That’s a lot of articles for anyone to write, but it does provide for a decent living. I’m not including in that total the magazine articles I write for print publications nor the behind the scenes work that I do for my own sites.

Thought Articulation

Blogging offers the most informal way to write as bloggers generally aren’t sourcing other websites nor are they required to follow various style methods. Both options help elevate your authority, but aren’t required. Besides, when you have a thought in your mind, you want to articulate what you have to say and not worry about what others think or say.

For 2012, I’m planning to increase my writing productivity by about 20 percent. This means I’ll have to write at a faster clip or work longer hours — believe me, I want to actually reduce the hours I put in and make more money. I expect to do that by employing the following five techniques for the year so that I can produce more in less time:

1. Laser focus — My main areas of writing expertise are automotive, business, college and consumer topics. This ABCC arrangement means that I can cover those subjects I know and do each one well. Gone are the days where I’ve ventured into other areas only to be weighed down by having to do extensive research to bring myself up to speed. All four topics I know enough about to write most of my articles off of the top of my head.

2. Smarter headlines — I’m being extra careful to write headlines that are catchy as well as smart. You can write the best article, but have those words lost because your title is uninteresting, vague or confusing. Attract your readers with articles that offer plenty of substance, but are accompanied by headlines that attract.

3. Develop idea lists — Most of my ideas are percolating in my brain, but I’m going to start jotting down my ideas and go to that list whenever I’m needing something new or fresh. You can put your list on your computer, in your handheld device or do it the old-fashioned way: on paper. Find a method that works best for you and keep adding to it and subtracting from it when you’re ready to use an idea.

4. Simplicity matters — There are times when I’m writing longer, magazine-style articles of 750 words or more with three or more references. These articles take one to two hours to complete, but are no where nearly as common as the shorter articles I write. Stick with a 400-word minimum and come up with at least three points to following your introduction and to precede your conclusion. Bullets and numbered lists are still the way to go, providing visual appeal and reading simplicity.

5. Write when you’re inspired — I firmly believe that writer’s block does not exist. What does exist is our personal fear of failure and bodily fatigue. Overcome the fear and write, write, write. Get rested and write whenever you’re most productive. There are times when I’ve banged out five articles in two hours, took an extended break and returned to write four or five more before calling it a day.

Have Fun!

Above all else, have fun when you’re writing. The vast majority of your articles should be on topics you’re familiar with and like, allowing you to be the most productive and hopefully making the most money. As long as your interest in writing remains strong, you’ll do fine. If you’re flagging in interest, find something else to do for a while before returning and are ready to write.

See Also — Easy, Breezy Tips for Better Articles

Is it time for you to bring your old blog out of the box?

Old blogs never die…they just seem to fade away. Well, unless you close down your blog and delete all of your messages, your weblog may last for many years after your final post. That is, if you keep paying for your web hosting and renew your URL.

I’ve seen some really nifty blogs fade away over the years and I can certainly understand why: blogging is a lot of work and many sites gain little or no financial remuneration for all the hard work that writers do. These days, nearly every one of us is scrambling to make a living and that means we have to follow the money trail, as straight and narrow as that may be.

This blog is nearing its sixth anniversary and definitely qualifies as an old blog. Were I to rejuvenate it to its past glory, you’d begin to notice dramatic changes immediately. Alas, I am also chasing money and have little time to breathe new life into this old blog. That doesn’t mean you can’t give your blog a kick start, helping it to regain must of the prominence it once had, by taking the following four steps:

1. Get Writing – What made your blog successful in the past? Likely, it was your frequent postings that attracted a healthy following. Therefore, plan to write your heart out even if your audience isn’t still around to read what you write. Some former readers will come back and you’ll bring in new readers too. Yes, that means making good use of social media, such as Twitter, to let people know that you’re back shaking the blogosphere.

2. Get Your Mojo Back – Your passionate writing of yore may have disappeared, at least with the blog that you once loved and poured your heart and soul into. Tap that passion you’ve since transferred to your other writing gigs and bring it to your blog. Be real too: in life, you may be able to fake people out to their faces, but when it comes to writing they’ll know if you’re authentic or a poser. Allow the passionate blogger within you to take over!

3. Make a Plan – I operate an automotive blog (autotrends.org) and have enjoyed much success with it because I plan ahead. Some of my articles are written a week ahead and will “drip” at the appointed hour days from now. Other articles are sitting on my hard drive in outline form. I also have a draft or two that I’m working on. This type of scheduling and planning works out for me because I can take a break whenever I want (i.e., Thanksgiving and Christmas) and get back to writing when inspiration hits. I wrote this article yesterday and had it all set up to appear today.

4. Engage Your Audience – You want people to follow you, right? Well, engage them in a conversation. But, note this: you don’t have to be 100 percent thorough when discussing a topic. Leave 10 percent untold and your readers will add a point or two to fill in the gap (exception: if you’re giving step by step instructions, then you must be thorough). That way, you’ll elicit more responses from your readers and will respond to their comments – think about creating a dialogue. Leave helpful comments on other people’s blogs too, especially if the topic is similar to your own. I use Google Blog Search to track down related blogs (google.com/blogsearch) and will leave a comment if I find something of value.

You can also participate in various offline activities such as attending seminars, conferences and related events. I regularly hit the road to take in automotive events, passing out my business cards and acquiring cards and contact information as well.

The more involved you are with your blog, the greater the chance you’ll connect with people including industry influencers and others who will buy an ad, invite you to their event or recognize you through their website. Now go and breathe new life into your old blog!

Photo: Svilen Milev

Yes, I make my living through full-time writing. The pay varies as do the projects, but I’ve managed to come up with a good balance of customers, people I can count on to pay me on time. Okay, except for the one soon-to-be former client who still owes me money, but is in the process of making amends in the face of escalating payment requests from me. Ahem!

That’s another story.

What I want to share with you today is a formula for good writing that works well for me. I use it consistently on websites I own or manage and provide a similar style for my clients.

Brief, Catchy Headlines – The character limit for headlines is 80, with the optimal being 60. I prefer to write them in 40 characters or less. This headline is 36 characters and gets straight to the point. My keywords here are “better articles” which I stuck in at the end. In this article’s case I’m not concerned about  optimization (SEO), but generally that is a top concern when I am writing.

Photos, Please – I cannot remember the last time I wrote an article for online consumption that did not include a photograph. Pictures serve as eye candy and I like to include one with each article. More, if the article is about a special product such as a new car. Some photos get captions, other do not such as the one I’m using with this article.

One, Three/Four, One — Every article I write includes an introduction, three to four main paragraphs or more and a concluding paragraph. I’ve seen many people post article without a conclusion, but I’m old school — I like to wrap things up nicely.

Resources and References – Even if I’m not writing for an academic or news source, I will include one or more resources and will always reference whomever I cite. That’s just good practice and is appreciated by my readers who trust me to be thorough and offer attribution. On this site I don’t do that as much because I’m conveying personal (expert) opinion.

There are variations in my personal rules with my styles adjusted to suit the customer or align with my mood. In any case, writing is rarely a struggle for me as long as I’m interested in the subject matter and desiring to convey my thoughts for all the world to see.

Sometimes we can be too thorough in our writing. No, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be detailed when offering specific guidance as when sharing “how to” instructions. With this type of writing you must walk someone through each step so that they can grasp how to complete a particular task. Omit just one point and you’ll leave the reader frustrated, their task left undone.

Let me give you example of when it is a perfectly fine time to leave out some information: when you blog. Yes, your own site — the place where you dispense important information, depart knowledge or otherwise seem to know what you’re talking about.

By leaving out some information, you invite people to do what you want them to do: leave a comment or engage in an ongoing discussion.

For example, let’s say your topic is “collecting money from past due customers.” In your article you can offer ways to get money including writing a letter or making a phone call, but you can leave out the obvious: suggesting that past due accounts be referred to a collection agency.

You “knew” that the collection agency suggestion was an option, but you wanted someone else to mention it. Furthermore, you want your readers to share their experiences and what steps they took to get their money.

Yes, you performed a “sin of omission” by purposely leaving out at least one important fact. Sounds simple, right? It is.

And it should be something you do from time to time as a way of eliciting comments to build up a discussion. Don’t do it all of the time either because if you profess expertise in a certain area, you’ll come across as someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about or appear incompetent as you leave out an obvious step.

I know that these types of articles “work” from personal experience because when you leave something out, you’ll get several comments from readers. You can then engage your readers by adding in your comments, perhaps building a discussion far longer than the actual article itself. My blog statistics reflect that the articles with the most comments are those which have the most traffic. And traffic is the lifeblood of all things Internet.

Yet, getting a good rate for your work can be difficult, especially in these challenging economic times where the competition for work is stiff and the opportunities limited, at least the good paying ones.

I don’t have a magic number when it comes to what you should charge as every project or assignment can be so very different. Back in the day when print writing ruled, you could charge $1 per word for a magazine feature article. What most people don’t tell you is that those jobs were given to writers whose bylines were well known to the publishing community.

Most of us wouldn’t be able to win these lucrative titles on a regular basis, but we might win one occasionally. The most likely scenario has us writing for those regional publications paying 25-30 cents per word, but even those opportunities seem fairly scarce lately.

So, how can you survive during these tough times? And, is it possible to charge enough to make a living without working 60 or 70 hours per week?

I can only offer advice based on what works for me. I realize my writing path isn’t the way you may want to go, but it should serve as a model from which you can build your portfolio:

Write For Yourself — I maintain several blogs, each of which focuses on areas highlighting my writing expertise. I write about the automotive industry, aviation, college/career, consumer issues and business primarily.  Though you don’t need to maintain multiple sites, having a place where you can demonstrate to clients your writing prowess is as important as maintaining a clip file. A blog can do that for you.

Score Big — Welcoming one or two high-paying clients beats having six or seven moderate paying clients. Then again, never have all of your eggs in one basket — eventually that basket may be turned over and with it will go your only source of income.  In any case a big client can be a tremendous motivator, just the psychological you need to advance your career.

Tier Your Clients — This point may sound contradictory to what I already said, but there isn’t anything wrong with having various tiers of clients. What I mean is this: go for a few big jobs, those paying at a minimum 25 cents per word, but preferably 50 cents or higher. If you could snag five or six of these each month, then you wouldn’t need to do anything else. Trouble is, you probably won’t therefore go after those people who pay by the article–$25 to $50 per pop–and make these gigs your primary sources of income. And, if you can stand them use some content mill work to fill the gaps. But don’t write content stuff if the pay is below $10 per article and you actually have to do some research!

These three approaches have worked for me. Admittedly, I’m not getting as many big gigs as I would like, but I do have two steady print journals who offer decent pay. Most of my work is from the middle of the road clients with, you guessed it, some content mill work thrown in.

See Also — Will You Be Reaching Higher In 2010?

Photo Credit: excl-zoo

My eyes were scanning the political scene, trying to come to grips with all the changes coming to Washington. No matter who won that November, I knew America was about to embark on historic change by either electing the first president of African descent or the first septuagenarian since Ronald Reagan.

New Gig

I had just been contacted by someone who wanted me to write three articles each week for the next two months covering premium European automobiles. That’s right up my alley, because at least half of what I write is cars-related.

We discussed the parameters of the gig, negotiated a price, drafted a contract, signed it and got started on the work. Immediately, I began to feel the first wave of resistance.

Changed Plans

Case in point: customer initially requests the premium Volkswagen Phaeton sedan be included with my write-ups of the three German brands–BMW, Mercedes and Audi– recognizing that this car competes well with its upscale German rivals. Yes, Audi is a division of the Volkswagen Group, but the Phaeton does (or did) poach sales from that brand.

No sooner had I submitted the Phaeton article when I received an email saying she couldn’t use it, noting that Volkswagen isn’t a luxury brand. Well, no kidding.

Try Again

Undeterred, I submitted the next article I was working on–covering the Audi A8–and it was immediately accepted as was my third article written on the Volvo S80. I then moved down my list to the Saab 9-7x and was about to complete that article when I received a panicked call from my client saying she needed the replacement for the first article right away.

Turns out her “loose” deadline with me was a hard deadline with her boss and I had just two hours to get the article to her. No problem (at least this time), as I had written about this same Saab model for another client the previous month. I promised she would get what she needed within 90 minutes, just enough time to do quick edits and submit it to her boss.

I should have seen what was coming next, but I was truly blindslided by what took place.

Wrong Article

Upon submitting the follow-up article, client calls me back and tearfully says that it was the wrong article. Her boss wanted the article to be about the 9-5 sedan, not the 9-7x SUV. Oh, joy, I thought: this project is really going to be more of a hassle than what it is worth. My notes indicated the next write up was to be about the 9-7x, but I soon realized that she hadn’t cleared those titles with her boss.

Her boss was upset with her which meant she wasn’t too happy with me. When I explained that I was working with the agreed upon titles, she half-apologized and changed the subject.

Managing Expectations

That first batch of articles had me writing five titles and getting paid only for three. I knew if I didn’t draw the line soon, I’d have seven more weeks of battling through my work. Instead of shopping the two unused articles, I decided to place them on my blog. I then set out to clarify my position to keep this difficult client under control.

Yes, I began to manage her expectations by doing the following:

Stopping my work. I told the client that I would not write another article until she cleared those titles with her boss. There was no way I would continue to allow her problems to become mine.

Establishing kill fees. Though not part of the original contract, I told my client that if a previously agreed up title was changed after I had written it, then I expected to be paid for the title whether she used it or not. No pay, then no work.

Clear changes first. I also insisted that any other changes in our agreement, including the delivery of the articles, had to be cleared by me first. That “loose” deadline was firmed up; I began to get my completed work to her at least one full day before she needed them.

Moving On

The changes worked or at least they brought some sanity back into what was an obviously stressful relationship.  When I completed the gig, I was ready to move on.

Oddly, the client thought that the gig was open-ended despite what was spelled out in the contract, meaning that she could extend it at-will. I put an end to that thinking by rightly stating our original agreement had finished and that I was moving on to a new gig immediately.

Even without a new job lined up, I knew that moving on was the best thing for me. Sometimes the expectations of difficult clients can be too much to manage!

See Also — Planning to Collaborate? Think This One Through!

It certainly doesn’t take long before something hot on the Internet spreads like wildfire then the newbies joining the web only get to see the smoke. Take blogging for example, it has become so sophisticated that a newcomer interested in blogging is almost overwhelmed with all the information and where to start.

It is true that one can find anything on the Internet, and how to start blogging advice is no different. Another problem that arises though is that the interested party is often so enthusiastic about all there is to learn, that many times they are reading advice and information that dates back several years and they don’t even realize it.

Then when they go to apply what they have learned, it makes no sense and doesn’t work. This creates the makings for a real dilemma. What ends up happening is the would be blogger gives up and looks for something else to become confused about.

So what is the moral of the story here? Start at the beginning and say hello to blogging. Here are just a few basics to get the ball rolling. Once a newbie gets past this stage then they can consider themselves a blogger and leave some smoke behind for the next novice that comes along.

Step One:
Read some current articles and information that has a date on it about what blogging is about in general. Get a feel for it, then you will immediately start to generate your own blogging ideas about what you want to blog about.

Step Two:
Now you need to find some place to put your blog, so you need a blogging provider. Again do your homework. There are lots of them around and some are easier than others to use. Once thing you want is ease of use. This means they will have templates that you can use which is basically just filling in the blanks. Once you become a pro at blogging then you can progress onto the more elaborate concepts.

Step Three:
The easiest way to learn about blogging is from the pros. Once you have determined what it is you want to blog about then visit blogging sites that are in this niche. See how these established sites do it. If you have never posted to a blog before then now is the time to get your feet wet. You have a virtual voice so use it.

Step Four:
Once you get your blogging site set up then go back and visit the ones you were at in the above step and invite them to visit your blog, provided it is not a private blog site. Do it via comments, contact forms or messaging through twitter or facebook.

Step Five:
Research all the innovative ways to get your blog known. After all, blogging is not much fun if you are only blogging to yourself, its like a one way conversation.

When you look at it this way, blogging is not quite so overwhelming. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear about what you have to say, about anything you want to blog about, so go for it, here is your chance. Welcome to the world of blogging!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO company working with a nursing wear brand called Milk Nursingwear and also working with a task management start-up.

A. Thanks for your question, Rose. I have one question to ask you: are you and the editor on the same page as far as using style guides?

That seems to be your problem. Your editor has one set of requirements and you are operating under some other assumption. You haven’t indicated to me who/what you are writing for. If academic, then you may need to heed to the Chicago Manual of Style, Turabian, APA or MLA. If newspaper, magazine or newsletter, you may need to go with the AP Stylebook.

The easiest solution is to contact the editor and find out what she wants and then write according to those requirements. I have had clients who adhere to a certain style but then modify accordingly; this may be what your editor wants.

You should be able to obtain a copy of their style guidelines and work with that. In any case, before you write another article, save yourself time and grief to make certain that everyone is on the same page.

This is what I think of keyword stuffed material!

A high placement in the SERPs can certainly offer many advantages for you including more customers who find your site as well as more click throughs for your ads. Up until a few years ago it wasn’t that difficult to achieve higher SERPs but the web has expanded greatly since then and a lot of people have decided to make a “killing” by doing the same.

But the search engines, particularly Google, have adjusted their algorithms accordingly and are much less likely to let a gamed article get through. Your work may still get indexed, but it may not appear any higher than page 19 for “get white teeth” or whatever phrase or words you are using.

There are some dangers whenever you resort to keyword stuffing including:

Your reputation becomes tarnished. Unless you’re happy with being labeled a spammer, you’ll have a hard time separating yourself from that title. In writing, you quickly become identified with the company you keep…or push!

Your audience dies of boredom. Keyword stuffing is always apparent and does little to edify the reader. You may gain the SERPs, but lose your readership.

So, how can you still attract the crowds without resorting to tried and discarded methods? By working more intelligently and deciding that your readers do not deserve to be insulted.

What you can work on are certain writing fundamentals including:

Develop magnetic headlines. I don’t mean headlines that simply exaggerate, but those written to compel people to learn more. Give people something to think about, raise their curiosity and put it in their minds to explore further. Besides, your keywords can be incorporated in your title.

Use similar words. If your content is an overt sales pitch, I can’t help you tone it down. But, if your article is instructive, consider using the words you want to include by naturally spreading them throughout your article. Importantly, use Google’s AdWords tool to help you find what you want. In the “get white teeth” phrase that tool shows several alternative phrases to consider: whiten teeth and get teeth white are important search terms.

You can take your work one step further by citing experts in your field and including their personal blurbs in your article. No, I don’t mean cutting and pasting what you find online, rather to contact these people for an interview. If time is of the essence, then just pitch one question their way and offer to include their answer in your article, citing them and linking to their site.

You’ll gain authority, visibility and a tremendous amount of respect if you build your content carefully. No, you may not get “instant results” but there is a good chance that what you write will get some legs and be cited elsewhere or become an authority piece. Yes, that means abandoning some of the old tactics you may have used but in the long run you’ll have something to be proud of.

See Also — Commenting? You Can Do Better Than That!

I won’t go into all the details about this terrific site; please read my earlier article and visit My Blog Guest to learn more. But what I will share with you today are some observations on how to work with guest bloggers, offering tips to help make this practice work well for your blogs.

Make A Plan – If you own one or more blogs, you may benefit from having a guest writer contribute unique material. Although I don’t need outside contributors I have found that some of my guest bloggers are regular readers anyway, so why not reward their loyalty by encouraging a guest post? Still, you may need to plan what type of articles you want to appear on your site—I enjoy contributions in areas where my expertise isn’t particularly strong.

Post Your Request – Though there are other guest blogging sites out there, I only belong to Ann’s site. So, I can’t speak about how the others work. With My Blog Guest you register with that site, create a profile and then put your request on the forum. You can also answer requests for guest bloggers to contribute your work elsewhere.

Do Your Homework – Once you post your request (be as detailed as possible) expect to receive several replies, some of which will be posted right online while others will be sent to you via private message. A few people may discover your email address and send a proposal directly to you. I always ask for samples of previously published work, a topic proposal and a general outline before proceeding. I then put out the parameters for the article—typically 400 to 750 words—and then wait until I receive a draft before taking the next step.

Carefully Review Contributions – I don’t want duplicate content so I check with Copyscape to make sure what is sent to me is unique. I also ask people not to use the article elsewhere after the fact as I want to keep what is published on my blogs unique. If someone wants to do a heavy rewrite and use it elsewhere that’s fine with me. I also will edit articles if something isn’t clear, but I usually don’t uphold AP Stylebook standards because we’re talking about blogs, not newspaper sites. Still, if something needs to be clarified or made more concise, I may rework it myself slightly.

Be Link Generous – I limit links to just two per article and I usually require those links to appear in the “author’s resource box” at the end of the article. But, if links are relevant to the article, then they are included. Moreover, I utilize StumbleUpon and Twitter to make sure that the articles get noticed and I’ll push it through other SEO channels if warranted.

Ultimately, I believe that guest articles are mutually beneficial to contributor and to blog owners alike, so I do what it takes to help everyone out.

Am I sold on guest blogging? You bet! Though I haven’t contributed to other blogs since last year, I expect when things slow down for me after tax season that I’ll make my own contributions here and there.

Guest blogging rocks and Ann Smarty’s site helps bring people together; a winning combination you may want to explore further.