ThiswasoriginallypostedonBeafreelanceblogger

Becoming an idea machine

1. BrianDeansSkyscrapertechniqueisrequiredreadingforanyonewhohastowrite.Itteachesyouhowtocomeupwithideasthatareguaranteedtosucceed.

2. Quicksproutwillhelpyouseewhatcontentdidwellonothersites.Youcanusethisinfotogetideasthathaveahighchanceofsucceeding.Theblogisalsoagreatresourceifyoureinterestedinmarketing.

3. BuzzsumoissimilartoQuicksproutinthatyoucanseewhatcontentgotsharedalot.Youcansearchforthemostsharedcontentonacertaintopicandseewhosharedthosearticles.Thisisusefulwhenyouwanttopromoteyourpost.

4. MindMeister.Thisfreemindmappingtoolwillhelpyouorganizealltheideasthatyouhavefloatingaroundinyourhead.Alsousefulforoutliningblogposts.Thefreeversionallowsyoutohaveupto3mindmapsatthesametime.

5. Topsyshowsyouwhatcontentwaspopularinthepast.Youcansearchforwhatwassharedalot,oryoucansearchforcontentthathasalotoflinks.

6. Googlekeywordtool.ItwouldntbemuchofaresourcelistifIdidntincludeGoogleskeywordtool.Ifyouregoingtospendhourswritinggoodposts,youmightaswellspendtheextra20minutesfindinggoodkeywords.

7. Evergetstuckcomingupwithagoodheadline?Thiscontentideageneratorcanhelpyouwiththat.Justfillinyoursubjectandwatchhowitgeneratesheadlines.Someheadlinesarebetterthanothers,butitwillgetyourcreativejuicesflowing.

Writing like a pro 8. UniversityofOttawagrammarcourse.IfyouneedtobrushupyourEnglish

grammartheUniversityofOttawaprovidesafreecourse.GreatifEnglishisntyourfirstlanguage.

9. Youmightgetanassignmentthatwillmakeyouwriteaboutaboringtopic.Thispresentationabouttechnicalwritingtellsyouhowtowriteaboutboring

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topicswithoutbeingboring.

10. HemingwayApp.Thisfreeappwillcheckifyoursentencesareeasilyreadable.Ittellsyouwhichonesarebecominghardtoread.Italsotellsyouwhichpartsofyourtextcanbemademoreboldandclear.Veryusefulapp.

11. Grammarlyisanadvancedspellcheck.notonlydoesitcheckifyouwroteeverythingcorrectly,Grammarlylooksatwhatthecontextitiswrittenin.Forexample,itcandetectwhetheryoushoulduseyoureoryourwithoutanydifficulty.

12. Thepowerofstorytelling.Apowerfulexampleofhowwritingastoryatthebeginningofyourpostcanboostengagement.Inthisarticle,AlexTurnbullexplainshowtellingastoryatthebeginningoftheirpostsboostedtheirengagementby300%.

13. 317wordthatwillinstantlymakeyouabetterwriter.YoucantmakealistaboutwritingwithoutmentioningJonMorrowatleastonce.Theguyknowshowtowrite.Inthispost,helists317wordsthatwillmakeyourpostsalotmorepowerful.

Market like the best 14. SumomeistheSwissarmyknifeofmarketingtools.ithasprettymuch

everytoolyouneedtomarketyourwebsite.Ithasnicelookingsharebuttons,popups,contactforms,andmore.ItsfreeandIhighlyrecommendit.

15. Howwereached1Millionpeoplebyguestblogging.Grooveisastartupthatsincrediblyopenaboutwhattheydoandhowtheymakemoney.Inthisarticle,theyexplainhowtheygotfeaturedonmajorblogs.Theyalsoshowyoutheresultsoftheirposts.

16. Email1k.Ifyouhaveagoodemaillistyoucanprettymuchlaunchanythingonline.Wanttolaunchablog?check.Sellacourse?Check.Doconsulting?Check.Thisfreecoursewillteachyouthebestandfastestwaystogrowyouremaillist.

17. HowtoGet1000+subscribersfromasinglepost.Thisisagreatcasestudyabouthowwritingagoodpostcombinedwiththerightpromotioncanleadtomassivesuccess.

18. Howto100xtheeffectivenessofyournextguestpost.ThisonescleverandIrecommenditalot.Theauthor,BryanHarris,oftengets500+emails

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fromaguestpost.Thisarticleexplainshowhedoesit.

19. Thedefinitiveguidetocopywriting.Copywritingiseverywhere.Youhavetouseitwhenwritingblogposts.Youhavetouseitwhenwritingtoclients.Youhavetouseitforseeminglysimplethingslikewritinganemail.Copywritingisthedifferencebetweengettingareplyandgettingignored.

20. HowtomakethatonethinggoviralbythepeoplebehindUpworthy.WhileImnotafanofclickbait,thisslidedeckrevealssomeofthetechniquesUpworthyusestomaketheirpostsgoviral.Someoftheirpostshavemillionsofshares

21. Everwonderwhycontentgoesviral?TheguysfromBuzzsumoanalyzed100millionarticlestoseeifpopularcontenthasthingsincommon.Theresultsareprettyinteresting.Theytalkabouthowlongyourpostsshouldbe,whatthemosteffectiveheadlinesare,andmuchmore.

22. Ultimateguidetoemailmarketing.LikeIsaidbefore,ifyouhaveagoodemaillistyoucanprettymuchdoanythingonline.Thisguidetakesyoufromsettingupthetechnicalstuffallthewaytooptimizingyouremailcampaigns.

23. Howtonetworkwithpeople.Networkinghasabadrep.Itsoftenassociatedwithschmoozingandmanipulation.JohnCorcoransblogteachesyouhowtonetworkproperly.

Getting stuff done 24. HowthehelldoesBuffercreatesomuchcontent?Buffer(asocialmedia

tool)hasateamofcontentcreatorsthatproducesfour1500+word,highlyresearchedarticleseveryweek.Teammightbeabitofanexaggeration,astheresjusttwoofthem.Thisarticleexplainshowtheygetsomuchdone.

25. Howwriting1000wordsadaychangedmylife.Togetgoodatwriting,youneedtowritealot.Onceyoucommityourselftowriteacertainnumberofwordseveryday,theresultscanbeincredibly.

26. RescueTimewillshowyouwhatyourewastingyourtimeon.Youllknowexactlyhowmuchtimeyouspendwatchingcatvideos.Givesyouagoodkickinthebutt.

27. TomatoTimer.Imsureyourefamiliarwiththepomodorotechnique.Inshort,itsperiods(usually25minutes)ofhighlyfocusedworkfollowedby5minutebreaks.Thishandylittletimerwillletyouknowwhattodoandwhentodoit.

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28. Forcedraft(a.k.aKryptoniteforprocrastinators).Justpicktheamountofwordsyoudliketowriteandpressstart.Forcedraftwillblockeverything(andIreallymeaneverything)untilyouhavereachedyourquota.Youwillgetalotofwritingdonebecause,well,youwonthaveachoice.

29. ColdTurkeyisForcedraftslessdramaticolderbrother.Itallowsyoutoblockdistractingwebsitesforacertainamountoftime.Onceyouhitstart,theresnowayofturningitoffuntilthetimerends.YoudbesurprisedhowmuchyoucangetdoneifyoublockYoutubefor3hours.

30. Pocket.Everhadtodoresearchforapostandendupwastinghoursreadingabunchofarticles?Insteadofreadingthemrightaway,pocketletsyousavearticlessoyoucanreadthemlater.Thatwayyoustayfocusedonthetaskathand.

31. ITTT.Orifthisthenthatisawaytoputtheinternettowork.Letssayyouwantatextmessagewhensomeonecommentsonyourblog.Completelypossible.Insteadofrefreshingthepageevery5minutes,youcoulddosomethingelseandgetnotifiedwhenyougetacomment.

Getting Motivated 32. Howtogetmotivatedwhenyoudontfeellikeit.Somedaysyouregoingto

feellikeamess.Thatsok,though.Itsprettynormaltohaveanoffdaysonceinawhile.ThisarticlebyJamesclearhelpsyouthroughit.

33. Transformyourhabits.Workingonpurewillpoweraloneisntgoingtogetyouveryfar.Togetlastingsuccess,youllneedtobuildhabitsthatwillsupportyourbusiness.

34. Sometimesyoujustneedalittleboost.Redditsgetmotivatedwillhelpyouwiththat.Ithastonsandtonsofinspiringquotesandimages

35. Howtostayfocusedwhenyoureboredworkingtowardyourgoals.Itsalwaysexcitingtostartanewproject.Afteracoupleofweeks,whentheexcitementstartstowearoff,itbecomesharderandhardertostaymotivated.

36. Mindtoolshasanicecollectionofmentaltechniquesyoucanusetoperformbetter.Topicsrangefromhowtomakedecisions,tohowtogetmotivated.

37. StevePavlina.Iwasponderingwhetherornottolinktoaspecificresourceofhis,butthenIrememberedthathiswholesiteisawesome.Youllfindarticlesonalotofdifferenttopics.

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Supercharge your freelancing 38. HackingElance.Ah...Elance.Itcanbeacompletemessofpeopletryingto

squeezeasmuchworkoutofyouforaslittlemoneyaspossible,oritcanbeagreatsourceofincome.DanialDiPiazzaexplainshowtogetthebestjobsonElance.

39. DoubleyourfreelanceratesbyBrennanDunn.Brennangrewhisfreelancingbusinessintoafullyfledgedagency.Hedevelopsapps,buthistechniquesapplytoanykindoffreelancing.

40. UltimateguidetogettingfreelancejobsfromWritersincharge.Ittakesyouthroughthewholeprocessofstartingoutasafreelancewriter.

41. Yesware.Theresnothingworsethansendinganemail,onlytogetignored.Youstartwonderingifyouremailendedupinthespamfolderoriftheyrejustnotreplying.Yeswareisagmailpluginthatletsyoutrackifpeopleopenedyouremail.

42. SigncontractsovertheinternetusingHelloSign.Ithasafreeplanthatallowsyoutoget3documentssignedpermonth.DocumentssignedwithHellosignarelegallybinding.Maybenowthefaxmachinewillfinallydie.

43. Freedcampisanopensource(a.k.acompletelyfree)collaborationtool.Itallowsyoutocreateaworkspacewhereyoucansharefileswithdifferentpeople.

44. OrganizeyouroutreacheffortswithStreak.OriginallyasalespluginforGmail,youcanuseittokeeptrackofyourconversationswith(potential)clients.

45. FollowupCCremindsyoutofollowupwithpeople.Greatforwhenyouresendingoutalotofpitchesandyourenotgettingrepliesback.

46. Differenttypesofclientsandhowtodealwiththem.Whilefreelancingyouregoingtomeetalotofdifferentclients.Somecanbegood,somecanbebad.Thisresourcetellsyouhowtohandletheundervaluer,thefamilyfriend,andmuchmoretypesofclients.

Using Visuals 47. CompfightallowsyoutosearchFlickrimages.Youcanfilteroutbylicense,

meaningthatyoucanseewhichimagesarefreetouse.

48. Deathtothestockphotoisagreatalternativetothecheesystockphotosthatdominatetheweb.Yougetadifferentpackofhighqualityimagessent

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toyourinboxeverymonth.

49. Picjumbo.Anotheralternativetohorriblephotographs.Youcanfilterbycategoryandtheimagesarefree.

50. Unsplash.Likedeathtothestockphoto,yougetimagessenttoyou.ThedifferencewithUnsplashisthatyougetaccesstotheirpreviousimagesaswell.

51. Gratisographyprovideshighqualityimagesfreeofanycopyrightrestrictions.Greatifyourelookingforimagestouseonyourblog.

52. CanvaislikePhotoshopbutfornontechypeople.Youcanjustdraganddropdifferentparts.Youalsohaveaccesstoawholelibraryofdifferentdesignelements.

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