Freelance Weekly

Successful bloggers are often addicts to information gathering. However information gathering is not enough. You also need to be able to filter all the vast quantities that you consume everyday and identify that which makes sense to your audience. After this, come up with a way that allows you to communicate this information to your audience in a practical and appealing way.

To succeed in blogging, you will need to read a lot. Reading books and stuff on the Internet, especially blog posts of successful bloggers and writers is one way to become an information maven. Since most bloggers specialize in their niche, this will also give your research some direction and help you filter and identify ideas for your blog posts. Reading however is not the only way to gather information. Being on the lookout and observant is another way. Successful bloggers say that they always get blog post ideas from even non-related events and experiences in life. Some experiences or events offer an analogy that can be applied and put into a blog post which can add more impact if readers can relate to it.

In order to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. Reading consistently sharpens your skills, helps you to be innovative in your writing and contributes to appealing content. Reading well-written content cannot be over-emphasized. Fortunately, most successful bloggers out there have well-written copy on their sites, which is one of their selling points. Be diverse in the kind of content you consume. Read productivity blogs, niche blogs and notice the different styles of different writers. Do not fall into the trap of reading only content that appeals to you. The more diverse you are in your reading habits, the more rounded your knowledge will be and the more likely you are going to write content that your niche readers will appreciate and learn from.

What sets Mavens apart, though, is not so much what they know but how they pass it along. The fact that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone’s attention.” – Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point)

David Gitonga is a freelance content creator working
with various clients in setting up websites, blogs and writing
web content on a regular basis. He is also actively involved
in creating social media content for SEO.

 
You can find more written by David Gitonga by clicking these links:

facebook.com/DavGit
twitter.com/DavGit
G+/DavGit
davgit@freelancecontentcreator.com

photo credit: mac.rj

A good marketer not only knows how to do a great job in marketing but also how to listen to his or her audience. If you don’t understand who your target audience is, you will not understand what they need. As a blogger, you want to know what resonates with your audience before you start writing. As you get to know them, you will know what they like and where they need help. How can you do all this?

One thing that most professional bloggers do is to look at the posts that receive the most engagement. What kind of posts are your readers commenting on and what are they saying in those comments? Take note of what and how they are saying it. Sometimes, their comments and their questions can be used as topic for your next post.

Listening to your audience also opens up new opportunities where you can offer your services. For example, you could develop a teaching course on a subject of interest to your audience or you could offer some consulting service that helps them solve their problems. These complimentary services that are targeted at your audience can only be spotted if you take time to know your audience.

David Gitonga is a freelance content creator working with various clients in setting up websites, blogs and writing web content on a regular basis. He is also actively involved in creating social media content for SEO. His website is www.freelancecontentcreator.com.

You can follow David Gitonga by clicking these links:

facebook.com/DavGit

twitter.com/DavGit

gplus.to/DavGit

david@e-labz.com

photo credit: LeWEB11

When your main focus is supposed to be on the work you are doing for your clients, it’s tough to have to switch gears and start dealing with the ‘money side of things’. So we’re here to share some programs with you that will hopefully save you some time (and money). Here’re the three programs to check out:

1. Shoeboxed – Shoeboxed is an amazing program when it comes to logging your receipts or expenses. You just send in any documents you have lying around in their pre-paid envelope and they will input them in your virtual Shoebox. Another cool feature is if you have receipts lying around from supplies you’ve purchased or possibly client lunches, you can use your Shoeboxed iPhone app (there’s an Android one currently in the works!) to snap a picture and send it to your Shoebox! Plus, you can mail in any business cards you receive in a pre-paid envelope and Shoeboxed will manually enter the data into your account so you’ll be able to search for clients or colleagues via first name, last name, email, or company. However you look at it, Shoeboxed is a great and unique way to store all of your important documents!

2. Outright – If you’re in the market for a financial program that’s self-reliant in inputting data from your bank account so you don’t need to lift a finger, Outright may be right for you! Outright automatically updates all your banking info during the night and categorizes all of your transactions as well. Then when you log in to Outright, you’ll have all the info regarding how much money you’re pulling in along with where your money is going. Another excellent part of having Outright is that you can get accurate estimates for your quarterly and end of year taxes so you’ll feel more prepared as you reach tax time.

3. Freshbooks – Invoicing can be tough. Not just the portion where you create invoices and send them out. Sometimes the toughest part is keeping up with who has paid you and who hasn’t, along with actually getting the payments. This is where Freshbooks comes in. Freshbooks offers you a place to input the hours you’ve worked, produce professional looking invoices, and have them emailed to the client directly from you or sent out via snail mail by the wonderful people at Freshbooks. Freshbooks also gives you a place to process any PayPal, credit card, or E-check payments that are sent your way. You can also schedule payment reminders for those clients that may have forgotten or put your invoice on the back burner.

Hopefully these websites will help you out and keep you on the lookout for other spectacular programs that are hidden out there in the depths of the web. As a freelancer, what types of software do you recommend?

photo credit: Images_of_Money

Happy New Year! We’ve bid 2011 farewell and are now welcoming 2012. As with every start of a new year, there’s always a feeling of hope and uncertainly for what’s to come our way. As freelancers, we ask ourselves, ‘Will this be a productive year with plentiful amounts of work? Will 2012 be an excellent year financially?’ While we can’t give completely accurate answers to these questions, here are the top 3 predictions for freelancers in 2012.

1. We will see an increase in people trying their hand at freelancing. With the unemployment rate (which, according to CNNMoney, was last reported at 9.4% in December 2011) staying high and gas prices always on the rise, many people will decide to try their hand at freelancing. In turn, if more people make an attempt at it, freelancing will also begin to play a larger part in continuing to mend our economy. But current freelancers may not need to worry, which leads us to our next prediction:

2. Companies will begin outsourcing more of their work to freelancers. This seems especially viable considering that large companies have to worry about not only paying their employees for a 40+ hour work week but also having to pay for health insurance and possibly 401K. Before working as a freelancer, I worked as a secretary for a small engineering firm. Although they had several clients, work wasn’t always constant. Looking back now (and I would have never admitted it then), someone could have done much of my job from home without having to go in everyday. We may see this more in companies that suffered financially in 2011 and are now trying to save money where they can.

3. Social media will still be king. With Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn thriving (and also with the arrival of Google+), social media will still be one of the main ways to put your name out there and get people talking. With more people using social media now to communicate with loved ones, friends, and business associates, we will most likely see a growth in people who join the social media revolution. Although one question on many people’s mind is if all of these websites will still be around in January 2013. Will we see one of these websites drop off the map, or even more interestingly, will we see any new social networks enter into the mix? Only time will tell.

Although no one can say for sure what the future holds, hopefully we will see a fulfilling and profitable year ahead. What are some of your predictions for freelancing in 2012?

photo credit: Suus Wansink

There might be a freelancer out there who loves dealing with the bookkeeping elements of freelancing, but if so, she’s well hidden. Keeping track of income, expenses, amounts due, estimated taxes…well, it’s just not fun. But it’s a necessary evil. If you don’t keep proper account of the money side of your freelance business, you can run that business right into the ground – or worse, get into serious legal trouble. So, even if you’re a newbie with few clients, it’s a good idea to develop strong bookkeeping habits right from the start. How to do this? It doesn’t take massive brain work. Just good organization. Click here to read more »

Making the leap to become a freelancer is daunting, exciting and challenging, all rolled into one.

Being your own boss has huge advantages, but it can also mean that in times of uncertainty, there is no one to turn to, such as when a new project arises, or when work is taken on for a new and therefore unknown client.

In this day and age, time is money, and there is a temptation to jump straight in and start the project right away, after all there’s no time like the present.

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Did you know that writer’s block can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 10 years or possibly even longer? And 15% of Stephen King’s characters are actually murdered due to writer’s block? As most writers know, there are few worse things that can happen while working on a book or project than writers block. Even though writer’s block can strike at the most inconvenient of times and seem to linger forever, we’re here to help you move past that wall get those ideas flowing again!

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What makes popular blogs popular and great posts great? Is it their fantastic design?  Consistent useful content? The writer’s voice? Successful marketing strategies? While all these are definitely important, something else is involved. Click here to read more »