Tips For Breaking Into Freelance Writing

If you’re looking to enter the freelance writing market, then there are many factors to consider before taking the leap. How do you get jobs? Where can you market your skills? How do you charge for your work? How much can you make? Freelance writing can be rewarding and lucrative. Or, it can be frustrating and the equivalent of slave labor. The difference between the two is the amount of preparation you put into your new career. Here are some tips to help you start freelance writing: Define your niche If you’re hiring a writer for an education blog, who would you choose: a writer who specializes in writing about education or a writer who writes about sports, coding, Japanese cuisine, fashion and education? While it may seem like a good idea to branch out and explore writing about all your different areas of interest. In fact, the best way to start freelance writing is to define yourself as an expert in a specific area. The more focused your writing is in the beginning, the easier it will be for you to market yourself in that niche. The more you write on one subject, the greater your credibility becomes. Being a jack-of-all-trades isn’t the best way to catch the attention of publishers for a nascent freelancer. Focus on one area and see what that yields first. What do you offer? Are you the fastest content writer on the web? Can you meet crushing deadlines in a single afternoon? Are you a highly skilled researcher who unearths credible and interesting facts that defy the skills of other writers out there? Have you written any viral posts? Are you considered a thought leader in a certain area? Start to think about the market value of your skills. If you’re lucky enough to have a gaggle of writer friends, ask them to help you define these skill areas. Writers are great at identifying other writer’s strengths. Start a blog If you don’t have any published work to show, then write a blog. It’s the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to get published and start building your credentials as a writer. Make sure your blog is focused on your niche. If you have a blog with a lot of posts, you may want to include links to your most successful or most relevant posts when sending out writing samples. Get a website If you have a fair amount of writing to show off already, then it may be worth investing in a website. A writer who has invested in a website has also invested in their professional life as a writer. It’s where you’ll include samples and links to your writing, highlight your skills and include testimonials and reviews. You’ll also list your rates there. Learn to pitch This is the essence of freelance writing and it’s the difference between a successful freelancer and an unsuccessful one. The more you pitch, the better you get at it. Pitching is about the math. Keep sending out pitches and don’t stop. It may seem intimidating at first or perhaps you’re scared of rejection. Overcome those feelings, and they will completely evaporate when you get your first Yes. Tips for a good pitch: Do research and craft your message to reflect the style and concept of the site, journal or magazine you want to be published in. Be specific and brief. Long-winded pitches will probably not be read until the end. Make sure the most important information is in the beginning of the pitch and that it captures the essence of your idea. Let them know who you are and where they can find out more about you by including links to websites, blogs and other published work. If you don’t hear back after two weeks, send out a brief follow-up message, summarizing your initial pitch. Decide how and how much to charge This can be the most confusing part of breaking into a freelance writing career: how much should you charge? How should you charge: by hour or by piece? Do different kinds of writing demand different prices? Luckily, Writer’s Market publishes a fee guide for writers. It’s one of the most useful price guides for writers out there. There’s also the question of when you should charge. You should definitely receive a payment before you start ghost-writing a book. However it’s common to get paid after the work has been delivered for web content and print articles. Don’t accept low wages for your writing. It won’t be worth it financially and may demoralize you. Many websites offer abysmally low wages for articles. But that doesn’t mean you have to accept it. Hold out for the higher paying jobs. They’re out there. Accepting low wages is kind of like ending up flipping burgers at McDonald’s when you expected to be head chef at a Michelin starred restaurant. Be financially prepared Make sure you set realistic goals about your potential earnings as a freelance writer. It’s possible to make six figures as a freelancer, but it takes time and dedication. And you probably won’t be earning this your first year in, nor your second. If you’re trying to take a serious step into a new career as a freelancer, it’s best if you have some savings set aside while you climb the learning curve. In the beginning, you’re more likely to have trouble charging clients or getting paid. You will also go through some awkward phases where you take on too much or too little work and your income may feel a little bit like a roller-coaster. With time, you can start to smooth out the fluctuations and have a stable income.

The Benefits of Mandating Physical Education in Schools Essays

The Benefits of Mandating Physical Education in Schools Essays The Benefits of Mandating Physical Education in Schools Essay The Benefits of Mandating Physical Education in Schools Essay Physical Education classes have always been a part of school systems all over the world. However, budget cuts, rising academic requirements, and ultimately, laziness, have put this essential course in Jeopardy. This has resulted In many parents, teachers, education officials, and most Importantly, students, speaking up and working to make physical education mandatory in schools across the nation because they believe that it has an abundance of positive outcomes. Physical Education promotes academic learning, teaches individuals to lead a healthy lifestyle, and is also proven to build self esteem, as well as character, in individuals. The aforementioned reasons should be more than enough to convince any skeptic of the importance of physical education. One of the most important benefits resulting from mandating physical education in schools is that it has the power to promote academic learning. Many studies have shown a direct connection between physical activities and good quality grades. For example, a study conducted by the Canadian Department of Health and Human Services states that In 201 1, 25 percent of teens who had taken part In physical education classes had achieved generally higher grades than those teens that did not take those classes. Additionally, it is proven that Physical activity increases blood flow and supports the brain to function more efficiently when dealing with academic work. Keeping this fact in mind, it would be much easier for children of all ages to succeed in classes such as Math, English or Science if they also had to take a Physical Education class. Also, in some cases, this physic al activity provides an energy release that helps kids from getting distracted and agitated when in the classroom. As we grow older, classes unfortunately get longer, which results in an accumulated amount of energy that students may find hard to release In a positive way. Gym classes provide an excellent option for students to release all that energy. The direct relation between good grades and participating In physical activity, making It easier for students to succeed In all kinds of subjects and providing an outlet for built up energy are all superb reasons as to why mandating Physical Education In schools promotes academic learning. Besides promoting academic learning, P. E classes also promote exercising, which leads to healthier bodies and lives. Mandating physical education will teach individuals about healthy living styles and also will take a preventive measure against diseases and illnesses. Regular physical activity, especially for growing bodies (children), is one of the most important measures, if not the most important measure, you can take for your health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Heart Disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the united States. The article goes on to remark that Eating at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of physical activity a week can put you at a lower risk for these diseases. The author concludes the article with Regular physical actively can also lower your blood pressure and Improve your cholesterol levels. It Is also proven in numerous articles that physical activity plays a big role in helping to compulsory to attend physical education classes will inform studen ts about the aforesaid benefits, and these kids are more likely to go off and live healthier lives Han children that are not as informed. Another great bonus of authorizing physical education classes in schools is that students (particularly older students) are given the opportunity to improve their health and mood. Regular physical activity can help decrease your risk of depression and may even help with sleeping habits! Research has shown that doing muscle-strengthening activities such as aerobics, can give many mental health benefits, for instance, decreasing your risk of depression. In addition, physical activity can definitely increase your chances of living longer. Many tidies show that physical activity is able to reduce the risk of death caused by diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. A remarkable statistic conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is that People who are physically active for about 7 hours a week have a 40 percent lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than 30 minutes a week. Not only will mandating physical education take a preventive measure against diseases and increase the chances of longer lives, it will also help build character in students. Last but not least, if physical education in schools becomes compulsory, students will certainly benefit from it because physical activity is proven to build self esteem and character in individuals. In gym classes at school, children are exposed to team sports and leadership early on in their lives. Children are more likely to continue being co-operative at a work place or take initiative in the real world n the future, if they were exposed to such traits at a younger age. Moreover, if physical education is made compulsory, it will result in the boost of self esteem in many students. Physical activity gives students of all ages sense of mastery; they will think l accomplished something! This will also encourage students to set and work towards goals, building character, initiative and determinacy. For example, a gym student may work towards setting a better time for the mile run. Each time this student runs the race and sheds an extra couple of seconds off their time, they will visually and physically see their improvement and feel great about how their hard work paid off and improved their performance. It is difficult for students to find and actually feel the same sense of accomplishment anywhere else in their lives. It would be abundantly beneficial if schools decided to make Physical Education necessary in schools. A progress in academic learning, preventing diseases and helping people live longer and healthier lives, and building self esteem and character in individuals are the aforementioned benefits of mandating physical education in schools. Now that some strong reasons as to why physical education should be made compulsory have been made, does laziness still seem like a superior reason to why Physical Education should not be made mandatory?