Photo by Lady Orlando.

It was one of the most brilliant article ideas you’ve ever had. You sat down and wrote up a beautiful query letter, tailored it perfectly to the publication you were targeting and sent it off. Now to sit and wait to receive the assignment from the editor.

The reply comes faster than usual but instead of containing a word count and a deadline it’s…the form rejection letter.

It wouldn’t normally be a big deal except the article was about a niche topic and this was the perfect magazine to publish it.

Time to toss the idea and move on, right? Wrong. It’s merely time to re-examine it and consider other ways it could be written.

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Photo by picard_pwns_kirk.

I dream of my perfect office with surreal artwork decorating the walls, the comfy chair and the desk that supports a dual monitor set-up.

Unfortunately, I always seem to wake up from this dream a couch that has stuffing spilling out with my Dell Inspiron laptop sitting next to me.

While my coffee table certainly isn’t going to serve as an ideal spot for multiple monitors, I’ve recently discovered an interesting way to get more screen real-estate on my little laptop.

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Image by carrotcreative.

Twitter is some kind a strange marriage between a blogging platform and an instant messaging client.

You post updates that are made public (known as “tweets”) and people are able to respond to you directly, should they feel the need to comment. Keeping the platform “micro” is the 140 character limit on anything you post.

Posting can also be done in a variety of ways: through the Twitter web site, through integration with some IM clients like Google Talk, by text messaging a number from your cell phone or through a desktop client like Twirl.

Like almost every web-based service these days, it has a social aspect as well. You can make a list of people to “follow” so you’re given a list of all their updates.

Now, like many, when Twitter first hit the scene I raised an eyebrow and said “Why?” At first it seemed to be people posting instant updates and updating the world on how fast the line at the grocery store was moving.

But as I’ve slowly adopted the service, as a freelancer writer, I’m beginning to find more and more uses for it. Continue Reading

Image by 'Playingwithbrushes.

It goes without saying that in the process of doing business, mistakes will be made — especially in the beginning. Small mistakes and stumbles happen, but there are a few that beginners make that can put a freelance career on the rocks before it has even started.

Although the items on this list may seem like common sense behaviors to avoid, they’re all things that people have done. Don’t do them! Continue Reading

Photo by Guylaine2007.

I was updating my LinkedIn profile the other day and couldn’t help but notice that under the “Independent Professional” heading was the time stamp: 2 years.

Has it really been that long? It sure doesn’t feel like it, but it gave me pause to sit back and think about my career so far and what lessons I’ve learned that can be passed on to others.

Like most people fresh out of college, I focused all my energy on finding the 9-5 staff job. Problem was, returning home from a unpaid newspaper internship in another city, I barely had enough money to put postage on resumes, let alone gas to drive to job interviews.

It was a few days after my return that I woke up to my phone ringing. It was my editor from the out-of-town paper. Something related to their coverage area was happening near me and… could I cover it? Continue Reading

Photo by blupics.

Everyone with a blog, please raise your hand.

Alright, those of you with hands up can leave the classroom and hit the bar early. The rest of you, stay here, because this lesson is important.

Lets start with the quick summary of what a blog is. Short for Weblog, a blog is a website that displays posts by the author in chronological order. Their popularity is immense since most blogging platforms make it insanely simple for anyone to publish their thoughts on the web.

You’re reading one right now.

But why do freelancers need one? Continue Reading

Photo by Hub :).

I’m a big fan of playing tricks on my own mind to get things done. For example, I’m the type of person who sets all my clocks to run fast by a few minutes (each clock by a different increment, of course) to stay punctual.

Recently, it occurred to me that there are a few other ways I could, maybe not exactly trick my mind, but at least play with my perception to get my freelance career moving along further.

Pretend you’ve been fired

This is one for those slaving away at the 9-5 and merely dreaming about quitting to freelance full-time.

What if that safe 9-5 job vanished tomorrow? What would you do? Continue Reading

Photo by Podknox.

So you’re sick of the cubicle, middle management and 9-5 hours. You dream of quitting and freelancing full time but there’s one thing holding you back: the company health plan. This is by the far the most common reason I hear from Americans on why they won’t quit the full-time job.

However, there are options available. In this article, we’ll look at several solutions to keep yourself covered without the backing of a full-time employer. Continue Reading

Photo by Argenberg.

This post is the second half of our two-author, two-part series on smart saving.

Along with the health insurance dilemma, some full-time employees can be reluctant to quit their job to freelance full-time because it means giving up such perks as a pension and company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan.

So, in this article, we’ll examine some ways you can keep saving for your future without being backed by a company.

But first, the obligatory disclosure: I am not an accountant or a financial planner, nor I am pretending to be. I’m just a writer whose done a fair bit of research. Please consult a financial professional before placing your savings into any one place.

Also please note that while the terminology in this article is specific to the United States, many other countries have similar options available under different names. Continue Reading

Photo by wili_hybrid.

Most freelancers I know work from home. It’s often seen as one of the perks of freelancing: it means having a five second commute to work and being able to work in one’s pyjamas.

However, there are plenty of downsides. It can be hard to focus, especially with the lure of the television or the video game console. Plus, it can be lonely, given the limited social interaction.

There are, of course, means of changing the scenery and gaining a little more interaction. Some freelancers will work out of a Wi-Fi equipped coffee shop while others will rent office space elsewhere in search of a better place to focus.

But there are still disadvantages. Coffee shops aren’t very private and they aren’t a real workspace while renting an office can be fairly cost prohibitive if the businesses isn’t bringing in a lot of money.

So, enter co-working, a middle ground between the two. Continue Reading

Image by patty_colmer.

Looking to make some more money, I checked out a bunch of the more popular freelance bidding sites a few weeks back and subscribed to the RSS feeds to see who was looking for a writer.

Now, I’ve known a few designers and coders who’ve found work through these sites but for me, I haven’t even seen a single project I wanted to bid on, let alone gotten any work.

It’s not that none of the work seemed interesting. The problem is that the majority of the postings I read were flat out horrifying!

One example:

I need someone to write 100 articles for a web site. I can only afford to pay $1 per article but this may lead to more work later. Also, all articles you submit will be checked through Copyscape.

I’m not sure I even need to say anything about the rate being offered, but “may lead to more work later”? Continue Reading

We’re all in business and when running a business, there’s two ways to keep the bank account stocked: increase the money coming in or decrease the money going out.

In this post, I am going to focus on the latter method, looking for ways to shave off some of those business expenses.
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