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The Rhythm of Write chronicles the beginning of a freelance writing and blogging career as it is built by scratch. Join me as we learn how to get paid to write, get paid to blog, and make money online.
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Jul
5

The RoW Blog Carnival - July 2008

DeborahBlog Carnival

Welcome to the July 1, 2008 edition of the rhythm of write blog carnival. Sorry we’re a few days late getting it posted! Special thanks to everyone who contributed and made this one of the best blog carnivals yet!

Jim Murdoch presents Just the facts, ma’am posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “A review of The Session by Aaron Petrovich, a novella written entirely in dialogue in a style similar to Samuel Beckett.”

George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How To Write A Novel posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Novelist Paula Paul relies on her experience to explain how a novel can be written.”

Kathleen Gage presents Blogging is so simple virtually anyone can do it posted at Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions, saying, “Blogging is one of the easiest points of entry to Internet Marketing. If you can write a shopping list, if you can journal, if you can write a letter to a friend or business associate, you can blog. The key though is to simply get started. And once you begin, get in the habit of blogging at least three times a week. You can actually schedule time into your day to blog.
There are so many incredible benefits to blogging; visibility, credibility; opportunity to express your opinion, opportunity to create a dialogue where none existed; a chance to be heard; you can use a blog to write your next book, and more.”

Jim Murdoch presents Are you a writer or a typist? posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “A discussion of the effects of technology of the art of writing.”

Jim Murdoch presents You probably think this blog is about you (part one) posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “A discussion of the “thinly-veiled autobiography”"

Cheryl St.John presents What I Learned About Writing From Watching American Idol posted at Cheryl St.John.

Orna Ross presents Five Keys To Writing Excellence by Orna Ross posted at WRITING ADVICE & PUBLISHING ADVICE from Font, saying, “All good writing shares five common characteristics. Orna Ross takes us through them.”

TheLifeLessTraveled presents Word Nerd Gets Paid to Name Products for a Living…And How You Can, Too! posted at The Life Less Traveled, saying, “Interested in a cool and creative job? Amanda C. Peterson is a professional namer for Landor, a branding consultancy, coming up with monikers for snack food flavors, technology spin-offs and everything in between. After years of working in advertising planning and copywriting, she made the leap to worrying about Latin root words and trademark attorneys. For of hers you’ve heard of (Freescale, Photoshop Lightroom) there are hundreds of products and companies that get great names that never make it. Read on to learn about how Amanda became a professional namer and how you can, too.”

Heather Johnson presents 5 Ways to land a great Freelancing Job posted at soho-life.com.

Jim Murdoch presents Thou shalt not write poems about poems posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “Should poets write poems about poetry?”

Jim Murdoch presents Hide and Seek posted at Jasmin’s heart, saying, “Guest blog by Jim Murdoch on “decoder ring” poems”

SpiKe presents Introducing A New Way Of Prioritizing posted at Organize IT.

Heather Johnson presents Info for first time Novelists posted at Romance with Shiela Stewart.

Kathleen Gage presents Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions: Get the most out of your blogging efforts! FREE report tells you how posted at Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions, saying, “What used to be viewed by many as a passing fad has now become a necessary aspect of doing business on the Internet. Blogging has become a necessary aspect of any solid online marketing strategy. However, even though millions of people are blogging, the majority don’t know how to optimize their blogging efforts. Although some people view blogging as a novelty or a “someday I’ll get around to it” smart entrepreneurs understand they have to get into the game of blogging sooner than later. When done correctly, blogging can have an incredible impact on your market position.”

Cindy King presents Write A Better International Website posted at Cindy King, saying, “One of the the things you need to do when communicating with any prospects or clients is to think about what they want and need to hear from you. You need to look at your business offer, communication or message from their point of view.”

Jose DeJesus MD presents Computer Vision Syndrome and How to Avoid it posted at Physician Entrepreneur, saying, “Anyone who works in front of a computer monitor is at risk of developing Computer Vision Syndrome. See the full article for way to prevent or relieve the symptoms of this increasingly common vision problem.”

Kerrie Flanagan presents Tools For Writing Success-Effective Goal Setting posted at The-Writing-Bug, saying, “Tips for effective goal setting.”

Jonathan Deamer presents The 10 secrets of writing reviews that will keep readers coming back posted at Jonathan Deamer.

Thursday Bram presents The Difference Between Phone and Email Interviews posted at thursdaybram.com.

Thursday Bram presents Still Not A Video Game Blog, But… posted at thursdaybram.com.

Jim Murdoch presents Fair Play, A Novel posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “A review of Tove Jansson’s book ‘Fair Play’.”

Raymond presents Work From Home With Paid Online Surveys posted at Money Blue Book.

Raymond presents Nigerian 419 Scams and Spam Emails Are Funny But They Make Me Paranoid posted at Money Blue Book.

Jose DeJesus MD presents How to Send Emails that get Delivered and Read posted at Physician Entrepreneur.

Jim Murdoch presents Portrait of the writer as a drunken skunk (part one) posted at The Truth About Lies, saying, “A discussion of the relationship between writing and alcohol”

Anna Goldsmith presents Five Tips for a Successful Freelance Writing Career | Copyblogger posted at Copyblogger.

George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How To Avoid Mistakes With Self-Publishing posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Sallie Goetsch offers eight points with which you should be aware if you are considering self-publishing.”

George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How to Remove a Mental Block posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Jason Van Orden explains several steps you can take to get rid of that mental block.”

QuietRebelWriter presents 24 Rebellious Resources for Freelancing posted at Quiet Rebel Writer, saying, “Sure, we promise the world when we’re starting out in a freelancing career. With these resources, we can actually deliver.”

Heather Johnson presents 6 Tips for Effective Freelancing posted at Dorm Room Biz.

JHSEsq presents A Unique Legal Theory Serves as a Reminder to Blog Responsibly posted at Colloquium.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents STOP YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!! posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

terry dean presents 10 Research Sites You Should Bookmark posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

axel presents Amazing Blogging Skills posted at axel g.

Kerrie Flanagan presents Tools For Writing Success-Know Your Markets posted at The-Writing-Bug.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the rhythm of write blog carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Jun
30

Communication is Essential

DeborahFreelance Writing

No matter where you go or what blog you read, you’ll see one common theme: communication. As a freelance writer, blogger, or entrepreneur of any kind, communication is essential to your success.

I had a potential client email me a few months ago and offer me a job involving 40 articles. He was to feed me keywords in batches of 10 and we had agreed upon the price (which was low for me at the time as I thought I was new and should charge a low price - mistake #1). I started with 3 test articles so he could be sure we were on the same page, and then moved on to the first batch.

I was told after that first batch that I would receive keywords again soon. I followed up once, with no response. A couple months later I received an email from the same guy, but it was obviously intended for another recipient and was sent to me in error.

Last week, out of the blue, I received an email letting me know that he had his next project for me, listing the keywords, and asking when I could have the work finished. Uhm - hello?

I sat on the email for two days, unsure of how I was going to respond. I considered ignoring it completely, but thought that would be unprofessional. I considered politely declining and letting him know I was unsatisfied with our level of communication with past jobs, but I also didn’t feel as though I was in a position to turn down work completely. What did I do, you ask?

I opened my response by thanking the client for thinking of me, but described my concern over how he had dropped off the face of the planet after promising me work last time. I explained that I schedule my work to make sure everyone receives the best quality they deserve, and that I could not offer that type of quality without communication. I went on to quote a reasonable price (higher than before but in line with my current rates) for the articles and told him to let me know if he’d still like them. And, he did.

I felt better because I was honest and upfront with my client, yet managed to stay professional. He actually thanked me for my honesty and provided additional modes of contact for future reference. He’ll get the quality writing he deserves, and I won’t walk away feeling like I let a good job or client slip through my fingers.

The point is that some people do not realize that what they may or may not have said is wrong or displays a lack of communication. He may have been caught up in his life or work and forgotten about me, but never letting him know that it bothered me would have only left me open for a repeat of the situation.

Don’t be afraid to communicate with your clients, even if what you have to say isn’t all flowery and fun. They’ll appreciate you more for your professionalism than anything else.

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Jun
27

Google Adsense TOS Changes

DeborahAdsense/Adwords

Back in February, Google Adsense released their revised terms and conditions. What most bloggers don’t realize is that there were some major changes to the terms and conditions, one of which definitely requires action on the part of the user.

JenSense posted an awesome article back in February outlining all of the changes. Someone obviously took a lot of time comparing the old and the new Google Adsense policies. I highly recommend you read her post if you aren’t already familiar with the changes. Tell your visitors they are being tracked with web beacons and cookies as Adsense terms updated.

The most important change is that you MUST publish a privacy policy on your blog which tells users that they are being tracked (even though you yourself aren’t really doing the tracking).

Even better, about a week after that original post, JennSense published a free sample of a Privacy Policy that you can use on your website. AdSense-friendly privacy policy sample for AdSense publishers to use.

It’s in your best interest to double check and make sure you are showing a Privacy Policy on your blog, especially if you are running Google Adsense advertisements. Who knows if, or when, Google will catch up and start checking for these things - but I’d rather not be caught without one!

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Jun
24

Google Hot Trends

DeborahUncategorized

Late last week I uncovered a useful little gem known to many as the Google Hot Trends list. Now, some of you may be thinking, “What, you didn’t know about that?” but, no, I didn’t. I stumbled upon it quite by accident while doing some other keyword research.

Google basically maintains a list of 100 hot keywords that are being searched on the internet. They periodically update the list throughout the day, listing the keywords, how popular they are (using terms such as volcanic, spicy, hot, etc…), and other related search terms.

The list is useful when looking for keywords that are guaranteed to drive traffic to your website.  Writing content specifically geared towards the day’s hot topics is a surefire way of driving traffic to information that people are interested in. It will, of course, take time to get used to writing based on that sort of quick-changing demand, but I think the work is definitely worth the effort.

The top 10 words on the Hot Trends list this morning (8:57am EST) are:

  • aj morgan
  • graham bunn
  • us
  • bergdiets.com
  • gamespot
  • g105
  • gotta dance
  • napoleon lightning
  • imus
  • vince mcmahon

You may not know who some of those people are, or what some of those words mean, but Google makes it easy to find that sort of information as well. Simply clicking on a word in the list will bring you to a page dedicated to the word, including links to recent news articles and blogs written with a focus on that keyword.

The list is definitely worth keeping in mind as you search for your next article topic. Happy writing…

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Jun
23

Link Love - 06/23/08

DeborahLink Love

It’s been quite a while since our last Link Love post and I have, literally, hundreds of blog posts to go through so that I can share my favorites. I’ve been saving them up, so don’t be surprised if you see a few of these posts this week. I’ve seen some awesome information posted over the past couple of months, but haven’t had a lot of time to research everything and report back. With that in mind:

Back in May, Andy Stratton at The Freelance Switch wrote 5 Tips for a Better Online Portfolio. This article is great for professionals who use their website soley as a portfolio, but not necessarily as money-generating project. The article includes tons of great tips for making your online portfolio appealing to prospective clients!

-and-

Over at Get Paid to Write Online there was a post by Sharon on Making Writing Clients Happy. She offers tips on the little things you can do to make (and keep) your clients happy enough to seek you out the next time they need something done while remaining as professional as possible.

Completely unrelated, I have to say how shocked I was when I woke up this morning to hear that George Carlin had passed away last night. I’ll never forget the first time I got to see him live or the hours I spent with my dad watching his HBO specials. The contributions he made to comedy, and television in general, are incredibly valuable and will never be forgotten. George Carlin’s list of seven dirty words will never sound the same again! Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family - may he rest in peace.

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Jun
20

The Many Facets of Viral Marketing

DeborahMarketing Tools

The beginnings of viral marketing can be traced to strategic use of email. Since that long ago day, viral marketing has gone from a marketing strategy to an art [...] Continue Reading…

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Jun
19

What is BlogRolled?

DeborahJob Opportunities

Talk about word of mouth advertising. I received an email yesterday from the folks over at ReviewMe (am I signed up over there?) letting me know that BlogRolled had [...] Continue Reading…

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Jun
18

Increasing Your Adsense Earnings

DeborahAdsense/Adwords

As we mentioned before, Adsense is a great option for a website owner looking to make more money from his or her website. There are a number of people [...] Continue Reading…

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Jun
13

Using Site Navigation to Increase AdSense Revenue

DeborahAdsense/Adwords

Webmasters have long known that AdSense is a great way to make additional revenue with their websites. Most use it to target high paying keywords. They’ll start by compiling [...] Continue Reading…

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Jun
12

10 Effective Viral Marketing Techniques

DeborahMarketing Tools

Viral marketing is described as a technique that allows individuals to forward marketing messages to their niche groups, thus enabling them to increase public awareness of their product or [...] Continue Reading…

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