Have you ever wondered if you could make it as a freelancer? Peter Bowerman thinks you can. Not only that, he’ll tell you how.
When I first began freelancing, I bought his book, The Well-Fed Writer, and I found its encouragement and instruction very practical. When I wanted to re-publish Cancer Freedom, a book that had been published by a traditional publisher years ago, I referred to Bowerman’s second book, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher. I also subscribe to his blog and his enewsletter, and through both Bowerman has created a community of freelancing professionals who are generous about helping each other. I’ve been recommending his books for years, and I recently signed up for his affiliate program—so if you buy either of his books after clicking the image or the links below, I do receive a commission. Even if I didn’t, I would recommend them.
Build a Better Blog
ProBlogger Darren Rowse is not only a savvy blogger; he’s also a good person who wants to make the world a better place. Darren put together 31 Days to Build a Better Blog as a way of compiling and sharing the information he learned through years of trial and error—and the book sold tens of thousands of copies.
This best-seller was freshly updated for 2012 with new information, new exercises, new ideas, and 7 bonus days! It’s a downloadable ebook that offers 31 short (but deep) lessons, each with an exercise to help you practice what you’ve just learned. It may take you longer than 31 days to complete the book, but it’s a journey worth taking if you want your blog to be all it can be. (Disclosure: If you click the link below and end up buying 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, I will receive a commission. So please, click and buy!)
Use the Best Theme
Speaking of improving your blog, I chose the Thesis theme because it gives me a solid structure that I can customize to meet the needs of my readers. While I choose fonts and images and layout to make the front end look good, Thesis is working on SEO behind the scenes so that people who are searching for writing help will find LifeLines. And the support forums are a true community of knowledgeable, creative, code-savvy people who are generous about helping newbies like me. (Disclosure: If you click the link below and end up buying Thesis, I will receive a commission.)
Update: In late 2012, DIY Themes released a major update of Thesis. I bought and installed it because it was positioned as a easy-to-use theme for people with no coding background. I did not find that to be the case and invested a lot of time researching and coding in order to customize my site. If I had known this, I would not have upgraded. It’s possible that Thesis 2.0 will become much easier to use as developers begin making “skins” and “packages” available, but until then, I can’t really recommend Thesis 2.0 to novice bloggers. If you do have some coding background, you are certainly welcome to buy Thesis 2.0 using the links on this page. If you don’t, I think Thesis 1.8.5 is still available, but it takes some searching to find it. Don’t use these links; just Google it.
- Thesis Theme for WordPress: Options Galore and a Helpful Support Community