Will You Be A Successful Ghostwriter In 2008
By admin | January 11, 2008
Happy new year to everyone and let’s hope it’s going to be a huge success. To recap 2007 was a great year for me and it was my first official year as a work at home mom. I still can’t believe that I have worked from home for over a year now and not regretted it. In fact, my bank balance has been better this year than it was the whole time I was working 9-5.
So what will 2008 bring for ghostwriters. Well with Elance having changed its membership I think that 2008 will definitely see an increase in freelance writing sites. I also envisage that Elance will take a definite nosedive in sales and profits.
As a ghostwriter where will it leave you?
Most ghostwriters know that for the last couple of years Elance really has been the place to go for freelance writing jobs and I guess in effect it still is. The fact of the matter is though how long will this last. How many of your connects (Elance alternative to bids) are you willing to waste on trying to bag projects. I know for me I downgraded my Elance account to a free membership. I still get to keep my profile up and I get 3 connects per month. I have to admit that it is probably 3 or 4 months since I have actually bid on a project on Elance so I guess for me this really isn’t a worry.
What about new ghostwriters starting out?
For new ghostwriters Elance is definitely not going to be the place to be anymore. There was a time (up until December 2007) when I would have encouraged all wannabe ghostwriters to sign up with Elance but not anymore. Now I would recommend that you join as many of the free ghostwriting jobs websites as possible and sign up for their email alerts. When you see a project you like put in a bid. It will probably take a little longer to get your first job but don’t give up. It will happen and once you get your first job getting the second, third, forth, etc, will be much easier.
There are so many new ghostwriting jobs websites out there today so jump right in and start bidding. Remember you will probably have to keep your initial bids low until you get a couple of jobs but after that don’t sell yourself short. There are people out there who are willing to pay for quality writing and if you want to be a success this is what you need to keep in mind.
Ghostwriters work hard and we should be paid accordingly.
Here’s to success in 2008
Amanda
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Topics: General | 4 Comments »
Elance Alternatives For Ghostwriters
By admin | November 30, 2007
I have been waiting patiently before making this post to see if Elance would make any further changes to their new proposed membership plans. Unfortunately they haven’t so I have decided it’s time to list some alternative websites for ghostwriting jobs.
I’m going to start with some of the free ghostwriting jobs sites:
Get A Freelancer
Get A Coder
Writerlance
Rent A Ghostwriter
Bizreef
Freelance Writing Gigs
Essay Writers
eSWO
Sun Oasis
Online Writing Jobs
Burryman
Go Freelance
Weblens
Poewar
Academia Research
Direct Freelance
Adveres
Freelance Writing Center
BuyLance
This is by no means a full list of websites so please feel free to ad your own. I will personally be reviewing all of the websites listed above over the next couple of weeks and hopefully be able to give you some insight into which ones work the best. If anyone is familiar with any of these free ghostwriting jobs websites or any others for that matter please let post your comments and share your information.
Until next time,
Keep writing.
bidding on ghostwriting jobs, Elance alternatives, freelance writing jobs, ghostwriting jobs, ghostwriting jobs websitesTopics: General | 10 Comments »
How To Manage Your Ghostwriting Time More Effectively
By admin | November 21, 2007
I received a very interesting article in my inbox today that I thought I would share with everyone. It’s all about time management and following the 80/20 rule. It makes a lot of sense and there are a few things in this article that I will personally be implementing. Read it for yourself and tell me what you think:
Manage Your Time to Earn More In Less Time
By Terry Dean
People talk about the 80/20 rule quite a bit. 20% of your customers produce 80% of your profits. 80% of your problems come from 20% of the customers. 20% of your activities produce 80% of your results.
Let’s talk about this in regard to how you’re spending your time. Since 80% of your activities only produce 20% of your results, and the other 20% of your activities are producing 80% of your results…wouldn’t you be better off concentrating only the 20%?
Let’s say someone works 12 hour days. It’s almost unbelievable to me that people work that much, but I’ve spoken with MANY who do so. Sure I could understand and have done a 12 hour day right before a vacation or on the last day of finishing a project. But working that long every single day? That’s the surefire recipe for a breakdown, both physically and mentally.
Applying the 80/20 rule to their 12 hour days means the 80% is 9.6 hours and the 20% is 2.4 hours. If we cut out the 80% that isn’t producing very well for them, we would only have 2.4 hour days. Now there’s a schedule I like.
Something I often suggest to my coaching clients is to make an activity log for the next week. Every day, simply list all the activities for the day and how long it took you to do them. At the end of the week rate each of those activities by how well it is building your business.
You’re going to find you’re wasting way too long on certain activities. You may find like many of my clients these activities include:
- Reading too many blogs (Limit the number you subscribe to)
- Subscribing to Internet marketing newsletters that only sell without providing good quality content.
- Answering Email All Day (no more than twice per day and shoot for once per day or less)
- Surfing the Forums (I can’t think of a bigger waste of time if you’re not there for the purpose of generating traffic by participating)
- Calling Someone Without a Specific Plan in mind (you can waste an hour with no results - keep it short and planned)
All of the above are activities people do to make them FEEL like they’re working instead of doing any real work. They also consume your day.
What are you personally doing that is wasting your time? What do you do to replace the real work of your business? Usually these are activities that consume much of your day…and don’t show any real results at the end. They are part of the 80% producing only 20% of the results.
Next ask yourself which activities really bring in the cash.
For example, for me, these cash producers include:
#1 - Writing (used for the blog, new products, and article submissions)
#2 - Copywriting (sales copy for my sites, tests, and emails)
#3 - Product Development (recording videos and doing interviews to create products)
#4 - Business Development (creating systems for others to do the work - could also be listed as the real #1 cash producer but I love the writing part the best)
Where do I waste my time?
I asked myself this question lately and had to answer I had slacked on following my own email rule (answering no more than twice per day max which I do for the coaching clients). So I’m pushing myself strictly back to this. I’ve also allowed myself to check the comments on my blog too often. So for the time being I’m turning off blog comments.
For me they are part of the 80% that’s not really producing the results.
Be honest with yourself…and figure out where you waste your time. What parts of your business are the 20% producing 80% of the results? Which parts are the 80% only producing 20% of the results? What can you eliminate or outsource immediately?
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Terry Dean helps business owners Earn More, Work Less, and Enjoy Life. Receive his Special report, “10 Key Strategies for Any Business Owner to Earn More, Work Less, and Enjoy Life” along with three other special reports worth $109.80 for free at http://www.theterrydean.com
ghostwriting management, managing your time effectively, time managementTopics: General | 1 Comment »