Greetings and happy Monday, everyone. I’d like to write about a few things that have been on my heart lately that I think might help some freelancers who just feel “stuck”. As I am sure many of you know, I have been a full-time freelancer since June of last year. In just two weeks I will be celebrating my one year independence anniversary.

It took  quite a bit to get to this point. Let’s rewind a bit, shall we? Two months ago I confidently boarded a plane to Salt Lake City; ready to begin my new life in a better city. I left with access to seven different telecommute companies. One by one these gigs dried up…quickly. Keep in mind that I was only gone for two months. First, my best and most lucrative gig, ShopWiki through Yovia dried up within just a couple of weeks of my move. Another one just stopped talking to me. CL was giving me trouble about my account, which forced me to spend over $60 just to have only two working accounts (3 were defective). One of my private clients stopped calling and I was left destitute with hardly any work and hardly any money.

On the way back to Tampa I was incredibly depressed. I couldn’t believe that once again I failed to leave the one place on earth I did not want to live. When I stared down at the oil in the gulf, it made me think even more about how the bottom just fell out – without any warnings or signs. Then I stopped and thought “Why is that oil in the gulf?”. Desperation and poor planning. Just as the oil companies had been desperate to find new sources of oil and had planned poorly, so too had I been so desperate to leave this place and planned my move very poorly. While I may have left with enough work, I needed better backups. I also should have and could have sought out cheaper housing. I was paying far too much for the room that I was staying in from March to May. I could have saved about $400 had I moved in with someone else.

Knowing this now, I am planning more thoroughly for the next move out of here: permanently. Now, don’t get me wrong. Had I kept at it out there I would have been able to support myself just fine. It wasn’t finances that brought me back this time. Rather, it was a sense that I needed to bring closure to the people in my life that will continue to live here. These people deserve nothing short of my full, honesty and that is something that I was too afraid to give them when I left. Not only that, but I promised my significant other that I would stay by his side no matter what and that we would leave together. He graduates in mid-July. We are both trying our best to move in mid-to-late August. We’ll have our own apartment again in September.

Now, I am sure that everyone knows how I feel about DS. I think $15 is not enough to write an article twice. They always, always, always want rewrites. Literally, everything gets sent back for stupid reasons. I thought I’d try them just once more because I really could use the extra funds since travel does have a tendency to drain your wallet. However, when I got a silly rewrite request (no surprise there, right?) I realized that I was done with that place once and for all. The stress, the headaches, and the pay is certainly not worth it. I realized that I had a lot more avenues than I thought I did and those are the avenues that I am going to explore in my second year of full-time freelancing.  Places like DS really undermine the spirit of freelancing and I am not willing to give up that spirit. It is my spirit. It is your spirit. It is our spirit. Never again will I work for such a soul-destroying place like DS.

Recently, I came to a puzzling crossroads. Being a young professional is certainly not easy. Being a young professional freelancer is even harder but its the only life I know. Its the only life I want. I thought about my childhood dream of becoming a mangaka (comic book artist) and realized that such dreams are not so far fetched after all. I finished the first book of my series about two weeks ago and it’s going through the final editing stages. After its published, my boyfriend and I will be touring conventions all over North America to promote the book. I am so thankful to all of the people in my life who have made my dreams – to become a writer and a mangaka possible.

Dear readers, you can do this too. Never let anyone tell you that your dreams are too far-fetched. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that the path I took was easy. It isn’t. There’s no paycheck every week, no guarantee of what tomorrow will bring. However, when you think about it; all of life is actually that way. If you want to have an online store, be a writer, be a graphic designer, get out of a dead-end job: now is the time to do it. What do you have to lose? If anything, you have everything to gain.

Quality Gal is a small writing website that hires writers to research and write articles that are heavily based on links. There are two main editors as far as I know. All inquiries are answered via email within one business day.

Writing Style(s)

Most articles consist of a few paragraphs and about 15-35 links. These links need to be from quality websites which Quality Gal lists as websites ending in .org, .edu, or .gov. They do accept some .com sites as long as they are not overpowered by ads but the bulk of the links need to be from .org, .edu, or .gov. Quality Gal is not overly picky about style and voice. All they ask is that you write in the second or third person, adhere to proper grammar, and write quality articles with links from the aforementioned types of websites. The editors are quick to answer questions via email.

Payment Details

Most articles pay $12-$15, depending upon the number of links and so forth. They pay once per week on Friday but you need to submit an invoice through the writer panel on Thursdays before 4 PM EST. Quality Gal accepts international writers but asks for a social security number if you are from the U.S. as they are a U.S.-based 1099 company. You will be asked to fill out a W-9, if accepted regardless of your country of origin. This is most likely for accounting purposes.

Personal Experience

Most of my experiences with Quality Gal have been good. When I’ve had questions, they’ve been answered in a timely manner by one of the editors. Recently, due to my own negligence I have had some issues. I’ve been writing articles when I am dead tired and have forgotten to fact-check at times. Despite this, they have still been very friendly and professional. The only other issue I had recently was that I submitted an invoice on Thursday and never got paid on Friday like I was supposed to. I am assuming that it is because I submitted it very late on Thursday so it will most likely be processed this Friday.

Opinions

Quality Gal is okay. They aren’t a bad place to work, especially if there isn’t much else going on. I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was going to get stuck with awful DS and there they were to save my hide. I’m really happy with them, actually. The only thing that bothers me is that there can often be a lack of available or interesting topics. Sometimes there are only one or two and sometimes there are no topics at all. QG usually remedies this issue within a couple of days.

Personally, I would stick with the easy articles and if you’re a quick researcher that is also a plus. I’ve noticed that the shortest amount of time I have been able to complete an article is one hour so keep that in mind when you claim topics. I wouldn’t claim anything less than the $15 ones unless things are very, very slow all across the board. You also might want to take the red, “urgent” topics because that helps the company. Remember, with small companies like these you really want to help them out to make sure that they keep getting work in the system. Do nothing short of your best. These small, friendly companies like Quality Gal are the ones that we want to have around for a long time.

I know that I have briefly mentioned the power of collaboration in this blog but I would like to take the opportunity to restate just how important it is for freelancers to work together. Whether you’re an established and busy freelancer looking to hire some help or a graphic designer looking to hire a copywriter; knowing other freelancers, including those in your own trade is a tremendous advantage.

Her Name Was Sue

A very close friend of mine and an established freelance writer named Sue Oser inspired me to go full-time in June 2009. I will never forget what a difference she has made in my life. It was because of her that I learned what I wanted to do and the areas of writing I wished to specialize in.

Recently, Sue needed her website redone. We’re in the final phases of that process now. In exchange, she has agreed to critique my writing portfolio. I’m not afraid to admit that Sue is older and more experienced than myself. Thus, it only made sense to ask for her input. By having my work critiqued, I will be able to improve upon my writing skills.

A New-found Desire

A freelancer must be willing to learn from his or her mistakes. But more importantly, the freelancer must strive to improve in every area of their business. Just because you have a college degree doesn’t mean you’re done learning. We learn our entire lives.

Call me a nerd, but I love to learn. College is so much fun because I get to improve upon the natural skills that I already possess. That’s something that is really important. Always be willing to learn and improve. Never let go of that desire because the second that you become unwilling to learn is the moment that you stop improving.

Don’t Just Do it, Love it

From one freelancer to another, don’t just do your job; love it! If you love what you do everything – and I mean everything from finances to the lifestyle that you want to live will follow.

Don’t worry…we’re not going too far away. I’m making some changes to my hosting account to facilitate a separate domain. This means that the website will now be hosted at http://angelic-warrior.com/wordpress rather than angelic-warrior.com.

What This Means for Readers

Nothing will change. This is just part of my ongoing effort to improve and expand my web presence. There’s going to be a domain redirect put in place so that your bookmarks will still be valid.

When?

Hopefully, I’ll have everything done by Sunday. Things have been really stressful lately so I took the past week off. I’ll be sure to update this post after the transition is made.

Sick of seeing the wrong term being used to describe a freelance job? Look no further! I’ve taken the time to create a glossary of correct freelance terms for all to learn from. If you’ve got some terms of your own, let me know and I’ll add them to this post.

Freelancing Glossary

Web Content Writer – Someone who writes content for the web and is compensated either through ad clicks, affiliate programs, up-front payment, or all of the aforementioned.

Article Writer – Someone who writes articles either for print, online media, or both.

Copywriter – A commercial writer who writes strictly for businesses.

Academic Writer – Someone who writes school assignments for students on the high school level, university level, graduate level, or all levels.

Travel Writer – A person who writes about their travel experiences.

Affiliate Marketer – A salesperson who promotes someone else’s products or services in exchange for commissions.

Blogger – A person who makes part or all of their living through blogging or blogs as a hobby. There is no such thing as “blog copy”. A blog post is a blog post.

Graphic Designer – A commercial designer whom creates graphics for companies such as logos, banners, etc.

Web Designer - A person who designs websites.

Web Developer – A person who builds websites from the ground up. Some web developers are also web designers.

Programmer – A person who primarily writes code. Programmers are usually expected to know various web scripting languages as well as the basics such as C, C++, and others.

Telecommute Worker – A person who works on a telecommute basis. This means they do not work onsite. (You wouldn’t believe how many posts I’ve seen in telecommute job listings that are actually on-site!)

Location Independent Business – A small business that is not restricted by location. Most location independent businesses sell services. Such businesses are usually trades such as graphic design, freelance writing, web design, affiliate marketing, fortune telling, and more.

Content Mill – Any website or place that exploits the talents of freelancers, often for a meager, paltry sum. This is the most common threat to freelance writers. (e.g. $1 per article websites, $20 website places, Demand Studios, etc.)

Business is all about marketing. Freelancers are no exception to this rule. However, most freelancers (especially we creative types) struggle with marketing our freelancing businesses. I’m going to share some things that have worked for me, personally. Hopefully, you will be able to apply these simple strategies to your business.

Classifieds

With CL giving me the run-around, I decided it was time to outsource. I write the copy; someone else posts it and forwards me the replies. As of right now, I am looking for someone to help me on a regular basis. If interested, please send me an email. I currently post on CL, Kijiji, and Backpage. The trick to making classifieds work is to post consistently. If you’re inconsistent, you won’t get the results that you want.

Flyers

I’ve also posted flyers at the local college campus because half of my business caters to students. I have a separate stack of flyers for businesses that will be going out around the same time. This task I don’t outsource because its very simple. I only print 20 flyers per week and that usually seems to do the trick. I print them in black and white which can be done very cheaply with an inkjet printer.

Business Cards

Business cards work best when you’re having a good conversation with people that you just meet. ABN = Always be networking. Never pass up an opportunity to network. When people ask me what I do for a living I tell them: I help build an effective online presence for small businesses that gains them more customers.

Local Events

As the Salt Lake City green living Examiner, I can get into several local events that can help my business; particularly community and grassroots oriented events. Local events of any sort can be helpful for you. For upcoming events, print business cards, order pens to give away, and set up a booth. You’ve got to build a strong presence within your community.

Find Your Mix

Effective marketing strategies involve testing what works and what doesn’t. If you want to get your business off the ground, it takes a lot of hard work and effort. It also takes patience, diligence, and consistency. Those three qualities can help grow your business significantly.

As freelancers, we are always marketing. In fact, I notice that if I don’t market myself on a daily basis I end up losing out on quite a bit. Though we creative types generally get frightened by the words “sales” and “marketing”, they are an important part of our lives and the general health of our businesses.

Recovering from a Craigslist Fiasco

I used to post three ads per day on craigslist in all of the major North American cities. Vancouver and Boston yielded the best results followed closely by Chicago and New York. However, my ride on the CL gravy train was coming to a screeching halt faster than I could have ever imagined.

For weeks I couldn’t even get looked at. Every morning I would open my inbox to see that I’d received no messages. I stopped giving out quotes for two weeks at a time, sometimes longer. I went to investigate my ad situation. It turns out that CL had been “ghosting” my ads, causing me to lose a substantial amount of business. I looked for similar situations and came across this hub. The author of the hub explains how to get around CL’s unfriendliness to location independent businesses.

Fortunately, CL did not block my account or IP address. They were just ghosting the last two ads that I’d post. After all of the frustration I went through to get my ads to “stick”, I decided it wasn’t worth it when a very innocent ad of mine was unfairly flagged and removed. It was the only ad I posted that week.

New Marketing Ops

Now that CL is no longer a viable option for advertising my writing services, I must look elsewhere. I decided to experiment with a service called Visitor Boost. I’ve heard positive and negative reviews about the website but I decided to give it a shot anyways – considering it only costs me $1.95 for 1,000 visitors. I’m going to give the service about a week and then report back to you with my experience.

In addition to buying traffic, I also learned that I could use to spend more time on websites like biznik, networking with other business professionals. I also joined the local BNI chapter and am awaiting the opportunity to market locally. Since my services are mostly B2B, networking with business professionals is my main priority.

Turning a Negative Into a Positive

In life, as well as in freelancing, we must have the ability to be problem solvers. I am hoping to find new and better marketing routes than craigslist. From what I’ve hear about CL, I probably don’t want to associate my business with them anyway.

There are quite a few blogs that talk about residual earning for writers. I’d like to talk about residual earning from a broader perspective. Writers and artists can earn residual income through their work. They create their masterpiece once and it can earn them money for life.

For Writers

In the days before Internet ad clicks and social media, writers used to earn residually similarly to the way artists do. They would retain the copyright for their pieces and sell them to various individuals or publications over and over again.

Today, writers can earn residually through the Internet. It’s not all about ad clicks though! Constant Content allows writers to sell their work for a  ”usage” fee which would allow the writer to sell that same piece over and over again. Additionally, some writers choose to sell their feature articles through their personal websites.

Those who choose to rely on ad clicks or page views can go through websites such as Infobarrel, Suite101, Examiner, and others. I don’t recommend Associated Content as their pay is excruciatingly low. Be sure to see if other writers are making decent money through various websites before committing to them. Some have excellent earning models while others have such low pay you may as well be working for free.

Artists

With the advent of the information age, many artists have switched from traditional to digital mediums. This has essentially created a need for artists to create prints as the rates for digital art are relatively low when compared with their traditional counterparts. In fact, some artists choose to sell all of their art as prints.

Of course artists can make their own website but marketing is difficult and one can find themselves trapped in a sea of competition. Art is even more competitive and low-paying than writing these days. Therefore, market yourself through larger websites and give people incentives to buy directly from your site. Several artists on deviantArt promote their work through their DA pages.

Making the Most of Residual Earning

Ultimately, the mediums in which you choose to earn residually are up to you. For some, CC and DA work. For others, it may be going out and marketing themselves locally. It’s all about patience and persistence when it comes to building a solid foundation as a writer and/or artist.

Weird, I know, but it is highly relevant to online freelancing. In today’s world of low pay and high expectations, it can be easy for freelancers to screw up once and while. Since many businesses only want absolute perfection (including online businesses), they tend to forget that their workers are human beings.

One Screw Up Should Not Be the End of the World

…but it is all to often. For this reason, you may need an alter ego. You know, an alias, a pen name, etc. Because so much of online work doesn’t require a heavy amount of verification, if you screw up once and they don’t give you another chance, you can give yourself another chance.

My Story

I was working for a company that had very few writers and very little work. For some interesting reason they decided to send me a paper on gospel music. They even called me on my cell phone, begging me to take it. I hate gospel music. The worst part about this assignment was that it was 20 pages long and due in a mere three days!

Well, I didn’t want to disappoint the company. So, being the never-say-no type, I took it on. What a disaster it was! Because the paper was so long, so tedious, and so boring, there was no way through it other than mindless repetition and a large font-face. I cursed whoever this student’s professor was the entire time for assigning such an awful piece. I mean, really. Don’t people have better things to do these days then talk about an outdated and unpleasant form of music?

So I turned it in, as is. Low and behold, they stopped giving me orders. Sure, I made the mistake of taking a paper I knew full well I couldn’t do. They also had a hand in it by pressuring me. Instead of sulking about them ignoring my applications for future orders, I simply created an alias and reapplied. Wha la! Acceptance.

A similar thing happened a couple of months down the road with a another company. I did well for them all of the time. Then, one day when there wasn’t anything but slim pickings, I accidentally took another paper I couldn’t do. This time I didn’t even attempt it. I simply emailed them telling them I made a mistake and asked if they could reassign the order. They did. Now they won’t give me any more orders. I don’t feel like reapplying to this one since it was a hassle to get in the first time.

Lessons Learned

From now on, I am going to have to turn down assignments I can’t do. Its a hassle to have to keep reapplying to places. I’m never going to take another bad order again. Thank goodness for my alter ego who saved me from having to find totally new companies.

Most freelancers work primarily from home. If you’ve got a desk, an all-in-one  printer, a computer, and an ergonomic office chair; you’ve got yourself a home office. Your workspace should be the most quiet, serene place in your home. However, those who have kids or who’s home office is also their bedroom or living room, distractions can easily make focusing on work difficult.

Keep Distractions to a Minimum

Even if you don’t have kids, there will be some days that you just don’t feel like working or you can’t get enough peace and quiet for the life of you. The roommates could be talking loudly, music could be blaring from a parked car outside, or your cat could be meowing at you in order to command your complete and undivided attention. The following are techniques that I use to help cope with noisiness.

• Meditate before working. Spending just 10 minutes in the morning on meditation is an ideal way to maintain your control and focus.
• Eat a hearty breakfast. You’ll work better and smarter on a full stomach.
• Run your errands first or write them down in a daily planner. You don’t want to be thinking about going to the bank when you’re trying to work.
• Place a “Do not disturb” sign on your door. If you live with other people, consider placing a DND sign on your door during your normal working hours.

Having the Right Equipment at the Right Price

Because freelancers never know what is going to happen tomorrow, it’s important to keep office expenses as low as possible. If you need new equipment, which occasionally you will, see what you can buy used.

The following are good items to buy used

• Desks. Brand new desks can cost a small fortune. Why not get a good desk for a fraction of the cost?
• Office chairs. I know how tempting the smell of a new office chair is, but at upwards of $150, your money could be better spent elsewhere.
• Bookshelves. It’s there to hold your books; nothing fancy is really needed.
• Filing cabinets. You definitely don’t need a brand-new filing cabinet. While it may be difficult to find used ones, it’s worth at least looking around. A penny saved, etc.
• Phones. Used office phones are fine. Just be sure that you sanitize them with rubbing alcohol before use.

The following items should always be bought brand new

• Computers. Because a computer is usually your most important piece of equipment, don’t take chances by purchasing a refurbished computer. People often give them hillbilly tune-ups and then sell ‘em to unsuspecting suckers. Buy mid-range, new computers always. You’ll be glad you did.
• Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax. This is usually your second most important piece of office equipment. Don’t buy used because you never know just how used is “used” and with the way electronics are being made these days, I wouldn’t risk it.

If you’re a relatively small business and you don’t have a ton of clients or responsibilities, opt for an Internet phone service such as Skype. A Skype phone number costs $18 per quarter and $3 a month for unlimited calls to the United States and Canada. It’s definitely a money saver. Not only will you not have to worry about purchasing a separate phone, but your calls will be crystal clear. Just make sure that you also have a cell phone, for those times that you are away from the office.

Your Office is a Reflection of You

Since it’s in your home, feel free to decorate it any way that you’d like. Just because it’s an office doesn’t mean it needs to be boring. Give your office the right personal touch. Not only will this improve your mood, but it does wonders for productivity.