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Paul Cunningham’s How to Be A Successful Freelance Blogger

Posted on May 21, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Not only is blogging fun, it is also a wonderful way of sharing your thoughts with the world. And it is a fast way at that. As added bonuses, you get to be your own editor, web designer (if you like), social media manager and so much more. The problem is, after you’ve been blogging for a while, you eventually find yourself wanting to make money from your efforts. Maybe you even started your blog(s) to make money from it in the first place. However making money from blogs can be difficult, and it often takes a lot of time to see those dollars coming in.

You need to apply SEO, optimize your design, network with other bloggers, increase your traffic and authority….The list goes on. A blogger’s (daily) tasks are endless, and it takes a lot of time to find the right monetizing method. As you engage in promoting and networking activities, as well as measuring your efforts, you realize that writing is just a small portion of it. For a writer who just wants to write away, keeping a blog just might seem more trouble than it is worth.

So if you just want to write, rather than to try to find ways to make money with your blog (and trying to keep up with the tasks that come with it), you can also choose to write blog posts for other people. This is where Paul Cunningham’s How to Become A Successful Freelance Blogger e-book comes in.

How to Be A Successful Freelance Blogger- bookcover — image via bloggingteacher.com

In this e-book, Paul talks about every aspect of blogging for others, including:

– how you decide this is the right path for you,

– what qualities you need to make it as a freelance blogger,

– how you can set goals & manage your time,

– how to decide on your price/post,

– how to develop a portfolio to help you land gigs,

– tips on managing your income,

– places to look for blogging jobs,

– ways to find jobs that are not advertised,

– what to include in contracts,

– managing your relationship with editors,

– writing your very first post

and more.

Simply put, How to Become a Successful Freelance Blogger takes your hand from the first moment you decide you want to build a career as a freelance blogger and takes you step by step.

The book consists of 45 pages, ending with a list of useful web resources. While I am not going to say it is the only book you need, it is a pretty comprehensive book that covers the needs of both beginners, and those who feel like they could use some direction and tips while managing their careers.

Paul blogs on bloggingteacher.com, where he gives a lot of useful tips on every aspect of blogging. The site also comes with a page that allows you to submit your idea and post if you want to try guest-posting (a concept Paul also covers in How to Become a Successful Freelance Blogger.

The book is priced at $24. Yes, I have it, and yes – I used affiliate links.

Click here to view more details

18 Movies with Writer Characters featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway and More

Posted on May 14, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Writers have always had a great place in the movies. Not just because they write the scripts, but scripts about writers have always been a favorite of Hollywood. I always find it interesting to check out our occupation on the big screen. The movies don’t have to focus on a writer’s career or they don’ need to take place in the world of publishing. These movies all have leading characters that write for a living, in one form or the other. The numbers don’t represent my love for the movie, they are there to make the list post.

1. The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner

John James’ (Costner) wife has left him so he moves to the country with his two kids. While his beautiful house and the somewhat remote location might be ideal for writing, it turns out it is the beginning of a nightmare.

2. The Best Man starring Stuart Townsend and Amy Smart

The Best Man starring Stuart Townsend & Amy Smart.

This is a sweet romantic comedy where writer Olly (Stuart Townsend) meets the fiancé of his college friend and falls head over heels. It might help his conscience a little that his friend is a big jerk and Olly is a really nice guy.

3. Love Actually starring Colin Firth, Hugh Grant & Liam Neeson

Love Actually starring Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson & Keira Knightley. Image via sinepil.org.

This is a romantic comedy/drama written and directed by Richard Curtis. When writer Jamie (Colin Firth) catches his girlfriend cheating with his own brother, he goes to his house in the woods to write. Here, he hires a Portuguese Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) to do his housekeeping. Despite the fact that he can’t speak Portuguese and she doesn’t know a word of English, they fall in love. This movie features one of the most successful ensemble casts of all time, featuring Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Bill Nigh, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley and more.

4. The Devil and Daniel Webster starring Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Love Hewitt

The Devil and Daniel Webster starring Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Love Hewitt

When struggling and almost starving writer Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin) loses everything and kills a human being by accident, making a deal with the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt) seems like his only solution. The movie is also known as Shortcut to Happiness.

5. Love Happens starring Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston

Love Happens starring Jennifer Aniston & Aaron Eckhart. Image via movcenter.net

Burke Ryan (Aaron Eckhart) has become a bestseller with his book on loss. He has written it to cope with the death of his wife. It has also provided a great distraction with all the book tours and workshops. But he will be confronted with his own feelings eventually, especially he wants to have a shot with Eloise (Jennifer Aniston).

6. Numb starring Matthew Perry

Screenwriter Hudson (Perry) is experiencing a whole new level of depression. He was never the happiest bloke around but for a while, he is unable to feel anything. It is killing him that he is feeling so detached. He can’t feel alive or connected. The movie tells the tragicomic story of Hudson as he tries to juggle his creativity, friendships, love life and depression.

7. I could never be your woman starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd

I Could Never Be Your Woman starring Paul Rudd & Michelle Pfeiffer. Image via lebleb.com

Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is pretty, 40, a single mother and the writer of a popular teen show. Things get complicated when she falls for the cast’s newest member: The 29-year-old Adam (Paul Rudd).

8. Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy:

Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway & James McAvoy. Image via lebleb.com.

Becoming Jane is a delightful romantic period drama that tells the semi-fictional life story of the popular author Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) and her romance with Tom Lefroy (McAvoy).

9. Adam starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne:

Teacher and children’s books’ writer Beth falls for Adam, her new cute neighbor with the Asperger’s Syndrome.

10. Dedication starring Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore:

Obsessive-compulsive Henry (Billy Crudup) writes children’s books. He is definitely not one of the easiest guys to get along with. Lucy (Moore) finds this out the hard way when she needs to work with him as an illustrator. Of course things get more complicated as Henry starts to fall for her.

11. Shelter starring Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe

Shelter starring Trevor Wright & Brad Rowe.

Zach (Trevor Wright)’ s only consolation is surfing. He is trying to be both uncle/father/older brother to his 5-year-old nephew Cody as Cody’s mom/his sister is not the most responsible mother around. He has postponed his dreams and his life. His on and off relationship with Tori isn’t helping him either. However when he runs into Shaun (Brad Rowe)-older brother of his best friend- things begin to change. Shaun has become an accomplished author and he is back in the neighborhood to write. They share a connection, however the connection seems more intense then Zach can handle. He can’t be falling for a guy, can he?

12. Romancing The Stone Starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas

Romancing the Stone starring Michael Douglas & Kathleen Turner. Image via Sinema3.com

Bestselling romance novelist Joan Wilder (Turner) needs to get out of comfort zone when her sister is kidnapped in Columbia. She will have to go through a challenging and romantic adventure as she meets and joins forces with adventure lover Jack Colton (Douglas). Directed by the Back to the Future series’ director Robert Zemeckis.

13. Before Sunset starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

Before Sunset starring Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy. Image via amazon.com.

*** Spoilers about Before Sunrise, beware!!!!!!

Before Sunset is the sequel to Before Sunrise. In the first movie Ethan Hawke’s Jessie and Julie Delpy’s Celine had met on a train and decided to get off and explore Vienna together. The very next day, they had to say goodbye as she had to go back to France and he had to return to the States. They promise to see each other in 6 months. The second film starts in Paris, 9 years later. Jesse and Celine haven’t been able to meet as they arranged. Jesse has written a book about their relationship and has become very successful. Paris is the last stop of his book tour. As they walk around Paris and catch up, old feelings come to surface.

14. Blood and Chocolate starring Hugh Dancy and Agnes Bruckner:

Vivian (Bruckner) is a shape-shifter- she can turn into a wolf. Aiden (Dancy) is a graphic novels writer who is Hungary for research. When he meets Vivian, he is immediately smitten. But Vivian may not be all that willing for a romance with her secret.

15. The Holiday starring Kate Winslet

The Holiday starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet & Jack Black. Image via sinepil.org.

Journalist Iris (Kate Winslet) has been desperately in love with Jasper (Rufus Sewell) for years. However Jasper is more interested in being friends with benefits and occassionaly using her as his editor and critic. While Jasper is not a main character, he plays a big part on Iris’ actions and decisions. The movie also stars Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers.

16. Misery starring James Caan and Kathy Bates:

Based on the novel by Stephen King, Misery is about a bestselling writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) and his obsessed fan Annie (Kathy Bates).When Sheldon has an accident and rescued by Annie, he has no idea that Annie will be his biggest nightmare and there will be one hell of a hostage situation.

17. Purple Violets starring Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair

Purple Violets starring Debra Messing, Patrick Wilson, Edward Burns & Selma Blair. Image via cinemagia.ro

Patti (Blair) is trying to be an accomplished writer. She doesn’t have the best husband in the world and when she runs into her college boyfriend, who is now an accomplished writer, sparks start flying all around. Written and directed by Edward Burns, who is also co-starring with Debra Messing.

18. The Leading Man starring Jon Bon Jovi and Thandie Newton:

Playwright Felix Webb has a problem. He is in love with somebody else- actress Hilary (Thandie Newton) in his play. It doesn’t help matters that he is married with kids. He wants to get rid of his wife, also a playwright, Elena (Anna Galeina) as quickly as he can. He sees solution in the form of Robin Grange (Jon Bon Jovi)- a Hollywood star who will be starring in his play opposite Hilary. He wants him to seduce his wife. Being mischievous, seductive and sexy by nature, Robin agrees. After all, Elena is beautiful. But of course trusting Felix might be a mistake as he might try to seduce Hilary in the process as well. Now Felix wants to get rid of Robin, for good…

My Favorite Writing/Blogging Job Search Resources

Posted on May 4, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

freelance writing jobs — image via allfreelancewriting.com

It’s true that most well-paying jobs aren’t advertised, but sometimes we just want to write a fun blog post or an article without going through the querying process. If you are looking for jobs that will make you a nice little side income, these are the sites to go about hunting for them. Mind you, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but rather my favorites.

Freelancewritinggigs.com – Not only does it come with a nice collection of daily freelance writing gigs Monday through-Friday, it also has valuable info on freelance writing. Plus, you can try and have a guest post published on the side. If you are a regular contributor, there is a chance you might be hired as a paid writer too.

Jobs.problogger.net – Posted on Darren Rowse’s Problogger, you get a list of blogging jobs. Of course it costs for the job poster to be listed here (even though it is only $50 for 30 days), so some employers might prefer craiglist (which doesn’t charge).

Write-jobs-blogspot

The good thing about this site is that they list a lot of contests, as well as writing and blogging jobs. They don’t list any jobs that pay less than $10, so it is up to you to dig a little to find better paying ones.

BloggingPro: Another source of blogging jobs.

Allena Tapia on About.com has made a list of over 25 sites. You can check them individually to see which ones fit you.

11 Writing Job Requirements That Are Against Freelance Nature

Posted on April 25, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

freelance picture — Image via teknosarj.com.

This is how wikipedia defines freelancing:

“A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term.”

Pay attention to the “free” in the word freelancing. Freelancing is -by definition- different than a regular desk/office job. You don’t have one boss, you don’t have set working hours. You don’t typically make the same income every month.

Unfortuntely, economy is almost always tough, and many employers in the marketplace have some unreasonable demands, or just demands that resemble more of the demands of a controlling office boss.

Below are some of these unreasonable, un-freelance-like demands that I run into often:

1. Hourly pays

Some employers want to pay you hourly. While it can make sense for some writers, most freelancers like to freelance because of the freedom.

Some jobs can take you 30 minutes and some can take 4 hours. When you are expected to bill in, your performance and motivation can dramatically decrease.

Of course if you manage to snatch a writing job that pays $500/hour, by all means please take it. I know I would.

But jobs that pay $10/hour? Thanks, but no, thanks.

2. Webcam on desktop turned on

There are freelance job sites (such as odesk) and employers who request that they can see you working. It is a very odd demand, as even your ex office boss didn’t probably have a chance to watch you directly, unless you worked in a very small office.

How can you concentrate or feel liberated when you know someone can observe you anytime? Yikes.

3. Bidding

There are many bidding job sites, such as Elance, Guru, oDesk and more.

The concept on these sites is that an employer gives you his budget and you estimate how much your time should be worth. Then you make a bid at a common denominator.

But of course the employer will be likely to choose the writer that charges less, given that the credentials are equal. This doesn’t work in the favor of the writer as the cheapest most qualified writer tends to get the job. The only benefits here is obtained by the employer.

And since most projects don’t really involve impressive budgets, these bidding sites decrease the amount of money the writer is going to make.

4. No-pay jobs and Internships

The idea behind applying to a job is to make money. Some job posters do not disclose how much they are offering. And you quickly find out that this is mostly because they don’t intend to pay at all. Under the name of internship, recognition and work-experience, you are supposed to work for free. But who is going to pay for the bills?

5. Very low pay

Some businesses ask you to turn in about 10-20 articles a week. This is doable, unless you are expected to get $5 or less for each article. Then why would you do it? You could write whatever you wanted for user-generated content sites, and maybe earn even a little more, without being obliged to write about something you don’t have control over.

I am not defending content mills blindly, but I am really opposed to taking $5/article jobs. The lowest I ever went for was $10/500 words -on a topic I could write my eyes closed. Let me put it this way: I used to talk about these topics (my favorite bands) all the time when I was in high school. No one paid me then.

If an article is going to take you a lot of time, and it is not on a subject you’d write about even for free, even $20/500 words is low.

6. Low pay, but maximum quality requirements

Some companies do offer to pay you $1-5 per article, and moreover, they demand the quality of a $50-100 article. Yes, you heard right. This is not any more rational than a guy who demands a loyal wife while he wants to be allowed to sleep with whomever he wants. These are things that should never happen!

If noones takes these jobs, no matter how desperate they are, people won’t post it. If there is no supply, how can there be demand?

7. Only employing people from certain countries

Many employers have some specific location requirements. Of course being from New York would help if you are to write New York-related articles. But if you are going to write about universal topics, such as blog traffic tips, what difference does it make if you are in New Zealand and your employer lives in Japan?

8. Only hiring people of 5 years’ experience

Some jobs go very overboard with their requirements, such as demanding multiple years of experience. While experience is a bonus, not all jobs really require that much experience. Sometimes experience is wanted only for experience’s sake alone.

I mean, if you have 5 years of experience, chances are you are not applying to jobs to get clients. Clients are contacting to hire you.

9. Phone calls and face-to-face interviews

One of the most appealing things about freelancing in the 21st Century is that you can handle anything via an internet connection and a laptop.

However some editors like to treat their freelance writers as they are office-bound, or as if freelancers need to live nearby. While it might be helpful on some occasions, having to meet/see your employers is something you did frequently when you weren’t freelancing.

I’m not opposed to the occasional skype conferencing, but commuting to offices? It wouldn’t work unless you lived close to where the hiring company is located. Remember one of the most attractive things about freelancing versus office jobs: Eliminating commute!!!!

10. Revenue-sharing job ads

Many internet writers take advantage of revenue sharing sites such as Factoidz. I did. I actually still do. It is fun to get paid while I do article marketing and link-building.

However when I am searching for writing gigs, I don’t want to run into ads of a million sites who only pay according to your adsense earnings. There are already many websites that work in that fashion. If I were satisfied with their paychecks, I’d write for them only. After all, nothing hardly beats the freedom of writing about whatever you want.

11. Job ads of sites already famous for revenue sharing such as Hubpages and Suite 101

It might be a blessing for newbies to find out about as many revenue-sharing sites as they can but for a more seasoned web-writer, it becomes old and boring news. Because chances are you already checked out Hubpages or Suite 101 ages ago and you are either writing for them or you aren’t.

I really don’t want to see their ads on my favorite job-hunting sites!

What writing job requirements do you find against freelance nature? Do you agree with any of these 11 pet peeves of mine? What are yours?