Sunday, 30 September 2012

Tips to Become a Successful Online Writer



Why have you made the decision to become an online writer? Do you like the idea of working from home? Do you want financial freedom? Whatever the reason, you will want to succeed and here are some tips to help you succeed writing online.

Research Keywords

Before you write a piece for the internet, you will need to make sure you have a list of keywords and know how to research them. Keywords are used by search engines to determine whether your content is relevant to someone’s searches. The more relevant you are, the higher you will be on the searches.

If you write for clients or websites, you may be given the keywords to write around. However, if you are writing for yourself or for residual income, it is likely that you will need to think of topics and find the keywords. You need words that are highly searched for but low in competition. This will help you reach the top quicker as there are fewer people using the same keyword as you.

Choosing Directories

There are plenty of directories for posting articles. You may choose to post on one of these directories or start your own blog. You may also decide that you want to sell your content to others. This will all depend on whether you want to retain the rights or sell them to someone else.

Article directories are a great way to get your name out there and develop an online reputation. This is extremely important to succeed as an online writer. With a reputation, clients will be able to find you easily and get in contact for more content. As you build your reputation, you will then be able to create your own blog and put your content there so you can do as you wish.

Make Articles Informative

When writing online, it is important to be informative. Keyword stuffing is not recommended and you should include your keywords naturally. This will help to attract real readers instead of writing for the search engine. Informative posts are the things that Google is after and that is the main search engine that people use.

If you are opting for affiliate marketing, you should not create sales ads. Instead, opt for a well-rounded review on the product or offer information on something connected to the product. This will help you attract readers and make them want to click on your affiliate link.

Read the Guidelines

Whichever site you write for, look at the style guidelines before you start. Some websites insist that you write in third-person only while others will allow you to write in the second- or first-person. You may find that some websites allow you to post fictional pieces, such as short-stories and poems, as well as factual content.

The guidelines may also state how to use SEO and whether you can include affiliate links or not. Some sites will not allow affiliate links since they offer residual income through advertisement revenue; on the other hand, some welcome affiliate links as well as paying upfront for the pieces.

Edit and Proofread

There is nothing worse for a reader to read something that is full of spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Proofreading is important, whether you are writing for yourself, ghostwriting for a client or providing content for a website. Spelling mistakes and grammar errors are an embarrassment and show that you are not as professional as you claim to be.

Research the Topic

You do not need to be an expert to be an online writer. There are many clients who simply want a short blog piece on a topic that is easily researchable. Make sure you do your research and never make something up for a factual piece. While researching, keep the content on the other page and go back and forth. This will prevent you from directly copying information and help you write something in your own words.

Becoming a successful online writer will take time but with the above tips, you will be able to start your journey. Remember that this is not something that will happen overnight so take your time to build your portfolio and get your name out there.

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Downfalls of Online Writing



Online writing offers many benefits but it also offers downfalls. Before getting started, it is important to assess these downsides and make sure that they will not overly affect you. This helps to ensure that this is something that is right for you.

Won’t Get Rich Quick

Writing online does not give you the ability to get rich quick. You will not solve your money problems in an instant and it takes dedication and hard work to become successful. If this is something that you are looking into as a way to make money online quickly, stop right there! You will spend hours at the computer, at first, finding the perfect leads and creating your portfolio.

In fact, a major problem with online writing is the fact that the pay can be low. There are a number of people out there looking for, essentially, slave labour. “Employers” will say that they will raise the pay after a few months but avoid these as many will just drop you after those months and find someone else willing to work for the low amount. Even high quality websites try to avoid paying high prices for their content – many opt for a revenue share system to get away with paying very little unless your content becomes viral.

Many People Do This

Online writing is something that many people are doing now. Not everyone is necessarily as good as you at it but there is a lot of competition. This will mean that you need to work hard to find people to hire you and not the other person going up for the same lead. If this is something that you are doing on the side for extra cash, you may find that another line of work is better as you may not have the determination to stick with online writing.

Finding Websites that Pay Upfront

A lot of websites now offer residual pay, which is often a revenue share system and pays you over time. This could work out beneficial in the long run but if you are looking for money now, you need upfront pay for your online writing. This means that you need to spend time finding sites or clients who are willing to pay for content and it often means that you lose all the rights.

The problem is that very few companies like this exist now and those that do pay very little – leaving you to the “you don’t get rich quick” downfall. Those that do pay a decent amount will not always have topics to write on either, so you need to get in their fast and make sure you are with as many different companies as possible.

You Are a Contractor

For the majority of websites and clients, you will not be an employee. You will work as a freelance online writer, which opens you up to a number of possibilities; the main one being a job loss. The majority of websites will be able to remove your writing privileges at any time so it is important to sign up to as many as possible. There is a saying in the online writing world – never leave all your eggs in one basket.

This is why writing for residual income is often a good idea. You are less likely to lose your writing privileges – compared to upfront writing – and you can earn while not writing for the sites.

Freelance online writing is something that benefits many people and there is a reason why people opt for it as full-time work. The problem is that there are downsides too. Before you consider getting into writing online, these downfalls need to be considered to make sure that this is the right journey for you.

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Online Writing Tips for Beginners



Online writing is one option available to make money online. Blogs and online articles are ways for businesses to connect with people and offer updates but that does not mean that people know how to write. This means that there are a lot of people out there looking for someone to provide content and information for them. To be successful at online writing, there are some tips that you must follow.

Proofread, Proofread and Proofread Again

Never send work out without checking it first. It is very easy to make mistakes while typing – and everyone does! Even when typing in a word processor with an automatic spellchecker, not all mistakes are incorrect spelling and easy to spot. Some errors appear as genuine words or involve misplaced commas. Proofread everything that you write – it is likely that you will also find that you need to make some edits along the way. Supplying something with errors will make you look unprofessional and will mean that you lose potential clients.

Research Your Work and Include Sources

Research is extremely important when writing content. This will help you offer detailed content, which is full of information and not fluff. However, when researching, it is easy to use statistics and forget about including the sources. Avoid any plagiarism and show that your information can be trusted by including sources during or at the end of your articles and blogs.

Plan Your Work

All online writing will need a beginning, middle and end. Avoid just writing; this can lead to having an article that jumps from one topic to another accidentally. It is worth taking the time to plan anything that you write to make sure it flows well and make sure you have detailed information.

Use a Thesaurus Carefully

A thesaurus will increase your vocabulary but it is easy to overuse one. There are thesauruses available online for free or you can buy one and have it on your desk. This is great when you want to avoid using the same word too much – especially keywords.

Learn More About Search Engine Optimization

SEO is essential when it comes to writing online but it takes time to learn and do well. The time spent learning more about SEO is worth it since it means your content will reach high page rankings quicker. This leads to gaining more clients and higher paying work, making your online money making venture successful.

You will not become an instant millionaire writing online. This is something that you should do because you love it as well as wanting to earn money. As you start to think more about the money, you will often find that the hard work to become successful is not worth the hassle. By following these tips, you should be able to make enough money to become financially stable through online writing but it will not happen overnight.

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Ways to Make Money Online Through Writing



Making money online is becoming possible. One option is to start writing online. While this is not a 'get rich quick' scheme, there are different ways to make money through online writing. It is worth trying these different options to find the best one for you – you may find that there is more than one option for you.

Make Your Own Blog

A common option is to start your own blog. This can be done for free through sites such as WordPress.com or Google’s Blogger, or you can create your own site and pay for a domain name and website hosting. However, you will need to find ways to monetise your blog so you make money online. It is worth creating a blog on a niche and there are plenty of popular options to make money online.

One option is to use Google AdSense, or another advertisement revenue option. This is where adverts are put on your site based on your keywords and you gain income every time someone clicks on those adverts.

You could opt for affiliate marketing, which could help you earn more money online. You promote products and gain a commission. This could earn more money online than using advertisement revenue but people need to buy the product through your link. There are plenty of products available for affiliate marketing and they vary – some even offering 100% commission!

If your blog or website gains a lot of traffic, another option is to sell advertising options for others. This may be placing an advert banner on your site or may be an in text advert. Either way, people pay you to advertise through you and there is no need for people to click you links to gain income. The downside is that your website will need to be popular and you will need to make sure the adverts fit in with your niche.

Join a Writing Website

There are different companies offering places as a writer. This could be a quick way to start making money online but there are no guarantees that you will make a lot of money but you can make some. The problem is that there are two different types of writing websites – those that offer revenue share and those that offer upfront payments.

Revenue sharing websites can work out profitable in the long term. The idea is that you put up pieces for free but you earn a percentage of the advertisement revenue that the website gains. The percentage ranges from as little as 10% to as much as 100%. These take time to become profitable and they do not work for everyone. The success in making money online depends on the type of niche to write on, the popularity of the site and the type of keywords that you choose.

Upfront payments are where you gain a set amount of money for an article and, after that, you gain nothing. These are a great option if you want to make quick money and gain a certain amount but not for the long term. There are fewer websites offering this so it may take some time to find somewhere suitable.

Some websites offer a mixture of both upfront and revenue share. This gives the benefit of both worlds – it makes it possible to know the amount you are going to gain and earn residual income in the long term. Some of these companies only allow you to earn the residual for a set amount of time, such as 12 months.

Join a Writing Company

There are many people offering content on the web since so many people want it. You could find yourself working for them. You would usually work as a freelancer and the more you write, the more you earn as you earn upfront payments. However, there are some downsides to these companies.

The main issue with writing companies is that the pay can be low. There are many “employers” expecting people to work for low amounts of money, such as $1-$2 per 500 words. Even if you can write relatively quickly, and it is possible for some to write a good 500 word article in 20 minutes, it would not be worth the time or hassle. It is important to think about the research and any rewrites afterwards, which will make the amount even less in the long run.

Offer Your Writing Services

It is worth setting up a website and offering your writing services. You could offer guest posts on blogs, offering to write on topics that people choose or write articles and then sell them afterwards. The benefit of this is that you can set your own rates from the beginning so you do not undersell your skills.

This is a successful way to make money online but it can take some time to become successful. You will need to have a portfolio or samples to show others. This could be on a blog or you may use a revenue share website for this. The main problem with doing this is that you run the risk of not being paid for various reasons but people still using your content.

It is important to remain motivated to make money writing online. Without motivation, no matter which option you choose, you will not keep adding content or working to be as successful as you want to make money online. There will be times when the income in lower than you want and you need the determination to push past this. This is often why it is worth opting for multiple options when writing online.

Friday, 7 September 2012

The Letter Z


The letter Z is the last letter of the Latin alphabet but is not based on the last letter of the Greek alphabet – Omega. It is actually based on the letter Zeta, which was taken from the Phoenician letter Zayin. The letter Zeta looks a lot like the letter Z as we know it, but the letter Zayin closely resembles our letter I.

There are thoughts that the Semantic letter meant weapon and was the seventh letter. It is the last consonant of the alphabet and is commonly replaced by the letter S, especially when considering the different types of English languages that there are. For example, the American English with use Z when it comes to words like “realize” and “patronize” but the UK English will use the letter S for those words instead – realize becomes realise.

There are different sounds for the letter. In the majority of English dialects, the letter Z is pronounced as “zed”. However, in the 17th century England, it was pronounced “Zee”, which is something that the US English has taken.

It is traditionally written as an N turned clockwise by 90 degrees. However, there are times that it may be mistaken for the number 2, which is why it is not used for number plates and vehicle identification numbers. For some, the letter is written with a horizontal line in the middle to denote that it is a Z and not the number 2. The letter is usually written the same for the upper case and the lower case, but there are times that the lower case is written with a tale at the bottom. This is traditionally the case for joined up handwriting and originates from the Early Modern Blackletter.

There are very few words that will begin with the letter Z in the English language and is one of the rarest letters used at all, especially when it comes to UK English. There are times that words sound like they are spelled with the letter Z but have an S instead, such as chose and choose.

Using the letter Z together, in the case of zzzz, denotes that someone is sleeping. This is due to the sound of snoring can sometimes sound like that.

When used in scrabble, the letter is worth 10 points. This is the highest amount of points that any letter is worth. However, there is only one so it is worth thinking carefully about placing it. If you have it from the start of the game, choose carefully and look out for the bonus tiles. However, if you are coming close to the end of the game, you will just want to get rid of it instead of worrying about those 10 points being taken from your total score.