If you are a freelance writer, you may be wondering how to take your career to the next level. And by that I mean, how to make more money. Sure, you may have aspirations of writing a novel, or a screenplay, or poems and short stories - I’m no different than you. However, I need something that is fun to put together and will help me make a good income while I work on my other creative writing projects. That is why I’ve adopted several internet marketing strategies that will help me earn the income I need.

As you read through my posts, you’ll notice that I have my hands dipped in several different pots. I write for clients. I write for publication. I make money on my blogs and Squidoo lenses. I am also going to be working on eBooks and a membership site. My blogs, lenses, eBooks, and membership website all fall into the category of internet marketing.

The thing is, internet marketing is a natural compliment to writing. If you’ve written things like reports, newsletters, website content, and SEO articls for your clients, you know what I mean. I bet at least some of your clients are internet marketers. I had been doing this work for several years and then finally started focusing on doing this kind of work for myself.

Here are some ideas of some internet marketing tasks you can do to help boost your income.

• Bum Marketing - Check out bummarketingmethod.com and take the free course.
• Make Squidoo lenses and promote affiliate program.
• Write and self publish your own eBook.
• Promote other people’s products on your websites or blogs (affiliate marketing)
• Visit the Warrior Forum for even more ideas.

At first, you may not make all that much money but hang in there. Over the long term, you may be able to replace your writing income with a salary that is considered residual. For example, once the website is set up and is making you money, it will continue to make you money over the long run.

Sure, making money with writing or your other online ventures is great. But I’ve also learned that having meaning behind your work is also important. Sometimes, necessity required us to take on work that we may not find enjoyable or fun. But I never advise taking on this kind of work unless you have a clear idea of what you really want out of your career.

Let me put things into perspective a bit. Have you always dreamed of writing novels but have been stuck writing keyword articles for the past few years? I’d say that the novel writing goal is something that is unfullfilled. It may be time to reconsider what you really want out of your writing.

You see, I was stuck in the same cycle. I knew I wanted to stop taking on as many projects for my clients but I kept taking them so I could get the money. I finally broke free and am only now trying to realize what my next project is. I think it’s time for me to write those novels and screenplays I’ve always wanted. How about you?

It’s no secret that my income comes from a variety of sources.

• Blogging
• Writing
• Affiliate Marketing

As a writer, I’ve written several eBooks for my clients but I haven’t written any for my own business! When I write for clients, it’s nice to get that up front payment but I can’t help but wonder how much money I’ve actually missed out on by not writing an eBook for myself.

So, a fellow writer and I have decided to set a challenge to write our first eBook. I have it marked on my calendar to be finished with this eBook by February 28.

To be part of the challenge, all you need  to do is commit to writing an eBook. You can try to finish it by Febryary 28 like me or set your own date. It’s up to you. If you want to join the challenge, just reply in the comments.

Do you want to get into freelance writing? Maybe you’ve been laid off. Or maybe it’s your dream. No matter what your reasons are, becoming a freelance writer is both easy and challenging. It’s easy to get started. It’s not as easy to be patient enough to wait for the money to start coming in. But if you are, you’ll be happy once you start making cash.

With that said, it doesn’t need to take a long time to start making money writing. Here are some ideas that can get you earning within a few weeks or so.

• Today.com - If you don’t already have a blog here at today.com and you meet the eligibility standards, why not apply? Blogging has a lot of rewards and not all of them are monetary.

• AssociatedContent.com - They pay you up front for your articles and also a revenue share. If you don’t want them to review your articles for up front payment you’ll only make residual earnings. Otherwise, you’ll earn both. You need to be a United States resident.

• ConstantContent.com - This is a site where you can put your content up for sale so that clients can buy them. You set the rates.

• eHow.com - Join the site and sign up for the Writer’s Compensation Program and you can make residual income over time. Visit the forum there to get tips on how to maximize your earnings.

There are a lot more sites out there that can help you start your writing career, but that’s enough to get you started. Once the money starts to come in this will build your confidence which will make it easier for you to find other freelance gigs.

Do you find yourself starting sentences off with phrases like, “My dream is…?” I know how that is - I used to be like that. My first “dream” was to be a freelance writer. At one point, I realized that it was time to make my dream a reality.

My first year as a freelancer I made $60. My earnings went up for there and now I make a decent salary. I’ve realized that my “dream” came true not because I wished it, but because I took action. I wrote a business plan and put myself out there. The assignments started to trickle in until I had enough work to make a salary.

My next “dream” is to reach the six figure mark. But instead of letting myself “dream” too long, it’s time to take that and turn it into a goal with action steps.

Your assignment is to think about the dreams you have. Do you want to retire soon? Do you want to make six figures? Whatever it is, turn that dream or wish into a goal, give  yourself a timeline, and make it happen.  That’s what I do and it is such a wonderful feeling when you do what you set out to do.

My eating habits were terrible yesterday and I really felt it.  My energy level and concentration were both poor. I’ve been on a high protein diet because of my level of activity (some days, I exercise for three hours) and yesterday I said - forget it - I am not going to worry about protein that much.

By dinner time, I regretted it. The kitchen was a mess, I didn’t feel like cooking, andI hardly got anything done. Today is a lot better. I started the day by eating a carrot even though I didn’t feel hungry. I had a proper breakfast about thirty minutes later of cereal with walnuts, raisins, and skim milk. Then I went for a run and had some whole wheat pasta and freeze dried strawberries.

So why am I talking about this on a writing blog? Because - for the entire day I didn’t have enough energy to work on my projects due to my eating habits.  I did end up getting a few things done, but I had the whole day free aside from going to the gym - I should have been able to get more work done than I did.

The end result? I’ve realized that what you eat and whether or not you exercise really does affect productivity at work.

Do you find it hard to get everything done that you need to? Some days I do, some days I don’t. Each day I come up with a to do list for the next day. However, I’ve learned the hard way that simply having the to do list is not enough. I actually need to make time for the work.

It’s Easy to Get Distracted

As a work from home professional, I find that it is all too easy to get distracted. Even the most basic things distract me - such as cleaning the kitchen. This is the big reason why I find that having a to do list is not enough.

I do have a household to do list. Mainly I just try to make sure everything is neat. But I’ve gotten in the habit of timing my daily activities with the timer that is on the microwave. I try to work for at least 5 hours total. For housework - I do 60 minutes. This prevents me from spending hours doing something out of pure procrastination such as organize my spice cabinet.

The Timer is My Friend

I mentioned the timer in the last paragraph. I love this tool.  It gets me focused when nothing else will. It also helps me keep tabs on what I am actually accomplishing. I find that when I know the clock is ticking away I tend to work more productively and efficiently.

Don’t Stress

One of the reasons why I work from home so I can avoid stress. Worrying all the time about whether or not I will get to everything on my list is too stressful. I’ve learned to manage my deadlines (or to not take on work that has a deadline). I’ve also learned that I can’t set unrealistic expectations for myself. If my to do list contains twenty items, it’s pretty obvious that achieving all of it would be difficult.

Each item I cross off is a victory. If I didn’t get to something, I just role it over to the next day.

What are your tactics for finding time in your schedule?

So, it’s been over a month since the New Year began and it’s time to review your writing goals again. For me, I am in the habit of reviewing my goals all the time. But it wasn’t always like this. In the beginning I needed constant reminders. Consider this your friendly reminder!

When you look at your goals, it’s a good idea to consider a few points.

1. Is the goal clearly written or too vague?
2. Do you have a series of action steps written down with the goal? If not, jot them down.
3. How close are you to achieving your goal? Did you already achieve it?
4. Are there any new goals you’d like to set?

My freelance writing career is always evolving and changing. I need to set goals all the time so that I can make room for these changes.

I’ve written a ton of ebooks for my clients but none for myself. I KNOW I’m missing out on a very good profit generator. So my goal for the new year is to write a few eBooks and promote them on my blogs and websites. I’ll also start an affiliate program for each.

Do you want to do the same? A good place to start is to make a list of the things you know something about. Think about your hobbies, interests, etc. You can also include things on the list that you’d like to learn more about.

Once you do that, you can research the market and get a feel for whether or not it looks like the idea will sell. This can be a simple or complex process. In general you’ll want to start by researching keywords and also seeing if there are already products in the niche. If there are, what can you do better?

After you decide if the idea is worthy, just get started. An eBook is a shorter version of a nonfiction book. But because it’s for the internet audience, the writing should be different - shorter sentences and paragraphs, lots of lists, diagrams, and white space. It should be packed with content but the ideas should be expressed concisely.

I have a series on how to write an ebook . Check back often for more posts. Like I said, I have a ton of experience - it’s just that all of the eBooks I’ve written were for ghost writing.

I won’t mention the site or anything, but I am a little disturbed by something this morning. I am on the writers list for a particular site. Writers are asked to claim a certain amount of articles. They claim them, then they have a deadline. This happens each month.

Last month, 70 articles weren’t handed in on time. The editors were bombarded with people asking for more time. This baffles me.

Because of that, the quota for writers is seriously diminished for this month. In other words, the writers who can’t meet deadlines essentially ruined it for everyone else.

So in the title to this post, I asked a question. How hard can it be to meet your deadlines?

My answer? It isn’t hard. If you have all month to work on a 500 word article, why on earth would you need more time? This is poor planning and procrastination. I would be surprised if the majority of those people actually had a good reason. “I’ve been busy” is a poor excuse and one that I hear often. Plan your time better. Don’t reserve the articles or take on the work if you can’t handle it.

So what’s in it for you? Why do you want to meet deadlines?

Writers who meet deadlines get more work. They get repeat work from clients and editors who are happy. Missing a deadline doesn’t make people happy and you may find that it’s getting harder to secure enough work to make a living. Not good.

If you’re one of those writers who constantly skips out on deadlines, you won’t make it as a writer unless you find a way to eliminate deadlines while still making money as a writer.

The good news is that it is easy to reform. If you ARE one of those writers who skips out on deadlines, just start meeting them and you’ll get your respect back. You may even get repeat assignments.