Happy new year to my freelance writing friends, old and new. I trust the holidays have found you well, and wish you success in 2009.

I have to say, I’m excited about what the new year is going to bring. If 2008 was any indication, 2009 is going to be the best year for my freelancing business yet. While there may be some tough economic times in the world, there’s no business I’d rather be in.

Why am I so optimistic? There are …

There’s money in SEO writing. If you can do it right, you can make a killing. Understanding the inner workings of search engines, knowing the right keywords to pick and being able to insert them into your writing is a valued skill.

If you write on the Internet at all, chances are you do at least some SEO. If you surf the Internet at all (who doesn’t) you’ve seen perfectly-optimized SEO pages.

You’ve probably also noticed that, in many cases, perfectly-optimized SEO pages suck. The writing is contrived, sentence structure is awkward and those …

In this age of instant connectivity and social media, there really isn’t a good reason for freelance writers or other web workers to become isolated. Truly.

Still, it happens. You can become so involved in your work, in producing the content you need to produce, in dealing with clients, paying bills, hiring writers and everything else involved in the business that you wind up spending a majority of time on your own.

Is this isolation a bad thing?

Experts tell us it is. Depression is one of the most common conditions affecting web workers, according …

I don’t know about you, but I’m about done with all of this talk about a “faltering economy,” “economic downturn,” and, worst of all, “recession.”

My state, Michigan, hasn’t really ever recovered from the hard times that started after 9/11. Back in 2005, I recall newspaper headlines declaring that Michigan was in a “one-state recession.” Times are tough here, and have been for a long time.

Am I worried about this situation? Sure. I’m worried for my friends, my extended family. I see people around me getting …

Something has occurred to me recently that has really changed my perspective on communicating with my freelance writing clients.

Before I tell you what it is, though, Let me start off by telling you a story.

When I was a younger man, I was horribly shy.

No, strike that. Shy isn’t the right way to say it. I had plenty of friends, and was pretty outgoing in most social situations. I was very involved in student groups, even taking leadership roles.

My problem was that I couldn’t seem to talk to a pretty girl …