write4money

A recent blog post I have read has sparked my interest in starting an online business. It was talking about how most people out there just want to write and not manage a business, which is afterall, more lucrative.

I have wanted to start an online business, but I have not been successful with two websites I created. Okay, I created one website which was a flop and the other one did not even make it to the net as of this writing.

But my interest in doing an online business is not dampened. Recently I got another idea to start an online business with the skills that I have to generate money for the past one year - writing!

There are three things I need to do. Firstly, I need to generate 100 articles, at least for a start. Secondly, I would need to find a web designer for my website. And last of all, I need to write a sales page for my website. That’s all. It does seem prety easy, but there is a lot of hardwork and money involved in all this. I have to start somewhere.

I have been harbouring a strong desire to be a published author. After all these years, my dream of getting published has not materialised. I think many of you also feel that way too. Some of us do not feel that anyone would want to read our book. But now that I’m not working, I have to let my little insecurities go and proceed to conquer the world. I have been given several opportunities to do things I thought I would never have done, such as embarking on a freelance writing career. It’s not come true.

But another one of my dreams is to be a published writer. Why the strong desire?

1) I Can Do It!

For one, I want to prove to myself that I can do it. Yup!There are so many things I have been afraid of doing or starting, that nothing has been done. I want to tell my friends and family that I’m not shaking my legs at home. I’m actually doing something.

2) Earn Some Income

I would like to generate a couple of revenue streams. Hopefully, this one would be able to sustain me for awhile. It will definitely help ease the stress my husband is experiencing from having to hold the financial fort alone.

3) Learning Experience

I feel that once I accomplish something new, I learn many things along the way. And publishing a book will help me understand how the publishing companies work. At the same time, I will also get new contacts, if I want to publish something else.

Well, I must say that the opportunity has arrived. My friend who wanted to write a book together with me and another writer has come up with the content page for the proposed book. Each of us need to write 4 chapters in the book. We are hoping to get it published by the end of the year.

Okay, some of you may be wondering what should be included in a freelance writer’s contract. Here are some of the details necessary in such a contract.

1) Job Description
The job description would include the title of the article, number of article and the number of words per article. If there are any other specifications required by the employer, it should also be included. For example, they may want interviews, statistics or pictures included in the articles.

2) Start and Completion Date
The completion date is more important that the start date, of course. The date both parties signed the contract can be considered the start date of the writing job. The due date is important so that there is no dispute as to when the job is to be delivered.

3) Compensation
Compensation can be in the lump sum payment or according to the percentage of job completed. For a lump sum payment, the both of you may have agreed upon a fixed price for the articles once they are delivered and accepted. If the project is a large one, you may want to negotiate for compensation after the completion of specific milestones in the project. If this is the case, there is a need to clarify what is the deliverables at each milestone of the project, based on what has been completed.

4) Copyright Issues
Do you want to retain the rights to the articles or do you want to relinquish your rights? It does depends on what you and the employer wants. Some writers would want to retain all rights to their writing, while others do not mind being a ghostwriter. To me, it is not an issue, as long as the compensation is appropriate.

Look for samples of freelance writer’s contracts on the net to emulate. All the best in your negotiation process!

Yesterday, I wrote about how anxious I am that there is no contract drawn out for the three sample articles the government organisation is requesting. But the question is - Is it really necessary? Do you need a freelance writer’s contract? I feel that it all depends on a few factors.

1) Is it a large or small assignment?
If I have been assigned to do 100 or more 500-word articles over a year, then a contract should be draw up to avoid any disputes later on. If the task is to produce one-off one 500-word article, then a freelance writer’s contract is not necessary. I would not bother with it.

2) Do you trust the individual, company or organisation?
As for me, since the freelance writing job that I’m getting this time around involves a government organisation, I’m not too worried about the fact that they might not be a scam and not pay me after the completion of the assignment. If it is an unknown individual or company you are working for, then a freelance writer’s contract may be an important thing to draw up between the both of you.

3) What are you Comfortable with?
It is also a matter of your gut feeling. Do you feel comfortable taking the freelance writing job without a formal agreement? If you are not comfortable, maybe you could suggest to your client that you’d like a contract drawn up. You may want to suggest a sample freelance writer’s contract if they don’t have one. To me, if the company I work for initiates signing a contract, I would definitely do so after reviewing the terms and conditions in it. It benefits both parties to have a contract, if a dispute arises.

A few days ago, I wrote about my hesitation to apply for a freelance writing job with a government organisation. In the project description, I was asked to suggest some titles for a 600-700 word article. I came up with five titles pretty easily. I also asked them to suggest titles if they have any, so I could write about them.

The coordinator has replied to my email asking me to write samples based on 3 out of the 5 articles I suggested. I have done some research on them and trying very hard to get inspiration to write them. My daughter is taking a nap this afternoon and I’m here blogging away, instead of writing my articles.

I’m giving myself until tomorrow afternoon to complete all three articles. I have a small concern though. There does not seem to be any contract written for this assignment. Any agreement seems to be based on email correspondences. I wonder how safe it would be to write for them. The government organisation is definitely legitimate and the email address has been verified. I’m aware of scams out there and I hope I don’t fall for any.

One of the scheming techniques scammers use is to post a job online on sites such as Craigslist and request for 10 articles to be written, in order to apply for a freelance writing job. Once the articles have been sent in, they don’t pay the writers. What’s more, they get 10 articles for free. They then use those softwares to regenerate the articles to look original. Make sure you don’t fall for these types of scams, alright? Any other scam stories you have heard of? Come and share them with everyone here.

Do you monetize your blog with Adsense ads? I’m sure many writers do so. But there is also another way for you to earn from Adsense. You can write for Hubpages. It is a site where you write an article on a topic of your choice. You are given the leeway to organise your writing, add pictures or some other details to your your page or hub.

On the page itself, there are Adsense ads. Hubpages do not pay you for publishing your articles. But they share ad revenue with you with the Adsense ads. I have a couple of hubs there. Some of them are original while others are taken from my articles that I have published at Triond. In a way, I’m getting more value for my writing. From the same piece of writing, I’m earning through Adsense and also Triond itself.

I know some people who has written very good content with good keywords at Hubpages. They are earning a few hundred dollars a month from the hubs alone. I’m not an expert in writing keyword articles, or at least not yet. So, my earnings is rather minimal. But Hubpages is helping me to build up my earnings with Adsense, apart from my blog. So, I must say that Hubpages is another site that has a lot of potential to help you earn residual income from writing. Try it!

I was looking for any local freelance writing opportunity. I came across Freelance Zone a couple of months back, but it just started then and there weren’t much writing opportunities.

But when I revisited the site lately, there were more jobs available. There was even one web article writing job for a government website. They were asking for business-related articles. I hesitated to apply for the freelance writing job. Deep down inside, a voice tells me that I’m not qualified to do it. I do not have any entrepreneurial experience to impart to readers. There’s also another voice that tells me to go for it. What’s the worse that can happen?

The worse that could happen after I apply for it is that I don’t get the job. So what? I shall have to move on to look for other freelance writing job opportunities. Then why am I hesitating? Blame it on my low self-esteem, lack of confidence, whatever you call it. I must “seize the day”! When will I ever be a high-earning freelance writer if I continue to have such attitudes and behaviour.

I have decided to apply for the job. In fact, I have already sent in my application. Whether I get it is truly another story. I must overcome my fear of making that first step to earn more money, whether online or offline. Do you have fears of trying out for a freelance writing job? Do you sometimes feel that you are not suited for it because of what you have or don’t have? Come and share your thoughts and fears.

Recently, I came across someone at the myLot forum. She is a freelance writer and earning quite a lot of money working from home. When I checked out her blog, I was very impressed at her knowledge and passion for the freelance writing world. She has been a freelance writer for six years and I do value her experience in this matter. As such I have decided to follow closely the developments on her site to gain more insight into freelance writing I have recently embarked in.

There was one thing she was adamant about, not to write for low pay. She actually does not encourage writers to submit their articles to writing sites such as Triond, Helium or Associated Content, where you get a few cents here and there for pageviews. She’d rather they sell their articles at a fixed price set by you or to submit them to higher paying sites.

I partly agree with her. After about a year of writing for Triond, I’m only earning about $15 per month from my 100 articles there. I have not added anything new since December 2008 and still earning about that amount every month. It does seem like a small amount. It may seem like I’m earning only 15 cents per article per month. Yes, pretty low.

On the other hand, I still like these sites primarily because they help me earn passive income every month. Even though I may not have written anything new, I’m still earning. So, when I was completing my freelance writing assignment in the last few months, I continue to earn money from Triond. Looking for ways to earn passive income is important. That is why I’m also embarking on a book writing project. I will discuss more about this later on.

Another reason I write for these sites is that it hosts my portfolio of writing. In case you are looking for a freelance writing job, your potential employer can view your writing portfolio online. You do not have to send or email files of your writing to them; you just need to give them the link. There are some benefits from writing for these sites, even though my new friend at myLot may not like them.

I started this writing assignment some time in November. The deadline was mid-January this year. In the beginning, I was quite excited about it all and submitted one section every week or so. Then I went on a short trip, and all my schedule was haywire.

I began to procrastinate writing it. When the new year began, it made me realise that I only have two weeks left before the deadline. I tried very hard to find time to write. In November and December, my husband was around and helped looked after my daughter. In January, he went back to work and left me typing away only when my daughter is napping or sleeping at night. I was also exhausted from her change of sleeping pattern. She was sleeping later and later, and I had to work on adjusting her routine. Subsequently, I cut her nap time during the day and she slept all night from 9pm to 7am. Although I had a shorter work time during the day, I still had some energy to work till about 11pm at night.

One week after the deadline, I have finally completed the assignment. My friend who got me the contract said not to worry about the deadline, and gave me till the end of the month to complete everything. But I have finished it all now. It felt great sending off the final piece.

Now I have more time for other things I like to do - mylotting, writing reviews, writing articles and searching for ways to make more money online.

I have not blogged for a couple of days now. It’s primarily because I was trying very hard to complete the assignment. The deadline has come and gone, I have not completed it. I’m very angry with myself for procrastinating and it’s probably going to affect my freelance writing career.

I have made quite good progress today though. There were six sections of the assignment that I need to complete, and as of today, I only have one section left. I did not write them in sequence though. I was stuck on the fourth one for a long time, and decided that I should proceed to finish off sections 5 and 6 first, before coming back to it.

I was stuck at section 4 because I was trying to complete what someone left off. In an attempt not to offend the first writer, I had to make sure that most of his writings are not cut out. It would have been better if I had been given the free reign to write whatever I wanted. But since he has already done some research on it, I did not want them to go to waste. It’s difficult trying to fit everything in.

Anyway, I’m glad that this is the final section I need to complete, as I’ve got so many other things I need to do that I have put aside, because of this project. One of the things that I want to do would be to resume blogging again on a regular basis. The second thing would be to start writing on the book I had wanted to publish together with a group of writers. Last of all, I want to resume writing articles, something I really enjoyed doing last year. Soon, very soon…