, and social media marketing efforts can pay off. Having a strong network can generate significant returns. If you’re not as comfortable doing the shmoozing thing at parties, do the shmoozing thing on social media sites. But in either case, make sure you always carry business cards – you never know when you’ll run into someone who’s interested in your services.

Blogging Job Boards

There are a ton of sources of freelance writer and blogging jobs out there. If you have your blog and writing samples prepared, start going through these sites. You’ll find that writing gigs can vary from writing blog entries to copywriting to email newsletters to ebooks to standard articles.

Now for a list of must-read articles and resources:

I hope this series has been helpful to you. Yea, I know it’s a ton of stuff to read. Just imagine how many worthless articles I had to read to distill these lists. Whew.

If I’ve missed any important articles, please let me know. I’m sure there’s more great stuff out there.

And finally, good luck with your new career as a freelance blogger! Let me know how it goes!

The How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger series:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

How to Market Yourself

Tokyo Shopping This is the second post in a series on How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

Next, you will need to market yourself and promote your services. This will require a portfolio of published writing samples. To be taken seriously as a professional freelance blogger, you will definitely need a well-marketed blog – which can provide as a source of fresh writing samples too.

This step is pretty involved, however. You will need a good domain name, a web host, some blogging software and some technical knowledge. If you don’t have any technical knowledge (or a technical friend who can help you), there are free blogging services you can use. Blogging services don’t require any technical know-how, but you won’t look as professional when using one.

Also, you will need a presence on social media sites to help extend your reach and brand. Having a presence can educate you about the social media world as well, where potential gigs could arise. Social media sites are sites like MySpace (NWSA), Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, Digg, Newsvine, NowPublic, etc.

How to Set Up Your Blog

You have two choices here:

  1. Set up a blog with your own domain name
  2. Set up a blog on a blogging service

Set up a blog with your own domain name

  1. First, pick and register a domain name. A good domain name is:

    • Short
    • Memorable
    • Easy to say
    • Easy to type

    You can verify whether or not the domain name is available on a domain registrar. If it is available, you can register it through the registrars for a yearly fee.

    Since most of the good ones have already been taken, you can consider using a domain name suggestion service to help you along. Some allow you to register the domain name too.

  2. Second, sign up with a web host. A web host is where you’ll actually place your website’s blogging software. The two registrars above (Namecheap.com and Go Daddy) also provide web hosting.

    After you sign up with a web host, they will give you directions on how to associate your domain name with your new web host account. Contact their customer support if you need help doing this.

  3. Third, pick your blogging software. Fortunately, this is free.

    This is where you’ll need some technical knowledge. You will have to download the blogging software, then upload it to your web host and install it. After playing with some settings, you can choose a theme to make your blog look nicer.

Here are some must-read articles on setting up your own domain name, web host, and blogging software:

Set up a blog on a blogging service

This one is easier than setting up a blog with your own domain name. A blogging service will give you everything you need right away. The drawback is that your domain name will be a mix of yours and theres: e.g. yourblogsname.blogger.com. This doesn’t look as professional has yourblogname.com. But hey, it’s easy and it’s free.

Just sign up and you’re done!

How to Promote Your Blog

Now for a list of must-read articles and resources:

How to Use Social Media to Promote Yourself

And more must-read articles and resources:

Here is one last resource. It is a massive list of 40+ sites for writers. Truly massive list. If you think I’ve already given you too much to read, then you may not want to click on this link. But please do at some point. It also offers a great deal of useful information.

More tomorrow!

The How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger series:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

How to Write for the Web and Search Engines

Tokyo Shopping This is the first post in a series on How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

First, you need to know how to write online. Since reading an article on a computer monitor is different than reading it on paper, online reading behaviors differ significantly.

Second, you need to know to optimize your articles for search engines. Also known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), this means getting your articles to show up high on a search engine’s results.

Now for a list of must-read articles and resources:

Alertbox

Alertbox is a bi-weekly column with a number of useful research reports on general web usability.

Copyblogger

Copyblogger is a popular blog with a lot of useful online copywriting tips aimed at marketers and copywriters.

ProBlogger

ProBlogger is a popular blog with useful writing tips aimed at professional bloggers who make a living writing blogs.

More tomorrow!

The How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger series:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger

Tokyo Shopping So you want to be a freelance blogger?

It’s a bit like being a freelance writer, except your medium is the blog. That means a different style of writing, one that caters toward web audiences. It also means a different way of finding freelance gigs and marketing yourself.

There are many articles and web sites on being a freelance blogger or writer, too many to read. I went through hundreds of them and culled out all the must-read articles.

So I figured I’d offer a three-part series on how to be a freelance blogger, starting tomorrow. I’ll cover these topics:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

In case you’re curious – no, I have no plans on being a freelance blogger myself. I’ve thought about it though. Hence all the research I’ve done, which I’ll be sharing with you in this series.

Admittedly, I’ve dabbled in making money off my blogs. I’ve tried ads, Amazon links, donation links, and even Text Link Ads. Unfortunately, they don’t amount to a hill of beans. But this is my hill. And these are my beans. Erm, ahem.

Stay tuned!

The How to Make Money as a Freelance Blogger series:

  1. How to Write for the Web and Search Engines
  2. How to Market Yourself
  3. How to Find Writing Jobs

Patient for Growth, Impatient for Profits

I love great quotes, yes I do. Another great quote that really applies to a business owner in today’s economy is:

…the best money during the nascent years of a business is patient for growth but impatient for profit.

It’s from Clayton Christensen’s book The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. What he is basically saying is your business model better be making money, fast!

In the dot-com heyday, growth was everything. Number of users, number of sign-ups, number of registrations. “If we build it, they will come” was the mantra. It was all anyone talked about. Lacking from the conversation – or mentioned as an afterthought – was profitability.

In short, the companies were impatient for growth, but patient for profits.

This isn’t going to work anymore. In this economy, it’s profitability of puff – gone in a cloud of smoke. Ryan Janssen from GigaOM agrees:

Many startups focus on acquiring as many new users as possible, only figuring out later how to convert those users into revenue. There is no time for such a strategy in this market. You will run out of money before you get there.

And Stephan Schmidt from Code Monkeyism has a great article about why his VC-funded startup failed. It’s a great case study with a salient reminder to focus on sales – and profitability. Read it when you have a chance and learn from his mistakes.

Walking at Work

Now for some Friday fun.

Time for some exercise! The holidays are over. And so are the marathon feasts of turkey, leftover turkey, cornbread, eggnog, candy canes, gingerbread cookies, and all manner of tasty treats.

Oh, but you have no time for exercise? Stuck in your cube at work all day? Well, your prayers are answered! And you can thank Dr. James Levine for it.

According to Mandy Katz’s article in the NY Times, “I Put In 5 Miles at the Office“, Levin “led a study showing that lean people burn about 350 more calories a day than those who are overweight, by doing ordinary things like fidgeting, pacing or walking to the copier.” Inspired by this finding, he constructed a treadmill desk by sliding a bedside hospital tray over a treadmill. So claims the article:

Without breaking a sweat, the so-called work-walker can burn an estimated 100 to 130 calories an hour at speeds slower than two miles an hour, Mayo research shows.

…

After leaving the military two years ago, Kirk Hurley, 40, a customer service representative at Mutual of Omaha, gained 75 pounds. In two months of work-walking two hours a day, he has lost 16 pounds.

“You don’t really feel the physical strain on your body because your mind’s occupied with your work,” he said.

Quite a feat, huh? Levine even worked with Steelcase to manufacture this as a consumer product, called the Walkstation. It’s not cheap, however. As of this entry, it’s going for a hefty $4,999.00. Yikes. I think I’d rather use a bedside hospital tray and a regular treadmill.

Even though Levine wasn’t the first one with this idea – Seth Roberts, an emeritus professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, created a treadmill desk in 1996 – his research popularized this fitness technique quite a bit. It has even inspired a blog and social network. Another blogger & office walker (as they’re known) decided to build his own treadmill desk from scratch.

Pretty wild stuff. It’s certainly not for everyone, though. A director of ergonomics noted that “if you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, this may not be the workstation for you.”

Can you just imagine the chaos and hilarity that would ensue from uncoordinated coworkers colliding into cubicle walls? Come to think of it, that would be pretty awesome to see. I can think of a few uncoordinated coworkers I’d like to see on a treadmill desk. Hehe.

The First 1.5 Years as an Entrepreneur

Liquid Cocaine Hello again. It’s been a while since my last post, hasn’t it? The holidays have kept me busy, and now it’s 2009. Damn, time sure flies when you’re having fun.

It’s been two years since I started this blog and a year and a half since I struck out on my own. So I figured it was time to take stock of my first 1.5 years as an entrepreneur (like I did for my first four months). And I can sum it up in three bullet points:

  • It’s been fun
  • It’s been crazy
  • It’s been a tremendous learning opportunity

It’s Been Fun

Whoa boy it’s been fun! Setting up my own schedule, deciding what I want to do today, and where I want to do it. The sense of freedom is tremendous. Finally, I get to hang out in the city during the weekday – and do free stuff in San Francisco to boot!

With my office being any cafe with free wifi, this freedom and flexibility means I can work almost anywhere. San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, London, Florence, you get the point. Yup, life is good.

One odd thing to note: it’s funny to go shopping during the weekday. Sometimes I’m the only young guy walking around in the mall. Surrounding me are scores of housewives, work-at-home moms, and retired persons. And sometimes their babies too.

It’s Been Crazy

It isn’t all roses and peaches though. Without the cushion of a regular paycheck, monthly bills can become a source of stress. In between brainstorming business ideas, working in cafes, blogging, reading, writing, working on personal projects, consulting, and hanging out with friends, I’ve also been building a few businesses – one of which I’ll announce as soon as our website is up!

Yes, that’s a long list. That’s part of why it’s been so crazy & hectic.

The other part is the fact that most of those activities aren’t revenue-generating ones. Each month, I watched my bank account whittle away. Fortunately, a few consulting gigs helped pay some bills. But the fear of failure always loomed.

This fear both inspired me and wore me down. Ultimately, it inspired me. After all, I quit a six-year career at Yahoo! (YHOO) not because I hated the company, but because I didn’t want that the cushion of a regular paycheck anymore. I knew that I would never take a true entrepreneurial risk with that safety net below me.

So it’s been crazy. Despite my new-found freedom, I feel like I’m busier than ever. Fortunately, it’s a good kind of crazy – it’s exactly the kind of crazy I want.

It’s Been a Tremendous Learning Opportunity

I could have never learned what I’ve learned had I stayed at a large corporation. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn anything at a large corporation; you just learn different things at a large corporation than you would if you were an entrepreneur.

As an entrepreneur, you have to think about every aspect of a business. You’re not just writing the code, you’re writing the functional specs, setting up the business entity, outsourcing tasks that can and should be outsourced, interviewing CPAs, interviewing lawyers, interviewing insurance carriers, doing the marketing and sales, doing the quality assurance testing, designing the logo, setting up a bank account, keeping track of expenses & receipts, dealing with taxes… the list goes on and on.

Meanwhile, at a large corporation, you keep on doing the same job you were hired to do. That alone isn’t a bad thing. If you are good at a specific role, and want to continue doing it, there’s no reason you shouldn’t specialize. Even as an entrepreneur, doing everything yourself is impossible. You’ll need partners, employees, vendors, contractors, and others help you out.

Someone once told me about the T-Person concept. This concept explains that some people have a wide range of skills at a novice or intermediate level (represented by the top horizontal bar of the T), then specialize in one particular skill at a deep or expert level (represented by the middle vertical bar of the T). I like this concept. I think it explains an entrepreneur very well.

It is possible to be a T-Person at a large corporation, of course. I knew many who were at Yahoo!. However, the horizontal bar is wider as an entrepreneur. Arguably, the vertical bar could be deeper too, since you’re forced to delve further into the discipline to maintain your viability as an independent entity and aren’t encumbered by corporate politics.

All of this has been a tremendous learning opportunity. So much so that, despite the uncertain economy, it is hard for me to imagine going back to a large corporation again. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but I sure can’t see it in the near future. Being an entrepreneur is just too fun, crazy, and educational!