Signing up is free and there is a premium option available too. Once I had completed my profile I scrolled to the end of the page to see the job listings. It gives a couple and then you can click on a link to view the full job listings section. So far so good. I have to admit I was excited to see what was on offer but that soon disappeared. All the jobs listed came from websites such as Elance or Freelancer so DoNanza was nothing more than an aggregated feed of what these websites have to offer and of course the way they are going to make their money is through affiliate payments whenever someone signs up for an account with these marketplaces or secures a freelance writing job.

Now I have nothing against affiliate marketing but this website was advertising as connecting writers with clients and they also say that clients can view your profile and get in touch with you. Nothing actually happens through this website and payment terms, job management, etc., is all up to you.

This was very disappointing and I have to admit that I left the website once I realised that they were just listing jobs from Freelancer and Elance. As you know, I have nothing against Elance and have found some great clients through their websites but Freelancer is a site that I hate. It is nothing but extremely low paying jobs and I have tested it on numerous occasions over the years and it never changes.

If I want to place a bid on a job on Elance or see what is on offer, I visit their website. I keep a free account open just in case there is anything that catches my eye but that is about it. As for DoNanza being the next big marketplace, I sincerely doubt it. I didn’t find anything to suggest that clients would visit this website or list their jobs. Again I suspect it is just a way for someone to cash in on the freelance writing jobs market and for those who are just beginning and don’t know any better.

Will I be visiting DoNanza on a regular basis. I don’t think so not unless things change. If you have an account at this website and you find it useful please feel free to tell me about it in the comments. I am always open to new websites and ways for freelance writers to secure more paying jobs.

I received the kindle version of this book and began reading. It took a couple of hours for me to get through the book, and I have to admit, there were parts that I did just skim through. Overall, I was impressed with the layout and the structure of the book. It was easy to understand and seemed to cover everything. It gives a basic overview of writing web content and the different ways that freelance writers can do this. The book doesn’t go into great detail on some aspects and some sections could have a lot more content added to them. This however, would probably have made the book too cumbersome.

The book is broken into different sections and explains that web content writing can be done as a hobby for additional income by using content mills, full time or part time freelancing using bidding marketplaces and lastly as a business where clients will seek you out. What I did like about this book is the fact that the author specified that web content writing is a choice and it is up to the individual to decide what suits them best. If you don’t want the hassle of running a website, social marketing, blogging, etc., then you can choose to use bidding marketplaces and content mills to create a freelance writing income. If you want to have it all, he does explain how to do this too.

In the content mills and bidding marketplaces sections I did feel that more examples could have been given. The author only listed two or three examples of websites that writers can use which is a pity as there are so many and these sections of the book could have contained a lot more information. Again, lists of these websites can be found easily enough and perhaps the book didn’t need the extra pages of filler content. When talking about bidding marketplaces, readers will be delighted to see that the author has included some very valuable information about creating bids. As I have stated numerous times on this blog, it is vital that you create a personal bid for each and every project that you are looking to receive. The author states this very clearly.

There is a resources section in this book too and to be honest I really do feel that whether you are a complete beginner or you have been freelancing for some time you will find some great information in this book. It is very easy to read and covers everything you need to know. As a starting point and reference guide I would definitely recommend this book.

If like me however, you have been freelancing and writing online content for ten years you might just find that there is nothing new in this book but that is not to say you won’t get some ideas. The section on creating a freelance writing business is very good and explains the importance of your website, social media sites and more.

Overall, I gave this book five stars on Amazon and have no problem reviewing and recommending it here on my blog.

If you feel this is a book that you would benefit from, then why not purchase The Web Content Writer’s Bible: How to Earn Money and Start Your Career Writing Web Content now.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

You have probably read over and over again about low paying jobs, how to get high paying jobs and how much you should be charging. I am here to cause a little bit of controversy today by saying that no freelance writing job is wrong.

What do I mean?

Well, let’s look at it. You write an article for a client, they agree to pay what you ask for or you agree to a rate they have suggested. You with me so far? Okay, now let’s say someone else writes an article that is the same length and perhaps for the same client but charges three times more than you did, the client agrees and the work is completed.

Is the first writer wrong in charging so little?

Now I know some will say yes but what I want to point out, is that the first writer agreed on payment before writing the article. They chose to accept the figure they agreed on. They were happy with this. The second writer also agreed on payment prior to writing the article and they were also happy with the outcome.

What I am trying to say, is that it is up to each individual writer to decide what they will or will not accept as payment. It doesn’t matter if X writer is receiving $100 per 500 word article. If you are happy to receive $10 and it helps you to live the way you want, isn’t it worth it?

Everyone’s circumstances are different. Some writers do it as a hobby and they are delighted with any monetary compensation. Other writers see it as a business; it pays their mortgage, household bills and more. The rates you set for your writing are based on your circumstances and it is you who gets to decide.

There are freelance writing jobs that will pay as little as $1 for a 500 word article and jobs that will pay $100 for the same size article. What you have to decide is what your writing is worth and then acquire the skills necessary.

There are freelance writing projects out there for everyone. If you want to write for $10 you can, if you want to write for $1 you can and if you want to get $100 per article you can. The choice is yours but you have to be prepared to put in the necessary work. If you want to get assignments that are worth $100 you have to be willing to do everything else that writers in this pay bracket do. They market themselves and their business, they have blogs, websites, social media platforms and they are constantly updating their skills to ensure that they have what companies need. If you are willing to put in the hard work and effort you can land these high paying jobs.

If you land your assignments through bidding websites and you are happy doing so, why change this just because you read somewhere that you need to be getting a certain rate for your articles. The key is to enjoy doing what you are doing, do your best and stay focused on YOUR goals. After all, the bottom line here is that freelancing is all about you in the end. It is about what you want to get out of it and not what everyone else thinks.

Yes there are high paying jobs and one that pay ridiculously low amounts but in the end it is only you who can decide what is right for you.

We are all different, we all want different things. What you need to do is figure out exactly what you want and then do your research on how to get it. If you want high paying clients then you have to be willing to do the work to attract them. Most freelance writers aren’t willing to do this, hence the reason low paying jobs still exist.

I’ll end by saying, figure out what you want, really listen to yourself and then relax and enjoy getting there. You are a unique individual and you don’t have to follow the crowd if that is not the direction you want to go in. If you are happy supplementing your income with some freelance writing then by all means stay doing this. If you want to build a business with your writing, then like all other businesses, you will need to invest your time and energy to learning how to make your business work.

Mistake #1: No Marketing Knowledge:

When you decide to become a freelance writer, your goal is to get and keep clients. If you know how to successfully market your services this is something that will happen. Many freelancers find themselves giving up too easily because they can’t find clients. Knowing how to market yourself will bring clients to you. You won’t have to go looking. The key here is to brush up on your marketing skills and spend some time every day promoting your freelance writing work.

Mistake #2: Taking On Too Much:

I know, I know, you want the work, but taking on too much work can lead to disaster. You end up working constantly and you can’t give each client your best. You need to take some time to build up your client list and understand how much time each individual project is going to take. This all comes with time and taking on too much at the start can lead to burn out. You want to keep that excited and optimistic feeling you started with don’t you? Too much work will leave you working day and night and struggling to keep up. Pace yourself and learn to balance your work and personal life. Otherwise you might find yourself dreading having to ever write another article again.

Mistake #3: Not Taking Deadlines Seriously

In freelance writing, your credibility is everything. If you miss deadlines you can severely damage your reputation. The internet really does make this a very small world and just one bad comment from someone about you can lead to your demise. You need to take your deadlines very seriously. Don’t be late. Your clients have deadlines too and if they can’t trust you to deliver, they will find someone else.

Mistake #4: Not Getting Rid of Bad Clients

We’ve all had them, clients who don’t pay on time, who change project direction half way through and those who demand constant revisions. If this happens no matter how tempting it is to hold onto, you need to break free. These clients will drain you and before you know it, you will begin to dread writing. For your own sanity and to keep the excitement of writing alive, you need to get rid of bad clients. Remember you are offering a service and if your service is not being respected, you have the right to withdraw it.

Mistake #5: Getting Caught Up In Negativity

When you first start freelancing it is normal to read everything you can, join forums and communicate with other writers. It’s an exciting time and you want to share in your new found joy. Whilst writing groups, etc., is good for you and helps you to build your knowledge base, it can also be your downfall. Writing groups and jobs board forums can be filled with negativity. You will come across people constantly complaining about low rates, poor job prospectives and more. Reading too much into all of this can cause you to start doubting your own work. If you are happy with what you are doing and how much you are being paid for it, don’t let anyone take that away from you. There will always be negativity surrounding rates and freelance writing and it is up to you to stop this impacting on your career. The bottom line is, don’t listen to negativity. You have your goals and you can achieve them.

If you are one of the many freelance writers who are happy to work for content mills or bid on writing jobs then this post probably doesn’t apply to you. This post is directed at those writers who want to get paid their rates and secure high paying clients.

Writers who specialise in a particular niche or genre will always have a blog dedicated to this topic. Here they will show their expertise, offer advice and produce some very worthy samples. Businesses looking for freelance writers in this genre will normally use a web search with the keywords niche writer. For example, a business looking for a self help writer will use this phrase in their search engine. This will give them a list of websites and as writers, this is where we want to appear. When a potential client lands on your website you want them to clearly see that not only are you an expert in this area, but that you offer freelance writing services too. Having a services page on your website is also paramount.

As quality content, this is really important, is added to your blog, your name will become recognisable and this in turn will lead to clients seeking you out. This is what you want to aim for in the long run. If you don’t have a blog, how will clients find you? If you don’t have a blog, this should be your number one priority this year. It takes time to build an audience and to have your blog show up in the search results, but this is something that you should be working on. Your blog should be your platform and a place where potential clients can find you. If you want to build your client list, apply for high paying freelance writing jobs and boost your reputation, a blog is what you need to be focusing on.

Each year I like to do an inventory of the work I have completed the year before. This can be quite a good learning exercise. I like to read back over some of the work from the start of the year to see where I have improved and where I might improve further. Grammar is not my speciality but it is an area that I have been improving. I try to read as much information as I can and then make my own notes and files. I find that this helps me to retain the information.

Improving my skills and furthering my training allows me to not only better myself, but it gives me the credentials that are often required for higher paying jobs. The freelance journalism course that I am taking looks at writing for magazines and newspapers as well as radio and television. It focuses on query letters, writers markets, taxes and more. I can also used the credits I receive to further my studies and do my masters if I choose.

As I looked back over samples it amazed me how much my writing had grown. Pieces I had written in 2004 now look dismal and I cringed on reading them. As I progressed through the years I could see a marked improvement. For the past number of years I have specialised in SEO content and this too has changed. When I look back on earlier pieces that are filled with unnecessary keywords, I can see why the internet has become overcrowded with poor and pointless content. Keywords were the thing and as a freelance writer, I had to follow the guidelines set out by my clients. If only they had of listened and put quality before the keywords. I guess many of them are paying the price now.

Every freelance writer I know is always striving to do their best and improve on their skills. These are the successful writers that earn $100 or more for a blog post or article. These are the people who see their writing as a business and a career choice. They want to get the most from it. They want to be the best that they can be. These are the people who are succeeding.

What I am trying to say to all the new freelance writers out there and to those who are just plodding along is that if you want to get the high paying jobs and you want to be a success you have to work at it. How often do you review your skills? How often do you look for ways to improve? If you are not doing this then you really are selling yourself short. People who want to be athletes, musicians, singers, dancers, etc., all have one thing in common; they train hard and they work on improving their skills. If you want to be a successful freelance writer then this is what you have to do.

Until next time,

Keep Writing.

If you haven’t already done this, I would suggest trying it as it is a very useful exercise.

One of my goals for 2012 was to reduce the amount of time spent on client work without impacting on the lifestyle I was accustomed to. My reasons or this was my two young children and the growing urge to spend more time writing for me. I am happy to say that I managed this successfully. I cut down my work hours, maintained my level of income and managed to publish not one but two books both of which are available in ebook and paperback format. 2012 was therefore, in my eyes, a very successful year.

In 2013 I want to focus more on teaching and helping others which means I will be spending more time on this blog. I am planning a number of article series that will focus on getting more writing jobs, where the best jobs can be found, bidding website analysis and much more. I will also be providing more information on how to market yourself as a freelancer and how to specialise in a particular niche.

I am really looking forward to 2013 and the opportunities it will bring and I invite you all to come along for the journey.

For now I will leave you with one valuable piece of advice that I picked up over the years:

“If you never try, you can never succeed.”

Until next time,

Keep writing.

photo credit: duncan via photopin cc

Things have really changed for new freelance writers.  When I began my freelancing career in 2004, things were a lot different.  Finding writing jobs was easier as was getting decent pay rates.  When I started writing content online, 300 word articles were common and getting $10 for each one was a standard rate even for a novice.  Blogs hadn’t been invented and keywords were something that people paid little or no attention to.  Fast foward eight years and things are very different for those looking to begin their freelance writing career.  300 word articles at $10 a piece is something that you won’t see.  In fact, you will probably see something like a 500 word article being offered at a rate of $0.25 to $0.50 per piece.  I personally feel that online writing has become a joke and the so called writers who are accepting these rates are destroying things.

When I began my career research was also a lot easier.  Today you have to troll through websites that have poorly written content and quite often incorrect facts.  Yes, these websites may be at the top of Google’s listings but they are filled with pages of barely readable content.  The facts are incorrect and quite often they are just a blatant copy of someone else’s work.  It is sad as a writer who takes their job seriously to see the way things have become.

What happened to quality content?

It is still there and there are many businesses who pride themselves on this.  It is the “make a quick buck” websites that have popped up in every niche hoping to cash in on affiliate sales and ad impressions that have in my opinion taken away the necessity of quality content.  These website owners aren’t willing to pay for quality and they are happy to use poorly constructed content and blackhat techniques to build their traffic.  Real visitors and readers don’t feature for them.

Not all websites are like this however and I want to say to all new freelancers, “don’t be fooled into thinking that accepting $0.50 per article is what a new freelancer must do.”   This is wrong and if you are serious about your career, you will do your research, enhance your skills and discover the genuine clients that will not only respect what you do, but be willing to pay a proper rate for it too.  The clients are out there but today you really do need to look further than bidding websites and Craigslist to find them.

Researching your market is vital if you want a career as a freelance writer as is creating and building your own personal profile.  You need to showcase your work and have a website where clients can find you.  If you take your career seriously, learn from those who have already succeeded and refuse to accept ridiculous rates, you really can make it as a freelance writer.  Google’s algorhythm changes are helping and with some real effort on your part you can be well on your way to earning a living as a freelance writer.

Until next time,

Keep writing

Learn About ESL English Grammar
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kirk_Able]Kirk Able

If you are not a native English speaker, ESL English grammar might be the right choice for you. The same goes for people whose first language is not English.

There are some non-native English speakers who are very much proficient in both written and spoken English. Hence, ESL English grammar suits anyone who wants to improve on their grammar and speaking abilities. For those who are in the dark about ESL, it actually stands for English as a Second Language or simply ESL as an abbreviation.

In the United States of America, the education law makes it compulsory for schools to give ESL instruction for non-native English speakers. Special ESL programs have been established for young children at early childhood and elementary for this very purpose. There are also special programs for adults.

Considering the fact that there are many Spanish people in the USA, this is hardly surprising. Such programs also help immigrants from countries like China, India and other Asian countries. The best part of the internet is that it is a world of large resource these days.

You can find many wonderful resources for your children if they are non-native English speakers or if English is not their first language. Special games and worksheets in the worldwide web make learning and speaking English fun and exciting. If you are an adult who wants to improve on your English grammar, spelling and punctuation for written English, you have a chance to do so with the right English grammar and writing software.

To put it briefly, it is possible for non-native English speakers or those whose first language is other than English to learn how to speak and write English properly. There is special ESL education programs meant for such people especially in the USA. Another way to improve and learn English is to use the right English grammar and writing software, which are mainly meant for adults.

Getting a   grammar checker can be the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself. Visit our site http://www.grammarspellingchecker.com/ to improve your English writing skills today. We post grammar tips and tricks daily.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-About-ESL-English-Grammar&id=5114667] Learn About ESL English Grammar

When you first start working from home and you actually start making money it is just too easy to become addicted.  You spend every spare moment of your time working, checking emails, looking for new clients and basically neglecting your family.  I know I did.  My excuse would be that the kids were in bed or that my husband was playing with them.  My laptop was turned on from the moment I woke right up until I went to bed.  I was constantly sneaking a quick peek at emails and I didn’t even realize the damage I was doing to my family.

In 2007 when things were going really well for me I got a wakeup call.  My husband had enough and he was ready to pack his bags and leave.  He said I loved my laptop more than I loved him.  I couldn’t believe it, had things really gotten this bad?  Was I that addicted?  I was spending all my time online and my home life was suffering.  My children weren’t suffering, I was spending time with them but once my husband arrived home from work in the evenings I just let him take over.  I forgot about how important our relationship was.

I got my wakeup call and I started to put things into perspective.  I have three rules that I now use and I would like to share them with everyone.

1. Create a schedule

One of the best things I did was to create a schedule.  I now know exactly when I will be working.  I have a couple of hours scheduled in the mornings when my children are in school and if I need it I can take an hour in the evening too.  I use my diary, a white board and a to-do-list.  The white board is where I place my working hours.  This is great because now all my family and friends know exactly when I am working.  They don’t call or arrive unexpectedly.

My diary is where I record all the different projects I am working on and their deadlines.  I schedule my writing work around these deadlines and when new clients come in they are added into my diary and my to-do-list is then adjusted to incorporate these.

I work out my to-do-list for the following day every night.  I look at what has been completed that day and what is essential for the next day.  I actually color code my to-do-list so that I know what has to be done that day and then the additional work that can be completed.  I also have a list of my own personal things that I should complete once the client work has been taken care of.  This seems to be working really well for me although I am looking at making a few little adjustments so that my own personal work gets a little bit more priority.

The main thing with a schedule is that when you set it, you need to stick to it.

2.  Put Family First

The second tip that I want to share is that you should put your family first. They are the reason you are working from home in the first place.  Children are so precious and let’s face it, they don’t stay young forever.  Before you know it they will be teenagers and they won’t want to spend any time with you so you need to make the most of it while you can.  I started to lose sight of this fact and making money became my priority.  I am glad to say that I learned my lesson before it was too late and I am really grateful for this.

3. Take Time Out

Taking time out is something that everyone needs to do. When you work from 9 – 5 you get holidays and you take time out.  When you work for yourself you need to do this too.  I try to schedule a day off at least once a week or once every two weeks if possible.  This may mean working hard for the remaining four days of the week but it is well worth it.  I usually try to take Fridays off and I plan a special treat for my children when they come home from school. This could be anything from arts and crafts for the afternoon to baking cookies or a cake.  They absolutely love it and I am enjoying this time too.  It gives us all something to look forward to all week and there is such excitement when it comes to planning what we are going to do each Friday.  This Friday I know my son wants me to make a robot with him and my daughter wants to design new finger puppets.  I have no idea how we are going to do this but that really is half the fun.  I let them come up with ideas on how to make things and just follow them.  It’s all about becoming a child again yourself for a couple of hours and it is something that I would highly recommend to everyone.

There are some great Crafts for Kids ideas on Amazon that will give you some amazing ideas and of course you can always find crafting ideas online too.

I wasn’t planning on this post being so long but hopefully now that I have shared my story it will help others to realize the importance of getting the balance right.  If you are going to work from home you need to make sure that you don’t make the mistakes that I made.  You might not get the second chance that I did.