Sunday, May 30, 2010

Another Article Completed for the "Tech Guy"

This one is about using Web Typography in designing a web page. I'm getting quite an education from writing these "web design" articles!

New Post on Chicago Examiner!

This is my 3rd post as a Chicago Career Transitions Examiner/Internet Columnist, hot off the keyboard: "WAH Gig: Scoring Exams".

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Rosie Knows LLC

"RosieKnows" is an online learning center that caters to the new internet user. This was my very first freelance technical writing assignments. The owner of the company (Rosemary Blandford) hired me to write the "storyboard content" for 4 video lessons on the website. The written content was used as the script for narration of the lessons, and for the PDF companion documents which can be downloaded for reference. This is a "Members Only" site so you must be a member to view the lessons and documents. Membership is FREE.

Profile: Since this is a private client, I do not have a profile on the site.

My Content:
  • Using the NIH Senior Health Website (9/2008)
  • Using the USA.gov Website (10/2008)
  • Introduction to Mozilla Firefox (11/2008)
  • Introduction to LinkedIn (1/2009)

New Hub Page!

Posted yesterday: "Won a Trip, Made a Friend". A memoir of winning a trip to England and making a lifelong friend!

New Post on Chicago Examiner!

Posted yesterday: "Creative Transitions". Read and share!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Writng-dot-com

I've forgotten how I found this site. It was back in 2005, after winning a contest to write an essay for the company that managed my apartment building. They had a resident newsletter, and the winning essay (Mine) was published in it. The prize was a $500 AMEX gift card. Anyway, winning the contest inspired me to test the waters of creative writing. I posted several articles and lived to read the feedback from other members. It was mostly good/positive, but I didn't stick with it - got distracted by the pursuit of a "regular" job. Long story short - I still have the account, still post items there occasionally to get feedback, and refer other budding writers there to test their mettle.

My Profile and Portfolio/Content Page

My Recent Content

  • Back to My Roots
  • The Epiphany

Tech Guy Web Solutions

I was hired for this client through oDesk.com - a site where you can sign up as a provider of a service, and bid on various virtual gigs. As a former/sometime Tech Writer, I focused on the writing gigs. I heard about the site a year or so ago from an Eons member. I signed up but didn't pursue any gigs - until a month ago. I saw an interesting gig to rewrite some tech articles so I placed a bid on it. The buyer (Brad Traversy, owner of TechGuyWebSolutions) hired me to rewrite 3 articles to be posted on his website. I completed those, he posted them on his website, and he has already hired me to write 3 more articles for his site.

Since this is a "private client" I don't have a profile page on his site, but you can find my articles (with photo and bio) on his website under "Miscellaneous Web Design Articles" Stay tuned. This client has already said that he's interested in a long-term working relationship to write content for his site!

My Content

1 Web Typography
2 Designing a Website for All Screen Resolutions
3 How to Communicate Your Needs to Your Web Designer
4 Tips for Designing a Profitable Webpage
5 Hire a Web Designer or Build it Yourself?
6 An Introduction to Ecommerce











HubPages

This is an interesting site for a Blogger at heart, in my opinion. "Say what you want, how ever you wanna say it". Very few restrictions on content and how it's written. Most of the other sites where I have content posted require at least "good English" (including spelling, grammar and usage).


My Profile/Content Page

My Content
  • My Mother The Chatterbox (posted 5/24/2010)
  • Won a Trip, Made a Friend (posted 5/26/2010) 
  • A Woman on the Edge (posted 5/31/2010)
  • The Time Bank (posted 6/22/2010; moved from Triond portfolio)

AllVoices

One of my newest content sites. I joined and posted my first item on 5/23/10. I think I found them from an ad on my Facebook page. They seemed to be just the right place for a piece I wrote about applying for Public Aid (Constant Content rejected it; Associated Content offered me $5 for it - I declined.) Already, 91 people have viewed it and I have 6 fans! Stay tuned!

My Profile Page and Content

My Content

CityGal226's  News

    Chicago Career Transition Examiner

    On 5/18/2010 I was accepted as a freelance contributor to this site, as their newest "Chicago Career Transitions Examiner". My first article was the one I submitted with my application. They gave me my very own web page! Now I just have to add more content. Earnings are based on readership (as usual).

    My Home Page and Content on Chicago Examiner

    My Content
    • Volunteering to Find Paid Work 
    • Creative Transitions (posted 5/26/2010) 
    • WAH Gig: Scoring Exams (posted 5/30/2010) 
    • Temping for a living as a trade show staffer (6/8/2010) 
    • WAH Gig: Freelance Writing (posted 6/26/2010)

    Triond

    This is a site for freelance writers. You submit your content to them and (if accepted), they distribute it to their partner sites, based on the topic of your item. My items have been posted to sites I'd never have found on my own! I posted my first article here in 6/2008 and have 6 articles there so far - 5 in the past month! They also accept photos so I've posted 5 from my personal collection. Earnings are based on number of readers.

    My Profile and Content Page 

    My Content
    • My Fabulous Year
    • Holiday Orphans
    • Volunteering to Find Paid Work
    • Free Walking Tours in Chicago
    • Explore a Hidden Gem (Chicago Cultural Center)
    • Memories of Charley

    Helium - "Where Knowledge Rules"

    Started posting content here in August 2008 and have 6 items there so far. (One was rejected as being too generic, but I found another home for it.) Earnings are based on reader reviews but someone did purchase an article for use on their site.

    My Profile Page

    My Content
    • Alternative Holiday Traditions (Holiday Orphans)
    • Aging in Modern America (a variation of Miss to Ma'am)
    • Cats That Have Changed Our Lives (Memories of Charley)
    • Public Transportation in Chicago (sold as "stock content" in 09/2008)
    • Walking Tours of Chicago
    • How to Create a Custom Photo Calendar for Free

    Demand Studios

    Demand Studios is a site for freelance writers. You pick a title from their vast list of categories and write an article about for a flat fee. If you don't find a title you can write about, you can submit one of your own on a "revenue share" basis. Once your item is accepted, they find a home for it on one or more of their partner sites.

    I've written 4 articles so far and all have been posted on eHow.com: 2 earned a flat fee of $15 each; another 2 are earning a revenue share based on readership.

    My Profile Page

    My Content on eHow
    • How to create a customized cable Channel guide
    • How to copy a Voice Mail to your PC as a WAV file
    • How to get a Free Greeter Tour
    • How to Recycle a Swiffer Mop

    Constant Content

    Posted my first (and only) article here in March 2005. I've submitted other items but they are pretty darn stringent about what they accept for publication! They've rejected the last 5 of my submissions. So I posted them somewhere else.

    My Page and Profile

    My Content
    • From Miss to Ma'am (This piece has actually been sold to 2 different content buyers.)


      Associated Content

      I started posting here in March 2005. Main page is at My page and profile

      Titles:
      • My Fabulous Year (2004)
      • Ethnic Hair
      • From Miss to Ma'am
      • Uncommon Sense (sold as "stock content")

      Introduction

      About a month ago I decided to re-launch my writing career. So far it's been more successful than the past 3 months of looking for a traditional job. At least I'm making a few dollars here and there from several articles instead of making nothing from the various iterations of my resume.

      I'm setting up this blog to a) try to keep track of where all my works are published, b) so my friends and followers will have a "one-stop shop" to read my articles, and c) to make some money from it (of course).

      Stay tuned!