Day 2 - Resources for Freelance Writers

Today's challenge in "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" is the list post, meaning a post with a list in it. I spent a while trying to brainstorm a topic for this list, so following my theme of talking about freelance writing, here is a list of useful resources for new and experienced writers alike.

• Online dictionary and thesaurus - Every writers knows these will be great resources. Words being the main tool of writers, having access to their meanings, synonyms, and antonyms is a very powerful thing.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - It is always a good idea to stay brushed up on your grammar and technique. This site is full of great writing exercises for new writers, out of practice writers, or any writers that just plain knows their weaknesses. (Mine is commas.)
• OpenOffice.org - An all in one office suite. Basically, a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Does word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and powerpoint presentations. You can even save your documents in the Microsoft Office formats.
• Article Checker - Checks for duplicate content on the web. It is usually a good idea to run your articles through it just in case. Most people will put their articles through a similar site when they are received and refuse them if they do not pass.
• Grammar Checker - While not 100%, it may catch some grammar mistakes you miss. I know I always make sure to use it before sending an article to a client.
• Text Analyzer - Analyzes your text for keyword density, word count, and more. A very useful tool. 
• Citation Machine - Helps create citations in the proper format.
• Wikipedia - Online encyclopedia created and edited by the public. A great place to start your research since you will find information on almost everything here. Remember though, it is edited by the public so important facts should be double checked.
• Online Encyclopedia - Search on many different online encyclopedias for information.
• Wikimedia Commons - Tons of images that anyone is free to use or contribute to. A great resource for finding images for articles and blog posts.

I hope this was useful. If anyone has a useful tool to add to the toolbox, feel free to comment below!

31 Days To A Better Blog - Day 1

I mentioned before that I was reading the book "31 Days to a Better Blog". Each day there is a blog challenge for me to complete to both make this blog better and make me a better blogger. Today's challenge is the "elevator pitch" which is a pitch that is short enough it could be done in the time of an elevator ride. So here it goes. Let me know what you think. Once it gets tweaked I will change the blog description to match. Below is the "elevator pitch" followed by a shorter pitch that the book suggests coming up with for things like forum signatures or business cards.

Are you a stay at home mom, unable to work, or just want to make some extra money working from home? Well I know I would. Amanda's Work At Home Adventure is just that, an adventure in working at home. I'm traveling and navigating the internet in search of legit ways for normal people to make real money working from home online.

Amanda's Work At Home Adventure - A Journey for legit ways to make real money online.

What do you think?

Update - Textbroker

I sent in my sample for Textbroker.com and got approved. There were so many articles to choose from! Your pay is based on ranking. The average writer will probably be a 2 or 3. A level 3 makes around one cent per word. It isn't amazing but it took me around 15 minutes to write up a 300 word article on Thailand. The better you right the more of a chance you have to rank up as well. The higher the rank, the more jobs and better pay you will receive. I noticed well over 100 offerings for level 2 writers though so even if you are new to writing or out of practice, try out Textbroker.com for some extra money.

On a more personal note, I just purchased the book "31 Days to a Better Blog". I expect it to be a good read. Watch out for a new blog post every day with "31 Days" as a label as part of the book is a blogging exercise for each day. Don't worry, it won't be taking the place of the information I normally post!