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A Complete Guide to Freelance Blogging

 Freelance blogging is a great way to earn money from blogs. Many bloggers today on the internet are willing to pay to have someone blog on their behalf. Through it is not a passive income source; you can really make good amount of money from it. Also, it can take some time to produce and write good and quality articles.

At the beginning of your freelance blogging career, you'll get paid around $ 10.00 for each post you create. This is the most common price for the article. But as you build a reputation you can earn more than 10 times than that price for the each article you create as a freelance blogger.

Things to Know at the Beginning

The first thing you should know before even looking for a Freelancing job is a satisfaction you're getting with it. It's not all about making money from it at the beginning; it's actually a fun thing to do especially if you enjoy writing.

You should also have patience for this. Yes, at the beginning you'll earn less dollars per article you write, but as your popularity and performances goes up - you'll actually get these jobs much more quickly.

Promote yourself

The best way to find writing jobs are through your own blog audience, of course, this is recommended for the beginners. You may also create a page saying you're available to hire. Also, you would put a price for your work and that depends on you of course. Those people who already read your blog or a website are the potential hirers of you.

There're so many other ways where you can get hired. I'd also recommend you to post descriptive and helpful posts on forums you regularly visit. This way you can build-up a thrust and others would like to hire you. Also, you might mention that you're available for hiring in your profile page, to let others know that you're available.

Online Freelancing Job Boards

There're a lot of places on the internet where advertisers pays for the talented writers and bloggers. There, you can apply for a job if you're meet the advertiser requirements.

Browsing through online freelancing job boards you'll find an impressive list of jobs related to the blogging. Also, you can find that many bloggers and webmasters ask for developers, web designers and practically anything you might know.

You should know that all these services allow you to place your own advertisements. Unfortunately, most of them are based on the paid inclusion. But, this way you can get a customer's much faster if you're willing to pay for some kind of online job.

Why do they hire?

There're many reasons why they hire a blogger. The most common reasons are listed below:

To improve traffic, popularity and visibility on the search engines
To build-up credibility and authority around their blogs
To get their blogs updated more regularly to keep visitors returning
To increase their own sales or leads for the products they offers

When someone hires a blogger to write for them, they usually have following factors in mind:

Can they write useful, unique and original article I actually can use?
Are they able to write good article, targeted to my audience and site niche?
Will I get more value back than what I pay to them?

You should care on which job you should apply. Take care about all information you can get and try to find an offer which will be most appropriate to you - according to the price and your knowledge of course.

How to improve chance to be Hired?

There're so many tips which you can apply and successfully attract others to hire you. The below tips can easily improve your chance to be hired by someone.

Writing Samples - It's the most important thing here. If you have a good developed blog, with many articles provided in. There's a much higher opportunity to someone hire you to write for the money if you have a well-stationed and well-trafficked quality blog.

Variety of Posts - Of course, you need to prove that you're capable to write an article related to their own requirements and topics. It's always good to create a test-post and send it to the potential hirer. This way a hirer can easily decide to hire you or not.

Other Proves - It's always good to tell them why they should hire you, instead other bloggers and job applicants. Good proves are skills in SEO, promotion and marketing techniques, image creation or anything you can use.

Think about it as a real job, try to fight for it. After you develop a good community and knowledge around you, you should get a job offers more often. At the beginning, try to convince them to hire you instead other bloggers by giving them proves and more information about you.

Freelance Jobs Prices

There're so many payment types for the freelance job you're applying to. The client can provide the price model he wants like: flat-price per post, price by the word-count or price determined by your post quality and update frequency.

Anyway, all prices and fees come down to negotiation, agreement, expectations, complexity and of course - blogger (that's you) experience and popularity.

If you're just starting out, don't expect to get more than $20.00 per post. But, for the experienced and proven blogger in a competitive niche, this value can rise up to 10 or even 20 more times up. You have to agree that's a very impressive price for just one article - right?

Final Thoughts

I've the experience in the freelance writing for other blogs. And I have to say that it's a very time-consuming job type. If you want to be paid successfully and right, you'll need to research a lot to create good and quality article for your client.

I do create a freelance deal from time to time, but I don't do that just because of money. Yes, I try to write an interesting and quality article to get paid for it when I need some money quickly. Also, I like to write and unfortunately I don't have so much time to get something serious with it right now.

How to Start Making Money With Blogging and AdSense

What do you think about Blog Marketing? It's not so difficult. Today I'll show you how you can make money with Blogging.

Blogger

Blogger is one of the best blogging platforms available on the earth. This platform is someone who does not need any kind of fancy features and just need to share knowledgeable content. You can start with dynamic template which is one of the best and most reliable and stable template you have ever created. Google did a phenomenal job with these templates and they are AdSense ready. With the dynamic template you will see three times more page views, people spend four times more time on the blog and the advertising revenue is almost the double compared with normal templates.

Domain

No serious blog will be able to make serious money without a top unique domain. With Blogger you can purchase a domain for a year for as little as 10$. That's nothing considering you can recover the investment in a few days with Google AdSense. The domain should reflect the blog's topic. For example, if you want a blog about cars, you can combine the keyword "car" with your name to create a good looking unique domain.

Google AdSense

The best advertising network used by about 80% of all the blogs which generate money using advertising networks. Google AdSense has advantages that other advertising networks do not have. The first is it has the biggest pool of advertisers thanks to Google AdWords super success. This makes possible for Google to show the most targeted ads about 99% of the time thanks to the amount of ads that advertisers have to show. The second advantage is that competition is so fierce that advertisers are raising the price per click every week to keep traffic coming. The third advantage is that Google has the best technology in the world to show only relevant ads that people find useful. You will rarely see ads about bikes in a blog about cars. Always insert the ads where they will be seen, even more than the content. It makes no sense to insert a tiny button ad on the bottom where no one sees it; it will just not convert clicks.

Facebook

Bloggers who have a few thousand friends have literally money in their Facebook accounts waiting to be withdrawn using a blog with Google AdSense. Every new post that you write to your blog should be posted on Facebook wall to attract instant traffic. Since only interested people will click the link, the traffic is high quality traffic. Another smart move is to post your blog content to groups related to the topic. Always post to groups with more than a thousand members for maximum exposure.

As you see, blog marketing is easy. All you need is a great idea, some money to buy the domain, AdSense, Blogger and Facebook and money starts to come. Your goal now is to write interesting content every day to keep your readers happy and content which is keyword rich to keep Google AdSense showing the most relevant ads on your blog.

5 Blogging Hacks to Make Your Content Marketing More Efficient

Don't you just wish there was a way you could save yourself the countless hours that you pour into your business blog and instead use that time to do what you really enjoy? Like running your business, for example!

There are some great time savers out there to help you significantly reduce the amount of time that you are spending on your blog. Try out some of these blogging hacks and see if it makes your content marketing efforts more efficient:

1. Consider the amount of time you have to write a blog post when selecting a format.

Who said that every blog post you write needs to be 3,000 words? Often, the best blog posts that I read are filled with pictures or include a really helpful infographic. If you don't have a lot of time to commit to writing an in depth blog post, collaborate with someone in your industry to curate an infographic. You could also use the post to throw together a quick how-to video or share pictures of customers loving your new products (with their permission, of course). While a lengthy post filled with text could easily take you 2+ hours to write, taking advantage of images and graphics could cut your time down to 30 minutes max.

Mixing up the types of content that you share on your blog can keep it from becoming monotonous and can offer an unexpected element for your readers, which they will love.

2. Keep a running list of content ideas.

Often, deciding what to write about takes longer than actually writing the blog post. Save yourself the agony of trying to come up with great content ideas when you're sitting down to write and instead refer to your running list of killer content ideas. Naturally, the best ideas come to you when you're in the shower or are driving in your car. Take a minute to jot these ideas down on a Google document or Trello board. Basically, these ideas should be stored in a place that is easily accessible and offers the ability to organize your thoughts.

3. Hold yourself accountable by adding writing deadlines to your work calendar.

In the fast-paced corporate world that we live in, it's so easy to put off writing blog posts and instead deal with the 98 different office emergencies that are happening at the moment. Instead, to help hold yourself accountable to maintaining a solid blog for your business, build writing deadlines into your work calendar. This will give you a set time to work on a blog post. Plus, if colleagues have access to your calendar as well, they will know not to interrupt you during this time.

4. Develop a blog post production process that works for you.

If you spend 95 percent of your time writing a blog post, chances are that it won't give you the results that you want. The best bloggers boost their productivity by creating a blog post production process that breaks down each aspect of writing quality content (brainstorming, researching, writing, editing, publishing, and promoting). At any given time, you could have multiple blog posts in these various stages. Think of it as your content pipeline!

5. Come to the realization that not every post will be perfect to your standards.

You will drive yourself bonkers if you try to make your posts 100 percent perfect before hitting publish. Obviously, you want to thoroughly proofread and edit your posts before publishing them, but the big takeaway here is not to over think things. Being too meticulous can be a huge time drainer!

Using Content Curation to Impact Your Online Marketing Efforts

 You understand the importance of content in your business (particularly when it comes to your marketing materials). One of the biggest challenges may be to come up with concepts for your blogs, newsletters, white papers, eBooks, etc.

The effectiveness of different types of content

Undoubtedly, your original content has a great deal of merit. It is all yours and you have control over what you say and how you say it. Depending on what volume of blogs you post each week, you may have a difficult time coming up with concepts for your content sometimes. Now may be the time to consider sharing a combination of original and curated content with your readers.

You may feel as though your content is better than anyone else's content for your business. That is totally understandable. However, it may often be a very tall order to come up with new ideas and then execute those ideas each week. That is when content curation comes into play. You need to understand that from an ethical perspective, content curation is perfectly appropriate and acceptable. In no way, shape, or form is using curated content indulging in plagiarism. Of course, that is as long as you give the proper credit to the original author. There are several really good reasons to post a combination of original and curated content.

Free-flowing content: If you use curated content, it will enable you to contribute a lot more valuable information than you would if you only posted original content. It also demonstrates how diverse and interesting you are as well as the idea that you are interested in giving as much value to your readers as you possibly can.

Bringing tremendous value to your readers: The fact is that if you share your content and curated content (with your commentary on other people's content), you will be giving so much to your readers. You will be exposing them to all kinds of interesting, educational information. Another positive point here is that you are doing your readers a tremendous service by sifting through the vast amount of information on the Internet and choosing the pearls that mean the most. You are not only giving gems to your readers but you are also saving them a great deal of time and effort by finding the content for them.

A benefit to the original author: Not only does curated content benefit you and your business as well as your readers but it is also a wonderful thing for the original author of the content because you are giving that person great exposure and boosting his or her reputation as well. You are also allowing your readers to get to know that person and allowing your readers and the author to build relationships together.

If you search online for curated content (of course, with your target audience's wants and needs in mind), you will find an extremely large amount of information. The next step is to weed out the undesirable content and to choose the content that you deem valuable for your readers. There are several features that you should identify when choosing which curated content to use. The following are different types of content that will work for you.

Use curated news: The way in which news is shared nowadays is very different from how it was shared in the past. The most effective (and easiest) thing to do now is to take news (from another source) and embed it right in your content. That will enrich the content that you have written and it will add another perspective right there. Remember how important it is to include a backlink to the original source of the news that you have curated.

Use curated blog content: When it comes to the blog content that you share, consistency is key. Your readers will get used to seeing content from you on a specific day at a specific time. That is how you will successfully build a relationship with them. They will read what you have posted, like what they are reading, want to read more, and start to interact with you. That is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Build a publication using curated content: Your creativity really knows no bounds when it comes to creating your own publication using curated content. You can be as creative as you wish and you have a wealth of information from which to draw. You can really make a significant contribution with this one.

Populate the sections of your newsletter with curated content: Newsletters can be an effective communication tool. It is another way to provide a valuable service to your target audience and to show them what you can do for them. It lends itself very well to allowing you to build a sustainable relationship that will endure for a long time.

Share curated content on your social media channels: Just as you can do with your blog, you can also use curated content on your social media channels. In fact, that approach is tailor-made for social media. People love to share content via social media and before you know it, your content (as well as the curated content) may go viral!

Conclusion

Curated content is a wonderful idea and it allows you to truly enhance the experience that you are giving to your readers. You are giving them what they need and you are showing them how valuable the relationship that you share with them is. You are also providing your readers with extremely interesting, creative, compelling content that they may not be able to read otherwise. Content curation should be worked into your content marketing strategy and you should leverage it and reap the benefits that it offers.

Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.

His expertise includes business analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and management of off-shore development.

What Should You Write About on Your Blog?

The best advise I can offer you about blogging is:

1. Write about something that really interests you, something you are passionate about.

2. Write about something you are learning.

Of course, it makes sense to concentrate on what you are passionate about. You have been into this topic probably for many years. May be from early school days.

Therefore, you are an expert on your topic. That's great! We all want to read about the experiences of an expert. It's more interesting, and more informative.

People who write about their passion capture your imagination, and often touch your own feelings very deeply. So you feel connected. You feel like you have had similar experiences in your own life.

You find it interesting and worthwhile to listen to an expert. You are learning something valuable, because you believe this person is genuine.

My personal field of interest, my obsession is Internet marketing. You can find loads and loads of information about this topic online.

But, you won't find out what I know unless you listen to me.

Why should you listen to me?

Because I have a unique take on what it takes to be successful in Internet marketing.

One of the most important things I've learned is the need to FOCUS. You have to focus on one niche, one narrow area, one activity, where you can concentrate all your efforts till you achieve the results you want.

You may say you already knew this. BUT, you don't now the details of how to implement it successfully.

Many people know about the need to focus, but hardly anyone actually practices this.

The second thing is to write about something new you are exploring.

You are already an expert in the field you are passionate about, and that's great.

But I am especially intrigued about what new things, what new techniques you've uncovered that you're now exploring.

These are the things that the competition most likely has not learned about yet. These are the new "secrets" of the trade, which a master like you, is now uncovering and testing.

That's the leading edge, and that's what I am most excited to hear and learn about.

Once I determine that you have tested your new insights, and proven them to work, I will be right there to learn what you have discovered.

And if I have to pay you to get your new discoveries, that's OK. You deserve to get paid for your new knowledge, and I am happy to pay you.

Because I know you are an expert in your field, I know I will get true value for my money.

I also know that I will save countless hours that it would take me to discover what you have.

And since I do not have your level of expertise, chances are I may never discover these things on my own.

Therefore, if you are trying to figure out what to blog about, write about what you are an expert on, AND write about the new discoveries you're exploring.

5 Things to Consider When Deciding to Publish Guest Blog Posts

 A lot of blogs swear by using guest blog posts. A lot of blogs also swear against them. This means that when you are focusing on Internet marketing, you have to decide whether publishing guest blog posts is going to be part of your content marketing strategy or not.

If you listen to Google and all of the other search engines, they say that it is critical for search engine optimization. After all, linking out to a well-known source, such as a big blogger who already has a huge following, can help to give you the necessary back links and such that can propel your content into the more visible sphere of the search engines.

If you take a good look at your calendar and all that you have going on, you could probably use the break that would come with using a guest blog post as well. You simply don't have enough time to do everything that is on your calendar, and writing a blog post is going to take a lot out of you. If someone else can do it, shouldn't you grab up the opportunity?

The reality is that guest blog posts aren't for everyone, and therefore you need to look at a few of the basics that surround the whole premises. Here are 5 things to consider.

1. You can offer your readers a new experience. Once you have established yourself as an authority on a topic, you may want to offer a new experience. A guest blogger can talk about the same topic that you teach, but from a different angle. This has the ability to spice things up. However, you want to make sure that you already have an audience, otherwise people may decide to leave you and go to them - which is what you want to avoid.

2. You can identify the topics. If you are going to have someone else write for you, you can identify the topics that you're okay with them covering. This is where having a content calendar can really help. You don't want them to cover something that you have planned later in one or even later in the year. After all, you want to be the one to present the new and mind blowing information to them.

3. New content can increase exposure. If you become known for offering guest bloggers on a reliable schedule, such as every Monday for the first Thursday of every month, you may be able to increase exposure and gain a wider audience. This being said, it also means that you need to provide the reliable schedule that you are now promising all of your followers.

4. You must decide who is worthy of being a guest blogger. If you simply open it up to everyone, anyone may decide they want to become your guest blogger. It can involve a significant amount of research to figure out who the person is, what they have to say, and whether their angle is any different from your angle. It also pays to know what websites and/or blogs they work for or right for so that you can tap into their audience and increase your own.

5. New content is new content, right? Ultimately, you want new content to your website, but not to the point that it is going to damage your own authority and audience. If you want to do if blogs, it can be advantageous, but you have to weigh the pros and cons and be ready to take on the extra work that comes with researching the "expert" that you invite.

The Basics of Initiating an Online Business With Zero Investment

 People who know how to start an online business have been changing their destiny by making a huge amount of money. Online businesses are in huge demand these days. Many big and small companies prefer outsourcing their work by hiring virtual assistants and online marketers rather than employing a full-time worker. Moreover online presence has become an essential part of any business with the ever-increasing number of online shoppers across the world. Like any other business, you need to put in your efforts to become a successful online entrepreneur; however, starting an online business is not a Herculean task if you know the basics. In this article we will put emphasis on top online business opportunities that will help you to start an online business with ease.

1. Make a Strategy to Set Up Your Business: Online entrepreneurs can explore multiple options to earn money through an online business. Nevertheless, it is advisable to opt for the easiest options to start with. Once you make up your mind to sell any product or service, the next step is to follow a business plan to adhere to. Strategic planning keeps you organized and make your online business thrive. Your key objective should be to make your product or service as outstanding as possible to achieve a competitive advantage in your niche.

2. Set up a Neat Website: Launch a website for the product or service you want to sell. Along with the design and layout, make sure you use flawless content on your website. Content acts as the soul of any website and speaks of your professionalism in volumes. So make sure that you add fresh, relevant and informative content on your website to enhance online traffic. At the same time, if blogging is your passion, try integrating your blog with your website to keep your target audiences engaged. This is a great way to connect with your target audiences.

3. Start offering virtual Assistance Service: Virtual assistants are quite in demand for the valuable services they provide to different organizations from any corner of the world. You too can become a home-based virtual assistant by offering technical, creative or secretarial assistance to your clients from your home office. However, you should be proficient enough in your business niche to provide immaculate service to your clients, and to strengthen your customer base.

4. Become a Software Developer: This is yet another lucrative option for prospective online entrepreneurs. However, starting a software development business is not a cakewalk for beginners. It is very difficult to win projects with zero reputation since you are starting from scratch. In order to start a software development business online, the first step is to set up a convincing online portfolio to attract clients. Thus, many software developers utilize the initial period in building reputation by offering free services to start-ups or any organization looking for software development services. Consequently, the testimonials received by beginner online entrepreneurs play a key role in enhancing reputation besides drawing new customers.

5. Try Affiliate Marketing: You can become an online entrepreneur by trying your hand at affiliate marketing which has emerged as a colossal online industry over the years. Affiliate marketers redirect online traffic to different e-commerce sites through their website or via online advertisements. Affiliate marketers earn money by getting a commission on every sale generated as a result of driving traffic to specific e-commerce sites. As a beginner, you should ideally do affiliate marketing for sites you are familiar with. Affiliate marketing is one of the top online business opportunities that produce sure shot results.