I wanted to get some discussion going about structuring workflow as a writer. So maybe you can explain the process you go through from when you get a job (including looking for it) through research, writing, rewriting, submitting, payment, etc... I hope to hear from you about the entire process for a job. Any takers?
Payment comes first for me. I don't generally allow people to pay after I've done the work because it's easy for people to "forget" or ignore me after the work being submitted. Work comes to me or I place an ad on a website and find some work. I'm a huge fan of direct mail and that tends to work best to getting jobs daily. Research depends on the job, I only do articles for long term clients and for my PLR site. My main job is writing press releases and white papers and also resumes. All three require some research but generally I am provided all the tools I need. Don't do any rewriting; editing of course. I write like crap if I don't wait and proof and edit my work. Submitting is just submitting work it's not a huge deal. Being a mother work flow is sometimes a problem but it depends on the week. My son is young and easy to distract so I'm good most of the time. I'm on the computer all day long doing a range of things because I run two companies and am starting another next week. I manage my work flow with a ton of note books, lots of calendars and also candy.. tons of candy for energy.
The last thing I do at night is write down the jobs I need to complete the next day. I believe in meeting deadlines. If a client is having me write more than one article in the same niche, I do all the research for all the articles at one time. Once research is done I write the article and start the editing process. First I make sure the article answers all the questions a person coming to the site would be looking for, then I run the grammar and spell check function. Once that is done I actually read the article out loud. That is where you find words that are spelled right, but are the wrong word to be using in that sentence. Also if my tongues stumbles over words you know that it is not good, so I rewrite it. I think it is important to use bullet points and sub headings to break the article up and make it easier to read. Many people when reading online will scan an article to see if it sounds interesting, so if you have great subheadings, this will help them know what is in the article. I always request payment up front, however for new clients, if they are ordering a lot of articles, or an e-book, I will let them pay half up front and the balance at the end. This is only the first time, after that it is payment up front. Many of my clients order 25 articles at one time so this makes them feel more comfortable in the beginning. Also when you get a new client you need to ask them what program they will be opening the article with. I use open office and most people can open that program with Word, if they don't have open office. If you have to deliver in notepad, a text document, you will not be able to bold the headings, or make bullet points. Delivering articles is done at the end of the day. I submit the articles by email or skype, depending on what the client wants. Be sure you know what your client wants in the way of keyword density before you start and check to be sure you met it before making your deliver.
This is a great idea. There is a lot of junk on the Internet that is unreadable. Your technique is a sure way to make sure your content shines.