Summer for me is time to relax a little, enjoy the sunny weather…and analyze what writers like most about this blog. So I’ve done a little research into the most popular posts on here in the first half of 2012.
Interesting observation: Only three of the top ten don’t start with “How.” You want to learn how to do stuff, it’s clear.
I’m also impressed with how many of the posts have real staying power. Quite a few of the links here were originally written before this year, but the tips in them remain relevant.
I also see several posts on social media here, so I’ll be planning more of those, too.
Finally, I’m thrilled to see several guest posts make the list! I love paying for guest posts as it results in a terrific quality level in the posts I can get from other writers, as you’ll see below.
Enjoy! These are ranked in order of how many views the posts got.
- How I Make $5,000 a Month as a Paid Blogger
- How I Made Six Figures as a Freelance Writer in 2011
- How to Get Noticed on Twitter – 15 Tips for Writers
- How Much Can Freelance Writers Charge for Blogging?
- How I Became a More Productive Writer by Doing This One, Simple Thing
- How I Got 25,000 Subscribers from Pinterest — in Two Months Flat by Taylor Flanery
- 10 Reasons Why You Can’t Make a Living Writing by Josh Sarz
- 7 Reasons Why I Won’t Write a $15 Blog Post
- Marketing 101 for Freelance Writers #11: Here’s Where the Good-Paying Clients Are Hiding
- How to Predict Freelance Writer Pay
- How to Get Great Blogging Clients…Even if You’re a Teenage Nigerian
- 10 Ways Writers Can Use LinkedIn to Find Freelance Gigs
- How One Query Letter Got $6,000 in Assignments
- The 3 Worst Blog-Writing Blunders: Don’t Make These Mistakes! by Danny Iny
- The 10-Step Guide to Fixing the Writer Website Fails That Cost You Clients
- Are You Letting Sleazebag Freelance Writing Clients Get You Pregnant?
- Why I’m Starting to Pay for Guest Posts on My Blog
- 10 Mistakes I Made Publishing My Ebook and How You Can Do it Better
- How to Dig Out of the Content Mill Hole and Land a Client — Fast by Elaine Yue
- The 13 Business Bloggers All Freelance Writers Should Read to Earn More
Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment and give me some feedback on these — and on what you’d like to see more posts about.
Carol,
Thanks for all the resources you have on your site and for your newsletters. I have also been slowly reading some of the posts from Marketing 101. I must say I became aware of you through Bamidele of youngprepro.com. Both of you are generous with the wealth of information and practical advice offered, and I appreciate that.
Thanks for what you do!
Daisy
Daisy recently posted…Review of No Canadian Experience, Eh? by Brock University’s Career Services
Oni is great — thanks for coming over from there to check out my blog!
For me, it is the 10 Mistakes I Made Publishing My Ebook and How You Can Do it Better post. This is a very good reminder for self-published authors to be careful so that they can get the best results for their e-Books.
Marie recently posted…ballroom dance instruction videos
Think I have read one of the posts by Danny. Now it is time to check out the others. Thanks for the list Carole.
Philos Mudis recently posted…Never get a job, ever…fire my boss…may be hire my boss: Do you have the guts to do all that?
I haven’t read them all, so I can’t say which is my favourite – yet. A whole lot to read here, I better get cracking!
Anne recently posted…How To Write About Unfamiliar Subjects
I really like the Marketing 101 series. It was a well designed group of posts that truly helped. It would be great if they were bundled into an e book. I would buy it in a heartbeat!
Thanks for your great work!
Lilla
Glad you enjoyed! And speaking of Marketing 101…stay tuned to my blog tomorrow and take a look at the free product for subscribing and I think you’ll see something new you’ll like.
Oh yeah — and all my existing subscribers will be getting it, too.
And yes, I’m thinking ebook too. Hoping to create quite a few ebooks later this summer, so stay tuned on that too!
Lots of great tips in these posts. I especially enjoyed #19–I find that my content milling past (2 years at 25$ a piece) is actually hindering me from moving on to higher paid blogging. It seems that you’re anathema if you’ve done content milling, despite having great writing talent.
Should I stop disclosing my content milling work? Do you think it’s still worth mentioning anyway, since it shows that I can write for quantity on a deadline anyway? I will be grateful for your help 🙂
Anabelle recently posted…Authentic Success by Robert Holden (review)
Um…yes! There are a LOT of editors who aren’t going to consider you if they know that’s where you’ve been hanging out.
You need to start building a portfolio of work you’ve done for more legit clients. The bootcamp we’re doing right now in Freelance Writers Den is all about that — the Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success. You might want to get on the waiting list…all the materials will be in the Den when we reopen to new members later this summer.
I do have more legitimate work, actually, and one published article in an online magazine.
I was looking at that–will get on the waitlist! Also been thinking about investing in Morrow’s guest blogging course.
Anabelle recently posted…LIV Your Life Dragonboat Fundraiser in Victoria
Well Jon’s course is terrific — you can check out my experience with him on my Products I Love tab.
If you’ve got legit clips, I say make all the mill ones disappear… 😉
Hi Carol,
I’m getting some great ideas by reading through these posts. Thank you for sharing such an awesome list!
Joseph Putnam recently posted…5 High School Grammar Rules Great Writers Learn to Break
My personal favorite of the 20 is #7, “10 Reasons Why You Can’t Make a Living Writing,” which utilizes two of my own favorite formats, the “myths and facts” approach and the “what not to do” approach.
Katherine Swarts recently posted…Apostrophe Catastrophe
I made my own “interesting observation”: list articles seem to be the second most popular title focus (two of the remaining top 10 plus half of the second 10).
Katherine Swarts recently posted…Apostrophe Catastrophe
Yeah, people think lists are trite and have been ‘done to death,’ but the traffic doesn’t lie — people loves them some list posts!
I first discovered Make A Living Writing.com after Carol’s interview with James Clear of Passive Panda. “Six Figures from Freelance Writing”? Yeah right! I listened with some scepticism but she quickly won me over.
Number 11 on the list got me thinking, and number 9 went directly into my Evernote folder. I read it from time to time for inspiration, its like blueprint for success that I’ve memorized. It’s since been forwarded to my friend who is also interested in working as a freelance writer.
Keep them coming Mrs. Tice.
Hi J — I didn’t know you heard that Passive Panda talk — that’s cool! Wish I remembered what points 9 and 11 were, so I can repeat them elsewhere! But it’s sort of all a blur on talks I’ve given 😉
The most popular post on my humble writing blog by far is “How Much Money Can a Freelance Writer Make?” I wrote it in February and it’s already out-of-date. Although I’m still not ready to say “six figures” from experience, I can now see how that is possible, thanks partly to Make a Living Writing.
Personally, I prefer “How . . .” blogs that are practical to blogs like, “How I Make $5000 a Post as a paid Blogger”. The fact is, I haven’t even read that one because the title is depressing. I still can’t imagine making $500 a post, much less $5000. I loved “How to Predict Freelance Writer Pay” and was able to put it to use when I recently applied for a gig.
The bottom line is that you’ve taught me that I’ve been setting my sights too low. When you start your career in the content mills and bidding sites, that can happen. Thanks for helping lift me out of the slough of content mill despair.
Rob Schneider recently posted…How to Live the Freelance Writing Dream
Hi Rob —
It’s not “How I make $5000 a post” — it’s $5000 a MONTH! Fixing that error now. So hopefully you can read it now 😉
This is a great list, and excited my guest post is on there. Glad it’s something people are interested in. Thanks for your great work Carol, I’ve learned so much about freelancing from you, and now have made it a great part of my overall income each month!
Taylor recently posted…Week #29 Organized Home Challenge: Craft Organization
That was a real useful post, Taylor — glad you were able to glean some freelance tips here too!