The Half-Hog Forums Are Open!
While the evil editor¹ makes red marks all over my transcript, I’ve been busy setting up the Half-Hog Forums. They’re pretty basic and empty right now – because YOU aren’t there yet!
Come on over and chat about part-time freelancing. Share your ideas, ask questions, post jobs (or pick up some work)… get involved and get half-hogging!
¹ She’s lovely, actually. Awesome talent available on Elance these days!
Going The Half Hog: Freelancing Without Marketing
It’s a big week for me… because my book project is finally heading into the final pre-launch stages!
Going The Half Hog takes everything I’ve learned about part-time freelance writing in the last three years and throws it open.
It’s written for freelance writers – new or experienced – who want to build a successful part-time career but don’t want to spend their time on self-promotion, advertising and marketing.
There’s info on what you need to get started, on different ways to earn, on spotting good (and bad) job offers, on the terminology, the scams, the sites and a whole load of other stuff that you really can’t do without!
Why “half-hogging”? Because I don’t have the time to go the whole hog. Because I hate marketing. And because I don’t want to spend a third of my time promoting myself, like the gurus say is essential for success. I’ve got better things to do – like working for money!
The book’s headed into the big editing and art phase now – subscribe to keep up with the news, find out when it goes on sale and for the chance to win a free copy!
Basic SEO for the Complete Beginner
A much, much better resource for serious SEO
If you think it’s odd that I’m posting about SEO, don’t blame me: it’s ircurt‘s fault. He told me to do it. I’m taking the Nuremberg defence: I was just following orders.
SEO is, of course “Search Engine Optimisation”. It’s a complex set of skills that, when applied to your writing and your site, make your work look much more attractive to Google (specifically, although the same goes for most search engines).
The ultimate goal of SEO depends on how you look at it. If you’re a writer, the goal is to make your work more visible to the search engines and thus rank higher, so that visitors who are looking for the subjects you write about can find your work easily.
If you’re a marketing whore, the goal is to reach the top spot on Page 1 of Google’s results for absolutely anything anyone might type to find your product or service.
Back To Basics: Resources
Three of the five major food groups. Essential resources.
For the final post in this Back to Basics series, I’m presenting a list of useful resources for the budding freelance writer. As usual with third-party sites, I’m not endorsing any of them (even those which have referral links) – always, always do your own research before joining any site!
I’ve separated the list into rough categories, though some sites – especially the revenue share ones – have elements of more than one type of earning.
All figures for PR and traffic (visitors) are from mid-2011.
Read more…
Back To Basics: Working For Yourself
Got wood? Build your own online home to earn extra income!
For the penultimate post of this Back to Basics series, we’ll be taking a look at the advantages and disadvantages of working for yourself.
Remember: I’m not talking about freelancing in general, here. I’m talking about freelance writing with no direct client: marketplace sales, sponsored blog posts and advertising programs (but not affiliate marketing).
Given that this kind of work is often a mix of direct sales and revenue share, many of the advantages and disadvantages are similar. Let’s have a look:
Back to Basics: Ways To Work for Yourself
No horrible bosses here!
The first four parts of the Back to Basics series have all taken a closer look at things that are pretty familiar to most freelancers – the ways to earn, direct sales and revenue share. This fifth post examines a third, more independent option: working for yourself.
“What?” you say. “We’re freelancers. We’re already working for ourselves.”
Yes, yes, I know. What I mean here is any kind of writing work that doesn’t have a client – either by direct contact or through a third party. I’m not including affiliate marketing (since I dislike it) or ad programs (since they don’t involve writing).
So, let’s look at a few ways to earn money without a client:
Back to Basics: Direct Sales vs. Revenue Share
These are mine. All three of them.
In the second post of this Back to Basics series, we looked at the advantages and disadvantages of direct sales; in the third, we looked at the same information for revenue share work.
For this fourth post, we’ll step back and consider how direct sales and revenue share measure up against each other. Is there a “better” way to earn or does it depend on what you want from your freelance writing?
