Freelance Writing & Blogging

Friends Let Friends Blog Angry

I have to admit, despite a rough year that's still ongoing, I've really enjoyed this freelance writing blog recently. About two weeks ago I received a couple of thoroughly unpleasant and bitter e-mails from former acquaintances who weren't shy on hurling the insults. This led to an important decision on my part as both a writer and a blogger: should I let it go, or should I air out a public response giving my personal feelings on being a freelance writer?

I decided to blog angry, and my rant on being proud to be a freelance writer turned out to be the most well received blog post I've ever had - even though this writing blog has been around for over a year now. This made me smile. Not only did my angry rant hit a chord with many other people, but it doubled the amount of people following me on Twitter, flooded my inbox with positive support, and while 12 comments is a joke to many people - it doubled my old record. Even includes a great back and forth with Lissie from Passive Income Online. Despite her objections to the contrary, Lis is becoming something of a mini online celebrity for those of us who don't believe in A-lister bullshit and really want to learn how to make money online. She has a great sense of humor, and I've enjoyed being able to chat with her. It's good to have friends online.

Did my long ranting blog post give any useful information? In a round about way, yeah. First of all, at the end somewhere in those last two not angry sentences, a very important lesson about being proud of who you are and what you do hopefully came through. I'm proud to be a successful freelance writer. Any freelance writer who is not is going to quit. Really, it's only a matter of time. Just try telling someone you're an Internet Marketer or a Writer, and wait all of 0.2 seconds before seeing a sneer, an arrogant look, or a blank unimpressed face. You must have thick skin, and you need to be able to ignore the armies of naysayers who would LOVE to make you a little bit more miserable.

So I encouraged people to have a thick skin, to have confidence in themselves, and to have pride. It takes a lot of courage to break away from the masses and to work on making your own destiny.

Besides, as angry as I was, all things considered I was pretty mild. At this point, nowhere near Allyn Hane's Rant on Online Scammers. His language isn't even PG-13, so don't open that link at work :) But if you're not familiar with Allyn, he's a big time talent and his videos are really encouraging, as well as enjoyable. It's grade A stuff. If you're looking to move beyond freelance writing to the actual nuts and bolts of making money online (without ripping people off by flogging crap) then he's one of the guys out there you need to keep track of.

But maybe some of the best lessons from my last freelance writing blog post, which actually had very little to do with teaching about freelance writing, are the lessons that aren't abundantly clear. Why did this blog rant get me more followers on Twitter, a huge e-mail response, and a whole lot of comments from new people interested in past posts?

Because say what you will about blogging angry, but my personality definitely comes through in that post. This doesn't mean that all my other posts where I'm the kind patient teacher isn't true. I hope to help out readers who come to this blog. That said, I take pride in being a freelance writer, as the last post indicates, and in anger I decided to through down the gauntlet instead. I wasn't a jerk (well, not a complete jerk), but the rant was honest, heart felt, and the gauntlet thrown down. A lot of people apparently really appreciated this "in your face, won't back down, tell it as I see it" attitude.

After all, who hasn't had a day where they felt that way?

Who doesn't have a friend they love because he/she simply won't take crap from other people?

I think this is the tone that blog post really hits, and that's why it was really a hit. Remember, personality matters when it comes to writing online. This is especially true with blogging. If you don't know what your voice is, then experiment and learn what your voice is. Maybe it's calm but quirky. Maybe it's random and chaotic. Or maybe it's steady and open to teaching...you know, with an occasional roar when someone's picking a fight :)

The next post will be coming soon, and will really reflect a lot of the changes that have been going on with my business model as far as writing goes. During this last recession, normal freelance writing (which usually does very well during recessions) crashed in a lot of ways. Now more than ever, job to job freelancing is harder to do and has less security. Passive income by writing online and learning SEO and Internet Marketing - that should be the goal for every person looking at a freelance writing because that's where the security is.

Until then, thanks to everyone for reading, and remember:

Friends don't let friends blog drunk . . . but friends DO let friends blog angry!

Sounds like I'll have to do a spoof video in the future on that. Later.

Top 3 Most Lucrative Fields of Freelance Writing

Three Most Lucrative Types of Writing for Freelance Writers

Making a living as a freelance writer can be difficult. Especially for the beginner, where online content and article writing is the easiest place to break in, but as such they also tend to pay peanuts until you can establish yourself.

Assuming you're in for the long haul and are serious about becoming a full freelance writer and not just part timer, then one of the early things you need to do is figure out which direction you want to go. There are some very lucrative freelance writing gigs as a professional ghost writer (especially for celebs) or as a feature writer for popular magazines, but you need a very extensive portfolio and some very good connections to consistently land that level of gigs.

Those areas also have fierce levels of competition for a limited amount of work, and if the field has several professional experts, then you're just out of luck. For the rest of us, there are three specific types of writing that are the most consistently lucrative and accessible:

1. Business Writing
2. Copy Writing (also known as Sales Page/Sales Writing)
3. Technical Writing

These three areas consistently pay more money to rank and file writers than any other area of freelance writing. This makes sense because all three of these types of writing have you working for businesses and/or corporations, meaning you're writing for clients with large amounts of money who need a job done, and are willing to pay to get it done right. But now more about each:

Business Writing: This can be for press releases, white papers, business reports, prepared speeches, articles, pamphlets, advertising, or any other type of needed writing. Business writers can plan on making a very good hourly rate, and even entry level freelance business writers can often charge $15-$20 an hour while building a business relationship.

Copy Writing: This is perhaps the most lucrative writing if you're good at it. Copy writing is writing sales pages for web sites, e-books, or other products. Even moderate level copy writers can make $60,000 or more a year, and the best in the business make millions because they not only charge huge for jobs, but they also get a percentage of everything that sells.

Technical Writing: This is another area that can end up paying $20 an hour, and when you prove yourself, the hourly wage can even jump as high as $40-50 an hour. Technical writing is often working closely with a corporation. Ever have a 90 page instruction booklet on an entertainment system that didn't seem to make sense? That's a technical writing job opportunity. It's not fun writing, and there's a lot of long hours and revising, but you get paid what you're worth.

These three areas continue to look for new talent, and wages for good freelance writers will go up. Freelancers have an advantage in that companies don't have to pay half of their Social Security tax, provide insurance and benefits, or feed into a 401-K, meaning that freelance writers can often charge more because of the savings that the companies get off the top.

So start training and jump in! Companies are always looking for good freelance writers, and some are even willing to hire freelance writers on full time to ensure good work. I know, that's how I became lucky enough to land my full time gig!Best of luck in writing, and if you're looking for the accessible lucrative writing areas, these types of your writing are your best bets.