Freelance Writing

One year ago I started ChrisBlogging.com not knowing if anybody would ever read what I have to say. Although this blog has not grown nearly as fast as many others in this niche, I am glad that I have been able to help so many aspiring freelance writers up to this point.

In order to make this upcoming year as good as the past 12 months, I wanted to ask for some input from my readers. More specifically: what topics do you want me to cover the most? Is there anything that you want to know that I have been missing? It can often times be difficult to generate ideas that appeal to the majority of readers. For this, I am hoping for some help from you guys and gals!

Once again, thank you for making the first year of ChrisBlogging.com so memorable. As 2008 wears on and 2009 comes into play, I hope that all of you continue to read and comment on a regular basis. And of course, it is my hopes that everybody reaches all of their freelance writing goals.

Since talking about the benefits of starting a blog, I have received a few questions about how much success I have with ChrisBlogging.com. Although this blog is far from being the biggest or most well known, it is something that I enjoy immensely. To go along with this, it has grown quite a bit as of late.

Last month, ChrisBlogging.com received approximately 5,000 unique visitors. Is this a lot? When compared to some blogs on freelance writing and making money online, the answer is no. By overall, it is not too shabby. Personally, I do not keep close tabs on my traffic. Instead, I judge the success of the blog by how many people I help. And judging by the emails I have been receiving as of late, this is quite a few.

If you follow the blogging industry, you are well aware that the number of RSS readers a blog has can be a big deal. I am a regular reader of many blogs that boast a readership of 20k or more. As you can see by taking a quick peak at the right sidebar, my RSS number hovers right around 220. While this is far from 20k, I have been making some progress in this area. If you have yet to sign up, you can do so traditionally or you can opt to receive updates via email; either way works.

Just like my freelance writing career, I set goals for the progress of ChrisBlogging.com. By the end of the year, I would like to increase traffic to 7,500 uniques per month. To go along with this, I am hoping to crack 350 RSS readers. These may seem like modest goals, but for somebody who does not know much about SEO or technology, they are just fine for now!

Over the past week or so I have received a few emails from aspiring freelance writers asking if it is a good idea to start a blog. Although there is no right or wrong answer to this question, I always tell them the same thing: blogging is a great way to express your personality, while also making contacts. To go along with this, it is a form of writing so it is something that should come semi-naturally.

Many freelance writers do not have enough time to blog on a regular basis. This is a common problem, and one that can be frustrating. I think it is important to make time for this blog for two reasons:

1. It is a great way for me to give back to other freelance writers. Even if every post does not help, hopefully a few of them lend tips and advice that can be useful to a large number of readers.

2. I enjoy blogging because it helps to break up my day. Hour after hour I am working on freelance writing projects for others, but when I blog I am writing for myself. There are no guidelines to follow or clients to please; I can do what I want.

If you do not have a blog and are an aspiring freelance writer, you should take the time to start one right away. You do not have to post once per day like I do, but it is definitely a great way to help others and express your opinions while working on something that you can call your own. 

As of late I have spoke with several aspiring freelance writers who all asked the same question: can blogging help my career? In my opinion, blogging is only natural for freelance writers. After all, it is a great chance to not only write, but to hopefully make some contacts along the way.

When I first started this blog I did not have much direction. Generally speaking, my main goal was to simply help others who were interested in becoming a freelance writer. Over time the shape of the blog began to become clearer, and I think I have finally honed in on the direction that I want to take.

There are two ways that this blog has helped my freelance writing career. First off, it has brought a few clients my way; several of them pay quite nicely. This is not the main goal of the blog, but it is definitely an added bonus. While my blog doesn’t make much money through traditional advertising, I get some added income from clients who find me here.

Additionally, blogging has also afforded me the opportunity to connect with many others. For instance, Michael Kwan, who runs one of my favorite blogs, recently sent a client my way. He did not have the time to work with the client, but thought of me. Would I have received this referral if I did not run this blog? Of course not. Connecting with others as a freelance writer is so important for many reasons. Sure, it can help you to find more work, but as somebody who works at home, it is always nice to have people to correspond with via email, instant messenger, etc.

Although I update this blog at least once per day, this is not a frequency that you have to follow. Anytime that I am asked, I tell aspiring freelance writers that it is a great idea to start a blog.  

It is not too often that I ask my readers for anything, but I thought I would give it a try. As you may have noticed, you can now subscribe to my RSS feed via email. This feature has been enabled for a few weeks, and it has helped to push my count to an average of 135.

Of course, my goal is to reach as many aspiring freelance writers and entrepreneurs as possible. By subscribing by email you can ensure that you never miss a post. After all, each one will be delivered to your inbox like clockwork.

Within a couple of months I hope to reach 200 RSS readers. If you have yet to do so, subscribe now, and join the rest of us on our trip to freelance writing success!  

As you may have noticed, I added an advertising page to the top of ChrisBlogging. Although this blog is not extremely popular, it does attract 100 to 200 visitors per day and boasts an RSS feed count of 125 or so. The most beneficial feature to potential advertisers is that the blog is trending upwards in terms of traffic, RSS count, page views, etc.

During the month of December I received several advertising offers, but since I did not have any prices in place, I decided to pass. At this time, I do not want to overdo ChrisBlogging with advertising. For this reason, I am only offering ads that are unobtrusive such as reviews, sidebar text links, etc. For now, you will not see any banners or 125×125 blocks. I feel that providing content is more important; after all, I am a writer!

As a bonus to regular readers, I have decided to add a special advertising deal. If you write a post touching on my advertising options and link to ChrisBlogging, you will qualify for a 50 percent discount on your first two months of advertising! This deal is good for any and every type of advertisement. All you have to do is email me your post including my link, as well as your advertising information, and payment.

If you are interested in advertising on ChrisBlogging check out the advertising page. Prices are cheap, and exposure is increasing as each month goes by.

If you tried to access ChrisBlogging this morning, you probably noticed that it was “down and out.” I was met with this surprise several hours ago, and just recently got to the bottom of the problem.

To get to the bottom of things, I first contacted BlueHost. Unfortunately, they told me that everything looked good on their end. As you can imagine, this scared me a bit because of all the blogs that have been hacked over the past few weeks.

Since I have no technical skills of my own, I was at a bit of a loss. I already noticed that my stats were suffering, and in the back of my mind I knew that some of you guys and gals were trying to access the blog. For this reason, I wanted to get things fixed sooner rather than later.

The next step I took was to get in touch with my tech guy. He helps me with everything from working out bugs to SEO and much more. After only a few minutes of rooting around, he noticed that a recent plug-in had a bug. After deactivating it, everything was restored to normal for the most part.

Although everything worked out in the end, this situation got me thinking. What would I have done if my blog was hacked beyond immediate repair? No matter who you are or how serious you are about your blog, make sure that you always back it up. This may sound time consuming and tedious, but it is well worth it.

To all my readers, sorry for the downtime this morning. Hopefully this will never happen again, but if it does, you can be rest assured that I will be working hard to figure out the problem. In the meantime, make sure that you protect your blog! 

Like the majority of people, I am not working long hours today. After all, it is Christmas! With that being said, I wanted to write a quick post wishing everybody a safe holiday. Christmas only comes around once a year, so have a good time. I’ll be back to posting tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is only a few days away, and I have yet to go shopping! While this is nothing new to me, I really thought this year would be different. I always vow to get my shopping done early, but it never quite works out that way. With that being said, I always have time to write a blog post or two.

If you are going to be near your computer on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, be sure to check out ChrisBlogging. Although most blogs will not be updating on these days, I hope to add a little something; even if it is nothing too in-depth or complex. Remember, if you do not have time to update your blog, the WordPress timestamp features can do wonders!

For now, I am going to wade through a sea of people at the mall. Hope all of you are done with your shopping. If not, time is running out; you better get started!

I just wanted to send a quick thanks to all of my RSS readers. Today is the first time that I broke the 100 subscriber mark! Although this is a long way from where I want to be, it is one of the many goals that I set for myself upon starting this blog.

To tell you the truth, I don’t have any secrets on how to increase this number, etc. Unlike some of the big “make money online” bloggers, this number is not a measure of success for me. Generally speaking, my main goal is to provide high quality, useful information, and then let readers decide if they want to add me to their reader; some do, some don’t.

Many have told me that reaching 100 subscribers is the most difficult. Hopefully 200 will be right around the corner.

Thanks again, and if you have yet to subscribe, you can do so here!