To that end, here are some useful skills to acquire which will make you more successful as a web content writer.

Content Management Systems. CMS knowledge is a must. At some point you will use one and a good rudimentary knowledge of their inner workings will make you faster and enable you to complete more work.

Make yourself familiar with WordPress and Blogger as a minimum, and consider using a CMS on your own website.

File Management. Understanding file management is essential for today's web content writer. Many of us are transferring files via flash drives, email, and scanning to name but a few. To know where your computer stores, and how to access these files is essential knowledge for any writer.

Photo and Video Management. Knowing how to change the sizes of pictures in content management systems is a very useful skill to acquire. As is learning which pictures you can use and which ones you can't. The world of pictures and video can get quite complex, and that's before you start learning how to edit it.

This list is far from extensive, but will serve you in good stead throughout your career.

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Tips on how to combat freelance copywriting boredom.

- Take small breaks between articles, and tiny ones between paragraphs. This is especially important if you are writing the same article in a different style. Be careful not to let the break be an excuse not to stop working.

- Try not to think about other things when working on a boring assignment, as this can lead to an excuse not to work on the project and stop work. Facebook and that piece you were going to research can wait.

- Set small goals and celebrate as you complete them.

- Ensure you complete what you set out to do.

Remember that not completing assignments is self defeating, and ultimately will harm your reputation as a freelance writer.

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photo credit: Idhren

When I pitch for a job I have a template in my mind of points I need to include. They are:

Who I am and where I'm from. Sounds obvious, but many jobs specify someone from the English speaking world, and this shows that I am.

My experience. I normally state the number of projects I have been involved with.  the more work I complete the better this looks.

My approach to the work, including gauging tone, keeping the copy interesting and informative, and to engage the reader.

My CV/Resume. This contains a cross decision of my previous work, along with testimonials. Both of these are significant.

A link to my website. The writers website provides a means of displaying their talents together with an opportunity to showcase what they can do.  This recently won me a job and has done so in the past.

Depending on what the ad has asked for, depends on how I construct my pitch, and I mention any previous experience that I feel is relevant to the job.

Your bid is also an important factor in winning the work. Often, there is a budget specified for the job, and to stand a realistic chance of winning the work, it is best to put forward a bid that is within it.  I have found that bidding slightly lower than the maximum, tends to give you a fighting chance.

Good luck!

photo credit: plindberg

Without these two elements, writing becomes a very hap hazard affair, and often the urge and need to write dries up. In effect, your mind is shutting down as it transfers its resources to concentrating on other tasks. The writer Norman Mailer, writes about this in some detail in his book the Spooky Art, where he declares that a writer makes a pact with his subconscious to write, if he breaks that pact, he or she  finds it  harder to write.

In essence it is the same for a copywriter. You have no doubt experienced this phenomenon if you have ever under taken commercial work. Somewhat strangely, if you start writing, you will normally continue, and this is the key to stay on top of your workload. Though I have to be honest and say I am sometimes guilty of not practising what I preach, in my experience the following tips should help you keep the workload manageable.
1 Minimise distractions. Email, Facebook, looking at rubbish on the web, anything that takes your fingers off the keyboard has to be avoided. Anything that gives you an excuse not to write has to be avoided. Anything that can distract you has to be dealt with, and I mean anything.
2 Prioritise your workload by deadline and necessities. If you are short of money, a faster paying client may be a more appealing, but often a professional approach centred around priorities will serve you better in the long run.
3 Make a pact with yourself that you are going to start writing at a certain time, and start at that time. This is similar to what Norman Mailer talks about in his book. Be on time for work.
4 Too much to do. If you have found yourself with too much work, think about outsourcing it. This does tend to bring about its own problems, but outsourcing could be a good long and short term solution.
5 Pay professionals to do professional jobs. If its taking you four hours to do your accounts, that's four hours money you won't be earning.   The chances are the professional will know more tricks too. It pays to use a professional.

Hopefully what you have just read will help you stay on top or your workload.

photo credit: Gamma-Ray Productions

To give you the big picture, I responded to a job on Freelancer.co.uk, to write an essay.  The job entailed completing a draft for which I would be paid £100, then a further £100 upon completion.  All sounds fair enough.  Normally, I work for companies which means that one, my contact is not spending or rarely spending their own cash.  Two, I have someone higher up the ladder to talk to if there is no resolution over an issue with my contact.  So far, I have not had cause to do this.

With an individual however, there is no ladder, no chain, and other than the site you obtained the work from, no other point of contact other than the person you are working for.  If that point of contact dries up, you are stuffed!

To surmise, here is a list of the crucial mistakes I made in this instance.

• Failed to obtain full contact details before working on the job.  This was especially important as it was an individual that I had not worked with before.  This leads us to
• Did not use the Escrow system.  To be fair I did kinda need the cash and thought an escrow system would work on a monthly basis.  Saying that, getting £200 at the end of the month is better than nothing at all
• Supplied the work in full without half payment.  There was a deadline involved that I did not want to miss, and thought the client needed the essay ASAP too.

After emailing the client on numerous occassions, I have not managed to get anywhere.  Subsequently, I am going to investigate a website that can find contact details if you submit an email address, and try and pursue the matter through the small claims court. I will keep you posted as to progress.

photo credit: Patrick Hoesly

Playgameshavefun.com, is also going from strength to strength.  The site is doing well on search engines, and is doing very well in the English speaking world, with the UK, USA, and Canada regularly reading the articles.  I love it.  We're hopefully launching our first video blog on the site soon.

The freelance writing is rolling forward to.  There is still plenty of work and I have landed a few roles lately which were good ones to land. Sadly, I could be facing my first non-payment dilema, and it will be interesting to see how that turns out. I will keep you posted as to the result.  As an
optimist, I feel that is the best course of action!

More news soon.

photo credit: Aural Asia

Woman: without her man, is nothing.

Woman: without her, man is nothing.

Same words, different punctuation, different meaning.  If your site is not performing as you wanted it to, or perhaps you want copy that strikes the right tone with the right audience, or want web content to promote your brand, or to engage readers, then I can help.  Do not struggle with your commas or your apostrophes, get in touch, and tell me want you need.

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If you are a writer too, or are freelancer of some kind, every week I share freelance writing tips on the site.  Many of these tips are universal no matter what kind of freelancer you are.  I also share my experiences and provide updates as to what I am doing, what projects I am working on, and news in general about my writing endeavors.

Any opinions and feedback is welcome.  Enjoy the read.

Tonight is one of those nights for me, but I am going to try and get an article or two out, mainly because I'm slightly behind where I wanted to be, and also buying a house has taken up a lot of my time.

Talk soon

A few weeks ago I put an ad on a facebook group trying to recruit writers, only to find that the ad had been pulled with the following message.

"Screw your $1 100 words and screw you dude.  I told you not to put it up."  Chris Anderson. 

Now Mr A. has always come across as a highly strung fellow, and talks a lot about pay for writers, and being good enough, and other topics of that ilk.

At first I was taken a back by his response, a little shocked if I'm honest about it, but it got my cogs turning about the bigger picture, and our treatment of people who don't share our beliefs and views.  Now I don't want to start a debate about views about, or from far away lands, but something a little closer to home. 

If we take our view of someone who makes a remark, or a gesture which is outside the social norm, then we tend to ostracize them.  They can loose their jobs, social circle, and generally they are treated as some kind of outcast. 

I'm not trying to vanquish someone who makes a racist, sexist, or some other "ist" remark, but is this the best way to deal with this issue?  Are we not just shutting it out, hoping it will go away?  In acting like this, are we not reinforcing the view, rather than trying to influence it through rational debate? 

In this respect, it seems the logic is a little like the flawed logic in carpet bombing, where the belief that extensive destruction of cities will cause a population to rebel against a government, or indeed break their will into surrendering.  This has never proved true.  In actuality, the opposite effect has always been achieved.  

Also, isn't this kind of society, where people are ostracised for 'saying the wrong thing', or 'having the wrong view', a little like being ostracised for not having blond hair and blue eyes, or being Jewish?   My point is that to shut people out of society, for whatever the reason does more harm than good.  It is a form of fascism.  Which is odd, because most of the strongest perpetrators of this view, are indeed ultra left-wing.   Maybe this is the biggest indicator that we need to think again.