BLOGGING ARTICLES

They say you get what you paid for. It certainly applies to most things in life, including article marketing. If writing your own article is just not for you, you can always hire others to do that. The problem is, how can you get the most bang out of your buck?

If quality is closely related to the amount of money you’re willing to spend, then you should spend as much as possible to get it, right? It’s not as simple as that though.

You can hire local college students that are able to deliver good quality articles. On the other hand, professional writers may have too much work on their plate they fail to deliver on time. Even if the do, the quality may not be something you should be proud of.

There’s easy tricks to overcome this issue though. Always look for samples of their writings. If they have written articles for other, request for the sample articles. Make sure they can write in your, or they have an exceptional research skill that allows them to get up to speed quickly. Also examine the style of writing. At least it should close to what you’d write if you write it your own.

Don’t agree on 100 or 1,000 articles upfront. They may give huge discounts if you take that offer but you want to know their track record and quality of delivered work before you go further with them. If you still want the deal, negotiate for the terms of payment. Hold at least half of the payment, write a check only after they deliver what they promised. You don’t want to give control away too fast.

Finally, if you find professional writers that you really like, why not make him/her a partner instead of a one-time-project relationship. Building your team is very critical to the success of your online business.

All the thanks should go to the advancement of computer technology and also to the business foresight that has made the computer and Internet combination easy on the pocket. Writer vacancy offers are crowding the websites. Writing has a different meaning to each one of us. For some it is writing for the media. For others it is all about academic work. There are many others who lap up business writing work.

If you want the magic of writer job to really work then you must diversify yourself and get acquainted with different branches. Specialization in only one or two subjects might sometimes lead to the closure of the door of jobs for writers. So keep yourself posted with other streams also. Writing may mean work connected with direct marketing brochures to resumes dealing with university essays. So the trick is to develop the comprehensive writing portfolio.

Where to hunt for writing vacancies? There is literally a plethora of web sites, blogs, forums and books together with writing groups to help you get your introduction into this magic word of writing. You can become part of a writing community and make new friends. During the last decade there has been a tremendous change in the concept of personal websites. Now ordinary folks can create a decent website without being a genius.

You are in the job offers market. It is better to find out beforehand what the writing rates are. This will give the sophisticated polished touch to your application. Learn up all the new language and jargon connected with the web world. Then in the race for writing job you will not fall back. It is the website that will teach you to be suave and experienced. Your writing skill can become a package-deal paying career. If you play your cards well your writing skills can lead you to become a consultant, speaking and training gigs. You have to learn how to market yourself as a package deal. The hope is that from the staff writer of an independent youth journal you might become an expert in youth matters and get big deals in the publishing business.

Jobs for writers in today’s world mean high paying rate for freelancers. There are low, medium and high paying positions. You post your resume analyzing your own merit and qualifications. The ultimate test is actually what you produce. So a sample work is very important. Writing offers may be full time job offers or may be royalty based. It is up to you to rifle through the myriad sites and take your pick. On the other side of the river those who are looking for writer will also scan the same sites to find the exact expertise for his or her own specific type of job. Writers may even be engaged to support speaking programmes.

Creative writers and journalists sometimes have the problem of smoothly transitioning from one paragraph to the other, especially when they are changing the subject. This is a learned skill that is not hard to master. By the time you read this article, you will fully understand the trick to it.

When we writers hop from one topic to another without a transition sentence, we “jar” our readers. While sentence transitions may be the last line in a paragraph, they are more commonly used as the first line in a new paragraph. They are like a bridge, connecting one idea to another.

Warted characters are memorable. The warts help the reader identify the characters in their minds.

Huh? What happened to the discussion on transition sentences? Were you trying to figure that out? If so, now you know how a “jarred” reader feels. Warts don’t relate to transition sentences at all, but we can make them relate by connecting the topics like this: (repeat)

“While sentence transitions may be the last line in a paragraph, they are more commonly used as the first line in a new paragraph. They are like a bridge, connecting one idea to another.

[transition sentence] We could compare sentence transitions to ‘warts’ on characters. ‘Just as a ‘wart’ will blend readers minds with the character’s identification, transition sentences will blend readers minds to the change of topics.”

(Notice that we can use more than one transition sentence to help the reader follow our train of thought.)

Here is another example from a camping article. We’re picking up toward the end of the article. The subject was preparing for a vacation and using a credit card for gasoline purchases. It will now blend into an after-vacation recap of never paying interest. See if you can pick out the transition words.

“For every $1,000 you charge on a Flying J credit card per month, you will receive a $10 coupon, which can be used at the online Flying J, or in their restaurant.

By combining the above suggested methods with this plan, you will seldom, if ever, run out of vacation money or have to use an ATM machine; further you will never owe interest, never make a physical payment, and never carry a balance.”

What were the transition words? I’ll tell you - “By combining… ” and the word “further”. Those three little words exited a financial camping program and carried the subject to the after-vacation recap.

Certain words make good transitions. Some of them are: further, besides, in addition to, instead of, specifically, to sum up, although, beyond, close, for instance, again, moreover, accordingly, as a result, during, to illustrate, finally, on the contrary, to compare, consequently, if, then, meanwhile, but, nevertheless, therefore, subsequently, otherwise, so, formerly.

Your Assignment: pick up something to read and pick out the transition words. They will always be in the first sentence of the next paragraph. After you’ve done this a few times, look at some of your own work and see if you can improve your transitions.

See below for more writing information!

Most writers reach certain points in their writing lives where they find it difficult to write. You wonder where on earth the next line, paragraph or chapter is going to come from, when you can’t even seem to string two or three words together.

The most common phrase for these kind of feelings is “writer’s block”, and there’s become almost an expectation that if you’re a writer, it’s inevitable you’ll suffer from writer’s block.

This doesn’t have to be true. There’s plenty you can do to minimise the chance of these kind of feelings descending. Here are 5 of the top techniques:

1. Have a stack of ideas ready. A major reason for feeling stuck is a lack of ideas. So if you have a fresh supply of ideas on tap, you’ll never feel stuck. One of the best ways to do this is to capture your ideas in an Ideas Journal. This is just a portable notebook you keep with you wherever you go, and jot down your ideas as soon as they come to you. When you need an injection of writing inspiration, pull out your Ideas Journal and grab the first idea that catches your imagination.

2. Write regularly. Like everything, writing becomes easier the more you practice. You want to be able to write as freely and naturally as you breathe and sleep. Set a writing date with yourself at least once a day. When you make this commitment to writing for a minimum period (say 15 minutes) each and every day, your writing not only becomes easier, but you also find more ideas coming to you than ever before.

3. Mix up your writing projects. If you just write the same words, phrases and pieces of writing all the time, you’re bound to feel stuck, through boredom if nothing else! Combat this by varying the type of writing projects you take on. Even if you’re predominantly a novelist for example, you can benefit greatly from trying different types of writing now and then. Whatever you learn, you’ll return to your “main” writing more experienced and enriched.

4. Embrace your inner critic. When you’re feeling the words are hard to come by, it’s usually taken as an invitation for your inner critic to up the pressure a few notches. You’ll have your own “favourite” phrases that deflate your writing motivation. Understand though that whatever your inner critic says, it’s doing it to try to protect you from disappointment. Once you realise this, it’s easier to simply thank that little voice for its kind concern then tell it you’re going to carry on writing anyway.

5. Write just for pleasure. Too often, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to write what you think you SHOULD be writing, and what you think other people expect you to be writing. If that’s different to what you truly WANT to be writing, there’s obviously going to be tension and resistance. Choose to write something you’ve longed to write, without any expectation on where it will lead. Write simply for the pleasure of the writing adventure.

Any of these 5 tips will help you to avoid the effects of writer’s block more often.

Use all of them in combination and you’ll soon be wondering if writer’s block ever existed at all, or was a temporary figment of your imagination…

Writing is a solitary job. While you may have to deal with editors, publishers, publications and the like, most of this communication is short, electronic (email, etc.), or brief phone calls and then you spend hours doing research, writing and editing, mostly alone.

Since many writers work from their home either full time or part time, or else are on the road to do reporting, there’s not a lot of connection with other professionals in their field like many other careers do. Because of this, it’s time consuming and difficult to stay abreast of developments in writing, the changing landscape of the literary and freelancing world, or just to be able to discuss issues pertinent to writers.

That’s where networking comes into the picture for writers. Networking for a writer is essential to both sanity and career. In any field, you want to stay abreast of the competition’s moves. You also want to stay in touch with other people who understand what the freelance writing life is like, share, compare and vent.

There are several ways to do this.

The first way is to read articles written by other writers about writing. There are some publications geared specifically for writers about writing, and these publications will give you hints and tips, hot topics in the industry, current issues pertaining to writing and writers, and also information about where to go for more information and collaboration.

The second way is to join a writing group, particularly a local one where you can meet once a week or once a month with other writers in your local area. These are often held at big chain bookstores, the local library, or perhaps a local coffee shop. Check with any big chain bookstores or call your library to see if they know of any groups like this. Not one in your area? Why not start one?

If in person meetings are not your cup of tea, consider online groups or writers’ forums. These groups use various methods for networking and collaborating with other writers from all over the world. Some are email based groups, while some are online/web-based groups, while others offer both options. Google groups and Yahoo! groups have search features to let you narrow down the type of group or main topics of interest, such as freelancing, fiction writing, novel writing, etc.

Online writing forums are another way to go for networking and connecting with other writers. Forums offer a great way to connect, and the advantage to a forum over email groups is that forums can have many different forum topics in their own threads, consolidated on one webpage, for easy and quick access to many different topics.

Most of these groups and forums are free online, though some do charge a fee. Those that are free are often supported by advertising. Some of the in-person meetings or groups may be associations or require membership that also charges a fee. It’s up to you to determine if the group provides enough value to pay a fee, or if searching for a free group or writing forum is more to your needs.

Writing doesn’t have to be a solitary undertaking if you can find the right writing group or writing forum for your needs. If you’re looking to network and connect with other writers or are trying to break into writing as a career, these writing groups and writing forums can make a huge difference in your success and how quickly you achieve writing success.

Freelance writers seeking for paying markets have an opportunity in Bright Hub. What is the company about? What are the offers for writers and what responsibilities does the publish expect writers to perform? These and more are the focus of this paying market opportunity for writers.

About Bright Hub

Bright Hub is a technology based paying market for writers looking for talented writers to contribute to this fast growing online community. Writers are needed to offer their guidance to help people understand how technology affects their lives, work, finance, leisure, play etc. Subject areas cover more than 30 technology channels. If you would like to write articles that are approximately 300-750 words through online guides that will walk you through the process, then this opportunity is perfect for you. $10 is paid per accepted article. Other revenue generating opportunities are also available.

Writers Responsibilities

‘For articles commissioned by Bright Hub and requested by a Managing Editor or Contributing Editor, the writer will:

- Write articles based on the planning and analysis provided by the Managing Editor and the writing request and various creation and performance plans created by the Contributing Editor

- Work with the Contributing Editor on changes to articles in order to meet Bright Hub’s quality standards

- Promote and grow the popularity of articles through leveraging recommended search keywords and phrases and obtaining quality backlinks to written articles

- Update articles as requested by the Contributing or Managing Editor. Failure to maintain articles according to the article maintenance plan will result in the replacement of the consultant for that article with a different writer and a diversion of future revenues for that article to such new writer.’

How Payment Is Made

Compensation report is sent to qualified writers at the beginning of each month. Once a minimum of $20 is attained, payment will be sent through Paypal or check. Payment is only made if the minimum payout is achieved.

Faced with a mountain of content to create, you know you need help–but where are you going to get it? Expert writing support comes in three flavors: employee, freelance writer, and agency. Let’s look at the advantages and drawbacks of each, and give you a framework for making this important decision.

The benefits of hiring a freelance writer

Freelance writers are fantastically economical for quick-turn-around, one-off work. They are often guns for hire–rifles that can take aim at a particular copy project and nail it for you almost overnight. Most freelance writers work from home and have set hourly rates. (Some do charge by project.) Here’s a checklist of the kinds of projects that tend to be “best fit” for a copywriter.

Hire a freelancer if:

Your project is small–a brochure, an annual report, a couple of sales letters, a monthly newsletter, or a few pages of web copy. Your industry is well understood (the freelancer won’t need a lot of ramp up time). You have samples of previous writing to guide the writer. Your budget is limited. You do not have a recurring variety of work. You do not need marketing strategy–you know exactly what you want.

For the best fit, hire the freelance writer who shows you exact samples of the type of writing you’re looking for. That way, your project is taken care of in a timely and practiced manner by an expert, and you experience the best the freelance writing industry has to offer.

The benefits of hiring a writer

On the other side of the spectrum, sometimes you actually need to hire a writer on staff.

Hire a writer on staff when:

Your industry is complex and it will take weeks or months for one person to learn. You do not have a variety of work, but you do have a huge volume of the same kind of work, such as a lot of white papers or case studies, a lot of process documentation, tons of legal briefs, etc. You can guide the business writing strategy at a high level, but need the writer to execute judgment, too You have a budget of at least $70,000 (a starting salary of $50,000 for an inexperienced but credentialed writer, plus taxes and federal employer contributions of at least $20,000). You have tight deadlines–less than 24 hours.

Writers are like other professional service providers–although they may have a broad understanding of their industry, they tend to focus on sub-specialties. Hire a writer with a background that proves their mettle with the kind of work you need.

What’s more important than a full portfolio, however, is the right attitude and an understanding of your business. An effective business writer has the knack of empathizing with the reader, not their manager–that’s a key trait to hire for from direct marketing talents to technical writers.

The benefits of hiring a writing agency

Somewhere in the middle, is the option of hiring a business writing agency. Writing agencies hire a variety of expert freelancer writers and editors, train them in the agency’s standard process, manage them on client projects, and provide them with a steady stream of projects that suit their skills.

The agency environment allows writers to hone their abilities in a peer environmental benefit that hones the agency writer, and one that the lone freelance writer or employee has to make do without. Writers with agencies also tend to have access to education, software, and research databases that are less available to (or affordable for) freelance writers.

Clients of a writing agency are exploiting the bulk purchase advantage or economies of scale–a company that needs four white papers a year can’t afford to hire an expert white paper writer to sit on the bench the rest of the year, but through a writing agency, even a company that creates only one white paper a year can have a writer that specializes in effective white papers.

Hire a writing agency if:

You need a senior professional writer, but don’t find it cost effective to employee one of these professionals (who often command six figure salaries). You’ve got more work than one person can do, but not so much work that you want to hire three or four types of writers (i.e.,direct marketing writer, a public relations writer, a technical writer). You have a significant number of content development and copywriting projects. You don’t want to manage the writer directly–you’d prefer a level of consultation and project management to ensure excellent work from your writing team. You want to empower a “brand voice” across all types of content for your company You don’t want to train the writer–you want an established professional. You want the advantages of a long-term, recurring relationship, a group of writers that can grow with you. You don’t want the overhead, expense, training, and hassle of hiring more creative staff.

Hiring an agency in these situations makes sense because you’ll enjoy the benefits of:

A dedicated team composed of writers that meet your particular needs. A project manager who educates and enforces your brand with the copywriters on your team. A long-term relationship with a professional services firm that caters to you, and sees to your needs despite any turnover in your writing team. Cost effective rates that come from “consolidating” writing specialties. Tactical as well as strategic support for your business writing efforts (i.e., if you need to get a particular message out, a writing agency can often advise you on how and what makes most sense in addition to doing the copywriting).

I do not participate in writer’s block. Correct. I just do not participate. If there is a time when I sit down to write and nothing comes to mind, I begin right there. I write down that I have nothing to write about. And then I think, except. Ye s and it is that exception that I begin writing about. It does not matter whether that exception is an interesting topic or not. It is that exception that gets my creative energies buzzing and it is that exception that gets me writing again in a time when I thought that I had absolutely nothing to write about.

What do you do when you have writer’s block? Do you get up from your chair and go away from the desk? Do you just give up? Or do you insist on writing even when there is nothing? From experience I will tell you that BOTH of those solutions are quite acceptable but one of them is the true writer’s solution. If you have the blood of a writer, you can write a novel about a doorknob and then write three more stories about what it is like to be a doorknob, where to find the best doorknobs and what a doorknob’s job is in other countries. DO you see what I mean? Out of nowhere comes the idea for a story, for a an article or who knows, even for an entire book.

And all you have to do is to keep on writing. AND if you are a true writer, you write as you breathe not as you get ideas. You just write. Now, there you go. You have just read an entire article that I just wrote when I had a temporary writer’s block. And now I will put this article up for publication at the Ezine site. And prove to you that you CAN write even when you have nothing to write about. PLUS, not only that but someone will read what you wrote. You are reading it, are you not? So, go ahead, write when you have nothing to write about. Just write about writing and that will get you started and on the way to writing about other subjects. Trust me on this one. This works.

Just write!