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December 2, 2016

5 Website Changes You Need to Make ASAP (+ a tutorial)

5 Website Changes You Need to Make ASAP

If you are a blogger and have a self-hosted website, you are considered a webmaster. As a webmaster, you are responsible for the smooth operations of your site.

To improve your site (for both yourself and for your audience), there are several things you need to do. These include optimizing your images, increasing your page speed, and adding an SSL certificate to your site. It also includes using a responsive theme and eliminating pop-ups. This last point is particularly important because Google’s algorithm update in January 2017 is going to penalize websites that have specific types of pop-ups. (We will get into this more in Point #5.)

In this article, we will look at why you should make these changes and how you can make them.

Once you have made the recommended changes, the end result will give you a better website and improve your users’ experiences! You will also avoid penalization from Google!

The following is an outline of the 5 website changes you need to make, and the sub-points included in this article:

1: Optimize and Compress Your Images

some notes on image optimization
which plugin you can use to Bulk Optimize your existing website images
screenshots that show you how to do this
How to use Pixlr Express to compress your images (a step-by-step tutorial)

2: Increase Your Page Speed

How to Optimize Your Site and Make it Faster

3: Add an SSL Certificate to Your Website

3 Reasons Why You Need An SSL
How and Why I Installed an SSL on Wording Well
How You Can Get SSL-Certified

4: Ensure You Are Using a Responsive Theme

3 tests/tools to use to check how your site looks on all devices

5: Delete Pop-Ups to Avoid Penalization from Google

a history of Google’s algorithm updates
which pop-ups will be penalized
which pop-ups will be allowed

5 Website Changes You Need to Make ASAP (Before January 2017) #bloggers

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DOWNLOAD THIS BLOG POST AS A PDF.

It includes a bonus section NOT INCLUDED in this post!

November 21, 2016

CV and Résumé FAQs Every Freelancer Should Know

CV and Résumé FAQs for Freelancers

At some point in your life, if you are a looking for a job, you will get asked to submit a CV to an employer.

If you have a CV, that’s great! If you don’t have one, then you need to create one.

If you’re a freelancer, you should have an updated CV on hand at all times. You never know when you will need it!

Some job seekers – freelancers included – don’t know what a CV is. Or they don’t have one.

So today I will tell you everything you need to know about CVs.

I will answer the most commonly asked questions, too.

CV and Résumé FAQs

In this article, you will find answers to:

What is a CV?
Why Do You Need One?
Why Do Employers Ask for One?
What are the components of a CV?
How can you create a CV?
What if you have no work experience?
Can you show me some samples of CVs?
Which tools and/or services can you use to create a CV?

By the end of this article, you will be equipped with the knowledge you need to apply for a job using your CV.

And all of your CV or Résumé FAQs will have been answered!

You’ll even get access to a free template!

CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE CV TEMPLATE

Get your answers to the most common CV or Résumé FAQs here! #freelancers

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November 14, 2016

6 Ways for How to Search for Clients as a Freelance Writer

Being a freelancer has its pros and cons.

Working from home is the biggest pro for many people. Not earning enough (or not earning at all) is the biggest con.

While it’s great to be able to set your own hours, work in your pajamas (yes, I’m guilty of doing this!), and not have to deal with commuting, it is often hard to get started on the path to success.

You have to find your own clients.

Income varies from month to month.

You have a lot of competition. There are many other freelancers out there, willing to do the same type of work as you, often for a smaller amount of money!

So… even when things are going well for you, you still need to remember to actively look for work. Your client(s) might suddenly decide they don’t need you anymore… or cannot afford you anymore.

What will you do if that happens?

Find more work, right?

But how?

Here are 6 Ways for How to Search for Clients as a Freelance Writer:

1 – set up a writer website

2 – contribute to blogs (and sites that pay)

3 – choose a reputable job board

4 – keep bidding and emailing

5 – make cold calls

6 – pool your resources

We will look at each of these in more detail now, and by the end of this article, you’ll have a whole shitload of ideas and things you can do to find your next client!

And if you *really* want to succeed in the freelancing field, I highly suggest you take Elna’s course, Write Your Way to Your First $1k.

6 Ways for How to Search for Clients as a Freelance Writer

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October 17, 2016

Cyber Crime and Cyber Security for Entrepreneurs

Cyber crime is something we need to worry about. So we need to learn some cyber security tips, because we need to learn to protect ourselves!

You might remember that I related what happened to me in A True Story of a Computer Scam and How to Avoid It Happening to You. However, this is only ONE instance of the type of crime that is out there.

Today my guest (who you have met before when she offered some tax tips to freelancers) has many tips for us about how to protect ourselves from cyber crime and how to increase our cyber security.

Be sure to read the whole article. Her tips are amazing!

Learn to protect yourself from CYBER CRIME #Entrepreneurs

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Cyber Crime and Data Theft

For self-employed individual freelancers and small business owners, remaining financially secure and finding success is a balancing act. It can be hard enough for new entrepreneurs and freelancers to balance the books without unexpected expenses cropping up. Cyber crime and data theft are lurking dangers that could have indirect and direct financial costs on your organization.

According to a fraud and cyber crime infographic, Is Your Business Ready for the Next Man Made Disaster, created by Boston University, 45% of US businesses experienced some type of fraud over a two year period. Of the businesses that reported fraud, 44% reported cyber crime and 19% reported intellectual property theft had occurred in the last two years.

Boston University Online ~ source

Due to the number of cyber-attacks that United States businesses experience every year, it’s vital that all freelancers and business owners set up cyber security measures to prevent data theft.

Cyber Crime Comes in Many Different Forms

What exactly will criminals be targeting? What should you be concerned with protecting?

The following are a list of potential areas that might be targeted by cyber criminals:

Credit card, social security, addresses, phone numbers, and medical information of clients or customers
Schematics for products or the products themselves (if they are digital).
Theft of sensitive information about the company.
Hijacking of a computer network or website.

Cyber Crime Fallout

Why does cyber crime matter to small businesses and freelancers? The aftermath of a successful data breach can have far reaching legal, financial, and brand management consequences.

There are many potential legal fall-outs of a data breach:

Lawsuits from consumers or customers (class action lawsuit)
Lawsuits from financial institutions for exposing customer information.
Lawsuits from shareholders for breach of duty.
Lawsuits from employees.
Lawsuits from the federal government, state government, or federal trade commission for not meeting security standards (HIPPA Standards and cyber crime reporting rules).

Smaller companies and independent freelancers, due to their the smaller pool of data, employees, and clients have a lower chance of facing litigation, but it should still be something that companies guard against. Even when you don’t face potential litigation, the cost of a breach can be too high for many smaller businesses and freelancers.

The financial fallout can include:

Hours spent assessing the extent of the damage.
Expense of hiring an IT guys to help you diagnose and fix the breach.
Time and money spent reporting the breach to customers and regulators.
Time wasted due to vital data loss and unwanted encryption of systems.
Time wasted and work halted due to inability to access your network or website due to hackers locking you out.
Extortion demands to regain access to your site, network, or information.

In the aftermath of a data breach, customers and clients affected by the breach might lose some faith in your ability to ensure the safety of their own private information. In order to manage the brand fall-out, self-employed individuals should pro-actively tighten security, help clients where you can, and make it clear that the gaps in your security are now filled.

Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Prevention

The best defense to prevent cyber crime is to proactively enact a variety of protections and safe guards to promote a safe and secure workplace. You can start decreasing the chances of a cyber crime and increasing your cyber security by:

Ensuring you and all employees utilize complicated and unique passwords that are changed regularly.
Never sharing passwords with other employees, clients, or friends.
Not leaving computers with sensitive information on and unattended.
Not carrying sensitive information on a laptop that might be stolen.
Periodically deleting files with sensitive information from computers if they aren’t necessary.
Not accessing the businesses network on an unsecure device.
Encrypting folders with sensitive information on devices.
Encrypting emails that contain sensitive information.
Purchasing encrypted USB drives and external hard drives to store information.
Ensuring employees are familiar and stick to security protocols.
Ensuring that any vendors utilized that have access to your accounts have stringent security measures.
Scrubbing all information from old computers and devices before selling, trashing, or sending them in for recycling.
Conduct yearly analysis of the current state of the business’s cyber security.

Cyber security is important for all self-employed individuals. Failure to maintain a safe line of defense could have far reaching financial, legal, and brand consequences. It’s vital for the financial stability of your company that you create robust security protocols.

After all, you don’t want to get sued, do you?

Learn to protect yourself from CYBER CRIME #Entrepreneurs

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Connect with Samantha Stauf on Twitter (@SamStauf).

October 10, 2016

20 Ways to Be a Master Writer and Improve Your Writing Skills

Becoming a master writer and improving your writing skills is something most bloggers, freelancers, and authors strive to do.

That’s why I (Lorraine) have helped my guest today improve her writing by co-writing this blog post with her. (She sent the basic draft, and I added to it.)

It’s difficult to write a stellar blog post on the first, second, or even the third try. Great writing requires revisions!

Not only that, but writing a blog post or an article that will captivate the reader is not something many people can do. In fact, many people will run to the hills when asked to write a blog post. The simple reason for this is that it is tough coming up with paragraphs of words that will make the reader sit still and want to read to the end. Authors sometimes feel the same way when beginning a new book, too.

While it’s easy to write an email or correct someone else’s work, it suddenly becomes a tumultuous task for a majority of people when they are asked to write an interesting, comprehensible piece. Here are 20 helpful tips on how you can transform your bland writing into an art of work that is a page-turner:

20 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

There’s no doubt about it — writing is a skill. To improve your writing skills, there are a plethora of things you can do. You can hire a writer to help you, of course (either hire me or hire someone from Custom Writings) but the best way to improve your own writing skills is to use the following 20 tips!

Here are the 20 best ways for improving your writing skills. Please use them! If you do, you’ll become a master writer in no time!

20 Ways to Be a Master Writer and Improve Your Writing Skills#writers #bloggers

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