Search online for just a few moments using words like “work at home”, “make money online”, “online business opportunities”, and “how to make money online”. What I’m sure you’ve found is millions upon millions of …of what? Real opportunities or real scams?

If you spent any money looking into this you’ve probably decided they are all scams. If you’re still just looking…you are a better person than me. I’ve fallen for a good ad more times than I like to think.

Before you waste anymore of your hard earned cash, let me share with you some things I learned during my search.

Start with your “WHY”. I’ve been attacked by well meaning MLMers that make you tell them what kind of car you want and other such nonsense but that’s not what I mean. Why are you looking for a business? It quit your job? To make more money? To retire early? Because you love, knitting and want to get paid doing it? That’s the why I want you to hold onto.

Now, if your why was just to make more money or quit your job you don’t need to look very far. But you do need to be very careful. Scammers want you and they have money to spend to find you.

If your why was specific then just start with, “What are all the other knitters doing” and “How can I do it better/diferently”.

One example I have from real life is this. My Aunt loves to sew and knit. My husband wants to buy a fly fishing lodge. Together they are looking into creating a “Seperate Vactions, Together” resort. For all those men who want to go fly fishing while their wives want to sit around gossiping….oh yeah, quilting/sewing/knitting. It’s a business based on their why of “I want to….”.

For the rest of us, that just want to make money. It’s overwhelming.

To make it easier I’ve decided to start asking myself questions.

What kind of online business do I see myself having? I chose online because it’s cheaper to start and overall more forgiving if I make mistakes.

Do I see my self selling my own products, someone elses, or information?

I personally went with information that is part mine and part someone elses. I did this because I needed to learn what I was doing from someone else.

Following in someone elses footsteps is by far the easiest thing to do. In fact don’t do anything else at first!

All the major books pertaining to becoming a millionaire tell you to get a team. A think tank, a brainstorming team. Your support, your lifeline, your path to riches.

It’s not as easy as they make it sound. However a good online opportunity doesn’t want you to fail so they build the team into the program. This is partly why some MLMs do so well. Doing it alone sucks and is the path to failure.

But teams come in many diferent shapes and sizes. Books can mentor and online forums can support. So how you build or join your team isn’t important. Just having support and encouragement is.

So, start by following. Know your reasons then find others with similar reasons and join them.

If your why is to make money. Then start in forums and searching through blogs. Don’t spend money first. Know your why and find others. Then spend money. After you’ve educated yourself with your new team.

Let them share their mistakes so you don’t have to make them. Let them share their success so you can follow in their footsteps. Then after you understand the terrain. Aim and shoot for the stars!

Breaking into journalism isn’t easy. Besides polished creative writing skills, you need self-motivation and willing to accept your share of low-paying gigs. Don’t expect more than $35 an article for smaller daily newspapers. Bigger-city newspapers will pay around $200 an article for good stories.

Most full-time reporters received training at journalism schools, after they’d already earned a 4-year undergraduate degree. If you lack the education, you can still get your foot in the door by becoming a stringer (the industry term for “freelance reporter”). Many publications use stringers because they lack reporters to cover all the news at once; besides, newspapers want writers to hone their skills before they’re hired full-time, or because they like the fresh perspectives of a good freelancer.

What’s involved in freelance journalism?

This is the exciting part: as a freelance journalist, you get to chase the news as it’s happening. For many, this thrill is enough to keep them going through the drudgery and low pay.

You’ll need to keep your wits about you. If news is happening right in front of you, you must have the presence of mind to take accurate notes and come up with questions for on-the-spot interviews. Freelance journalism is all about recreating the story on paper so readers can relive the experience you had.

Where do I find freelance journalism jobs?

Before you approach any newspapers, you should have a portfolio of articles under your belt. Five to ten sample articles is the minimum. If you don’t have published samples of your work, you’ll need to do some freelance stringing for free to get started.

Hunt around for some newsworthy events - an upcoming concert, a celebrity coming to town, an impending election, etc. Then, write about it and submit your article to as many free publications as you can think of. You’ll want to make sure your article is relevant to what a given magazine or newspaper publishes, of course, but be as prolific as possible.

When you have samples under your belt, make the pitch. Email the publication, or send them a query letter. Tell the editor you have some good ideas and you’re available for freelance writing.

Alternatively, you might call the publication and let them know you’re a freelance writer and you’re wondering if they use stringers. Be brief, confident, and professional. If they do use stringers, they may ask you to come in for an interview.

How do I ace the interview?

Bring along your portfolio, a list of well thought-out ideas specifically for that publication, and a sample article that you’ve written for them. All of these will help the editor decide whether you’re a good fit for their newspaper.

Some editors want their stringers to use their own ideas and some editors have ideas of their own. Be flexible. A good portfolio will show editors that you can handle a various subject matters.

As in all interviews, be relaxed and confident. Acting nervous and stammering over your words doesn’t make a good impression. Before the interview, imagine the interview going perfectly. This technique helps calm your nerves and sets the stage for a positive interview experience.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you want to write for your city newspaper. How would you craft your query letter?

It might go like this:

Dear (editor),

The content of your newspaper is unsurpassable. As a loyal reader and enthusiastic writer, I would be honored to contribute to The Daily News.

Our city is full of excitement this season. Here are some of the story ideas I have that would appeal to your readership:

- How do the new pet bylaws affect downtown pet owners?

- Support our agriculture: homegrown food for your family

- The upcoming art show is attracting art lovers from all over North America

- How neighborhoods are improving road safety for pedestrians

- New schools and playgrounds encourage families to move inner city

These are just a few suggestions, and of course I am open to any ideas you have. As an experienced freelance writer, I have covered a wide variety of topics. I hope you will find the enclosed clips to be compelling and well written.

Show the editor that your writing style and journalistic abilities are in line with what they’re looking for, and include your relevant experience. If you have a good query letter and they need stringers, expect a phone call!

Most beginning online advertisers are very confused about the difference between SERP (”search engine results page”) ads and content network ads. The major search engines blend the two together so well that they seem to be the same thing, unless you really pay attention.

Search engine results pages are what most people think of when talking about pay per click marketing. Ads are displayed based on the search terms used by searchers. When users search for terms that are the same or very similar to keywords you have specified in your account, they appear on the page. Content network sites are non-search engine web sites that display ads either based on the content of the pages or by advertisers that have specifically requesting advertising on the sites.

Web sites join content networks in order to monetize their traffic. They receive a portion of the revenue generated by users clicking on the ads. The amount that can be earned for each click is dependent on advertiser bids, so content network clicks can be just as expensive as SERP clicks for some industries. Clicks in more competitive industries will cost much more to the advertiser, so those clicks will be worth much more to the web site hosting the ad. There is good money to be made in online advertising if you can drive enough traffic to your web site.

It has been my experience that ads on content sites generate far fewer clicks and conversions than ads on search engine results pages. No matter how relevant a web site is to the advertiser, viewers of the site will not be nearly as targeted as a SERP showing search results related to a specific keyword. However, there are some very good reasons for choosing to advertise on a content network:

1. Branding is an important consideration, so you need to get your name as much exposure as possible.

2. You are in a very expensive industry.

3. There is not much search activity for your industry. If noon is searching for what you have, then you need to place your message in front of people who might be interested based on their visitation of a particular web site.

There are usually two ways to get your ads placed on sites in a content network: based on the content of all of the sites in the network, or by specifying particular sites. If you have time to research particular sites, then that might be the best route. However, you can also get good results letting the advertising platform place your ads for you based on site content.

Content network ads may work well for your business, or they may not. The only way to know if content network advertising is a good option for your business is to give it a try. Go conservative at first and carefully monitor your conversions. Content network is generally cheaper than search advertising, so you should be able to stretch your budget out. As with all things, calculate your return on ad spend or cost per conversion for both search and content and go with the one that provides the best performance.

Are you looking for a career as a freelancer? Or maybe you are looking for the right freelancer to help you out with your business. Does your current job feel to far off from your dream job? Would you rather be your own boss? All these are possible with the different freelancer found online.

 

There are a lot of people complaining the having a career as a freelancer isn’t all that great. Even thought they feel that they are their own boss, they still have to be a boss of a certain job. People complain that the still have to start up a business on their own. If you need help with your business, you can find a freelancer at various online sites.

 

Having a freelancer career is not all that frustrating. When you hit a big mark, for sure you will get the job at the time you needed it most. You get the results that you are really hopeful for. Having a freelancer career may also result in a “freelancer” salary. You also get the pay that you simply desire. These known facts are true but these do not happen all the time. Sometimes things just go wrong than what we expected it to be. Nevertheless, Freelancer careers can really be rewarding.

 

The Internet has made a huge impact on freelancers. It is now easy to have a freelancer career because of the freelancer opportunities that are found on the Internet. Outsourcing opportunities made a big and heavy impact in the field of freelancer careers. There are a lot of companies that need offshore outsourcing. You can take advantage of this opportunity by posting your freelancer career on the Internet, especially at Boozooyoo. 

 

If you are looking for a service provider, there are several freelancer careers that you can choose at Boozooyoo. These people have a freelancer career such as writing and editing, design and illustration, web design or web development, software programming, video and photography, administrative and support, and sales, marketing, and consulting. All these are available at Boozooyoo. Freelancer jobs and careers can really make a great change in the life of an individual. No matter what kind of change it is, if you are really willing to venture out into something new then try some freelancer career offered at Boozooyoo.

 

Boozooyoo offers great and exciting deals for their clients. You may choose any of the prescribed freelancer careers that are offered online. Some of the freelancer careers in great demand at Boozooyoo are scrapbook design consultant, specialty freelancer writer, color consultant, waterscapes design consultant, real estate marketing consultant, social media consultant, event coordinator, jewelry designer and buying consultant, graphic artist, and play consultant, professional services, legal help, financial planning, computers, businesses, health and beauty, cars, vacations, hotels, loans, web store. Some of the freelancer careers offered online are from those who chose to stay at home.

 

Choosing a freelancer is a highly delicate thing to do. But there are tons of benefits by hiring a freelancer whose career you can greatly boost with your business. Boozooyoo is an agency that can greatly help you find the right freelancer to greatly help your company. Most of the careers that are available at Boozooyoo are from those who are skilled in their chosen fields. If you want excellent service, try venturing into hiring a freelancer and experience something new.

In order to make your money working online you should become familiar with the following topics, advice and precautions. Being familiar with the information in this article will help smooth your progress toward your goals.

Earning Money

This is a fact of the world: People need MONEY to fulfill their needs and wants. However, in the online world of fortune-making, there are opportunities to turn this tide and to even start making money off the “backs” of our largest companies.

So an affiliate can earn the best online income just by attracting one or more players through links on their sites. Even the Big money is available to those who put forth the needed effort with an online business.

Using the Internet

Instruction is the key. Become a student of Internet businesses and marketing, and you too will see your income soar. Use your search engine to seek the out best online income opportunities. Look around at what people are doing and copy their successes. Find a mentor, they are available!

Starting An Online Business

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business; Google Adwords is the best PPC source. However, beware, the learning curve is steep with PPC and is not for newbies, you can lose your shirt Fast!

The best online income opportunities typically require that you have a website to get your messages and identity securely in place. You can’t just start an online business and sit around hoping for the click-throughs to happen and to start to make your money working online.

You must learn to market your business. Explore the numerous free and low cost ways to do this. Seek out advice from those who are doing it now, and settle down with whichever opportunity you choose. Jumping from one opportunity to the next is why there are so many failures in the online business world!

Online Programs

The different types of income online, range from easy, surfing website programs to telecommuting positions that operate much like a job outside the home. The best online income programs are affiliate opportunities offering residual income, that is, you earn it once and get paid over and over again!

How to Earn

If you are serious about earning the best online income through the internet and have a stick-to-it attitude, you will succeed. Many people come online for the sole purpose of seeking an EASY way to make your money working online.

Most of the big players who earn thousands of dollars per month online, own content-rich websites that rank well on the search engines and offer great value to their visitors.

Sites To Help Build Income

The best method of building income on the net is to focus on something that interests you. It does not matter if it is a product, service or software, anything you like. Then, see how others are earning money with it.

Visit every page of their sites and look for the methods used by the site owner to generate income. So, first do a search on the search engines for the topic of your choice; second, visit sites from the results; and third, search for ways to market your product or service. There are many sites that offer such help for free so you can make your money working online.

Developing Your List

If you’re not building an optin email list of your customers, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Capturing names and email addresses, and thereby building a list, is vital to your internet business success. Optin is critical to list development. You must ask your list prospect to join your list. Double optin is best!

Double optin is obtained when a prospect fills in a form that provides his/her name and email address, then automatically receives an email from you which contains a link that must be clicked before you can add them to your list. This ensures that the person actually filled out the form himself or herself and not someone else.

This helps to prevent accusations that you are sending out spam to your list. Spam is a constant item that must be considered when building your list.

Product Sales

You can learn to provide an unlimited amount of quality products to an almost unlimited number of interested customers just by joining an affiliate program that offers such products. (See the Link in my Author box at the bottom of the page for more about quality products to offer). The best part is that most good sites will provide training in how to sell their particular product online so you can make the best online income!

Online Marketing

Affiliate marketing programs are a booming independent industry that is creating a huge amount of money for an equally large number of Internet users. It is now possible for anyone with a modicum of ability to make your money working online marketing items these billion people are looking for.

The product vendor usually supplies training in online marketing which is a big help to online marketing newbies. Tip: Always take a portion of your profits and reinvest in well-researched advertising methods in order to make the best online income.

Residual Income, Passive Income, Recurring Income

Affiliate marketing is one of the best tools for creating a residual income online. Becoming an affiliate marketer makes great sense. Smart people are continually looking for business opportunities having the potential to earn a substantial passive income with minimal effort and small investment.

They promote products that yield recurring commissions, such as autoresponders, web hosting, and membership sites. What a wonderful way to generate the best online income for yourself!

That income never stops until the person who joined drops out of the program. The good news: many people stay in some of such programs for years. Many products offer as much as 50% to 75% of the product price to the affiliate who makes the sale!

Using Adsense

To win the Google Adsense war, you must know the right strategies; otherwise you’ll end up wasting your time. The Google Adsense program is a very lucrative program for webmasters and can be the best online income for some people. You earn money by having visitors click on your Adsense links that are embedded in your website in return you make your money working online.

A certain percentage of visitors will always click on Adsense ads. This generates various levels of income mostly based on your expertise in Adsense site building. Many people put up 20 or 30 sites, or more, (even hundreds of sites), averaging a few hundred bucks every month, with most of the sites only breaking even.

I hope this article helped give you a general over-view of the internet marketing worlds’ terms and procedures.

What is the best home based online business? Easy to start with small capital. The most popular way to earn money online is Affiliate marketing. Don’t worry even if you have no experience in internet marketing. Anyone can earn money online through affiliate commissions. Many are already making 6 – 7 figures monthly through affiliate commissions. Most of them started with no background or experience too.

Affiliate marketing is marketing other people’s products. When there is a sale your will a commission. The commission may vary according to the products. Usually the commission can be between 30% to 70% on every sale that you make.

Do you want to know how to earn money online? Finally here are some powerful steps that will help you succeed in affiliate marketing and earn huge affiliate commissions online.

I would like to outline the major criteria why affiliate marketing is the best online business. I believe anyone can start an internet business and start to earn money online, no matter of what experience they have in internet marketing.

Earn Money Online Step 1. Do you need your own products? No, You do not need to create your own product. The best thing of being an affiliate is you will be making money online through commissions from marketing other people’s products. The first important thing to do is choose a topic or specific niche which you are able to fiind from affiliate programs. Go to sites like Clickbank, Commisssion Junction and few other affiliate programs and do some research. I would suggest you start off first with Clickbank Marketplace. There are a lots of very good products which are doing very well. Remember! Don’t sign up for a all the programs on different topics. The affiliate marketing should be targeted on a single market. Then promote products that appeal to that market. Be focus on one product first. Later you can move on to other products

Earn Money Online Step 2. Do you need to handle or ship products ? No, the best thing about affiliate marketing is to direct potential customers to the vendor’s website using your affiliate link. Don’t worry about payment processing or product delivery. All these are taken care by the merchant. It is very important to do a proper research and select the best affiliate programs. Choose the best niche to promote to your customers. Look for the most rewarding, reliable and successful affiliate programs. It would better if some marketing tools you can use to promote the products could be supplied by the merchant. Some merchant provide the marketing in order to support their affiliate succeed in their business. It is a win-win situation for both parties. The products or affiliate program must also be of high quality and must be well-priced. This will definitely make is easy for you to sell them products or programs and earn money online fast.

Earn Money Online Step 3.Do you need a website ? No, you do not need to create a website or write a sales copy. Sometimes it can be quite costly depending on the of products which you are promoting. If you already have your own website, all you need to do is to add your affiliate links on your website. Then how do you earn money online without a website. All you have to do is simply promote your affiliate link. If you are good at writing, just submit some articles as a way of advertising, just add your affiliate links at the end of each article. People who read your articles and click on your affiliate link which will lead them to the merchant sales page. If they like the product and purchased it you can make a commission from the sale. If you decide to build your own website, then start building a web site targeted on your niche. Placed high quality and unique content. The content must be rich with your key words and phrases. If you don’t know how to build a website get some help from someone or start learning yourself. There are tons of information on the net about building a website.

Earn Money Online Step 4. Do you need a domain name or hosting account? The fact is you don’t need to have a domain and hosting accounts. Normally many people when starting an online business have limited cash. Since in affiliate marketing you can choose not to have your own website, will not incur hosting cost or maintaining a domain. Though there are many benefits of having your own website, you can still start to earn money online. You will just have to promote your affiliate link. If you have your own site, start promoting and marketing your website immediately.

Earn Money Online Step 5. Would you have to deal with refunds? No, you there are no requests for refunds to deal with. In affiliate marketing, handling any requests for refunds is taken care by the merchant. You just earn money online from the commission. The rest of it is the product owner’s responsibility. Now, just drive traffic to your website or your affiliate link. Your website or affiliate link will need traffic for you to earn money online through affiliate commissions. The more traffic, the more money you make. Start writing. Then submit your articles to article directories like ezinearticles and etc , submit online press releases to sites like PRWEB and etc. which is related to your niche and submit your site to search engines.

Earn Money Online Step 6. Always choose the “hot” products. It must popular and in demand. If you writing in your blog, submitting to article directories always match your interests or website theme. Remember! Always review your affiliate programs or products on a blog. Very important! Please include your affiliate links in all your content.

Earn Money Online Step 7. One of the most important thing to do and is very vital to your business is start building an email list. Offer free e-courses, articles or e-books to your list. As soon as you have a list, keep in regular contact with your prospects. Then recommend your affiliate products to them to earn money online.

Earn Money Online Step 8. Your customer relationship management is very important in any online business. Always be available to answer any questions from your prospects and customers. Build your relationship with your customers. Make sure that you provide your real name and an email address on your website. This is very vital to your internet marketing so that potential customers can contact you with questions. Your customers will know there is a real person behind that website. This is important for your credibility of your business. Always do your research and provide quality content to your list in order to build up your creditability and authority in the niche that you have chosen for the internet marketing. This will bring you residual income in the long run.

Earn Money Online Step 9. Apart from building a list, now start building your own network of sub-affiliates. Always keep in touch with your sub-affiliates and motivate them to succeed because their success is your success too.

Earn Money Online Step 10. Lastly, promote your website consistently. Work hard. Always have patience. The money will start rolling in. Believe me! This system has worked for me. It should work for you too!

Affiliate Marketing! This best and easiest way to start making money online. Imagine what these tips can help anyone succeed in affiliate marketing. Anyone can do it, and you can do it too! With affiliate marketing you too can achieve a lot of success. Now, get to work and earn money online.

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Freelancing has definitely become one of the trends in generating better income for most professionals today. In fact, one of fields where freelancing is popular is in programming. Today, the world of software development and programming world is going through drastic changes. In fact, many big companies and small companies are getting into different levels and options in order to gear their businesses towards stability.

Because more and more companies are gearing towards different alternatives to promote their products and services better, this need opens up a lot of opportunities to professionals who are doing freelance work. And because of this growing need and demand of companies for freelance programmers, the availability of freelance jobs in the market also increases as days go by.

If you are a freelance programmer and you are more than willing to spend extra hours to dedicate your skills, expertise and experience, then you have better chances of survival in the industry. In fact, being a freelance programmer is a potential option for you so you can earn more money.

If you are planning to become a freelance programmer, here are some of the things you might want to consider:

1. You must be able to finalize a certain set of goals. This is very important especially if you want to go freelancing because this will serve as your foundation for the shifting career.

Before you finally decide becoming a freelance programmer, make sure that you have developed a clear set of goals to know where you are headed. You should also be able to develop a good business plan to identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as your abilities. Once you have done this, then you can now sell your services in various clients out there.

2. Create a good portfolio. Your portfolio is your presentation in the market. If you want to go freelance in the world of programming, your portfolio should reflect what you are marketing. Always remember that your portfolio is your “calling card,” make sure that you build it well. Some of the good qualities of an effective portfolio are organized, clear, and professional-looking. If you are just planning to build one, make sure that you include your best works.

3. Try to build and maintain good working relationships with your clients. Working online makes it harder for people to create and maintain good working relationships. But, don’t let this prevent you from developing harmonious relationships with your clients. All you need to do is to open good communication lines with your clients and be there when they have questions or clarifications.

4. Get work by promoting or marketing yourself. You can do this by signing up with an on-line marketplace, by building your own website, by creating a self-promotion piece, program or design, or by networking

5. Always keep in mind that this is a business. You can do this by maintaining regular business hours when you accept a new project. You can also do this by always making sure that sign the contract and by getting half of your fee up as soon as the project starts to progress.

If you are surfing online and you would want to get freelance programming work, try to visit sites where freelance works are listed such as AllFreelance, icplanet, ework, elance, workexchange, smarterwork, FlipDog Jobs, and eWanted.

If you want to start work at home, and start your own business then it is advisable for you to consider doing freelance work at home jobs. Freelancing is free of risks unlike most other work at home schemes, which promise a lot of money for no work at all.

If you work at home as a freelancer, you are doing work that is completely legal and best of all, you work at home so the comfort level and freedom that you enjoy are also a considerable amount. Work at home with companies who will actually pay you for services rendered, and not try to convince you that you will get something for nothing.

Of all work at home jobs, freelancing is the most practical and in many cases, the most lucrative. If you have the requisite skills, it is assured that there are many freelance jobs available for you out there that will enable you to work at home.

Find a freelance job as you work at home and do work that fits your skills and area of specialization, work that you enjoy and will bring great returns. Work at home by submitting your applications to various freelance positions that allow you to have the freedom to work at home and let you telecommute. If you freelance you don’t need to market yourself online or offline, because you can offer your services at freelance job sites.

You will have a steady flow of cash while you work at home unlike network marketing jobs which are so unpredictable that you are never quite certain that you will get no money at all or a very large amount. If you want to work at home but have not had any marketing experience, then freelancing is the best option for you, as networking isn’t really the easiest job in the world.

You won’t have to go through the whole rigmarole of trying to attract visitors to your web page, sell products to acquaintances and friends, or make endless phone calls. You just have to work at home and be dedicated enough to build your reputation on the freelance market to gradually raise your rates.

Freelancing while you work at home lets you be the boss of you, and set your own goals and a flexible schedule which you can alter at your own will and time. Your time will be your own, and nobody else’s to claim, thus you will enjoy more independence as you work at home. How much you earn is also up to you - it all depends on how much you are willing to work.

You can negotiate your rates with various clients according to how large the project is and how many days or weeks it might take you to complete it. Your experience counts a lot while freelancing in work at home jobs. Work at home jobs as a freelancer help reduce taxes.

You can claim tax benefits by showing that you are an independent home based entrepreneur. Some of the intrinsic expenses incurred while you work at home include travel costs, the cost of the home, insurance, resources and equipment, newsletters, books and magazines and other expenses relevant to your work at home freelance jobs.

As a freelance writer, you will compete against many writers who are just as talented as you are. You will also compete against writers who write poorly and who offer their writing services at ridiculously low fees. These writers can and do get jobs. Many times you will tempt yourself to lower your rates to match or beat the bids to snag the project. Don’t do it! You are a professional. Professional writers don’t lower their rates or work for next to nothing.

Many individuals who lack writing skills drive down rates, way below what professional writers can rightfully charge. If the true professionals do not keep up their prices, this will become an even bigger problem. Just because writers from other countries want to work for eight or nine American dollars per hour, this doesn’t mean you should. As a writer, you can earn far more than many freelance writers — and certainly more than freelance writers who speak little English but still bid on the English-speaking jobs at much lower rates.

Visit any writer’s marketplace and scan through the projects. You will discover all types of bid prices and proposals. What you won’t see is how these writers came up with their bid prices or how they decided what and what not to include in their bid proposals. Often times these writers don’t know how they came up with their fees for bidding either. It becomes obvious when you see the same project posting listed under different genres or price ranges. Some of the same writers will bid on the same projects with a large spread in proposed bids. It is quite comical.

If you want prospective clients to take you seriously, you need to do three things: 1) You need a website that lists your rates; 2) You need to be consistent with your rates; and 3) You need to collect a retainer up front before you start.

Freelance writers need to know what they can charge based on the job at hand. This can vary depending on the marketplace. When it comes down to freelance writing, here is the truth in a nutshell: You can charge whatever it is you want to charge. You can base your fees on whatever you want to base your fees. The trick is finding someone to pay it who believes it is a fair price.

Freelance writers are a rare breed. Many of them are quite difficult. There is no need to be one of them. Decide on your fees and stick to them. Keeping your fees consistent enables you to keep your bookkeeping simple. You are a writer, not an accountant. Simplicity in accounting should appeal to you. Regardless of how much work you find, keep yourself grounded. Make your job fun. Take things in stride. The money will come.

The following information will help you set your rates. These rates may vary according to your experience and specialization.

WHAT TO CHARGE

Many writers will charge way too much for their services while others will charge way too little. You can find current market rates in Writer’s Market. You can also use the following as a guideline until you feel you have a good sense of what you want to charge. Remember, you can charge anything you want to charge. Always ask yourself what your time and skills are worth. More importantly, do clients feel you are worth what you are charging?

Take a look:

• News Articles ( web related ): $15-50 per page

• E-books:$15-25 per page

• Novels and Books: $75 per page

• Radio Commentary: $200 per hour

• Magazine articles: Expect anywhere from $600-$2000 per article

• Articles for web content, not related to news: $10-$50 per article based on word count and other aspects of the job (such as keywords, etc.)

Some writers prefer to charge by the word too. This is slightly different as it varies on several factors. If you are going to charge on a per word basis, decide how much that is and stick with it on all your projects of varying lengths. Often the rate per word charge fluctuates by writer depending on what the writer is writing (article, book, and web content).

Whatever you choose to charge, consider the time you spend creating the work. Remember, if you are an educated writer in your field, you should be able to realize anywhere from $30-$75 per hour.

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER ABOUT RATES

You cannot please everyone all of the time. You will find publishers, editors, and clients who hire you on a fast turn around. Even though they expect quality, they also expect you to write top-notch, award-winning material.

If a client tells you up front the deadline is important, be realistic in your talents and realize you are at a disadvantage before you start. If you have a demanding buyer with demanding deadlines, then realize you may feel you cannot craft the best copy you can. You should know your own pace and when you know you can’t deliver your best manuscript. If this is the case, then ask the client for more time.

Also watch for up and coming savvy trade book publishers who hire writers to write an e-book and fully intend to market it as a trade paperback. Know this before you take the job. In fact, when you bid on e-books, expect it. If you want to charge more based on that possibility, then build it into your bid. Often, if you approach a potential client by e-mail, they will respond with a request for an author to pen an e-book for them. Many times this ghostwritten book will end up on the shelves. As long as you did your job and you got paid, what do you care? Sure, the client may have used a less than honest approach, but as a writer, you will see this every day on the freelance postings. These clients are trying to save money and this is why they do this. You can’t really blame them. The client wants to turn a book over quickly too. If they were to present a ghostwriter with a writing opportunity to write a manuscript for publication, it would take much longer and cost a lot more for their manuscript.

Even though many people work with a rate sheet as their guide, others realize it is sometimes impossible to stick to their rates. You should establish some parameters when varying from your rates if you decide to offer a discount to a client. If you are working within a tight deadline, don’t vary much because 18 hour days can be part of your reality when you’re up against a tight web content deadline. By the end of those jobs, you want clients to pay you. Writers should stick to a rate sheet for their services. When pushed to turn out a job quickly, you should never discount a project, but instead raise your rates!

Another subject has come up in many incidences on the subject of whether the writer should charge for re-writes. Many writers do charge for re-writes, especially if the client is unreasonable. If you provide re-writes for a client, make sure the client has paid you in full for the project.

With millions of people on the Internet now, there is an explosion of online businesses. This means that there will be both successes and failures, but that is characteristic of any type of businesses – Internet or offline. You may have heard stories of people, acquaintances even, who have made a lot of money working on the Internet. Some of them claim to not even have put any money down on their online business and working a few hours a day. True or false, take these stories with a pinch of salt, and be ready to work hard and put in the required amount of investment to make your online business a success.

However, starting an online business does have potential advantages to the owner as opposed to an offline one. The most common advantages are:

Low start up costs:–

while the Internet is not necessarily the place for easy, quick riches with no effort, in many cases, the costs of start up can be low compared with brick and mortar businesses. Rent, maintenance, inventory and many other costs may be cut down or completely avoided. Sometimes just a few hundred, smart planning and a great business idea can get you started.

Extensive marketing opportunities:–

There are a number of tactics and tools that Internet-based marketing affords – from SEO to affiliates and email marketing. Additionally, these marketing tools are easily accessible and generally much more cost effective than offline business marketing tools.

Easy tracking of results:–

Something offline businesses spend a lot to achieve can be automatically and cheaply achieved by an online business. The simplicity of tracking preferences, tracing potential customers and access to contact information makes marketing and customer relationship management that much easier for an online business.

Global reach:–

While an offline business may have no reach beyond a small local area, an online business is empowered by the Internet to achieve a global audience, much more economically. With the correct marketing, the online business can tap into a huge Internet audience for its products and services.

Manage and transmit information:–

The Internet is a great way to manage incoming information and transmit information to present and potential customers and employees. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be posted on your website and these FAQs act as a 24 hour helpline for the small business. It’s a great way for online businesses to display changing information, receive customer feedback through remarks posted online, or display sound or video clips to help sell a product. And this is all done at a much lower cost than an offline business that offers these services would pay.

Easy reach to local or specialized markets:–

The Internet offers the online business a cheap and easy way to connect to its local market. By linking to other local sites, an online business can drive local traffic to its site at a cost much lower than that of advertising in your town to create awareness. Access to specialized markets can also be achieved best by working through the Internet.

With the numerous advantages of starting an online business, as opposed to an offline one, it should come as no surprise that plenty of success stories exist in this domain.