by Amanda on September 7, 2009
European Freelance Writing Jobs
Due to popular demand, I am delighted to bring back the European Freelance Writing Jobs. I have spent the past hour or two looking for some great jobs to post here and I am thrilled to have found a good number of jobs which will hopefully continue as the week goes on. I will be looking for new websites that list European freelance writing jobs too so if you know of any please mention them in the comments section.
It can be very difficult to find European freelance writing jobs and one of the main websites that lists them is EUFreelancer. Don’t be fooled though, they may list the jobs in Euros but this is just an extension of the website GetAFreelancer and even though the jobs may be listed in Euro you won’t get any high paying jobs here. I am telling you this because many new freelancers who use these websites think that these are the rates that they should be charging and this is wrong. You need to charge what your writing skills are worth. If you are charging $5 for a 500 word article then you are clearly stating that this is what you value your work at. Give yourself and your writing talents some credit and bid accordingly especially if you are going to use bidding websites. Better still do some research and look for the high paying jobs. They are out there is you really want to find them.
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by Amanda on September 2, 2009
As a freelancer writer you work to your own schedule and I was fortunate enough to be able to take most of the summer off this year. My reason for this was of course to spend the time with my children and I have to admit that it was great. Many freelance writers quit their day jobs in order to be stay at home parents and this is great but sometimes what happens is that our freelance work can take over and we forget why we wanted to stay at home in the first place. This summer has been a real eye opener for me and it made realise that I had lost sight of my initial goals.
For the past week I have been re-evaluating my blog and website and their reason for existance. When I created the Ghostwriting Uncovered website back in 2007 it was to help others. I wanted this website to be a source of information for people wishing to take up freelance writing as a career. The Hidden Writer is an extension of this website and looking through the last year of posts I realised that I had lost sight of what was originally planned for this blog too. I seem to have been following the crowd which is something that I am rather disappointed in.
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by Amanda on July 9, 2009
If you are new to freelancing, finding and maintaining a client list is probably your top priority but I wanted to let you in on another little secret today and that is additional streams of income for freelance writers.
Let’s say you have been freelancing for a couple of months, maybe even a year. Things are going great and you’ve built up a steady stream of income from your clients. You have two maybe three high paying clients that you work with each month and things couldn’t be better. Now here’s where this post takes a twist. I want you to imagine a different scenario for a moment. I want you to ask yourself this question.
What would I do if my top three clients stopped needing work?
Can you picture it? Can you see what this scenario would do to your income? Would you still be able to pay your mortgage? Would you still be able to live the life you are enjoying? What would really happen to you if these clients disappeared?
You see, while it’s a great thing to have a client list you need to realise that as a freelance writer your clients shouldn’t be your only source of income. You should have some additional streams of income too. My latest e-book which is due out at the end of July is titled “Additional Streams of Income for Freelance Writers” and in it I share with you four alternative sources of income that I have every month. These additional streams of income provide me with a minimum of $400 each month and could do the same for you.
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by Amanda on July 7, 2009
It’s July and for many work at home freelance writers this means school holidays and work schedule disruptions. Many freelance writers have a set work schedule that revolves around their children’s school times. I myself do and my work day is from 9.30am to 12.30pm. These three hours allow me to focus solely on client work and get as much as I need to get done completed. This schedule works perfect for me and allows me to stay at home with my children instead of having to slog away in a 9 to 5 job and employing child care for my children. But what happens when my children are on school holidays?
When July hits it means school holidays and a full 8 weeks or more of having the kids at home all day everyday. If this is happening to you then this article on re-organising your freelance work schedule for the school holidays should help.
Re-organising Your Freelance Work Schedule For The School Holidays
The school holidays last for just over 8 weeks for many people and for stay at home freelance writers this can mean a big disruption to their daily work schedule. For these eight weeks you need to set a new work schedule that will allow you to continue to get your work done whilst still being the best parent you can be. There are a number of ways that you can make a new schedule work for you but some of the most common things that freelance writers do is as follows:
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by Amanda on May 21, 2009
I’m not sure whether I have mentioned it before or not but I am in the process of creating a new e-book which will be titled Additional Streams Of Income For Writers. I had hoped to be actually marketing the e-book at this stage but things just haven’t worked out that way. I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but why is it that when you plan some personal work client work always seems to come flooding in?
I am over half way with the e-book and have secured some really great interviews with some of the top freelancers and I was so excited to be getting this e-book out there. My initial plan was to have it released at the start of May but guess what? My clients decided otherwise. For the past month and a half I have been inundated with projects and whilst I’m not complaining it just means that my e-book has had to take a back seat.
I am now setting a new launch date of the start of July because I am away for most of the month of June (I’m getting married). I will keep everyone updated on my progress and if anyone has some tips on juggling clients work and your own personal stuff I would love to hear them.
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by Amanda on May 12, 2009
Choosing a freelance writing job to bid on with Elance isn’t as simple as just logging on and placing a bid and there are a number of things that you should take into consideration before you do this. There are some tricks and tips that can help you make the most of your bids (connects as they are called on Elance) and not waste them.
Connects are explained in the previous post http://ghostwritinguncovered.com/Blog/elance-fees-and-connects-explained/
When you log into your Elance account and go to the Writing and Translation category to find jobs there are a few things that you should do. I always choose the show all category so that I can see a list of all the jobs that are available. Here’s a screen shot of what you should see:
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Elance is making changes again and this time for the better. The introduction of statistics is set to replacing the current ratings system and will aim to award those better performing freelancers. So what are these statistics all about?
These statistics are a new way to display freelancers activities and they will show how freelancers are doing compared to other providers. These statistics will work on a points bases that will be calculated on your work and activity on Elance. You accumulate points by:
Service Delivery
Service Delivery points will increase when you receive high ratings for your work and you use the Elance Work System (e.g. workrooms and status reports, payment, and feedback). Points are deducted for policy violations and cancellations due to poor performance.
Client Relationships:
Client Relationship points increase when you receive positive client recommendations, retain clients and grow earnings per client on Elance.
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by Amanda on April 28, 2009
This week my series of articles focus on Elance. Elance is a website where you can bid on freelance writing jobs. It is a paid membership website and this week I want to give you the ins and outs of using Elance, why it’s a good idea to have an Elance account, and how to place bids on Elance. There is a lot of information to cover so be sure to check in daily to read more.
First off let me say I joined Elance back in 2004 and have been a member ever since. Is it something I regret, definitely not. Elance was my starting point as a freelancer and I have gained a lot of knowledge and great clients through Elance.
Do I recommend people join Elance?
Yes.
If you don’t have an Elance account then maybe you should get one. If you are just starting out you might think that you can’t afford to pay a monthly membership but I do believe that $9.95 per month is justifiable.
Like most people you have probably heard that bidding websites should be avoided because they pay peanuts and some of this is correct. Elance however have been around long before these peanut paying jobs started infiltrating the markets and my guess is that they will be around for a lot longer too. With Elance the minimum bid you can place on any job is $50 and the majority of people who place jobs on Elance do so in the knowledge that they will have to pay for this work.
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by Amanda on April 27, 2009
This week is set to be an exciting week here on the Hidden Writer. For starters I will be adding a series of articles on the bidding website Elance. This is a series of 4 articles which will include.
Why You Should Have An Elance Account
Connects and Subscription Fees Explained
How To Choose A Writing Job To Bid On
How To Word Your Bid For Better Success
Also this week I am working on a review for Get A Freelancer which as you know is a free freelance writing jobs website where again you have to bid. My research for this post started yesterday and each day I will be checking out the jobs, placing bids, and reporting my results after 7 days. So keep an eye out for the post next week.
I am also busily preparing for the launch of my new e-book which focuses on multiple streams of income for writers. Currently I am interviewing a number of top freelance writers to get their views and opinions on some of the topics I will be covering in the e-book. If you are interested in taking part in this email interview just head over to my main website Ghostwriting Uncovered and send me a note via the contact page.
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