1. Create a linked in account. Linked in lets you connect with past coworkers, new clients and others. When you can get recommendations from clients, it makes it easier to get more clients later.

2. Guru profile. It doesn’t cost anything to set up a Guru profile, but it can be a big help in your promotion efforts. I have had many clients contact me after seeing me on Guru.com.

3. Profile Site. You must set up a profile site, even if it’s a simple blogspot or facebook page. Showcase samples of your writing and put up some compelling copy that might actually make someone want to hire you.

4. Get a professional portrait done and post it to every profile you have online. Your personal image shows the employer they are dealing with a real person, not a content mill. It also establishes a sense of trust that makes you more approachable.

5. Tweet. Every time something you write is published, tweet it. It helps you and your client. Even if you are just a ghostwriter on the piece, you may spark greater interest in the article and the client will notice that your work sparked more traffic than usual.

6. Social bookmarking. It’s also a good idea to spread the word about your published work to social bookmarking sites. I use OnlyWire to bookmark everywhere.

7. Throw yourself into your work proposals. When you see a job you are interested in, use your enthusiasm to get the attention of the prospective employer. Talk specifically to the concerns and needs expressed in the job posting. Try to figure out what the employer’s pain points are and speak directly to them. Tell the employer how you can solve his problems. Remember, each application should be a compelling piece of copy in its own right designed to sell your writing as a product. Make it shine!

8. Follow up. Give it a few days after receiving payment for a job and contact the employer to thank them for using your services and offer yourself for future work if they need it.

9. Be friendly. Treat your clients like your friends. Give them compliments, speak nicely to them and joke around. These communications develop bonds that make the client more likely to return to you as a source of trusted content.

10. Double your rates. Twice. The rate you start out with is low, pitifully so. Double that rate for a while and then double it again as you gain skills. When you charge more for your work, you have more time to provide high-quality content the client seeks.

Today’s top job post looks like an incredible opportunity. The job itself is awesome. You get paid for using your talent and passion to build a startup business of a kind that has never existed before. How often does an opportunity like that come along?

You may have noticed a term in the posting that is new to many. Hello Wallet describes itself as a “double-bottom-line enterprise.” I didn’t know what that meant, but of course I looked it up.

As it turns out, “double bottom-line” means a company looks to more than just the economic bottom line when making business decisions. They also look to the socially responsible bottom line. First, how cool is that? Second, thank goodness I’m already doing that kind of work with KillFive’s volunteer job opportunities and support of Tyler Tucker. Then there is Rewind Yarn’s support of the Salvation Army. Of course, had I looked up the term before I applied, maybe I would have been able to use it in my cover letter.

Don’t make the same mistake. If you are involved in socially responsible projects and you are applying for work with a company that cares about such things, mention it!

Many people ask how I manage to look through so many ads every day and pick out the good from the bad. Part of it is just experience, part intuition, but lately I’ve noticed a pattern of language that does a good job separating the wheat from the chaff. Below is a list of phrases I often see in ads and what the phrase translates to when I find out more about those job opportunities:

“Must speak English”
I don’t pay much, so I attract a lot of bad writers who can’t even speak the language. I’m so tired of answering inquiries that say, “I can has write this four u!” So now I have to specify that writers must speak the language. Shouldn’t it be obvious that I’m looking for an English writer when my ad is written in English?

“High Volume Firm”
We expect you to churn out tons of copy for low pay.

“College Student Wanted”
…to work for peanuts.

“Student Journalist Sought”
We’re looking for volunteers.

“Must be technically savey”
Because I’m not savvy at all!

“Fast writer to crank out articles”
…for $1 each.

“Looking for Long-term Writer”
Maybe if we promise you more work, you’ll take lower pay?

“No Experience Needed”
…because if you had experience with us, you wouldn’t want this gig. We expect a lot of work for very little pay.

“View video and write descriptions”
…of naked people getting busy.

“SMOKERS, DRUG-USERS, WHINERS, COMPLAINERS AND MALCONTENTS NEED NOT APPLY”
I’m no fun to work for. I have few people skills and don’t realize that this statement may make good workers not want to apply. I really believe that putting this statement in my ad will keep these kinds of lowlifes away…oh, and I’ll know if you’re a smoker or drug-user even though this is a telecommute gig and I’ll never meet you in person.

“Fast Growing Company”
We’re totally disorganized. We need you to keep track of every detail for us ad remind us about payment a few times. We’re good people; we’re just very, very busy. But hey, someday we may get our act together!

“Imagine having your work seen by up to ten million people every month”
This is a passive revenue share site.

“This is a low-paying gig”
I don’t want to waste your time or mine, so I’ll be upfront about this.

The last three I don’t mind much, but the others tend to get me in a tizzy after so many times seeing them. I know everyone has a budget, but some of these guys get out of hand and some just don’t think about what their words translate to in the mind of the reader. I wish more posts would be honest like the last one…guess I’m one of those malcontents that need not apply?

Photo credit: imelenchon from morguefile.com

So I did a little research. I sent in my email to see what it led to. It comes down to Zac Johnson, a Web entrepreneur who makes a whole lotta money online. After reading some of his work online and checking him on IM Report Card, I have to say I think the guy is legit.

Anyway, he’s smart to capitalize on the success of those who have gone before him like “Six Figure Blogger” and “Six Figure Blogger Blue Print”. By holding this review contest, he gets a back link for each person who enters. It’ll be interesting to follow up and see if somebody really wins or not. And to put this ad on Problogger makes it look like he’s part of the “Six Figure Blogger” program. Smart, but a little sneaky if you ask me.

The guy is offering a lot of very good, free advice, so it may be worth your time to check it out. There is a lot of information that bloggers can learn from him. Why is he giving this info away for free? Because he wants you to become an affiliate blogger, buying web hosting and other services you’ll need to succeed through his affiliate program. He makes money when you make money. Not a bad deal.

Regards,
~Killer

Hand-screened opportunities for telecommuting and freelance writers:

Work from home… or from anywhere!

* * Some of these jobs are posted on Guru.com. Guru requires you register to view job listings (it’s free). Click here to register.

1. Proof Reader
2. Beauty & Style Deals Blogger
3.  Bloggers Needed for Energy Savings Company – $25 per 350-word post
4. Editors
5. Freelance Writing Jobs – $50 for 500 words, $100 for 1,000 words
6. Copyeditor/Proofreader – $15 – $20/hour
7. Business Plan Writer / Editor needed asap
8. Online Managing Editor Wanted
9. business writer needed
10. Marine writer/ Interviewer – 5 cents per word

Volunteer Today!

Volunteer Writing Opportunity of the Day

Marketing and Communications: Virtual Opportunity – The Human Spirit Initiative

Hand-screened opportunities for telecommuting and freelance writers:

Work from home… or from anywhere!

* * Some of these jobs are posted on Guru.com. Guru requires you register to view job listings (it’s free). Click here to register.

1. Architecture, Design, Graphics – Blogger – $15 per 200-400 word post
2. contract editor
3. Editorial content editor – $50 – $150 per web page
4. Copy/Content Editor
5. writer – for bankruptcy lawyer
6. Web Site Copy Writer
7. Manuscript Editing
8. Food Blogger Wanted
9. Ad Writer – Content Producer
10. Web Copywriter/Content Manager

Volunteer Today!

Volunteer Writing Opportunity of the Day

Social Media Intern – Breaking Ground

This just in late last night from eCopywriters:

Hello everyone!

We are looking for medical writers. If you have experience writing medical content please contact me at andrea@ecopywriters.com with your background/experience and any medical writing samples if possible.

Please note:

To log in to your account, go to: ecopywriters.com/login

If you have not had your writing sample approved yet, please be patient. We are trying to review all writing samples as soon as possible so you can have a chance to write for us.

Thank you!

This email came through today from eCopywriters:

“Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that there are a number of new jobs that have been input onto the site today – many level 1 and 2 jobs are now available. Please feel free to accept jobs that you are interested in writing for.

If you have not received a confirmation email that your writing sample has been approved, you are still not able to accept jobs. We are working on reviewing all samples to get as many writers into the system as soon as possible.

Thanks and have a great weekend all!”

Hang in there if you are waiting for approval. eCopywriters is a good gig.

Regards,
~Killer

Here’s a scam I have not seen before. This one is particularly slick. The guy takes the time to reach you on a personal level, empathize with your frustrations over scam sites and pitch this program as the answer to your prayers. As it turns out, this guy is doing the same thing those other scammers are doing…pulling on your heart strings to get you to fork over money.

• Long-form landing page – Copywriters should recognize this page for what it is right off the bat. Way more text than is needed to explain what the offer is, described from every possible angle. With so many people desperate to work from home, why would anyone need more than a paragraph or two to explain what the job is?
• Too good to be true – Making $300 to $3,000 per day for data entry? Who’s he aiming this at? Third-world residents who have no idea how much an American makes? Honestly, the lowest paid jobs (like data entry) pay about $50 per day. Why on earth would anyone pay you six times the prevailing wage for a job that anyone with a pulse can do?
• Offering valuable items for free – This is a common copywriting and sales technique. Pump up your offer with tons of free stuff.
• Price Cut – The offer starts out at $99 per month but is now offering for $49.95 per month. Sound like a fire sale to you? Why is this guy so desperate in a situation where thousands would be dying to join this program if it was as good as it sounded?

Here’s the thing. Many programs like this are technically “legitimate” because they do give you the information you need to make money online. The problem: it’s not data entry. It’s affiliate marketing. All this information is already available online for free. Why pay for it? Also, they make it sound so easy, but the amount of work is enormous. Data entry is a simple job where you are given text to put in a computer. With OCR technology there isn’t even need for data entry workers anymore. Computers can read handwriting now.

My Data Team is just teaching you how to do affiliate marketing, a niche that is already crowded, very hard to break into and only pays a lot to those who are experts. When an offer is nothing more than a tutorial, it should clearly state that. It should also be honest about what the job really is. It’s not simply data entry, it’s complicated affiliate marketing.

I didn’t need to even research My Data Team to know it was a scam. But just to back up what I’m telling you here, I did a little digging. The BBB award winner claim on the website is total garbage. Notice there is no actual BBB symbol on the site? Here’s what the Better Business Bureau has to say about it:

Mis-use of BBB Name by My Data Team
Based on BBB files this company is currently displaying Better Business Award Winner on their website www.mydatateam.com. This company is not an Accredited Business with our BBB; furthermore we do not issue awards. The company has failed to remove the wording from their website when demands have been made to do so.

If the company lies about BBB, what else is it lying about? Probably everything! Hope you didn’t fall for this one!

Today received an email from eCopywriters:

“At this time, we are looking for level 2 or 3 authors who have extensive experience writing content for financial websites.

We are also looking for an author who has experience writing to the Canadian market for financial content.”

If this sounds like your kind of gig, and you write for eCopywriters, get cracking. If you do not write for eCopywriters but would like to, you can join via this link. Follow the registration instructions and you should be up and running quickly.

Regards,
Killer