I think it's vital for a serious freelance writer to have a professional site with at least some basic info on their background and services (including a portfolio if they want that publicly available). I've also personally found that blogging can be not only another income stream as a writer, but also a great lead-generation tool for finding clients. Working as a freelance writer, do you have both? Just one? Neither? Which do you think is more important? Show them off here if you'd like to so we can get a feel for how different types of writers like to represent their work online. Here are two of mine: Content Writing Services - FirstRateContent.com (moving to ProBusinessWriter.com soon though to be combined more fully with my copywriting services) Blog - AllFreelanceWriting.com (one of several - it's my freelance writing blog) On that freelance writing blog, I'm trying to talk a bit now about setting up these professional sites or blogs for writers, but with people varying pretty greatly in what they already have (some have nothing, and some just want simple tips for improving something), I'm not really sure what to tackle next. Is there something specific that you'd like to know about setting up a professional site or blog, managing one, etc? If so, feel free to ask here, and perhaps I'll cover it soon on the blog. Jenn
I'd like to know your opinion on how a blogger should find/select topics to blog on. Could there be created a checklist, to aid in the selection of the best topics for blogposts.
Do you mean that you want to know how to choose a niche when starting a new blog, or how to come up with individual blog post ideas? And if the latter, what niche would you be talking about, as the answer would differ a bit between them.
What about a blog that is professional? WordPress has some stunning magazine themes! I run one on: Learn-Networking.com And also a modified one on: XNAGameDev.com They tend to be expensive, but you can find some free ones here and there.
Good point. That may be something to touch on. I use WP magazine themes for several sites (free and paid), and there are a few that I'm waiting for releases on so I can use them for specific projects. My PR firm's site (www.jhmattern.com) is done on Wordpress using a simple free theme, and I don't think it comes across looking like a blog. I try to use Wordpress for everything I can - I think I only have one non-forum / non-directory site that's not moved to Wordpress yet, and that may change soon. So I'll see if I can do something along those lines as a post in the next few days.
Hi Jenn, Thanks for all of your advice. I'm finding it really helpful. I have both - a website and a blog. There's no traffic though! No one knows they are there. If you want to have a look at the website KFultz-Consulting dot com and the blog: karenfultz dot typepad dot com I'd love some feedback
I was looking for general guidelines on choosing individual blog post ideas for a general blog [No specific niche or a jack of all trades type]. And the factors you'd consider.
I'm not sure that particular question would really be appropriate for my blog to cover. My audience is going to be the type focusing on a niche and blogging either for income from it or to build their reputation in that niche. You could try asking in the blogging forum here. As to my own thoughts, it would depend if it's a personal blog or something you're really trying to monetize and promote. If the first, no one can really tell you what to blog about, b/c you'll be blogging about your own life - what you do, see, hear, experience, etc. If the second, I can offer one big tip... choose a niche. It's going to be much harder to promote something general unless you're already extremely well-known where people simply want to know your thoughts on whatever random topics come up on any given day.
Sounds good. I'll do a post - probably Sunday or Monday on the blog about choosing blog post topics to write about, and I'll use the "making money online" niche as an example.
I think it is key to business these days. You need to brand your blog. But you need to be careful and not make it so specific you run out of ideas to write about. And it needs to be something you're good at.
That's very true Anne. I hear people saying that you don't need to be passionate about your niche to make money. That may be true, but more often than not I see those same people burning out or getting bored quickly, or resorting to hiring ghostwriters to do their blogging - fine as a business model, but not for a freelance writer trying to earn from their own writing. I think a lot of us face issues of not knowing what to write about at times... it can feel like we've covered everything. There's usually a lot more out there though, and we just need to get the gears turning again to come up with topics.
The people with no passion for the topic are usually the ones who get bored with it or burn out... or the ones that resort to paying others to do their blogging - not a business model for freelance writers looking to earn extra money from their own writing, and building a reputation in a niche by associating their name with that blog.
No, I don’t have a website. When I decided to freelance last year, I got almost all of my work from people who know me and know my capabilities. Word of mouth and business cards have worked for me so far. This year I have had some repeat clients. Maybe one day I’ll get a website, but for right now, it's just not a priority. Yes, I do a blog, but it is not my own. I do it for a real estate company who had set one up, but they were not posting to it. I found it and suggested that I “do†their blog for a monthly fee. I write about things going on in my area, events, history, things I find on the beach, information for guests, etc. One thing that has been helpful is that I got on the e-mail contact list for local organizations. Sometimes I don’t know what I’ll write about and then boom, down comes an e-mail about a concert or an art show.
I have my portfolio site that I use to showcase clips, and my parenting blog. As far as blogs are concerned, I don't think the topics you're passionate about are always the ones that can make you a decent income from your blog. Some topics are just hard to monetize. And to the poster above who said, all you need is knowledge and not passion, I disagree. That's the reason millions of blogs - the majority of them, in fact - are lying dead.
It's interesting that you found a paid blogging gig that way... you don't hear about that alot. If you were to offer tips to others wanting to pitch their blog services like that to a niche blog, what would you suggest to them?
It is kind of funny how it all went down. I got the idea to try to earn money from blogging on DP. There aren’t many things that I know (and am passionate) about, but I do know a lot about my area. I didn’t just “find†the “dead blog†as Rayaan calls them, I did internet searches for local blogs, just hoping I would find one that needed attention. Turns out that the one company I found that had a dead blog is owned by a someone I know. I e-mailed him with the idea and he took me up on my offer right away. Then it even gets better. The company website is adding what they call a “Concierge Service†which is basically a detailed list of links to restaurants, golf courses, kids activities, marinas, etc. each with a brief description. They asked me to enter the data for that, which I also do from home. It’s not writing, but it’s additional income. In closing, here is my advice: Be aware of opportunities, look for them, and sometimes you have to take that first step and make someone an offer. Remember, all they can do is say no, but they might say YES!
Wow--I have one of each and am working on a hybrid! I have my personal blog that has been live for four years, but it doesn't work very well as a professional reference point as it is...well...not. I am pretty sure that potential clients don't want to read about my latest experiments with a fitness program or how I couldn't figure out how to work a treadmill or my call for more candy-related holidays, so I often don't tell potential clients that it exists. Professionally speaking--I am putting together my portfolio site and would love advice on what all to put there. Obviously samples of writing and information about experience and rates but after that--what? I'm kind of stumped. As for the hybrid--I am working on a blog that will be my "calling card" when I talk about my experience with blogging. It is "niched" and I think that, especially for those of us who dream of being professional bloggers (anybody want to hire me?) it is a good idea to have a blog or site that they can showcase as an example of what they can do. Obviously maintaining these three sites while trying to earn an income from freelance work will be a challenge, but I think (hope) that it will be worth it.