FREELANCE WRITING CAREER : How to Define Your Writing Services, FREELANCE WRITING CAREER : How to Define Your Writing Services, Your Market, Your Business -- and most importantly -- Your Future! by Brian Scott A decade ago I listened to a famous writer speak about how to succeed as a freelance writer. His statement sums up why many new freelance writers give up too soon: they don’t focus clearly on what they want. A popular question in the business world is: Do we fail to plan or plan to fail? If having a business plan is important to survive and thrive as a freelance writer, why do so many writers refuse to create one? Freelance writing as a career is not a hobby and it’s not a get-rich-quick business. But, to have a sound, profitable writing business, you must start with a plan. What it takes to plan your business is some time each day. Now is the time to begin your business plan. Before we begin to design your writing business, we must first define the most important element of success: yourself. DEFINE YOURSELF: Who are you? They are:
quick plots: creative exercises for writers The Monster In The Closet - Her Bad Mother It was just one night, and one night, measured against the course of a lifetime, doesn’t seem all that significant. But it was a dark night, and I have never been able to shed the weight of the memory of it. I have never been able to put it, as they say, in perspective. Jasper was not quite six months old. I fought the dark. Later, when I wrote about what happened, I couched it in the most delicate of terms. He fussed, breathing heavily through a stuffy nose, truffling for the breast and then pushing it away. I didn’t have an urge to drop the baby. I sought help from a psychiatrist, but I downplayed the grimmer details. Of course I wasn’t. I didn’t have any more psychotic episodes. Even though I knew – even though I know – in my right mind – that I am not a bad mother, still… I came too close to being one of those mothers. And therein lays the problem. We have an emotional investment in characterizing these mothers as bad, as other.
Freelancing Struggling to increase your income? Maybe the clutter in your life prevents you from seeing and grabbing the lucrative opportunities around you. I encourage you to put on your spring cleaning cap, and spruce up your writing business. Because, believe it or not, cleaning can help you boost your income. This isn’t just about tidying up a room and finding spare change under the cushions. I’m talking about significantly increasing your revenue by removing physical, psychological, and professional blocks from your writing business. Just as spring cleaning your house brightens up your environment and makes room for better stuff, cleaning up your writing business will allow you to make room for better clients and more revenue. Here are seven ways to help you accomplish it. #1. A disorganized workspace doesn’t just make it harder for you to find that pen or style book, it also makes it more difficult to find the ideas and thoughts you need. #2. #3. Embrace brevity when writing. - Shrink your writing.
Campus Overload - Overdoing the dorm move-in This is the week when thousands of college students move into the dorms. Most of them show up with a moderate car full (or two) of stuff. But then there are the epic mover-inners -- college students who bring stuff that surprises residence hall directors and staffers who think they have already seen it all. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had a story this weekend about a frosh who showed up to his Minnesota college (that went unnamed) with a semi. It's not the only odd move-in. At Albright College in Pennsylvania, a student once hauled his dorm stuff in the family Winnebago. At Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, a student tried moving a full-size refrigerator into his 14-foot-by-14-foot dorm room. "I couldn't help but ask him what he could possibly need it for, given the fact that the hall had only one small kitchenette with only a microwave and sink," said Erica Stephenson, associate director of residence life. What not to pack: Have you seen anything ridiculous hauled into a dorm?
8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow's Journalist As the news industry looks to reconstruct its suffering business model, the journalists of today must reconstruct their skill sets for the growing world of online media. Because of cutbacks at many news organizations, the jobs available are highly competitive. News companies are seeking journalists who are jacks of all trades, yet still masters of one (or more). 2010 will likely be a time of transition as today's journalists catch up to learn the multimedia, programming, social media, and business skills they'll need to tell their stories online. These new skills are especially relevant to startups that are looking to hire multi-skilled and social media-savvy journalists. Below we've gathered some skills that are quickly becoming basic requirements for the journalist of tomorrow. 1. As the foundation of the longstanding business model crumbles, both new and experienced journalists are becoming entrepreneurial and starting their own publications. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
A Framework for Teaching with Twitter Faculty are increasingly experimenting with social media, and it’s exciting to find more and more courses incorporating Twitter, a ProfHacker favorite. Just last week on ProfHacker Ryan provided an excellent introduction to Twitter, while earlier in the summer Brian reflected on his use of Twitter in the classroom during Spring 2010. As we gear up for the Fall 2010 semester, I wanted to revisit the idea of teaching with Twitter. I’ll address my own pedagogical use of Twitter in a future ProfHacker post, but for today I want to share a general framework for Twitter adoption in the classroom, originally sketched out in late August 2009 by Rick Reo. In the process, I adapted Rick’s original matrix, re-imagining the vertical axis as a spectrum of conversation, ranging from monologic to dialogic, and redefining the horizontal axis as a measurement of student activity, ranging from passive to active. How about you?
When to Work for Nothing - Shifting Careers Blog - NYTimes.com Michelle Goodman (Photo: Gregory Beckelhymer) Many freelancers and consultants wonder whether it is ever a good idea to work for no pay. To answer this question, I invited Michelle Goodman to do a guest post. Ms. Goodman is a veteran freelancer, the author of the newly released book “My So-Called Freelance Life” and an advocate for the rights of independent workers. Despite the fact that I’ve gone from greenhorn to grizzled veteran in my 16 years as a freelancer, I receive calls and e-mails like the following at least once a month: “We really love your work. Translation: “We’re launching a new Web site/magazine/start-up and we’d love to have you do some consulting work for us. My hopeful would-be client will then explain that his or her company is poised to be the next Google or that some former “Apprentice” contestant who’s long since faded into oblivion is on the advisory board. “It will be great exposure for you.” No one ever filled a gas tank or bought groceries with exposure.
How Do You Feel When Someone Copies and Pastes Your Post? This is probably one of those posts where not everyone is going to agree with what I say or why I say it But it’s one of the most common traps for new people — so we do need to discuss our views! Here’s what I say: It’s really great to love someone else work! But you can’t copy and paste large sections or complete articles from other bloggers posts directly into posts on your blog or website. You don’t do it for a few reasons. Firstly if a blogger doesn’t include a Creative Commons license it means every thing that is written on their blog or website is automatically copyright. Secondly most people consider it breaking blogging etiquette and a form of plagiarism. Yes, publishing content online is about sharing and collaborating but it’s important to remember it can take considerable time for the original person to create that content. It might be harsh words but think of it as no different than copy and pasting a school assignment. Attributing Another Person’s Content Please note: Final Thoughts
Swede faces world-record $1m speeding penalty 12 August 2010Last updated at 23:49 The Swede was driving a Mercedes SLS AMG - which has a top speed of 317km/h A Swedish motorist caught driving at 290km/h (180mph) in Switzerland could be given a world-record speeding fine of SFr1.08m ($1m; £656,000), prosecutors say. The 37-year-old, who has not been named, was clocked driving his Mercedes sports car at 170km/h over the limit. Under Swiss law, the level of fine is determined by the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded. In January, a Swiss driver was fined $290,000 - the current world record. Local police spokesman Benoit Dumas said of the latest case that "nothing can justify a speed of 290km/h". "It is not controllable.