All it takes is one mis-key or a brief power interruption, and you can find yourself staring at a blank screen. Usually after struggling with some particular difficult bit of phrasing. Hit the save key OFTEN. After every sentence wouldn’t be a bad idea. A nice and simple tip for today, and yet it can be pretty important.

And it also carries over to the work you might do online, directly into a database or CMS system. Save frequently in these instances too. There is an extra saving tip I have here as well. If you are working for someone else, and write your material directly into a CMS, I highly recommend you cut and paste a copy into a word processor and store on your hard drive. You could even take a screenshot of the finished piece. You may find yourself without access to your work at a later date, due to technical difficulties or the company you work for closing up shop. I lost a big chunk of work this way just last month.

Save often, even the material that you aren’t writing directly onto your hard drive. And of course it goes without saying that you do a regular back-up of that hard drive, right?

One of the biggest hurdles for online writers is plagiarism. It is too simple for anyone to cut and copy your online work, and just paste into their own site. Basically, 2 or 3 mouse clicks and your article is stolen. And the sad part is that many people genuinely don’t even know its wrong. Oh, sure, plenty of people know its stealing and just don’t care. But there are lots of people who really think that anything “out there” is free content and fair game. Time to take action. (more…)

Another thoughtful piece of insight from me today. Since you are freelancing and likely working from home, you are free to work in whatever manner you like. So take advantage of that and don’t worry about trying to stick to any “real-world” schedule or format. I’ve recently come to a couple of realizations about my own work habits and I’m a bit surprised. (more…)

It’s way too easy to get caught up in a great inflow of work. Makes you feel successful and professional. Until you sit down and realize that you are going to have to find an extra 4 hours in each day in order to actually make the deadlines. You learn the hard way that its hard to write after only 3 hours of sleep each night. Be forewarned that this is an actual problem that freelance writers face. (more…)

Well, that’s only a recommendation. If you want to be unethical, I suppose that’s up to you. I have to admit, when the money is low, we change our views on what we will or won’t do. But before I start to wax philosophical, I’ll get to the point. There are a handful of oft-seen freelance writing jobs that may be legitimate ways to earn money, but are a bit sketchy in an ethical sense. Here are two types of freelance writing gigs that may stretch your ethical attitudes. (more…)

This is a good rule no matter what business you’re in, but a crucial one if you are a freelance writer. It may not be as easy to put into practice as you might think. The literal meaning is simply that you shouldn’t rely on only one client or job as an online freelance writer, because you just never know when the work could stop. The Internet can be horribly capricious. If you already have another job besides freelance writing, then it’s not quite as big a deal. If your career is anything like mine, you’re juggling your income from several different sources. And that’s how it should be (more or less). (more…)

Many online writers today use a blog format for their own sites (like this site does), and it’s a great way to present your material. But given the journal-style of a blog, people tend to assume frequent updates more than they might with another style of website. So, how often you should post a new blog on your website in order to maximize visits and popularity? (more…)

Just a quick tip today: open up a PayPal account. No, this isn’t something that is going to make or break your burgeoning freelance career, but it can make things easier. Since you are working in an online arena, people are going to expect to do all the transactions online. And that includes payment. So, go sign up for an account. (more…)

Until recently, I’ve spend most of my job-hunting time looking at various job boards and hoping for the best. I’ve now thought about giving the bidding-type sites a try. There are many of them, but using the larger ones will offer you more job choices. (more…)

Few people would turn up their noses at a job where they can work from home. It’s one of those things just about anyone would love. And rather unscrupulous people have always taken advantage of that. So how do you know when an online writing job is a potential scam?

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