I am delighed to announce that my latest e-book “Additional Streams of Income for Writers” is now live.  It took a lot of hard work and effort to get this book out in pre-launch yesterday and yes pre-launch means a special offer price.  The official launch date is the 1st August 2009 but because I am waiting on some more testimonials I decided to do a pre-launch yesterday.  The e-book is priced at $12 pre-launch price and it really is thanks to the methods outlined in this e-book that I have been able to take time out to complete it.

Additional Streams of Income for Writers

I have to admit I really enjoyed getting this book ready.  The writing was of course the easy part.  The front page graphic took me almost a day to complete but I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use photoshop.  One complaint I do have is that there are very few websites out there that really explain photoshop for complete beginners like me.  I did find an excellent e-book cover tutorial that I followed as best I could but in the end it was down to trial and error.  I am delighted with the final result though.

The sales page was next making sure that the html code was correct, checking to make sure it looked right in all browsers, and adjusting code.  All very technicial if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Thankfully I have always been involved in my website design so this was something that wasn’t too difficult.  I do understand now though why a lot of marketers will outsource everything.  I just prefer to do everything myself.  I like to know exactly how things work even if it does take longer to complete.  What about you, do you do everything yourself or would you outsource?

This e-book like my Ghostwriting Uncovered Manual is written from experience and is not just a bundle of research I took from the internet.  I use all four methods that are laid out and in method three I actually give you the step by step method I use to get an additional $400 plus per month.  It’s all there in black and white and I am proud to be able to put my name to it.

Like I said the e-book is in pre-launch so if you would like to get your hands on it at a special pre-launch rate all you have to do is visit the Additional Streams of Income for Writers sales page.

Until next time,

Keep writing

Related posts:

1. Products This page features products that I recommend for ghostwriters and...
2. Free Elance Book For Freelance Writers Last week I received an email from Neil Asher in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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.

In an earlier post this week I mentioned how important marketing is for freelance writers but if your income relies solely on your clients work then where will you get the time to market.

Relying only on clients means that you will need to keep your client list full in order to maintain your income. If on the other hand however, you have an additional income stream that will allow you to take some of your time and devote it to marketing. Remember the end goal for every freelance writer should be to have work come to them. You should be working towards having clients queuing up for your writing services and never having to look for work.

All this is only possible through marketing and getting your name out there. Having additional streams of income will create that marketing opportunity for you. If you have an additional $400 per month couldn’t you afford to take an hour away from your client work each day to spend on marketing instead?

Building additional streams of income is important and especially so in today’s economy. You never know when your client work will dry up and the last thing you want to have to do is return to a 9 to 5 job.

The additional streams of income that I talk about in my new e-book can be achieved by devoting an hour each day to the four different methods that I describe. Believe me it really is worth it and something that you should be thinking about. Maybe you already are, maybe you already have additional streams of income and if you do that’s great. Do they work for you? Are you making a lot of money with them? How important do you think additional streams of income are? Share your thoughts here and be sure to keep reading daily because the end of July is drawing near and I promise my Hidden Writer readers will get the first chance to get their hands on my new e-book and at a discounted rate too.

Until next time,

Keep writing
[ad#post-ads]

Related posts:

1. Freelance Writing and Rollercoaster Rides Freelance writing income can often be compared to a rollercoaster...
2. Products This page features products that I recommend for ghostwriters and...
3. 5 Mistakes All Freelance Writers Need To Avoid When it comes to freelance writing there are a number...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Let’s face it, if you work at home then job hunting is probably part of your daily chores. I try to avoid the bidding websites as much as possible and have therefore come to rely on a number of different websites to get my leads.

On thing that I do use is Twitter. I use tweetdeck and the search facility it provides. I just typed in freelance writing jobs and I get a list of 100 leads that are updated constantly. Many of the leads are form GAF or other bidding sites but I have come across some great prospects too. If you are already on Twitter then I recommend trying this. It can save a lot of time and hunting.

Another excellent resource that I want to give you is a post from August last year on the Freelance Writing Jobs Network. This is a list of 22 places to find freelance writing jobs and is a great reference point for anyone looking for some additional work.

I should also remind you that job hunting is something that you should be aiming to eliminate from your daily schedule and indeed you should be aiming to have clients come to you. In order to do this however you need to start marketing and getting your name out there. I will discuss this further at a later date but for today I just wanted to give you some additional resources to help you find more freelance writing jobs.

Until next time,

Keep Writing

[ad#post-ads]

Related posts:

1. 14 Places To Find Freelance Writing Jobs in 2010 If you want to be a successful freelance writer then...
2. 3 Things All Freelancers Need To Do If you want to be a successful freelance writer there...
3. Measuring Your Freelance Writing Success Every freelance writer wants to be a success.  The thing...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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.

Maybe you have a personal experience that relates to this, if so how did you overcome it? Do you think client work should come before your own marketing? Let me know.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

[ad#post-ads]

Related posts:

1. Success Means Taking Action We all want to be successful freelancers and the key...
2. Free Elance Book For Freelance Writers Last week I received an email from Neil Asher in...
3. Freelance Writing and Rollercoaster Rides Freelance writing income can often be compared to a rollercoaster...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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:

Next I will start at the top of the list. If we take a look at the first project listed which is for a Creative Writer That Loves Food, we can see that there are no bids at this time. We can also see that the buyer has selected not sure for their budget (this can be a sign that the buyer is just putting up the project to get an idea of what it might cost them). If you mouse over the buyers name Ferntec you will see that they have posted 18 jobs and awarded 50% of them so that is a good sign. Next thing that I would do is to click on the + beside details to take a close look at this project. This acutually shows very little so I would click into the actual project itself to see what the buyer is looking for.

The job description is very poor:

Job Description:

Need a very creative writer that loves food, cooking, recipes etc..

Want ot to be very personal and fun…will only give slight suggestions – hopefully you can direct the newsletter yourself – self reliant, dependable

I have a few ideas for the newsletter – must promote products etc..

Please attach some writing that you have done – can be your choice

There is no indication as to how many words this buyer requires or exactly what they want. For me unless I was interested in writing newsletter I would leave off bidding on this project. The reason being I don’t want to waste my connects having to ask questions about exactly what the buyer wants.

Moving on, the next job listed is a featured project. You will see that this freelance writing jobs has been highlighted. This means that you will use double your connects to bid on it. It’s a translation job so I would skip this anyway. The next job I would look at is for 20 Articles. There are no bids on it as yet so let’s take a look. The first thing we can see is that the budget is less than $500. This is also the first project this person has posted and when we look at the details we see that this buyer has a very detailed description which is good, and it is also very clear, you are given the required layout for the articles and told that they are to be 500 words each. If I were to bid on this project I would bid a minimum of $10 per article so $200 for the articles and then include the Elance fees which are Payment Processing costs (2.75%) and Elance Service fee (from 4% to 6%). You will see these fees when you put in the amount of your bid as below:

There are a number of things to look out for when placing bids: If a buyer states “this project is easy for someone who knows what they are doing” this literally means I expect this to be completed for next to nothing so I would avoid bidding on this. Be sure to always check how many projects the buyer has posted and how many they have awarded. Elance insist that buyers award 20% of their projects which is one in 5. I mention this because if you bid on a project and it’s not awarded you don’t get your connect back.

Check out the buyers feedback too and always insist on using Escrow for payment. Don’t forget to include your Elance fees in your bids too as these are important. If you have any questions or comments on bidding on freelance writing jobs using Elance please leave them below in the comments section and I will answer them as quickly as possible.

Until next time,

Keep writing
[ad#post-ads]

Related posts:

1. Free Elance Book For Freelance Writers Last week I received an email from Neil Asher in...
2. Hiring a Ghostwriter The Buyers Guide To Working With And Hiring A Ghostwriter...
3. European Freelance Writing Jobs 16th September 2009 European Freelance Writing Jobs Wednesday already.  Hope your week is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Welcome to another Friday of love here at The Hidden Writer.  It’s been another crazy busy week for me, i just don’t know what’s happening.  Clients are literally crawling out of the wood work and new clients are continuing to pour in.  I am putting it down to the new website design and of course the fact that my rates are now clearly visible. (I will discuss my decision on this in another post).

In between writing, editing, and researching this week, I have still managed to pull up some excellent posts to list for you here today.  First though, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who comments on these blog posts.  They are written for you and when you comment it let me know that you appreciate what I am dong here.  Without further ado, here’s today’s list of posts.

• The Monster List Of Freelancing Job Sites by Freelance Switch is the first post I want to link to.  This is an amazing list of resources for anyone looking for freelance work.  I suggest you bookmark this one because you will want to refer to it again and again.
• 12 Tips To Promote Your Work With Social Media.  This post is from Daily Blog Tips and details how you can promote your work using such sites as StumbleUpon.  The post tells you what to do and what not to do and is again another excellent read for any write looking to promote their work.
• 25 Good Follows For Freelancers.  Twitter is everywhere and I just had to include this post from Twitter tips which list 25 people that all freelancers should follow.  If you use Twitter then check this list out and see are you following the right people.
• How To Write 50 Articles A Day.  This post is from Freelance Writing Jobs and is written by James Chartrand of Men With Pens.  I have to admit I love the style of writing James uses and his post is one that will have you near laughing.  I’m not going to spoil it for you by revealing what the article is about so I suggest you head over there and check it out for yourself.
• The Revision Process by Impish Idea is an older post dated in December but one that merits a mention.  It’s a long post providing some excellent details and guidelines on how to revise your work.
• Do You Write For Cheap? Read This is a post from The Renegade Writer which discusses the ongoing debate about writing cheap articles.  This post is quite detailed and well worth the read.

That’s it for this week but some great reading in the posts mentioned above.  Be sure to leave your comments if you have any.

Until next time,

Keep Writing.

[ad#post-ads]

Related posts:

1. How To Become A Ghost Writer? In order to become a ghost writer you must first...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I just had my blog personality analysed over at Typealyzer.com and I thought I’d share the results with you.

ISTP – The Mechanics of my blog is reported to be:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

You also get an analysis that shows you what parts of your brain were dominant during your writing.  This is a graphic so I can’t show it to you here but I’ll tell you what it says.  For me while I am writing here on The Hidden Writer the left side of my brain is working the most.  Practical thinking is dominant using logic and mathemathics in my writing.  Also in use are senses such as habit, order, and details.

Overall I’m quite happy with this analysis but I think I’ll check back in a month or two to see how things change or if they change at all.

What about you, why not head over to Typealyser and see what type of a writer you are when creating your blog.  Be sure to post your results in the comments, I’d love to read them.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

[ad#post-ads]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s Friday again and what a week it’s been.  My week has been hectic what with coaching and new client projects.  I’ve had deadlines coming out my ears but I know my bank will be thanking me at the end of the month.  That said, I am a bit behind in my reading so I don’t have as much link love to share with you this week, so if you have something you would like to share, maybe a blog post you wrote, or a writing post that you read, be sure to let me know.

The first post I want to share today is from Writing Inspiration and it’s titled Inspirational Affirmations To Uplift You.  I am a big believer in the law of attraction and this post has some great affirmations that you can use on a daily basis.  It’s worth reading even if you don’t follow the law of attraction.

Next up is 21 Quotes For Success from Shawn’s Marketing Solutions.  Again this is a great post and very appropriate for January.  Everyone is fired up and ready for the new year and what better way to start than reading about ways to make you successful.

Copyblogger also had a great post this week titled The Winnie the Pooh Guide to Blogging which I found thoroughly enjoyable and very true.  This is definitely worth reading if you have your own blog or if you’re thinking about setting one up.

Like I said, it’s been a really busy week for me and to make up for the lack of link love I want to share some great articles with you that I have really enjoyed writing and that will hopefully give you some valuable tips and advice when it comes to ghostwriting.

What it takes to be a Ghostwriter

Why Would Anyone Want To Be A Freelance Writer

How To Write For Greeting Card Companies As A Freelance Writer

Getting A Job On Craigslist

Freelance Writers:  Handling Slow and Non-paying Clients

Internet Writing Terms Explained

Best Online Sites For Freelance Writing Jobs

Sites For Freelance Writers To Earn Money

HOW TO WORK FOR FREELANCE ONLINE MARKETPLACES

BLOGGING AS A CAREER

HOW TO GET INTO GHOSTWRITING

Remember, if you have a blog you’d like to see featured here in the Friday link love spot all you have to do is post a comment and I’ll be sure to check it out.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

[ad#post-ads]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This post is bound to stir up some contraversy but it is something that I have been thinking about since doing my first coaching session with a friend of mine last week. I was explaining to her how to use Elance and how to word her bids so that she might stand a chance of winning the job she was after.

So anyway after logging into Elance and getting her to pick a job that she would like to bid on, I set to work showing her how to word her proposal and showcase her talents. The next part was putting a cost on the project. I found myself explaining to her that she would have to bid low in order to get her first job and feedback rating. It was a transcription job and she like myself would have around 10 years experience doing this type of work. We set a bid price of $75 for typing up 7 seminars with a completion date of three working days. Now I know what everyone is thinking….OMG $75 how could you?

Long story short, she got the bid and was absolutely over the moon. She couldn’t believe it, she was a little child who had just been given the best present ever. It got me thinking about when I first started ghostwriting. I remembered that feeling, the excitement over winning a bid, the sheer joy at actually getting paid to do what I love. When I think about it now I realise how much things have changed in those few short years. Now when I think of Elance I just don’t bother. Why would I work for so little, why would I waste my time, so many why’s. The reality of it is though, I have become greedy. I’ve read so many posts where people are giving out about low pay, people are complaining constantly about Elance, and people saying that no writer should work for such low pay. There are writers constantly telling you that you should be getting x, y, and z for your writing and like most others out there I listened.

I stopped bidding on Elance, I stopped feeling that excitement that I felt when I won a bid, and I stopped enjoying getting paid for my writing. Now it was all about how much I could get, how much money could I make, it wasn’t about the writing anymore, it was now all about the money.

Watching the excitement on my friend’s face when she won that bid made me realise that I missed that excitement. I missed the thrill of winning and most of all I missed the feeling of getting paid to do what I loved. Have you lost that excitement? Do you think that you have become greedy over the years?

Yes I have my high paying clients and yes I make a large sum of money each month, but the excitement just isn’t there anymore. I remember I worked long hours but I also enjoyed every minute of it too. I loved learning about new things and now my writing has become a mere job, a greedy job too where everything is focused on money.

I have decided to change that. I want the passion and excitement back, I want the sheer thrill of the chase, that feeling that I have beaten everyone else and won the prize. Don’t you want that too? Don’t you want to feel as excited as you first did when you started writing for money?

How do I intend to do this? I’m going to start bidding on jobs again. I’m going to start going to Elance and seeing what’s on offer. I’m going to look for ghostwriting jobs that will spark my passion again and I am going to bid. I know that I will have to lower my rates to do this but I don’t mind. I believe that finding my writing passion and being grateful for the opportunity to get paid is more than enough.

It’s time to stop being greedy and focus more on how my writing skills can help others. We keep reading about a recession so maybe it’s time to start giving back. I know that most people reading this won’t agree with me and that’s fine, but let me ask you one question. If getting paid $2 per 100 words meant that you would again feel the excitement that you felt the first time you started getting paid for your writing, would you take it?

Until next time,

Keep writing.

[ad#post-ads]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Welcome to the very first Friday link love of 2009.  I have quite a lot to share with you today so here goes.

First up is a post called The 10 Free Resources Every Writer Needs.  Some excellent stuff here and definitely worth the read.

Over on Mashable they have a great post title 100+ places to find jobs.  Some great gems here and some websites I hadn’t heard about before.  I’ve bookmarked quite a few.

Next a website I found while stumbling called Learn Gsm with a great post on 50 Useful Google Apps For Writers.

The next website link is not so much a blog post but I’m including it anyway.  Bright Hub are looking for writers to submit content and be paid for it.  Sounds promising so be sure to check this one out.

Web Writer News has a post about getting paid to write and earning residual income.

About Freelance Writing has a great post on Goal Setting and Keeping which is perfect for the start of a new year.  Some great tips in this article.  This website also has another excellent post titled “Are you in love with your Writing?” This is definite must read for everyone.

The Golden Pencil have a very good article this week on Deadly Freelance Assumptions (or how to go out of business) Some excellent freelance myths debunked in this article and a must read for all freelancers.

Author Marketing Experts have a great post on Trend Spotting and Predictions for 2009.  This article gives writers an insight into what to be writing about in 2009.  Very good article and a definite for bookmarking so that you can refer back to it often.

Nick Daws Writing Blog is next with a post titled Seven Reasons to be Cheerful in 2009.  In this article Nick explains why the economic turndown might just be a really good thing for us writers.  Thanks Nick very inspiring.

Last but not least I have something for all the writers out there that like to write poetry.  Writing Roads are creating The Love E-book.  This project is for charity which in itself is always a good cause and they are looking for submissions for their ebook.  Deadline for submission is 31st January so why not take a look at what they are planning and see if you can’t help out.

That’s it for this Friday but I’m sure you will agree there is plenty here to keep you reading for quite some time.  So make yourself a cup of coffee or tea and get comfortable.  Just be sure to leave your comments and let me know what link you found most useful this week.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.