Working online with a primary focus on blogging, more specifically, for the last few years has taught me a bit about the business end of it.  Considering I’m also a freelancer, finding and securing those jobs that help me pay all my bills is obviously an important factor.

I can wholly admit, I never intended to be a blogger, let alone a freelancer.  It had never occurred to me that I could even make money online, especially a livable income.  I did enjoy writing even though most of my earlier bits were considerably shorter than my present standard of about 300 words (or more).  While I did enjoy it, I wasn’t in need of a job until some of life’s little things came my way at once and I had mounting bills and other financial problems that needed to be taken care of.  At the time, I did turn to the internet and found a few editing and writing gigs that I had thought would be only temporary.

Of course that was also about 4 years ago, and I’m still working in writing.  I wound up falling in love with the hours, and the ability to work wherever I wanted, with no real ‘set-times’.  Getting started is harder now it seems that it was when I started, but once you get the ball rolling jobs will come easier.

Setting up your own website for writing, and potentially impressing a prospective client isn’t easy and you will need to work on a few basics before getting into the full swing of things.  Once you do however, all that work will be more than worth it.

Read:

Read other blogs in your intended niche.  While you do not want to copy them at all, it can help to see what voices are already out there are see what you can add to the discussion.  If you have an inspiring thought that you think should be said, write down the general idea for the next step.

Write:

Consider first your topics and intended audience, and think up a few entries to get you started.  Write out at least 10 or so full posts before your launch, and write and polish them until they are the best they can be.  While you don’t have to use them all immediately, it really helps to have that cushion in case you won’t be able to post on a few days or so.

Design:

Having a special design for your blog can help create a more memorable feel for it.  While it doesn’t have to be too fancy, it does help.  Make sure it is what you are looking for as switching constantly typically can make you look unprofessional and chaotic.  Your design can set the tone for the rest of your website, so think long and hard about it.  It should fit nicely into the theme of your website, and while it doesn’t need to be overblown or outrageous, a nicely designed website can really help out and work wonders.  At times, the perfect design will be unique and mesh well to the point of not really being noticed.

Research:

A fair portion of the typical blogger’s time is spent on research.  From chasing stories to looking up relevant links to add to those stories.  It’s not the easiest thing for a good portion of the time, but the more consistent research you put into your writing, the more knowledgeable you will be.  Being knowledgeable is a good chuck of where your readership will grow from.

Learn:

It’s the same with anything that can payoff, it really is a continuous learning process.  If someone offers you advice, it may be wise to take it under consideration.  Be it through contacts, or comments- constructive criticism will help you grow not only as a writer, but as a blogger as well.

Keywords are important sure, but a lot of times they are avoided or just glossed over due to confusion or being pressed for time.  Having automatic tools is helpful, but actually finding some good ones with the thousands available is a imposing job.  Below you will find 5 automatic keyword tools that are easily available and free (because if you are anything like me, you can really get behind the whole ‘free’ thing).

Keywords can be useful little things, by helping out your search results or even just looking for an idea for a blog post.  At times, just looking at a list of related terms can help out immensely.

Wordpot

Wordpot has some interesting extras, while just like all of the others on this list it will give you keywords, it will also give you the exact amount a word was searched on the day you search spanning different search engines).  It also gives you related terms to help, associated words, definitions, and synonyms.

They have some subscription based services, and free account creation.  They are fairly new in the market and seem to be adding more services soon.  They are more advertising driven, with an intent of helping those who are looking into search engine marketing keyword tools.

Visit Website: Wordpot

Wordstream

Wordstream has some really useful free extras aside from the generated keywords.  A fairly nice service is their grouped keywords tool, which allows you to paste your top terms and will give you related broad terms, that narrow down further.   They also have some other informative and free tools available to the public (and you don’t have to sign up).  One of the more interesting tools is their Negative Keyword tool which advices you on which terms to avoid.

Altogether they seem to have a fairly good and robust suite of tools for the public’s use.

Visit Website: Wordstream

Wordtracker

Wordtracker will give you 100 free keywords, and some articles to help you boost your knowledge.  If you aren’t looking for much more than that it may suit your needs.  If you however want anything more, you will need to shell out a bit.

This tool would be best for someone just looking for words alone without any bells or whistles (keep in mind that this article is focusing on the free).

Visit Website: Wordtracker

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

If you have heard the term ‘Keyword’ you have almost assuredly heard of Google’s tool above.  They offer a ton of choices aimed at those looking for advertising options.  However when it comes to it’s keyword tool for other uses, it can be just as useful.  Being the most popular search engine around (and one of the most powerful companies) Google knows a few things about searching habits.

Visit Website: Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Google Search-Based Keyword Tool

Of course this tool can give you keywords and ideas based on them, but it can also tell you how robust your usage of those keywords are on your website.  It’s of course easy to use, and the results are based on actual searches for both what you enter and the related keywords.

Visit Website: Google Search-Based Keyword Tool

Okay, honestly it’s a crummy title but a really awesome widget.  The Paradox9.com Two-Line T Shirt Maker (look at the sidebar, or even grab it from here: Two Line T Shirt Widget)is the easiest way known* by me to make your very own custom t shirt (there may be more coming up, aside from t shirts, at least).  So, how exactly can one use this marvelous little widget?  Follow the steps below to make your very own custom t shirt.

1: Upload your image somewhere.

2: Copy the URL to the image, and paste it into the URL box.

3: Enter your text.

4:Click Grab it!

5: View/ Edit/Buy

Obviously, the image is crappy for the example.  It’s one of the article images from this very website.

Misc Information: Enter your Zazzle associate ID to earn a commission (15% I believe) of each sale you make through the widget.  If you don’t have one, get one for free by just signing up at zazzle.com.  If you don’t want one, leave the option blank.

Don’t find random images that you don’t have the right to use.  That is just crummy, and they won’t print it anyway.

*Is it the easiest?  I have no clue.

There is a school of thought that any traffic is ‘good traffic’, unfortunately it simply isn’t true.  There is both good traffic and unproductive traffic, and the SEO of your website will decide on which one you will ultimately receive.  If you are checking your search statistics and are finding that many are getting to your website after searching for unrelated terms to your business, you are suffering from not-so-great SEO.

Before you pull your hair out trying to figure out how to fix it, there are some simpler things you can do to help.  Some of those options are a bit more time intensive, but they are workable and will help you improve your relevant search rankings.  Before you continue, make sure to write out a lists of terms that you are looking to rank better for.

Start Now: This is an under-utilized but good choice.  If you have a lot of content and a lot of visits that you don’t want to lose start writing posts now geared towards correct SEO.  Use keywords properly and often, the list you made can also serve to give you some post ideas.

Rewrite: If you don’t have too much in the way of content already on your blog, you can seriously consider just rewriting your present content with the keywords you listed in mind.

Start Over: Consider starting over only if you feel that your website is truly hopeless.  Generally speaking, this should be only used if there are absolutely no other options,  this option used far more often than it really needs to be.

Constantly updated content is the key to better rankings and more popularity with the search engines. By incorporating your main keywords into your posts, the search engines will see them and you will rank better.

By using multiple tools at once you can gain some insight over how people are getting to your website, and by what terms they use.  Taken alone that is basic SEO, and if you are gunning for better terms you can both use your existing search traffic, and find out some ways to improve you rankings for some that you are wanting.

My own search traffic here isn’t too surprising, and for the things you can find here it is mostly what one would expect.  Out the few thousand visits in the last 30 days, a large proportion of those were from art, business, and writing related terms (among some others that do relate to things I’ve written about).

Considering the content, that is spot on.  Which translates into a rounded approach to SEO, and the search traffic doesn’t leave it stays here and read more.  Again, that is what you need to pay attention to.  If you are writing about every topic that springs into your mind, you may actually be spreading yourself (and by proxy, your search traffic) far too thin.

Personally I can vouch for the usefulness of the three I use (all free).  I use them all differently and for completely different reasons aside from finding out how people get here (and my other websites).  They give useful insights into what people are in, and how I rank for those same terms.

• Google Analytics:  Google analytics is great for long-term tracking.  There is no log-size, and becomes much more useful after you have used it for a while.
• Statcounter:  My hands-down favorite for shorter term and daily stats.  The log size for the free account (500) needs to be cleared often for more popular websites, but the process is easy and the insight makes it worth it.
• Alexa: Alexa is my preferred website to track my overall progress and broader search terms.  I use the Alexa Toolbar for the same reasons, it’s also pretty fascinating to know what websites and terms are popular at any given moment (which could be useful for post ideas as well).

I know that the overall topic of SEO seems like it’s been beaten into the ground, and I’ll even admit it does seem to border on cliché proportions lately.  Alas, it is still important and that is why the SEO business is still booming (even more as time goes on).  Especially when you are considering the main website that are to find yours, Google (which I really doubt needs any description).

Sure, anyone can have content.  It’s really not too difficult to throw together some words and call it a day.   Looking around the internet, it’s why there are so many people blogging and on social networks, they enjoy the attention and being able to be seen for saying something.  Inherently that is one of the issues, there is a lot of ‘something’ being said, but all in all very little content.

Anyone can tell you a bit about a ‘something’, however, being a good blogger or even a great blogger is a whole other ballgame.

Readers will know if you call it in, and most people don’t have much of an A game at first.  Let alone a consistent A Game.   Yet, most advice articles on blogging and internet writing in general, will tell you that daily posts are important.

Sure, they are, and while this blog is far from daily it’s due to the Editor (wonderful writing-type that I am) not wanting to post every little mundane thing that pops into her head.  Besides, I have a lot of other blogs for that kind of thing anyway.

Having great content may not mean consistently updates, let alone daily content, eventually you may get there. but having great content means having good copy and if you don’t have at least that, you may not get far.

Especially when you are starting out, you need to be able to develop a rhythm and have consistent sounding posts.  By that I mean, avoid frantically updated just for the sake of updating filler posts. Don’t even worry about updating daily, even once a week or a month is better than having a lot of filler.

At first my own posts were 95% filler, and well my visits were nothing.  Literally, nothing.  Zero.

I kept up however and while when I started the mere thought of 250 words per post was ridiculous to me but, I still kept at it.  Now, that is a small article and on average 500 words is about the norm for me.

Can you get there?

Sure, there’s no reason not.  It’s a lot of work, and you do need to keep at it and keep posting.  If you have to- post on a program like notepad (personally, I use Windows Live Writer but there are tons of different options out there).  Save it when you feel like you may start losing steam and post again when you are feeling better.

It’s not for everybody, at first it is a lot of work.  It actually outright sucks at times, but it’s perfectly possible for most people to get there.

Even if your topics are all over the place, sometimes it may even help to find a topic you love and stick with it.  Sometimes all over the place works, but often it doesn’t.   Find your passions and write about them.  For this very website, I write about making it as an artist or writer online.  Truthfully, it’s become my thing and I love it.  While I may not post everyday, my rankings are still growing regardless.

So to get right to the point; the ‘secret’ to having great content?  Keep at it.  While that isn’t something that most people want to hear, the best way to get there.  Admittedly, it isn’t much of a secret at all and in fact it’s the one thing people aren’t looking to hear.  It is, however the best way to get there and the only way to really stand a chance.

The sample above took about five minutes.  While it looks incredibly complicated, accomplishing this effect is really simple. This how-to will show you the easiest way (that I know of)  to create a stylized text look using Photoshop.

Again, while I am using Photoshop Elements, the method is the same in the full Photoshop program.  Just by some creative use of layers and the brush tools, you can create visually stunning text effects easily and quickly.   The only extras you may want are some brushes.  In the above I used the absolutely fabulous watercolor brushes from Bittbox and the equally wonderful Liquid Drop brushes from Ardcor over at QBrushes.

Creating Stylized Text In Photoshop:

Type out your text.

This effect works best with a thicker font, but play around with them until you have a look you like.  When it is all finished, if you don’t like the way a font looks it’s still editable and you can easily change it to something you like better.

Ignore the layer panel for now that comes next .

Stylize your text.

Using Element’s text menu, I’ve just added a simply outline to the text.  In the full Photoshop, you can do this by right clicking on the text layer. then go to blending options. then on the left side click stroke and alter (if I am wrong about that post up the right way in the comments, as it has been a while since I last used Photoshop.

Create your layers.

Create layers above each element. With the layer itself highlighted,  hit Control+G and using your brushes, design it until it looks how you want it.

Style Your Background

I used the same overall theme for the background that I did for the effect itself.

That’s it! Easy right?

Of late I’ve been toying around with some promotional idea for a newer website of mine.  The above is my personal favorite, it’s a matchbook box (here’s a link to the template: Matchbox Template).  It also brought up some other fun and different ideas that business and artists (and other business) could use to promote their work.

I do run a relatively low (out of pocket) cost business through that website (Cute Custom Crafts) so it just seems off to spend too much promoting it, also considering it’s only about a month old at this point, I’ve found a lot of luck with a few smaller techniques that are all low (and no) cost ways to draw some attention.

Relevant Information: Cute Customs is a very directed website, the primary aim is paper crafting, and how to make various fun things.  I also promote my own web shop there as well (selling crafting supplies, cards, and gifts) and the two go hand in hand.

Having industry-relevant information on your website (think: trends, new things, news, and the like) can also promote anything you may be selling.  Try to keep everything within a fairly well defined niche, and it could help make you an expert and by proxy, draw a lot more attention to your website.

How To’s & Tutorials: Teach something about your craft.  While you may know all the ins and outs of how to make something, there’s a good chance readers don’t.  Teaching something relevant to your business (or, even something like tips, tricks, etc).  Be the teaching done in a brick and mortar type, a video series, or even just written out on your website- it’s still a great way to get some really good traffic.

Give Always:  This is where my matchbook box comes in.  I wanted a small and fun little thing to be able to give away to promote my website, the above is that fun little thing and it’s relatively easy and low cost (and is also rather nice looking if I do say so myself). 

The primary ‘trick’ is really to keep things as industry specific as you can.  By incorporating the above things to suit your own needs, you can get traffic to your website.  While true, I am lucky enough to have some high-traffic websites to cross promote on, by using a few of the above ideas (or coming up with your own) you can draw more attention.

Do you have a trick or a way to draw attention?  Post it in the comments.

While there are as many different ways to accomplishing a vintage look using Photoshop, I like this method due to being able to control the look fully, by using layers and the brush tool.  This is an incredibly quick and easy tutorial, it uses a few things that have been talked about here as well (linked for ease).

Here are the three images used (right click, save):

1.) Load your images in Photoshop

I’m using two different paper images.  While, you can just as easily use one- I really like the ‘clean’ look of the one to the right, plus the more destroyed look is great as well for a bit more dimension to the finished image.

2.) Define your brushes(to see a full tutorial on how to do this, click here:Creating a Pattern in Photoshop while it is the pattern tutorial, it’s also applicable for brushes).

Here’s the ‘define brush’ tool (it’s location: Edit > Define Brush ).  While you could easily only pick and choose an area that you prefer, this is shown using the whole image.  Repeat this with the other image as well.

3.) Put each new brush on it’s own layer.

Only one layer is started right now. Simply make the brush larger to fit the image, and click (the brush will look faded).

A darker brown color suits the vintage look best.

4.) Toy with your layers until you have it just how you like it (similar to the zombie doll tutorial).

Note in the image above the two different layers and flipped image. 

Each brush is in it’s own layer so it is easier to toy with the overall look, and the image is flipped because I’m lazy and don’t really feel like playing with the brush options (at least I’m honest).

Before you continue, please be sure to check out my article on what you should do before applying to any writing jobs.

There are a seeming endless supply of websites claiming to have online jobs available.  Many of these are scams, and the old adage of ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t real’ applies here. 

Some rules of thumb to think of before applying to anything:

• If they are offering you a high amount of money, more than likely it is not real.
• Don’t give out personal information.
• Be suspicious.

Keep in mind that at this moment, you are technically inexperienced so you will be making money that is in line with that (not much).  At first especially, you won’t be making nearly as much as you would from a typical 9–5 type of job, so if you have a day job- don’t quit it yet!

Also consider your strengths and what you are passionate about.  If it’s art, crafting, scrapbooking, parenting, technology, or something else.  Chances are, you will be able to find a gig that is related to that.

There are also some terms that you will need to pay attention to.

• RevShare/ Revenue Share/ Network/ Blog Networks:  These aren’t inherently bad at all, but they do mean less money.  All of them typically mean the same thing, that you will get a ‘cut’ of the advertising revenue from your articles.  Some will also pay you on a cost per thousand basis.
• CPM:  CPM really just means ‘cost per thousand’, with M being the roman numeral for one thousand.  In a very typical case it will be about $1 per thousand hits.

Where to look:

If you are looking for a blogging gig, the below are pretty good for finding them.  Many companies and networks are always on the lookout for new talent, and these are the two they tend to go to.

ProBlogger Job Board: While there is a high portion of  revshare type of ‘jobs’ listed, you can find more ‘typical’ blogger and writing jobs there as well.  I actually found my first writing job there a couple of years ago.  It’s updated constantly as well with new jobs, so check it regularly.

Blogger Jobs: This is similar to the above, with about the same mix of revshare and more ‘typical jobs’.  It’s another good resource when you are looking for a blogging gig.

Craigslist: Craigslist has a huge amount of gigs when it comes to writing.  I also have used it with luck, try looking in your local area for ‘freelancer’ or ‘blogger’ and you may find something good, be careful though as there are a surprising amount of scammers there as well.

Freelance Switch Job Board: Again, similar in set up to the ProBlogger Job Board.  There are still a fantastic amount to choose from.

You may also find some luck in searching through the more standard job oriented websites, I’ve heard of people getting gigs through both Monster.com and Career Builder, but that isn’t exactly typical.

Having your own writing to show off will help you out a lot, I used my personal blog (Not Quite Cookie Cutter) originally as a show of my writing ability, but it was relevant due to the parenting theme.  While I do have actual ‘paid writing’ now to show to potential employers, back then that was the best I had.  While now I wouldn’t do that, if you are just starting out, you do need something to show to anyone you are applying to.