Zenni Optical sells Rx glasses for $8, including the case!
If you’re a self-employed writer like I am, you know how annoying it is to buy anything vaguely medical. There is a place, though, that sells prescription glasses for just $8. Freaky, but true. Eight dollars buys a complete set of glasses, including the case. That’s less than most people with vision insurance pay for a co-pay. This is a sponsored post, but I think I see new glasses in my immediate future.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Attack of the 1099s
One of the things about being a freelance writer, well, one of the many things, is that you end up writing for so many different people that tax time can get pretty crazy. If you haven't saved money throughout the year for the year-end money grab, there are a lot of ways to maximize deductions, so that usually isn't a problem for me. But, the volume of 1099s can get a little overwhelming.
The first issue is just keeping track of how many you have coming to you and waiting for them all to come in. If one doesn't show up, you then have to remember who it was coming from and contact them about it. If they all show up in time, you then have to keep track of all of the little people who aren't required to send one but that you nevertheless owe taxes for. The combination of the 1099 avalanche and the small project record-keeping is enough to make you want to move to the woods and live on dandelions and wild hamsters.
So, how to make sense of the mess? Well, I use a complex system of proprietary software that allows me to fill out up to 75 pages of income lists and attach pictures of all my clients. I then pay thousands to an accountant that specializes in freelance writers. Just kidding, I just print out everything I need to remember and put it in a big pile. The pile may be large, but my courage in the face of taxes is larger.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Researching Online Casinos
Online casino sites are a huge, huge niche topic right now. I've written countless articles about them, and I think most other web writers have as well. There's a good site for researching a vast number of casinos at once, called Pro360.com. The site looks at 75 different virtual casinos and gives you a quick look at the different features of each. If you need to find just the casinos that allow U.S. players, there's a quick link for those sites. There is also a FAQ section that provides detailed information about online gambling. And, if you are researching the topic for the first time, the beginner's guide is a good place to go for information about virtual casino basics. There's also a page for getting a few important gambling tips that you might need for specialized articles or ebooks, and who knows, you might just decide to use them for your own gambling endeavors. This is a sponsored review.
Friday, January 25, 2008
When Freelance Writing Piles Up
In freelance writing, it's often a case of feast or famine. Some weeks I have little going on besides regulars and a few residual income projects. Other weeks, last this week, I have slammed pretty much beyond capacity. How do you handle it when you're pretty sure that no human can do the amount of work you have?
1. Breathe. Panic is not an option. Keep breathing, and believe you can do it- Little-Engine-That-Could style.
2. Rewards. Break up the work into smaller chunks and give yourself a reward after each one. I'm trying to keep some New Year's resolutions and not opting for food rewards as often. This month it has been YouTube rewards. After each successful increment of the mountain o' work, I give myself license to watch something cool on YouTube before delving back into the pile.
3. Be more realistic. Three Elance projects, one RAC one, three regulars, a PLR package, a Bella article and four blogs probably wasn't the best idea for one week's work. Next week, anyone who can't wait longer for their work, aside from my lovely regulars, will have to stand in line. Three hours of sleep a night isn't making me terribly cheerful.
1. Breathe. Panic is not an option. Keep breathing, and believe you can do it- Little-Engine-That-Could style.
2. Rewards. Break up the work into smaller chunks and give yourself a reward after each one. I'm trying to keep some New Year's resolutions and not opting for food rewards as often. This month it has been YouTube rewards. After each successful increment of the mountain o' work, I give myself license to watch something cool on YouTube before delving back into the pile.
3. Be more realistic. Three Elance projects, one RAC one, three regulars, a PLR package, a Bella article and four blogs probably wasn't the best idea for one week's work. Next week, anyone who can't wait longer for their work, aside from my lovely regulars, will have to stand in line. Three hours of sleep a night isn't making me terribly cheerful.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Internet Advertising Possibilities
I'm old enough to remember the dot com crash in the late 90's, and whatever they said caused it, I believe it was because internet advertising was overvalued. People spent waaaay too much on advertising when the internet just wasn't all that popular yet. Pretty much everyone is online now, but then...not so much. Buying stuff online wasn't as accepted back then either. Use a credit card online? You crazy!
Now, I think things are different enough that internet advertising really is valuable. Advertising online stores, affiliate stuff, informational websites, movies and even TV shows is a worthwhile endeavor. And, The Guardian agrees with me. According to them, internet advertising will soon be bigger than magazine advertising. That will make the internet the third largest advertising market behind TV and newspapers.
Everyone seems to be feeling the internet advertising surge. This lil' blog makes a (very) modest amount through advertising. Many other sites run either Text Link ads, paid banner ads, or other assorted sponsored areas. Sites without paid ads can still make a little through AdSense. And, sites with huge readership can really, really rake it in. If you ever read Perez, um, not that I ever do, you'll probably see the huge TV and movie ads he runs. The larger, background ads reportedly sell for $45,000 a week, and he has other advertising besides those. So, the money is out there to be had. All you really need is the readership.
Now, I think things are different enough that internet advertising really is valuable. Advertising online stores, affiliate stuff, informational websites, movies and even TV shows is a worthwhile endeavor. And, The Guardian agrees with me. According to them, internet advertising will soon be bigger than magazine advertising. That will make the internet the third largest advertising market behind TV and newspapers.
Everyone seems to be feeling the internet advertising surge. This lil' blog makes a (very) modest amount through advertising. Many other sites run either Text Link ads, paid banner ads, or other assorted sponsored areas. Sites without paid ads can still make a little through AdSense. And, sites with huge readership can really, really rake it in. If you ever read Perez, um, not that I ever do, you'll probably see the huge TV and movie ads he runs. The larger, background ads reportedly sell for $45,000 a week, and he has other advertising besides those. So, the money is out there to be had. All you really need is the readership.
Valentine's Day Gifts
Now that Valentine’s Day is approaching again, holiday content is flying from Web freelancers everywhere. Just don’t get too distracted to remember to actually buy a few things for Valentine’s Day. You can get more than just flowers at 1-800-flowers, including candy, teddy bears and gift baskets. Not only can you get all of your Valentine's Day gifts in one place, but they deliver it and will include a customized note from you. It can be up to 210 characters, even though all you really need is those three little words- “here you go.” This is a sponsored post.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Freelance Writing Residual Income
A lot of writers that spend their days on Web content eventually seek out some residual income for the weeks when gigs are scarce. Aside from selling ebooks and seeing the sales trickle in over time, there are a number of sites that can supply you with a small residual income. All of these sites pay small amounts based on how popular your content is, i.e., how many pageviews and clicks you get. This can be simply from the number of people who look at your content, or it may be AdSense revenue.
Triond- This is a revenue-share site, which bases its payments on the amount of revenue your articles bring in for the site. After you upload your file (one file per article), the site approves it and it's set up on one of their many content sites. You can track your pageviews and income per article on the main site. In addition to articles, it also accepts poetry, essays and pretty much anything that people may be inclined to look at.
Squidoo- Squidoo is a place where members create "lenses," which are just easy-to-build web pages. Some people use them to promote their services, some use them as writing samples, and some use them for affiliate sales. You can also combine their uses and stick some affilaite links on a lens that promotes your writing services while providing writing clips. In addition to the affiliate sales that are possible, you also earn a small amount on your lens, depending on how popular it is. Even if it gets very little traffic, you earn a very small amount each month, and it's payable via PayPal.
HubPages- The income from this one is based on your own AdSense income. You approve the site to be added to your AdSense account and you keep any income that comes from it. Each HubPage is a separate Web page, kind of like a Squidoo lens. There's no limit to how many you can make. I've heard that making 50 or more can bring in a nice residual income every month. Of course, it has to be something that people want to read in order to start raking it in.
eHow- Writing articles at eHow isn't too terribly taxing, but again, it has to be something that people want to read. There are people that do very well there, and there are people who make pennies or less per article. The only payment is from some proprietary formula based on, something or other. They won't actually say what it is, but I'm assuming it's based on the amount of income the article generates. eHow has a very specific format for their articles, but once you get that down they go much more quickly.
AC- The old standby, Associated Content, started paying residuals last year. Fortunately, that means that the people who were paid for the articles they wrote for the site before the residuals started are being paid extra for articles that were already paid for. Unfortunately, it means they pay much less, or not at all, for most of the new articles that come in, hoping that residuals are enough to keep people writing. And, so far it has been. To keep the residuals coming in, you have to be active on the account at least every 90 days. The amounts are based purely on your pageviews, though they sometimes offer an upfront payment as well.
Suite101- This one pays based on pageviews, but it has a good readership and a high placement in the search engines. I have roughly as many articles here as I do on Triond, but my residuals are three times higher on Suite101. The residuals go on as long as the articles are on the site, even if you stop writing for them.
Helium- There are residuals, but they are supposedly the lowest available pretty much anywhere. I've never written for them, and there may be someone somewhere who does well for them, but I've only ever heard of writers who ended up making little to nothing and regretting their time spent on Helium content.
How to Do Things- This site is another AdSense revenue site. The readership is medium sized, so there is some potential there. My articles were put up back when they paid for them, so I don't know how much the AdSense brings in. I do know, however, that my articles there have averaged more than 1300 views apiece, so articles on lucrative topics have potential.
Residuals may not pay much in the beginning, but the key is really to build up the volume of them. On most of these sites, whenever you post a new item, the views for the other items go up as well. This of course means that people who read your stuff will want to read the other stuff you wrote. Keeping some fresh content going in keeps views and revenues steady. I don't know that anyone could live off Web residuals, but they are nice to have during those slow times.
Triond- This is a revenue-share site, which bases its payments on the amount of revenue your articles bring in for the site. After you upload your file (one file per article), the site approves it and it's set up on one of their many content sites. You can track your pageviews and income per article on the main site. In addition to articles, it also accepts poetry, essays and pretty much anything that people may be inclined to look at.
Squidoo- Squidoo is a place where members create "lenses," which are just easy-to-build web pages. Some people use them to promote their services, some use them as writing samples, and some use them for affiliate sales. You can also combine their uses and stick some affilaite links on a lens that promotes your writing services while providing writing clips. In addition to the affiliate sales that are possible, you also earn a small amount on your lens, depending on how popular it is. Even if it gets very little traffic, you earn a very small amount each month, and it's payable via PayPal.
HubPages- The income from this one is based on your own AdSense income. You approve the site to be added to your AdSense account and you keep any income that comes from it. Each HubPage is a separate Web page, kind of like a Squidoo lens. There's no limit to how many you can make. I've heard that making 50 or more can bring in a nice residual income every month. Of course, it has to be something that people want to read in order to start raking it in.
eHow- Writing articles at eHow isn't too terribly taxing, but again, it has to be something that people want to read. There are people that do very well there, and there are people who make pennies or less per article. The only payment is from some proprietary formula based on, something or other. They won't actually say what it is, but I'm assuming it's based on the amount of income the article generates. eHow has a very specific format for their articles, but once you get that down they go much more quickly.
AC- The old standby, Associated Content, started paying residuals last year. Fortunately, that means that the people who were paid for the articles they wrote for the site before the residuals started are being paid extra for articles that were already paid for. Unfortunately, it means they pay much less, or not at all, for most of the new articles that come in, hoping that residuals are enough to keep people writing. And, so far it has been. To keep the residuals coming in, you have to be active on the account at least every 90 days. The amounts are based purely on your pageviews, though they sometimes offer an upfront payment as well.
Suite101- This one pays based on pageviews, but it has a good readership and a high placement in the search engines. I have roughly as many articles here as I do on Triond, but my residuals are three times higher on Suite101. The residuals go on as long as the articles are on the site, even if you stop writing for them.
Helium- There are residuals, but they are supposedly the lowest available pretty much anywhere. I've never written for them, and there may be someone somewhere who does well for them, but I've only ever heard of writers who ended up making little to nothing and regretting their time spent on Helium content.
How to Do Things- This site is another AdSense revenue site. The readership is medium sized, so there is some potential there. My articles were put up back when they paid for them, so I don't know how much the AdSense brings in. I do know, however, that my articles there have averaged more than 1300 views apiece, so articles on lucrative topics have potential.
Residuals may not pay much in the beginning, but the key is really to build up the volume of them. On most of these sites, whenever you post a new item, the views for the other items go up as well. This of course means that people who read your stuff will want to read the other stuff you wrote. Keeping some fresh content going in keeps views and revenues steady. I don't know that anyone could live off Web residuals, but they are nice to have during those slow times.
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