Category Archives: Business

How A Freelance Editor Can Help Your Book Project

Book editing services by Freelance-Zone.comby Joe Wallace

A few years ago, I was approached to edit a book by Chicago voiceover legend Jeff Lupetin. The project was still in progress at the time and while there are some book editors who won’t touch a manuscript until it has been declared more or less finished in some form, I accepted the project for a variety of reasons including the fact that I have a background in broadcast and understood where the book was going.

That’s something a book editor shouldn’t take lightly-if you aren’t as experienced in a certain kind of subject matter and don’t know where the project might go, you are potentially at a serious disadvantage when it comes to avoiding task creep.

How did I help this project and what can a freelance editor do to help YOUR book project?

For starters, I asked the author some very direct questions. Who is the intended audience? For this book, that seems like a no-brainer. People who want to become voice artists and do voiceover work. But is that all?

We managed to refine the audience type by asking ourselves as author and editor what kinds of people would be interested in this book. We came up with two basic types (not that our discussions were limited to that, mind you) including those who are gear savvy and those who are not.

So we needed to reach people who didn’t know one end of a microphone from the other, and the people who know the difference between a cardioid mic, a shotgun microphone, and a large-diaphragm condenser mic.

Knowing the business the way I do, it wasn’t hard to make suggestions about how to reach people who don’t know the technical side of things. And it was easy to suggest changes to make the book more “evergreen” so that technological advances didn’t render whole portions of the text obsolete in a few years.

But the real work was the author’s-he had to organize his thoughts in such a way that the progression of information from the introduction to the closing chapter makes sense and can help the reader make a step-by-step journey through the craft and realities of working in the voiceover industry.

What a good editor can do for your book project, especially non-fiction, is to provide the outsider’s perspective. When you write a book and devote enough time to it, it’s easy to miss some obvious things along the way. Everything from perspective on the subject to the basic ability to understand the progression of facts and information between the introduction and “about the author” can be tainted by being too close to your subject or the mechanics of writing about it.

Hire A Freelance Editor To Get A Second Opinion Or Outsider’s Perspective On Your Project

A freelance editor can be hired to do several things. One is nothing but a technical review of the book-is the grammar good? Punctuation and spelling? Does the book make sense to read or does it need formatting changes to make it easier to follow? These are all critical technical issues.

But you can also hire an editor to give you more detailed feedback. Does the book make sense in terms of its’ overall presentation of content, the structure of the information, and the narrative? This is a more subjective process and an author who hires an editor to do this needs to be ready to hear real and constructive feedback. Don’t shy away from the hard things your editor might say-if the goal is to make your book as good as it can be, the advice you get is worth considering even if you wind up disagreeing.

[Hire a Freelance-Zone.com freelance writer, editor, or social media manager by contacting us via e-mail with some basic details about your project. We will get in touch with you to discuss your needs.]

A good editor will be tactful but will tell you what you need to know about getting  your book into shape for publication.

If you need to hire an editor to help you format an eBook, understand that this is a completely separate process from editing the actual content of the book. Some editors refuse to touch eBook formatting and others love doing it. But the electronic book formatting process is totally different than working on the material itself.

[Hire a Freelance-Zone.com freelance writer, editor, or social media manager by contacting us via e-mail with some basic details about your project. We will get in touch with you to discuss your needs.]

How To Hire A Freelancer: What Freelance Writers And Editors Do

CHICAGO freelance writers and editors for hire.

Freelance writers and editors often come with a wide range of skills, but a lot of potential clients aren’t sure if they need a freelancer, and what freelance writers, editors and social media managers can do for them. How do you hire and most effectively use a freelancer?

Hiring A Freelance Writer, Editor, And Social Media Manager

Freelancers offer their clients a cost-effective way to generate or edit content, manage writing teams, edit books and online content for publication, post and maintain social media accounts, and even create digital content in the form of videos and podcasts.

The most effective way to begin a search for a freelancer is to determine what your overall budget is for the project you want. Are you a theatre director looking for someone to promote your upcoming shows via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram?

You’ll need to decide how much labor you want to invest each day of the campaign, how much that labor should cost, and what your benchmarks will be for effectiveness of the campaign.

[Hire a Freelance-Zone.com freelance writer, editor, or social media manager by contacting us via e-mail with some basic details about your project. We will get in touch with you to discuss your needs.]

Bands, Indie Businesses, and Sole Prorpietorships Need Freelancers

Are you a band looking for a freelancer to do the same with social media and posts on your band’s official site? The same rules apply-you need to determine your budget in advance and commit to a certain amount of work for a certain amount of pay.

If you have an independent business to promote, the same exact rules apply but with the added consideration that you are engaging in a longer campaign to generate business and attention to your website.

Promoting an indie business takes time and results are not always available overnight. You will need to discuss your goals with your freelancer to determine the best course of action.

Some types of business are better suited for some types of freelance writing and social media work than others. If you have a product your customers will purchase or use one time only or on a limited basis, the needs of your freelance campaign will be quite different than a company such as a record store that relies on social media and their website to generate repeat business.

Corporate And Local Businesses Need Freelancers

Many big name companies including PetSmart, Lionel, Inc., Motorola, and Banco Popular hire freelancers and temp workers, consult with freelancers for advice on expanding local social media campaigns, and use freelance writers and editors to begin new projects they may choose to take internally later on.

Corporate and local businesses alike can benefit from the flexibility of having a freelance/contract writer and editor working for them because the freelancer is dedicated specifically to that project and won’t have to attend other company meetings or be sidetracked by additional duties or other projects at that company.

That is not to say that freelancers work for one client exclusively-that is an arrangement that is definitely possible but requires some additional negotiation and compensation discussions. But in general the advantage of the freelancer is that she doesn’t get sidetracked by the other issues and projects of the company hiring her. Her job is to focus on the writing, editing, and/or social media project assigned.

[Hire a Freelance-Zone.com freelance writer, editor, or social media manager by contacting us via e-mail with some basic details about your project. We will get in touch with you to discuss your needs.]

What Do Freelance Writers, Editors, And Social Media Managers Do?

Freelancers write web content, articles, press releases, social media posts, and curate relevant posts from other tastemaker websites while writing original content to go along with that curated media.

Freelance editors edit book projects (especially biographies and works that are intended to be self-published), web content, manage teams of writers, and check over any volume of written content for errors, grammatical goofs, auto-correct problems (and there are many of those!) and much more.

Freelance social media managers write, edit, promote, and network on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more. The best social media managers understand how to strike a balance between self-serving posts that promote the client and content that is shared as a way of generating and maintaining interest in discussions, sharing, and reposting.

Hire A Freelance Writer, Editor, Or Social Media Manager Today

Freelance-Zone.com has many resources to help. If you need to hire a freelance writer, editor, or social media manager for contract work, short or long-term projects, or an ongoing relationship to produce results over a long period of time, get in touch with us today to hire a Freelance-Zone.com writer, editor, or social media manager.

Contact us today and please use Freelance-Zone.com in the subject line to avoid spam filtering. We look forward to hearing from you.

Freelance-Zone.Com Is Back Online

After many, MANY technical issues, we are back up and running. Freelance-Zone.com has in years past served as an advice and lifestyle blog for freelancers, but today this site is primarily a means to connect with clients and potential clients who need freelance writing, editing, SEO, social media management, community management and related services.

Freelance-Zone.com is run by Joe Wallace, the founder and editor-in-chief for the site and all projects. We are now accepting new clients for a variety of writing, editing, and social media related work.

Do you need a book edited? We have that experience. Joe Wallace is the editor of a variety of print and internet publications including Ultimate Voiceover by legendary Chicago voice artist Jeff Lupetin, as well as writer/editor of FHA Home Loans 101. In print, Wallace is also a contributor to To Japan With Love published by Things Asian Press, as well as Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks.

Do you need articles, web content, or print pieces? Joe Wallace, along with fellow writer/editors Patrick Ogle, and Carol Sponagle have plenty of experience including published pieces in Conscious Choice Magazine, HorrorHound Magazine, Chicago Dispatcher, American Fitness Magazine, Mapanare.us, Backroads Magazine, Korean Quarterly, Indie Slate Magazine,  Classical Singer Magazine, and many others.

Our content writing and social media experience is second-to-none with projects for Lionel, Inc., Motorola, Petsmart, Bank Administration Institute, FHA.com, HowStuffWorks, and many others.

If you need a writer, editor, or social media manager for a project, get in touch with us directly to discuss rates, deliverables, timelines, and project details.

Freelance-Zone.com offers a diverse writing, editing, and social media team with a wide range of experience.

Hire a Freelance-Zone.com writer for a project today by contacting us directly with “Freelance-Zone.Com” in the subject line.

Website Myth #5: Instant Credibility!

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

Unprofessional

WEBSITE MYTH #5:  A website creates a professional image for you and your writing. 

REALITY:  Have you seen some of those writer-sites out there? 

They actually decrease the professional image of the author.  They are anti-advertising, the kryptonite of self-promotion.  They are a very fine example of shooting yourself in the foot.

Design badness.

Content badness.

Marketing badness.

As Jane over at DearAuthor says, in her article What Every Author’s Website Should Contain

Let me say that like the writing, the quality of the website/blog varies a great deal from very amateurish to very professional. I’ve seen very good websites for bad authors and very bad websites for good authors.

Thank Goodness!  A Disclaimer.

When writers are told to have a website for instant professional cred, there’s a whole disclaimer that is left out, and it is thus:

#1 Websites only increase you professional quotient if (A) the design and (B) the written content are….

  • well-done,
  • easy to use,
  • engaging,  and
  • focused specifically on meeting your specific visitor’s immediate needs and taking key action

#2  You’re probably not the best judge of any of this, even though you are a writer.

#3  Excelling at A and B, if the results mis-represent you or your writing, will do you no good at all.  (Especially if you’re misrepresenting quality.)

#4 Failing at A and/or B can generate negative word-of-mouth that starts with the voice inside the visitor’s head.  That negative feeling becomes your Brand.  Your reputation suddenly is dirt.  Don’t be dirt.  No one wants that.

So, do it right. That’s the message.

There’s a whole lot that goes into sites being well-done, easy to use, engaging, focused on meeting needs, and taking action.  In fact, there are whole fields of study, like usability, marketing, branding, engagement, authority-building, relationship creation, voice, etc.

And don’t forget the professional practices, standards of all that pesky the technology.  (And a special shout-out to making it all accessible.)

I Dare You…

To read something really helpful on the whole professional website thang, read Jim Yu’s 5 Pillars of a Successful Modern Web Design.

And what about marketing and writing content?  Try Skip Besthoff’s Improve Your Website Content’s Quality: 5 Ways to Drive High Performance.

TO BE CONTINUED.

clip_image001[4]Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: (1)Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and (2) Marketing-Zone:Marketing Yourself and Your Writing.

Website Myth #4: If readers can’t find you….

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

So far…

#1 Websites promote you! Smash.

#2 It’s the only way to find you! Smash.

#3  You’ll be open 24/7!  Smash

Here’s another myth that uses fear to make sure writers, specifically book writers, get that website.

MYTH:  If readers can’t find you, you won’t sell your book!

Really?  Is that because you’re the only one with directions to the bookstore?Last Bookstore

Your website is not the last bookstore on the planet.

Seriously.

In fact, I’m pretty sure your website is not a bookstore at all.

Let’s imagine a reader wants something to read.  She might go to the library, borrow a book from a friend, stop by a physical bookstore, browse an e-store, or stop by a review site.

But she’s not thinking, “Wow, I’ll search Google to see if I can find a random author website, where I can find out if the author has a book for sale that happens to be something I like and want to read.”

TRUTH:  Here’s how you REALLY won’t sell your book.  If you don’t have your book in any of the places readers actually go to shop. 

What about writers who sell only from their website?

Yeah.  Okay.  In that case, you have to have a website.  You win!

But all you other book authors, a site isn’t your answer to selling. Nope.  Then what is a website?

A website is your answer to “give me more.”

And this is a very powerful thing!  (Power is so much better than fear.  Repeat that a few times.  Kinda makes you want to say, “Hell Yes!” doesn’t it?)

Dear book authors, if a reader takes the time to look for your site, that’s an invitation to WOW her.  Dazzle her.  Pow.  Delight. Entertain.  Blow her mind.   And other good words.

You’ve just been handed the keys to the kingdom, baby.  Your reader’s mind has an OPEN sign. She’s willing to listen , create a relationship, and be influenced.  You have what marketers call permission, and this is a very valuable thing.

Up until now, she’s not been interested in hearing more.  But then she clicked onto your site and said, “You can tell me about your writing now.”

So just to be clear, before now, any selling you did to her was basically a cold call, pushing your message on her whether she wanted it or not.

But now?

You’re in a conversation with her.  She’s curious.  And you are the thing she’s curious about.  Your writing too.  You’re the center of her e-universe.

Woo her with your authentic self, your fabulously bound words, your ability to do that thing that you do so well.  She’s the fan you’ve been wanting.  You know all this because she just told you by showing up.

Click.

Yeah.  I can see you blush from here.  A fan.  You have a real live fan.

Good for you.

Now give her more.

CONTINUED.

clip_image001[4]Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: (1)Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and (2) Marketing-Zone:Marketing Yourself and Your Writing.

Website Myth #3: Open 24/7

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

too much time on internet

Why do you need a website?

We’re looking at the top 10 myths that writers buy into.  The exciting hype of website ownership.  The fear of what will happen if you don’t have one.

There are real benefits to having a website, of course.  They’re hidden behind the myths.  Let’s expose them together, by wielding our mighty Thor-sized, myth-smashing hammers!

So far…

#1 Websites promote you!  Smash. 

(Websites are passive by nature.  Any customer-influencing will require  effective, marketing-savvy content.)

#2 It’s the only way to find you!  Smash.

(Turns out there are other ways to find you.  Go figure.)

And next on our list: Website are open 24/7!  I’ll make sales 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  More customers!  More sales!  I’ll be rich!

Nope.  A myth.  If that’s your reason to get a website, then, my friend, you don’t need a website.

–> Myth:  You’ll be open 24/7!

Reason #3 You Don’t Need a Website: More Time Doesn’t Equal More Shopping

Here’s where reality is much different than your perception of reality.

Adrian Ott, Author of The 24 Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy (Harper Business, 2010), has done research smashing this myth.

From Adrian’s article at Fast Company, “When I speak with many business executives, there is a common belief that 24/7 commerce has increased the amount of time that customers devote to purchasing goods and services. The reasoning goes that the ability to shop in slippers at midnight creates endless possibilities for promotions and sales.”

This is what this website myth is selling.  However…

“The World is Competing for Less Than 3% of Waking Hours.”

Hey….  that’s not 24/7….

“The latest government research on Americans reveal that adult consumers on average spend a paltry 28.8 minutes a day in the act of buying–that’s less than 3 percent of waking hours! This activity includes researching and browsing products and services, weekly grocery shopping, and e-commerce in addition to the purchasing transaction itself.

“There are simply too many choices competing for too little time–often leaving us feeling overwhelmed by it all.”

So, more websites has not equaled more shopping.  Instead it’s equaled mind-boggling competition for a very narrow window of time.

Darn.

What you’re really competing with is NOT other products or services.  It’s information overload. That’s your competition.

To gain some insight into what IS working, read Adrian’s article, 5 TRIGGERS THAT MAKE YOUR PRODUCT ADDICTING.

But back to websites.

If people are spending less time buying (and researching what to buy), why should you have a website?

#1  When well written, a website is a way to engage your customer (with quality and value) and build a relationship (human connection).  So, it’s not just about buying.

#2  If you’re competing for time, then you can make your website into something your customer thinks is time well spent.

#3  You can create real and true reasons that coming back to your site is worthwhile.  And by definition, fans are those people who seek you out again and again.  You have an opportunity to create fans.

#4  You can make it easy for customers to get research they trust and shopping information that matters, so they can get on with their day.

#5  You can participate in creating value.  Value can mean different things, but it usually comes down to outstanding usefulness, amazing problem solving, or ingenious fun.

You’ll notice something important here.  The original premise was to sell things 24/7.  That’s about you.

The real reason to have a website is to create something your customer will want.

It’s about them.

And they don’t actually want to shop 24/7.  They’re doing the same (or even less shopping) despite 24/7.  They’re having to make decisions and filter information from thousands and thousands of options/websites.

Don’t add to the noise.

Add to the benefits.

TO BE CONTINUED…

clip_image001[4]Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: (1)Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and (2) Marketing-Zone:Marketing Yourself and Your Writing.