How to Become a Freelance Hard-Ass and Get Paid What You’re Worth 9inShare40 Want to learn how to turn your passion into a revenue-generating business and make an impact? Join Brazen Careerist for an innovative online bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs called The Big Idea, March 6-31. One of the big challenges of launching your career as a freelancer is figuring out how much to charge – and convincing potential clients you’re worth that amount. Do you start at $15/hour? About five years ago — maybe one year before the recession hit — I quit my full-time job in book publishing to go full-time freelance. But as thrilling as the switch from nylons to bunny slippers was, building up a strong client base was tough, and I struggled for years to figure out how much I was worth — and how to find editors willing to pay it. When the recession happened, I realized I had to diversify, so I got my career coaching certification. In both cases, I was afraid. I suppose that last question was at the crux of it all, especially in the case of my coaching practice. 1. 2.
21 Key Benefits of Blogging Different people blog for different reasons. For some, blogging is an excellent means of satisfying their personal ego. Many people blog because they earn a full-time income out of it. There are others who blog for academic benefits. Once you have stepped into the world of blogging, you’ll know how beneficial it can be in a number of ways. Well, when you ask the majority of bloggers out there for the benefits of blogging opporunities, they could probably give you a long list of benefits blogging has brought them. A. #1. First and foremost, blogging and blogger outreach offers you the biggest benefit of fine-tuning your writing skills. #2. One of the biggest benefits of blogging is that it broadens your knowledge base. #3. Research is the backbone of all blogging. #4. As you continue to provide excellent quality posts to your readers, they get to know your better. #5. Believe me, blogging has a huge wonderful world of its own. #6. Every one of us has times when we feel down in spirits.
10 Social Media Tips for Bloggers Liz Borod Wright, a freelance writer based in New York City, runs the popular travel blog, Travelogged. She is also a social media consultant and an adjunct for social media at Columbia Journalism School’s continuing education program. When it comes to building an audience and driving traffic, bloggers are turning to social media with record results. Instead of relying on organic search or (gasp) IRL friends, successful bloggers know they have to develop a following on key social networks as a way to promote their brands and ultimately get more clicks. Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and now Pinterest provide the savvy blogger with plenty of opportunities to attract new readers and engage with regulars, but it can be overwhelming if you’re new to social media or if you only use it for fun. Here are 10 tips to help bloggers navigate the increasingly complex world of social media — while still making time to write content. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Build Your Own Blog - How to Start a Blog Today! Which Blogging Platform Should I Use? Joomla is primarily a CMS, which, as a side option, may also double as a blog. Wordpress is the other way around. Its primarily a blogging platform, and additionally, with a few hackles, may double up as a CMS. I'm with you on absolutely HATING WordPress. Many sites are misinforming users and stating that WordPress is a good CMS - WRONG! Yes, there are countless plugins and things to make WP into a fully fledged CMS, but it's a blogging platform. Yes, there is a ton of help to solve most issues with those plugins and customizing WP. I'd tried Joomla, Drupal, and well over a dozen others. I have been using ExpressionEngine for several years now. For blogging, I DO encourage people to try WP. For building a complex site where any data can be content and a chronologically styled blog style is not desired, then EE is what I use and recommend to my clients. EDIT > add: Everyone loves free and open source.
Generating Publicity for Your Blog Is Easier than You Might Expect - Collective Bias Written by Dan Anderson “Without promotion, something terrible happens…nothing!” –P.T. How do you promote your blog? What are you an expert on? If you frequently write about local events, get in touch with the journalists at your local paper. If you just want opportunities to be quoted in articles, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a simple way to get connected with journalists. If you ever watch a press event for a new product launch, you will frequently see customers used during the press event as proof that people love the new product. When looking for opportunities to be your own publicist, think about the story you want to tell and make it timely. Public relations work can generate awareness and drive traffic to your blog if you are willing to put in the effort. About the Author: Dan Anderson is a proud father and self-proclaimed king of dad jokes.
26 Tips for Writing Great Blog Posts Do you blog? Feel like you’re trying to reinvent the wheel time and again? Looking for some ideas to simplify your content creation process? What follows are 26 tips, from A-Z, to help you create optimal blog posts every time you sit down to write. #1: Anatomically Correct A blog post contains several areas that require our attention and care. Eye-catching titleIn-text links to landing pagesSidebar/banner calls to actionSocial sharing buttonsCall to action at the bottomRelevancy—making sure the post is relevant from top to bottom Parts of the blog anatomy. Example of more anatomical parts to include in your blog posts. #2: Blogging Platform By knowing the ins and outs of your blogging platform, you’ll ensure that your posts look as good as they can. Whether you’re working in platforms such as WordPress, Tumblr or Posterous, it’s good to stay up to date on the features and new versions. WordPress' editor where you can toggle between visual and HTML editing functions. #3: Categories #4: Description
How to use Pinterest Chances are you've heard of Pinterest, the latest Web addiction for millions. If you haven't heard of it, find the nearest twenty- or thirtysomething woman. She'll likely know what's up and can tell you all about it. If she can stop pinning. Pinterest is a visual bulletin board for the Web. These images are grouped together on a user's page, creating an inspiration board of ideas. Pinterest has been around for almost two years, but has seen a meteoric rise in interest over the last couple of months. STORY: Pinterest stands out in crowded social media field To get you on the right track, here are things to know about Pinterest. Understanding the terms — Pin: A pin is an image added to Pinterest. —Repin: Once something is pinned, it can then be repinned by other Pinterest users. —Board: This is where your pins live. How to get an account Pinterest technically is still open to invited users only. How to follow Just like on other social networks, you build a list of people to follow on Pinterest.
Email Notifications Getting Out of Control? Zap 'em With This Handy Tool The last time you cleaned out your inbox, how many of those emails were auto-generated notifications from social networks and other websites? Unless you're particularly aggressive about turning off default notifications, it was probably more than a few. You've been meaning to get around to going through and changing all those settings, but - oh hey, hang on, there's another email. Editing the notification settings on a few big Web services doesn't sound like a big deal, and in reality it's not. It's with this very basic, but nonetheless undeniable reality in mind that one teenaged entrepreneurial duo set out to create Notification Control. Yes, that's it. Notification Control is the brainchild of Ben Lang and Tim Kendall, both of whom are in their late teens.
What Does It Take To Be a Social Strategist? [INFOGRAPHIC] Looking to break into a social media career? Here's pretty much everything you need to know about the job and the people who do it every day. Nearly 80% of corporations use social media, so there's plenty of opportunity for aspiring strategists — especially as the other 20% get on board. Step 1: Get a Twitter account — 100% of social media managers represented in the survey have one, and you have to know the lay of the land if you're going to innovate and build a brand on said land. Step 2: Be ready to wear many hats. Want to know if you're cut out for it? Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. SEO Manager at TIG Global in Chevy Chase, MDProject Manager at OMD in New YorkWeb Developer at Design at Work in Houston Infographic courtesy of Web Strategist and Voltier Creative
Starting in Social Media? The 5 P’s of a Perfect Program So you are new in this Social Media revolution. You may or may not have been an innovator or early adapter – or perhaps you are still cautiously implementing Social Media into your business. This article isn't going to convince you WHY to use Social Media, but rather teach you HOW to best use it. Create your Perfect Program with your plan, position, platform, people and performance. The 5 P’s of a Perfect Program - Social Media Success: PLAN: Social Media Strategy Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Establish goals (recruiting, training, client interaction, PR, branding, education, culture, etc.) POSITION: What’s Your Point? Differentiate your content Become the expert in your industry Link, link, link! PLATFORMS: Tools and Tactics Over 350 mediums for sharing online – how do you have the time for all that?! PEOPLE: Internal and External Audiences Once you have a strategy and Social Media functionality figured out, what is next? PERFORMANCE: Return On Investment? Connect:
The 10 Commandments Of Social Media Content Marketing It was in 2002 that the first social media network emerged with the funky name of Friendster, which to my ear sort of sounds like a hybrid cross between a “Friend” and a “Hamster”. As with any good idea it was quickly copied (“ripped off” is another phrase that comes to mind) and MySpace was created and launched in 2003. This social media network dominated for the next 5 years as teenagers became addicted to the interactive and multimedia rich, self publishing web platform that allowed them to share music, content and information with their friends. The addictive power of the social network was on display to many parents as dinner tables around the world were deserted by teens after gulping down their meat and potatoes, as they rushed off to their computers to continue their “MySpacing” In 2008 Facebook surpassed MySpace and became the dominant social network. Since then we have seen the rise of the “smart phone” connecting people to the web without wires or a desk bound computer. 1. 2. 3.
Creating original content remains top issue for B2B marketers | Industry News - KoMarketing Associates Written by Industry News on January 6th, 2012 According to MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Insitute's recent study, titled B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends, about one-quarter of marketers' annual budgets is spent on content marketing. In addition, nine out of 10 B2B marketers are currently using content marketing to grow their businesses, while around 60 percent plan to increase spend in the area over the next 12 months. However, content curation remains the biggest issue. Researchers found that 41 percent experienced challenges producing the type of content that engages prospects and customers. Similar results were found in an earlier study from HiveFire, which revealed the No. 1 content marketing challenge to be creating original content (73.6 percent). Time may be an issue for marketers who utilize social media to distribute content, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Editing Text On Your iPad? Speed Up The Process With SwipeSelection More than a few people have been clamoring for Daniel Hooper’s thoughtful iPad text editing concept to become a real thing since his video started making the rounds, and now all you mobile text editors have reason to celebrate. Thanks to the efforts of an intrepid iOS hacker named Kyle Howells, that awesome vision of quick-and-painless text editing has been realized with a new (and free) iOS tweak called SwipeSelection. Even if you aren’t a seasoned grammarian (or a beleaguered copy editor), SwipeSelection strikes me as terribly useful tool to have at your disposal. Instead of having to poke at precisely the right point in a word or sentence to fix an error, SwipeSelection allows you to drag a single finger across the iPad’s keyboard to place your cursor. Need a bit more speed? Drag with two fingers to add some extra oomph to the process, which comes in especially handy when you’re grappling with a more than a few paragraphs. [via iDownloadBlog]