3 Ways to Find Your Niche as a Freelance Writer

3 Ways to Find Your Niche as a Freelance Writer

by: Nick Usborne

To make a six-figure income as a freelance writer, to need to be an expert. You need your name to jump to people's lips when a particular job or challenge comes up. "Direct mail for software? You should get in touch with Bob. That's what he does." Insert your own name and specialty where appropriate. You can't get that kind of awareness or referral if you're someone who just writes about anything in any medium. Nobody is going to believe that you are a trusted expert in absolutely everything. So how do you determine a viable 'niche'? You have three choices... 1. Niche by industry... That is to say, work within a particular industry. For years I worked with pharmaceutical clients. All my clients were drug companies. I wrote direct mail, brochures, sales aids, video scripts. I wrote anything, so long as it was about pharmaceuticals. That was my niche. And my clients knew that I was knowledgeable in that area. So they came to me. 2. Niche by medium... In this scenario, you make a particular medium your specialty. After my years with the pharmaceutical industry, I decided to specialize as a direct mail copywriter. And for that period, about 15 years, I ONLY write direct mail and associated media...like inserts, fliers, postcards etc. I was a direct response specialist. And I wrote for all kinds of different industries - financial, cable TV, magazine publishers and more. My specialty, my niche, was as a direct response copywriter. Other writers have built their careers around writing annual reports, radio scripts, white papers etc. 3. 'Double-Niche' When you double-niche you are making a specialty of serving a single industry through a single medium. For instance, writing direct response for the financial industry. And ONLY writing direct response for the financial industry. In conclusion... As I said at the beginning, you can't be an expert at everything...not within every industry, not with every medium. So you need to take some steps to find your niche. How do you choose? First, know yourself. Know what you are good at. Know what you like. Also, be smart. Create your niche where the money is. Find your niche where there is a strong market. And be smart about the size of your niche. Don't go so narrow that you're forever starved of work. Don't go so broad that people view you as a Jack or Jill of all trades, a generalist. About The Author Nick Usborne is a freelance writer, author, speaker and advocate of good writing. For more articles and resources on making money as a freelance writer, visit his site, http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com nick@freelancewritingsuccess.com This article was posted on January 16, 2010

 

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5 Heart Healthy Exercises You Can Do During Pregnancy

5 Heart Healthy Exercises You Can Do During Pregnancy

by: Tia Rodriguez

Pregnancy is a time of celebration, love, and unwanted but necessary weight gain. However, being pregnant doesn’t mean that your health and figure has to suffer permanent damage. You can gain weight in a healthy fashion while doing some very easy and safe heart healthy pregnancy exercise routines. One of the simplest and most effective pregnancy exercises you can do is walking. Not only is walking one of the best cardiovascular exercises, it is also one of the safest pregnancy exercises you can engage in. Walking is one of the few pregnancy exercises that you can do for the complete duration of your pregnancy. Another extremely beneficial heart healthy pregnancy exercise is swimming. Countless doctors and pregnant women have attested to the wonderful benefits of swimming during pregnancy. A weekly pregnancy exercise routine of swimming gives both the arms and legs a great workout while promoting cardiovascular health. Because of the nature of being subdued in water, swimming will also remind expectant mothers what it felt like before the pounds were added on. This is definitely a welcome change every now and then. The third pregnancy exercise routine you can start doing to keep your body healthy is enrolling in an aerobics class. Many fitness centers and community centers offer low impact aerobics classes for pregnant women. One of the nicer benefits of this pregnancy exercise is that it is done in the company of other pregnant women under the watchful eye of a professional aerobics instructor. This means you are going to get a safe workout catered to the special needs of pregnancy. Weight training is also a very beneficial pregnancy routine to keep your body healthy. Although you must only use very light weights when engaging in this pregnancy exercise, weight training is an excellent way of toning your body and increasing muscular strength. The last heart healthy pregnancy exercise you can do to stay fit is Pilates/yoga. Both of these body conditioning exercises promote stretching and flexibility within the muscles. Yoga is also a nice accompaniment to walking. By doing a combination of these pregnancy exercises, you can have a healthy balanced cardiovascular routine. Being pregnant doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice exercise and health. By walking, swimming, doing aerobics, weight training, and engaging in a Pilates/yoga routine, you can have a healthy and fit pregnancy. About the author: Tia Rodriguez is a health and wellness coordinator for an upscale sports management agency. To learn more about how a pregnancy exercise routine can benefit you during your pregnancy, check out the resources at http://www.pregnancy-without-pounds.info Circulated by Article Emporium

 

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8 Important Facts About the Mediterranean Diet

8 Important Facts About the Mediterranean Diet

by: Roy Barker

A diet regimen that is gaining in popularity in many parts of the world is based upon the dining practices of the people that populate the Mediterranean region. Many people have heard of the Mediterranean diet but are not particularly familiar with some of the specifics of the eating routine. In order to assist you in becoming more familiar with the Mediterranean diet, a consideration of eight useful facts regarding the elements of this dining regimen can be most helpful to you. Of course, these are merely some basic talking points about this valuable dieting routine. Before you embark on any sort of diet plan, including the Mediterranean diet, you need to take the time to consult with your physician to make certain that a proposed regimen is appropriate to your medical status. Eight General Facts About the Mediterranean Diet The key elements of the Mediterranean diet are, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, fish, and wine in moderation. Because of this combination, the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest dieting regimens to be found anywhere on the planet. Meat and animal products are consumed in very small amounts in the Mediterranean diet. Indeed, when meat is included within the diet scheme, it is poultry or fish in the vast majority of instances. Red meat is not a staple in the Mediterranean diet and is rarely eaten by adherents to this dieting routine. The people who actually populate the countries around the Mediterranean Sea are rarely seen eating red meats of any kind. In addition, dairy products are used only sparingly within the Mediterranean diet. For example, if milk is included in a meal or in the preparation of food, it is of the low fat or non-fat variety. Eggs are rarely included in Mediterranean meals. Indeed, a heavy egg eater is one who has four eggs a week. With the moderate consumption of fish, the Mediterranean diet allows adherents a tremendous source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Research has demonstrated that a diet flush with Omega-3 fatty acids works to prevent heart disease, stroke and even some cancers. Many uninformed people can be found making the statement: “The Mediterranean diet just isn’t for me -- it is too high in fat.” In truth, the Mediterranean diet is high in certain types of fat. Upwards to thirty-five to forty percent of the calories taken in through this diet do come from fat. However, the Mediterranean diet is remarkably low in saturated fat. It is saturated fat that has negative consequences on a person’s health and wellbeing. The diet relies heavily on olive oil. (This is the primary reason why the diet is higher in fat than one might expect.) Olive oil is proven to increase the level of HDL cholesterol (also known as “good cholesterol”). The Mediterranean diet is extremely high in antioxidants and fiber, two elements that have been proven to be helpful in preventing heart disease and some types of cancer. The dietary practices of the Mediterranean region trace their origins back to the days of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, beginning in about the Fourth Century BC. The Mediterranean diet became of more international interest in modern times as early as 1945. A medical doctor named Ancel Keys was responsible for encouraging his own patients in the United States to turn to the Mediterranean diet scheme. His advocacy increased the awareness of the Mediterranean diet in other countries around the world as well. Conclusion Armed with these basic, elementary facts about the Mediterranean diet, you will be in a better position to determine if this diet regiment is appropriate for you and your lifestyle. As can be seen, the Mediterranean diet has been followed by people in many parts of the world beyond the Mediterranean Sea region for quite an extended period of time. About the author: Site Owner & Publisher Ray Darken - You can gain much more detail from Ray's sites along with other relevant information at http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.comor http://www.weightloss-diet-health-vitamins.com Circulated by Article Emporium

 

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3 Surprising Statistics About Our Weight

3 Surprising Statistics About Our Weight

by: Emily Clark

To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an understatement! Pick up any magazine, tune-in or turn-on any source of advertising and you're bombarded with the latest diet schemes and food fads. More often than not, they are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or promoted using some other cleaver technique. It's no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a thriving empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35 billion dollars every year on an assortment of weight loss products and plans. In addition, we spend another 79 billion dollars for medication, hospitalization, and doctors to treat obesity-related problems. Even with this, the obesity epidemic continues to spread. Sadly, we have become the heaviest generation in our Nation's history. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have some very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain. Americans, for example are packing-on the pounds faster than ever before and weight-related medical problems are taking center stage. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes and yes...even certain forms of cancer have all been linked to obesity. Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our weight: - A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. That's up approximately 8 percent from overweight estimates obtained in a 1988 report. - The percent of children who are overweight is also continuing to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or almost 9 million are overweight. That's triple what the rate was in 1980! - Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese. At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or nearly 59 million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994. (The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is considered obese.) Modern life both at home and at work has come to revolve around moving from one "seated" position to another: whether it's television, computers, remote controls, or automobiles, we seem to be broadening the scope of our inactive endeavors. At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite TV program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted entertainment... And all those simple calorie burning activities that were once a normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone! You know the ones I'm talking about...activities like climbing stairs instead of using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a lawn mower instead of riding around on a garden tractor. And what about that daily walk to school? Now, our kids complain when the school bus happens to be a few minutes late getting to the bus stop! Along with the convenience of our affluent lifestyle and reduction in energy expenditure, have come changes in our diet. We are now consuming more calorie rich and nutrient deficient foods than ever before. Here are a few examples of what we were eating in the 1970's compared to our diet today (information is taken from a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey): - We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has jumped 45 percent since the 1970s, from 138 pounds of grains per person per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed as whole wheat. - Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased, but only because the U.S.D.A. includes French fries and potato chips as a vegetable. Potato products account for almost a third of our "produce" choices. - We're drinking less milk, but we've more than doubled our cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of saturated fat in our diets. - We've cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so that overall, we're eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did back in the 1970s. - We're drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than milk, compared to the 1970's, when milk consumption was twice that of pop. - We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has increased 32 percent. - Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding waistlines. Sugar intake is simply off the charts. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people are consuming roughly twice the amount of sugar they need each day, about 20 teaspoons on a 2000 calorie/day diet. The added sugar is found mostly in junk foods, such as pop, cake, and cookies. - In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only 11 percent of the average person's calories. Now, this number has ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as 20 percent for American teenagers. The days of the wholesome family dinners so near and dear to our hearts, where we all sat around the kitchen table to discuss events of the day, are now a part of our sentimental past. They have been replaced by our cravings for take-out and fast-food. We have gradually come to accept that it's "OK" to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake of convenience and that larger serving portions mean better value. And, since I have been throwing-out statistics, here's one more: Americans are consuming about 300 more calories each day than we did twenty years ago. We should actually be eating less because of our decreased activity level, but instead are doing the opposite! Decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits will become a permanent part of your life! Begin to explore your values and thoughts and other areas of your life where change may be required, and then take action. Begin slowly, but deliberately to make improvements in the areas you identify. And remember, it has taken a very long time to develop your habits, and it will take some time to undo them…so be patient! The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program. About the Author Emily Clark is editor at Lifestyle Health News and Medical Health News where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on many medical, health and lifestyle topics.

 

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