Adventures In Freelancing

I'm not sure if you've seen this one yet. It's from ProBlogger, Darren Rowse, and it's full of good, solid information. I'll add my two cents later, but I just wanted to get this out in case you hadn't had a chance to see it. Enjoy!

You must go read this post about places you can get paid to blog. It's at Hongkiat.com, a site that offers online tips for tech users, designers, and bloggers. I've never vvisited this site before, but this article contains an amazingly thorough list of places where you can get paid to write. My advice would be to read each summary to get a feel for which you'd like to investigate further. Then take a look at those sites, fill out their required information, and be sure to ask questions. It's imporant to find writing jobs that fit your personality, values, and lfestyle. Promise me you won't jump on the first opportunity that comes along just because it pays, please. This is so tempting when you're just starting out, but I've learned that it only leads to frustration and wasted time. Let me know if you find any promising opportunities, and best of luck!

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. I'm convinced he must have read my last post here at Adventures in Freelancing about how scattered I was feeling regarding this blog and its direction. The reason I think this is because just the other day I found in my inbox an email from Darren inviting me to join him for his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog series. Okay, so I'm a subscriber to his newsletter, and he sent that email out to thousands of others, but I choose to think I received it just at the right time for a reason. It sure seemed serendipitous to me!

For 31 days, Darren will be discussing a different blogging lesson. He's also set up forums for participants so that it can be an interactive experience for everyone. I truly think this is just the spark I need to find and refine my blogging direction. Darren encourages participants to enlist friends to join with them, and that really makes sense to me. Accountability is the key when you're working on a goal. My goal is to find my focus with all of my blogs, to be productive, and to really feel satisfied with my blogging progress. Will you join me?

Here's what Darren recommends in preparing for the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, which begins this Monday, April 6th:

3 Things to Do Today to Prepare for #31DBBB

While the start of the challenge has gone back just under a week - there are a few things that will be helpful for you to do today to prepare for the challenge.

1. Install a Metrics Program - To help us with a couple of the tasks in the challenge and to help you track the success of your blog please make sure you have some kind of statistics/metrics package installed on your blog.

I use and recommend Google Analytics (it's free and comprehensive) but there are plenty of others on the market.

2. Invite a Friend to Join You - this sounds like a selfish request (and there is an element of me wanting to see this grow for sure) but there are two reasons for it - accountability and the power of working together.

If you're anything like me, telling someone that you're doing this challenge and having them join you will both give you someone to keep you accountable to the task and will give you someone to debrief with and work with.

A SWOT analysis actually something that you can spend a lot of time on but even putting aside 30 minutes to work through it can be beneficial. It'll also bring some clarity for you as we head towards the start of the challenge next week.

So what do you think? Will you join me in the journey to a better blog? Sign up at ProBlogger to get details sent to your inbox. Then come back here to check in, as I'll be posting my progress periodically throughout the 31 days. Look for me in the forums!

You probably think I fell off the face of the Earth, don't you? I haven't. Truly, I've been absent from Adventures in Freelancing because I just don't feel like I've had much to say on the subject. I've talked about my shift in freelance pursuits. I'm now focusing on blogging as my main form of paid writing, and it's working for me. I'm still writing a blog for college students, and I will soon start blogging for our local radio stations! I'm very excited about that.

I'm also excited to share with you a piece I wrote that was just published at The Savvy Gal. It's about the reasons women keep secrets and includes advice from Dr. Jill Hubbard, the author of The Secrets Women Keep: What Women Hide and the Truth That Brings Them Freedom. Check it out if yout get a chance.

Something else I think you might want to take a look at is this post by the brilliant blogger, Lori, at A Cowboy's Wife. In it she talks about blogging goals and why we need them to attain success. She really got me to thinking that I'd like to reevaluate my goals for this blog, Just because I've decided to alter my writing path doesn't mean that I want to give up on this blog. I still love reading about the subject of successful freelancing, and I know my career will evolve over time. I'm just not sure yet the direction I want to take Adventures in Freelancing for me to be comfortable with it and to feel that it is a success. Does this make any sense at all?

Please be patient with me while I contemplate things. I will continue to post here. It may just be sporadically for a while until I figure things out. Does anyone have any advice for me? Have you been at this place with your blog?

I recently had a number of folks DM me on Twitter, asking how they can get paid blogging jobs.  Listen, folks, I'm certainly no pro blogger.  I simply tweeted to someone that I recently got another paid blogging job, and it seems to have been taken out of context.  I sent the people a quick DM with som links of where to find jobs, but after thinking about it, I realized I have more to say on the matter.

I do have two paid blogging jobs.  One is on a fill-in basis, only about twice a month, for Family Eden.  My newest is a blog for college students called And You Will Graduate.  I'm very excited about this opportunity because I will be writing about issues pertaining to my former career as a college academic adviser.  I loved helping students, and now I get to combine my knowledge of higher education with my new passion for writing.  Here's my advice for getting your foot in the door as a paid blogger.

Network

It really is worth your time to get involved with social networking.  I met Ana Castro of Family Eden on Twitter.  She saw that I was interactive in the Twitter community and replied to my call for launch prizes for this blog.  (You can win e-courses from Family Eden this week, so enter!)  We made a connection, and I was a logical choice for her when she was looking for contributors to her new Family Eden blog.

My new blogging gig is through the Hart Empire Network, run by Hartley Singer.  I first heard about Hart in a post on Freelance Writing Jobs where he gave advice on how to get hired for paid writing gigs, from the point of view of the person doing the hiring.  So when I came across Hart on a networking community I belong to, called Performancing Hive, I decided to approach him to see if he was still in need of bloggers for his network.

Research

I wouldn't even have known about Performancing  Hive if I hadn't been listening to Deb Ng's show on Blog Talk Radio when she talked about it.  Deb runs Freelance Writing Jobs.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  I did my research by reading the articles and studying the jobs at Deb's site, which led me to learn about Performancing Hive, which led to my contacting Hart Singer.  Follow?

In case you can't tell, I love Deb's site.  You'll find all kinds of information on freelance writing there.  Check out the section on Networking Blogging Tips and the Freelance Writing Jobs for Web and Print.  And, of course, another great source of information on becoming a paid blogger is Darren Rowse's well-known site, ProBlogger.  Visit the ProBlogger Job Board for great leads on legitimate blogging gigs with established networks.

Brag a Little

We're often hesitant to toot our own horns. But when you're looking for a job, not being afraid to talk about your accomplishments will get you closer to your goal.  If you're applying for a finance blog, and you have a great record in the banking industry, then say so.  When I approached Hart, he asked me which of his blogs I wanted to write for and requested my ideas on where I'd take that blog.  My first choice was to write for the blog on Battling Stress, as I have experience as a mental health counselor, and I thought the topic would fit in with my niche as a health writer quite nicely.

But I also pitched him the idea of writing for college students on his And You Will Graduate blog because I knew it would be a popular topic that few people have expertise in.  So I was sure to include my academic credentials (a Master of Arts degree in College Student Personnel) and the fact that I received an award from my students as Outstanding Academic Adviser of the Year for two years in a row.  It kind of felt like bragging, but I'm proud of those awards and of my degree, and they do make me stand out from other applicants.

I wouldn't hesitate to put those items on my resume and to talk about them at an interview for a position at a university, so why not use them to my credit when applying for a blogging job?  Think of things that will make you stand out from the crowd or that make you imminently qualified to write about a certain subject, and then talk them up to potential blogging employers.  You'll be one step closer to getting the blogging gig of your dreams.