Shifting my Focus

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, writing was never my only job. After I was laid-off from my teaching job, I started my jewelry business, Quite Clever Jewelry. I also wrote curriculum and taught classes at my local art museum. Lately I have started teaching Zumba classes and I recently passed my personal training exam, so I will also start training clients, hopefully soon.

As many other self-employed people, I have pursued a number of jobs to create a steady income. Since I have managed to be successful in a number of self-employed ventures, I decided that this blog should cover the struggles and successes involved with transitioning to a self-employed career.

I will still be writing about freelancing, but I will also provide information on how to create your own job, how to diversify your income, how to save money and even how to handle taxes. I hope that you will enjoy and be able to benefit from this new direction. I look forward to sharing more about my other ventures. Thanks for reading and sharing this journey with me!

The Bare Minimum

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 allows you to scale down your work load when necessary. That said, I wish that I could find the time to just double my bare minimum because it's always better to write sooner rather than later. This is because older articles tend to rank better in Google searches. Residual writing is like banking because the more you invest early, the more you'll reap in the end.

So even though it is sometimes necessary to just fulfill your minimum requirements for writing, it is never wise to signifigantly lesson your production for a long period of time. I'm hoping to offset my current lull with my own personal writing challenge in January. I'm going to try to write 60 articles in 30 days to kick off the new year and kick my residual earnings into full gear.

In keeping with the idea of the bare minimum, I should point out that less can also be a good thing, especially when you're self-employed. It's important to know what you can live without and arrange your life to cater to your real necessities. This will allow you to save money and thrive, even in financially lean months.

Even though I could cut back more, I have eliminated quite a bit of excess spending in my life. Perhaps the best way I eliminated waste was to clean my closet. I found clothes that I didn't know I owned. If I look in my closet I can honestly say that I don't need to purchase any more clothes for the year. I can get by with the clothes that I have and change up my look with inexpensive accessories such as belts and scarves.

I also cut and color my own hair. Instead of spending $60+ at the salon, I spend around $7 and do my hair at home. It's not as hard as one might think and there are many Youtube tutorials to help you cut and style your hair. If you have the courage, you might be surprised at your results. I'm quite pleased with mine.

I also cancelled my cable. I hated Comcast anyway and the channels would always hiccup and fizzle. I now go with a Roku player. The Roku player costs around $50 and offers a number of free Internet channels such as Newscaster, which shows all the network news shows such as Rachel Maddow and CNN with Anderson Cooper. It also offers Netflix, Amazon OnDemand, and Hulu Plus. Who needs cable with all of that?

There are lots of ways to cut costs at home. If you're having problems thinking of ways, try some of these:

• Make and take your own coffee in a thermos. It's probably better than Starbucks and at a fraction of the cost.
• Grow your own vegetables.
• Eat in more. Cut down your eating out to once a month or once a week if you eat out often.
• Use coupons.com to cut coupons for food shopping.
• Drop your phone's data plan. Instead of spending $80 for a data plan, get a $30 talk plan. You can even purchase a used smartphone and still use the apps with WiFi.
• Shop with a list and stick to it. (This one's hard for me)
• Drop the gym membership. Excercise by running or walking outside. When it gets cold, do excercise DVDs inside. You could even go to classes or get a cheaper membership at a community center rather than a commercial gym.
• Refinance your house. Though this may not be for everyone, the record low interests rates make refinancing very desirable. Talk to a lender and make sure you get a fixed rate and that your monthly bills would be signifigantly reduced.

Hopefully these tips can help you cut the fat from your daily expenses. Though it's difficult, I try to use the bare minimum while working as much as I can (withouth burning out). This is the best way I have of making my dream of being my own boss work for me. Eventually I can start working a bit less and spending a bit more, but now it's work time.

What do you go without in order to work from home?

Internet Radio - My Work-At-Home Friend

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 per month. I understand why they did this, but it's still slightly annoying. If you haven't tried Pandora though, you should check it out. The site allows you to create your own radio stations based on your favorite artists and songs. It's a pretty good concept. You can also mix artists on stations, so you could have a Prince and Annie Lennox station.

Anyway, I have also been wasting time on the Internet watching music videos on Youtube. Though I haven't done this too often, it is easy to lose track of time when watching your favorite artists. That said, do enjoy one of my favorite musicians in this Youtube clip. After all, we all need a little escapism now and then, right? What do you listen to when you work?

Creating, Creating, Creating. . . Making Money????

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?

Knowing What I Don't Want to Do
Well, over the last few years, I was working at a dependable job, but I hated it. My stress level was through the roof and I lacked sleep, exercise and sanity. My pay and benefits were great, but every day on my way to work, I would imagine what it would be like to just keep on driving and not go in. There were some aspects of my job I enjoyed, but not enough to make the stress and fatigue worthwhile.

Trying Something New

So now that I am working from home, there are other stresses, such as making enough money and staying on task, but I am thoroughly enjoying directing my own path in my career. The amount of work I do is directly tied to my earnings and there is endless potential for growth. I can also express myself creatively with few limitations. So far, the experience has been invigorating. In fact, I feel like I've been awakened from a deep sleep. So how do I get this new direction in my life to sustain my financial needs?

Laying the Groundwork

First, I know I must lay the groundwork by amassing a large cache of online articles on the top-paying residual sites. I am going to avoid upfront pay for as long as I can because the residual sites will allow me to establish long-term financial growth. I find that the best site for financial growth is Suite 101, followed by eHow. I am going to focus my energies on those two sites to produce a future of substantial residual earnings.

Second, I am going to focus on making high-quality and affordable jewelry and promoting that jewelry online and locally. I am going to look into wholesale opportunities for some of my pieces. I am also going to apply to shows to reach new audiences with my work. By establishing a client base, I can then start to make more sales and reach more people through word of mouth recommendations.

Staying Vigilant and Putting in the Hours

Finally, I have to look at my writing and jewelry as a full-time job. I have to put in the same amount of hours, if not more to make my dream a reality. I can't let up in a month, two months or a year if I want to make it in the residual writing or jewelry business. Luckily, I am fully dedicated to working as hard as I can to make this happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me though, because I will need a lot of luck too!

Splitting Time Between Writing and Jewelry

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 this week, I have really examined what is working for me online and what is just a waste of time. This examination has led me to the following conclusions:

1. Writing for upfront pay doesn't make much sense unless you desperately need the money.

2. For me, eHow and Suite 101 are the most relevant money-making sites.

3. Posting large amounts of affiliate ads doesn't result in much money. In short, post some but don't waste time posting a ton of links.

4. Social networking is good promotion, but don't spend too much time chatting with online friends.

5. Setting minimum goals and tracking earnings helps to understand how to make more money online overall.

As an online freelance writer, your time is incredibly valuable and must be used effectively to maximize your earnings. For me, the majority of my time will be spent writing residual articles for legitimate sites that produce predictable and steady monthly residuals. I believe that publishing trumps promoting, posting ads and social networking.

100 Articles on eHow! Join Me!

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 articles didn't take that long to amass. I found little ways to be more productive with the process as I was going. If you are a fellow SEO writer, I hope that you will join me in trying this experiment yourself. It was actually quite a bit of fun and I'm extremely curious to see how my earnings add up. I will be adding earnings info to this posting at the end of each month for a year.

• Before Aug 17* - 25.22
• Aug 2009 - 27.21
  
• Sept 2009 -33.48
• Oct 2009 - 31.46
• Nov 2009 - 19.87**
• Dec 2009 - 18.09
• Jan 2010 - 21.12
• Feb 2010 - 19.52
• Mar 2010 - 25.97
• April 2010 - 21.96
• May 2010 - 28.48
• June 2010 - 23.34
  

*100th article published on Aug 17th, First article written in April
**Due to eHow's November article sweep, I lost 6 articles, dropping me to 94 total
Total: 296.23

Make $5000 a Month Freelancing

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 in the future. I would be happy with half of this amount, but I won't be able to get there without consistently adding articles to residual sites.

I think that often times it's easy to start strong as an SEO writer and then fizzle out, but I'm going to focus on frequently adding content to my online sites so that I can one day get to that $5000 mark. If you want to give it a go as well, click on the Suite101 or Bukisa widgets on the side of this blog to join and start writing for residuals.

Be the Tortoise When Writing for Residual Income

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 it pays to be the tortoise rather than the hare.

That said, I think it is important to write as many articles as you can when you are starting out. I look at it like banking. The more money you are able to place in savings when you are younger, the more money you will be able to earn through interest. I see the residual writing game in much the same light. Compiling a large collection of articles on many sites early in the game, will help you see your residuals grow more in the long term.

Ofcourse, like any good savings plan, regular deposits are a must. Once you have reached an initial goal of 50-100 articles on any site, start a new minimum goal for each site. You could require yourself to write at least one article a week, or two a month. As long as you are contributing regularly, you can see steady residual growth.

Staying with the savings and banking analogy, make sure to also diversify your deposits. Bank articles in many different residual sites to see money from each. Each site will have its own positives and negatives. Having articles in many online communities and sites will help you establish your online presence and bring in more revenue. Some online residual sites to consider include ehow, bukisa, associated content, suite101 and hub pages. Any of these sites, with the exception of associated content, can be accessed by clicking on the links on the side bar of this page.

Remember that slow and steady wins the race. If you stick with it, you will see returns and growth. Good Luck!

Diversify Without Spreading Yourself Too Thin

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 for up-front payment sites like DemandStudios because it seemed like I could make the most money from those sites. After I thought about it though, I realized that they couldn't pay me what they were offering for my articles if they weren't making money off of them. That's when I realized that writing for residual pay had the most potential for long-term money making. That's not to say that I didn't still write an occasional up-front payment article. It's always nice to have immediate money. I just figured that I wasn't going to spend much more time with up-front payment sites than I needed to.

So, I am currently trying to add as much quality content as I can to two residual sites: E-how and Suite101. I think that these two sites have the greatest money-making potential. Suite101 even offers a 10% bonus once you reach 50 articles. I am also slowly sprinkling in articles to sites like Bukisa and Associated Content. I am working hard at producing high-quality articles with optimized keyword usage. By honing the majority of my focus on two specific sites, I am able to be more productive and feel less like I am spreading myself thin.

Making the Most of a Layoff

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 hard by the recent economic downturn.

So, after allowing myself to be shell-shocked for a couple days, I decided to devise a plan of action that would allow me to make money even if I couldn't find another teaching job. I earned my first degree in journalism and I remembered my professors talking about freelance writing. I thought that I might as well give it a try. Little did I know that the Internet had made freelance writing extremely convenient and endlessly profitable.

I did a couple of searches for freelance writing sites and read a few blogs about freelance writing on the Internet. I started with a website called Ehow.com. Ehow allows writers to post articles about how to do just about anything. The articles earn residuals, that is to say that they earn money based on how many people read the articles and find them useful. The more articles you write, the more money you earn, and Ehow articles continue to make money as long as they are posted online.

I eventually went on to find more residual-based sites such as Bukisa and Suite101. These sites allow you to write about whatever you want. Writers earn more at Bukisa when they build their network by asking friends to sign up. Suite101 also pays residuals and a bonus of 10% once you publish 50 articles. The site provides excellent editor advice as well. By writing for these different sites, I am able to improve my skills and enhance my monthly earnings.

I also found some sites that pay up-front payments for articles. Demand Studios pays $15 for every article accepted. They also have a stringent editing process and many times they will ask for a rewrite of your article. If you have strong writing skills though, you will be able to make fairly decent money with Demand Studios. Demand Studios also provides a residual program but, in my opinion, I don't think you make as much money with residuals on Demand Studios as with other sites like Ehow. I also just signed up for Helium, but I haven't written any articles yet. I will report back once I see how that site works.

Anyway, I'm also starting this blog to let others know about online freelance writing. I will try to keep you posted of my trials and successes. If you are a freelance writer, I would love to hear your stories too.