The Importance of Article Marketing


Freelance writing for a career entails much more than simply writing. Although as a freelance writer we get to do what we love to do, and that is write, but at the same time we must also be our own marketers, build our brand, and in essence sell ourselves which is our product. You have to get your work noticed in order to get freelance writing jobs. That's why today it is so important to have a platform to show your freelance writing work to potential clients and the best way to do that is through a website or blog.

Once you have set up a blog or site for your freelance writing business (Because you are small business!) you need to get it out there. To do that you need to promote your blog and there are a number of ways to get the traffic you need for people to come to your freelance writing site and then give you the chance to work with them. One such tactic is through article marketing. Article marketing is excellent for a freelance writer because it part of what we are good at and is part of our career of choice. What you do with article marketing is write a number of articles a week and then submit them to various internet article hosting sites. There, you will gain exposure and the all important backlinks that people who read your article at the host site will then find a link back to your freelance writing website or blog.

Some of the best article database sites to submit your freelance articles to to get those backlinkds are ezinearticles.com, buzzle.com, amazines.com, and ideamarketers.com. When you submit to these sites it is free for you, you retain all rights to your freelance articles and so you can then get your work out there with links directly back to your freelance writing website or blog. Starting a freelance writing business is tough to get going and gaining traffic, but with hard work, fortitude, and time it can be done!


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Freelance Writing Articles vs. Blogging


In thinking about the differences between freelance writing articles and using a blog as the platform for the majority of your writing and making your money that way, I'm often left wondering how to best find the balance between the two. There is of course the potential of making a decent income in either of these freelance writing markets, but with article writing it seems that the writer is reliant on what the employer or magazine wants whereas with blogging you can take the content and topics into your own hands. Basically, it is with blogging that the freedom to write whatever you want to, whatever moves you, and whatever you are most passionate about. This of course is appealing to any freelance writer, or anyone in general.

In building a successful blog, however, any freelance writer or blogger needs to do a lot more than simply post. Getting a following through networking, building your brand, and getting your voice out there are all integral parts of the process. For if you have a kick butt blog, but no one is reading it, what does that get you? The fact is, making money off of blogging takes a lot of work, energy, networking, and times. The reward is of course being able to dictate what you write and post, but you have to be willing to put in the necessary work and energies.

As for freelance writing articles, the hard part is simply finding an interested party or a writing gig. Freelance writing jobs are wrought with competition, and you have to present an intriguing query or submission, or prove you are the best candidate for the job. The other aspect of freelance writing articles and assignments for others is that if freelance writing is you only source of income, you are reliant upon what they are willing to pay. And if you are just starting out, many of the freelance writing jobs don't pay as much as you hope or in relation to how much actual time and research the project entails.

It is here that I come to the question of: how much time do you invest in each of these freelance writing ventures so that you can build your brand and your blog while still freelance writing articles in order to make enough money. You need to write, sometimes less than desirable projects to earn a salary, but you still want to designate enough time to your own blog so that you can keep building it up and eventually one day make that your full time priority. Anyone is urged to weigh in with their thoughts!


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Rising up Among the Masses


With much of what we read coming from online sources, the freelance writing market is fast becoming more internet based than solely in printed form. This can be great, as you can almost instantly reach a wider fan base, but at the same time, it gives everyone and anyone license to say virtually anything. Along with that, credible sources get lost in the shuffle of 'experts' and one never really knows where sources or articles are coming from. It seems that everyone and their dog has a blog of their own, and are more than willing to share with the world, from everything from what needs to change, to the move captivating revelations going on in their lives...did I mention that I switched toothpaste brands?! Freelance writing and blogging has been granted to the masses, and those hoping to make a successful writing career must push all that harder to get noticed.

With that, the online world is constantly being bombarded by articles, blurbs, and snippets, which can make it all the more difficult for those freelance writers to actually DO good work and get their services and articles out there. SEO keyword writing is a major player in getting your words picked up and noticed by search engines, but that is a difficult beast to master. It seems that with a wider availability allowing everyone to voice their thoughts, you no longer have to like or have a particular knack for writing to be success in any type of freelance writing or online marketing, as long as you cram enough keywords into the text and market like a fiend.

It makes it a bit unfair, I feel in my humble opinion, to those who are looking to write good quality works, but aren't quite as up to speed on the evolving internet techniques. Finding freelance writing work can be tricky, with tons of competition, and writers willing to work for pennies an article. If a potential job listing gets a hundred responses, and someone offers to do the work for $5 a piece, and another candidate's price is higher, who would you choose? Between competitive pricing, experience also comes into play; which puts freelance writers just starting out at a big disadvantage. Still, you have to hope that if you continue to produce good quality work, it will get noticed in the end. In the meant time, we must polish our SEO skills and cede to the fact that it's no longer enough to simply love to write and be willing to do your best on each assignment. Freelance writers need to think of themselves as marketers and actively sell their work. Good luck freelance writers of the world!


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Write for the Particular Job

Being a freelance writer for your sole source of income is a great job in that it allows you to do what you love for a living, but is also difficult because let's be honest, for most of us it doesn't pay in the way of any brain surgeon! Actually, just starting out can land you in the position of making less than those lucky few flipping burgers at the local McD's. The thing is, not only is there stiff competition for freelance writing jobs, but many of the offers don't pay very much and still require a good amount of time and research invested into each project.

This lands us freelance writers in a tough position, because often times we are also a tad perfectionistic and want only our best work represented when we submit and put our names in the byline. But, this can get us in trouble, if we are investing hours into an article that only pays $5 or $10. The thing is, you want to supply quality, but at the same time you are a working individual and can't devote copious amounts of time on jobs that aren't paying that much. That's why it is imperative to hone your skills to be both efficient, but realistic enough to know when to say, "This article is DONE."

A big part of the freelance writing business in effective time management. That being said, you need to assign your projects according to how much they are worth in what you are going to be paid, how soon they need to be submitted, and how much work or research each one is going to take. For an article that you are being paid more, the amount of time and subsequent care and quality going into the article can be higher. Moving forward, for something that is paying you only in the single digits, you can afford both time wise and money wise to spend the same amount, if not more, time on this work than the higher paying jobs. You need to be able to, yes submit a decent article, but you can't be meticulous and go into as much research and detail as you may be tempted to. In doing the smaller paying articles, it goes without saying that they aren't going to be masterpieces or the next front page article, they are fillers and you should be able to get through them fast enough to get multiple ones done and then move to the next task. Especially if you have a few different deadline to focus on.

It is always tough letting go of some of that perfectionistic attitude, but it is part of being successful in freelance writing. Because, after all, while we are doing what we love, we are still trying to earn a decent living!


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Persistence is the Word

Freelance writing as a career is tough to break into. Most of the jobs you apply for want to previous work or references, but if you are new and don't have much in the way to offer up, you are stuck in a sort of nasty circle. In order to get a job you need previous experience and work, but in order to get that, you need writing jobs! It can frustrating, and downright mind-numbing at times sending out queries, replying for gigs, and a writer not only needs to have the ability to write, but outfitted with a thick skin, persistence, and patience.

Generally, jobs aren't going to fall into your lap, and unless you know someone with connections or are lucky enough to serendipitously find an easy way into the market, you will be out trolling for possible leads. Online has quickly become the best way to do this, and by searching sites you can find postings from people seeking article writers, bloggers, and other writing contributions. From there, it's just a matter of putting yourself out there time and time again, and never giving up. Honestly, these posting get hundreds if not many more replies from writers looking to fill the position, so there is tough competition. But, if you truly are willing to put the time and work into it, eventually you will get your first few replies. You'll make it to the final rounds of interviews, and ultimately...*drumroll* the first few jobs! Yes, it is possible, but don't fool yourself, it's going to come with lots of rejection first, and even after that, you can't have low self-esteem and be a successful writer. Pick yourself up and keep on going back for more, in the mean time, write...on everything and anything. Practice, and if you have a blog write there and work on your craft. If you don't have a blog, I'd suggest starting one, if for nothing more than getting the words out there.

Good luck my fellow writers and have the fortitude to keep going back out there!
Cait*


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Cartoons and Cards

I have created cards that can be purchased or sent online, and they can be viewed at:


PigSpigot Greeting Cards


I love to poke fun at pop culture and everyday oddities and turn those thoughts into humorous cartoons to share!

Fitness Articles

I am an avid runner, well more closely a border-line obsessive, and being that I love to learn about the latest fitness and health related topics, I generally write about them. I am currently contributing to a few different sites on just that, including being Portland's Senior Fitness Examiner. Below you can visit my links and read my different articles!

Portland Senior Fitness Examiner

Run Portland Training Log

'The Power of the Core'

'Back to School Shape-up'

'Dining Smart at McDonald's'


'Dining Smart at Taco Bell'


'Dining Smart at Carl's Jr.'

'Dining Smart at Wendy's'