Freelancing and More!

Many freelance writers struggle with how to write appropriately for a variety of subjects.  There are some things you should be careful about whether you are writing for yourself or, you are writing for a client. Here are some of them.

Be natural – Do not try to mimic someone elses’ writing style. This can cause you endless amounts of grief.  What could ultimately happen is that trying to mimic a particular writing style can result in stilted sounding writing.  If you are experimenting with different styles, make sure you save the document before publishing it online and read it carefully. Make sure that it flows.

Research matters – Good topics are not hard to find. You can look in Google for trending topics or you can see what is happening in the news if you are searching for new ideas.  If you are good at researching, you can write intelligently about almost any topic.  Do not take shortcuts and use respected sites.

SEO and Keywords - There are numerous tools that can help you determine what will work for SEO purposes and what will not.  As important as including keywords in your writing might be, if they wind up sounding forced, you might as well not publish the article.  While you should use keywords naturally during your writing, do not overdo it. If the article does not contain helpful information it will not be read. If you continue to publish this type of work, your credibility will suffer.

What makes a good topic?

Nearly anything that people are interested in can be a good topic to write about.  Topics can be broken into three “major” categories.

Seasonal earners – These are the articles that have what I like to call a shelf life. These are generally articles that are based on an event that occurs annually.  For instance, you might not make a lot of money on an article about Valentines Day in July, but generally by the end of January until Mid-February this would be a good earner.  These types of articles are great to have on sites like Helium since they will come “back in favor” and earnings will accumulate on page hits.

Evergreen earners – Articles that are not geared towards a holiday but instead offer good information that can be used at any time. Great examples of this include weight loss tips, tips on saving money, tips for working at home and parenting tips.  These types of articles should not contain information on dates unless they are used for statistical purposes.

Newsworthy or “What’s all the fuss about” – These are articles that focus more on current events and news stories. For the most part, these articles have a limited “shelf life” and while they may make you money up front, they are not going to be seasonal earners nor are they likely to be long term earners. The good thing about these articles is they can help you build a following, especially if you post them on a regular basis.

Summary

Each writer will have to find their own way around content creation.  You need to find your own voice, be natural and make sure that your articles are read. These writing tips will help you understand where to begin.