Two weeks ago, I received a frantic e-mail from a writer who had subscribed to my newsletter and received a free copy of an e-book in which I share 21 query letters that sold to major publications around the world. “In all your queries,” she wrote, “you mention that you’ve been published by all these big-time magazines and newspapers. OF COURSE an editor is going to buy your work, you’ve got the credits to back you up. But what about me? I’ve never even been published. What am I supposed to send instead of bio and clips?”

As it happens, ten years ago, I was that newbie with no credits, no clips, and no contacts to speak of. I lived through and solved all the problems that plague new writers and today, I want to show you how you can, too.

Recognize any?

1. You have no money. Most of us, when we’re starting out, want to invest in our education in the form of books and e-courses, perhaps even conferences, but we’re bringing in no money and so it becomes difficult to justify that expense.

The solution: Blog. Find paying blogs and write articles or stories for them that you can write quickly and easily. Once you get that small payment (usually around $50 or so) use it to buy a couple of books to get you going.

2. You have a full-time job or young kids or both. I’m a full-time freelance journalist. I have been a full-time freelance journalist for ten years. Writing is all I ever do. And you know what? I still complain about not having the time to write. Sure, I write articles, but that novel that I haven’t finished in two years? I don’t have the time for it because I have bills to pay and freelancing allows me to do that. The truth is, you’re never going to find the time for the things you love to do or want to do, so you’re going to have to get creative and make it instead.

The solution: Make a date. On Sunday, at 4 p.m., you will do nothing but go to the local café and write. Pick your time, pick your place, tell your family you have a meeting with someone important and just do it.

3. You can’t think of anything to write about. When I first picked writing as a career option, I’d just failed my first year of college as an engineering student. At 19 years old, I had no life experience, no knowledge of the world to contribute, and no burning desire, really, to say anything that the world hadn’t heard before. What could I write about?

The solution: I wrote my first story about failing (and surviving) your first year in college. And I wrote about the things I wanted to learn about, such as finding ways to fund your world travel or how to study effectively.

4. You have no clips or experience to show to prospective clients. I worked my way up from publications that paid $10 a piece to publications that pay $2,000 a piece. It took ten years. Some of my colleagues, however, started with those top publications right away. How?

The solution: Come up with brilliant ideas that only you can write. I broke into The New York Times because I proposed a piece about plastic roads in India that hadn’t been covered before and was unique to me (I live in India). Similarly, I broke into Parade.com with a personal essay about a relationship in the midst of collapse, and I pitched a travel story to Time magazine when I was in Ghana and the American president was visiting.

5. You have no confidence. I’d like to say that this will cease to be a problem as you grow, but that’s not true. We are part of an industry in change, a career that is unpredictable at the best of times, and this does manifest regularly in the form of lost confidence.

The solution: Write anyway.

Mridu Khullar Relph is an award-winning journalist. Get her free e-book “21 Query Letters That Sold” with queries that landed her in The New York Times, Time, Ms., Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and many more publications or follow her on Twitter @mridukhullar.

Power of Narrative Conference in Boston, April 2013. A Primer on Pacing:
breakout session with Jeb Sharp (left), Mark Kramer & Amy O’Leary.

Last week, I returned to my alma mater, Boston University, for the Power of Narrative Conference. If you’re interested in long-form journalism, multimedia storytelling, or discussing the craft of writing with some of the best in the business, then you would probably love this three-day conference as much as I did.

I recapped breakout sessions by NYT’s Amy O’Leary and Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Laurie Hertzel for the Ebyline blog, but there were a ton of great quotes and insights from other sessions or keynotes too.

Here are a few highlights:

1. On reporting constraints: “Don’t despair if you have a scarcity of resources. Sometimes if you have too much it can be daunting” ~Kelly McEvers, an NPR foreign correspondent based in Beirut Lebanon, during her keynote address Better than Fiction: Covering Arab Spring and its aftermath, one story at a time. McEvers shared stories about recording at a protests with an iPhone stuck in her sleeve and conducting interviews via skype through a secure internet connection. She also recalled (with plenty of irony) a government-sanctioned junked for journalists called “Syria is Fine.”
2. On pacing a narrative: “The tragedy of narrative nonfiction is as soon as you have the reader’s interest, it’s time to digress.” ~Mark Kramer, writer-in-residence at Boston University and conference director, during a breakout session called A Primer on Pacing (pictured above).
3. On editing and revising work: “Don’t just push the same old stuff around. Throw it away and start over.” ~Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author, during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
4. On showing gratitude to editors: “Your prose is not a gift to editors; remember to thank them for reading it.” ~Tracy Kidder, during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
5. On the issue of nonpaying websites: “Look for places that are actually sending you money instead of spending two days blogging about your outrage. ~Richard Todd, former executive editor at The Atlantic, during a keynote address with Tracy Kidder On Editing and Being Edited. During the Q & A portion, an attendee asked Todd about the recent Nate Thayer/Atlantic issue.
6. On the challenges of editing: “You can ridicule any piece of writing. What’s harder to do is to point out something that’s not working. ~Tracy Kidder during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
7. On dealing with difficult editors: “Bitch at the bar, not at the editor.” ~Jina Moore, freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor and other outlets, during a breakout session with Charles Homans on How to Sell Stories in Multiple Media: Freelance 101.
8. On comparing stories to photos: “If I were to take a picture of this, what would the picture be of?” ~Jina Moore during a breakout session on Turning Topics into Stories. Moore used the comparison to illustrate the sometimes tricky distinction between topics and stories.
9. On the importance of networking: “Building your own network is like an insurance policy. It’s often a path to more work.” ~Ann Friedman, former executive editor of GOOD, during her closing keynote, How the Internet Killed My Job and Made Me a Star.
10. On writing with personality: “As an editor, it’s easy to strip out voice but impossible to infuse it.” ~Ann Friedman during her closing keynote, How the Internet Killed My Job and Made Me a Star.

By Veronica Picciafuoco

A writer’s job is to write, not think about administrative and legal overhead. Still, a contract provides invaluable protection, and we hope you’re taking advantage of some legal resources for freelance writers. But what are you actually getting into when you sign a contract? Legalese can get cryptic and hard to read. It’s time to have a look at some samples of the most common agreements in the industry, and try to understand the legal implications, so you can be aware of what you are agreeing to.

1. Work For Hire Freelance Writing Agreement

This is the most common way to hire a writer. In a “work for hire” relationship, you are an independent contractor hired to create specific content for the client. Independent contractor status means that you are not an employee – that is, you:

• work without direct supervision;
• are not subject to to payroll taxes (but you must pay on your own);
• procure your own materials (but you can charge for expenses);
• are not afforded the benefits and protections of ordinary employees, like worker’s compensation or unemployment insurance.

Always read carefully the clause about intellectual property. In a work for hire, the ownership of the work is usually automatically assigned to the client. This means you won’t have much leverage if the client delays the payment for some reason. A good way to mitigate this risk can be asking for a downpayment, but you can also find ways to retain rights to the work should the client not publish it after a certain amount of time.

There’s also an upside to signing a work for hire. As a corollary to giving up the copyright to the work, the sample agreement above indemnifies you from potential liability stemming from the work. If someone sues for defamation or otherwise, it will likely be the client, but not you, who gets hauled into court.

2. Freelance Writer Assignment

Have you ever started writing for a publication with nothing more that an informal understanding? Bad! You should always have a written contract signed before starting the job, as it will be so much easier to enforce. However, you can still try to fix this mistake by creating a paper trail, an easy way to get the terms in writing and help your case should a dispute arise.

A letter of understanding to the client should not be confrontational, but should set out all the relevant details. What is the nature of the assignment and its parameters (subject, word count, deadline, etc.)? How much will you be paid and when? What happens if there’s a problem? The template letter provided by ASJA (American Society of Journalist and Authors) is a good starting point.

3. Copywriting Agreement

Copywriting is a good way for a creative writer to make some money. This sample contract for writing copy for a website is written from the writer’s perspective and in plain English. No matter the style, the basic elements remain the same:

• the work to be done, it’s structure and deadlines, and provisions for editorial changes;
• the copyright assignment, that occurs only upon full payment of the price;
• the negotiated fee, and what happens if one of the parties wants out.

Note the writer here retains the right to display the work in his portfolio – not a bad idea if you’re thinking about the next job.

4. Consent, Release & Non-Disclosure Agreement

If you’re interviewing someone for a book or an article and plan to use their statements, it’s a good idea to secure your rights. In this contract, both the materials provided by the subject as well as the information that you disclose in the process may be valuable. This document covers the following main points:

• the subject of the interview signs over her/his rights to the materials provided to you;
• she is also waiving any legal claims she may have regarding the way you use the materials;
• she is agreeing to keep confidential everything you tell her about the project
• you are promising to keep confidential the interviewee’s identifying information unless and until she consents to its release.

This sample is biased in favor of the writer’s needs, but can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Make sure your contract gets across the necessary legal points while remaining proportionate to your aims.

5. Ghostwriting Agreement

Ghostwriting is very easy to understand: you write a first draft for someone, and they review it and publish under their name. Legally, it can be extremely complicated, as it clashes with paternity rights, that cannot be legally waived in some countries. In his simplest form, this contract is very similar to the work for hire agreement discussed above.

Note that the ghostwriter not only gives up all rights to the work, but he will also indemnify the client from all legal claims relating to scandalous, libelous (defamatory) or unlawful content. While this provision has little applicability in commercial contexts like the one above, it can be definitely mitigate it with some exceptions or a cap.

Disclaimer: This article wants to be useful and informational, but keep in mind it is not legal advice and all the legal documents cited are only to be used as a starting point. The author, the publisher, and the original authors of the documents cited disclaim any liability connected to the use of these material without a licensed attorney.

Veronica Picciafuoco is the Director of Content for Docracy.com, the home for free, open source legal documents. She has a legal background and works closely with startups and freelancers in Brooklyn, NY. You can find her on Twitter, Linkedin and Tumblr.

Image: freedigitalphotos.com

In anticipation of the big trip, I alerted my clients well in advance and tried to schedule deadlines before or after my trip.  But with the social media client, I’m responsible for posting daily tweets, Facebook status updates, and the like, so that got into messier territory.

I opted to schedule tweets and status updates to cover my vacation so our feed wouldn’t be dormant while I’m away. I also scheduled one tweet each weekday for my own Twitter feed–and surprisingly, my Klout score remained steady even though I wasn’t actively engaging while I was away. But in talking to other freelancers who have an active social media presence (either for themselves or their clients), I discovered some downsides to this approach. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of scheduling social media updates as well as some other options.

Pros:

• No interruption to updates: Even if you run into spotty internet access while you’re away, you can be reasonably sure (see below) that your social media feed will remain active so you don’t lose momentum while you’re away.
• Efficiency: Posting on social media several times per day eats up valuable time switching back and forth between tasks. Writing a batch social media updates at once but spacing them apart so you don’t overwhelm your followers is a more efficient use of time. I also found that scheduling 10 days worth of tweets made me think more big picture strategy instead of tweeting whatever caught my eye in that moment.
• More control over timing: Scheduling updates in advance allows you to control when they appear in your feed. If you know that most of your followers check Twitter or Facebook first thing in the morning Eastern Standard Time, for instance, you can make sure you appear in their feeds at that time even if you’re not physically at your computer.

Cons:

• Lack of timeliness: If you post about current events in your feed, scheduled tweets could feel stale by the time they actually appear in your feed. I tried to counter this concern by front-loading the feed with timely tweets at the beginning of my vacation and using more evergreen links towards the end. The other issue is that if something catastrophic happens while you’re away (think: Hurricane Sandy or the Sandy Hook massacre), you could look like a jerk for tweeting about fashion or luxury travel during a crisis. My plan was to find an internet cafe and disable scheduled tweets if something like that happened while I was away.
• Lack of personal interaction: Personal interactions like @ mentions, DMs, or RTs go a long way towards building an online community. Not responding in real time could make you seem robotic or impersonal. One freelancer I spoke with schedules the majority of her tweets while she’s away and checks in periodically to make sure she’s also mixing in a few RTs or @ mentions.
• Possible tech glitches: Sometimes scheduling software doesn’t work, and that can result in interruptions to your feed. If you’re not actively monitoring your accounts, you may not know about these issues until days later.

If you post on social media for clients, here are some alternatives to scheduling status updates during a vacation:

• Subcontracting: If your client is cool with it, you may be able to subcontract social media responsibilities to a trusted colleague while you’re away. In my case, I knew that this client wouldn’t be keen on sharing account passwords and access with someone they hadn’t vetted. Of course, you can always reset the passwords once you return. The other issue is making sure that whoever is covering for you understands nuances of the client’s voice and any guidelines on what they should or shouldn’t tweet, because their mistakes could reflect poorly on you.
• Having the client cover: Depending on how hands-on the client is, they may prefer to handle social media themselves while you’re away instead of handing off the reins to someone else. Of course, this probably means you’ll have to take a temporary pay cut if you’re on a monthly or weekly retainer. You could also send some suggested tweets in advance and have them post at their discretion to avoid the issue of context mentioned above.
• Posting while away: Some people don’t mind spending a little time each or every other day of a vacation checking social media, especially if they could easily do it from a smartphone or tablet. The downsides of this are, of course, you still have to think about work while you’re away and make sure you have reliable internet access. I didn’t have consistent wifi access and my iPhone didn’t work, so if I’d planned to tweet, it would have created a lot of unnecessary stress. If you’re traveling to a different time zone, you’d either need to factor in the time change as you’re posting or reconcile yourself to the fact that your updates may not appear at the most optimal time for your followers (for instance, if you usually post at 9am ET most mornings and you’re traveling to the West Coast, you’d either have to get up at 6am PT to tweet to your East Coast followers or post later in the day). In my case, I felt it was important to completely unplug to avoid burnout and because I’d be in a foreign country, I wanted to avoid roaming charges or lugging around unnecessary stuff.

Your turn! Do you schedule social media updates while you’re on vacation? How would you handle this situation? Do tell!

Flickr photo courtesy of Helga Weber

In a recent episode of HBO’s Girls, Hannah meets an editor at the fictitious website Jazzhate.com who offers her $200 to “step outside her comfort zone” and write about having a threesome or snorting coke. Eager to prove her writing chops, Hannah chooses the latter, procuring the goods from her downstairs neighbor and setting off an embarrassing bender with her roommate and gay ex-boyfriend Elijah. A friend mentioned the episode to me recently and commented that it was the “worst freelance assignment ever.”

I tend to agree.

That said, there are a few things we can glean from this train wreck of a TV character (who may or may not resemble 26-year-old Hollywood wunderkind Lena Dunham who created her and inked a book deal for more than $3.5 million last fall). Hannah is so caught up in her lofty writerly ambitions that it doesn’t occur to her that she could decline the assignment altogether or negotiate a higher fee (after all, her substance-fueled escapade couldn’t have been cheap – is $200 enough money to risk jail time and the loss of her dignity? I think not).

In all seriousness, though, you don’t have to accept every assignment that crosses your desk. Hannah desperately wants to pen an edgy memoir that resonates with her generation and this assignment may seem like a steppingstone where she can get in touch with her crazy poet persona. But if she were willing to step outside not just her comfort zone but her genre, she could find plenty of writing opportunities that are more commercially viable and don’t require illegal substances.

In fact, few writers aside from Lena Dunham herself actually pay the bills solely through the kind of confessional, zeitgeisty prose Hannah aspires to write. Ernest Hemingway covered WWI for The Toronto Star, an experience that clearly informs his later fiction. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote streetcar slogans by day and fiction by night. Before publishing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott did whatever paying work she could find, working as a seamstress, governess, and servant. There is no shame in doing commercial writing or taking on odd jobs while you pen a novel or memoir on the side.

Yes, the world can be a tough place for young aspiring writers like Hannah (and yes, I had some missteps of my own in my early twenties), but if she’s serious about being a writer, she needs to lose the “crazy poet”/”starving artist” mindset, put on her “big girl pants” as her friend Shoshanna would say, and find better avenues for her talents.

Do you watch Girls? And do you agree with this assessment? Do tell!

With tax season right around the corner (or upon us) these tax tips from Carol Topp, an author and a CPA, are both useful and timely.

1. The IRS doesn’t email

The IRS does not initiate communication with taxpayers through email. They will only contact you via mail or telephone. Late last year I received an email claiming to be from the IRS stating they were investigating my tax return. I knew it was a scam because the year wasn’t over and my tax return had not been filed yet! If you receive an email claiming to be from the IRS do not reply, click on any links, or open any attachments.

2. Mileage records

I dislike recording my odometer readings, so I use Google maps to calculate mileage instead. Mileage records must be kept contemporaneously, meaning you should not rely on your memory, so I record the destination and mileage in my calendar. The IRS sets the per mile rate and adjusts it annually. For 2012 writers can deduct 55.5 cents per mile.

3. Business use of the home deduction

The business use of the home is a valuable tax deduction for writers, but you must use a specific part of your home only for business. You cannot mix business and personal activities such as letting the kids use your office for homework. For example, my home office is used only for business, but I meet clients at my dining room table which is also used for family meals. I can claim a deduction for my home office but not for the dining room.

4. Tax software can lie to you

“The IRS stopped the home office deduction,” an author told me. I knew that wasn’t correct. She had made a mistake in using the tax software and it failed to include a deduction for business use of the home. If something seems incorrect about your tax preparation software, contact the software provider, or better yet, consult a professional tax preparer. If there was a mistake made on your tax return, you can amend your return up to three years after the due date (plus extensions).

5. New Registered Tax Preparer

All tax preparers are now required to register with the IRS. But not all tax preparers are the same.  Registered tax preparers must pass a competency test and meet continuing education requirements. Tax attorneys, certified public accountants (CPA), and enrolled agents have higher testing and continuing education requirements than registered tax preparers. In addition, CPAs can represent you before the IRS and have ethical standards. They are business advisers, not merely tax preparers.

Carol Topp, CPA is an author and Certified Public Accountant. Her most recent book is Business Tips and Taxes for Writers. If you have a business or tax question, contact Carol at TaxesForWriters.com.

At best, guest posts offer readers a different perspective and the blogger-in-chief a breather from producing blog posts. At worst, they’re robotic dribble filled with spammy links. In the past several months, I’ve gotten so many guest post pitches in the latter camp that I’ve stopped accepting outside posts while I regroup and rethink the process (next week’s guest post is a notable exception). Apologies to those of you who’ve pitched me guest posts recently, but I suspect you don’t actually read this blog, and I feel a responsibility to those who do read it to maintain a certain level of professionalism and originality.

Here’s a list of mistakes I’ve seen again and again in guest post pitches. Some of these are applicable to freelancers pitching to magazines and websites, but hopefully none of you, my dear regular readers, are committing any of these faux pas.

1. Not following directions. I have a page on my blog that clearly outlines my guest posting process, yet someone emails me asking if I accept guest posts at least once a day. When you’re pitching a website, magazine, or blog, take a moment to click around the site and see if they have a submissions page or a writer’s guidelines page. You’ll save yourself and your editor a lot of time and frustration. Then follow the instructions to the letter. For instance, my guidelines suggest sending a specific idea and formatting your email subject in a certain way. I don’t have time for a lengthy email exchange in which I ask a series about you and your idea (and I’m guessing editors at websites and magazines don’t either), so just tell me what you want to write about and why you’re qualified to write about it. Don’t expect me to brainstorm for you when I don’t even know you or your writing.
2. Pitching off topic. If I had a dollar for every email pitching me a guest post about life insurance/pest control/luxury travel/online degrees/penile enhancements … well, you get the idea. A magazine for dog-lovers in Boise does not want your article about how to buy cheap printer ink, just as my blog does not need guest posts on any of the aforementioned topics. Know what your target publication covers and pitch an idea that fits that audience and their needs. Occasionally I’ll get a guest post that’s kinda sorta almost a fit for my blog but it misses the mark because it keeps referring to my readers as business-owners or entrepreneurs. Well, yes, freelancers are business-owners and entrepreneurs, but those aren’t the terms I’d typically use because freelancer is more specific. What terms does your target publication use?
3. Relying on generalities. Of the guest post submissions that actually cover freelancing, many of them fall into the trap of generality (and yes, before I cracked down on guest posts, some of them appeared on this blog and still do because I’m too nice to delete them). They rehash the same  tired service topics and listicles we’ve seen on every other freelance writing blog. And often the advice is as generic as the topics themselves. Use anecdotes and examples to illustrate your tips (for instance, “I once had a client who ___, so I ____  and the result was ____ …”) and choose colorful language to keep readers engaged.
4. Writing like a robot. Again, read the website/blog/magazine you’re pitching, then try to match the editorial voice of that publication. I welcome guest bloggers whose voice differs from mine, but too often, they don’t even have a voice. They’ll write sentences in passive voice with lots of flabby, over-blown language like “It is generally recommended that business owners typically choose to examine their business and management strategies several times a year in order to achieve the best outcomes.” Say what? For most service pieces, it’s fine to use “you” (or the implied you) and speak directly to the reader. And don’t use 15 words when you could get your point across in five.
5. Resisting edits. When I publish a guest post, it reflects on the guest poster and on me. I reserve the right to edit posts (perhaps adding a snappier title or smoothing some transitions), but I try to make it a collaborative process and get the contributor’s OK on revisions. Some pull a Houdini and disappear, while others demand to know, diva-style, “how dare you edit my writing?” For those who typically contribute to content mills, revisions might be a foreign concept, but it makes both of us look better. If something is unclear to me, it’s likely to unclear to some of my readers. If something reads like broken English to me, I’m probably not the only one.
6. Following up a zillion times a day. Sorry, but when I get an email that’s not even addressed to my name, I don’t always feel obligated to respond. Sometimes that results in a flurry of increasingly frustrated follow-up emails. That energy would be so much more productive if it were channeled into researching blogs instead of blindly pitching. Also, when you contribute to someone’s blog, you don’t get to dictate when your post appears. If you write something worth publishing, and I tell you, “thanks for this! I’ll get back to you on scheduling,” it does not give you license to demand that it run that week or ask multiple times a week when it will run. Checking in once a week is plenty. In the meantime, you might research other blogs or brainstorm other guest post ideas.
7. Disappearing once the post appears. If you’ve written a really good guest post, it’s likely my readers will have comments or questions. Stick around and engage with them. Tweet your post. Thank your host. I’ve found that so few guest bloggers do this, but it really makes a good impression when they do. Likewise, if you’re writing for a magazine, don’t go AWOL once the article appears and you cash your check.

Your turn! For those of you who accept guest posts, have you run into these issues? Are there others you’ve noticed? Do tell!

One Simple Trick for Effective Self-Editing - Freelancedom

Legal Danger for Bloggers: Two Misconceptions, Three Resources, One Suggestion - ASJA’s The Word

Three Books Every Copywriter Must Read -Filthy Rich Writer

Four Ways to Find Your Business Voice - Words on a Page

Five Freelancing Lessons I Learned the Hard Way: Avoid These Career-Killers - Make a Living Writing

Six Ways Bloggers Can Earn More from Their Writing – The Renegade Writer

Seven Knows for Getting Started in Freelancing – Freelancers’ Union

Eight Ways to Master Cold Calls–or at Least Fear Them Less – Dollars and Deadlines

Nine Freelancing Tips for Handling Illness – Freelance Folder

Ten Ways to Use a Writer’s Conference to Market Your Work – WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age

Eleven Rookie Mistakes You Need to Stop Making NOW - Mridu Khullar Relph

Twelve Important Questions to Ask as a Freelance Subcontractor – FreelanceSwitch

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Time management is a critical tool for freelancers juggling multiple deadlines and assignments. There are a number of online tools designed to help entrepreneurs and creative professionals work more efficiently. Read on for a description of five popular time-saving tools used by freelancers.

1. FreshBooks: Freelancers spend a lot of time of preparing invoices and handling billing. To streamline the process and handle these tasks more efficiently, consider FreshBooks. This useful app enables you to create professional invoices quickly and easily, bill clients and provide several payment options, and also generate comprehensive billing reports. FreshBooks comes complete with several invoice design options to choose from, making it a great application for small business of all types. You can also import data from several other programs and integrate with other billing systems.
2. Google Calendar: Entrepreneurs looking for calendar and scheduling applications have a large bounty to choose from, but Google Calendar certainly seems to be one of the most well-liked and oft-used app. The program is easy to use and lets you quickly create multiple calendars to suit your needs for scheduling different projects and keeping track of task progress or events. It can also be linked with public calendars so that you can keep track of client’s progress on projects as well.
3. PayPal: PayPal is an online payment site that allows individuals and business to accept payments from nearly anywhere in the world. The ease with which you can receive payments and transfer funds to and from your bank helps you save time. PayPal also enables you to create shopping cart buttons, print shipping information, purchase postage, and more. You can request funds, generate and send invoices, and take advantage of several merchant services. [Ed. note: PayPal also has a feature on its smartphone app that allows you to scan checks instead of depositing them at an ATM. However, I discovered that using my bank's smartphone app was quicker than waiting for the money to clear my PayPal account, then transferring it to my bank account. Either way, remote check deposit saves me a trip to the bank!]
4. Zoho: Virtually everyone is familiar with the Microsoft Office Suite, but now you can go far beyond speadsheets, content creation and presentation tools with Zoho, a web-based suite of tools that includes both office and productivity tools designed especially for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The web-based applications enable you to access tools and documents at any time from any location so you can update an article or resend an invoice even while on the go.
5. RescueTime: This web-based time management and analytics tool helps you understand how and where you spend your time and attention online. To begin, you tell RescueTime what you consider to be “productive time” online and what you do not. RescueTime simply pays attention to which tab or window you’re currently using and records the time spent. When you’re ready to take the next step, you can ask RescueTime to block certain websites should you find yourself in a more distracted state.

Gwen Stewart is a business development professional and writer for Outbounding.com on behalf of ShareFile.com. Her line of work requires she have a reliable way to send files as well as a solid strategy for meeting tight deadlines. Any spare time she can scrape together finds her hiking, reading, and enjoying the company of great friends.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By Reese Jones

Public Wi-Fi can be a great way to get online, often for free, while you’re out and about. More and more people are making good use of their local Wi-Fi hotspots when using their smartphones or laptop computers. However, others are still wary of using public Wi-Fi due to the associated security risks. If you want to be able to access the internet using public Wi-Fi while keeping your personal data safe and secure, then here are a few tips to bear in mind.

Use Firewalls

One of the easiest ways to protect your computer when using pubic Wi-Fi is to make sure that your firewall is turned on. Most operating systems will already have a basic firewall installed, but it may not automatically be enabled. Although your firewall won’t offer complete protection, it can offer a degree of security when accessing public Wi-Fi networks.

Visit encrypted sites

In addition, you should also try to use SSL encrypted sites whenever possible. HTTPS and SSL connections encrypt data sent to and from a web server, so it becomes unreadable to hackers – something which can prove particularly important when entering passwords and other confidential information. Although most websites that require you to enter information will be automatically encrypted, it is worth double-checking to make sure the site URL starts with https:// rather than just http://, as this indicates a higher level of security.

Use Virtual Private Networks or VPNs

If possible, it is always a good idea to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), as this will encrypt all information which you send and receive, even when you use an unsecured public Wi-Fi connection. In effect, you will have the security of a private network, even when using a public internet connection. Some businesses provide employees with their own VPN, especially if they might be required to work while on the move. However, if your employer doesn’t have a VPN for you to use, sites such as anchorfree.com also offer Hotspot Shield, a downloadable app which ensures VPN security settings are always in place.

Check your file and printer sharing settings

Your computer’s file and printer sharing capabilities can make you much more vulnerable to hackers when using public Wi-Fi. When at home or in an office, this feature allows you to share files and printer systems between more than one computer. However, by leaving sharing enabled when using public Wi-Fi, others using the same network may be able to access your private data more easily, especially if it is not password-protected. Simply disable the file and printer sharing feature to stay secure.

Beware of evil twin networks

It is also a good idea to double-check the name of the Wi-Fi connection you are planning to use. Hackers have been known to use “evil twin” networks, which use a similar name to the one you were hoping to connect to, and are designed purely to collect passwords and data. Whether you’re accessing Wi-Fi at a restaurant, train station or café, it can be worth finding out the exact name of the Wi-Fi network which they provide. The Wi-Fi connection is likely to be even more secure if you are required to give a password to gain access to the network.

Turn off your wireless and work downstream

Although Wi-Fi hotspots are often pleasant places to work, you may find that you do not always need to connect to the Wi-Fi network for the entire duration of your stay. If this is the case, then it can certainly be well worth turning off the wireless when you’re not using it in order to ensure your security. You may not have actively connected to a particular Wi-Fi network, but leaving your Wi-Fi enabled still leaves your computer vulnerable when in a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

Protect yourself again password peeping Toms

Lastly, it is also a good idea to be aware of the more physical risks of using public Wi-Fi. When you go online in a public place, you run the risk of having other looking over your shoulder and reading what’s on your screen. Take care that these peeping Toms (and Tomasinas) don’t see you typing in any passwords or credit card details. It can be a good idea to avoid accessing sensitive material altogether when using public Wi-Fi connections, and to keep your wits about you when entering confidential information.

Reese Jones is a tech and gadget lover, a die-hard fan of iOS and console games. She started her writing venture recently and writes about everything from quick tech tips, to mobile-specific news from the likes of O2, to tech-related DIY. Find more about her and her work at Reese+ and tweet her @r_am_jones.

Image courtesy of Just2shutter/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net