Freelance Writing

Yesterday was the 100th post on this blog. The first one was on June 4, 2007, and since then I have been going strong at a pace of at least one post per day.

Even though I have a lot left to accomplish, I am glad that ChrisBlogging has built such a strong readership in just about three months. After all, there are millions of blogs that simply die down after a month or so.

Here are three tips that have helped me during my first 100 blog posts, and are sure to guide me from here on out.

1. Posting at least one time per day is essential. Yes, it can be difficult to stay on this pace, but if you want your blog to succeed, you need to put the time in. Remember, readers come to your blog to get updated on fresh content. You need to give it to them on a regular basis.

2. One post per day is important, but one quality post per day is even more crucial. Making quality and quantity work together will help you to grow your blog from day one.

3. I try my best to stay on topic with each post that I make. Even though this can be difficult because I have so many thoughts to share, it is not something to be taken lightly. If I start to post about off-topic subjects it is safe to say that readers will start to look elsewhere for their information.

Try to keep these tips in mind know matter how experienced you are, or how long your blog has been around. They will help you to reach 100 quality posts in no time at all, and hopefully 100 more just as quickly. 

Imagine the potential success of your blog if you could churn out 25 or more blog posts per week. Most people, including myself, strive to post at least once per day. For me, the main reason that I do not post more is a lack of time. When my freelance writing workload is not taking up my entire day, I find it much easier to write more than one blog post.

If you are interested in increasing your article production there are many tips that you can follow. Through my years as a full-time freelance writer, I have found the following three tips to be most useful.

1. Set aside a block of time each day where you will do nothing but write. One of the main reasons for slow production is too many distractions. When you are writing blog posts you should be doing nothing else. This means no television, no radio, no checking email, and no checking traffic stats. If you can give yourself a couple hours of solid writing time each day, you will find out soon enough that you are producing more articles than you ever thought possible.

2. Not knowing what to write about can slow you down. To avoid this, keep a list of topics next to your computer at all times. Anytime that you think of a good blog post, write it down on your list. When it comes time to write, you can then choose a topic off and get started. This is much better than wasting time trying to come up with a topic that will suit your blog.

3. It is common sense that the faster you write the more articles you will produce. While you may struggle with fast thinking and typing at first, you will improve in both these areas as time goes by. Soon enough you will realize that you are writing at a faster pace, which will obviously give you more time to write each day.

These tips will definitely help you to increase your article production. But remember, you should never speed up if you think it is going to decrease the quality of your work. Even though it would be nice to post several articles to your blog each day, they all need to be of high quality.

All in all, your goal should be to produce as many articles as possible without compromising quality. With the three tips above, as well as plenty of practice, you will be well on your way to reaching this goal.

Related Link: Fellow freelance writer Michael Kwan blogs about writing, personal development, and much more.

When putting together a WordPress blog, deciding on what pages to include is essential. Even though you can add or delete these at a later date, it is always nice to get everything in place as early as possible. With that being said, how do you decide what blog pages to include?

On this blog, I have decided to keep things simple by adding only an “about me” and “contact” page. These are by far the most common pages, and in my opinion, two that every blog needs to have. The question is: what others are worth adding?

For blogs that sell direct advertising, a page based around this is always a good idea. John Chow recently wrote a great post on this. Being that he makes several thousand dollars each month by selling ads, it only makes sense that he includes this. But for smaller blogs without monetization, like mine, an advertising page would be all for not.

The nice thing about adding pages to a WordPress blog is the ease with which this can be done. Generally speaking, you can add a page in a matter of minutes, and to make things even better, it can be about whatever you want. If I wanted, I could have 10 pages ranging from my writing services to top posts and much more.

I feel that it is essential to find a happy medium between too few pages and too many pages. With too few pages your blog may appear bare to readers, and of course, this could leave them wanting more. But on the other side of things, too many pages can confuse visitors while also making it difficult for them to concentrate on the actual content.

As this blog continues to grow, it is safe to say that a few more pages will show up.

Related Link: Chad at Kettner Communications can create content for your blog pages.

Text Link Ads recently released a new feature which allows bloggers to sell post level ads to interested advertisers. According to their website, post level ads will be exclusive to one advertiser, offering up to a 150 letter description, and will be positioned directly at the end of posts.

Since I am not quite ready to monetize this blog, I have come up with an idea of my own. I am going to include post level “ads” at the end of posts, but for now, there are two catches. First off, they are not going to cost any money! Sounds like a good deal, right? Additionally, I am going to choose the featured site at the end of each post. In other words, they cannot be bought; just yet at least.

At this time, my goal is to offer other blogs more exposure as opposed to trying to make money. This is why I am not charging for these ads, and instead making the decision on what to include based on my own personal decision.

So how am I going to choose what blog to feature? Better yet, how long will the ad stay in place?

1. I am going to choose the blog based on what I come across during my daily readings. For the most part, the blog that I feature will be related to the content of my post in some way, shape, or form.

2. The ad will stay in place forever! Even though the post will begin to drop down as each day goes by, the ad will always be on my blog. So obviously, this is a bit of link love that could help in the long run. In many cases, I may place the same ad on several posts.

I am going to start using these ads in my next post; which will probably be later today or tomorrow. To be fair, and to offer some fun to my readers, the first person to comment on this post will get the first post level ad. After that, I will make the decision on my own with each post! 

There is no denying the fact that I love blogging. Not only does creating content excite me, but I am having a great time learning the technical side of things as well. For this reason, I am thinking about starting a new blog. But as you probably know, this is not something you can jump into without considering all of your options.

The problem I am struggling with now is whether or not I should choose a topic similar to ChrisBlogging, or if I should venture in an entirely new direction.

A similar topic could be something such as the book writing process, freelance writing jobs, writing for magazines, etc. But on the other side of things, there are hundreds of other topics that I could explore. While not all of them would interest me, I am sure I could find a couple that would fit in quite well with my likes and lifestyle.

There are pros and cons of each option. Choosing a similar topic will allow me to more or less build off of the success of this blog. To go along with this, I have plenty of knowledge when it comes to writing because this is what I do for a living. On the downside, this may not give me much of a change, which could get boring in time.

If I choose a topic that is completely unrelated, the fun factor would be quite high; at least early on. After all, it would give me the chance to break away from writing about freelancing, making money, etc. And with this, I think that it could spice things up quite a bit. Facing off against this is the fact that I need to find a topic that I am passionate about, and of course, one that people are interested in.

I am not 100 percent sure if I should start another blog at this time. Do I have enough hours in the day to write and market a new blog? Probably. But with that being said, I do not want to add so much work that my freelance writing career begins to suffer.

Over the weekend I plan on brainstorming some ideas, and taking a closer look at my day to day schedule. Hopefully by next week I will have a better idea of what I am going to do!

Since day one I have been tracking this blogs Technorati ranking. While I do not feel that this is the best indicator of a blog’s performance, it does have a bit to offer. On August 11, 2007, I made a post discussing whether or not a high Technorati ranking is something to get excited about. Most people who commented felt that Technorati can be beneficial, but traffic is what matters the most. And I totally agree with this.

The first time that I checked my ranking it was 700,100. Of course, this was a few months back after my first post. As of writing this, my ranking has dropped to 94,996. As you can see, this is not the best ranking, but it does show that I am moving in the right direction. Even more so it shows that other bloggers are willing to link to ChrisBlogging.

Here are three things that have helped me to steadily increase my Technorati ranking.

1. I always take the time to comment on blogs with similar content as mine. This lets others know that I am out there, and in turn, helps to increase incoming links.

2. Do not be afraid to email other bloggers and ask to exchange links. While this may not always work, it has been successful for me a high percentage of the time. You may even get your blog mentioned without having to exchange!

3. There is no replacement for great content. If you provide posts that people want to read, you will increase your incoming link count. In turn, your Technorati ranking will continue to fall.

I don’t really have a goal as far as my Technorati ranking is concerned. But with that being said, I am interested in seeing just how low it can go! 

For me, one of the most essential components of a successful blog is being organized. And by being organized I mean keeping a to-do list. I have a list for anything related to my blogging or freelance writing work. While these lists never stay the same due to a varying work load, they are always next to my computer no matter what.

My blogging to-do list is nothing special. Generally speaking, at the end of each work day I write my blogging tasks for the next day on a sticky note. There are two details that I always include as well as some extras that change from time to time.

1. Topic ideas for the posts that I want to write the next day. It is important for me to have topics in mind a day in advance as opposed to thinking them up on the spot. This not only helps the quality of my content, but also ensures that I do not have a run in with a bout of writer’s block.

2. The times that I want to add my blog posts. As you can imagine, this can change based on my freelance writing work and many other variables. Even though I could probably do without this reminder, it helps to keep me on track. Since I have to work in blogging around my freelance writing work, it is always nice to have a “set time” each day that I can devote to this.

Some of the variables that are often added to my to-do list include: marketing efforts, replying to emails and comments, researching new monetization methods, etc.

It is safe to say that I take things to an extreme when it comes to being organized. But this is only because I have found it difficult to stay on track with my blog if my work is not scheduled.

Do you think I am overdoing it? Do you have a blogging to-do list?

No matter what type of blog you are running, chances are that you have given readers the ability to get in touch with you. Some bloggers (like me) offer their email address, whereas others use a contact form that is forwarded to the address of their choice.

But the question is: do you answer the emails that you receive at your blog address? I have found through first hand experience that most bloggers are more than willing to answer emails. At the same time, some of the busier and better known bloggers either ignore emails altogether or send off short replies. While I know that these people have tons of email and busy lives, relationships are quite important; at least to me.

I strive to answer every email that I receive. In fact, if I receive a comment that touches me right, I will take the initiative and email that person. This lets them know that I care about what they have to say, and of course, shows that I am willing to lend my expertise when possible.

With all of that being said, I want to let my readers know that they are free to email me with questions, comments, or anything else on their mind. Meeting new people and helping others out is what this blog is all about.

How do you test the updates that you make to your blog? If you are tech savvy you may simply know that what you did will work. But for me, or anybody else who does not have a lot of tech skills, this can be a bit difficult.

Although I am working hard to learn a bit more about the technical side of blogging, I am still far behind. It only takes me a minute or so to get plugins working, but when it comes to more difficult tasks such as changing code, I am still working on my skills.

I guess the only way to test blog updates, as well as tech skills, is by trial and error. Until my skills improve, this is the way that I will have to do things. Unless you have a better idea of course?

There are no two ways about it: you need to like what you are blogging about. If you choose a topic that is not of interest to you, one of two things is going to happen. You are either going to run out of ideas, or you are going to dread writing new posts. Either way, your blog is probably going to fail sooner rather than later.

I am a firm believe that blogging for fun is the best way to begin to make money. When you love what you are writing about, you will not care how long it takes you to garner a substantial readership. It will be more than enough to have the ability to write about a topic you are in love with. But of course, the more that you post the more traffic you will get. And as you continue with this process day in and day out, you will eventually realize that it is more than possible to make money with your blog.

Another great thing about blogging for fun is that it will show through in your posts. If I was to blog about a topic such as sewing or cooking, it would go nowhere. Readers would find out soon enough that this was not my passion, and of course, that I have no knowledge of the industry. Hopefully, this is not the case with this blog. I do my best to show my passion for blogging and freelance writing, and the results have been better than expected to this point.

When you start out blogging for fun, the money will come in the end. Simply put, you cannot expect to make money from a blog if you do not like the topic. After all, why should others find your blog interesting if you find it boring?