Writing and yoga have a lot in common. To write or practice yoga, you have to tune everything else out so you can be in the moment. Writing and yoga require practice to maintain a certain level of skill – years of practice to be really good. You could argue, though, that students of writing […]
Social Networks Shrink, But It's Not What You Think
Any student of online social networks can see that right now, less is more. It’s not what you think. Social networks aren’t shrinking. The audience they’re trying to reach is. Think LinkedIn or Facebook, but way smaller. Exhibit A. Today, a new Website for women over 40 called Women on the Web, or Wowowow.com, said […]
One Writer's Journey From Print to Online News
How does someone go from mild-mannered print writer to multimedia maven? It’s the question of the day given the direction the U.S. publishing industry is taking – and if you’re not asking it, you should be. That goes for freelancers as well as staff writers. To shed some light on reporting and writing in the […]
SEO and Blog Post Tags: More Isn’t Better
I’m teaching myself about SEO, and it appears I still have a lot to learn. Last week, I wrote about new skills freelancers should have in the age of digital media. To get things rolling I covered what freelancers should know about SEO, or search engine optimization. That’s the term used to describe the art […]
What Freelance Writers Should Know about SEO
You don’t have to look hard to see the publishing business is changing. Newspapers are cutting jobs left and right as advertising dries up and the economy spins closer to recession. At the same time, publishers are finally sinking more effort into their digital properties, though they still haven’t figured out how to make money. […]
Taking My Own Advice on Beating Bad Times
It happened. Earlier this week, the editor of a magazine I’ve been writing for told me she can’t buy more freelance pieces until summer because of budget cuts. It’s the first time in years that economic cutbacks have directly affected my business. It’s also bad news because I’d just pitched a story I thought was […]