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. … Keep reading »

HubPages is what I call an “article aggregator“, meaning that articles are posted by anyone without any strict editorial guidelines or category structures. Anyone can post about anything, more or less. There are many out there, but I have had good successes with HubPages. Since they aren’t as well known as places like Associated Content, I thought I would take a moment to introduce you. … Keep reading »

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. … Keep reading »

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. … Keep reading »

One of the latest ways to build and maintain a website is to use a CMS, or a Content Management System. These are software programs that run on your web server, and allow you to create a site within a framework. Not sure if that even makes any sense. Basically, a CMS provides you with the bones of a site, and gives you an interface to add material and make changes without you having to actually learn any coding. Like a big template. I highly recommend using a CMS if you are going to launch your own site, especially one that is content-rich (with lots of articles and stuff like that). … Keep reading »

Well, I think I installed a spam catcher that should help with all the spam comments, so commentary has been turned back on. Feel free to leave a comment.

Daughter goes back to daycare in 2 days, so watch for new articles then. 

Due to the unending wave of crap spam comments (thanks, losers) I have turned off the comment feature until I have a few minutes to install one of those captcha spam-catcher things.

And watch for new articles after the holidays. Even us work-at-home folks take time off at Christmas.

Happy Holidays.

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. … Keep reading »

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). … Keep reading »

Ok, I said I would provide more details about how to get hired at About.com, and here they are. Read my earlier post for details on what a Guide position at About.com entails in the first place. If you think that writing for About.com is what you’re after, be prepared to give it alot of work. … Keep reading »