Archive for May 2009

Investing in your Freelance Career

May 8, 2009 Kecia Writing 3 comments

So this week has been quite hectic, meaning little work has been completed. However, I did make a few investments in my freelance writing career by purchasing two ebooks I have been wanting to read for quite some time. Along with those, I won a free ebook from a contest Robin at Web Success 101 held last month. When I finish these reads, I’ll consider doing some book reviews to let my readers know if they are worth the price.

I know there are many products out there on freelance writing, and some are better than others. I don’t recommend you run out and purchase all of them to decipher the good from the bad, but I do believe making sound investments in your venture will help you get ahead of the competition. Plus, if you get your hands on the good stuff, it could very well help you boost your freelance writing career. This is why I will probably be doing some reviews of these ebooks once I have finished them. I plan to have the freelancing books completed over the week, and will begin next week with implementing their strategies if I find them worthwhile.

If you are curious about the books in question…

  • “Desperate Buyers Only” by Alexis Dawes is the one I won in the contest. I hadn’t heard about this book prior to the contest, but it is apparently a popular guide regarding how to create information products that desperate people are ready and willing to purchase. So far, it seems very interesting.
  • “How I Built A Profitable Freelance Business for Under $50 (And How You Can Too!)” by Christine OKelly is one I purchased. Just heard about it a few days ago, but have read nothing but good things.
  • “Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles” by Yuwanda Black is the other purchase I made. I have been debating on this book for a couple weeks now, and decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

Scriptlance – Job Bidding Site

May 3, 2009 Kecia Writing No comments

When I first began freelance writing, I started my journey on job bidding sites…the first one being Scriptlance. This site is similar to Elance and GetAFreelancer, but there are no paid membership options. Instead, a small fee is deducted from your payment if you win the project. It is $5, or 5% of the winning bid, whichever is greater. Not too bad since you can bid on as many projects as you want without paying a monthly fee.

Scriptlance offers loads of projects, each separated into categories. The projects I focus on are writing and data entry. Many of the projects are for a certain set of articles or blog posts, while there is some ebook creation and editing scattered throughout. Unless the job listing is “featured,” bidding a “per piece” bid is prohibited. I have gained many repeat jobs from Scriptlance, both on and off the website. Some clients remembered my email, and contact me every month or so to do a set of articles for them.

Signing up with Scriptlance is easy, as is placing a bid. Keep the fee in mind when placing your bid, so you will still be awarded the full amount you wish to earn from the project. The site offers Escrow, and if required by you, the buyer will place the full amount for the project into the escrow account prior to you beginning work. All of my buyers have done this, and I highly encourage you to request this service as well. It’s the only way Scriptlance will handle a non-payment dispute.

I am Alive!

May 2, 2009 Kecia Writing No comments

So, my readers may think I fell off the face of the Earth, but if you follow me on Twitter, you know that college has consumed my life for the past week and half or so. I had an end of the semester project which consisted of an experiment, research paper, and PowerPoint presentation due, as well as two tests and a final exam since April 21. This has left me with little time to write for income, and virtually no time to write for pleasure (eHow, here, my personal blog, etc.).

However, school is out for summer!! I will be returning in the fall to begin the teaching program, but until August, I plan on kicking my freelance writing into overdrive. I plan to develop this blog a whole more, as well as increasing my earnings, both active and passive. Demand Studios, Just Articles, and Need an Article will be the bulk of my active income, unless I land some sweet clients along the way. For residual income, I’m focusing my efforts on eHow.

Speaking of eHow, I checked my April earnings for eHow today, and made $5.82 on 8 articles. I definitely plan on expanding on this, as I will now have more time to write. No more 4 day a week school schedule. Also, we’re not planning a vacation for the summer, so I’ll have almost 3 solid months of writing as much as I please.