Freelance Writing Prompts #41-45

Weekly Writing Prompts 

Topic: Bloggers

(Week 9)

#41-45

Last weeks writing prompts covered how and why to start a blog so sticking with that theme I wanted to focus this weeks writing prompts not on blogs but on bloggers. I love to hear about people who have found great success in blogging, that is one reason I think bloggers make for great writing prompts. From mommy bloggers like Dooce (who is now on TLC,interesting)  to tech bloggers like Darren Rowse,  these people have made a living out of blogging and most of their stories are quite amazing. This weeks writing prompts cover different groups of bloggers but as with all of my writing prompts these ideas can be expanded to many, many more.

Writing prompt # 41-The top 10 Blogger blogs- This could be done for any blog platform, Blogger, Wordpress, etc…You may have to do some research on this one but it will make a great article or blog post!

Writing prompt # 42-The top 10 most successful bloggers-This is another writing prompt that will take a bit of research. Everyone measures success differently, I would go with terms of growth, money (if disclosed), followers, etc..

Writing prompt # 43-The top 10 most successful mommy blogs- This will be a really fun read! There are so many mommy blogs it will be hard to narrow it down to 10 but again I would start with followers, do a little research and see what things each offer, how thwy differ, what makes each unique, these are all things that could narrow it down to just 10.

Writing prompt # 44-Top 10 celebrity news blogs- Blogs these days are becoming so diverse that many don’t even realize they are reading a blog, celebrity blogs are great at doing this. Your top 10 list will most likely contain blogs that people didn’t even know were actual “blogs” ie. Huffington Post!

Writing prompt # 45-10 up and coming blogs- Ahhh this is my favorite of the 5 writing prompts, the blogs that are on their way to the top! Don’t forget to include mine!

Have fun writing! If you missed last weeks writing prompts you can check them out here!

The Top 5 Social Bookmarking Success Tips

In my last post I discussed how to use social bookmarking to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, and website pages. I wanted to go into greater detail on how to get the most out of these social bookmarking sites to ensure you maximize the potential success that social booking can bring. It is not enough to just sign up for social bookmarking sites and submit your content; this alone will not bring much traffic to your freelance articles, blog posts, and website pages. In order to make these sites work for you, you must first establish yourself and your presence. Here are the top 5 social bookmarking tips to set the foundation for your social bookmarking , accounts and generate more traffic to your site.

Social Bookmarking Tip #1- Fill out your profile- Let people know who you are and what your all about. When you give little information about yourself or your company people are more likely to move on but when you offer information people may become interested and add you to their group of friends which could mean even more exposure for you and traffic for your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages. Don’t forget to add links to the other places where people can find you. Also, add a pic to your profile, people tend to respond better when they can put a name with a face, it gives you an identity and makes your more personable.

Social Bookmarking Tip #2- Make Friends- As I said earlier making friends can bring a great deal of traffic for you and your submissions to social bookmarking sites. When you make friends you generate a network of people who may be inclined to read your submissions and then click through to your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages. Not to mention that it does allow you to meet some great people along the way. The truth is if you don’t have friends on most of these sites you wont get many internal views (views from other members).

Social Bookmarking Tip #3- Comment on other submissions- The more you interact the more you are getting your name out there. On some social bookmarking sites comments build up your rating. Regardless of whether or not the social bookmarking site has a rating system though, comments link back to you and that’s great news because again it means more traffic for your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages! Comments also allow other members of social bookmarking sites to see you are not just there for you, people hate it when members are only there to self promote and are less likely to view your submissions.

Social Bookmarking Tip #4- Submit work other than your own- If all you do is submit your work to these social bookmarking sites day after day, it starts looking a little spammy! I suggest either throwing in some other great bookmarks, if you are reading something in the news that is interesting, bookmark it real quick. Also if you have work on multiple sites that covers different topics you could be fine submitting your various content but if it’s the same stuff everyday you might be hurting your reputation. Again, to get the most out of these social bookmarking sites you need to be part of the greater community.

Social Bookmarking Tip #5- Join Groups- Joining groups on social bookmarking sites is another great way to establish a presence, become part of the community, get your name out there, and ultimately get more traffic to your freelance articles, blog posts, and website pages. Groups also tend to get you a bit of extra exposure because after submitting to the social bookmarking site itself you can then re-submit your content to your groups.

Overall, you want to establish yourself on social bookmarking sites to get the most out of them. Once you have done all of the above you will see that with time social bookmarking sites can bring a great deal of traffic to your freelance articles, blog posts, and website pages.

I would love to hear what has worked best for you in terms of getting the most out of social bookmarking sites.

Weekly Freelance Writing Prompts #36-40 Week 8

Weekly Writing Prompts 

Topic: Blogging

(Week 8)

#36-40

If you run a blog or a website you know that this is an area of the internet that can get tricky if you know nothing about it and believe me there are people who know nothing about it. Believe it or not some people don’t have blogs because they know nothing about where to get one, how to start one, or how to create one. Before I found Blogger I didn’t know that Blogger offered free blogs where you could use Google AdSense and make money while blogging, I had built a few websites but never ran a blog and new little about them. If it wasn’t for stumbling upon this info about Blogger and learning some very helpful blog tricks from Paul Crowe of Spice Up Your Blog, I myself would probably still not have a blog. Thank goodness I found someone who gave me the tools I needed, but for some they continue to avoid the world of blogging because it seems all too intimidating. This is why I chose blogging for this weeks writing prompts. For those of you who do run a blog, I am talking about going back to the basics. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who knows NOTHING about blogging, write your articles and blog posts keeping in mind that the person you are writing for is at step 1 with no blogging background. Here we go….

Writing prompt #36-Why start a blog…..Some people don’t know all the benefits of blogging. Some even believe that blogging is only used for journaling. You could offer different options for using blogs, how to earn money from blogs, how to use a blog to promote your business, how to chose a blog niche, etc…

Writing prompt #37-How to start a blog…. Let people know what there options are. If you prefer one blogging platform then write on that one. Or you could do an overview of the different blog platforms, you could even chose 2 and compare the pros and cons. ie  “Blogger vs. Wordpress: which is best for you?" or “The pros and cons of both Blogger and Wordpress”, etc…

Writing prompt #38-Where to find templates for your blog… New bloggers don’t know that they have options when it comes to their blog template and background. This is something they should know from the beginning because making the switch can be difficult for newbie’s. Often, upon starting a blog people see the template options given through the specific platform and think that’s it, those are their only choices. As you may know those are far from the only options so write a few articles or blog posts on templates, backgrounds, where to get them, how to apply them, etc… another great way to expand this writing prompt is to brake down the types of templates… “10 great Blogger backgrounds for girls” “10 sports themed blog backgrounds”, “20 great 3 column templates”, again there are so many topic options for this writing prompt.

Writing prompt #39- Top 10 things your blog must have.. This could be top 5, top 20, etc….Basically you want to include the blog “must haves” to make a professional, successful blog, ie contact option, ways to connect to you through other social media sites, rss feed, etc…

Writing prompt #40 -How to get traffic to your blog….Now that you have given all the tips and tricks to how to start a blog now you can write on ways to get traffic to your blog. This is a large concept. I am in the middle of writing on this topic and it has so much info that I had to break it up into a 5, maybe 6, part series!

(If you missed the start of this series you can check it out here to get an idea of where I am going with it and then see what direction you could take for your own writing on this topic.)

These writing prompts are also a great way for you to promote your own blog. I would suggest writing an article or two for a source other than your blog (ie Info Barrel, Hub Pages, etc…) and then link back to get a little extra traffic to your own blog.

Last weeks writing prompts

How to Promote Your Freelance Articles, Blog Posts, or Website Pages Part 2

Part 2: Using Social Bookmarking to Promote Your Freelance Articles, Blog Posts, or Website

You can’t expect to build a site or a blog or write an article and have it swarming with viewers without some advertisement, I’m not talking about paying for advertisement I’m talking about advertising yourself, getting your name out there, allowing others to find you where they may not have otherwise! One of the best ways to promote yourself and your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages and get traffic to your site is through the ever-growing trend of social bookmarking.

Last week I talked about the importance of SEO. SEO is what will get your articles, blog posts, and website pages ready for marketing. Now you need to start that marketing.The truth is you can be the best search engine optimizer out there and still not get the traffic you expected. Like I said last week, SEO is just the foundation! Now you have to start promoting your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages. Believing that your work will promote itself can lead to great disappointment!

Social bookmarking is a tool that many want nothing to do with or know little about. However, it’s not as scary or confusing as it may seem. The truth is it may be one of the greatest tools out there to promote your work.  For those of you new to the idea, social bookmarking simply allows you to submit your content to a site for others to see which could in return get you some great backlinks and traffic to your site..

There are actually two important ways social bookmarking can help to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages:

1)    Internal views- When you submit your articles, blog, or site it is available for others to see. However, to get the most out of internal views it is best to let others know you’re not only there to self promote. Take some time to make friends, comment on other people’s submissions, etc… If you have 0 friends you are likely to have 0 internal views but if you have 500 friends you are likely to get a great deal of views. This will also increase your chances of others voting up your submissions.

2)   Google Search- Often when you submit to these sites your freelance article or individual blog posts or website pages will come up on Google search even before the actual site, blog, or article. Sometimes when I have an article that has a lot of competition the site my work is on may not rank that well in Google search but when I submit that same article to social bookmarking sites my article shows up through that social bookmarking site in Google search. Like this:

Not bad 2^nd spot on the first page! Yes, I would love to have it be the direct site but sometimes that’s not going to happen. This particular article is not high on it’s own because the title is the only time that line is used in but I really wanted to use that title and it worked out thanks to social bookmarking!

This may also happen for a few weeks after you first submit to social bookmarking sites and then when your actual article finishing going through the Google search loop, as I like to call it, (where you are on the first page and then you disappear into the abyss, and then a few weeks later your back) then when Google has you placed, your actual work will most likely out rank the social bookmarking link!

Here are a few of the most popular social bookmarking sites:

Digg

Mixx

Stumble Upon

Propeller

Redit

Now, if you are familiar with social bookmarking/social media you know that this is just the beginning. The list gos on and on! I found a great article that lists the top 20 social bookmarking sites, you may want to take a look to see what is out there all from one site without having to be sent all over the place to see what your options are..

Please note: For the sake of length I have decided to group Twitter and a few other favs into a later post as those take some time to cover so watch for those coming up in the next few posts!

Now you are not going to want to post to each one of these social media sites one by one, who has the time? So instead I suggest signing up for a program that will help you organize your social bookmarking sites and allow you to post to them all at once.

My top choice:

Onlywire- Onlywire allows you to add your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages to multiple social bookmarking sites with one click. Brilliant! Whoever comes up with these shortcuts is heaven sent! It’s free so long as you display their button on your site.

Of the above social bookmarking sites, I have found that Digg and Mixx have worked the best so far for me (other than Twitter which I will discuss soon). I would love to hear what social bookmarking sites have worked to best promote your work!

If you missed Part 1 of How to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, and websites pages you can check it out here!

Weekly Freelance Writing Prompts #31-35

Last weeks freelance writing prompts covered the area in which you live. This week I wanted to keep to the same theme but expand it across the globe. It is fascinating to learn things about a place we have never been to before. These writing prompts may take some research but when done they will make great articles or blog posts.

The following writing prompts are just a glimpse of what can be done with the topic of world travel. I hope that they create many more ideas and topics for you. Again, I wrote the writing prompts as top 10 lists but of course you can write them in whatever style works for you. I also did not include descriptions as I normally do, as most are self explanatory.

Writing Prompt #31-Top 10 Most Traveled Places of the World…..

Writing Prompt #32-Top 10 Most Romantic Beaches……..

Writing Prompt #33-The Top 10 Most Beautiful Waterfalls of The World…….

Writing Prompt #34-The Top 10 Most Amazing Historical Landmarks……

Writing Prompt #35-Top 10 Places to Visit Before You Die……okay that one is a little dreary, at least the title is but the topic itself is great. This one might take a bit of research but what a great read it would be! This is an article or post I’d love to read!

I wanted to point out that when I was re-reading these writing prompts I realized that although I suggest them as “World Travel” writing prompts they can be broken down to specific locations also. For example the 1^st writing prompt “Top 10 Most Traveled Places of The World” Could also work for “The most traveled places in California”, “the most traveled places in China”, etc…. Just keep that in mind it could generate a lot more topics for you!

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How to Promote Your Freelance Articles, Blog Posts, or Website Pages Part 1

Some of the greatest time spent working from home as a freelance writer involves promoting your work. Whether you are a freelance writer, a freelance photographer, a blogger, or an owner of any business with a website, getting traffic to your work, website, or blog is a vial part of your success. But the question often arises: Exactly how do you promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages effectively to get more traffic to your site. We all want to be ranked high on search engines, but how do we do it? 

Many veteran freelance writers, bloggers, and website owners have learned the tricks of how to promote their work and obtain high search engine placement through trial and error (and a lot of hard work), others pay good money to have someone help them promote their work, some buy ad spots to get their site seen, and some don’t even bother because the task of promoting their freelance work seems all too big! The truth is there are a few simple steps you can take to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages in a minimal amount of time without spending a dime. Over the next few posts I will cover how to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages through a variety of options.

Part 1:Where It All Begins-SEO

Before I get into the actual process of how to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages you have to understand that all successful freelance work online begins with good SEO. If you have never heard of the term, SEO it stands for Search Engine Optimization. Without getting technical this simply means that when you write your articles, blog posts, or web pages you do so with search engines in mind. In order to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages you should take the time to optimize your content giving you the push you need to be successful in search engine placement.

There are a few ways to optimize your site, blog, or freelance articles online but one of the most important deals with keyword density. Basically, you need to include relevant key words so that search engines can pick up on them and rank your page accordingly. This is the foundation of getting your work seen so it is very important. People pay top dollar to have their sites ranked higher in by search engines via SEO. Honestly, this is something you can do on your own. Here are the key points to remember.

• Chose a keyword, even better a key phrase (aka long tail keyword) of 3 words or longer.

• Make sure your keyword density is 2.2%. This means if you write an article that is 1000 words long you will use your keyword 22 times.

• Use your key phrase twice in the first paragraph.

• Keep your key phrase in context when possible. If your keyword phrase is “how to promote your freelance articles” try to keep it in that order. If you have to break it up a time or two because your content is seeming a bit robotic or it just doesn’t work then try to keep it as close as possible (e.g. Freelance writers promote their articles by….)

• Never abuse keyword density; there is a huge difference between keyword density and keyword stuffing. If you abuse your keywords this could greatly impact your page rank and site validity.

Anyone who is familiar with SEO knows that keyword density is just a fraction of understanding the “art” of SEO. However, this is a great place to start. And to be quite honest (sorry to all who pay those big bucks to get your site optimized) this is pretty much all I do for my work and when I do it right my work gets ranked fairly well! I say this not to gloat but so that you understand that there is no real big secret to SEO. However, if you have the money, go for it. Better yet, I would suggest reading a good eBook on SEO, if you want to know more about SEO and it’s full potential. Anyways, the above SEO tips should set a stable foundation that is needed before we jump into the different aspects of how to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages.

In the next part of this series we will begin to explore immediate ways to promote your freelance articles, blog posts, or website pages and get more traffic to your site in just a few simple steps.

Believing in the Work You do as a Freelance Writer

As freelance writer it is easy to doubt what we do because we (luckily) don’t have authority above us giving us that pat on the back that often assures us we are doing a great job. This is, for the most part, a stand alone job. As a freelance writer we have to learn to believe in the work that we do, stand behind it with confidence, and give ourselves credit for our own great work; trying to exclude doubt as much as possible.

Of coarse it’s great to be self critical but there is a huge difference in being critical of our work and doubting our work. Always remember that you chose this path for a reason, there was something inside of you that knew that you had what it takes to be a freelance writer. When you have a true passion for something it often comes easier than if you were to learn that talent. However, there are still times that no matter how good we are at what we do we have days where we feel like it’s not enough. When this happens try not to lose sight of your true talent and how good it is. By remembering to believe in yourself, your work and your confidence will grow.

I found this comic and thought it was great at showing what self doubt (and coffee) can do to all us, lol!!!

Freelance Writing Prompts Week 6 #26-30

Weekly Writing Prompts

(Week 6)

#26-30

If you run a niche blog or write topic specific articles this weeks writing prompts may not work for you but still these writing prompts are basic enough that if you decided to write for sites that allow you to write on any topic they could work and actually give you the opportunity to attract readers you may not have otherwise.

I wanted to focus this weeks freelance writers prompts on the area in which you live. Here’s the deal you have viewers from all around the world, you may know all there is to know about Denver, or Dallas, or Denmark, or wherever you live but others don’t. I think its great to let others know about different areas you have lived in or live in now. What there is to do there, some history about it, etc…. You may feel that this won’t be a big hit and won’t attract readers, right? Wrong! Think about it when you go somewhere to visit or are thinking about moving what is the first thing you do, look it up on the internet! Even people who live in the area often still search things to do and places to eat, you may know something they don’t. Keep in mind your potential target audience when using these writing prompts:

-People who want to know more out of curiosity

-People who live there and are looking for new things to do/ places to go

-People who just moved there or are thinking about moving there

-and even students who may doing research on the area

Knowing your target audience will help you get the most out of these writing prompts.

These freelance writing prompts will most likely be an easy write for you and people will love to read them. Besides, you already know your area so not much research will be involved so lets get to it…

(Oh, first I did write all of the writing prompts as top 10 lists. This is something I will do often because I love top 10 lists, I think they make for an easy read and they give your posts and articles a great layout, especially when used with images. However, they can easily be written as normal posts or articles.)

Writing Prompt #26-Top 10 things to do in (your city/town/state)……now this writing prompt can even be broken down into more specific posts or articles. You could write on things for families to do, things for couples to do, things for singles to do, etc… every place in the world has something to offer everyone so think about who will be visiting your area and then you can make more tailored specific lists.

Writing prompt #27-Top 10 things to see…. These are more like historical monuments, scenery, things that don’t require you “do” anything but observe.

Writing prompt #28-Top 10 places to eat in…… Finding a good place to eat can be difficult for people who are not familiar with your area. I would go with authentic things that people can’t get anywhere else, but that’s just me. You are most likely not going to get great reviews for letting people know where the local McDonalds and Starbucks are, unless there is something unique about them. Try to list the great places, places people couldn’t find anywhere else.

Writing prompt #29-Top 10 historical facts about……or Top 10 fun and interesting facts about…..I actually used this writing prompt for a recent article I did on Austin, Tx. I was actually looking up stuff about Austin after moving here and knowing nothing about it. I ended up finding out some great info and that article is ranked pretty high on Google Search and has gotten a decent amount of views, not only because of SEO but because there was not many articles out there like it. Case in point; there is great potential behind these types of articles and blog posts.

Writing prompt #30-Top 10 reasons to live in….. The weather, the cost of homes, crime rate, etc…Simply list 10 reasons why someone would wants to live there. You could also alter this writing prompt and do a pros and cons list.

Remember when writing on these topics a great deal of readers will be from out of the area so be very specific. Write where to park, what time of year is best to visit, where to get directions, etc…

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How to Conduct an Interview for a Article or Blog Post Part 2: Interview Question Examples

Earlier this week I went over how to conduct an interview for an article or blog post. Doing an interview of someone successful in your niche or someone of interest is a great way to let your readers into the world of someone else, someone who has become successful at what they do. Know that you know the basics of conducting an interview I wanted to share some examples of online interview questions you could use when doing an interview for an article or blog post.

When you are doing an interview for your article or blog post you are trying to convey a story to your readers through a set of questions and answers so you need to make sure that you ask relevant questions that will result in some informative answers. However, you should still try to throw in some fun personal questions that will let your readers in on some things they may not have known about the person.

Before the interview get an idea of where the person you are interviewing is at in terms of their career right now. Are they in the process of writing a book, starting a new blog, or just focusing on what has brought them success thus far. This way you can adjust your questions to fit these factors. If they have something important going on or in the works then you will want to touch on that during the interview.

Below are a few basic examples of online interview questions to get you started in the right direction.


Examples of Online Interview Questions

Tell me how it all started, where did your vision/inspiration come from? (How did you get to where you are today?)

How long have you been doing this?

How long was it before you started seeing that what you were doing was becoming successful? (How long was it before you could quit your day job?)

What keeps you motivated?

What has been the biggest surprise for you so far?

What is the greatest thing you have learned so far?

What do you like the most about what you do?

What is the hardest obstacle that you have had to overcome?

What advice would you give to others?

Is this something that you had always wanted to do?

What strategies have worked best for you in achieving this level of success?

What are your future goals?

Walk us through a normal day with you.

Examples of Personal Interview Questions

Tell us about yourself.

What do you do in your free time?

What is something most people wouldn’t know about you?

If you will be doing the interview via live chat then you will want to send them the questions beforehand so that none of the questions catch them off guard. This will allow them to be prepared. If you plan on asking personal questions always run it by them first.

Give them options when it comes to the interview questions; there may be some questions that they don’t want to answer. When you send your list of potential online interview questions make sure to let them know that it is a tentative list and any items can be omitted or changed to their liking. You want them to be comfortable with the interview questions bottom line. If their not, then change them or remove them.

When you actually write the interview out for the article or blog post you will need an introduction paragraph which will give a little background on the person and a link or two to their current work, site, or blogs (ask them where they would like you to link to).

If you are writing out the interview make sure you use a format which allows readers to distinguish between you and the person you are interviewing.

Finally, make sure to thank them. Usually in the beginning and the end of the interview. Also send them an email once you have published the article thanking them and letting them know that the interview has been published. The person you interviewed may end up linking back to the interview which would work out great for you as well.

How to Conduct an Interview for a Article or Blog Post Part 1

One of the best writing prompts that opens the door to many great articles and blog posts is interviews. Interviews are a great way to let your readers know about other people who have become successful in the area that you write on or blog about. Here are the steps you will need to follow in order to conduct an interview for an article or blog post:

Who Do You Want To Interview?

If you run a blog find someone online who interests you, someone who has been successful in what they do that is similar to what you blog about. Someone in your same niche or that will compliment your niche.

If you are a freelance writer you have more of an open field. Find an area that you would like to write on: people who work from home and have been successful, a local company or organization that would like to get their business seen or heard about, someone who has written an eBook that you have enjoyed reading, think about the people who interest you the most and might be willing to do an interview. I recently wrote an article on recycled art where I contacted each of the artist this way a great way for me to get information on their work and it ended up working out to be a sort if informal interview, I could later go back and kindly ask any of these artists to do an interview and it would make for a great article. The options are out there you just have to find the ones that interest you.

Contact The Person You Would Like To Interview

Once you find who you would like to interview you will need to contact them. Send them an email expressing your interest in doing an interview. Make sure you state that you enjoy their work, are interested in leaning more about them, and would like to share their experience and advise with others. Don’t just send an email that says I’d like to interview you. Make sure your letter has some substance. Also, suggest a few ideas for how the interview could be conducted so they aren’t left wondering, they wont want to agree to an interview they aren’t comfortable with.

The interview could be done by email, skype or other live chat program , or over the phone. If it is with someone local it could be done in person.

A sample interview request email could look something like this:

Hi,

My name is Emily. I have enjoyed reading your blog and hearing about your success. I think that you have a lot of great ideas and I would love to have you share those ideas through an interview on my blog. My blog, Freelance Frame, targets freelance writers seeking tips and information on freelance writing and I think that it would be a great place to share your experience if you have a bit of extra time. If so, we could do the interview via email or virtual web chat, whichever works best for you. Please let me know at your earliest convenience. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Emily
Freelance Frame

Short, simple, and to the point. Also make sure you include a link to your site, the person you are approaching about the interview will most likely want to check it out beforehand.

The Actual Interview

 Make sure that you are prepared for the interview. Have your questions ready. Be sure not to ask too many questions and ask questions that will serve to be informative to your readers. Including a few personal questions, as long as you have run it by the person you are interviewing beforehand. Don’t throw in any surprise questions. Later this week, in part 2 of this blog post, I will post a few sample interview questions.

A few things to remember:

Always thank them both in the written interview that you publish and also in a written statement sent to them after the interview.

Always include at least 2 links to their affiliated sites. Ask them what links they would like you to include. They may be working on a new project that they would like to get some traffic to.

If you have not established a name for yourself as a writer or are brand new to blogging and don’t yet have an established blog then you may want to wait on asking for interviews. Some may agree to do them but most prefer that you both have something to offer each other.

How to Conduct an Interview for a Article or Blog Post Part 2: Example Interview Questions

Freelance Writing Prompts Week 5 #21-25

Weekly Writing Prompts
(Week 5)
Topic: Everyday People

#21-25

Some of the most fun and interesting articles and blog posts to read have to do with everyday people. People who just like you and I have become successful. This makes for a great writing prompt not only because it’s interesting but also because it’s motivating. Using the stories of everyday people as writing prompst allows others to learn how people succeeded in areas that we are familiar with and would also like to see ourselves succeed in. This writing prompt can also open the door to many topics and ideas that stem from what we learn in these stories.

Writing Prompt #21- Write on the successes of other people in an area that you like to write on or that pertains to your blog niche. This writing prompt could include people who you know or people who you have never even spoken with. People who you inspire you through their work or people who you look to for guidance to help you further succeed in your own work. Find out as much as you can about them and then do a short biography or other informational piece that covers who they are, what they have to offer, how they have succeeded, and what others can learn from them. When writing about someone online it is very important to give them credit, add at least two links to their work, and let them know that you have written about them.

Writing Prompt #22- Do an interview- I will be going into more depth on this writing prompt later this week. It is an area that has a lot of components and it has a lot of potential for great articles and blog posts.

Writing Prompt #23- Top 10 people who…. I love top 10 lists and they are one of the highest viewed articles and blog posts if done right. You could do a top 10 list of people who have succeeded in areas that pertain to your topic. A few specific writing prompts: The top 10 highest paid bloggers, The top 10 most successful freelance writers, The top 10 people who have succeeded in creating a passive income. Here’s the deal, some people think that a top 10 list must be based on written facts- the truth is this information is hard to obtain, no 2 top 10 lists will be exactly the same and that’s okay. If you write a top 10 list yes you should have information to support your findings but you may be wrong and theres nothing wrong with that as long as you express that your top 10 list is based on your findings or something along those lines, that way you are not giving false information.  If you find 10 blogs that you know are successful and you list all 10 not knowing which is more successful simply state that your top 10 list is in no particular order. It’s as simple as that. Top 10 lists are meant to be informative and fun so don’t stress that you are 100% spot on.

Writing prompt #24- The unidentified person- This is a topic that makes for a great writing prompt because it is more generalized and almost anyone can find a way to relate to it. In this prompt you are writing not about a specific person but more so a “type” of person. Here’s how it works: let’s say you want to write on different writing styles, which work and which don’t so you discuss different “types” of writers: The laid back writer, The everyday writer, The fact writer, The lengthy writer, etc... Or with blogs; The everyday blogger vs, the once a week blogger. This allows you to write about different styles of writers with out calling anyone out or putting the spotlight on any one person. You can then talk about succeeding or failing, pros and cons, etc… in regards to the type of person and their style.

Writing Prompt #25- The people who have created great things out of their small ideas- For this writing prompt write an article or blog post on the people who have become more than just a single success but people who have brought others along for the ride. People who started out with a small concept that went huge. For example, Xomba CEO Nick Veneris started his company with a friend funded with some rolled up coins and now runs one of the largest online article sites and has a group of great employees under him, or Darren Rowse, of ProBlogger and b5media, who back in 2002 had no idea what a blog was and now is one of the top paid bloggers making over six figures a year.  These are great, very inspirational stories to tell and there is quite a few of them. Look to the sites you spend time on and see if you can find a story to tell, you’re sure to end up with a few great writing prompts.


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How to Use Xomba to Get Great Backlinks to Your Blog or Website

As freelance writers we are always looking for new ways to promote our content and create some great backlinks to our work whether it be articles, blog posts, or even content you have on your own website. One of the ways that I create back links is through Xomba. Xomba has a neat feature which allows you to create some pretty great backlinks for your blog posts, articles, or website so I wanted to share a few tips on how to do this, if you are not familiar with Xomba.

One of the greatest features about this tool is that it is quick and easy to use! When you have just spent a fair amount of time writing you most likely don’t want to go and write even more just to promote your work and get a decent backlink.

If you are not familiar with Xomba  heres how it works: This backlink “tool” is actually described on the Xomba website as a bookmark. The term for this bookmark is currently a “Xomblurb”, however they are in the process of re-branding the name. All you have to do is write a brief summary of the blog, article, or website you are linking to in minimum of 50 words! Give it a title and some tag words and your ready to go, you have just created a great backlink through Xomba for your article or blog post!

That’s it!

I told you it was easy!

Here are a few extra tips that I always try to do when using Xomba for backlinks to my articles:

You are given a box to enter your link when you are creating the Xomblurb. This link then shows up at the bottom of your summary, (Xomblurb) I think it looks kind of weird the way that it is placed so I always add a contextual link. Another great thing about using Xomba for backlinks is they allow you link through the actual body of your post as well. So my Xomblurb would look something like this:

If you are a freelance writer looking for some great tips, information and writing prompts than you should check out this new blog! It has a lot of great info and advice for new and seasoned writers and it even has some pretty cool weekly writing prompts and some great advice on where to get pictures for your blog or website!

Then at the bottom would be there link that looks something like this:

Website:http://www.freelanceframe.com

I don’t think that having two links within one post counts as double brownie points, I do it just to make sure the link is seen and to encourage readers to click through to the article or blog I am cteating the backlink for!

Another great thing about Xomba is that if you have a Google AdSense account you can use it to earn money though these Xomblurbs, it’s like 2 deals in 1, I love it! They also have the option of writing longer articles if you prefer. I don’t have many articles up on Xomba yet but I am in the process of trying to write Xomblurbs to create backlinks for all of my articles and most of my blog posts here just to see what happens, I’ll let you know. So far all of my backlinks I created through Xomba have helped with my articles Google search page rank.

So far, a few of the Xomblurbs I have written have shown up before my actual original content in Google Search! I don’t usually use this tool for backlinks if I’m coming up on the 1^st page but now that I think about it, I wouldn’t want to slip out of that spot so maybe I will!

There you have it, another option to create great back links to your blogs, or articles! If you don’t have an account you can check it out and start creating backlinks here. If you have any questions about using Xomba for backlinks I’d be more than happy to help!

If you want to learn more about Xomba, check out my post:

How To Make Money Freelance Writing For Xomba!

Basic Concept Writing Prompts for Freelance Writers and Bloggers

When I was writing this weeks weekly writing prompts on social media I began thinking about a very important factor of freelance writing. In that post I began talking about writing on basic concepts; concepts that may be new to readers even though they are not new to you. This is quite a big area and leaves room for a lot of great writing prompts for freelance writers and bloggers if done correctly so I wanted to cover it a bit more in depth. The area of basic concepts has so much potential when it comes to writing prompts and can really offer hundreds of new topics for you as a writer.

When I say basic concepts I mean things like: how to use Twitter, how to promote your freelance work, what is social media, what are social bookmarks, how to start a blog, etc… I am talking about basic step by step information on everyday concepts. Let me explain why this could be a potential huge writing niche. Many articles on these topics are set with a more professional tone or they cover concepts that are beyond the level of someone brand new to these topics. People assume that someone can look at a site and figure out what it is. There are two problems with this: 1^st they may never learn about the site and 2^nd these sites aren’t always all that transparent. How great would it be to have someone really explain, in depth, the fundamentals of such basic concepts. Here are a few examples:

I only just started using Twitter about 3 months ago (at the time of this writing). Why? I had no clue what it was and was so busy I didn’t have the time to look into it and check it out. Every time I looked up, “What is Twitter” I got back articles and blogs that used words and descriptions that made no sense to me I had no clue what they were talking about, they wrote the articles and blog posts from their point of view already knowing how to use Twitter and assuming their readers did to! This area is an area that needs good information for beginners from a beginner’s point of view where things are really spelt out. So I continued not using Twitter, the only thing I knew about it was I could write a “tweet”, I thought that was so cute, did I know what it meant, nope, I had no clue. And now I think “oh that’s such a basic concept how could I not have known that?” But I didn’t! Finally last Christmas I found a book in the $1.00 section at Target, “Twitter for Dummies”. I read it in 20 minutes and most of my questions were answered. But see what happened, I couldn’t find the information so I paid for the information, not much but still I paid!

These basic concepts writing prompts really can cover any area or topic that you are familiar with or can learn about and share your knowledge on. I remember when I first started writing for Info Barrel there was an article posted there that was titled “How will I know when my water breaks?”, I thought are you kidding, its pretty self explanatory, right? Wrong! It had over 2000 views, simple concept to me and many others, but people wanted to know, that had no clue and really wanted that information. This is a perfect example of how a basic concept can become a writing prompt that becomes a total success!

So you may be thinking these topics have been covered but like I said most are not what people are looking for. For these basic concepts to be writing prompts that become successful articles and blog posts you need to keep a few things in mind:

• Write it as if you were just learning it, how would you want someone to explain it to you.

• Assume the reader knows nothing about the topic. Even if it seems unimportant it may be important to someone.

• Include all details, even the small stuff!

• Use step by step instructions.

• Use examples.

I sometimes think that freelance writers and bloggers may not want to cover these topics because they fear these basic concepts may make them look like they have nothing more advanced to write about but the truth is you are going to get more readers to these types of articles so it shouldn’t matter. You could mix them in with more advanced posts or even create and entire niche on basic concepts.

Your audience for these basic concept topics is far greater than more elaborate topics, you’d be surprised. There is such a wide audience of people who are just being introduced to basic concepts, we may not think about these concepts as writing prompts because they are everyday events for us and so we just figure everyone already knows about them. The truth is there are 1000’s of people who have no idea about these things that come so naturally or are part of out everyday routine.

As a freelance writer or blogger one of the greatest keys for success is to consider all topics, of all levels. Remember that the next time you are in search of a few good writing prompts, you may end up with weeks worth of new topics! If you need a few ideas check out this weeks writing prompts!

Freelance Writing Prompts Week 4 # 16-20

Weekly Writing Prompts

(Week 4)

Topic: Social Media

Prompts #16-20

I wanted to focus on social media for this weeks writing prompts because there are so many different topics that stem from social media that would make great articles or blog posts. Due to the fact that social media is such a huge phenomenon there are so many avenues you could take when writing about it. Additionally, there is a great deal of people who know very little about social media, although they would like to know more. Your articles, posts, etc… are a great opportunity to let others know the things they may not know about social media or would like to know more about, this is why it makes for such a great writing prompt.

One of the most important things to remember as a freelance writer when considering a topic or writing prompt is that even if you know how to do something, it doesn’t mean everyone else does. Topics may seem basic and irrelevant to you but there are people who have no clue about those same topics so it could end up being a great piece of work for you. A few months ago I wrote an article on how to add Google Analytics to one of the freelance writing sites I write for, it ended up being one of my highest viewed articles, even though I knew that it wasn’t that complicated there were people who did not know how to do it and needed that information. My point is don’t ever underestimate the power of a familiar concept. Basics like how to use Twitter, what is Linkedin, etc… may turn out to be some of your most popular work. With that being said, the below writing prompts may seem “normal” and irrelevant but again think of a wider audience, people who are new to these concepts.

Writing Prompt #16- Social media basics- An introduction to social media. What is it? Why is it important? How can it benefit people? You could talk about the social and business aspects of using social media.

Writing Prompt #17- Social media overview- You could give examples of a few different social media sites or cover one by one. Even better you could write an overview in a list style and then create separate articles covering each one in depth.

Writing Prompt #18- What is….- What is Twitter? What is Stumble Upon? What is Technorati? There are so many sites and not everyone can even come close to knowing about all of them. Technorati is a pretty big deal for bloggers, and I only learned about it a few weeks the funny thing is it wasn’t through an article it was through a social media button!

Writing Prompt #19- How to use….- This may tie in with the above prompt but I think it would be best to separate the two. Writing prompt #3 could discuss what the site actually is and what it is used for where this topic could cover step by step guide on how to use it. How to use Digg including how to make friends, what to submit, etc..! How to use Onlywire, how to add it to your sites, etc…!

Writing Prompt #20-All the extras: How to add your latest tweets to your blog. How to use Tweet Deck. How to unfollow people who aren’t following you on Twitter. How to set up your profile on Mixx. How to connect social media icons to your blog posts. Where to find social media icons. How to add the correct html code to those icons to connect to social media sites. Think about all of the little things that are associated with social media, again don’t forget the “small” stuff. This prompt alone can lead to countless articles and blog posts.

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