NeutralExistence - Paying Freelance Market

Are you interested in earning some money by writing about environmental issues?

NeutralExistence are seeking writers willing to write articles on going green, reducing emissions, eco-tips and helping to save our environment. Pay is between $20-$30 per article - but remember that NeutralExistence pay 1/2 of your payment upfront and the other half in 60 days AFTER they've verified that you haven't published the same article all over the internet.

To get an idea of what kind of articles are accepted, read through their archives. If you think this is the kind of thing you can write, then visit NeutralExistence, check their writer's guidelines and submit your articles!

Happy writing.

:)

What's Your Freelance Brand About?

Have you ever Googled yourself? LOL. It sounds a little obscene if you don't think about it - but when was the last time you put your own name into a search engine to see what showed up?

I did this less than two minutes ago and was surprised that there are several other people in this world with the same unfortunate name combination as my own! Apparently there's a serial-unemployed person in the UK with the name Bianca Raven and there's a male in America with the same name wearing someone else's underpants (!). There's a pretty African-American version of Bianca Raven showing on a Facebook profile page.

And then there's me - the real Bianca Raven - out here in Australia.

My aim was to see how easily I could be found if someone was looking for me directly. After all, if clients can't find me how will I ever get more work? So my goal was to be the only 'Bianca Raven' on the front page of the search results so that's who potential clients will find if they're looking directly for me.

Unfortunately the serially unemployed UK-version of Bianca ranks more highly than I do. This can't be a good thing for my 'professional branding'. I guess it's time to get some serious SEO practices happening on this blog. I've added my actual Facebook profile link to my bio (in the right hand column) along with my Twitter profile link to help those links with my name on them to rank a little higher too.

For the sake of optimization I'm going to have to add my own name to this post at least one more time ;)

So with all good professional branding motives in my head while I write - this is Bianca Raven saying KEEP WRITING!

Finding Freelance Writing Work

I've been getting a lot more emails than usual about how to find freelance work. I'm assuming the people who've written these emails either haven't read through some of the older posts on my blog or they haven't taken some time to look around on the internet.

I'll make it easy for you and post all the links right here on one post so you have easy access to market listings, content mills, article submission sites and more.

The only choices you need to make are:

1. Does that market you're looking at accept applications for where you live?

2. How much does that market pay and is it worth my time and effort?

3. What rights are they buying from me?

What this means is that you need to READ the 'writer application' guidelines to check that you're able to apply for that market. You need to check that you'll be adequately compensated for your time and you need to know which rights you're selling.

So... without further ado, here are some links that will help you find plenty of freelance work today.

Beginner-Freelance Level

No experience necessary. Just sign up and post away. There's no worries about spelling or grammar. Most of these places don't care if you're an international writer. Just post and you'll get paid a little bit.

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2009/01/freelance-writers-who-dont-want-to-be.html

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/12/paid-forum-posting-jobs.html

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-paid-to-rant.html

Intermediate-Freelance Level

If you're happy to write a few articles or blog posts then there are a few content mills around who would love to see your article submissions. Most of these don't care if you're only just starting out and some of them don't care if you're an international writer. They will expect your article to be grammatically correct and spelling-error free though.

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/search/label/Paying%20Freelance%20Markets

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/11/freelance-job-sites-and-online-writing.html

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/08/making-money-with-constant-content.html

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/10/hidden-writing-markets.html

Advanced-Freelance Level

There are quite a few posts on this blog for the more advanced writers. I've actively linked to some of the professional paying writing opportunities that are available. You can find these more advanced (and much higher paying) writing markets here:

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/08/where-to-sell-your-writing.html

http://ravens-writing.blogspot.com/2008/10/high-paying-vs-low-paying-writing.html

Paid to Advertise - Monetize Your Site

I've seen a lot of writers on several writing community forums complaining about having their Google Adsense accounts closed or not being accepted at all.

It seems you might have an alternative option to monetize your site or blog and earn a few extra dollars on the side.

The site is called Bidvertiser and it works exactly the same way as Adsense but without the strict rules and constant changes to rules.

Bidvertiser's minimum payout figure is $10 and is payable via PayPal, which is a lot lower than Adsense's $100 minimum. This means if you get enough visitors to your blog you could easily reach payout regularly.

So if you're looking for an option to monetize your site and get a few extra dollars into your account each month, try Bidvertiser today.

I'd love to see comments from anyone that has already used Bidvertiser and received a payment. If you sign up for a new account, let us all know how your account is going and how long it's taking you to reach pay out.

Copyright: What Rights Are You Selling With Your Work?

Many freelancers worry about what rights they're selling when they sell an article or a story. After all, you did all the work. You wrote all those words and someone else is getting the benefit of using them on their site or in their publication.

There are many different types of copyright and it's important to understand what they mean for your freelancing career. Some deal with online website sales and some deal with offline publication sales.

So what rights do you have and which ones have you sold?

The answer used to be very simple before the internet. It depended on what type of freelance writer you are and what the magazine would write in your publication contract. These days it's not quite so clear cut.

If you're working with a private client you should take time to establish what rights are being sold at the time of pricing negotiation. However, if you plan to submit your work to a content mill then it's vitally important that you read the terms and conditions before you submit anything.

Full Rights

This is what most website owners want to buy from you. If you sell 'full rights' along with your work, then you're giving up the right to be identified as the rightful author of that work. This type of sale is common among ghost-writers and content creators. You can expect to find your work posted on your client's site with the client's name listed as the creator of that work.

If you've sold full rights to your writing, then you can't re-sell those same words somewhere else at a later time.

Unique Rights

A customer buying unique rights to your work means you'll be attributed as the rightful owner, but you can't sell that same piece of work to anyone else in future. They've paid you for the right to retain that piece of work uniquely without fear of another site owner turning up with the same work in future.

Usage Rights

Any website asking for usage rights means that your work will be published (posted) with your name shown as the content creator, but you may find that you're giving up any other rights along with that sale. This is a very grey area and should be looked at in more detail.

For example: if you submit your work to Constant Content with the 'usage rights' box filled in, then the buyer knows they'll be purchasing the rights to use your words but you will still be noted as the rightful author. You may still be allowed to sell that same piece of work elsewhere. Helium also allows you to retain the copyright to your own work.

Unfortunately for those people who still like revenue-share sites like Associated Content, the terms and conditions clearly show that if you submit work there then AC owns the copyright to your work from the moment you press 'submit'. (see terms and conditions section 3 paragraph D if you don't believe me). If you're going to give up the rights to your work completely, you should be asking for more money than the pathetic amounts AC are currently giving.

(I knew there was more than one reason I really didn't like revenue-share sites)

Non-Exclusive Rights

Non-exclusive rights mean you allow the customer or purchaser to use your work, but you also agree that you're able to use it, sell it or publish it elsewhere as well. Places like Helium purchase non-exclusive rights to regular articles. The rights purchased change over to full rights for Premier Marketplace titles - and the pay rate reflects this.

Reprint Rights

Reprint rights are exactly what they sound like. The customer knows you've had that piece of work published somewhere else before and they're paying to use that work also. This is quite common with fiction stories that might have been published in a magazine first and then reprint rights are sold when the same story is accepted into an anthology.

Free Reprint Rights

Sales of reprint rights aren't so common in non-fiction articles, with the notable exception of Free Reprint Rights for the purpose of article marketing. Offering Free Reprint Rights to a piece of work means you've submitted your article to an article directory and will allow anyone to reprint that work on their own site as long as you're still named as the rightful author and copyright holder.

Private Label Rights

Blog owners and article marketers love Private Label Rights (PLR). Very simply - PLR means that the buyer has bought the right to publish the content as their own work on blogs or websites. They're allowed to put their own names on the content as the author. They're allowed to rewrite them, put them in ebooks as chapters, chop them up, use bits of them and generally do whatever they please. They are NOT allowed to reprint them in article directories or offer them for sale to other people.

The person who wrote those articles is allowed to sell the PLR to as many people as he or she chooses, which can generate a healthy residual income. The buyer knows that others may also have the same or similar content - which is why it becomes beneficial to rewrite them.


Offline (Print) Publications

The offline publication world is a little different. The rules are much more clearly drawn and expected. The pay rate also reflects this difference.

I'm not going to list all the types of offline copyright options here or this post will never end, but you can find some excellent copyright resources here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/copyright.html

I hope this helps!
:)

International Freelance Writing and Taxes

I received yet another Anonymous comment this week (I really wish you guys would at least leave a nickname or something).

Maybe a crazy question but I'll ask anyway as I know you have experience at least from Australia. If you are being paid money from a location such as this in the U.K., do you pay any type of taxes there in addition to where you might reside. I am in the U.S. and I know that I would have to check with tax people here but I was wondering if you have any idea.

Yes I have a fair idea how it works. Here's how I see it:

You're a writer in the US. If you write for a company in the UK, then it's very likely you'll be paid in UK pounds into your PayPal account. You can't spend pounds in the US, so the first thing you'll do is click the link inside your PayPal account that says "Manage Currency". You exchange your UK pounds for your own currency right there inside your PayPal account.

If you want to spend the money you earned, this means you'll need to withdraw your money from PayPal into your own bank account. Because you're transferring money in your own local currency, that means you're earning that many dollars in US dollars.

The amount that reaches your bank account in US dollars is the amount you report to the IRS as your taxable income.

In my personal situation, I do plenty of freelance writing for clients all over the world. I earn money from Europe, UK and the US every month. It all arrives in my paypal account in various currencies. I change the currency over to Australian dollars and then withdraw it to my local bank account in my local currency.

The amount that reaches my bank account in Australian dollars is the amount I report to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as my taxable income.

Earning foreign income really isn't as scary or as difficult as people seem to think it is. The US dollar is fast becoming worthless, so if you can spread your income around to include money coming in from other currencies, then you stand a chance of increasing your income dramatically.

Hope this helps.

It's quite easy once you take a moment to figure out how it's done.