Adding New Gadgets, Or Page Elements, And Using Your Blog As A Design Tool

The Challenging Switch From a Blog to a Website Can Change Your Blog's Role To Crash Test Dummy


Adding features, widgets, sharing links, comments, and forums to a website isn't all that much different than adding these features to a standard blog.  In fact, blogs such as Tumblr and WordPress are becoming so complex that the distinction between blog and complete website are beginning to blur.  But any author who wants to take their writing to the next level, and appear as professional as possible, should invest in a website.


Freelancer's Corner:  Most freelance writers maintain some type of blog, whether it is a series of notes on Facebook that interested people can read, or a more traditional LiveJournal, WordPress blog, or a Blogger account through google.  Their intention is to have an accessible collection of work to put on resumes and attract followers and credibility in their field.  But for most, despite provocative content, dedication, and even a word count in the millions, it won't get them tons of followers and won't help them get the jobs they desire.  Though it isn't free (and you know how much I hate things that aren't free), an investment in an official site that can be a new home for your blog, and link to published articles or any content you have had a hand in crafting is really a worthwhile investment.  A WWW.YourName.COM domain name will not normally be taken, and can be purchased relatively cheaply if you shop around.  1&1.com is usually the cheapest ($0.99 domain name special right now, which is UNHEARD OF), but look around for specials.

Planning a website is difficult, and using functions on your blog can help you get a good idea of where you are going before you invest the money in a website.  By adding pages with the appropriate gadget, you can jot ideas in different areas on the kind of content you want, where you want it, and how it will all be organized later on.

Many gadgets are confusing to use, and trial and error is much easier to do with a blog than a webpage involving lots of files that keep track of all the sites information, users, ect.  Getting the hang of locating the code you need, placing it on your blog, and proudly adding it as "Your New Gadget" will be common place when building a webpage.  Before making the big leap and spending around $50 for hosting and claiming a domain name, get your blog looking and feeling as much like a website as possible beforehand.  You'll save yourself money and time in the long run.

And you will do less of this: Offline development and updating.

The time I lost days of my life and almost my mind: a short story by Todd Bjarnson
Developing new functions for, or making complicated updates to, a website should ideally be done via a private host of some type, which allows designers create a mock server on their PC to experiment with the changes before copying them to the live site.  acquia.com/download is just such a product that supports the Drupal web design platform, but as far as I am concerned, neither is user friendly enough to be worth using.  I spent 15 hours (not counting the hours my tech-savvy girlfriend spent helping) trying to get Drupal to work with the local server Acquia had created, just to test run a template with no success.  I highly discourage the inexperienced web designer looking for a WYSIWYG or other webdesign program from using Drupal.  Being open source almost always means there is less help available for amateurs.  And accounts for their tech support can run $50.00/month.  Their templates are pretty flush with features, but the highfalutin attitudes of the developers and forum personas will discourage anyone who wants to get the website built and keep focused on their writing.

I've decided to give in to the hype and give WordPress a try.  It works in essentially the same way, but has a reputation for being very user friendly.

Not to mention it is popular among writers, who aren't often renowned for their more technical skills.  Imagine that?  If they were they'd be engineers and surgeons instead!

Writing For Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)

Tie In Fiction and MMORPGs: Multi-Million Dollar Market
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, You have heard of the World of Warcraft (WoW), an insanely popular game developed by Blizzard Entertainment.  What you may not know is the extent to which WoW has prospered: in the first few days of launch it had over 140,000 players (http://www.independent.co.uk).  As of 2011, estimates range from 11.5 million to over 12 million users.

Note: These games are so popular there is actually a rehabilitation program to help people stop playing.  The World of Warcraft rehab program in Seattle, WA costs $28,000.

So these numbers are pretty amazing, but what does it mean to freelance writers?

It means there is an already abundant, targeted audience for your fiction, provided you've played enough of the game and know enough of the lore to write a compelling and accurate tale.  This is one of the greatest barriers to publishing in this niche which is known generally as tie-in fiction (writing that piggy backs on already established settings or worlds, including timelines, landscapes, and historic scenarios, characters, and events).  Here is a more accessible example of tie-in fiction which may help readers understand the basic principles of successfully breaking into tie-ins.

The most popular example of tie-in fiction would probably be the sci-fi and fantasy genres.  Specific worlds give a targeted readership base to dozens upon dozens of authors in the worlds of Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms series (if these examples are unfamiliar, think of the world Tolkien created for his series The Lord of the Rings.  He had a map with landmarks, forests, mountains, cities, peoples, and villians.  The lands of Dragonlance and ForgottenThe work  Writers do what they should naturally love doing best, reading, and become acquainted with the world of one of these platforms.  After researching maps and detailed descriptions of places and people online, reading quite a few of the novels set in these worlds should be enough to give a firm base of facts to follow in crafting an original story.  Querying before writing may be especially important in this rule-laden genre of writing: if an author proposes a story to an editor that completely defies aspects of the world's landscape, timeline, or critical events, the editor will either reject the idea outright, or if the mean gist of the story is solid, will work with the author by correcting facts, changing details, and rearranging elements of the story so they fit into the world that, as much as in the imagination as on paper, already exists to its readers and creators. 

These worlds, characters, events, and time-lines are considered the intellectual properties of the companies and persons who designed them, and editors who accept queries or manuscripts are paid secondly to pick out great stories, and firstly to protect the integrity of the intellectual product of their respective company.  These gatekeepers take their work with the same seriousness that a historian takes to the correct accounting of actual events.  Like writing a novel set in the written world of Krynn, the world of the Dragonlance sagas, the digital worlds of MMORPGs and other game titles might be even less forgiving when it comes to fiction that fits.  (More to come!  Time to "research" my MMO short story : P )

Elance Gets Mixed Reviews Online

Elance Gets Hammered In Forums From Employers

I'm almost done with the seemingly endless requirements, testing, verification, and personal information gathering required to start applying for jobs on Elance, when I stumble upon a huge number of articles slamming Elance for misrepresenting their contractors, not handling the prepaid money employers put up for a project correctly (this fund is called escrow), and making employers fight way to hard in a system with little customer service and hole-filled safety measures for returning the money to its rightful owner if the job isn't done right. 


While this is a freelancing blog, this is also a business blog, and I want to make a statement here to people who are considering using Internet employment/professional connection sites like Elance to contract out some of their writing, editing, or coding business needs.  From what I hear online, Elance is not the place to go to find contractors for website development, and especially the more complex types of coding.  Several links to these stories, and the inexcusably poor customer service Elance offered them concerning large sums of money follow.  I think the scariest part is when a gentleman had thousands in Elance Escrow, had a completely insecure product created for him, and had to call over a dozen times; pretty much just to get someone to answer the phone (which they usually don't).

• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b9v39p - When outsourced coding looks good at first, then. . .
• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3uv9tun - Great insights on how the whole system works and advice on avoiding loopholes that allow contractors to rip you off.  BE SPECIFIC!

Here are two articles that compare the major outsourcing/freelancing websites

• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3e9cmdz - An impartial review of 6 of the top outsourcing platforms online, and some solid advice on getting the right person for the job, and clearly identifying what that job is.
• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3pdvt9n - Discusses Elance, oDesk, and Guru, offering insights for both employers and freelancers.

Freelancer's Corner
For my freelancing readers out there, I give you the thumbs up to try it.  I did not see much in the way of complaints from contractors (writers, editors, content developers, web designers, and coders) and there are reports than some contractors, whom are likely organized as a small business or group of individuals, are making millions per year on Elance.


The first advantage of Elance, and possibly the most important during a time when people are so strapped for cash, is that all employers must put the money for the project in an account with Elance to guarantee the funds actually exist.  Elance Escrow requires the funds be placed in an Elance holding account until the project is completed, or a weekly timesheet is verified and the payment authorized (did I mention they pay weekly?). 


I can't even count the number of horror stories I have heard from people: not only online freelancers but contractors, remodelers, and others, who finish the job, do it well, and get a sob story from the employer about how they can't pay for it right now.  Even worse are the stories where the project is completed and the employer refuses to answer emails, phone calls, or make any communication whatsoever.  As much as these slime bags deserve to be arrested for fraud, receiving payment for services rendered usually falls into the murky waters of civil law, and can take a long time and a lot of money for contractors to get what they deserve.


Elance has minimums for both hourly and flat rate jobs, so you won't end up working for three hours on an article that makes you absolutely nothing like many blogs and content mill sites (sites that post your articles, cover the material with ads, and share the ad revenue with the author).* 






Elance only allows projects to be posted that pay hourly or a flat rate for a certain project; revenue sharing based on popularity, Adsense revenue sharing, and a ton of other shady trade-ins for your time are not allowed.  This is a far cry from companies that take your article, cover it with ads, and give you a percentage of the money they make off the advertising, of which they generally keep 40% anyway.** 






While I don't recommend Elance.com for Employers I still think it may be a legit way to get busy and make some fair money for freelancers, so if you need a new avenue to find long- and short-term gigs, give them a go.


Getting into the world of freelance writing, editing, and coding can be a very long and arduous process.  It is filled with scams, job listings that are really a sales pitch for a pyramid schemes or 'business opportunity', employers who refuse to pay after the writing is done.  The list of pitfalls for budding freelance writers, editors, and entrepreneurs is virtually endless.  That is, in a nutshell, why this blogs exists.  To make freelancing safer for new freelance writers or business owners, and sucessful veterans alike.  I try to steer readers to legitimate services and warn them about unscrupulous ones.*** 


Sites like Elance and many others which will be discussed in greater detail in the future require aptitude tests, pages of personal information, phone verification. . . the list of time consuming tasks goes on and on.  Do your research and read what people have to say about these companies before you blow hours creating a profile that does nothing for your career (or your wallet).


*  Note On Reasons to Blog: If you are a blogger, Adsense is fine but always blog for personal reasons: to share your message, to teach, to get people thinking, whatever.  Don't do it because you think it'll pay your mortage.  Blogs like this one are best written to help others, or help yourself practice your craft and share your expertise.  Anyone who tells you your blog is an Adsense cash cow and wants to sell you a book on how to start raking it in is a conman.  There are a few exceptions to this rule: when blogging draws traffic to your personal website, when a blog helps sell a product (yours or even someone elses through affiliate marketing programs), when a blog helps promote some sort of goal you want others to participate in, invest in, or donate money to, or when a blog helps you co-promote other bloggers who cover similar topics as you.


** Note: My Weekly E-Rage Minute: Factoidz.com. . . you still owe me $1.03 for at least  6 or 7 hours worth of writing.  I'm coming for it Factoidz.  Soon, you freaking crooks.  (While upsetting, these articles were written early in my career, and my SEO was probably not what it should be.  You can see all these articles here: http://tinyurl.com/3w2jolm, http://tinyurl.com/3l5gutj, http://tinyurl.com/3wmtxne (The third link is a particularly good list of resources I found for all types of search optimization for any type of content, whether it be articles, Websites, and more.  Definitely worth a look in my opinion).


READER FEEDBACK:  Which freelancing services has been working for you?  Are there job listing sites (i.e. freelancewritinggigs.com)  you use to find niche openings on Elance, oDesk, ect. that help narrow the search for jobs?  Do you have experience writing for a couple different sites?Share your experiences and answer the aching question: which one pays the best overall?  Still have questions or additional info. we'd all benefit from?  COMMENT, and get the conversation started.

Writers and Publishers Can Keep Content Safe With Copyscape Services

Protect Yourself From Plagiarism, Re-authoring, and Use of Your Work Without Citation 

The threat of plagiarism has never been higher than it is today.  The threat of research, fiction, nonfiction, or any type of written information being copied, pasted, and assigned a false author has never been easier.  The copy/paste routine is a much simpler option for a lot of unscrupulous folks out there who don’t have the know how or are just plain lazy to create the same content.  Though I am not certain I'd label Copyscape a watchdog group quite yet, they do offer the ability to find out where writing has been stolen.  The recourse against the theft of your content may be up to you.

Note: I like to pass on great Internet resources to my readers.  Every single one of them, up to this point has been free, if I am remembering correctly.  This is a sort of hybrid: the service is a paid one, but it also offers a free download that is darn near as useful as the service itself. 

I’m not an affiliate of this or any of the websites, communities, or services I scour the internet for, to bring the best to my readers.  I just like finding cool stuff and sharing it!  Social Tsunami is my business so I’ll be talking more about that as the days go on, but that is, I hope, obviously different.  So be assured I am not a sell out.  Yet, anyway. . . .

Now on to the good stuff: protecting your writing and content online, and searching for instances where it has already been reproduced in a non-cited, unauthorized, or just plain plagiarized, re-authored manner.

Copyscape is a Web service dedicated to protecting your content.  Simply copy and paste the URL of your article, homepage, squeeze page, whatever you are concerned about, into the search engine.  It will scour the web for instances where your words have been duplicated.  If your name is not cited, and you did not sign a contract allowing someone to reproduce your material in the manner it has been, there is a problem.  There is also a free search  available if you would like to take the service for a test spin.

This is a great way to make sure all of your hard work isn’t making someone else Adsense revenue or helping them present themselves as an expert on subjects that they clearly aren’t.  Likewise, your stories belong to you, and shouldn't be out winning other people contest money or book deals.  It should be clear enough, but I seriously discourage anyone from tossing a completed manuscript for a book all over the web for a variety of reasons, even if it is copyrighted.  This can get messy with critiquing groups, editors, and people you think you can trust.  However, this is a complex topic better covered in another post. 

The paid service (starting at $4.99/mo.) not only increases the search capabilities, but also has the option of periodic scans of content you put into Copyscape’s database of your work.  They will notify you and tell you who the culprit is automatically, even if you don't think to make a search.  This can save a tremendous amount of time.  If you find someone duplicating or using your work unscrupulously, you are protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  

This is a great service people in a variety of professions: content developers, webmasters, freelance writers, novelists, and even teachers who grade essays should check up on it.  One more tool in the tech-toolbox, but that’s not the best part for us bargain shoppers.

Free Tool Alert: Copyscape offers a variety of banners you can put pin on your work to deter others from plagiarizing it.  The few seconds it will take to input an image at the bottom of your blog posts, paste in the footer of webpages, or append to a full length article you submit to an editor for publishing (usually before you are actually paid), can save you a lot of heartache and potentially a lot of money and time pursuing plagiarism later on.  

So take some precautions, especially when they are free.  Start using the Copyscape Banners whether you have the service or not.  It will make you look savvy, and the rest of the world think twice about ripping you off.

And as always at Freelancing To Freedom, we believe free is a pretty good price.

Free Networking Meetings Can Lead To Writing Work

Free Networking Meetings Can Lead To Writing Work

Today I followed a Craigslist ad in the community>groups sections that said "Our Clients May Need Your Services."  As I often am I was dismayed to realize that the post wasn't exactly what it had touted itself to be.  But it had value none the less.  It was a meeting to a referral (or networking) group called "I Take The Lead."  It features a ten minute presentation by one business and a chance to mingle, shake hands, and exchange information.  

I am most interested in the potential of meeting clients for Social Tsunami Business Services, my social media consulting business, but to an enterprising freelance writer who doesn't mind spending a few bucks on business cards, these kinds of meetings can be a great place to connect with business owners and professionals from all walks of life.    

Even my little brand of consulting can involve writing for businesses, and while I will probably spend most of my time drawing attention to the breadth of services I can provide through other areas of expertise, writing is still one of the main services I'll offer.  The most significant angle you can take as a freelance writer is business writing which is an all-inclusive term for any type of written communication done in the pursuit of running a company and selling products and services.

Business writing covers a wide variety of niche business-related tasks the freelancer can offer help with.  Marketing materials, pamphlets, advertising copy, and even emails fall under business writing.  Beyond the obvious opportunities of writing sales script, don't forget the freelance writer's Go-To's: Online Content Development, Articles and Blogging.  Nearly every professional and business needs to have a presence online, and some (statistics say most) go to specialists to build the image of their "know how" and add to their credibility.  Someone may also want to save time having an experienced writer answer emails, type correspondence to other businesses, partners, clients, or address complaints in a professional and conciliatory manner in writing.  Business is always full of forms right?  It isn't the most exciting thing to create, but it looks good on resumes and pays.  But how do you find the right person with the right need that you can fulfill?  There are two ways. 

Approach People, Get Information, Probe for problems, Offer Solutions.

(Note of Caution: Probing for a problem is the touchiest of the four goals, and should be handled with subtlety.  Most people will be out to present the best side of their business as possible, which doesn't include telling strangers about any problems that may exist.  In most cases you may learn a bit about what they do, and get their card.  It shouldn't need to be said but I'll go ahead and say it: Don't go asking people if their email response time is from 2 weeks to never, or if they have a mission statement with all the literacy of a third grader, or that their brochure is so littered with typos that it has been selling nothing more than laughs.  Accept the card, and hopefully you'll find these things out using the second strategy.)  

Be outgoing, meet people, and get them talking.  Learn about their business and ask questions with an ear for problems: things they haven't gotten around to writing, processes that are expensively outsourced, things they don't like to do, or things they don't do well.  People that tell you about problems right off the bat probably have a chip on their shoulder, or are having a bad day.  You may even do well to look for the grump in the group.  People also loosen their ties and talk about the negatives and areas you can offer help in when they are outside smoking, waiting for elevators, when they are relatively alone, and after the majority of the group has left and they don't feel so "on stage."  Try to pry a little if you have to while seeming innocently interested in what they do and how their company runs.  If you find a soft spot where your writing can solve a problem or where the writing you can perform can save them time and money, then get ready to offer yourself as an alternative solution.  

When it is your turn to share (which you have politely waited for) give a brief description of your writing business, and then that is when you bring them back to the customer emails that are backing up, the new product that is sitting around waiting for marketing materials, or the employee handbook riddled with typos.  There may be angles for writing jobs that you haven't considered in businesses that you are unfamiliar with, but if your expertise can solve someone's problem, they will be excited to hear about it.

Because what do you do again?  Solve their problems, naturally.   

Second Chance: Follow up, Use Notes, Offer Your Services

Even if you don't get a hook in at the meeting itself, you still have a fistful of business cards.  As soon as you discretely can (at the meeting or just after), jot down notes on the back of each card so you can recall parts of the conversation later.  Focus the notes on areas that your writing or editing might be of service.    Things like the name of their terrier or the bathroom remodel they talked about can warm these leads even further.  Make your message personal if it seems appropriate, but try to recall each person and frame your inquiry according to how you read each person and what their expectations would probably be.

Send an email or make a phone call introducing yourself, what you do, and where you met.  Give a short list of your services (or just mention business writing), mentioning a few components of their business from the back of your card that seem related, and ask if there is anything they might have for you.  If not, thank them anyway and see if it would be okay to check back with them at a later date.  You may call some who say fine but prefer email.  Some may say no that they have other ways of applying for formal positions.   Some may be a little annoyed.  It happens.  It seems simple, but if you are making a call and you’re not experienced in sales it can be somewhat nerve wracking.  Don’t sweat it, just know that it gets easier and write “cold-calling experience” in your resume with pride.  Put the contacts and call outcomes all in a database with their responses and call it your pipeline (If they tell you to stop calling or emailing, I’d suggest leaving them out, wouldn’t you say?).  You have made contact with these people twice now, and if you made a good impression each time the chances they will work with you down the road has increased.

Networking meetings is not the usual route a freelance writer will take.  I think it is important to cover it here and present a strategy for turning face-to-face meetings into business or at least contacts. 

The people a writer meets at local referral clubs and networking meetings are part of a mutual community.  Meeting someone who is a mover and shaker in your own city is worth a thousand friends on Facebook you have never met.  They may not send you boards and buckets on Farmville, but they just may send you a check for your writing someday.

Need Newsletters? Free Email Marketing With Mailchimp Is Finally Here

I happened to recall, as I cruised chrome for good things to share with the world, my desire to have a free service that will manage a newsletter.  This is big news, and many of you know that having a huge newsletter following can mean big profits if it is targeted to the product or service you offer.  Bottom line:  Opt-in emails are people who care about what you have to say, and want to hear more of it!

Enough with the sell, there is finally a site out there that will give you a very reasonable following and mailer service for FREE:  http://www.mailerchimp.com.  It's free application will collect up to 2,000 subscribers and allow 12,000 emails per month; this means that a full subscriber list can create 6 newsletters a month.  This sounds like a lot of power, and it is.  It also probably sounds like a lot of limitations, and this is true as well.  Your ability to use this service depends upon the popularity of your other platforms, as you will have to bring subscribers to a custom page link to enter their information.

As with any good newsletter or emailer there should be value to the subscriber.  You can do this best by creating organized and visually pleasing information and links to expanded articles.

Tip:  These articles do not necessarily have to be written by you.  Find related articles that you found enlightening, write a summary of them, and connect the reader with the full article via a link.  Here you not only look humble, but well versed in the exchange of ideas and information.  You technically steal someone else's work, but both sides win.  The author of your featured article receives traffic from you, and your readers forgive the fact that you as an expert didn't write the article yourself but still located it in the dumping grounds of public access information available online.

Try Mailchimp out for yourself, if you have enough people listening to consider an online mailer a good use of your time.  If you have a following on your blog, Twitter, or otherwise, you may just increase your readership for free, exponentially.

Tip:  Remember that sharing is caring, and increasing your following needs well placed widgets where people can share cool things (like your newsletter) with others.  If your newsletter doesn't lead to more people taking notice of your hard work then it is not time well spent.

Good luck and good gathering, I might one day be one of your 2,000 subscribers, so follow these guidelines and don't disappoint: sell yourself first, and links to the information your readership wants second.  

Aggregate marketing isn't about taking credit for other people's work.  It's about knowing quality when you see it, and your subscribers will admire that and appreciate you taking the best of the web right to their doorstep.

How To Get Writing Sooner: 3 Efficiency Tips For Writers and Entrepreneurs

Identifying Useful Activities That Have Gone Overboard
Time wasters are everywhere, but not everything we do that keeps us off task is a waste.  Hours can be spent on perfectly necessary projects such as maintaining a connection through social media and email, or honing our taste in literature by reading.  Reading tips from other writers can also help you make connections, and is a form of continuing education (though you'll never receive a grade, and I wouldn't recommend putting that you read Writer's Digest on a resume).  So here are some thoughts on how to stay productive while keeping yourself connected and informed.  Most solutions have a bit of Psychology and self-help included, so get ready to use a little metacognition (thinking about thinking) or even "listening to thinking" to better organize your time.  I'm sure after reading the following list you will have no trouble identifying things that are occupying too much time.

Time Wasters and How to Manage Them

1. Email:  I have three or four email addresses that I check frequently, and taking the time to sign in and out of them can get excessive over the course of a week or a month.  This time adds up quickly.                     Solution:  Use forwarding to check all your emails at once with a single "master" email you check once to see what was sent to all the other accounts.  
2. Reading:  Reading is an important part of writing and is certainly time well spent, but when you can't put down the novel you're engrossed in or the magazine with the fabulous advice, it becomes counterproductive.  Solution:  Keep a journal of your peaks and troughs of efficiency and arousal.  Use the times you are most "with it" to write, and times when you are not as energetic on more passive endeavors such as research, enjoying a novel, or gathering tips in magazines, blogs, and websites.  There is great information out there, but if your all strategy and no action, you won't get very far.                                               

1. Facebook/Twitter:  Though I use Facebook much more than Twitter, they are both a distraction when used for more than networking or sharing your work with potential readers (or clients, if you have a business).  These Internet powerhouses can help a great deal when creating a platform that is free and attracting people interested in seeing what you are doing (let me rephrase that: people are interested in how what you are doing CAN HELP THEM).  But, as most people know, it can be a serious distraction when you really should be writing and creating content.  Solution:  No two people are going to have the same solution to dealing with the engrossing distractions of social media, but remember advice I gave earlier about peaks and troughs in arousal and performance.  Use the times you are at your best to maximize your content, write your novel, or do the brain crunching stuff that really takes a lot of mental power....                                       

Because I think we can all agree that checking our Facebooks isn't exactly the most demanding thing in the world.  The same typically goes for email, and emails that are important should be given thought and consideration.  Draft important emails (if deadlines and time constraints allow) when you are feeling energetic and "on it".

So don't stop reading, connecting, and building your platform.  Put these activities into perspective and make sure you use your waking hours as efficiently as you can.

What other time wasters can you think of?  How do you deal with them?  Help us all out and tell us in a comment.