I have asked my readers to submit any question they would like to ask me and after more than a month, it is time to reply. [Have a Question Burning in Your Mind?]

There are 3 questions.

Question 1.

Hi, it is nice to stumble across your blog. I am wondering, is it really important to have a blog for a freelancer? What about the old fashion way? Name cards? Face-to-face job application? Do you meet up with your clients? Thanks!

by: Damian

Answer: Having a blog will boost your credibility and it serves as a platform for your potential clients to have a look at your work. You can still use name cards (business cards) to sell your services if you find this method works well for you. Of course, some clients require face-to-face meeting. I do meet up with my clients from time to time.

Question 2.

Hi Sarah,

My biggest hurdle is in increasing page views per visitor. On normal topics I get very low ratio close to 1. Even on topics related to film actresses I am not getting more than 2 page views per visitor. I expected much higher ratios. So how do you give a strong call for action?

1. Does it depend most on the phrasing of the call for action at the foot note of a page? Say luring the reader falsely.
2. Does it depend most on the topic itself and uncontrolled by us?
3. Does it depend most on the suspense/discontinuity created intentionally to make the reader like to know completely (controlled by the author)?
4. Does it depend most on the compulsive nature of the audience (similar to 2)?

These days I am concluding that 4th is the right one and thus both topic and audience matter. What is your take on this subject.

by: Rajun

Answer: I don’t get many page views as well, especially when I started this blog in January 2009. One thing I do realise is many people are searching for topics related to freelancing. So, I started to research on keywords, related topics, how to write the titles, the content and other SEO methods. I have tried article marketing and forums last year and they are sending traffic to my blog but I can’t rely on article marketing and forums to help generate a steady traffic. The key is to establish an authority blog, and make sure Google verified the blog as an authority blog and cache the content as soon as possible.

To answer your question,

1. Does it depend most on the phrasing of the call for action at the foot note of a page? Say luring the reader falsely.

I believe this is known as link bait. You can give it a try but I haven’t find this useful at the moment.

2. Does it depend most on the topic itself and uncontrolled by us?

At some point, I do believe that we cannot control the traffic we get for our blog. However, with the right practice of SEO, you should be getting more traffic.

3. Does it depend most on the suspense/discontinuity created intentionally to make the reader like to know completely (controlled by the author)?

I don’t think so.

4. Does it depend most on the compulsive nature of the audience (similar to 2)?

Readers choose what they read. Maybe whatever you are offering on your blog is not interesting enough to capture their attention.

I get an average of 300 unique visits per day, with 1000 page views per day.

Question 3.

Hi Sarah,

I hope you will answer this question. I have a burning question for a long time.

I set aside time to write for four or five hours day. But eventually I fail to be consistent. I do write for an hour or so and then stop. Even when I write on a topic that I like the most and have lot of knowledge still I feel that I do less than what I could.

Why does it feel like so tired just after an hour of continued writing?

Is it just the reality or is there some problem with me?

Just want to be focused for at least 2 hours a day in a productive manner. I would appreciate your suggestions.

Answer: You are not alone. The key is to take a short break after writing for an hour (a break of 5 minutes) so that you can walk around, have a cup of tea, take your eyes off your PC/laptop or papers if you are writing using pen and paper.

Why does it feel like so tired just after an hour of continued writing?

This is normal, which is why you need a short break in between writing.

Is it just the reality or is there some problem with me?

Yes, this is the reality. I must admit there are some very hardcore writers who can spend hours writing without a break but not everyone is a super writer.

Just want to be focused for at least 2 hours a day in a productive manner.

This is not a problem at all as long as you take a short break in between your writing task. However, stick to the 5-minute rule or else you won’t be able to resume your writing later because you will be exposed to more distractions if your break takes more than 5 minutes. I can focus for 6 hours of writing during weekdays and 4 hours during weekends. However, my productivity increases at night, so I write mostly after 8pm until late (sometimes very late).

*****

Thanks for all your questions!

Have a Question Burning in Your Mind – Answers is a post from: Writing Consultation

“What is telecommuting?”

Years ago, I was asking myself the same thing.

Thanks to Google, our best friend, you can truly learn about anything you want.

Do you know the meaning? No?

According to Google (by using the search keyword ‘define:telecommuting‘)

• employment at home while communicating with the workplace by phone or fax or modem
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working from home (WFH), or working at home (WAH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommuting
• The action of working from home, sometimes for part of a working day or week, using a computer connected to one’s employer’s network or via the Internet.
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/telecommuting
• Telecommuter – Telecommuters spend at least part of their workday at home or a telecottage, using computers or other telecommunications equipment. Most telecommuters live on the fringe of large cities and in the suburbs and exurbs, in what is known as the “two-hour telecommuting ring”.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommuter
• The practice of using telecommunication technologies to facilitate work at a site away from the traditional office location and environment. teleconference – Interactive, electronic communication among three or more people at two or more sites.
  shopfort1.com/t1terms.cfm
• working with others via telecommunications technologies (eg, telephones, modems, faxes) without physically travelling to an office.
  www.nrdc.org/reference/glossary/t.asp
• Telecommuting uses telecommunication technology such as the Internet to work outside of the traditional workplace. An individual may be on a company’s payroll, but perform his or her duties from the home.
  eca.com/terminology.html
• An arrangement where an employee works either part or all of their workweek from a location other than the standard place of work (office).
  hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/HRToolkitGlossary.cfm
• telecommuter – A work-at-home computer user who connects to the corporate LAN backbone using remote access technologies.
  www.ohsu.edu/edcomm/vcs/glossary/
• This may be a subgroup of Human Resource Policy. (To be decided whether it should be a separate keyword.)
  ccs.mit.edu/21c/iokey.html
• The practice of working from home and communicating with your fellow workers using teleconferencing. Also known as teleworking: linked closely to …
  www.martech-intl.com/best2/glossary.htm
• Periodic work out of the principal office, one or more days per week, either at home, a client’s site, or in a telework center; the partial or total substitution of information technologies for the commute to work. …
  www.jala.com/definitions.php
• Working at home for a business. Data and documents are usually transmitted to and from a central office via computer, fax, and telephone.
  www.cybercitymommies.com/Glossary.html
• Use of a telephone and/or computer system in the home that allows an employee perform job duties and to communicate with the office without actually traveling to and from work.
  www.thecallcenterschool.com/tools/glossary.aspx
• Working at home but connecting to one s office by way of a computer network. Source: Learning Circuits
  www.deploypromis.eu/en/glossary-t.html

Do you like telecommuting?

Telecommuting is a post from: Writing Consultation

I need to find a home based job because I am tired of office hours. Would you advice me what should I do?

Rossa, if you are reading this, this would be my reply to you.

The truth is everyone is tired of office hours.

The reason I become a freelance writer is because I hate working hours (9am to 6pm or similar working hours).

As I said, I used to work in retail stores and offices. I know it is difficult to work according to a set of working hours. If you work for yourself, at least you get to set your own working hours. The best part would be to go on a holiday at anytime you want.

I would suggest you to give freelancing a try, but don’t quit on your day job because:

• If you quit now and your freelance work is not successful, you will be having a tough time because you won’t have enough money to support your living cost until you get a new job.
• If you quit now and you can’t find any freelance work to do, at least you can still earn money from your current day job.

If you are sure you want to start freelancing, be sure to have enough money to support you for at least six months. Otherwise, don’t think about it at all.

As to finding a freelance job that is suitable for you, refer to this article.

I hope you can find the right path towards your dream career.

Regards,

Home Based Jobs is a post from: Writing Consultation

Hello Sarah, Was browsing thru your webpage and was impressed with your articles. Was wondering do often you write for companies (eg being AsiaPartTime.com) and how do you charge based on these freelance write?

Ok, so first of all, how do I write for companies like AsiaPartTime.

Some time ago, AsiaPartTime advertised on its own site that they are looking for freelance writers.

At the rate of RM10/article, it is a good start. So, I applied for the position. I sent in a few articles to the editor. The editor will select the articles that he/she finds interesting to be used on the site. Then, they make payment.

However, I have been guest blogging on AsiaPartTime’s blog for some time now. As a guest blogger, I did not get paid but I get a back link to my blog.

How do I charge as a freelance writer?

This depends on the assignment. Most of the time, I write for overseas clients. I would charge based on the hours I work but sometimes, I charge by the number of articles and the number of words per article.

There is no specific rates as you set your own rates.

Regards,

Q&A: How To Write and How To Charge is a post from: Writing Consultation

However, Mandy left me a comment, which I think is more appropriate for me to answer openly so everyone else can learn.

Hi Sarah. My name is Mandy. I read your email this morning and am interested to know how I can find a job as a freelance proof reader/copy editor. I currently am doing this work from home for a publisher locally but the work is not consistent. I am a retired secretary by profession and have worked in various fields eg. legal, finance and trading. I am basically a multi task person.

Dear Mandy,

First of all, I have to say that I have no professional experience in proof reading or copy editing. Therefore, I won’t be able to provide an accurate answer to your question. However, since you are working for a local publisher, I am sure that many clients would love to hire you. After all, you have the experience they need.

However, the question you need to ask if, are you looking for jobs in Malaysia (only) or you would like to look for jobs internationally.

If you want to work for clients based in Malaysia only, the best place I can suggest is AsiaPartTime.

The only problem is, it is rather tricky to find direct proof reading / copy editing jobs because these jobs are usually compiled under ‘writing‘ category.

However, if you want to break through the international market, you can try these sites:

Get A Freelancer – Proof reading

Get A Freelancer – Editing

Elance – Proof reading

Elance – Editing

One problem with these sites is that you will have to place a bid, meaning it is not guaranteed you will get the work, but if you are good at what you are doing, then you are most likely to get a few shots.

Good luck!

Regards,

Q&A: Proof Reading, Copy Editing is a post from: Writing Consultation

The question is ‘Definitely’ or ‘Definately’?

The answer:

The correct spelling is ‘Definitely’.

I am not bias but from my observations, Australians love to use ‘Definately’ in their sentences. I have mingled, chatted and dealt with many Australians through my VA job and this problem is repeating itself everyday.

However, this misspelling is happening everywhere in the world.

So, this is why I write this post. Hopefully this helps.

There is a very interesting webpage dedicated for the spelling of Definitely.

Otherwise, you can check out Wikitionary‘s page for more explanation.

Definitely or Definately – I Definitely Have To Explain This is a post from: Writing Consultation

A: PayPal is the preferable way to get paid. However, if you use paid freelancing sites, you will receive payment through Escrow and then you can withdraw to your PayPal account or any other accounts depending on the sites.

I recommend PayPal because it is easier to bill your client. There is an invoice service and you can use this to send invoices to your clients and have them pay you through PayPal.

However, it also depends on your geographical area, whether PayPal is available. If it is not available, you will have to find other ways to receive money internationally. After all, you might be in India and your client is in USA.

Getting Paid For Your Work Through PayPal is a post from: Writing Consultation

This is a really important question you need to ask yourself as a freelance writer (or any freelancers in general). Setting the right rate might influence your clients to stick with you for a long time.

“Go with the flow.”

While this mindset is correct at certain times, you need to set your own rules and regulations as well including your own rates for different types of jobs.

Why you need to set the rates?

1. You have something to compare to when a client make an offer to you. Remember different clients make different offer. To know whether the offer is worth taking or not, you need to have a guideline.

2. You know where you are standing at when you receive a client’s offer. For example, you might start off offering low rates. As the time goes, if your clients are making better offer, you are actually progressing to a whole new level. Congratulations if you have managed to reach a higher level from where you have started.

3. You can make changes to the rates you set according to what the clients offer to you. Yes, it is flexible. You decide how much you want to charge for which client you want according to the work load.

4. You know when you can charge higher and when to charge lower.

*If there is some other advantages you can think of, feel free to share with us.

Guidelines on setting the rates:

a. $0.05 – $0.10 : depending on your experience. Can go higher if you are exceptionally good at what you do.

b. If your client is offering bulk work, perhaps you can charge lower – discount rate or anything you like to call it. Don’t feel too intimidated to reduce the fee, do what is right for you.

c. Go with what you think suits you best.

Be sure to prepare invoices to keep track of your income (most clients require invoices).

The Right Rate To Charge is a post from: Writing Consultation