Finding the right balance between writing what you want and writing for a living can be a difficult challenge for freelance writers. There may not be a 
good target market for the style and subject you would prefer to write about, but there is an endless supply of work for social media, technology and business experts, online. Here are four ways you can increase your chances of finding the right balance and earning enough money.
1. Finding the right publisher
You can choose to write material and seek a publisher to sell your work to, or you can agree to write what a publisher requires. The two sets of work are often miles apart in subject choice unless you are one of the lucky writers who happens to live in an online social networking and SEO world.
However good your own work is, if you cannot find a suitable publisher, you will not be paid for your work. Your research hours may have reduced your pay per hour too far. Also, you need to consider the constant flow of rejections and your underlying stress levels.
If you are given an assignment you must complete on time or preferably, sooner, so you can guarantee payment. Of course, it must meet the brief offered and be suitable work for the personality with the check book.
2. Finding jobs that pay enough
The jobs are out there and you need to find out how to locate them if you want to earn enough to extend your standard of living, at the very least.
Often the work offered by organizations will be mind-numbingly boring, but there is enough of it to ensure you can pay your bills. There isn’t always sufficient work in the area of your expertise, so you will spend time online researching the subject so you can write as an authority, taking care not to copy work directly from another source.
3. The competition is fierce
You are not the only writer out there who has found they can work from home to avoid long car chases and the endless office politics that prevented real work at the office.
You are in competition with many countries where English isn’t the first language, but they can write for figures you wouldn’t dream of taking for a job. Just because others will work for the price of an expensive coffee each day, it doesn’t mean you should try to compete. You need to fight with your skills to not only write to the brief, but to ensure you meet all deadlines and are easy to work with.
4. The editor is not always right
Editors vary in how they wish to see a finished product. If you write for several editors you will need to remember and apply each individual’s choice of style and composition. Otherwise, you run the risk of your work being returned for a re-write.
Even when editors are wrong in their choices, you must still apply to their terms and not fight an editor over your preferred alternative to writing sentences, paragraphs or layout. If they prefer short sentences while you maintain that long sentences make for better English, you will lose out in the long term. You might win the battle, but you won’t win the war which means they won’t offer you further work if you become a nightmare to work with.
Author:
Tim Brookes is the Managing Director of Storage Concepts a UK-based mezzanine floor & suspended ceiling company @storageUK
Sources:
publishing
Find A Lifetime of Success in 2012 by understanding “Time” & “Why?”
Ready to understand why some people are far more successful than others? 
Brace yourself! I am going to share my perspective on why 2011 was such a success for me and give you something to think about in 2012. Here’s the funny part, I made more money in 2011 than I have ever and that little fact actually has little to do with why I was so successful in 2011.
I have had some great mentors and it’s all due to listening! You see those that know me might think that I am more of a talker, but I do a lot of listening. The fact that I actually hear what I am listening too makes it all the more effective. A lesson that’s valuable for life and Social Media.
TIME
In the movie “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” the Character Gordon Geckko turns to a young man and tells him that “time is the most precious commodity that I know of” a statement of absolute truth! While Einstein argued that time could be something of perception, in the case of the “theory of relativity” scientists make assumptions and simulations that space-time and other aspects of physics and astronomy do not change the current state of time, in relation to the phenomenon of life.
During my masters program, we studied a concept that fascinated me on its own, supply and demand. The wildcard here was that demand was driven by perception. The concept became even more exciting when later we talked about the monetary value of leisure! The economic evaluation for leisure comes when there is not enough value to make the individual work more, or in the tipping point where the individual is willing to work during a time period traditionally reserved for leisure.
Time is clearly something that holds financial value, and in the case of supply and demand, we have a market where supply is consistent. There is only so many hours in a day, so many days in a week, so many weeks in a month and so many months in a year and so many years that we live. However, what if life is not as long as we believe it to be? The supply may be shorter or longer then perceived. Demand seems to be the one thing in America that we do not have in this equation.
Whatever you choose for your profession, do not let it dictate your life. Travel, Family, Exploration and the Art of Doing Nothing are just as important and I believe a healthy part of a successful life.
WHY?
I will tell you right now, if you work for or with someone who answers “Why?” with “because I said so” or “that’s how we do it” RUN!
That person is likely, lazy, selfish and/or just plain ignorant! Yes, ignorant! I have had these people just like everyone else and it made for a negative professional career experience in the fields of education, banking and sales. There is probably nothing more dangerous to the health of an organization, its culture, and our economy then these people. “Why?” is crucial to success!
Why is how we learn, grow and develop. It is crucial to success both for individuals and organizations. A supervisor, manager or superior has an fiduciary responsibility to both the organization and the client to teach their subordinate everything they know. I pride my work in student affairs with the notion that I had started teaching my staff from day one what I do and why so. In my absence, everything, for at least a while could run as consistently as if I was still there. If you don’t believe that you should prepare for your absence, then what will you do if you should be promoted? Do you not believe that your people are more effective contributors to a culture where you have empowered them?
A small business owner should have the same relationship with their consultant and media professionals, if you do not invest the time to teach them about your business how will they be able to understand its culture? If you do not understand “Why?” the consultant or media professional is doing something then how will you know what to do in their absence or to communicate the evolution of the business. You may not be able to do what others due, either because of talent, skills or time, but you still better understand why they are doing it.
Both “Time” and “Why?” are a crucial part of life, not just business or professional development. Adapt a plan that encompasses learning and educating the “Why?” to those around you, and you will find “Time” which will bring you prosperity in 2012.
It was a great 2011, I am looking forward to an even better 2012! Hope you’ll Join me!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WahafF8Y_E0]
Sources:
Individualized and Interactive Media with GBTV
Glenn Beck says the television model is no longer working because for the most part, the networks do not respect their audiences. Beck believes the key to change for this media format is to give viewers the options to delve deeper into an interesting segment or clip, or to pick and choose a bit more easily exactly what they want to view. This type of interactive TV is not a format that broadcasters have available at their fingertips today.
Beck cites that current television has to play to the dumbest guy in the room while boring the rest endlessly.
“Why should I bore the 10 smartest guys to death, if they can move forward faster, let’s enable them,” he said. “Once I can change the usage of it so it’s not just one way information, television as we know it is over.”
Beck shared that he is working on a variety of projects that will serve to completely overhaul the television industry as we know it today. Beginning with his company, Mercury Radio Arts. He has recently launched his own pilot video program called GBTV. At the recent Ignition conferences, Beck’s boss had a bit to say about him as well.
Chris Balfe Shares Why People Watch Glenn Beck
Beck tracks his audience engagement fully. He uses this information to customize his segments into what he believes the audience will want to read. Beck shares that he doesn’t use this type of engagement with his audience to pander to them, but to learn from the analytics and his audience respectively. Recording about five hours of broadcast each day for viewers, Beck certainly stays busy, often on monologues that can last over forty minutes long.
According to Chris Balfe, people listen to Beck because they care what he thinks about issues. He also attributes Beck’s multi-media activities, along with unique opinions and audience loyalty, largely lend to the success of his programs. Balfe also suggest that anyone who is looking to build a brand for themselves do the same.
Opposing Views
Not everyone agrees that Beck has cornered the market on perfect customer and viewer engagement.
Arianna Huffington shared her thoughts on Fox News.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DevH6VwAfd4]
Huffington’s standpoint on the state of Fox News Media seems to have been taken with applause by some, a grain of salt by others. However, she may have a point in sharing that sometimes, news, that while by itself may not sell, with pomp, circumstance, and catchy headliners, can quickly become a viral topic.
She also makes an extremely relevant point in that which consumers and news viewers on all sides have been turned off in recent years by subjective journalism practices. This recent change also having fueled the statistics that have shown that networks like Facebook and Twitter are where people tend to go to get their news first. From friends, peers, and those they can trust have done their journalistic duty by providing an objective view.
Huffington denies that her site is a liberal blog, she instead prefers to think of it as a publication that will look at good ideas regardless of their standpoint on the political views. She also disagrees with news platforms like CNN who in her opinion provide too much of both sides for their stories to hold weight. Huffington shared,
“When one side is clearly wrong and one is clearly right, it’s not good journalism to pretend that they have equal weight.”
Sources:
IGNITION: Future of Media Conference
This two day conference is coming to New York City November 30th through December 1st, 2011. Exploring the future of media business, IGNITION brings together executives and key stakeholders to discuss what is happening in the here-and-now.
We all understand that the definition of media has begun to expand to include games, local, social, and real-time communications that include sharing and other forms of data exchange. However, this also means that the lines between advice, business, and entertainment, has begun to blur.
Business Insider’s founder and CEO, Henry Blodget, will host IGNITION. One of the goals of IGNITION is to discuss how what is happening now, will affect your business. For this reason, a long list of top-notch speakers covering many media industries will be attending.
- Glenn Beck – Founder and CEO, Mercury Radio Arts
- Deep Nishar – SVP of Products and User Experience, LinkedIn
- Sheryl Sandberg – COO, Facebook
- Eliot Spitzer – Former Governor, New York
- Sarah Bernard – Director of Online Engagement, White House
- Adam Bain – CRO, Twitter
Business Insider designs their conferences the same way they design their media: intriguing and straight to the topic at hand. Discussions are kept short and each moderator or speaker will quickly get to the point. The fast-paced schedule will keep all attendees connecting while learning. IGNITION is expecting an impressive list of 400 to 500 entrepreneurs and executives from all facets of media including print, TV, digital, music, radio, and entertainment.
Attendees should arrive ready to strategize and create new business.
Adam Bain – CRO Twitter
Before he was CRO of Twitter, Adam Bain was the president of Fox Audience Network, or FAN, where he administrated strategies that would help to monetize Fox’s digital properties. He got behind Fox’s largest acquisitions of IGN, Scout Media, Photobucket, and Myspace. Before he held that position, he was the EVP for Product and Technology for Fox Interactive Media.
Bain began at Twitter just as they were gearing up to launch new monetization efforts. Although Twitter has executed minor experiments with advertising, they now want to increase their revenue significantly. With Bain’s proven abilities in that exact area, it seems to be an incredibly good choice for Twitter and for all who use it.
Get Ready for IGNITION: Future of Media
If you plan to attend IGNITION, register now and make sure to input dbmei15 for 15% off the price of admission as a DBMEi subscriber! This IGNITION Discount Code has been created exclusively for dbmei.com readers.
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Professional Spotlight: Robert Basso
On Tuesday, November 15th, a group of everyday entrepreneurs who have proven track records from building their own successes, came together to share how they had achieved those goals on their own terms.
Some attendees included:
- Joe Corcoran, Founder of Joe Corcoran Productions
- Selena Cuffe, President of Heritage Link Brands
- Jeff Hoffman, Co-founder of Priceline.com family of companies
- Steve Davies, President, The Alternative Board – Nassau
- David Becker, President, PhilippeBecker
Robert Basso, the author of The Everyday Entrepreneur, is a well-recognized business leader and advocate. With an entrepreneurs eye for spotting opportunities, Rob has a long list of achievements from founding investor in Empire National Bank to owner of Advantage Payroll Services. Rob frequently contributes on Fox Business as well as other national programming such as Entrepreneur. Rob has also submitted to interviews with USA Today, AP, and CNN Money. Rob also hosts a web program called Basso on Business which features businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Everyday Entrepreneur
The Everyday Entrepreneur is loaded with powerful strategies and important objectives for defining, setting, and achieving goals for your own entrepreneurial success. Revealing how its readers can learn to apply their own ambitions to their desired goals and gain an understanding on how to proceed on their own, this book provides realistic goal setting ideas that can lead to successes that may have eluded you so far.
The Everyday Entrepreneur is unique from other available books on the market in that it supplies palpable entrepreneurial strategies for business owners. The contributions of The Everyday Entrepreneur allows for business owners to build their own wealth, financial freedom, and success regardless of age.
In The Everyday Entrepreneur, Basso explores other innovative entrepreneurs like himself and discovers what encouraged each one of them to push the limits and find their own genuine successes on their own terms.
You can also expect to learn:
- Valuable lessons regarding how to drive business growth
- How to best hone entrepreneurial instincts
- How to reawaken your sense of adventure in your business endeavors
So much more is covered here but we can’t share it all. The Everyday Entrepreneur provides a roadmap allowing readers to follow the success stories of a variety of individuals who all hail from very diverse backgrounds. Take a walk with Basso as he shares the stories of each entrepreneur while they find the answers to achieving their own successes and surpassing goals unimagined.
My Take on Robert Basso
In a room full of professionals this picture speaks but a touch of the moment and what Robert Basso conveyed as an Entrepreneur, Professional and Parent. At the start of the event Robert thanked a few people, something you expect from most at such an event, but the moment to see Robert’s character came forward when he called his children to the front of the room.
“You might not quite understand this yet, but it’s my hope that you will someday” Robert Basso told his two children.
A moment that was so passionately about a father conveying an important message to his children that he had to be instructed and nudged by others to turn so they could get the photos they wanted. One could try and say that this was possibly staged, but if you had seen it first hand, you’d know the sincerity was without question.
My short interaction with Robert leaves little to argue about the long term experience of knowing or doing business with this professional, but if how he cares and treats his family is any indication, then clearly he is a professional worth knowing.
Published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Publication date: October 24, 2011
$24.95; Cloth; 175 pages; ISBN: 978-1-118-10644-0
Sources:
Facebook Changes & Facebook Timeline: Successful Social Media Disaster [OPINION]
Often the missing element in successful social media is emotion. Why do millions flock to social media every hour, but only a few engage?
Traditional businesses have missed the mark, and Facebook’s recent changes are an example of how important it is to hit the mark, even if it seems contrary to your brand.
Facebook’s changes in September 2011 should mark the most “Successful Social Media Disaster” of the Social Media Revolution. At every turn the top topic inside of Facebook is Facebook’s changes. While the overwhelming majority are quick to criticize, most have failed to realize that the change is creating the most talked about event in social media history, well in social media anyway.
How did Facebook create a “Successful Social Media Disaster”
Anger! The keystone to successful social media is emotion. While thousands of would be social media experts flood our networks with useless posts every day, the small group that manages to actually capture our attention are the ones that are unconventional and tap into our emotions.
Facebook did not make its changes slowly, it didn’t even transition people into the new features. Facebook’s policy was a flat out “here you go, deal with it”. This change and introduction captured one of the key emotional states in social media. While others lay claim to Google+ being the big winner having opened their G+ network to everyone in the same week, all the talk or buzz is Facebook!
Opening the Google+ network to everyone should have been an event that created buzz for Google. This G+ buzz should have lasted over the course of at least a few weeks, allowing it to capture articles and feedback from both followers and critiques, but Facebook’s move cut that off cold. G+ might get a mention here and there among the articles, but Zuckenburg has stolen G+’s thunder and managed to evolve his social network in one swoop.
The purpose of this article is not to support or criticize the changes to Facebook, but to highlight the importance of emotion in social media, and how Facebook has used it to trample Googles G+ public launch. How Facebook uses this to their brands advantage is another story. Most politicians claim there’s no such thing as bad PR, only bad PR managers and brand storytellers who fail to capitalize on the spotlight. This would seem to be the case with Social Media, most are better having something being said then nothing at all, then you can direct and capitalize on being talked about in one fashion or another.
This new feature looks to be the family, tree and life story publication of YOU! No Publisher needed!
***Your timeline is now live — Developer Release****
****Please note: During the developer release, only other developers will be able to see your new timeline. Everyone else will see your old profile.***
PS: Looks like there’ll be no way to hide who you are ever again!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CYATYjk5N4&feature=player_embedded]
Sources:
- Facebook Inception Photo
- Fox News: Facebook Users Outrages over changes
- Huff Post: Facebook Changes, Users React, And How To Go Back To The Old Site
- Socialnomics
Facebook Changes & Facebook Timeline: Successful Social Media Disaster [OPINION]
Often the missing element in successful social media is emotion. Why do millions flock to social media every hour, but only a few engage?
Traditional businesses have missed the mark, and Facebook’s recent changes are an example of how important it is to hit the mark, even if it seems contrary to your brand.
Facebook’s changes in September 2011 should mark the most “Successful Social Media Disaster” of the Social Media Revolution. At every turn the top topic inside of Facebook is Facebook’s changes. While the overwhelming majority are quick to criticize, most have failed to realize that the change is creating the most talked about event in social media history, well in social media anyway.
How did Facebook create a “Successful Social Media Disaster”
Anger! The keystone to successful social media is emotion. While thousands of would be social media experts flood our networks with useless posts every day, the small group that manages to actually capture our attention are the ones that are unconventional and tap into our emotions.
Facebook did not make its changes slowly, it didn’t even transition people into the new features. Facebook’s policy was a flat out “here you go, deal with it”. This change and introduction captured one of the key emotional states in social media. While others lay claim to Google+ being the big winner having opened their G+ network to everyone in the same week, all the talk or buzz is Facebook!
Opening the Google+ network to everyone should have been an event that created buzz for Google. This G+ buzz should have lasted over the course of at least a few weeks, allowing it to capture articles and feedback from both followers and critiques, but Facebook’s move cut that off cold. G+ might get a mention here and there among the articles, but Zuckenburg has stolen G+’s thunder and managed to evolve his social network in one swoop.
The purpose of this article is not to support or criticize the changes to Facebook, but to highlight the importance of emotion in social media, and how Facebook has used it to trample Googles G+ public launch. How Facebook uses this to their brands advantage is another story. Most politicians claim there’s no such thing as bad PR, only bad PR managers and brand storytellers who fail to capitalize on the spotlight. This would seem to be the case with Social Media, most are better having something being said then nothing at all, then you can direct and capitalize on being talked about in one fashion or another.
This new feature looks to be the family, tree and life story publication of YOU! No Publisher needed!
***Your timeline is now live — Developer Release****
****Please note: During the developer release, only other developers will be able to see your new timeline. Everyone else will see your old profile.***
PS: Looks like there’ll be no way to hide who you are ever again!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CYATYjk5N4&feature=player_embedded]
Sources:
- Facebook Inception Photo
- Fox News: Facebook Users Outrages over changes
- Huff Post: Facebook Changes, Users React, And How To Go Back To The Old Site
- Socialnomics
6 of the Best Guest Posting Tips
Guest posting can be a very lucrative venture for all parties involved. The owner of the blog is provided with free content, and the writer of the content is given acknowledgement of their wisdom on the chosen topic. In this aspect, guest posting seems to benefit both parties equally. However, it can be just as difficult to find high-quality blog owners who will allow guest posting, as it is to find high-quality writers to make guest appearances on your blog.
Keeping in mind a few helpful guest-posting tips can be beneficial for all involved and will help to produce the highest quality content that will reflect well on both the blog owner and the content creator.
Posting Tips for Guest Bloggers
- Aim High – Look for highly traveled blogs or those with impressive page rankings. These links will also be highly valuable portfolio material.
- Research the Blog – In order to create what is fresh content for the blog, you will need to know what content has already been created. If the blog is a lengthy one, check for tag clouds or keywords on the topics that are the same as your posting idea.
- Catchy Title – Catchier content. Be sure that you supply an eye catching title for your content, and make just as certain that the content lives up to the title. A good blogger knows that even the most boring topic can be made interesting with the right language.
- Give Your Best Stuff Away – This may be a hard concept to swallow for some bloggers but you want your guest posts on any blogs to be the most shining examples of your work. Not only will this garner the blog owner increased traffic or interest in their site, but it may also cause others to take notice, and perhaps even offer you paying gigs.
- Interact – Reply to commenters and pay attention to your re-tweeters. Get involved and make sure that you are available to ponder any issues about your blog posts with others who may be doing the same. Building a rapport with readers is valuable regardless of the blog posted on. Thanks to social media, people with similar interest or interest in you, can find you with a simple click once you have engaged them on site.
- Promote Your Posts – Promoting your own post is never more important than it is when posting on someone else’s site. Show them that their effort to give you a great link in exchange for great content has not gone unnoticed. Tweet, share, Digg, and do all you can to make sure the posts receives all of the coverage that is in your power to create.
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Turn Your Social Media Content into Something Incredible with FeedFabrik
By now most folks who use the internet for work, play, or both, are likely to have generated a bit of personal or business content on their social media sites. Blogs, videos, articles, tweets, and more have their own special place online for quick and easy access when you need to reference them, share them, or simply enjoy viewing them.
What if you could take your already available content and give it a shiny new cover? What if you could avoid the inevitable process that most all content suffers from as it gets old, left behind, and falls into Internet Purgatory, likely never to be seen (easily) again. 
FeedFabrik to the Rescue
FeedFabrik offers the ability to capture your own digital life and turn it into a proud display in a couple of different ways.
Create Your FriendPoster
Users can integrate with their Facebook account to quickly create a FriendPoster. This poster displays all of your social network friends by listing them on the date of their birth with their current profile picture. Users can choose from five different display theme styles as well as selecting different options for saving the creation. FriendPoster comes in:
- Poster
- Desktop Wallpaper
It will also be available with gift voucher options very soon.
Make a BlogBook
Turning your blog into a book may have endless possibilities. However, doing so has long proven to be a process usually full of bugs and issues and, in general, difficult to manage while retaining an aesthetically pleasing document. FeedFabrik’s blog book creator can smoothly turn your current blog into a well-designed book. FeedFabrik has full integration options on:
- Blogger
- WordPress.com
- Self-Hosted WordPress Blogs
- Typepad
- Tumblr
Your book is prepared for you automatically and is ready in just a few moments. Users are free to take advantage of the customization options to tweak the book’s originality.
FeedFabrik has much to offer those who utilize social media on a regular basis and has several shining selling points when it comes to those who work in the publishing industry.
Alexa shows a 1500% increase in traffic views over the last three months and is currently ranked at #486,284 in the world with most users spending an average of three minutes on site.
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Develop Your Brand with Daylife
Providing consumers with cloud features including on-demand media options, DayLife is supplying their users with more features, functionality, and faster cycling. A comprehensive solution that is designed for digital publishers who may require the freedom to focus on creative experiences instead of constant publication input.
How Does DayLife Work?
DayLife provides a Publisher’s Suite that supplies the patented engine that helps users to analyze, ingest, and process
digital media from the cloud. Uploading your media to the cloud begins a long process of collation, normalization, and data parsing. After the parsing process rich layers of intelligence and meta tagging data are incorporated into your content which will allow it to then become searchable.
Regardless of the type of content, DayLife dev’s assure users that their content will be processed and returned to them with added value. DayLife actually crawls the web like Googlebot, while retaining a direct focus on sites and content that provides high-value, frequently updated content.
Smooth Delivery
After DayLife’s system parses and analyzes the content, they will then deliver all of the power of media and intelligence straight to the user. Users can utilize their DayLife Dashboard, or APIs. The dashboard will provide a single user-interface to enable accessibility of the cross-referenced media. In turn, this enables further functionality allowing the creation, customization, and management of app deployment.
DayLife users also get full access to Publisher Suite APIs. These widely varied and well-tested APIs are customizable and best yet, have no hidden integration costs. However, Publisher Suite is not a CMS. It is designed to smoothly integrate with the setup you are already using.
Supply a Robust Source of Reliable Information
DayLife provides their users with a source of management, analysis, and content composition that will enable them to present their current content in more highly viewable and frequently utilized manners. DayLife also has a variety of WYSWIG tools for specific platform accessibility.
DayLife technologies allows content creators, bloggers, publishers, and developers to try their own hand at helping to develop new user-end experiences by helping to leverage news-based content.
Who Can Use DayLife?
DayLife is an element of a business that may need to be handled by an IT department simply due to the programming languages utilized in creating the APIs. Those who have knowledge of languages such as:
- RUBY
- PHP
- Cold Fusion
- Perl
- .Net
Although these languages are a bit more intensive than common HTML, users need not be IT specialist to learn how to manage them. Those with a general idea of what it takes to manage the above languages may be able to handle this element of their sites content aggregation campaign on their own.
What are the Benefits of DayLife?
- Users can easily enhance their news content by applying proactive and supportive measures such as relating links or headliners, on any created topic.
- DayLife can help users to generate new content, provide helpful and relating links, quotes, photos, headlines, and timelines.
- Enable the recirculation of content from available affiliate publications or other relevant content around the web.
- Help to create and nurture the end-users experience.
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