Archive for the "Skills" category

I’ve heard it a thousand times, “The way to health, wealth, and happiness as a freelance writer is by finding a niche and exploiting it.” Great. Wonderful. But what it fails to mention is that some niches are worth more than others, much more. Like the difference between big dollars and nada. Here’s the no-brainer [...]

I recently posted on a Microsoft launch event that I attended in Washington DC, and Nelson made a comment about the sheer nerdish superiority of Linux over any Microsoft product. As a nerd/geek/computer addict I have to admit to a certain love for Open Source. Linux is a wonderful thing, even if I can’t get [...]

I’m big on referring other writers to oDesk. I like the setup here and I like the built in protections. But I find that many otherwise enthusiastic writers new to freelancing feel intimidated. They have a bit of trepidation about selling their ‘product’.Bound up in this anxiety is a fear that their writing isn’t good [...]

Well, there it is. The referral ad. Click it and then sign up for oDesk and I get credit. Earn (or purchase) a thousand dollars and I get fifty. Rank commercialism. If you haven’t looked into this, the code and referral form can be reached after signing in to oDesk. Go to: My oDesk–> My [...]

Plagiarism, article theft, extreme borrowing- call it what you will, it amounts to the same thing. It’s when you take my work and post it as your own. On the Internet, it’s as easy as copy and paste. Heaven forbid you should pay someone to write for you. And why go to all the trouble [...]

So, you signed up for oDesk, got yourself a profile and now all you need is that first job. But how do you get it? What can you use to convince a buyer that you are the one best fitted for their project? Sure a good profile helps, and feedback does too– but you don’t [...]

Not long ago, Sarah posted on the importance of specializing and you can read all about it here. She made some very good points, because the truth is you can make far more money as a specialist than as a generalist, on-line or 0ff-line. That’s because when you’re a generalist you’re working for people who [...]

So, I was cruising down MLK Blvd in my lowrider like usual, and T-Dog and Big Mike were riding with me. While T-Dog loaded his 9mm with a fresh clip, he turned to me and asked, “What’s this open source thing I keep hearing about? Sounds kind of lame, holmes,” and proceeded to empty said [...]

Why you need to learn SEO It appears in more and more of the job postings. Along with the regular job description, under skills, it says ‘SEO’. Search Engine Optimization. The buyers want it. Because I am a commercial writer, it’s up to me to provide what my customers want. This article isn’t a tutorial [...]

Fernando is our first contestant on the game we call “oDesk Profile Reviews.” Take a moment to glance over his oDesk profile to get the context for the rest of this review. At the time of this writing, Fernando’s profile headline reads “Linux Administrator, PHP/Java Developer, MySQL/Networking Servers”. While it clearly sums up his many [...]