Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Why Freelance Writing Jobs Are Plentiful Right Now

As I mentioned in last Thursday's post, today I was supposed to talk about how I negotiated with clients on three different occasions last week (the rate/fee question), and managed to come away doing ok. But alas, I've been slammed this week. I mean SLAMMED!

Last week it seemed that all of my troublesome clients came out of the woodwork, as I talked about here. This week, it's raining new clients AND old clients with multiple new projects. I'm literally swamped. My work days have started at 6am and ran right through until midnight or 1am the past two days, and it's gonna be that way this entire week.

I say all this to say that I'm going back to a series of quick tips this week, and will pick up with my usual in-depth posting style next week, as I only have 15 -30 minutes to devote to blogging the next few days.

So, four things I want to tell you today.

1. FREELANCE WRITING JOB LEADS FROM ASSOCIATED CONTENT

Last week, I made a quick $45 with Associated Content (AC) for two articles. How? Well, they've been posting a lot of pretty good paying "Calls for Content" lately. I did one article on How to Write a Small Business Plan for $25 (about 45 minutes to write), and another on What All-in-One Printers Can Do For Small Business Owners for $20 (maybe 20 minutes to write).

What are Calls for Content? It's basically a request they send out for certain topics they want you to write about. The pay ranges from $0 (just performance payments) on up to $25, which is the most I've ever seen one for. I perk up when I see $20 and $25, because usually they only have to be 250 to 400 words, and because I'm an SEO writer, I can churn these out like lightning (especially if they have to do with business).

I have claimed four more to write that are due on Thursday, and none are more than 400 words. Each pays $20 and I'd be surprised if it took me more than an hour and a half to do all of them. So, if you're not familiar with AC or haven't given them a look in a while, cruise on over. It could be worth your while.

Following are a few available ones as of this posting.

Your Pregnancy and the Dentsit ($20): This content may or may not be published on DentalPlans.com. If published on that site, it will appear with your byline and a link to your AC profile page, but it will not be eligible for performance payments.Importance of proper nutrition, effects on unborn child, loss of calcium, radiation, medications and options for treating a tooth ache when pregnant. Word Count: 250 to 350 words. Keywords: pregnancy dentist, pregnancy dental x-rays, pregnancy dental careAlso read the Dental Plans Writer Guidelines.

Caring for Someone with Parkinson's Disease ($25): This content may be published on Disaboom.com. If your content is published, it will appear with your byline (or your AC pen name if you've provided a professional one) but it will not be eligible for performance payments. Your Assignment: Interview the following AC CP who has Parkinson's disease. She has agreed to be interviewed for this article. Contact her via her profile page. The writer guidelines below will explain more about the assignment.

How to Hold an Estate Sale ($25): This content may be published on a new IAC Web site (TBA). If published, it will appear with your AC pen name (as long as it is professional). It is not eligible for performance payments. Word Count: 750 to 1,000. Keyphrases: estate sale (5% density and used in first paragraph); local estate sales. Notes from IAC editors: Cover the basics on what to sell, how to price and how to advertise. Assume that there are no legal issues preventing the estate sale, but make mention of what happens if the money from the sale will be assigned to a trust. (NOTE: This is kind of a long one; they usually only request 250-500 words). But, hey, if you have the time and the interest . . . )

NOTE: You must be an AC Content Producer (CP) to write these. Don't worry, it's free to sign up, and you can do it and start writing immediately.

View all AC Calls for Content here. Learn more about Calls for Content here.

2. BLOGGING JOB JOB LEAD FROM THE RHYTHIM OF WRITE

This job lead comes from Deborah Dera of therhythmofwrite.com. She left a comment on my blog last Thursday, so I clicked over to her blog, and lo and behold, she had a great writeup on a paid blogging gig site I'd never heard of. So, check out this post on her blog about PayU2Blog.com. You may be able to pick up some nice pocket change like Deborah has.

Thanks Deborah for the tip!

3. Tomorrow I'll pass along a ton of leads from Constant-Content (CC). If my experience this week and the emails I'm getting from CC are any indication, clients are coming out of the woodworks these days. There's so much frelance writing work out there right now it's insane -- especially for SEO writers! My inbox and phone have been blown up with client request for proposals and outright signing on the dotted line.

I'll share a quick tip from an interesting conversation I had with an SEO internet marketing firm exec tomorrow. And finally. . .

4. This blog is in a contest, and we came through the first round a winner! John Hewitt of Poewar.com, in honor of March Madness, put together a very unique contest entitled March Writing Blog Madness! The purpose: "A field of 32 blogs about writing will gather to compete to see who is the best." Read more about it here. And read how we fared in the first round of the contest here.

It's a great way to discover new freelance writing blogs, and to get in-depth information on which ones you may want to consider becoming regular readers of.

I have two more hours to put in before getting some shut-eye and getting up and doing it all again. Until tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
http://inkwelleditorial.com/
http://inkwelleditorial.blogspot.com/
http://seo-article-writer.com/
http://seo-articles-for-sale.com/
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I joined AC last week then realized that they dont make upfront payments to non US citizens. We would be entitled to the performance bonus only, not really worth it.

This is disappointing. I think writing for them would have been a great opportunity.

Thanks

Yuwanda Black said...

Yeah, that really sucks. If they can make PB payments, I don't really understand why they can't pay Non-US writers for articles as well. I think they're working on it though -- at least that's been the buzz in the AC forums the last year or so.