Had a fantastic webinar session yesterday! We covered a lot of ground, and there’s a lot more to cover in our next session. It’s not too late for you to join — we recorded this session, and we’ll have handouts at the end.
Oh, happy day! Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year (Faith and Begorrah!), and it’s the sixth anniversary of this blog. Because I started this blog with little direction and my own career was still unsteady, I thought it appropriate to celebrate my blog-iversary with some of the neatest resources out there for writers. Free resources. Fantastic information that can help you build, rebuild, or redirect your business and increase your potential.
Here are some of my favorite online resources:
Power Words for Business Writing. This is why you should be following Cathy Miller’s every move. She provides a great list of words to help you ramp up your copy.
Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator. Jenn Mattern’s tried-and-true calculator is a must for any writer trying to determine their hourly rate.
Keyword Density Analyzer. Have I mentioned how fantabulous Jenn Mattern is? Here she’s gone so far as to create a tool that helps us understand SEO, or at least apply it without having to think about it.
25 Must-Read Best Copywriting & Marketing Books. I’ve been a Lorraine Thompson fan for a while. This list includes a couple of personal favorites.
SEO Your Website. Sharon Hurley Hall gives us a free, easy-to-follow guide that boosts website visibility. Plus she’s just darned nice.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. Probably one of the best resource sites for professional writers, the topics range from audience analysis to style points.
Guide to Grammar and Style. An online user’s guide, written by Jack Lynch, that answers nearly all of your grammar questions.
What are your favorite free resources?
And more importantly, how are you spending St. Paddy’s Day?
13 responses to “Writerly Resources”
Well what a nice surprise this Friday morning. Thank you, Lori. And I m honored to be in such good company. There's some here I've missed so I'm off the check them out while you're drinking your green beer. 🙂
Thanks for all you do, Lori.
Thanks for gracing the list so elegantly and eloquently, Cathy. 🙂
As for green beer, it's an affront to my sensibilities! Ack! No, I much prefer Guinness to look like Guinness. 🙂 I shall toast you tomorrow, dear! 🙂
Got more link love from Dr. Freelance himself. Check out his latest Freelance Follies video-too funny! Feeling the ♥ today
🙂
Freelance Folies: It Depends
Happy 6th. That's impressive! Hope the webinar went well.
Planning to go out to the LPGA tourney with my daughter, then I've got a nice corned beef for the grill — not a big fan of boiling and the recipe looked good.
Faith & Begorrah, indeed!
I think you've covered some of the best free writing resources, Lori. I may spend my St. Patrick's Day sifting through them.
Luckily I'm not Irish since I have a ton of cleaning to do. I'm still gearing up for hosting Easter and need to get some of the heavy lifting done before my sister deposits her dogs here next week. They will be here through Easter… One is recovering from a scary illness and needs near-constant supervision – she's a stubborn Lab who wants to do things herself (like jump on and off furniture despite her wobbly hind legs) – so I want to have the big stuff done before they arrive on Wednesday.
The only green I'll be dealing with this weekend – making those green worsted pocket nets for my cousin's antique pool table.
Nice surprise, Lori, thanks. Can't believe I haven't downloaded Cathy's freebie, but I'm off to do it now. Thanks for this great list of resources. 🙂
Tit for tat, Sharon. Somehow I missed your SEO tips (I've rectified that oversight). 🙂
Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy anniversary Lori. Thanks for all of the support you give to the writing community. As my students would say, your blog is off the hook!
I'll be making a big pot of Irish Stew and watching my son play hockey. Only two more weekends and the season is over. Enjoy the weekend all my Irish cousins!
You're an impressive lady, Miss Cathy. 🙂
Jake, sounds like a great day planned! Enjoy the grilled corned beef – and let us know how it turned out!
Paula, EVERYONE is Irish tomorrow. 🙂 Enjoy the weekend "greening" in your own way.
Thank YOU, Sharon. Great resource!
Wade, I'm going to trust you that "off the hook" is a good thing (in fishing, not so much). 🙂 Irish stew sounds awesome! My favorite haunt has incredible Irish stew (well, they ARE Irish straight off the boat, as they say). I may partake despite being vegetarian.
Thank you for the compliment. 🙂
Okay, Lori, I'll break out the old Cranberries CDs and maybe a little U2 since that's the only Irish music I have. (The Cranberries are great the blast when cleaning.)
Sunday I'll get back to my traditional Lent musical selection: Jesus Christ Superstar (original concept album, of course)
Happy blog-iversary! I'm so glad you started this blog, no matter how shaky the start. It is definitely off the hook now, as Wade's students would say 😉 And happy St. Patrick's Day. Now, where's my Kiss Me button ….
Interesting links. I like taking a look at The Chicago Manual of Style Online from time to time (it's certainly less tedious than the actual manual can be):
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
Ashley, you don't need the button. You're cute as can be and would be fighting them off with a stick. 🙂
EP, totally agree. The actual manual is unwieldy. It's why I like following AP style whenever possible. LOL