Freelance Writing Mini Ecourse
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Introduction First of all, congratulations for signing up for this Freelance Writing mini ecourse! You’ve taking the very first step in a very successful and lucrative direction. Freelance Writing is one of the fastest growing and hottest job markets on the internet today. As of this writing in 2015, there’s a massive shortage of quality, experienced freelance writers to fulfill the requirements of this growing online industry. Though you may be inexperienced and a little rough around the edges right now, by the time you’ve completed this mini e-course, you’ll have more experience and knowledge then most of the freelance writers out there! Why Freelance Writing? Freelance Writers are in HUGE demand right now and this growing industry will continue to grow for years to come. To put things in perspective, as long as the internet is around there will always be a demand for freelance writers. Most of you realize that offline jobs (especially the good paying ones) are becoming few and far between. The ones that are available are highly competitive and require a high level of education and experience. Did you know, that the average Freelance Writer makes about the same salary as a Mechanical Engineer? http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Freelance-Writers-l-United-States.html
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Being a Mechanical Engineer takes years of schooling at a great cost. Do you know how much time and money you’d spend to be a freelance writer? Just a few hours to get started and very little money. Freelance Writing is for you if… • You’re out of work or tired of your current offline job • You’re looking for a long term online career • You’re looking for steady income • You’d like to work where you want, when you want! • You’re not looking to invest in a lot of time, energy and expense learning a new skill that’s in high demand
What you DON’T need to have to be a highly paid Freelance Writer… • Experience • Education • Good looks (ha!) • Perfect spelling and grammar (really, you don’t)
Let me tell you a few things about Freelance Writing... >>Freelance Writing is one of the FASTEST and HOTTEST growing jobs on the internet today >>Freelance Writers are in HUGE demand right now >>There’s a MASSIVE shortage in quality of writers
Now that we have the intro out of the way, let’s get started into the meat and potatoes! I’m sure you’re eager to learn what Freelance Writing is all about and you want to start making some money! I’m excited for you, too. So let’s begin! 3
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Freelance Writing – Where to Start? There are literally thousands of paid writing opportunities on the web at this very moment for people just like you. No writing experience or prior education? No problem. Did you know that some of the most famous and successful writers out there today have very little education? On top of that, they’ve had little to no writing experience either! What is most important, is that you have the desire and ambition to be successful as a writer. How do you know if writing is for you? The best place to start is to think of all of your interests. What do you find inspiring? What are your hobbies? Do you have a past career or job that you’re knowledgeable in? Chances are, whatever your interests may be, you’ll be darn good writing about them! And the chances are even better that someone, somewhere on this planet, has a website or online business that aligns with the same interests as you. These people with the same interests as you are likely trying to sell to others through their websites. How do they do this? Through the power of the written word, of course! So, for example, let’s say I have a very strong interest in woodworking. It’s not something I did for a living in the past, but it’s a hobby of mine that I’m very passionate about. I know a lot about wood working and I could think of a few hundred topics right off the top of my head that I could share with others about it. So, I’ve found an interest that I’m passionate and knowledgeable about. Let’s have a look online to see if there are any websites that align with this interest. To start, let’s go to Google.com and search for “how to do wood working”. 4
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As you can see below, there are over 191,000,000 results in google for the term “how to do wood working�. That is a lot of websites who share the same interest in woodworking as I do!
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Now, let’s have a look at one of these websites. One that really caught my eye was the article on http://woodgears.ca/beginner/ Have a look at the article on this page – it’s very informative and engaging. Anyone new to woodworking would likely read this whole article and click on a few links within the article as well. The big question is, why is this website owner giving away this information for absolutely free? What’s in it for him/her? Have a look at the image below, and I’ll explain what his motives are behind this website. 6
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The image you see above is a PPC (Pay Per Click) Ad. The website owner earns revenue whenever someone clicks on this ad – likely between .25 cents to $5.00 per click. He has these ads throughout every page on his website and earns revenue through Google Adsense with all of the clicks he receives. So, while he’s writing articles about something he’s passionate about, he’s also earning revenue with his Google Adsense PPC ads! This guy might be writing some of his own articles. But it’s also very likely he’s paying for someone else to writing articles for him, too. Why would he pay someone to write articles for his website? Well, writing is time consuming, and many website owners are too busy maintaining their websites and their business to write content for their websites. And this is where you come in! Now, let’s look at the easiest and most available types of paid writing jobs available online today. Then, we’ll talk about where you can find paid writing opportunities and also how you can improve your typing quality and speed (using this free tool!).
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Freelance Writing – Articles, Blog Posts and Website Content There are many forms of paid writing opportunities online today. But for now, we’re going to focus on just a few that pay very well, and are most abundant. These are: • Website Articles • Blog Posts • Website Content Let’s have a look at the wood working website once more. http://woodgears.ca/beginner/ It’s pretty obvious that whoever wrote this “article” is very knowledgeable about woodworking and passionate about anything and everything about woodworking. The article is nice and long (about 1000 words) and very detailed. However, there is one important thing to take from this article – the author is not an expert writer! The “voice” of the article is very casual and personable, like he’s writing some advice to a friend. There are also spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the article. But – do you think anyone reading this article who is interested in learning how to do wood working really cares (or notices)? Nope! They don’t. Why? It’s because the website is providing value. There’s lots of free information and links to free projects – just what people love! Hopefully, the readers will
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click on a few of his PPC Ads and earn the website owner a little bit of money in the meantime. This article is a great example of how anyone with a passion about something can write to the masses and gain exposure while making a little (or a lot!) of money in the process. While the writing isn’t top notch, the value in the content is there – and that’s what all people on the internet are looking for! Remember that I told you this article was very “casual” in nature? It’s quite conversational and the author of this article makes no mistake in giving his/her own advice and opinions throughout the article. Most articles are not quite as conversational, but are more based on stating the facts only. I would consider the article to be more suited for the “blog” style of writing. A “blog post” is more casual in nature and can be written in the first person (using “I”, “myself”, etc.) A blog post can be opinionated and can make suggestions to the reader. On the other hand, the main purpose of an“article” is to inform only. It will not be written in the first person, but in the 3rd person and will not be casual in nature. Here is a good example of an article. Notice the style of writing and the voice it’s written in: http://woodworking.about.com/od/safetyfirst/tp/safetyRules.htm Notice the difference between the two? Quite different styles of writing, don’t you think? Below are the main differences between an “Article” and a “Blog Post”:
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Now that you know the difference between an article and a blog post, let’s move on to one more popular type of “content” you’ll find on the internet today - Website Content. Website content usually has one main purpose – to give visitors an idea of what a website is about. This could be anything from describing a product, service or just about anything. The content within the website will usually include some type of “call to action”. That is, it leads the reader to take some sort of action, usually to buy something or sign up to their website owner’s mailing list. Let’s have a look at a website that shows a good example of this. http://www.blackmountainplumbing.com/ The above website is a plumber located in San Diego, CA. The content on the main page of the website explains what the company does and its 10
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background. You’ll also notice links within the main page of the website (Contact Us, Schedule an Appointment, Links to Discount Offers). These are all considered “Call to Action” links or buttons. Once the website visitor reads what the company has to offer, they have many options to avail of the services offered by the company. Now that you know the difference between an Article, Blog Post and Website Content, let’s have a look at a really neat way you can improve your type quality and speed.
Want to Improve Your Keyboard Skills? Try This! In order to make money as a freelance writer, you’ll need to have decent typing skills. No, you don’t need to be a typing super star! But you should be able to type at least 30-40 words per minute. My typing skills have been at the 40 wpm area for the past 10 years, and I can easily tackle a 500 word article in about 30-40 minutes (research and writing included). There’s a really helpful tool online that will help you improve your typing speed and accuracy – it’s amazing. I recommend it to all of my students and all that have used it have seen improvements in their typing skills within just 1 day. I highly recommend it – even better, use it as much or as little as you want - it’s totally free! Check it out below: Typeonline.co.uk
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If you’re complete new to keyboarding and typing, I would suggest you get your typing speed up to at least 20 words per minutes before taking on any writing jobs. If your typing skills are not up to snuff, you might be spending hours upon hours completing just one piece of writing! In order to make it worth your while, you’ll need to be able to type quickly and accurately. Learn how to use ALL of the important keys using ALL of your fingers. This will help you type quickly and make corrections quickly too. Now that our keyboarding skills are up to snuff, let’s have a look at my top 3 choices for finding great paying writing gigs.
Where to Find Paid Writing Jobs Finding paid writing work online is actually the easiest part! There are literally thousands of paid writing opportunities online at this very moment. The opportunities are even better for you if English is your first language as the majority of the freelance writers out there today are from non-English 12
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speaking countries. While their writing abilities are decent for the most part (some are terrible and still find work), someone who is fluent in English and from either the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand or South America will have better and higher paying opportunities than other countries. Below are the most popular freelance sites online that offer great paying freelance writing opportunities. Go ahead and sign up – they’re free to join.
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iwriter.com
I know of a few writers alone (who’re graduates of the Elearncareers.com Freelance writing e-course) that make $20,000+ per year writing for this one website alone! Make anywhere from $5.00 to $15.00 per article – there’s always writing work available on this up and coming freelance writing job site.
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Odesk.com 13
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I’ve used Odesk.com in the past to supplement my writing income. There are many very high paying writing opportunities here! Any freelance writer can make a full time income by sticking with this popular freelance job site. There’s always thousands of writing opportunities available at any given moment. Find writing gigs, bid on them and start making money!
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Elance.com
Just like Odesk.com, Elance.com is a massive freelance job site that features thousands of paid writing opportunities from all over the world. It’s also free to join and easy to get started. This is one of my other go-to sites I use to supplement my income.
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These 3 top freelance writing job sites alone will keep your writing schedule extremely busy and allow you to earn a full time or part time income from home. We’ve covered quite a bit in this Freelance Writing Mini Course! You’ve learned: • What freelance writing is • How to write an article, blog post and website content • How to improve your typing speed • My top 3 sites for finding great paying freelance writing work While I can’t cover absolutely everything in this mini course, there is enough information here to help you make some really good money as a freelance writer working either part time or full time. However…if you’re really serious about become a highly paid, professional Freelance Writer… 15
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Join the thousands of freelance writers and quit your day job! Most of them are making serious money - more than $60,000 per year- and work just a few hours per day from the comfort of their own home. Many have quit their day jobs and are making a full time income within just four weeks of completing our Freelance Writing Master Course. Want to join them? With this Freelance Writing Master Course, you’ll learn how to… •
Find high-paying freelance writing jobs – fast!
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Easily transition from your current job to a highly-paid freelance writer
• Create a professional writing portfolio • Create your own (free) website •
Get free writing tools online
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Write and find other types of high-paying freelance writing jobs
• Learn keyword research and SEO writing (important!) • Write query letters to potential clients • Schedule your work and deal with clients • Properly and professionally format your finished writing • Set your rates and get paid! • Write 500 word articles in under 40 minutes •
Make $2500/per week writing simple articles (case study included!)
• Handle taxes, money and your writing business • …and much, much more. 16
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Freelance Writing Master Course gets straight to the meat and potatoes and shows you how to make a full-time income online simply by writing for those who need your services. If you’re ready to take your freelance writing dreams to the next level, I encourage you to sign up now. Spots fill up fast, so act quickly. You will also receive the bonus report Over 50 Websites That Pay $50 To $150 Per Article which lists over 50 websites that you can earn from by submitting your articles. Interested? Click the link below to make your payment. It’s only $9.
Click here to get it Indian residents click here to pay Rs. 550 via Instamojo P.S. – Spots are limited, so sign up today! Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be have instant access of the course material.
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