~A Bit About Me~

Hello Everyone,

My name is Margo Johnson, I am a mother of three wonderful children ages 14, 12 and 10 and I am engaged to the most wonderfully supportive man. 

I am a native Vermonter and I would have to say I love it here, except for the fact that two days ago we had barely any snow left and it was as if we were headed into mud season. Now, today, we have a little over a foot of fresh snow. It looks like the first snow fall of winter all over again. Pretty, but sad. I was ready for the smell of spring in the air and fresh cut grass. 

I have been searching online for about a year now, for ways to make money. And I have, made money I mean, a little here, a little there, But far from enough to even come close to paying my bills, much less call it an income,..lol. 

During my year online I came across a lot different opportunities, some promised me 'riches overnight', others said that I could start earning 'Ten minutes from now' and still others said I would be making '$20 to $80 over and over again all day long on auto pilot while doing no work'.

 I also came across some opportunities that were about 80% honest, telling me I would have to work for it, but leaving out the fact that after my initial investment of $47 or $97 or even $197, in order to start making money I would need to invest another $297 or some other crazy amount to get what I needed to LEARN to understand what I NEEDED to do, so that I could implement it to make the money. (I hope that's not too confusing..LOL)

Many times I came across 'opportunities', and I use that word lightly, that left out more then what they gave me. I had no idea of how to make the money. I heard things about SEO, Article Marketing, Google Adsense,  Social Media, uplines, downlines, MLM and network marketing, but I had no idea what any of this really was. No one explained any of it to me.

I ended up spending $100's of dollars on things that never worked. I have over $1000's worth of e-books, software and programs on my computer that most of them I have never used, or after buying them I was told I needed a license number for them and never received it.

During all of this, I started writing. Blogs and reviews became an every day 'job' in themselves.

About three weeks ago I had posted a talent for sale on Apsense, a business social media platform. A connection of mine bought my talent, "Write an Article, topic of your choice". After I completed the job for him, he commented and said "Margo writes beautifully, and did an amazing job, she doesn't charge as much as she should. I recommend that everyone in our Apsense family use her services". From that point on, I decided that I was going to find a way to make money online, as a writer!

I have always had a passion for writing, I have always been told I was great at it. So that's it, I am now starting my own freelance writing business. What better way is there to earn money? I am doing what I am good at and better yet I am doing something I LOVE!

Since the sale of that first article, I sold another to that gentleman, got hired for three jobs on Elance, one of which was an 1800 word article, another is still in progress but I have already wrote six articles, 500 words each for the client and she still has about ten more for me to write, and the third job I got hired for is 10 pages, 500 words each, for $10 a page. That job starts once I have completed the one in progress.

I also have three articles published on SelfGrowth.com! I am so excited. This is just the beginning and my career is taking off.

I hope to be able to both educate and enlighten you through my posts. I hope to also keep them entertaining. I promise to keep them 100% honest and factual. I will make it my point to let you know different aspects of opportunities that the people trying to get you to become a part of, will tend to leave out.

I am going to say that I do not think people lie on purpose, for the most part anyway, but I do believe that they leave things out because they are afraid you won't join them. I believe though that if they want others to join, if they are honest, there is a better chance that if you join. You will also stay at it and in most cases you will become successful with it, and in turn that helps with their success. So, I guess I am saying, if they want success, they need to be upfront and honest.

I would appreciate it if you have any questions or comments if you leave them. I promise I will get back to you. 

If you have something to say, that you don't want to post publicly feel free to email me.

Also I am looking to take on new clients all the time, so if you are looking for content for your website or blog, need help writing an e-book, want a book, article or website proofread or edited please send me an email with what you need. I am going to be posting links to some of my work below. So review them and if you are still considering hiring me, I will reply to your email and we can either hash it out via email or we can have a phone conversation to work out the details.

To my readers: I hope to help you achieve your dream, whether it be writing or another career.
To my potential clients: I can't wait to work with you so please feel free to contact me whenever is convenient for you!!

Links to my published articles (variety of topics)
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/how-to-cook-the-worlds-most-amazing-lasagna
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/childhood-cancer-facts
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/bullying-what-is-being-done

Links to two of the articles I sold:
http://isloootalkingpoint.com/health-top-niche-market-industry
http://isloootalkingpoint.com/why-insurance-is-the-highest-paying-niche-market

I wish you nothing but happiness and success!! :)

Sincerely,
Margo D. Johnson
Author, Blogger, Editor and Affiliate
Email Address: margodjohnson@gmail.com 
***Please put 'Earn Living Online' in subject line so i don't overlook your email***

Also Check out my other blog @ http://margodaejohnson.wordpress.com

Writing For Experience Helps You Make Money

Recently I talked about using Elance as a freelancing platform for writing to earn money online. Today I am going to discuss another method of writing that will help you sell yourself on Elance.

Being published, even if it is only one article, will help the employers on freelance sites like Elance with their decision to hire you. If you don't already have a portfolio already, then now is the time to start building one. 

I highly recommend signing up for Selfgrowth.com. You won't get paid for the articles you submit there, but it will help you understand the submission process and build your confidence as a writer when you receive emails saying that they have published your articles.

This is one of my articles http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/childhood-cancer-facts that I have had published there.I have a couple others also.

The best part of having published work is that I have a place to send potential employers and private clients, so they can view my writing style, skill and how good or bad at writing I am. 

Also you build a network on Selfgrowth.com, and you are able to advertise for private clients, which can expand your client base and grow your bank account.

You’ll receive free bonus self improvement e-books and/or audio downloads just for signing up! At SelfGrowth.com you’ll find articles, videos, website directories, a calendar of upcoming events, a store, and more – all dedicated to helping you improve your life in whatever area you wish.

Moreover, your free account lets you make SelfGrowth.com an interactive experience, where you can submit your own content, chat live with others, even create an “expert page” about yourself and your business! Expand your online presence, promote your products and services to the largest self improvement audience on the web, and network with other top experts in a variety of fields.

I hope to see you join Selfgrowth.com and see what it can do to help you grow yourself and your business as a freelance writer!

Freelance Writer's Earning an Online Income

There are many options for freelance writers to earn a decent honest income online, doing what you love.You won't earn an income instantly, but over a course of a short period of time, you will gain more clients, get more writing jobs and before you know it your making a good income.

I am going to give you a few tips and tricks to earning money as a writer over the next few days. Everyday I will write about a different way for you to start earning. The one thing you need to remember is that in order to make money you have to work. 

Being a writer takes patience and the ability to write, and write well. Anyone can write, but the quality of your writing is what is going to sell your articles and make you money. 

You are going to want to sign up for Elance. The first thing you want to do after you sign up is verify your account through the email that they send to you. After your account is verified, log in and start working on your profile.  Make sure that you sell yourself well. Don't add too many links to your profile but do add a link to a website that you have a published article, blog or e-book posted on. A great place for you to publish your work, for experience and to use to retain work and gain clients is Selfgrowth.com. (look me up once your there) Selfgrowth allows you to make a profile and submit articles, about 24 to 48 hours later your article will be published. Use these articles as a work sample and to brand yourself as an author, journalist and experienced writer. Another great tip: HAVE YOUR OWN BLOG! ( like this one) Keep it updated and link it to your profiles on selfgrowth and Elance and any other sites your a part of.

Be very detailed about your skills. If you can write articles, blog posts, reviews, e-books, sales copy, etc make sure that you include all of that. Elance will send you your job recommendations daily based on your skills. 

Check your emails when you get them and check the job opportunities frequently ( a few times a day). If you find a job your interested in, and believe that you can do well, then write a proposal and submit it. Your proposal is very important, so make sure it stands out, add any links to your blogs and published articles in this proposal. When trying to figure out your rate of pay for the job, look at the average proposal rate, the high and the low, then think about how much time it is going to take you to complete it. Do not low-ball yourself, this may mean you won't get all the jobs you want but if someone wants quality writing then they are going to pay for it. 

Once your proposal has been submitted, it may take a few days to get accepted if you do. Don't let it get to you if you get denied, just keep submitting proposals. You will get a job. 

I personally submitted over 20 proposals before I got an acceptance. Once I got my first job, within 24 hours after I received 2 more jobs. So in about 48 hours I was hired for $150 worth of work.

Keeping in touch with the employer is very important. Make sure you can handle being critiqued and that you can meet deadlines. Not all of the jobs have deadlines but that doesn't mean that you want to put it off until the last minute.

Make sure you know EXACTLY what the employer wants because some of the jobs are vague, so get all of the details you can.

Once you have written the article, blog or whatever you were hired to do, run it through duplichecker.com, this will allow you to make sure your work is original, so there are no issues. You want all content to be original, unless the employer says otherwise (which is rare)

After the job is complete make sure you go to Elance and check job completed so that you can get paid. After you do this and the employer does this, Elance will release your money to your paypal account. 

You can work on as many jobs as you can handle at a time, but do not place all of your eggs in one basket. Sign up to as many freelance writing sites as you can handle. The more sites your signed up to the more money you can make.

I wish you luck and much success!!

 Elance.com ~JOIN TODAY~ It's FREE TO JOIN AND WORK FROM!

Are You Interested In Blogging?

If your interested in blogging, whether its for money, to provide others with honest information or just for fun, there is a lot you should know. Here is a recommended read for you: Essential Blogging by Doctorow, Cory/ Powers, Shelley/ Trott, Mena G.

First of all, have more then one blog, and if you have an article that you have submitted to your blog that you are passionate about, make sure you have it saved as a file on your computer or in another blog some where.

And another tip, if you can afford it, have a self hosted blog! It doesn't cost that much BUT I know personally it isn't always easy to factor in another expense, so if you need to have a free blog, make sure you back everything up.

I decided to write about this because I did have another blog, until last night that is, when it was unexpectedly deactivated! And without just cause!

I had received a comment on a blog I had wrote from a woman who wanted to know if it was hard and time consuming to run a blog that was an "excellent website" (her words) like mine. She appreciated all of the honest reviews of the business opportunities and like many others had bookmarked my blog to come back at a later date and she had been following it by email. (keep in mind my blog was 2 weeks old!)

I decided to write the next blog in reply to her query and since that has been deleted I figured that I would write a similar one here, maybe she will find it. If not then I hope someone else can use the tips I give.

The first thing I had discussed was that No, I don't think it's hard to run a good blog, as I just keep myself limited to two or three blogs, and I try to submit to them all a few times a week, more if my readers request it. I also think that it is very important to reply to ALL of the comments from my readers, being a part of an interactive blog is very important to the author and the readers alike. I personally appreciate it when readers give me their in-site and ask questions because then I have more to write about and I know this way they will come back.

If you are just starting out I would suggest checking out many different blogging sites and picking a few that fit your taste and your needs, such as whether or not you can post video's or banners if you'd like, and if you plan on trying to monetize the blog you need to make sure that you are allowed to. So, whatever blog sites you sign up to, make sure you read the TOS. (terms of service)

A few blog sites that I personally recommend are:

http://wordpress.com
http://blogger.com
http://tumblr.com

http://livejournal.com
http://webnode.com
http://jimdo.com
http://multiply.com
http://www.squidoo.com/
http://www.tripod.lycos.com/
http://posterous.com
http://storify.com
http://over-blog.com
http://angelfire.com
http://bravejournal.com
http://newsvine.com
http://journalspace.com
http://blog.com
http://skyrock.com
http://areavoices.com
http://dailystrength.org
http://sitew.com
http://blogs.rediff.com/
http://snappages.com
http://thoughts.com

Keep in mind there are MANY more then this, and some will allow you to have a free website along with the blog, and a free sub-domain. BUT if you do this MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BACKUP OR YOU CAN LOSE EVERYTHING FOR NO REASON AT THE BLINK OF AN EYE!

My three favorites (besides Blogger) are Webs.com,..with webs you can have a blog and UNLIMITED FREE websites, Another is Weebly, you get your blog and two free websites, and Webstarts.com where you get a free website and blog,..oh and I can not forget wix.com! You get one free website OR free blog with them and I have had pretty good luck with them. (Check out my pages tab on the right, and there is a link to my wix site) All of these sites are VERY easy to set up, there is no need for computer knowledge
like HTML or coding.

Once you establish your blog or whenever you are confident with your writing, you can submit some of your blogs or articles to document sharing sites such as:

http://myplick.com
http://wepapers.com
http://pdfcast.org/pdf/
http://www.edocr.com
Ezine Articles
Articles Base
Buzzle
GO articles
Article Alley
Article Dashboard
Article Click
Amazines


Sharing your blog or any website with social media sites is very important these days and there are so many of them, you are sure to get people to your blog with this method. Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter,digg, delicious, tumblr,..the list is never ending honestly.

If you are blogging for money the first recommendation I have for you is Google Adsense! If you follow their rules and do as they say and are smart about picking your keywords (less niche based, and more about word popularity) you can make really good money with them. There are a few other ways to monetize you blog, remember, READ THE TOS FIRST but here are a very few of the other ways you can do this:

CPX24.com
Fidelity-Media.com
PantherAds.com
CPXInteractive.com
BurstMedia.co.uk
Clicksor.com
Chitika.com

I hope this blog is helpful for some of you and I really hope that they don't deactivate my blog like the other blog site did. Apparently they didn't like me writing about where you can blog and how to do it, even though their name is the first in my list:)


Please subscribe to my blog by email (top right hand corner) for instant updates!

Happy Blogging!!

Blogging for Dummies By Gardner, Susannah/ Birley, Shane


**If you click on any links in any of my blogs, I have to tell you honestly, there is a good chance that I will earn a commission on most of them. Not all of them are links I earn with but a good  amount of them are, and I am required by law to tell you this. although to be honest I would have told you anyways:)**

Freelance Job Openings : Hire a Freelancer!

Freelance Job Openings : Hire a Freelancer!

If your looking for work, or need some fast money check this out!!

They don't accept scams, or low paying offers so your guaranteed to make some good money:)