The Lady Programmer

I have been writing for a month now while I keep up with the latest in web design and SEO before I get to accept opportunities related to these skills. I have been blogging for some time and paid posts have really helped me fund these freelance programming ventures.

This blog has written out other paid opportunities from SocialSpark, but this post is actually the first time for PayPerPost, primarily because of this blog’s page rank (it’s zero). If you have noticed, I have some PPP badges right up at the sidebar of this site but ironically, my paid posts are published in The Single Parent Talks, another blog that I maintain.

photo credit: arinas74 (SXC)

I hope you have stumbled some of my posts on this blog, because I have taken some paid opportunities in SocialSpark as a blogger. I wrote about choosing Misaki as my Manga name with a sponsored badge at the bottom of the post. Not long I also wrote about SocialSpark soon after becoming a member.

I started out by putting up my profile as a blogger and then I need to have my blogs approved. I have only two blogs but only this one (The Lady Programmer) was qualified to accept such opportunities. Blogger.com blogs have a good chance of being accepted in the SocialSpark marketplace.

The difference between SocialSpark and PPP is that one can get to interact with other bloggers in the marketplace. Not only do I get some traffic to my blogs but I can also get to communicate with other bloggers. I even got to write a “spark” about another person’s blog – which helps me build my reputation and opportunities to write a post back to that person. “Sparks” can also help me write about something related to the theme of the blog. I just wrote a post about a mentor that can help new bloggers become better writers and I am hoping for a good post about this blog. Most of all, unlike PPP where you have to catch an available opportunity, SocialSpark simply puts your slot on queue until the opportunity is available – if it is I’d always get an email.

There are some similarities between SocialSpark and PPP as well. Both need manual approval of the post. Both need 30 days wait period before the payment is released through Paypal.

One of the challenges of the full-time freelancer is earning consistently, because paying the bills can be difficult when there is no expected income. Sometimes keeping up a client is not the key, so the freelancer has to learn how to spot opportunities to earn income.

photo credit: djayo (SXC)

So here’s my list:

1. Find other places that offer freelance opportunities. You might be able to exhaust job opportunities on one site, so you might need to find another site where you can get similar skills. I have an oDesk account as well as Elance and Guru accounts too. This way I do not limit myself to opportunities that are available on one site. I can work on two projects from two different sites at the same time. Of course, there are also offline options like the newspaper – I can simply run an ad advertising my services until someone gets interested with my skills.
2. Use other skills or hobbies to earn. Aside from programming and web design, I do some writing too. I write for two blogs and earn active income on some sponsored posts. I also have a third blog on the making. I can spend a few minutes to an hour of writing – this way I can maximize my time by earning a few bucks on the side.
3. Invest in passive income. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other forms of passive investing are other means to earn income without working for it. Even sites and blogs earn from passive income by putting up ads on the website to take advantage of the site traffic. In simple words, you can earn income even while you are sleeping.
4. Tell your friends about your services. Tell the world that you are available to render services. Be ready with your business card. If you are in the internet, a website or blog can help. Be ready with a portfolio of sample work.
5. Keep existing clients happy. Quality service and timely delivery will always help you keep your clients. If they are satisfied with your work, perhaps you might want to offer your services to win more opportunities.

Have you been able to get multiple streams of income some other way?

Got a blog? I have really respect for bloggers who are able to “market” themselves as established bloggers in the community – even with their imperfect grammar they are able to speak their ideas to the reader very clearly. I also have respect for bloggers who write with perfect grammar without the impression that they very educated people in the field. Personally I like the combination of both and there are very few bloggers that can do this well. They are often the ones who can write very long definitive posts that make readers prod on. They can catch the reader’s interest with short sharp posts too.

Where am I?

I think my writing skills are more like the first group, and I largely blame it in my upbringing. My engineering course in the university exposed me to lesser English subjects than most other courses. My job experience demanded more of my technical skills in machine troubleshooting and programming than learning how to write better technical reports for my boss.

I left my engineering job just last year and started finding freelance opportunities with my skills. The first opportunity that I got is writing for others. I learned how to write in blogs and since I do this full time everyday, I get to improve my writing skills. Although my grammar still needs work (I still rely on Microsoft Word to automatically check my grammar because it saves me time) I believe that I am better than when I started. Previously a 400-word post was a very difficult task for me, but now I learned how to “divide and conquer”: write subtopics and write sentences that work around a main topic sentence which I have not been doing before.

Got Some Tips Today from a Mentor

photo credit: MikLav (SXC)

Copywriting Tips and Ideas is a good resource that I have found while I was looking out for some writing opportunities. It is only more than three months old, but it provides numerous posts that help people learn improve not only copywriting skills but how they can express themselves in writing. I strongly agree that bloggers should learn from SEO writing tips that Sarah provided in her blog, as there are more bloggers joining the blogosphere who still need to prove themselves and make good impressions – perhaps better writing skill might help them elevate to being respected bloggers in the community.

I am changing my hat in oDesk for the meantime – from provider to buyer.

I am now a new buyer in oDesk – a verified one. oDesk requires that buyers had to be verified before they can make the hire. Practically all providers can act as buyers and post jobs, but there are only a few who are really serious and interested in doing the hire.

In oDesk a credit card is needed to verify the buyer’s status. However a provider-friend whom I worked with was able to verify his status using his Payoneer Mastercard. I tried that and the verification process was a success.

photo credit: LotusHead (SXC)

I have some few jobs up my sleeve and I decided to give it out to other providers. These jobs are not from oDesk though. I do some writing jobs from some other guy. I just made a hire to one of my friends who can do some writing job that I need others to do on my behalf.

I can do the jobs and keep those earnings to myself but sometimes I just need to give out the jobs to others so that I could take some needed rest and comply to some deadline, and probably find better opportunities that give me better pay.

I have plans of changing my account from provider to affiliate (provider company) but with the ongoing assignments, I simply have to make the hire as a buyer instead.

I found another opportunity that bloggers might want to know particularly those who like to earn some additional cash from their blogs. SocialSpark is an site that I have been looking for writing opportunities. I got this blog approved with them and now I am writing a first post about this one.

Writing paid posts is not something new to what I have been doing; I used to get to some paid posting opportunities and get to grab some jobs off them. I have earned quite an amount of money from the other blog that I am writing for another paid posting site. However, joining SocialSpark was an entirely new experience: it is a combination of a blossoming social network and a host of opportunities that are willing to pay for a quick buzz. The social network gives the advantage to promote one’s blog and the opportunities are out for participating bloggers to grab a posting slot. Promoting one’s blog is not limited to simply adding friends to one’s list, expecting others to take a peek. It is possible to exchange a post with other bloggers to help with the traffic.
I found several opportunities where this blog qualifies for some of the posted jobs. These opportunities are different from the one that I have seen in other paid posting sites. I am hoping I could get to write some posts out from the open opportunities, just like what I did before.

I’ve noticed that SocialSpark is active in making sure that bloggers observe these code of ethics:

• 100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure.

• 100% Transparency.

• 100% Real Opinions.

• 100% Search Engine Friendly.

After a couple of slot reservations and using my one request for a sponsored post, I finally stumbled on an opportunity to discuss SocialSpark. Believe me, I am actually getting paid for doing this one!