tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8111593967487481482011-11-27T20:16:09.905-05:00My Self-Employed Journey.busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-9543951642506214902011-06-27T17:32:00.002-04:002011-06-27T17:47:24.846-04:00

Anyone familiar with the Lifetime (once Bravo) show Project Runway can quickly envision what the new spinoff Project Accessory might entail. This new show pits shoe, handbag and jewelry designers against one another to find the best overall accessory designers. Recently they held auditions in Miami, New York, Chicago and L.A. I was so excited to be able to go to the Chicago call out this past

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-65124788800502502002011-06-02T10:03:00.000-04:002011-06-02T10:03:16.114-04:00

I've decided to slightly shift my focus for this blog. I originally wanted to blog about my attempts to make money as an online freelance writer. As circumstances have changed and my earnings have started to plummet, I'm realizing that its just not worth my time to keep plugging away on my writing. Sure, I'll still write, but I won't spend nearly as much time on it as I once did. Ofcourse,

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-52505710906469795822011-03-06T19:20:00.000-05:002011-03-06T19:20:13.273-05:00

So, those of you who have been writing for residuals have probably figured out that your earnings have taken a hit recently. It's all part of Google's attempts to weed out content mills from their search results. Though you might think that your articles are better than "content mill" quality, Google may not see them that way. I actually was surprised by some of the sites that took the largest

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-89842107408422382532011-01-12T15:27:00.000-05:002011-01-12T15:27:48.426-05:00

Today, I was thinking about a photojournalism class I took in college, way back in the day when we used to use film in our cameras. Part of our requirements for that class was to take a roll of film a day. It didn't matter what we shot, as long as we used the entire roll of film and shot throughout the day. The reason that this practice was stressed is because the true secret to great photography

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-44842008963670853822011-01-02T17:14:00.002-05:002011-01-02T17:17:42.102-05:00

Some photos from my Christmas celebration that I used to spell out Christmas. Well, quite a lot has happened since I last posted. We celebrated Christmas AND New Year's, I had a successful One of a Kind Show in Chicago and I finished teaching my first round of classes at the art museum. All in all, it has been a great 2010 and I'm looking forward to taking my business and my freelance

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-42429669252093950412010-10-15T12:49:00.001-04:002010-10-15T12:54:48.218-04:00

Lately I've been doing the bare minimum when it comes to writing. I'm just doing enough to keep up with my quotas at Suite and AC. I've also not posted quite as much on my blogs. This is because I just started teaching a jewelry-making class and I am working to produce new jewelry pieces for the One of a Kind show in Chicago this December. Granted, freelance writing is nice in the fact that it

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-11709348851682910012010-09-16T10:06:00.000-04:002010-09-16T10:06:03.216-04:00

Okay, so technically I was really "out of house" more than "out of office", but it's the same thing when you work from home. I actually have been all over the place for a while. I went to Portland with my best friend of 28 years (we met when we were 5). I was helping her move which I am incredibly sad about since she's now 2200 miles and three time zones from me. Anyway, we drove a 16-foot Penske

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-10151495636649585262010-08-06T11:31:00.001-04:002010-08-06T11:32:21.018-04:00

I've been working a lot lately on my newest project, the Crafty Book Club. I am loving this project because it combines my interests in art, books and blogging. This book club is different from most craft book clubs because we don't read craft-related books. Instead the club asks that members collectively read one book every two months. They then create one item inspired by that book and post it

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-66595861826801579382010-07-27T13:39:00.000-04:002010-07-27T13:39:55.403-04:00

I have to admit that I don't remember exactly which infomercial this phrase came from. I think it had something to do with Ron Popeil and a chicken roaster, though I can't say for sure. The words, however, convey truly sage-like wisdom. "Set it and Forget it." How many parts of our lives could we apply this philosophy? I know I can think of a few, starting with my writing. I've realized this

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-60266087142296268442010-07-18T08:31:00.000-04:002010-07-18T08:31:06.863-04:00

Today I published my 100th article on Suite101 and it has apparently taken me about a year to write all of those articles because it is also my first anniversary with Suite. So I thought I would provide a little run-down of my progress over the first year: Articles Written: 100 Residuals Earned: $264 Bonus Money from Contests: $101 Average Earned per Month: $22 First Month's Earnings: $1.39

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-12122766709892325502010-07-05T11:26:00.001-04:002010-07-06T14:05:04.363-04:00

Well, as the title above indicates, I'm pretty broke right now. Sure, I'm paying the bills, but my goal is to increase my residual income, and it seems to be stagnating. So no time for moping around, I'll just work harder and evaluate my goals. Originally, I was spending most of my time writing for Suite101. Though I'm still writing quite a bit for the site, my earnings seem to be standing still

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-41726978221704049342010-06-09T16:18:00.000-04:002010-06-09T16:18:01.198-04:00

Lately I have been spreading my creative energies quite thin, but enjoying every moment of it. I've been taking a bit of a break from the written word to focus on my jewelry. I've got a big show coming up in a week in Nashville, TN. I also have three other shows booked so far this year and I'm selling my work in a store in Indianapolis. Oh, and I'm going to be in the Emmy Awards gift baskets in

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-40748856368053358142010-05-27T12:20:00.001-04:002010-05-27T15:29:40.875-04:00

I thought I would take a little diversion from talking about writing to comment on my favorite television show, Lost. It has sadly come to an end, and I do mean sadly. I bawled during the entire episode, and then totally lost it (no pun intended) over the final scene with Jack and Vincent. Now that Lost is over though, I've got some ideas for spin-off shows that I'd love to see. 1. Lost in LA:

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-49612664123105446652010-04-22T18:32:00.000-04:002010-04-22T18:32:51.490-04:00

 Bukisa is an online writing site that pays residuals to writers. The site works on a revenue-share basis and writers receive money based on page views. At a minimum of only 250 words, Bukisa articles are short and simple to write. Membership to the site is free and anyone can quickly sign up and start writing. Beyond the potential to make money with Bukisa articles, writers can also use the

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-87613197803640692392010-04-16T14:32:00.003-04:002010-04-21T22:37:16.702-04:00

Yesterday I received a message in my inbox informing me about the new Suite news accreditation program. Suite writers who have written over 30 articles have the opportunity to become accredited to write Google news articles. The accreditation process is extremely simple and it doesn't seem like there is much of a difference in the article formatting of news articles. Suite has provided new

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-17880182803998158002010-04-14T11:46:00.002-04:002010-04-21T22:33:36.090-04:00

I've taken the next step at Suite101 in becoming the ceramics feature writer. Now I will be writing four articles a month on all things clay. As a ceramics minor in college and someone who has taught high school ceramics, I'm excited to share my knowledge on the subject. Beyond the obvious instructional articles, I will also be writing about mosaics, art schools, specific artist bios and ceramic

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-85054583912043449982010-04-07T14:00:00.002-04:002010-04-21T22:33:54.527-04:00

I can't really say that I'm surprised that eHow decided to end their WCP. Though administrators continually told eHow members that nothing was changing, they announced this Monday that articles could no longer be published through the eHow publishing tool. Instead, all future articles must be written through Demand Studios. Though I am a Demand Studios member, I am upset that eHow publishing

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-6691687642410531182010-03-19T10:11:00.004-04:002010-04-21T22:34:06.785-04:00

I'm sure there are a number of people online who could refine SEO research down to the finest of sciences. I'm not one of those people. Yes, I have learned what separates good SEO keywording from the bad, but I have yet to pinpoint a formula for making thousands, or even hundreds of dollars in the short term, off of one article.What I do know, is how to keep it real, kind of like J-Lo (just

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-5220442951124886292010-03-02T12:26:00.001-05:002010-03-02T12:27:29.286-05:00

Lately I have been spending a lot of time online and little time actually working. I'll get on the writing forums, read blogs, play around with my Facebook page and even create iTunes playlists. None of these things are getting me to where I want to be financially. They are also deceptively time consuming. You feel like you are doing something when, in reality, nothing gets done. My struggle to

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-75230241092665783722010-02-14T20:20:00.001-05:002010-02-14T20:23:50.568-05:00

After putting it off for a while, I finally decided to take the Amazon A-Store plunge. For those of you who haven't heard of an A-store before, it's a store that is made up of Amazon affiliate products. You pick the products and then when someone purchases a product, you get a percentage of the profit. I knew that niche marketing was important in setting up the shop. As a vegetarian, I always

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-68282117242475192432010-02-12T10:09:00.001-05:002010-02-12T10:11:49.004-05:00

I have been so happy with Suite. I find that my earnings are steadily growing and the community of writers is the best on the Internet. This month has been especially great for me as I passed my 50 article goal and started receiving my 10% bonus. I also was a winner in the Sweethearts Writing Challenge. My Article "Unique Valentine's Gifts" was chosen as a winner in the challenge. My philosophy

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-29427670764262630432010-02-04T09:30:00.002-05:002010-02-04T09:34:26.269-05:00

When I first started out as an online freelance writer, it took me a while to understand all of the lingo and slang used in this profession. So, to help some of the newbies out, I decided to write an article on online writing terms. I've posted a portion of this article below. The entire article can be seen here. Google Adwords - Google Adwords is an advertising program run by Google. Online

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-2528318199499670862010-01-24T13:03:00.006-05:002010-01-28T10:35:27.172-05:00

Associated Content was one of those residual writing sites where I signed up, wrote a couple of articles and then forgot about it. I had been focusing so much of my time on eHow and Suite101, that I neglected Associated Content for a good four months. Recently though, I had some time to explore the site and learn about the perks of writing for AC. One of the first things I noticed when I started

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-51968914312496166842010-01-12T19:02:00.003-05:002010-01-12T19:22:42.701-05:00

So I just realized that I have only two active articles on Bukisa. To be honest, I'm not really sure why I haven't written more articles for the site.Though Bukisa doesn't seem to show a great PPM (pay per 1000 views), it does provide a great venue for writing many articles in a short amount of time and could turn out to be another decent money-maker.Bukisa articles need only to be 250 words long

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-52678314093005779542009-11-29T16:50:00.003-05:002009-11-29T16:57:51.341-05:00

My boyfriend's dog, Buddy fell asleep for the last time yesterday after a battle with lymphoma. He was a true friend whose only goal in life was to keep my boyfriend and I close to him. We were with him to the end and held his little body as he fell into a deep sleep. There is a huge hole in my heart now that he is gone. I miss his barks and how his face, looking out of the glass door, would be

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-6675871021266520062009-11-01T14:29:00.009-05:002009-11-01T14:49:25.756-05:00

Even though it was Halloween yesterday, my recent disappearance from this blog cannot be attributed to a random zombie attack. Instead, I have been spending all of my time making jewelry and preparing for my first official art show.I have two shows quickly approaching and I am trying to tie up all loose ends before the events. There are so many details to consider, such as how to accept credit

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-12213363270780634312009-10-12T12:27:00.004-04:002009-10-12T12:51:21.187-04:00

Lately eHow has been going through a number of changes. In an attempt to clean up their site, they have been deleting many contributor's articles.This wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that it seems that some articles are being deleted for reasons that make little sense, if any.For instance, an article was deleted for being spam. The only problem was that the article was one that was

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-23915087324250540192009-10-05T22:30:00.008-04:002009-10-05T23:00:26.878-04:00

I am starting to realize that, as a boss, I'm pretty demanding. Ofcourse, I need to be. Right now I am starting two new careers and neither one is at the point of earning me an acceptable income.I am showing some great strides in my jewelry career though. I booked the first two shows I applied to, and one of them is extremely prestigious: The One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-81243434503463826172009-09-30T12:37:00.005-04:002009-09-30T12:57:14.449-04:00

I finally finished my last article for the 14 in 14 challenge at Suite101.I will say that the 14 articles in 14 days challenge really helped to get me into a writing state of mind. Now writing four to five articles a week will be fairly simple.I would recommend setting up a disciplined writing goal to any writer. Though you might feel like a bit of a word zombie at the completion of the challenge

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-50599831845326663662009-09-25T09:01:00.004-04:002009-09-25T09:16:40.363-04:00

Right now I am in the middle of a 14 articles in 14 days challenge for Suite 101. At first I thought this would be relatively easy. I mean, there are days when I can sit down and write 3-5 articles with little problem. 14 in 14 is turning out to be slightly more challenging than I first thought though.I guess I would liken this challenge to training for a marathon. Training for a marathon

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-52943612367499926912009-09-17T10:46:00.000-04:002009-09-17T11:02:26.175-04:00

When you spend a large amount of time on the computer during the day, Internet radio can be a sanity saviour. I spend a lot of my time listening to 3WK or 3WK Classic on I-Tunes. The music keeps me going and I enjoy hearing a lot of artists that I don't typically hear on my local radio stations.I also was listening to Pandora, but they started putting limits on the amount of time you can listen

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-25122124279019170042009-09-10T09:02:00.001-04:002009-09-10T09:32:05.468-04:00

Lately I have been trying to create both jewelry and freelance articles in an attempt to eventually make a living working from home. Notice that I used the word eventually. Though I am seeing modest returns for my hard work, I am by no means even close to paying a mortgage with my writing or jewelry. It would be easy to get disillusioned and give up, but I am actually pretty optimistic. Why?

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-75468865196833714582009-08-25T16:39:00.000-04:002009-08-25T17:14:12.099-04:00

Recently, I have been working on starting an online jewelry business. I plan to have my Etsy shop open at the end of the month, and I want to have at least 20 quality items ready to sell. This means that my freelance writing is taking a bit of a back seat. Currently, I am only writing articles for Suite 101 to make sure that I keep my minimum requirements for the month.By shifting my priorities

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-11963211698232237582009-08-17T15:04:00.007-04:002010-07-05T11:29:59.389-04:00

I finally made it to the 100 article milestone on eHow! I was inspired by a posting by fellow freelance writer, Felicia, in which she wrote 100 articles and tracked their progress over the long term. In the same fashion, I intend to track the earnings of my 100 to see how they progress. I may go on to write more articles, but I will just track the earnings of the first 100. Surprisingly, 100

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-11266191027924092102009-08-14T15:56:00.001-04:002009-08-14T16:09:26.248-04:00

Okay, maybe $5000 a month is shooting for the stars, but it is possible. This week Suite101 sent out a letter to announce that a member made $5000 in residuals over a one month period. As a struggling freelancer, this news is incredibly encouraging. Though I realize that I probably won't be anywhere near this number for a long time, it is great to keep in mind that I could possibly make this much

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-65607932632512313552009-08-01T14:37:00.000-04:002009-08-01T14:58:27.922-04:00

Though I have not been writing for residual income for long, I have seen the potential for making money long-term with seo writing. For instance, I have seen my E-how monthly income rise by $5 a month since I started writing. Though this meager amount is nothing to get excited about now, it shows that I can build my residual income over the long run. So in short, slow and steady wins the race and

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-3611353606494312322009-07-28T15:18:00.000-04:002009-07-28T15:40:51.826-04:00

Online freelance writers or SEO writers can easily find themselves spread thin trying to write for the many residual and up-front payment sites available. Freelance writing is as much about being a multitasker and time manager as it is about being a skilled writer and researcher. So how do you know where and how to spend your time?Originally, I thought that I would spend most of my time writing

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-22980696780005636212009-07-20T13:22:00.001-04:002009-07-23T23:09:58.966-04:00

Online freelance writing is not like writing for print media. Keywords make a huge impact on your articles' earning potential. Keywords are those words that are most likely to show up in a search engine. The more effective your keywords, the more people will see your articles and the more money you will make. Suite101 has a great article on picking effective keywords. For me, I try to think of

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-60694443982532560062009-07-16T23:21:00.000-04:002009-07-16T23:33:56.725-04:00

So I am trying out Helium for the first time. I have heard very little about it and I'm blindly feeling my way through the site.Initially it sounded pretty great because you supposedly get up-front payments and residuals on your articles. In fact, I was offered a payment of $5 for my first article.I guess my problem is that their site is difficult to navigate and I'm taking a while to fully

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811159396748748148.post-18408217301155148402009-07-13T17:38:00.000-04:002009-07-16T23:38:45.932-04:00

As many of you out there, I have been hit hard by the recession. I thought that I was one of the lucky few who had a job that was recession proof. As a teacher, I thought that I would certainly have a job next year. So when I was called into the principal's office and told that I was being let go due to financial and staffing issues, I was shocked. It turns out even public education has been hit

busybeesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14979464384293419188noreply@blogger.com2