Master Dayton Freelance Writing Blog: 50th Post

Celebrating the 50th Freelance Writing Blog Post

For some blogs, maybe the 50th post isn't a big deal, and doesn't seem like much at all. But when I started this writing blog, it was a side project, something I enjoyed, and had nothing to do with me personally making any income or building my online businesses, so this was never meant to be a post daily or weekly blog, and 50 posts is pretty good for me. I tried to think of something special to do, but being in the midst of a crazy month shooting for crazy writing goals, my brain isn't firing on all cylinders when it comes to putting together a blow your socks off post. So instead of something new and absolutely brilliant, I'm putting together a clips show.

I've actually been amazed at how many interesting and really cool things have happened in my life due to this blog, and also to writing online in general. I've met some really cool people, learned a ton about making money online, passive income, and how the possibilities of what you can do online can change your life. Jobs that resulted from my online writing have seen me move across continent from Alaska to Texas and back to Iowa right in between, and I've managed some pretty good stories and across the world invites whenever I finally get that darned passport.

So some of this freelance writing blog post will be rambling, some will be freelance writing advice, and a lot of it will be looking back at links, posts, people, or events that have made a particular impact on me over these past 5 years of writing online, and the past 2 years with this blog. So kick back and smile if you enjoy rambles, because none of this post is thought out ahead of time and it's going to be a happy scatter shot from here on out :)

So before I go into making lists, there's one blog post I did that stands above and beyond all of them. At the time it was one of my longest blog posts, and it is my personal favorite, in addition to being the "favorite" of my readers based on comments. Even despite the hugely increased following I received after that post, it remains the single most read and commented on post I've ever done on this blog, and it doubled the number of followers I have (that show on the feed or contact me by e-mail), received a lot of link love, and I noticed a huge jump in traffic that has stayed ever since. "Master Dayton" is also now searched for on Google monthly in the double digits, which I just think is cool. So hands down, the "BEST" blog post I ever wrote was this:

Why I'm Not Ashamed to Be a Freelance Writer

That one would have otherwise been on every single other list had I not set it apart, and that one post really did put this blog on an entirely new level by virtually every measurement I make and keep track of. So with that post getting its due, from there I thought the common sense way to start off would be to mention my 5 favorite blog posts, which were:

1. Setting Ridiculously Ambitious Writing Goals
2. Freelance Writing & Gambling: How the 2 Relate
3. Freelance Writing: The 4 Year College Plan
4. Passive Income vs. Active Freelance Income
5. Why Is Full Time Passive Income So Hard?

While these are my personal favorites, if I'm basing the most popular posts on number of comments, then the 5 most popular posts of my blog are:

1. Setting Ridiculously Ambitious Writing Goals (we all seem to like this one)
2. 50 Things Beginning Writers Should Know
3. Constant Content Review
4. Entry Level Freelance Writers: Don't Get Discouraged
5. Freelance Writing & Blogging

It's kind of funny to me how that one post strikes a major chord, but otherwise there's a pretty good divergence between the posts I liked most and the ones most popular with readers. Then again, some of them make sense. Writing about the 50 things beginning writers should know might not interest me because I've been there, done that, and have long since moved beyond many of those lessons. On the other hand, what a great post for writers who are literally just getting started in freelancing.

The success stories I've been e-mailed by some of my readers just encourage me beyond belief and make me really happy that I'm doing this. Because time wise versus monetary return, this blog should have been abandoned long ago. But I really enjoy helping others, I like being able to talk about freelance writing, and although there are the occasional trolls, it really is a small price to pay for the people I've met, the online friendships developed, and for the other places I think this blog (and my writing in general) are going to end up taking me. I want others who are on the fence or afraid to be encouraged and to work for more, and to dream of more, than they otherwise would.

I also want to take time to mention resources I would encourage beginners and intermediates in the freelance writing and passive income business to check out. These are good informational sources, each one I personally approve of and would have no problem recommending someone to.

Jade Dragon @ Innovative Passive Income
Allyn Hane @ Blogger Illustrated Video Blog
Grizz @ Make Money Online - first of the honest blogs about making money online that I've found, and this guy has influenced so many people he's like the "Godfather" of the honest make money online bunch.
Courtney Tuttle @ The Keyword Academy
Lissie @ Passive Income Ideas Online
Felicia Williams @ No Job for Mom

These blogs cover the gamut from freelance writing to affiliate programs, SEO, AdSense, passive income, and everything in between. If you want to learn how to become an online freelance writer, or make passive income online, it doesn't get any better than those sources. After that, it's just a matter of taking some type of action each and every day towards accomplishing your freelance writing goals, because even a small step is still one that gets you a little big closer to your freelance writing dreams than before.

There are two other sites I'd like to share. I haven't had correspondence with these individuals, or comment back-and-forths or anything like that, but I enjoy their blogs and think some people will enjoy them, as well.

There's Justin at Life of Justin, I think formerly it was "Digital Nomad," but I'm not 100% sure on that one. Enjoyable blog that also tracks how he went from corporate job to being self employed and being able to "go mobile" to enjoy life a lot more and still get the income to live well.

Then you have Ben over at Making Money Online with SEO. I have absolutely nothing but mad respect for this guy. You know how sometimes you think "If I just write 10,000 articles I'll have enough to make x a month?" but then you never follow through because that number is so ridiculously high? Well Ben learned SEO, keywords, finding good niches, and then he put in 18+ hour work days for months on end to prove that sheer volume, when done right, is enough to get to a full time online income pretty darn quick. If you feel yourself slacking off, reading the work he does acts like one heck of a kick in the pants to get you going again. And once again - rock solid information, and just like Grizz's blog, read all the comments.

There's the shout out to my friends. Sharing some of my favorite pages or "surprises," does come up with some issues. I'm not going to share my best money making pages, because giving away your niches is the best way to lose them. But I do have pages I wrote for fun which led to other opportunities, and those I'll be glad to share.

Some pleasant freelance writing surprises:

My Coen Brothers Biography on Squidoo. My first venture into passive income came when I was starting a new job in Austin, Texas, and my boss wanted me to become familiar with Squidoo. This was the first page I wrote, and it's made me $215 and makes about $20 a month. Strangest thing, for the longest time I couldn't figure out how the heck it was getting 300 visitors a month from search engines. Now I've figured it out and am going to be doing some experimenting. I'm not going to give away that secret, but I will say it's one of those "that's so stupid I can't believe it's working," things. Gotta' love when things bounce the right way. Another plus of this Squidoo lens: it led to a print publication as a Coen Brothers expert in the .Cent international arts magazine. Freaking cool.

Along the same lines, other Squidoo lenses that have done well for me include: Sinclair Lewis Novels, It Can't Happen Here as a Prophetic Warning, and Best Dystopian Novels. All of these have led to a wide variety of opportunities including being a specialty guest on radio and Internet radio shows on multiple occasions, and guest speaking at a high school and college on these topics. Once again, all really cool stuff, and it makes my "Academic Resume" look really good. Never mind that I'll probably never apply for a professor's job again, but eh, still cool. Strengthens a safety net, as well, and I like my options :)

My original page helping freelance writers is also on Squidoo, and doing well and helping people, but I'm not linking back to that one, because that's one of my best links to this blog and I don't want it to be reciprocal.

Writing on HubPages has led to a lot of hubs that haven't made me money (although there are plenty that are) but several I've made have led to some amazing conversations about philosophy, Alaska (love the state), pros/cons of legalizing marijuana, and a wide variety of other topics. Writing there and seeing detailed but civil arguments or discussions in the comments section has been a real cool thing. Writing for HubPages also almost got me in a story for USA Today. Granted, this story would have been cooler if I actually ended up there, but hey, it shows the possibility is at least there.

Probably my best story is how a little read article (only a few hundred people) resulted in me getting a thank you note from a king. An article I wrote for Associated Content about an new charity resulted in the King of the Isle of Man (and yes, I realize there are arguments over this, but the title has been granted to him) reading it and sending me a thank you note. So I'm one of the few people on this Earth who can say I've received a thank you note from a King.

Among other pleasant surprises, my article on the 10 best post apocalypse movies is probably my favorite. I know from testing that articles like that don't end up converting in AdSense and they don't get people to buy the movies, so it looks like "worthless traffic," so I like getting paid on a per view basis for that type of traffic. And this article makes me $12-20 a month in page views, and has made me well over $200 for what was about 70 minutes of work.

Which brings me up to a bit of advice, if you're writing for Associated Content and you want to get anywhere remotely close to a decent passive income stream from it, then you want to write list articles. Out of my top 20 monthly earners, 17 are list articles. So are #21, #23, and #25, for that matter.

On this blog, I'm seeing more and more attention, more and more search engine visitors, and more consistent lurkers and registered followers. I'm beginning to see more natural backlinks to the blog, which means bit by bit I'm ranking for more terms for Google, "Master Dayton" is becoming a more recognized moniker, and more people are finding me every day. This is all really cool, and as my passive income from freelance writing continues to grow, I think the many amazing stories and opportunities from writing online are only going to continue.

So that's it for now. Read some of my friends' blogs, get some writing done, and if the idea of a "new lifestyle" from writing seems odd, I do recommend The 4 Hour Work Week. I use the stories as more of motivation and tips for staying productive than a set business plan, but it's a pretty cool work, and one that gets you thinking.

Master Dayton Blog Update

Master Dayton Blogging Update

Well it's been almost a full month since I last updated the blog, and I am sorry about that for the many people out there who I know have been following this blog and have been waiting for another post. I won't get into the personal details, but in the beginning of July we had to deal with a major family emergency/tragedy, and while facing this family always comes first. I won't go into details beyond that, but it's going to be very hard (God willing the worst any of us will ever have to face) and I will be continuing this blog because normalcy is like humor and faith - you need it most when it seems the most impossible to hold onto.

There has been a lot going on with the writing career that's encouraging. I think the freelance market is definitely beginning its turnaround. Things are still much harder than they were a year ago, but it's not nearly as bad as it was 6 months ago. Even though I did virtually no work at all in July, my residual or passive online income increased almost 70%. I took a few hours to study what I did at the end of June to see if there was something I was doing that might have explained that sudden surge. To my pleasant surprise, the answer was yes. While writing for many different websites, the numbers seemed to show me that in all my experimenting I had stumbled upon what potentially could be one heck of a winning combination - especially when writing for passive or residual income - which makes this particularly interesting and exciting to me.

Right now I'm not going to reveal it because I want to do some very focused testing over the next two months to see if my initial findings still hold up. The good news is that if this works, it's geared far more to writers who learn only a little bit of SEO or Internet Marketing as opposed to Internet Marketers. I know for me and many other online writers, learning the SEO is difficult and somewhat frustrating (I mean we're writers - we want to write, right?). If my testing holds up, you'll still need to know some basic SEO and keyword research, but once you have the basics down you'll be able to focus 90% of your effort on writing. I know if you're naturally more inclined to writing then this would definitely be a bonus.

So that's good news. I'm on the verge of making the $100 monthly threshold for AdSense. While I'm always getting paid bi-monthly now, just hitting that $100 every single month is a major mile stone that is really encouraging. Plus, you just can't complain about an extra Franklin every single month for work that has already been done. My eHow earnings also went up about 68% in the past month, and I just finished a major Power Point project that netted me about $440, with a second one now on the way - just in time for that major dental surgery I need later this month.

I also just picked up some really high paying freelance work this week, and have some leads on some more possible freelance work that might turn into steady gigs. If a few things go right, then maybe fall will be able to turnaround 2009 for me at least financially, if no other way. So in short, there will be many more updates to come, and I plan to continue to add more great information to try to help everyone out. If you're new here, take a look at older posts - I try my best to give away a lot of really good freelance writing advice, especially aimed at beginners, so please feel free to comment on anything you find useful, as well.

So that's it for now. More website reviews, writing advice, and the results of my upcoming two month experiment all coming soon. Good luck writing to everyone, and please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Freelance Writing Assignments: How to Find Freelance Writing Work

Finding Freelance Writing Assignments

One of the most intimidating things for beginning freelance writers is finding those freelance writing assignments or writing gigs that will start paying off and allow you to jump start your online (or offline) writing career. Finding freelance writing assignments really is not that difficult, especially with the resources that are available nowadays on the Internet. Writing gigs are easy to find, especially if you're willing to do the work to look for them.

Finding freelance writing assignments can go one of several ways. One option that can be particularly useful for beginning writers looking for freelance work is to join an auction based freelance writing site like Elance or Guru. I've heard about oDesk, and a couple writers did well early, but the free sites invariably lead to writers or would-be writers, bidding so low that no one can make a serious living. Elance and Guru have fees to join, but then writers have 100 bids or more a month to work on winning freelance writing assignments.

One of the hardest parts of getting a good number of freelance writing gigs is finding them. One of the nicest things about those online auction sites is that there are plenty of writing assignments right there for the taking, all you have to do is bid on the ones you feel qualified for, and the winner gets the work.

This is part of the reason why I'm a big fan of the Guru and Elance freelance writing auction sites. It's easier to get a start in these places because you have thousands of people and companies who need writers offering jobs. It can be hard starting out early on to build a reputation and get that steady work flowing, but you do get an avalanche effect. You get one job. Then three. Then five, and then sixty-eight. It really does take off like that if you have a good query, a couple good sample articles, and even just a few finished jobs with positive feedback.

When you don't have to search for freelance writing assignments, you can spend more time writing, which is more time spent making money. Nailing those freelance writing assignments isn't solely based on writing ability: it's also based on your ability to pitch yourself as a writer. Since you have to make a pitch for every freelance writing job you apply for (Guru allows you to save several query templates), you get very good at pitching yourself and learning what your strengths and weaknesses are in pitching yourself as a capable writer.

If you simply do not want to pay for memberships to these sites (both of which have multiple authors who make a full time living writing online on those sites alone) then you still have to practice writing quality query letters and pitching yourself in order to nail down enough freelance writing gigs to make a full time living as a freelance writer.

There are many freelance opportunities out there, including online magazines that pay, print markets that pay, and many others. You know those 100 page technical manuals that come with an HDTV or appliance? Technical writers. Did you work sales for years over the phone? Copywriters can make a TON of money writing online sales letters for companies. Are you good at writing articles? Then you really should consider Guru and Elance, where freelance content writers are in constant demand.

Finding freelance writing assignments means playing to your skills and going to where the work is. If you're a brand new writer, don't pitch Atlantic Monthly or National Geographic. Look for local trade journals, and if you want to break into print as a new freelance writer, look for "FOB" or "BOB" clips. These are the tiny 50 word blurbs many magazines have in the front or back of the magazine. This is the easiest way to break in, and if you want to write longer pieces, look at trade journals where you can show off your knowledge and writing skills and still get paid for writing for magazines.

If you are set on writing for print magazines, buy Jenna Glatzer's book: "Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer," and read it over and over again. It's the best book out there for breaking into the magazine market.

Otherwise if you're online and are serious about being a full time freelance writer, or even building a solid part time income with freelance writing assignments, then spend the money on a year long subscription to Guru.com or a month by month to Elance.com. There you can find work that pays while you learn the marketing and pitching skills necessary to make it as a full time freelance writer.

Freelance Writing: Make Money Writing Video Game Reviews

Make Money Freelance Writing: Write Online Game Reviews for Profit

One of the best things about freelance writing is that there are literally tens of thousands of subjects and topics that people want articles for, and there are just as many different ways of making a living as a freelance writer. One way that gets searched for online a lot is to make money writing video game reviews. I figured since this blog already ranked #1 for a lot of the "writing video game reviews" type of keywords, even though there wasn't a post on that topic yet, now was a good time to actually write a blog post on this topic. At least then there would be some information directly related to these questions, and I imagine as gaming isn't going anywhere, the desire to make a living writing about games will only continue to grow.

So how do you make money writing video game reviews? The answer to that isn't completely clear cut, since what most people have in mind when they think about this is very different from the reality of what options you have when it comes to gaming articles. The actual ways there are to make money online (and off) writing about video game are two very different things. This isn't a blog that is going to focus on this one topic and stick on it. It's not about gaming, and at no point do I see making that shift.

However it's important to know that the desire of gamers who want to write far outnumbers the demand for online articles about video games. If you imagine somehow making a full time living off of just writing video game reviews, you're setting yourself up for major disappointment. Unless you work for one of the big name websites or print magazines, that's not going to happen. But you can make money from writing video game reviews, and I will go over some of the options you have if this is the writing you really are interested in.

Freelance Writing Option #1

Write articles and post them on Constant Content. Here you can pick the rights you're willing to sell your articles for and to set the prices. Full rights sell the most articles, and make the most money, but if you're looking to build up a name or reputation for yourself, then usage rights is probably the best choice. Here you can upload a lot of articles, set the prices high, and then if you're worried just check the box that allows buyers to make a counter offer.

This works best for reviews of brand new video games and systems, and is also for comparative video game articles like "Why Oblivion Destroys Fable II" or "PS3 vs. XBox 360, Which System Is Best for You?" If you write game reviews like this, there is a good chance you can find a buyer as opposed to being one of thousands of reviews on a specific title, and at that point why would anyone want your opinion over the major websites that are already established? In my experience the best articles (when it comes to actually making money writing about video games) are list articles. "Top 10 RPGs of All Time," "Top 10 XBox 360 Games of 2008," or "Worst 20 Nintendo Games Ever," are three examples of good list articles that have a decent chance of finding a buyer.

In general, I've found the newer the game, the more likely it is to sell as a "true" video game review that most people are used to reading, and maybe writing. A freelance writer, especially a freelance writer who is looking to tackle such an oversaturated topic, need to be able to think outside the box and diversify.

If you are writing game reviews for Constant Content and only selling usage rights, then after those articles are accepted and put up for sale in the CC database, consider publishing the articles on Associated Content for both up front pay and a Pay Per View (PPV) bonus, that ranges from $1.50-$2.00 for every 1,000 views. Having articles on AC can also catch the attention of individuals who might be looking for freelance video game writers, and they might contact you for more work.

This hasn't happened to me on Associated Content for writing video game reviews, but I have gotten jobs for sports writing, book reviews, and other writing gigs based on my AC articles, so make sure your articles are up to snuff, because you never know who might stumble upon them.

Freelance Writing Option #2

Search everywhere for work, including print markets. It will most likely be very difficult to find people willing to pay for gaming articles of any kind if you don't already have an in or some type of connection that makes your particular take on the topic more valuable or authoritative than the many online that are already provided for free. There are several major video game review websites online, and you can go to each and contact them asking to become a contributing author - and maybe you'll find someone willing to pay you, although this blog is about transparency, and so I have to say it's unlikely that this will work in letting you make a lot of money writing about video games or any type of topic in that field.

A better option might be to check out the many print magazines that deal with video games like PC Gamer, Electronic Gaming Monthly, X-Box, or Nintendo Power. Many of these magazines accept certain types of freelance writing submissions, and that might include video game reviews. You might have to break in with quick blurbs, but eventually that could build up to full blown video game reviews, and at least you're getting paid for writing about video games.

Don't just look for print magazines, either. There are plenty of online magazines that are often looking for freelance content writing. These can range from online versions of well established magazines like Maxim, to completely online magazines that are geared towards being online magazines for men, college students, or gamers. It's not just video game magazines looking for video game reviews, so look around and see what you can find.

Freelance Writing Option #3

This one could make you more money than option #1, but it's also more complex. Another option for making money by writing video game reviews is to start your own blog and/or website. Sign up for Commission Junction and Amazon Associates to become an affiliate, and sign up for Google Adsense. By monetizing your site and building up an exceptional blog/website full of great content and reviews, if you can bring in the traffic then there's a chance you could make a lot of sales and a lot from advertising and advertising clicks. This might be the best way you could potentially make a full time living writing video game reviews.

Before getting too excited, this step will take a lot of time, work, and knowledge - and this isn't a guarantee that it will work. Freelance writing can be hard enough, but this step also involves extensive knowledge of SEO, keywords, Search Engine Rankings, Internet Marketing, traffic, and many other factors. It's a good idea for any freelance writer to learn all of these skills, since these skills all make a freelance writer more valuable, and make it easier and more likely for you to make money online.

The key to this is to set up a site that gets tons of traffic, and ranks highly for the search engines, especially for Google. Social traffic traditionally doesn't translate to sales or Adsense clicks, while search engine traffic does. So getting ranked for the literally thousands of long tail keywords you can get when writing about video games will be the first step, since that will be huge in the process of ranking for all the major keywords that will bring literally thousands of visitors to your site a day.

Once you have those numbers, you might not get paid per article for your video game reviews, but you should be making some pretty good scratch between Adsense clicks and affiliate sales. If you get that kind of traffic, you might find people e-mailing you about advertising and create another income stream.

In Summary:

Writing video game reviews is not the most lucrative way to make money online, but if you are a major gamer and enjoy writing, even doing something simple like writing for Constant Content and then writing for Associated Content might not make you a fortune freelance writing, but it can get you paid for writing video game reviews, giving you some side income for something you would do anyway (play video games). If you write enough to make decent taxable income, then the video games can even become expenses and tax write-offs, but you need a very clear record of how you made money by writing video game reviews.

There are many ways of writing to make money. Writing video game reviews sounds like a dream job, and for those who write for the big time video game magazines, it probably is. But it's not the easiest or most efficient, way for making a full time living writing.

Freelance Writers: Constant Content Update

Online freelance writers, enjoy! Those of you who have read this blog before know that I'm a fan of Constant Content, and an unexpected payment from PayPal at the beginning of the year (I was something like 17 cents short of the old $50 threshold) helped usher in the surprise new change for 2009 and beyond: the old threshold has been cut way down from $50 for payment to $5, making it very easy to cash out on a monthly basis.

I think this is a fantastic change, and one that was probably overdue. This makes it much easier to encourage new writers, and maybe receiving some PayPal payments will be just the kind of encouragment that some beginning writers need to keep with it. I can only think that this will make Constant Content's referral program even better, as referred writers are going to write more, thus earning more for themselves and the people who refer them.

I enjoy Constant Content as a place where I can set reasonable prices for my writing, and I can write about what interests me and what I enjoy. I think with a lower and more reasonable pay out threshold, this will only encourage more quality writing and thus attract more buyers willing to pay good money for individual articles.

So $5 instead of $50. Great deal for online freelance writers, and a great beginning to a happy new year.