How to re-motivate yourself with Freelance work

Working freelance is incredible for so many reasons, but freelancers can suffer from dips in their motivation just as much as your typical employees can.

If (like me) you’ve ever worked an office job before, you’ll put your hand up and admit that there were a couple of days where you just found it really hard to motivate yourself.

That’s normal.

You’re human.

It’s very easy to beat yourself up about this, to bully yourself when you procrastinate or eek out that deadline.

But that’s not helpful.

So here are some helpful things you can do to rejuvenate yourself and get back into the swing of things:

Get More Freelance Writing Jobs

It’s tought being a freelance writer.

Until you’ve built up a client portfolio, chances are you’re scouring the web looking for opportunities to write – and get paid for it.

To make your life a bit easier, we’ve rounded up 7 websites for you to add to your bookmarks right now.

Write a killer blog post in just 7 steps

You don’t want to publish any piece of content on your blog that isn’t screaming to be read.

But it can also be hard to keep churning out new, insightful content every month.

That’s why we’ve put together this concise, 7 step guide to help you craft awesome, readable content.

Writing Blogs for Readers, not Google

If you’re marketing using a blog, or if your blog is a large part of your business, then chances are you’ve heard of keywords.

Keywords do what they say on the tin – they’re the essence of what you’re writing about, and they’re also what Google uses to decide how and where to rank your content.

Now, the old way of thinking was very much “the more keywords the better” … but this doesn’t make for very good reading for humans, and Google has started to realise this. It’s already made changes to its algorithm to prioritise blogs that write for their users, and not for search engines.

Here are 5 tips for keeping your blog content keyword-rich, without ruining the reading experience and landing yourself a hefty penalty:

5 Quick Ways to Get More Traffic to your Website

If you have a website for your work (or even for pleasure) chances are you’ve gone into your stats and sat there and thought: ‘why aren’t more people coming to my website?’

Well, there’s a long and a short answer to this.

The short answer is because you’re not showing up on Google for people to click through and come to your website.

The long answer is why you’re not showing up on Google, and that has something to do with your domain ranking (which is the numerical value that tells you how relevant and awesome Google thinks your website is), your search relevancy, and whether your site is SEO optimised.

Now, I know. You see the word ‘SEO’ and your eyes glaze over. All the fun has been sucked from the world.

But it doesn’t have to be hard. Let’s look at 5 super quick, super easy tips that will help you get more traffic to your website without having to delve too deeply into the scary world of SEO.

1. Get other (bigger) websites to link to you

If a big website links to your little one, Google sees this and goes “oh wow, there must be some great content on there.” This is especially easy if you have a blog on your website, or somewhere you put creative content.

Have a look at websites that accept guest posts, and see if they will include a link to you in the author bio. That way, you can piggyback off other websites’ successes!

2. Make sure your website is doing what it says on the tin

Google likes this to be simple. If you say your website is a website about your acting and then spent 89% of your time posting reviews of your local coffee shops, Google is going to get confused. And that will hurt your traffic numbers.

So check your meta-description, check your website name and make sure what your posting on your website fits with what you said you’d post.

Think of it like a book. If you pick up a book called Fairy Tales from Germany you expect the stories to be fairy tales from Germany. Not recipes for seventeen different types of casserole.

3. Shout about your website

Tell people about it! This works in person, as well as on social media. Make sure you have your website link in all your bios, and if you publish an awesome new post, make sure this goes on your Facebook, your Instagram, your Twitter. And don’t stop sharing it either. Schedule it back into your feeds in a month’s time so people that missed it the first time around can read it then.

4. Get clever with your keywords

Now, bear with me, I know this sounds marketing-y. And that’s because it is. Keywords are your book synopsis, they’re what your website (or your post) is about. So let’s say you have a page on your website to buy tickets to your latest shows. Write some content in there for Google so that it knows that this page is all about buying tickets. Use the phrase buy tickets as often as possible without forcing it down your reader’s throats. Then Google will know what’s going on with that page and move it up the rankings.

5. Make sure your website is easy to use

If people click on your website and it takes 50 minutes to load up, chances are they won’t click again. And Google has the memory of an elephant. So make sure your images are small and aren’t holding you back (this is a great tool for making them smaller) and do a little walkthrough of your website from the point of view of your audience. Do you have something for them to click on at the end of every page that’ll keep them on your website? If the answer is no, try and make a little journey for them.

Think of it as a treasure map, with you leaving little bits of treasure all over your site.

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Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com

Grow your know-how: 3 Free Online Writing Courses

We all like to think we’re good at what we do. But that’s not to say we can’t get better!

We’ve rounded up 3 of the best free (yes, totally free) writing courses for you to grow, develop and generally become more awesome.

An Introduction to Screenwriting – UEA (Online)

You’ll learn from a mixture of basic theory, script analysis and practical exercises. We will explore key principles as they’re expressed in great films, then immediately apply these concepts. Videos, articles and discussion steps will offer you the opportunity to learn and engage with other learners on key concepts and ideas.

By the end of the course, you will understand the key concepts necessary to write an effective screenplay and be fluent in the language used to discuss the form.

Start Writing Fiction – The Open University (Online)

On this online course, established writers – including Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts and Monique Roffey – will talk about how they started writing.

You’ll consider the rituals of writing and keeping a journal; learn how to develop your ideas; reflect on your own writing and editing; hear writers talk about their approach to research; and start turning events into plot.

Scribble: Writing for New Writers (Online)

This course will take students through the process of writing from simple paragraphs to more complex writing structures and eventually research writing. Writing is often seen as something we do in order to remember grammatical forms and words to learn.

Writing is becoming increasingly important as we communicate even more online. And increasingly we have to communicate with people from other countries. This means that we have to be able to express our ideas clearly and in a way that people can understand. If you want to get more information on writing, this is the course for you.

 

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Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com

How To Get More Gigs as a Freelance Writer

Freelance is awesome. You get to set your own hours, play by your own rules and (hopefully) spend your time doing something you love doing.

But there’s also a downside to working freelance.

And that’s if you’re not working, you’re not earning.

But how do you get good, regular gigs?

3 Tips for Promoting Your Edinburgh Fringe Show During the Countdown

It’s very nearly Fringe season, and if you’re a performer or a freelancer working with one, chances are ‘promotion’ is pretty high on your agenda right now.

But what should you have wrapped up and sorted before you move into August and the feet-slapping groundwork begins?

We’ve created a handy list to help get you started.

1. Create some quirky social media chatter around your show

July is a great time for some publicity stunts, guerilla marketing, and the like. The Fringe is close enough for people to have it in mind, and this is when the media starts to really ramp up their coverage. So why not create some quirky social media chatter around your show?

No, we’re not saying send out the time-old “Make sure you get your tickets to @myshow in time for the Fringe”

We’re thinking:

• Jump on trending hashtags with something hilarious (just make sure it’s not a hashtag for something deadly serious where a joke will go down like a lead balloon)
• Tweet some big names to see if you can get a response
• Start a funny (but related) competition
• Start a Twitter treasure hunt
• Preview some jokes (or some jokes that didn’t make the cut in order to save the spoilers) in a conversation between you and your other cast members tagging random followers

Temple Newsam House in Leeds, UK brings its characters to life in a staged Twitter show

2. Get your printed ducks in order

Flyers are vital for the Fringe, as well as the lovely friends/boyfriends/girlfriends/distant third cousins once removed who will be helping to hand them out. Make sure you have the following ticked off your list as sorted this month:

• Flyers (A5 normally, or DL size)
• Posters (A3 is more common, but some A2 might be good as well.)

Think about how long your show run is and how many people will be touting for you when you’re considering quantity. If you run out, you can always order more, so make sure you use a local printer (and check the price of reprints).

3. Make sure you have all your press shortcuts sorted

When your show takes off as “the next big thing” people are going to want to know who you are, what you’re doing and why it’s so awesome.

So here’s what you need to prepare in advance:

• A short bio of your troupe (& individual cast members if it’s a trio or smaller group)
• A short press release that’s catchy, with high-quality images to run alongside it
• A blurb of your show that’s short and tailored for the general public. Basically: why your show is unique, why people should care about it and where they can go see it.

If you have this all prepped in advance it means you can respond quickly and in a timely fashion when people need it, which is a BIG priority for journalists.

For your full guide, hit up the Edinburgh Fringe promo pack here.

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Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com

How to Get Started as a Freelance Writer

So you wanna be a freelance writer? Awesome!

Chances are, you have no idea where to start. But that’s OK, because that’s where everyone starts out. Generally speaking you have a few options if you’re starting out freelance.

You can:

• Build your brand up and hope clients come to you
• Seek clients via traditional job postings (although these tend to want people on board full time or on a contracted basis)
• Seek clients via remote work positions
• Seek clients via agencies
• Send off hopeful submissions to websites in the hope you get a publishing credit

So let’s look at these one by one and break them down.

Building up your brand and hoping clients come to you

This will 100% be the slowest way of attaining business, so if earning money in the short-term is important for you (as I would imagine it probably is) I definitely don’t recommend this.

Brand building requires a few different balls to be in the air at once and it takes time to build up yourself, your audience and then convert that engagement into clients willing to pay money.

It also requires a lot of time and input commitment on your part – as you will need to be online, present and selling yourself regularly to maintain the footholds you’ve clawed out for yourself.

Seek clients via traditional job postings

This is possibly the easiest way of getting some work initially, even though the application processes this way tend to be more time consuming for you, as you’re effectively applying for a job each time you’re bidding for work.

It’s a good idea to set up alerts on a few different websites, so that you can have a steady stream of options coming into your inbox (e.g. Reed, Indeed.) You can upload your CV and pre-write a covering letter on both of these, so they save you a bit of time.

Seek clients via remote work positions

Remote working gives you the same flexibility as freelance, as often they’ll contract you on a part time or project by project basis. You need to check each position before you apply, but some great sites for job hunting this way are Remotive, Remote.co)

Seek clients via agencies

Be careful with agencies. They take a cut of your earnings, so you’re never realising your full earning potential. However, they can be a good stop-gap to make sure you’ve got some money coming in while you get your ducks in a row applying for longer-term positions or trying to attract more clients.

You also need to see whether there’s a subscription fee, because this can often outweigh the potential benefit. Some examples include Contena, and Fiverr.

With agencies you need to make sure that it makes sense money wise. Sometimes the quantity of content you’d need to produce to be earning sufficiently versus the time it would take you to produce all that content doesn’t balance out.

Send off hopeful submissions

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of this:

Pros

You might get published

You might get paid

Cons

You might not get published

You might not get paid

You’ve still invested the time in producing a piece of content

If you need to build your portfolio then it’s definitely a good idea to send them work you’ve already invested your time in, perhaps work you’ve already self-published somewhere like LinkedIn or Medium. Don’t invest in new work unless you’re able to self-publish it as well. Your time is your money, so make sure you’re balancing the spending and earning in both senses.

Finally, here’s something extra that sounds obvious but that you should definitely do:

Tell your friends and family you’re going freelance

Mention it to them. Reach out to anyone that you think it would be relevant to.

In the words of Tesco: every little helps.

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Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com

What The New Data Protection Laws Mean For Small Businesses, Individuals and Freelancers

This May, new Data Protection laws will be coming into place, specifically, the Data Protection Act will be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation.

What’s the difference? The GDPR will have new rules around the storage and handling of personal information and there will be stricter punishments in place for those who fail to comply.

Why the new law? The short answer is because hackers are more easily able to access data from small to medium businesses than they are to hack huge, well-protected corporate networks.

Changes in Consent

At the moment it’s sufficient to ask someone to tick or even to untick a box in order to consent to the storage of their data.

Under the new laws, consent means active agreement. This means you cannot pre-tick a ‘subscribe me’ button.

Not only this, but companies need to be able to show a clear audit trail of consent, including screen grabs or saved consent forms.

Individuals also have the right to withdraw consent at any time, and it has to be effective and efficient. When someone withdraws consent all of their personal data must be immediately and permanently erased. It is not enough to remove them from the mailing list.

If you are subject to a data breach, you also have to inform the relevant authorities immediately and you must notify all individuals affected within 72 hours of the initial breach.

What does this mean for people that use e-mail marketing (and am I one of those people?)

If you have a newsletter that people subscribe to, or if you send e-mails to a database of people on whatever basis, this concerns you.

And it doesn’t just concern all the new data you might collect. It concerns all the data you currently have.

Any kind of personal data you keep has to follow these rules and you and you alone are responsible for being able to prove that someone has consented to have their data kept on file by you.

This means you can no longer capture e-mails through a competition and then add them into your mailing list, or you cannot auto-subscribe (for example) people that have bought a ticket to your show to your newsletter.

Does the GDPR apply to my personal blog?

The GDPR applies to all enterprises. So if you run a business from home, or if your blog/website is engaged in “economic activity” i.e. you use it to make money – this applies to you.

It does not apply to people processing personal data in the course of a purely personal or household activity. I.e. if you have your plumber’s email address on file, that’s fine. If you’re sending your plumber an email telling him that you have a new kind of product available for sale, that’s not fine.

So what do I do now?

For every e-mail address in your system, you need to go back and seek explicit permission from the person to continue to send them whatever communication you are sending them.

If you cannot provide evidence of consent, you cannot send them emails and you must delete their data permanently.

This means you will need to launch a re-permission campaign and bring your entire database up to GDPR standards.

What are the consequences of non-compliance?

Fines. These are tiered based on the level of non-compliance and the severity of the violation, and they are capped at 4% of an annual turnover of €20million.

Ouch.

Check out our next post on how to run a GDPR compliant re-consent campaign.

Disclaimer: None of the above constitutes legal advice. If you are in doubt, we recommend you seek professional legal guidance.

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com