Michelle Vranizan Rafter is a long-time business editor, reporter and blogger.
An independent journalist, Rafter regularly writes about business, careers, retirement, technology and other issues for national consumer and business publications.
Current clients include SecondAct.com, Entrepreneur Media’s just launched website for people over 40, and Workforce Management, the leading HR industry business magazine. She’s also the freelance editor of Inside Edge, a custom publication on corporate finance for mid-size companies created by American Express and Federated Media, the digital media company.
Started in January 2008, Rafter’s blog, WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age, covers the craft of writing, running a freelance business and the latest tech tools for writers. WordCount was named a top 10 writing blog for 2009 by Writing White Papers, a top 40 freelance writing blog by oDesk, and a top 10 freelance blog by blogRank. WordCount joined the BlogHer Publishing Network in February 2010.
Rafter’s company, WordCount Editorial Services, produces white papers, brochures, e-newsletters and miscellaneous communications materials for professional services firms, educational institutions, nonprofits and sports teams.
Rafter has previously written for Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Oregonian, The Industry Standard, Internet World, CNET and other business and trade publications. She is a former staff writer for the Orange County Register, where she helped start the paper’s tech industry and personal technology coverage.
She is a member of the Online News Association, the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. She lives with her husband, three children and fox terrier, Riley, in Portland, Oregon.
Reach her at:
- Email: michellerafter (at) comcast.net
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/michellerafter
- Twitter: @michellerafter
- Resume
- Clips
Click here for the RSS feed
Hi Michelle. I found your blog through Google Alerts, though the specific link is gone. Good stuff!
Sounds as though we’ve done many of the same things, (including writing about RFID) though I’m primariy a speechwriter. My blog is at http://wordtales.typepad.com in case you’d like to take a look.
Cheers
Jean Gogolin
Hey Michelle: i fondly remember your stories for the LA TIMES – and happened to read your great profile of the wonderful Mr. Burmeister – I had a Portland-based story idea for you – please contact me at harry.medved@fandango.com – best, Harry
Hello Michelle,
Great site! I found this site very helpful and very interesting.
Keep writing!
Regards,
Apple
http://www.tomedes.com
Translation services and Translators jobs
hi, Michelle. Do you accept advertisements in your blog? If so how much do you charge for them?
Thanks.
[...] I am putting the spotlight on Michelle Rafter, a freelance writer and blogger from Portland, Oregon, who has freelanced off and on since the [...]
Yours is a wonderful site. I’d started a rather lame attempt at a blog for freelancers, but yours is so thorough and engaging that I’m taking mine down. Congratulations on a really first-rate blog.
[...] 2009 at 4:21 pm Today is Guest Post Day in the 2nd annual WordCount Blogathon, so please welcome Michelle V. Rafter, a Portland, Ore., freelance reporter for national business and trade magazines and websites and [...]
[...] digital journalism. Presenters included Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb, freelance journalist Michelle Rafter, Rachel Andersen of Anvil Media, and entrepreneur Alex [...]
[...] Freelancing in the Digital Age Blogger – Michelle V. Rafter; writer, journalist Love – Blogging and social media tips, straight talk Read – “10 Ways [...]
Hi Michelle,
Great blog and advice for freelancers!
Chhay
http://www.mymuto.com – Online marketplace for gigs
[...] About Michelle V. Rafter [...]
Hey, Michelle, congratulations on creating such a fantastic blog! You’ve got some really helpful advice here.
I write a blog too – Writing For Riches With Booklets. I would love to do a guest post for you some time if you’re interested.
I tried the freelance thing for a while, but I found that if I took those articles I was writing and put them between two covers, I could sell them over and over again instead of only once. It really made a difference for me.
Take care and keep writing!
Kim
Hi Michelle,
Great website loaded with wonderful information for new freelancers like myself. I see we both attended Marquette, too. So sorry I missed the Twitter discussion earlier.
I’ll be back!
Robin
I’ve subscribed to a lot of blogs and feeds over the past few years, but find Word Count one of the most focused and engaging. I admire your ability to keep the material consistently useful, interesting, timely, and innovative. Your Top 10 award for writers’ blogs is well-deserved. Kudos to you.
Cheers,
Valerie
Valerie,
Thanks so much for such nice feedback. Please let me know if there are topics you’d like to me cover on WordCount. And if you blog, be sure to join us for the 4th annual WordCount Blogathon, where writers and bloggers commit to blogging every day in May. Details coming soon.
Michelle
Hi Michelle and thanks for inviting topic suggestions. This may fall outside the scope of WordCount, but perhaps some advice/tips for those of us who write on contract for corporate clients as well as for print and online media. Some possibilities: pitching your services to prospective clients; managing the client relationship; new business development through networking (face-to-face and social media). Just some thoughts.
Thanks very much.
[...] participating in Michelle V. Rafter’s 2011 WordCount Blogathon, posting a new blog every day for all 31 days in May. Weekends, holidays, [...]
[...] want to extend our gratitude to our existing champions—you know who you are!—and to Michelle Rafter for graciously allowing our non-traditional blog to participate in this month’s [...]
[...] thanks go primarily to Michelle Rafter of Word Count who organizes this event every year. I’ve been a faithful reader of [...]
[...] the guest poster at Word Count: Freelancing in the Digital Age, the terrific blog for writers by Michelle Rafter. I’ve talked about why writers need math here Math for Grownups before. At Word Count, I [...]
[...] 5. About Michelle V. Rafter - I have to admit, this is a bit of a shocker. My little old About page, which has been on the site since day one, is one of its most popular destinations. What that tells me is people are using the site to find out more about me: are they editors in need of a writer, sources, bloggers wanting to know more about the organizer of the blogathon, or fellow Portland writers? Who knows. What I do know is that I better make sure it’s up to date. [...]
Thanks Dan – but please reconsider your decision to take your blog down! For all the reasons why, please read this:
http://michellerafter.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/dear-writer-please-dont-stop-blogging/
Michelle