Set up a schedule

You will not be able to accomplish anything unless you set up a schedule and stick to it. Professionalism means - working when you don't feel like it. People who are employed outside the home know what *that* is like - most people are 9 to 5-ers and have to go into work and produce whether they feel like it or not. Freelance writers, on the other hand, or anyone who works from home - sometimes feel like if they're not in the mood, they'll just put off their work until they are in the mood...then two days later they find themselves with deadlines they can't meet and an unhappy client. And then there's that old adage, don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. This is particularly true if you have a client who is himself a procrastinator...and will put off doing work with you (for example, if he gives you dictation every day via Skype, except on those days when he doesn't feel like doing it... then one day he wants to get allllll caught up and that's the day you were going to work on some other work that you'd been putting off... it can turn into a vicious circle! So be a professional - work every day whether you feel like it or not.

Video Marketing

I am a fan of the detective novels of Georgette Heyer. (I have to admit I've never gotten into her regency romances - her main body of work and what she is celebrated for - but then I don't read romances as a rule.).

I've been exploring ways of how to create videos on YouTube to help build up my portfolio (and also to market some of my income-stream projects.

Here's an example of video annotation.

Footsteps in the Dark, Heyer's first detective novel, was published in 1932. As such, there's about 80 years worth of slang and mores that separate that novel from today.

What's an approach course, for example? What is stamp paper? What are Holyrood (as opposed to Holy Rood) and Hampton Court?

If you like mysteries, if you like learning about the past, check out what I call Dated Death: Footsteps in the Dark (Chapter 1).

Make little videos to drive people to your website

I've started a videozine to help people learn Scrabble words, and the first two issues are up at YouTube.

In future posts I'll show you how to make videos of this nature - they are really easy.
Issue 1: Introducing three expert researchers, Amber, Shimako and Trelane, and their adventures solving the Counterfeit Coin Caper.

And their adventures continue in Issue 2:

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 commercial compares apples and oranges

I got my Kindle Fire HDX 8.9  today, which I'll be blogging about on Caroline's Tablet Tech Blog, and I was surprised to see that it was much smaller than my iPad 2 (and thus, the iPad Air).

If you see the commercial for the  Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 on TV, where it compares itself to the iPad Air, note that you never see both of the things next to each other.

The commercial gives the weight of the iPad Air as one pound, and the Kindle Fire as considerably lighter, thus crushing the iPad Air.

You want to know why the iPad Air weighs a whole 3 or 4 ounces more than the Kindle Fire?

Because it's bigger!

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 has a screen size of 8.9 inches...the iPad Air has a screen size of 9.7 inches!

This is something to take note of, for you as a purchaser of items as well as a freelance writer - be honest - don't compare apples and oranges!

It's an interesting lesson in advertising writing though, isn't it?

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 TV commercial could have given all the highlights of its features, but the scriptwriter decided to do a negative, attack ad instead.

Which is fine except don't brag about how light the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is compared to the iPad Air, when they aren't the same size, so the weight difference is moot!

An Income Stream is Where You FInd It

Alright, I confess. I've been influenced by advertisements and bought three, count them three, tablets, a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, an iPad 2, and soon to come the latest Kindle Fire. I'm going to get a Nook, too, but that will be in January...

So how can I justify buying all these things, even though I am getting them all interest free?

Well, I've started Caroline's Tablet Tech Blog, and I am anticipating getting a lot of hits after December 25, when hopefully hundreds of thousands of people with new tablets will start scouring the web for information on how to do various things with them - because none of these tablets have come with print documentation.

The URL of the blog is: http://carolinestablettechblog.blogspot.com/

By having so many tablets, I'll be able to review books and apps on each one, not to mention cases and other accessories, and Caroline's Table Tech Blog will become an authority site. (I don't intend to buy the cases that I'll be reviewing, but when the site becomes an authority site, I anticipate being sent items to review.)

It will take me a while, perhaps, to recoup my investment in these tablets, and of course I've got the price of each one documented so that I'll know exactly how much each one cost me, so that I will know when I've recouped that investment. That's money management. (If the tablets aren't paid off within a certain number of months - 6 to be precise - then I'll start being charged interest. So it's essential that I do get these things paid off in a timely fashion.) (The Note 8.0 is the one I'll have to pay off immediately - as I would owe interest on that one immediately, and we're talking 22%! So I'll pay it off on the payment due date.)

Blog Ideas: Become an Authority on Your Town/City

Depending on where you live, an ideal blog that you can create and monetize is a travel blog - or I suppose destination blog would be a more appropriate title - about your city.

Obviously if you live in a one-horse town of 500-1,000 people, you might not find much to write about. Unless it's a ghost town which still draws tourists who want to imagine it as it once was, perhaps.

But if it's a good-sized town or city that does get a lot of tourist traffic, set yourself up as an expert.

Create a blog (and you can download a free, fully illustrated guide on how to set up a blog at blogger.com by going to our website at FreelanceWriterMagazine.com) and start writing, in a systematic way - everything about what there is to see and do in the city and in surrounding areas.

Are there yearly activities that you can give tips about?

For example, I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming and every year we have Cheyenne Frontier Days which is our big tourist draw - more tourists come here for this two week time period then for the rest of the year combined!

Where are the best places for people to stay when they come here? Where are the hotels, motels and campgrounds in relation to the nearest laundromats, restaurants, museums and so on?

Make sure you take lots of photos, and identify each of these photos with ALT text so they can be properly indexed by Google and other Search Engines.

How can you monetize your blog? Well, again, use Google AdSense - you earn a few cents each time someone clicks on one of your ads - and the ads are related to your topics, by the way - and join Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble as an affiliate. 

Suggested topics you can write about on your Destination blog.

From whatever highway a traveler might be using - going north, south, east or west, where is the nearest pharmacy, Walmart and Target, and so on. Give directions of how to get to each, as well as an address.

Give directions to each museum or sports stadium in the city, coming from east, west, north or south. Yes, many folks have GPS, but for those who don't... they'll enjoy this.

Drive around and document any confusing street signs or roadworks - either by day or at night.  (For example, here in Cheyenne, we have a Central Avenue that goes from two broad lanes to three narrower lanes. If you're not aware of it, you 'll keep driving straight and end up straddling two lanes instead of getting into the correct lane.)

I'm sure other ideas will come to you if you think about it for a while!

First issue of Freelance Writer Magazine scheduled for January 1, 2014

Originally the first issue of Freelance Writer Magazine (freelancewritermagazine.com) was scheduled to make its debut on December 1, 2013, but the best laid plans of mice, men and magazine publishers gang aft agley.

The first issue is going to be dedicated to SEO - Search Engine Optimization, and is going to be the only work on SEO you'll ever really need.

There's plenty of opportunities for the freelance writer to get writing commissions for SEO. These can consist of rewriting articles that are provided to you, spinning the articles using spinning software (although if you have a large vocabulary and know how to write spintax - which is easy - you don't really need software), writing keyword-rich articles, and optimizing the content of people's websites.

All of this will be explained in Freelance Writer Magazine issue 1, and you'll also find an article on Perfecting Your Voice(s).

The first issue will launch on the Kindle for FREE (so it will be exclusive to Amazon devices for 90 days before being available on other e-readers.)