Writer makes $805 - with clips to go
An exciting day! I sent out invoices for $805 dollars, for one article and
three hours editing. But it did take time and effort to finally get my
freelance writing career off the ground, with a few tricks learned along the
way.
Before I began applying for work, I built a Web site for my writing
business. I updated my resume, I signed up for a fax service, with free
business cards as part of the deal, and I dreamed a lot about being a
'writer'. And then, when the inevitable could be put off no more, I began
applying for jobs. There are scores of job sites on the Internet, and I
trawled them everyday. Some of my favorites include:
- http://www.Copyeditor.com
- http://www.CraigsList.com
- http://www.Sunoasis.com
- http://www.JournalismJobs.com
Re-Fresh, Re-Hash, Re-WriteYou are running out of ideas, you sit down in front of your computer and stare at the blank screen with a blank mind.
Your fingers are idly waiting for some action. Writer's block' Perhaps .....
- http://www.Career.com
- http://www.Monster.com
- http://www.WritersWrite.com
- http://www.InscriptionsMagazine.com
Another great resource is the Sunday classified sections of metro
PUT IT IN WRITING!Ever been asked to 'Put it in Writing.'' Sure, you have. Did
you immediately go to your desk and effortlessly record your
thoughts and suggestions' Or, perhaps, you struggled .....
newspapers. Just type in 'freelance', 'writer', or 'editor', and see what
comes up.
Once I see a job I'm interested in, I apply for it right there and then. If
I bookmark it, I KNOW I'm not going to go back to it later, I'm just not. So
fully aware of my ability to procrastinate, I made it easy to apply for jobs
as soon as I found them - with clips to go.
Many jobs ask for a resume and clips in text-only format. This means typed
directly into an email, or copy and pasted from another program. It doesn't
mean sending Word attachments, or text attachments or any sort of
attachment. It means TEXT ONLY. Remember, your potential employer is
possibly wading through hundreds of resumes. Does he/she want to open
another program to read yours' Probably not.
So, to streamline the process, I set up an email template with a text-only
resume, which I used ****** and ------- to separate sections. I pasted in
three clips, with the headline in caps, and the date it was published.
Because ......
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