September 2016 – Ad Hoc Group

If you can write, then get paid to blog. Getting paid to blog is a perfect solution to help finance your travels. Finding paid blogging jobs is another matter, though. So, this week, I’ll talk about where to find some of those “get paid to blog” jobs, and what it takes to get hired.

Beat Your Blog Competition

If you’re seeking a position to blog for someone else, then keep these few things in mind. If blogging sounds like a good job to you, it will to many others. Many of your competitors have the equal, or even better, qualifications than you have. But your application’s appearance makes the first impression on the employer, and could make the difference between getting a second review or getting tossed. Like your resumé the purpose of your application is to get an interview, or otherwise be chosen for consideration. But that’s not all that employers will review.

It helps if you have some experience as a blogger. It’s a plus if you have your own blog. If you don’t, then start one. Show, both in your blog and in your application, that you know something about their niche or topic. Show that you have a personal interest in that subject. Don’t apply for blog jobs in topics you know nothing about or have no interest in.

Experienced bloggers know how to use SEO. Can you grow a following? Capture email? Any blog-related skills help you stand out. If not you can learn these skills. Our Career Niches tab lists plenty of resources for learning blogging skills, SEO, email marketing, social networking, and much more.

Your Blog Application

Reviewers may give only a brief glance to each application before deciding which ones to consider. Expect reviewers to discard any application that doesn’t meet their submission criteria, exactly. In addition to presenting your qualifications, your application is a test of how well you follow instructions, and how observant you are.

Keep your application as short as possible, yet, include everything they ask for.
Avoid the temptation to include irrelevant information, even if it’s about your proudest accomplishment.
Make sure you follow the application instructions perfectly.
Include something that catches their attention (without looking foolish.)
Attach, (or create if necessary,) the best of your writing samples, especially any that are in the same niche you are applying for.
If you write in different styles, (i.e. technical, humorous, instructional, etc.) include samples to show your flexibility.
Include links to live websites where your articles appear.

Remember that you are selling yourself. Despite not knowing your competition, or what they offer, make your attributes outshine theirs. Review your application as though you were an employer reviewing it. Would you hire this person? Do you want to invest your money in this person?

Blog Job Resources

I got my first blogging job from a Craigslist ad around 2004. Even then Craigslist had a reputation for scams. But I took this chance knowing that, at worst, I’d be out the time to write a couple articles if this was fraudulent. Fortunately it wasn’t. I found myself writing for Page 1 Solutions, and was paid regularly to write articles and blogs. They gave me some excellent coaching during those years, for which I’m very grateful. Use caution when applying for jobs on Craigslist, but also know that, more often than not, the ads posted on Craigslist are legitimate.

Bid for Blog Jobs

Upwork.com, Guru.com, Fiverr.com and similar job bidding sites, offer quite a bit of work opportunities. With Upwork and Guru you can enroll as a provider and bid on jobs posted by employers. You’ll be competing with people who bid low. But, rather than compete with low bidders, bid for the higher paying jobs and build a reputation for writing clear accurate English, or excelling in your chosen blog niche, and you’ll eventually have employers contacting you. As a Fiverr provider you’ll have to do your own promotions outside the Fiverr system. Fiverr offers a list of jobs you can bid on but less extensive than what you’ll find on the bidding sites.

Apply for Blog Jobs

Companies looking to hire bloggers place paid ads on ProBlogger, which are available to applicants at no charge. A quick look at the jobs list suggests that you quote your rates to them, but some may have their own rates. Each ad is different. I spotted ads in a wide variety of niche and writing categories. Marketing, technology, health products and social media appear most often in the list as of today. But other topic writers, such as business, fashion, paleo, and much more are also being sought. I also spotted some copywriting ads, so this list may offer bigger gigs than blogging.

People Per Hour is centered in the UK, but promotes some of its jobs as “remote.” You never know how far out they consider remote. When Guru and Upwork have both employers and providers from around the world, being located in the UK may not be a limiting factor.

Freelance Writer’s Den offers paid memberships, and touts high paying freelance blog and writing jobs. It’s rather exclusive in that they limit the number of members. But you can get on the waiting list and be notified when “the doors open,” as they put it. Currently monthly fees for the Freelance Writers Den is $25, and for Den 2X $139. That sounds pretty steep, but if you find blog jobs that pay well and you get plenty of work, it may be worth it.

More Blog Job Resources

Check out Be a Freelance Blogger where you can download Sophie Lizard’s ebook loaded with 75 blogs that pay. This site offers a blog and several ebooks, in addition to the list of blogs that pay. One of them is about what bloggers charge. Blogging pays better than you might think. You can download that here.

And finally, search the Internet. Use search terms like “write for us + [your niche]”, or “blogs + [your niche]”. Search the resulting sites for guidelines, submission forms, pay rates, by lines, and copyright terms. If you really want paid blogging gigs, they’re out there. Go get ‘em!

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Wishing y’all great RVing adventures
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Need a Will? Two DIY Alternatives to an Attorney

Many years ago we had our wills prepared by an attorney, which cost a lot of money, even then. Since then, our address and circumstances have changed, and it was time to redo these important legal documents. Over the years additional legal documents have become standard and we didn’t have these in place, either. But we couldn’t afford hundreds of dollars to have an attorney draw these up. Our solution was to use either LegalZoom or USLegalForms.

We’ve used both and found that they’re both affordable and the forms are easy to complete. You just need to know how you want your will to be carried out. One of the biggest benefits for full timers is that you don’t have to be in your domicile state to create or update your legal documents.

Both LegalZoom and USLegalForms have a wide variety of forms for business, intellectual property, personal matters and most common legal needs. You can incorporate a business, draw up partnership papers, create contracts, file a copyright or trademark, and create just about any personal legal document you can imagine. Both services offer assistance in filling the forms at a higher price per form.

Documents are available that meet legal requirements by state with both services. So, no matter where you are, you just choose from the forms available for your domicile state. But there are some big differences between these two legal resources.

The last time we updated our wills (2011) we had them done through LegalZoom. Each will, at that time, was $89. We purchased only the will, without Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, or Medical Directives. We filled them out with the assistance of an automated LegalZoom questionnaire. Since only one of us could fill out the form on the LegalZoom system, that meant either both of us had to pay $89 for a will, or we could do one person’s will, then copy it making changes appropriate for the other spouse.

More Affordable Option

This time, we decided to complete all of these documents, but LegalZoom wanted $149 apiece for the package with just four forms. The $149 package for one person contains a Will, a Living Trust, Advance Directives, and Power of Attorney. We needed two packages.

I decided to check USLegalForms options, and was pleasantly surprised. This package included all the forms we both needed for $49, including a Mutual Will. The will we chose was designed for husband and wife with adult children, as compared to minor children. It also allowed us to fill out all the forms for both of us, as compared to LegalZoom, which required each of us purchase separate packages. Rather than pay $298 for these documents, we opted for USLegalForms’ $49 package, and couldn’t be happier with that purchase.

For that $49 we each completed

Our separate Wills
General Durable Power of Attorney for property and finances
Statutory Power of Attorney
Medical Durable Power of Attorney
Declaration of Guardian

They also provided additional forms for

An inventory list
Directives to Physicians, Family or Surrogates
An estate planning questionnaire
Personal planning

The planning forms are thorough and much easier to organize the information than the rather disorganized one I tried to create. We also received a law guide.

USLegalForms also has an online dictionary, FAQs and the opportunity to submit questions to attorneys through Just Answer, which I believe charges an extra fee depending upon the complexity of the answer. This isn’t the same as legal advice, but is legal information.

Other Legal Considerations

One problem full timers might run into is finding two qualified witnesses at the time you have these documents notarized. Moving around the country means that friends, those who you would normally ask to be witnesses, are not available. We found that many notaries do have witnesses, but also learned that many banks that offer notary services for almost any document, don’t notarize wills. Our solution was to take them to the nearest UPS store. They not only notarized each document (for $5 apiece,) but also allowed their staff to sign as witnesses, solving our biggest problem.

This may be a great solution, especially if you realize the need for legal documents while away from your domicile home. If not a perfect solution, it is a good temporary one, until you can arrange for an attorney to draw up your documents.

LegalZoom has two subscription plans, personal for $14.95/month and business for $29.95 a month. When I subscribed in 2011, I was able to access all the forms they offered. It now looks like you can access only forms in one or the other category.

If you do choose either LegalZoom or USLegalForms, please use our affiliate link (just click on the name of the service.) One of the ways we make our full timer living is by finding products that are useful to RVers, then vetting them to be sure our referrals are quality resources.

Last Minute Update

I just received information about Iris Plans, an Austin TX based company that assists people in creating health planning documents, such as advance directives, living will, medical power of attorney, etc. It isn’t always easy to know what healthcare professionals will do if you state your wishes in your own terms. Will they know what you mean under any situation, or are your wishes conditional on the likelihood of your recovery. If you need a more personalized service, they have medical professionals available to help you understand what these documents mean, and how to fill them out so that your wishes are clearly stated.

I have no idea what they charge for their services, but if you have any doubts about finalizing a document that involves your health care planning and wishes, look into this service.

Wishing y’all great RVing adventures