Freelance Writing Twitter Chat with Laura Spencer @TXWriter #VCBuzz

Post on by VC Bee

twchat-txwriterSocial media promotion relies on the quality of the content, in the first place. Therefore we pay so much attention to content and how to produce top-quality articles. After all, we all want your content to succeed at Viral Content Buzz!

So today we have invited the content PRO: meet Laura Spencer @TXWriter

***Please sign in here to follow the chat -> twchat.com/hashtag/vcbuzz

***Important: Join this event on Google Plus to be notified of upcoming chats (It’s easier with daytime savings and different time zones!)

About Laura

Laura Spencer a freelance technical writer, blogger and copywriter. You can read her thoughts at her own blog.

Please connect to Laura on Linkedin.

Questions we discussed

Q1 How did you become a freelance writer? Did you ever plan to earn your living by writing?

I started in the corporate world as a marketing writer for 5 years. Then I was in corporate technical writing for 11 years. So I was accustomed to earning my living as a writer. Freelancing was totally new for me, though.

I switched to freelance writing when I found myself with the need to better control my work schedule.

Q2 What would be your #1 advice to content providers: How to produce top-quality content?

Wow, there are so many things I could say here. If I had to pick the most important advice it would be a tie.

1st of all, don’t quit too soon. A lot of writers start freelancing, but give up with their 1st rejection.

Next, know who you’re writing for. Find out everything you can about them. What’s important to them? Where do they go online?

It’s true. You need to be proud of what you write.

I’m still a big believer in comments. As long as they are not spam, I always answer them.

Of course you can use your stats to find out a lot, but I also recommend interaction with your readers.

Q3 Freelance writing is an interesting industry. On one hand, there are plenty of writers offering cheap services all over the web. On the other hand finding a good writer is tough! What’s your most efficient way to find leads and clients?

For me, building relationships is the way to find work. As a result most of my clients come from repeat business or referrals.

Also, make sure you can be found. I just wrote about this in my latest post.

Plus, you’re working with someone you already know, so trust is there.

You can get to know people through social media, writer’s forums & groups like Viral Content Buzz.

I’ve also found that my blog provides me with an online platform where I can interact with potential clients & other writers.

Q4 Writing is a very creative process. When you earn your living by writing, you have to produce content whether you feel inspired or not. How do you fight the writer’s block?

Good question. I’ve written posts on this. Here’s one: 4 Types of Creative Block and How to Overcome Each.

Another big problem that I have is finding enough time to do personal writing projects.

That’s one reason I wrote 6 Steps for Managing Your Time as a Writer.

Excellent question. I would say that it depends on how much research the article takes. Of course, every writers is different. Without research, sometimes I can do a draft in an hour. Then I revise. I usually spend as much time revising as writing. The research is really important, though. I’ve spend a whole 8 hours doing research before.

Maybe it’s just the editor in me, but I’ve been noticing lots of mistakes on big blogs and even the news lately.

Q5 Related to Q4… How do you keep yourself organized? Creativity is not easy to organize to keep your productivity high…

An organization tool has to be simple, or I won’t use it. I’m big on using spreadsheets. Google Docs or Excel. I have a special spreadsheet that I created to track topics I write about and where I’ve been published. Another tracks my pay.

I put off learning Google Docs until a client required it. I’ve found I really like it, especially for teams. It’s good to know your best times.

I’m sure it’s me, but I haven’t caught onto Trello yet. I looked at it and I know others use it.

For social media, you can organize tweets with TweetDeck and shares with HootSuite or Buffer. A non-technical way I organize myself is to differentiate between work time and personal time. I’ve found I have to do it, or I start feeling burnt out. I try to organize my days to have at least some time away from the computer and take at least 1 weekend day off.

Previous freelance writing Twitter chats:

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