Sharon Hurley Hall's Blog, page 11

Writer Marketing – How to Focus on Value [2015 Update]

When I started out in freelancing on the web, the conversation was all about price – price per word, price per hour, price per article. That kind of conversation really hurts writers because it places the focus on the wrong aspect of writing (the word count or time count) rather than the right aspect: the value of your work for clients and for you.

Price vs Value – Hard Lessons

Of course, I learned this the hard way. Some of my early freelancing gigs were for a copywriting agency which paid...

Kick start Your Freelance Writing Career: Beyond the Margins Review

Looking for some advice to kick start your freelance writing career? Then you’re in luck!

I recently read another ebook aimed at beginning freelance writers (see my previous review here). Called Beyond the Margins, the book is by professional freelance writer Michael Kwan. This short ebook has five chapters covering:

Preparing to enter the freelance arena
Finding work and making some money
Managing and expanding your business
Dealing with the day to day grind
Moving toward greater independence

In ot...

The Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success [Review]

I recently had the pleasure of reading The Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success. Authored by Laura Spencer of Writing Thoughts and Carol Tice of the Freelance Writer’s Den, it promised to answer the questions most new freelancers have about getting started. The ebook is based on several presentations the pair did on getting freelance work that pays well.

Inside the book are 6chapters covering:

1. How to land your best first markets

2. How to market when you have no clips

3. Marketing s...

Writer Marketing – How to Focus on Value

When I started out in freelancing on the web, the conversation was all about price – price per word, price per hour, price per article. That kind of conversation really hurts writers because it places the focus on the wrong aspect of writing (the word count or time count) rather than the right aspect: the value of your work for clients and for you.

Price vs Value – Hard Lessons

Of course, I learned this the hard way. Some of my early freelancing gigs were for a copywriting agency which paid a s...

Step Away from Your Writing Desk

As a not-so-secret introvert, I love doing everything online. So living thousands of miles away from most of my clients isn’t a big deal. Google Hangouts, Skype and email give us that almost face to face interaction that we all need occasionally. But here’s something even introverts need to accept: if you remain a hermit, you miss out on growth opportunities for your business.

That’s why, even if your natural inclination is to shy away from in-person meetings and events, it’s a good idea to st...

Grammarly Review–2014 Update

It’s been a while since I reviewed Grammarly – about three years, to be exact. In my last review, I concluded that Grammarly was a great tool for new writers and those writing English as a second language. Would anything change this time round?

Getting Started with Grammarly

Grammarly is a web-based tool, which also integrates with programs like Microsoft Word and Outlook.

The main Grammarly interface is a page where you can paste the text you want to check for grammar errors. You can also uploa...

Scrivener: a Great Tool for Professional Bloggers

I think I’m in love! In the past month, I have completely changed my blogging workflow. That’s because I have discovered the joys of usingScrivener. Originally a Mac tool, Scrivener is software for writers. It’s now available for Windows, and that’s the version I’m using. I’d heard about it before but figured it was only for novel writers. Boy, was I wrong! Although I wasn’t sure how it would work for a professional blogger, I found an article by Thaddeus Hunt (one of my new go-to sources for...

Why I Don’t Need to be a Know-It-All Writer

Ask any experienced writer and I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you a tale from their newbie days, where they succumbed to the temptation to keep income flowing by taking every writing job offered. That’s a mistake, but it’s something writers often learn the hard way.

Here’s a short story from my early days of freelancing, when I was working regularly for a UK copywriting agency. I never knew what article topics would land in my inbox. I had my specialties (consumer finance, home and lifestyle...

Writers, Are You Looking After Your Mental Health?

As a self-employed solopreneur you probably don’t get to take a mental health day when it all seems a bit too much. After all, there are all those bills to pay. That’s why we spend so much time wearing multiple hats and juggling all the tasks that people in a regular business would have lots of employees to do.

Many of us are also juggling beyond the four corners of the screen in our daily lives. We may be parents, carers for elderly relatives, members of volunteer organizations or possibly al...

Changing the Culture of Freelance Writing

Editor’s note: I’m a member of the Writer’s Bridge. Its founder, Darrell Laurant, recently sent us an inspirational piece about how the culture of freelance writing could change. I thought it deserved a wider audience, so here it is.

by Darrell Laurant

Architect and philosopher Buckminster Fuller was once quoted as saying: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Amen. The existing reality, when it...