The other day I mentioned a course I have been going through which focuses on writing for magazines.  Well, I have officially finished the course this week, and would like to give you a bit of a review.  There have been a few of my readers who have contacted me asking for more information about freelance writing for magazines, which I don’t feel I am qualified (yet!;-) to help with.  However, the course I am going to mention could be the answer you are searching for.

The course is called Write For Magazines E-course, and it is put together by the Renegade Writer, Linda Formichelli.  (If you haven’t read her book yet, get it.  It is a must-read for anyone just starting out.  You can get it on Amazon for peanuts – click here to get a copy.)

It is an 8 week course, which during that time will teach you how to research and choose a topic that will sell, come up with an angle that is interesting to the magazines, find experts to interview, how to interview them, go through the entire process of coming up with an outstanding query letter, learning little “tricks” of where to send them and then actually sending them out.

I opted for the premium course which gave me email access to Linda throughout the course.  She checks her emails on Tuesdays and Thursdays, answering any questions or concerns you might have.  I am very glad I went with the premium course, because sometimes it is just nice to have someone to bounce ideas off and get honest feedback – that you know is going to help you.  And, it is a little confidence booster that you are doing things right when she can follow along with you and see how you are doing.

I have sent my query letters out.  I have already received my first rejection, (of many, I am sure;-) from a magazine that has already done a similar article.  But, I am much more confident in what I am doing.  I don’t have any published clips, which can be difficult when just getting started.  Many magazines want you to send in clips of previous work – but Linda’s course does help you to find ways around that.

By the end of the course, you have a well written query letter that shows you off as a complete professional – and when you hit the send button to send that letter out, it is such a great feeling.

I know if I had just kept trying to do it on my own, I would still be trying to figure out exactly how to do everything right.  She motivates you to just do it – getting out there and learning.  I likely never would have had the courage to send out my first query letter.  Maybe I would have, but it wouldn’t have been near as professional sounding as the one she helped me put together.

This course is something I can recommend wholeheartedly and know that it is going to help anyone who is interested in freelance writing for magazines.  If you want to move beyond content writing online, or maybe you are just starting with your writing career – this course will give you an edge over the other new writers who are getting started every day.

I don’t get anything for sending you to her – but I do know that there are some of you out there who wanted to learn how to write for magazines and be published, so I am happy to send you over!  Make sure you do tell her Marie sent you though – she is a great teacher, and I learned alot from her.  The next intake for her course starts on January 10th and you want to sign up early to make sure you get a spot!

Click here to sign up or read more about the Write For Magazines E-course……

OK – for those of you who read my blog regularly, you likely notice from time to time lately that the look changes.  Yes – it is supposed to be doing that, because I am somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to some things, so I have been trying new themes out to see how they look and feel.  So – don’t be alarmed if you come here one day and everything looks different than it did the last time!  I think I have settled on one design that I like, but feel free to leave a comment or let me know if you see one you really like, or even one that you really hate!

I am about to start reviewing a product that I am going to pick up today.  It is a higher priced product ($97), so I wanted to start going through it myself to let my readers see some honest feedback about how it works.  I have bought so many different products over the years, and some have taught me a little, some have taught me absolutely nothing but how to throw my money out the window.

New Case Study – Marketing Online

So I thought I would like to try doing something I haven’t done on this blog before.  I am going to get a product that I have heard very high reviews about, and I am going to start from scratch using the methods in it.  I will be completely honest in what I say about it – in fact, I have already spoken to the creator and told him I am going to be doing a review about it on my blog.
I am impressed so far – because I received a personal reply from him answering some questions I had about the product before I order.  Not many “guru’s” will do that – I have been around long enough (over 5 years) to know that for a fact.

I am not going to tell you what the product is yet.  I am going to pick it up later today and start going through some of the material.  I will post tomorrow with some of my thoughts.

This is something that will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about how to make money using the internet.  It is for those interested in affiliate marketing, blogging, SEO – really anything that has to do with marketing online.

Freelance Writing for Magazines Course

And, for those who have written to me to let me know that you are interested in learning more about freelance writing, don’t forget that you can now get a copy of the Freelance writing on the Web guide here.  But, if you are interested in learning more about freelance writing for magazines – then I have some good news for you too!

I know I had quite a few of you contact me saying you would like to learn more about magazine freelance writing.  Because I have been making money with freelance writing online for awhile now, I thought I would like to try being published.  The pay is WAY more for the work you do, and you can write about topics that are actually of interest to you.

I have been taking a course for the past few weeks with a freelance writer who has been published in many magazines, and who is well known in the freelance writing world.  I am going to do a review of that course as well for those who are interested.

So – that is what is in store on my blog for the next few weeks.  If you are wanting to share in the case study of the program I am picking up today, or if you want to be sure to catch my review on the freelance writing course, then I hope you will be sure to subscribe to my blog so that you can get updates!

I hope that we can all learn together – and I can share some of what I feel about the courses to help you out. I am looking forward to getting started!

I  have had many of you contact me with questions about getting started with freelance writing.  While I have been doing freelance writing online for quite a while now, I have never had anything actually published in a “print” magazine.

Not that it isn’t something I wanted to do – in fact, it is the opposite.  I am probably much like the rest of you, in that I have dreamed of being a writer my whole life.  It wasn’t something I ever actually came out and said though – because it just didn’t seem like something I would ever really be able to do.

However, the experience I have gained over these past few years online has given me a bit more confidence in what I can do, and has shown me the endless possibilities out there for people like me.

So – even if you have never had anything published, or whether you think you ever could – don’t discount writing online to build up some confidence.  Learn some writing skills and how to research.  Depending on what you want to do with your writing – whether it is just something you want to do to earn a few extra dollars each month or something you want to take as far as you can – don’t be afraid that you can’t do it.

Getting started online is a lot simpler, in most cases.  But, you still do need to be able to write fairly well.  And, the pay is not anywhere near as good as it is to have your writing in print, but many women earn a very good living doing it.  (One of the companies I am working for right now has been wonderful – there is a lot of work, and the assigments are not that difficult.  To sign up, go to Blueglass Writer Application.)

For myself, while I enjoy writing online, I do feel that I want to try going farther with it.  I want to be able to write about what I am interested in, and see it published in a magazine.  That would be such a wonderful feeling for me!

So, I enrolled myself in a course through the Renegade Writer – called Writing for Magazines.  Linda Formichelli is the instructor, and she has been a magazine freelancer for a few years now, and has been very successful.

I am only in the second week, but I feel my confidence growing knowing that I have someone who has “been there, done that” guiding me through those first query letters to editors.  I went for the premium version of the course, which I am glad I did, because I can email her questions and she has been wonderful at answering them.

If anyone else is interested in learning about freelance writing for magazines, I would suggest you read her book, “The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success” and watch for her next course to start.  Definitely worth the money – and the book is one of those “must reads”.

I’ll keep you all posted about my progress, and hopefully when I get a query accepted by a magazine!

Well, another couple of months have passed, and again I have neglected my posting.  I do apologize – the past few weeks have been a whirlwind and unfortunately my online work had to take a bit of a backseat.  I ended up moving in June, which happened in a record amount of time from us finding a house we liked, to putting ours on the market and selling it – then  of course moving with 2 kids and all their belongings!

And, July was spent with my family camping as I normally do.  August was spent on doing a ton of catch up on writing work and other things around my house.  So – that brings me to now….

I have really been immersing myself into my writing work, because at the end of the day, that is what I truly enjoy doing.  And, it is the one stable income that I know I can always count on each month.

I ended up getting hired with Demand Studios, and after a bit of a learning curve, I think I am getting the hang of how things work there.  I am still with a couple other content sites, as well as doing some work for private clients – so I am finding myself pretty busy.

Since Freelance writing seemed to be one of the topics that many of you were interested in learning about when I sent the email out asking for your opinions, I have put together a freelance writing guide that lists some of the sites online that you can use to make money.  There is a bit of info about each site, and details about the pay scale etc.

These are all sites that people are already making money with, but you will need to do your research into the ones you feel would be the best fit for you.

I am offering it for free for one week from today for anyone who signs up for my mailing list.  I am also sending it out to all of you already signed up. After that, I will be selling it – not sure what the price will be yet.  So, if you would like that chance to get it free and you have stumbled across my blog – go ahead and sign up for the mailing list to get access to it.

And, I hope that this little gift will make up for my absence these past few weeks;-)

Marie

When many people think of freelance writing, they dream of writing for the big magazines and newspapers around the world, having a chance to show off their writing talent.  However, the truth is there are very few people who will ever get to that point, but that is no reason for you to give up on your dream of freelance writing from home.

Thanks to the internet, there are now so many options available to anyone who can write, or who enjoys writing – and the truth is, it can become a very lucrative way of making money.  There are many women who are working as freelance writers online and making a full time living from it.

So, where do you start?

Set Up A Website To Showcase Your Work

One of the first things I would recommend to anyone just starting out, and who hasn’t established a name for themselves yet, would be to start a blog.  Set the blog up as a place for you to show off your writing talent, and let potential clients have a place where they can read some of your material to get an idea of your writing style.

While this isn’t necessary, it really does give you a place to have clients get to know your writing ability, as well as somewhere that they can contact you through.  It is such a good idea to have an actual website that you can give as a contact for anyone interested in hiring you.

The best part is – it doesn’t even have to cost you anything.  And, you don’t need to have any technical knowledge whatsoever! (While I always do recommend that you set up a site on your own domain, that you own – I realize that it isn’t something that is easy for everyone to do.)  So, when you are just starting out, using a site like Blogger is just fine.

Blogger even has the ability now to set up static pages as well as blog post pages – so that lets you set up a page that gives information about you, a page with contact information – and even a page with some samples of your work.

(I will do a future post showing how to set up a basic WordPress site – and can do a quick post about Blogger too if you are interested.  Just comment below and let me know if you would like to learn more about it).

Build A Portfolio

After you have a blog set up, get a couple of articles written up that you can use to send to anyone who wants to see samples of your work.  You can give them the address of your blog as well, to let them see even more of your writing – but having a few articles that you have written is something most people will want to see as well.

One thing I can suggest you do is set up an account at Ezine articles.  This is a great way for your own site to get exposure (you can put a link to it in the resource box at the bottom of the article), and can be used to draw clients in.

Why not write some articles explaining the importance of quality content written on a website?  Or, write an article explaining the importance of having your own product, and how hiring a ghostwriter can help to grow your business tenfold.  (These are just ideas – but you get the picture).  Then, lead them back to your site.

Once you have a few articles submitted to Ezine articles, (I believe it is 10), you should be able to reach Platinum Author status – which will allow you to have a badge to display on your site saying that you are a “Platinum Author with Ezine Articles”.  This can be another great way to show off your talent and ability on your site for potential new clients to see.

Set Up Freelance Site Profiles

Meanwhile, at the time that you are writing and submitting these articles, you should be setting up profiles on some of the top freelance sites.  A couple that I can suggest are Odesk, Elance and Guru.  Take a look through some of the top earners on the sites, and model your profile around how they have set theirs up.

You can start looking through the job postings on the sites, and even start putting bids in.  Remember, it is going to take some work to get your name out there and build up some feedback, so it is very likely you will be having to work for peanuts for the first few jobs in order to compete and get some work.  You are bidding against people in other countries where they can afford to do the work for a lot cheaper because the money they earn is worth more than it is here.

But – don’t let that discourage you!  There are still people out there who will want you, you just need to find them;-)

Offer Your Services On Marketing Forums – Warrior Forum

Now, if any of you have read my guide on working from home, you know that one of the best places I always suggest you go to find work right away is the Warrior Forum.  That is where I got started, and I still have clients I work for that found me through there.

The Warrior Forum lets you post either a classified ad – (I believe it is around $20) – or what is called a Warrior Special Offer.  For a WSO, you need to have so many posts before you can post one, and it is sometimes hit and miss as well.  There are so many special offers going up each day, that now it is a bit more difficult to get noticed.  Sometimes your offer can be bumped off the first page in a matter of hours.

The forum is full of Internet Marketers who are always needing content written – for websites, for articles to submit to directories, some will even want ebooks ghostwritten for them that they can sell.  It is a great place to get your feet wet.

Put up a classified offering to write articles or other content that they need.  State that you are just starting out and want to build up a portfolio.  Offer to write for less than you normally would.  You can look through the offers that are up now to get an idea of the market – but if you offered to write articles around 500 words for $5 – you will likely get some people interested.

I wouldn’t suggest undercutting yourself too much.  You are going to need to put your prices up eventually – or you will get burnt out fast.  (Trust me, I know what I am talking about!)

When I first started out, I started with low prices.  Then, I had a hard time having to put my prices up.  I felt guilty, and was afraid I would lose my clients.

You might lose a couple, but that is fine.  You need to be paid for your time, and the work you are doing – and if you are a good writer, people will notice and will want to pay the price to have you.  If you end up writing articles for people and only ever getting $5 for them – trust me – you will get tired of it pretty quick!

Writer Forums & Resources

Another great place for anyone starting out is Absolute Write forums.  You will find tons of information about freelance writing, and you can find some good work through here as well.  They have a ton of threads with lists of publications:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16663

and so many other really informative posts that can help you get going.

You can find people posting paying jobs here and you can really learn alot by reading through everything.

Writer’s Market

I actually found this site through a thread on the Absolute Write forums – and though I have never used it myself, it has some very good feedback by other writers who have.  It is a paid membership – something like $5 a month, or you can get a yearly subscription for $40.  It might be something worth trying out as well for anyone just getting started.

If there is anyone out there who has used this site, I would love if you could leave a comment and let us know what you think about it – whether it is worth trying or not.  And, if you end up signing up from here – make sure you come back and let us know what you think!

WAHM Forum

And, of course, we can’t forget the WAHM forum.  There are people who actually post there for work – but it has a good section for WAHM writers that you can really learn a lot from.  Take the time to read and learn, but don’t forget that sometimes the best way to get started, is to just jump in and learn along the way!

Just Jump in And Get Started!

So – I hope I have given you some good resources and information to get you started finding paying work.  Remember – it will be a learning experience, and you will pick up so much just by getting your name out there and trying.  Get your site set up, and start offering your services at a bargain to get some feedback and reviews that you can post on your site.

I started out by offering to do some proofreading for free for a couple of people.  One of them, was a well known and big name marketer who I had purchased a guide from.  I noticed a ton of spelling and other typos – so I actually contacted him myself and offered to go through and fix the mistakes I found for free.

He was thrilled – and you can bet that having a testimonial from him on my site definitely helped when other potential clients came to look.  Not only that, but I ended up getting some writing work from him which was a huge bonus.

Get out there – and start finding people who need your writing abilities!  There are lots to be had on the internet, and it can open doors to the print world as well.  You can meet people online who have contacts, and you can learn about opportunities that you wouldn’t normally know about if you weren’t involved in the industry online.

Next time, I will write a bit about writing keyword optimized articles, and using SEO principles – which is an asset that many people are searching for in their hired writers.  If you can offer extra skills, it will open more doors for you – and having the expertise to do SEO articles will definitely give you an edge!