Comments on: Here Comes the Shovel

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Great seeing you here, Brian! Please stick around – I love hearing from new folks! We’re all here to help, too. Feel free to ask questions.

By: Brian Steele

Brian Steele — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:46:00 +0000

I get tired of seeing more chaff than wheat on sites like you mention. So I decided to turn some of the Craig's List dung into fertilizer to make some good things grow. I recently introduced a feature on my blog called "Free Comedy Gold from Craig's List" that takes looks at some of the garbage, much of which is hilarious as long as nobody gets scammed.

I also took a scam Craig's List offer and made it the humorous basis of a post called "The Thermodynamics Test for Financial Investments".

Anyway, because I'm a new blogger and first time novelist I've enjoyed your blog and look forward to more from Words on the Page.

Cheers,

Brian

By: writtenexpressions

writtenexpressions — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Crap job postings make me mad too.

I have been so lucky--I got two good clients from a mailer/phone campaign I did when I started my business, and the rest have been people I worked with before I started freelancing who have also moved on to other things and thought well enough of my work to keep in touch.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:04:00 +0000

Uh, these kinds of ads make me so mad. I do have to say that I’ve gotten a lot of good gigs from Craigslist, though — some of my most lucrative long-term jobs came from there. You just have to be willing to take the time to weed through all the crud!

By: Kathryn Magendie

Kathryn Magendie — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:50:00 +0000

god…it never ceases to amaze me. I mean, imagine going to your dentist, or doctor, or even for gawd’s sake your hair stylist and expecting to pay them some tiny little sum, or to say “Hey, I’ll tell everyone you are swell if you fill my cavity for free” or “I may pay you for this haircut, but, we’ll see how it goes!”

Or, “Doc, here’s five buck – go crazy!”

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I saw all of those posts and was disgusted. There was actually another one that sounded good and promised $100-$500 per assignment -- only the assignment is at least 500 pieces, which is NOT the way it was advertised.

Uh, no.

I use a combination of job listings, reading classifieds in certain papers that actually have legit jobs, and targeted marketing.

By: Eileen Coale

Eileen Coale — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:10:00 +0000

In the past, much of my work came from referrals, but that was when I was a generalist. Now that I write for a specific niche, I use targeted direct mail campaigns to find my clients. I currently have a list of about 150 contacts in my niche (got those contacts by reading trade pubs and doing online research), and I add a handful of names each month. Typically I send out a lumpy mailer with an offer for a special report. This system works quite well for me when I am consistent (and I’m not always consistent). I’ve tried applying for online gigs, but find they aren’t worth my time or there are five bazillion other writers applying for the same gigs. When I use DM, a typical comment I’ll get from a new client is, “Oh, I’ve been looking for someone like you! It’s really hard to find someone with your expertise.”