Freelance Writing as an Art and a Business

That’s a picture of my very own tuxedo cat, lounging in the window in her own special place where she loves to nap. She’s enjoying those first crisp days of early fall and soaking up the beautiful sunlight. After a whole month of steamy days and some scary thunderstorms (we even had a power outage one afternoon!), the days are finally getting cooler, just in time to usher in the first day of September.

My cat is quite chuffed to learn that another tuxedo cat, named Oreo C. Collins, is the first cat to earn a high school diploma online! (Chuffed is a British word that means she’s quite pleased with herself; my cat is American but it seemed like a good adjective to describe her happy mood...)

During the month of August, I did a series of articles for Associated Content about bizarre news and weird headlines. I wrote about the world’s largest cupcake, feral pigs in the Caribbean, the medicinal properties of blue M&Ms (the new wonder food!) and of course, some coverage of the first cat to earn a high school diploma. This is a link to my latest article on AC about Oreo C. Collins:

http://voices.yahoo.com/1224-pound-cupcake-tuxedo-cat-earns-high-school-4105181.html?cat=9

The news lately has been so grim and quite horrible (especially this week’s coverage of the Jaycee Lee Dugard case) that I decided to write some light hearted pieces about funny news. These articles are something to make people smile in the midst of all the tragic stories in the news these days.

I haven’t received too many page views on them, but they were still fun to write. I also put the bizarre news in a larger social context; for example, was the world’s largest cupcake a waste of food? And I highlighted the animal abuse that went on during testing of laboratory animals injected with blue dyes to determine if the dyes help heal spinal cord injuries (these blue dyes are made of a compound similar to dyes found in foods like blue M&Ms.)

So my freelance writing career (which these days is conducted entirely online) is going really well, and this month I enjoyed my best month ever as a writer! Here’s a look at my summer 2009 writing plan, which I’ve since tweaked a bit as I move into fall:

http://voices.yahoo.com/my-writing-plan-summer-2009-4106405.html?cat=3

One way I’ve changed the plan is by moving away from working with Triond and Picable. I spent a lot of July working on Triond and their partner site Picable, and my earnings took a dip. I love working with these two sites, so I wanted to give them every chance I could, but since I’m trying to make a go of it writing full time, I simply can’t spend as much time there when my earnings at those sites are so low.

Why are my Triond and Picable earnings so low? I believe it’s because the things I’m writing about there don’t draw in page views and neither do my photos. About a month ago, I saw a comment on a Triond article about writing that said making money on Triond is 25 per cent good writing, and 75 per cent promoting of articles. That pretty much sums up my Triond dilemma. I just write my article, or publish a photo, and other than some stumbling and tweeting, I don’t really use any of the other buttons you are given for bookmarking and promotion (like Reddit, Delicious, Digg, Fark, and so many more buttons!)

I probably should promote more, but with such a slow internet connection, doing a lot of bookmarking and promoting is very time consuming. I’d rather pour that effort into writing more articles. Unfortunately, just writing articles on Triond and publishing my photos on Picable, despite my best efforts, is earning me next to nothing. So I’ll still being working those two places, but only from time to time, just for pleasure and because I love the Triond community.

You’ll read about some Triond writers making three figures (or more) a month, but I think that’s in the minority. Lots of writers have moved away from Triond due to dismally low income there, and some who remain admit they just publish for the joy of it and their Triond income is irrelevant. For me, I’m involved in writing as an art and a business, trying to find the happy balance between the two. I feel like my time and my work has an intrinsic value, and the low pay on Triond is discouraging. Some who have published photos on Picable are quite happy with their income, but even though I’m seeing some page views, I’ve earned next to nothing with my photos there.

I’d say if you’re interested in Triond and Picable definitely try your luck; it’s a nice community of writers and photographers. You might just be a Triond success story! It just bothers me that the writer’s share is so meager there, and it’s not working for me. Color me disenchanted with Triond and Picable as a way to earn online income (but I am proud of my Triond portfolio and the work I’ve done there).

I’m focusing my efforts on Adsense revenue sharing sites, not sites that pay for page views. The only exception I make to this is working for Associated Content. I’ve been writing for Associated Content for two years and I’m very loyal to them. I find that even without much promoting or bookmarking of my published AC articles, the more I publish there, the more my page views tend to rise. Plus, Associated Content offers upfront payments for articles! I make money upfront on my AC articles, and I enjoy page view earnings on all my published work also.

As you rise up the Clout Index at AC, which is tied to your overall page views, you earn more page view bonus. I’m just about to reach Clout Index Level 9, which should boost my page view earnings nicely. Part of my fall 2009 writing plan definitely involves continuing to work hard for AC, love it there! I’ve been receiving lots of wonderful feedback about my articles, and I’m so glad my readers are enjoying my work.

The most wonderful and exciting thing to happen with my online writing has been working with Google AdSense. Working with AdSense and revenue sharing sites has allowed me to enjoy my best month ever as a freelance writer! I am so happy to have found the web site Xomba last fall, just about one year ago. I write short articles for Xomba (called Xombytes) and also do some paid social bookmarking (called Xomblurbs) and I’ve been excited about the earnings (and earnings potential) with Xomba!

This summer Xomba launched a site redesign, and the site looks really nice! I’ve been working really hard on Xomba this summer, and it’s really paying off...I almost doubled my earnings this month. I just received my Adsense check today, and I just noticed I reached the payment threshold this month and I’ll qualify for another check next month also! I’ve made hundreds of dollars with Xomba and AdSense.

For the past few days, I’ve experienced the agony of waiting by the mailbox for a payment check for my freelance writing! If you are hanging out by the mailbox, trudging out there every day at the end of the month, looking in vain for a check, I’ve been doing the same thing too! You are certainly not alone.

Today, I was waiting for a check that did come. I exhaled and was so relieved! I was so happy to get my check and take it to the bank! Still, as my earnings grow, I’m thinking about setting up EFT (electronic funds transfer) for some of my payments. It seems a lot faster than waiting by the mailbox for a check and besides, it’s eco-friendly!

I’m also thinking about doing my taxes as a self employed freelance writer, and things like health insurance for freelancers. There’s a lot to think about as a freelancer, running your own small company. I’m convinced that being successful as a freelancer in a creative field is really equal parts focusing on your artistic work, and running the business side. You need to focus on both sides for your creative business to flourish and survive!

I hope your writing business is flourishing and you’ll find the information about my writing plan helpful as you go forward with your writing goals. Happy fall...it’s almost autumn here in the Hudson Valley!

Feral Pigs and Blue M&Ms: Bizarre News for the Week of August 3, 2009

What a cutie! This fiber glass painted bear is part of the "Bears and Butterflies" art exhibit going on this summer up in the Catskills, in Cairo, New York.

I was Cairo in July and took a few photos all around town on a really hot, bright summer day. Since then it's rained so much in the Hudson Valley, but this first week of August we're again enjoying some great sunny weather here.

Associated Content writer Robert Dougherty was just featured on CNN a few moments ago, for his article about the Obama Joker poster. How exciting! AC writers are being featured more and more these days in the media. I just had a new article published today on AC:

Feral Pigs and Blue M&Ms: Bizarre News for the Week of August 3, 2009

Weird Headlines and Bizarre News for Early August 2009

With news of feral pigs in the Caribbean and the health benefits of blue M&Ms, it was an interesting week for bizarre headlines and weird, sometimes shocking stories. Quite a few headlines caught my attention over the past few days, each one stranger than the last. Here's a look at two weird recent headlines that made me go hmm...Read on...

Spring 2009 Update

This weekend it’s about 90 degrees in the mid Hudson Valley, a lot more like summer than spring. After a long cold winter that seemed to drag on endlessly in these parts, I’m elated about the warmer weather, even if it is unexpectedly HOT today!

Yesterday I received a rejection letter about a job I applied for a few weeks ago. After working as a web content provider for almost two years now, I’m excited to say that I’m a lot closer to my goal of supporting myself through my writing income. I’ve been trying to make a go of it as a full time freelance writer, but still not making enough money. I want to move out of this tiny rural town I live in (and move to a wonderful village just down the road a few miles), so recently, I’ve been looking for work again.

The job outlook here has been especially dreary. I tried a while back to look for something, but found the opportunities and the working conditions in this area of the Hudson Valley to be really disappointing. So I’ve been trying to eke out a living as a freelancer and just living the best I can on what I have. But I’ve been feeling restless lately (spring fever?) so I really wanted to find an interesting job, hopefully in the nonprofit sector, so I can move to a new place in a different area.

The rejection letter I received was from the Executive Director of a nonprofit housing corporation over in Catskill. He didn’t even call me for an interview, just wrote that they had selected another candidate and would keep me on file. And best of luck in my job search!

It might have been a good opportunity for me to get my foot in the door at a nonprofit, and I mentioned to them that I was interested in fundraising and grant writing (their website says they are always looking for grants!) The job was in bookkeeping and I am a finance/business major who graduated Summa Cum Laude from a nationally recognized local college and I also have an Associate’s Degree in business from a local community college (where I also graduated with top honors and a high grade point average).

When I was young, my elders told me this degree was “something to fall back on.” It was supposed to be something to pay the bills when acting or writing or performing failed to support me. My situation is complicated by the fact that I worked for a while in banking years ago and then left the business world to fulfill my artistic dreams.

In that time I worked freelance, and was an entrepreneur, and some employers have seen that creativity and initiative as exciting and interesting. Unfortunately, in this disastrous economic climate, potential employers see my unusual background as taking a chance? Perhaps they want someone who has worked for one company for a long time, and I can totally see that point of view, but I’m not sure where it leaves me.

All of this has made me more staunchly determined to become a successful freelancer! These experiences trying to find work in the 9 to 5 life have only made me more determined to become fully self supporting as a writer. My reasons for looking for work right now are purely economic, so I can move to a new area where I’d enjoy living. Also I’d enjoy working for a nonprofit organization. However, I’ve been working for myself for so long, and have enjoyed the benefits and freedom of freelancing, so it’s really hard for me to return to the 9 to 5.

I think I’m going to just dig in further and work even harder trying to make a go of it as a freelancer. I currently write for Associated Content, Triond and Xomba. I have stories on a few other sites but I make the bulk of my income those three places.

I’m starting to receive upfront offers again at Associated Content, so I’m submitting pieces for upfront pay as well as performance bonus only (just for page view revenues). I’ve been trying to push myself to write 100 articles per month on AC, and publish some stories on Triond also. Xomba pays for social bookmarking of things like articles, websites and photos, and they pay very well through Google AdSense. My AdSense earnings with Xomba have started to really pick up again, so I’m going to throw myself into doing more Xomblurbs (social bookmarking) with them, as well as composing some articles for Xomba (called Xombytes).

It was my intention to branch out into writing for newspapers and magazines; however, the time I’d spend querying editors and hoping to get an article accepted, is time I could spend writing more content and seeing money flow into my online accounts. If I want to be a full time freelancer, it’s probably a more effective use of my time to continue working hard as a web writer, where I know I’ll be paid. I wish it was different, and in time, I look forward to trying to break into the print markets.

There’s a lot to be grateful for now. Last fall I wrote about being screened for ovarian cancer because of an ovarian cyst, and I’m happy to report, my tests came back fine. Everything looked okay, and I’ll see the gynecologist this fall, not sure if she’ll do more ultrasound, or blood tests, or just wait a while. It’s such a relief to know that for this moment in time, things look good and there is no reason to believe I have ovarian cancer.

A few days ago I was surfing the site where I went to college and earned my Bachelor’s Degree in business and finance (after graduating, I also spent some time in the MBA program there, an unhappy time and not a good fit for me). I felt this lump in my throat and sadness wash over me, when I saw all the new programs they’ve developed. There’s a Bachelor’s Degree program in association with a college in Italy, with majors in things like digital arts, and English with a theatre concentration! It hurt my heart to see that, what I wouldn’t give to go back and study what I really wanted to take, all those years ago. Now it’s a lost opportunity that will never happen, because I doubt I’d ever go back for a second baccalaureate degree. Still, the college didn’t have such a program when I was in school, it didn’t exist.

I have to trust, that it is all happening perfectly. My writing means the world to me, and has come to occupy a place in my heart, along with performing. If the time I spent in college (where I did get to take a lot of cool English and writing and art classes along with economics, business and finance) made me the writer I am today, I am grateful for it, and it certainly wasn’t wasted time. If I want to go to Italy, I can. If I want to study English I can, and if I want more theatre training, it’s out there for me.

I’m thinking about keeping a gratitude journal. Handwriting a list each day, or on a regular basis, of all the things big and small of all kinds I’m grateful for. I’m dismayed about the economy and job situation, but I’m so lucky to have what I need, food, shelter, my loved ones around me and things that bring me joy. If you’re looking for work right now and feeling anything from concern to outright despair, I definitely feel compassion, I’m beginning to understand how tough it really is out there.

My late spring/early summer plans: brush up on my typing and MS Office skills, find a Reiki class for Level I training (mine just got cancelled for this Saturday!), looking into where I can volunteer at a local nonprofit (and learn grant writing, marketing, fundraising), possibly learn guitar so I can sing and accompany myself (I’ve got the urge to perform again!) and thinking about packing up the Jeep for a road trip this summer/fall...

If you’re unemployed right now, I challenge you to treat your freelance writing career as a full time job! I plan to go into my office every day and work harder on writing more content and increasing my freelance earnings.

I’m hoping to do more with this blog, and I plan to post a lot more links to my published articles about freelance writing that I hope will be helpful for other writers. Wherever you are, whatever your situation, keep on writing, and I wish you a very happy healthy spring!