Australian writer and SEO business blogger. Using my 15+ years in hospitality management and marketing to help business owners and savvy professionals grow their audience and their income.
Does your business blog organise content into logical categories — or does everything you post end up in the ‘Uncategorized‘ pile? In today’s blog I’m going to be pointing out 5 critical functions that blog categories fulfil on your website. And probably the most important is SEO.
No matter where your business is located, your employees have 4 key WHS responsibilities under the WHS Act in your state or territory. Help them understand what they need to do.
Sometimes the most unassuming people teach you the greatest lessons -- about life, and yourself. For me it was Conrad, a friendly tricycle driver in Iloilo City.
What is blogging actually? And why are we all doing it? Blogging seems to be one of those ethereal ‘things’ that everyone is into, but can’t really explain.
This is Marketing by Seth Godin is not a down-to-earth practical guide to marketing. It's big-picture stuff and tends to chop and change ideas rather quickly. That said, I gave it 4 stars (the ideas in the book that is).
Start the new year confident by having a better understanding of your WHS duties as an Australian small business owner.
In today's blog I'm outlining 11 ways to optimise your website for Google search. Apply these 11 best practices to all the content on your website -- every post and every page.
Outlining 5 essential elements of web content writing to help you write copy that is engaging, readable, and search engine friendly.
Have you ever been invited to your sister’s (or BFF’s) for dinner — only to have the evening hijacked by your brother-in-law (or your BFF’s new girlfriend)?
Today’s blog is a quick introduction to safety legislation in Australia — how to identify the laws that apply to your business and what they mean for you as a small business owner, operator, or manager.
This is a little book of 30 ideas which push us, prompt us, and dare us to move beyond our training to conform and comply -- and reach for something Seth Godin calls 'graceful'.
Today I’m unpacking the actual SEO steps I take when writing a page of web copy or publishing a new blog post. Follow the 6 steps and make your own web content more Google-friendly.
Nearly every small business owner out there uses Google on a daily basis, but a lot of us don't know how Google actually finds our business website and displays it in their search results.
Most small business owners I talk to would rather be engaged in the money making side of their business than embroiled in compliance talk or scrolling through pages of government websites and safety legislation.
My writing business is ranking for the wrong search terms. And its all my fault. Let me explain it to you.
If you copied your mission statement verbatim from your website onto a piece of paper, then handed it to a complete stranger — would they immediately know what your business does, and where you are?
Copywriters? Content Writers? This blog delivers a quick explanation of the difference, because understanding the distinction between these two different types of writers will help you engage a more effective content and marketing strategy for your business.
If your business has a written statement of values, it should absolutely be on your website. Did you know that customers are willing to pay more for things when they believe the business selling them is authentic and true to their values?
Sometimes clients forget (or just don't realise) how much background information a copywriter needs before they can start writing a company profile, press release, or set of product descriptions. It's actually quite substantial.
The Dead Girl by Melanie Thernstrom is one of those books that has been popping up on my 'must read' lists for years (it was first published in 1990). It's a memoir written by a young college student who's best friend was brutally murdered.
This blog outlines 10 different strategies for finding paid work as a freelance writer -- it's for new freelancers or anyone thinking about a writing side-hustle.
Whenever I'm lacking belief in my writing or stuck on a client project, I only have to take a quick visit to an old book to find some relief. 'MONET by himself.'
Taking Jerry to visit the grave of his mother on All Saints Day 2019. We also spent some time with his elder brother Ryan and his family.
Your success as a freelance writer -- and this is true for any self-employed person -- is critically linked to your own personal productivity. And I'm not talking your ability to use Productivity Apps and write a to-do list.
Business blogging is done for one reason, and one reason only. To get people on our websites. And we want them to stay awhile too — check out our content, join the newsletter, and eventually buy something.
A successful freelance writer is not just someone who makes a lot of money, but a person who is creatively engaged in work they love, delivering high quality copy to their clients.
I love the night culture of the Philippines and how the twilight turns headlights into the moon. After the hot sun sinks and before the moon rises.
To be able to put words to the pain is the beginning of liberation. Jean Vanier -- Seeing Beyond Depression. It's wonderful to feel some energy within myself again for writing. Feeling enthusiasm about anything at all is something that…
Maybe you've seen the donation buttons on my website and wonder what I do with the money -- I hope this post will give you a better understanding of what I do, and even inspire you to do more in your own community.
You don't need a pile of techie stuff or expensive subscriptions to start a freelance writing business. The best advice I can give you is to concentrate your purchases on the things that will support uninterrupted writing, efficient communication, and…
Last night I found a cute little video of Jerry singing. He got hold of my phone not long after he came to live with me in 2015, and watching it caused me a few lamentations about how fast he's…
Our beloved Rosemarie died suddenly on Sunday morning. If you have been following my blog anytime over the past 5 years you'll have seen many photos of Rosemarie and her family. Her mother had taken her to hospital Saturday night,…
“Stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions … the truth is that what we call ‘interruptions’ are precisely our real life -- the life God is sending us day by day.” C.S. Lewis Hello writing friends. It's been a…
Hi friends. Thanks for stopping by my website. Things are gonna be looking a bit wonky for the next few weeks -- as I upgrade and get it ready for my new online learning centre and digital download service. It's…
seated the sunshine flecked, with salt
What days are these? Where you can only be found -- inside your own shadow.
Most Fridays Jerry and I have breakfast in the Lapaz Public Market before I take him to morning class. We have a simple breakfast with native coffee. It's our Friday treat. So one morning a few weeks back -- as…
Yesterday I read some excellent writing advice on medium.com. Shouting out @tijmenr, who's medium handle I stumbled across yesterday morning while coffeeing and blog browsing in Starbucks Iloilo City. I wish I'd heard it 2 years ago. And when I…
For the last five years I've been writing everyday, and over that period have evolved from a sometime poet and blogger to a full-time professional writer. This blog is a short reflection on my writing practice and the art form…
Yesterday afternoon Jerry's classroom was fogged for dengue mosquitos. The entire Province of Iloilo is currently in a dengue emergency which includes both Estancia (where Jerry's family, all our friends and sponsored kids live) plus Iloilo City itself. All hospitals…
Now don't take me the wrong way here, I love my freelance writing life. But I've seen more than one marketing blog that seriously overstates the benefits of freelancing (probably for the purposes of recruiting students/trainees into their freelance learning…
vending pineapples with urgency money. exchange. quick. before the street guard surge Walking out of the money exchange kiosk I found my path blocked by a tricycle stretched with pineapples. A young man was urgently slicing his wares into plastic…
Subay. It's the Hiligaynon word for ants. Actually it's the Hiligaynon word for one ant -- if you have more than one ant, or a group of ants -- it's mga subay. Mga Subay. In our apartment Jerry calls me…
tiny bubblets lodge in a spider's trap last night's rain © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine An evening downpour in the Philippine tropics is followed by intense morning sun, giving life to every rivulet and bubble before they transform back to cloud.
It rained and rained in the middle of the night and Jerry woke up to the shrieking sounds of frogs below his bedroom window. He eagerly grabbed the military grade binoculars given to us last year when our friends Kevin…
There is plenty to love about freelancing. If it weren't for my freelance writing business, as an Australian I would not be able to stay in the Philippines and take care of Jerry -- the small boy I met wandering…
each new sun lights layers your narrative sensitive to light © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine
Seeing red flowers. For the first time. Seeing red flowers. Everywhere. Seeing. For the first time. It's amazing when you see something for the first time. It grabs at you and pulls you in, and you love everything that's bright…
This excellent book by Ted Hughes is a collection of the programmes he wrote for the BBC Schools Department ‘Listening and Writing’ series.
If you're considering making the transition from paid employee to freelance writer or consultant, make sure the working relationship you have with clients doesn't breach the taxation laws in your country. This blog explains the difference between true freelancers, contractors,…
Kid's water park excited shrieks wet selfies. Splashed with red flowers. ‘Tita Mel, you have little red flowers on you’ cried 11 year old Jerry as we were leaving a kid’s waterpark yesterday. Underneath the steps of a shrieking watercoaster,…
Each year (with the help of friends and family), I use the money I earn as a freelance writer to support about 20 Filipino kids in their schooling. Throughout the year family and friends (and even a few people I've…
keep the secrets of trees close
inside shadows a young fish passes beyond the mangroves
Everything is green and red TODAY. Jerry picked up a red flower today and asked me to photograph him with his favourite colour. I love living in Jerry’s magical world of flowers and butterflies.
the sand scorched heat and absence our monsoon rains are late this year and tonight (at last the night) the dogs will sleep inside fresh holes dug to the cool sand not like this burnt afternoon dusk, where the sun…
young palm frond turned, green to burned gold on the low tide © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine
The earliest 'freelancers' were hired soldiers or 'free lances' who sold their services to kings and rich landlords to defend soil and property. They were an important part of medieval warfare. Freelancers have come along way since those antiquated times…
Faith by Tim Costello My rating: 5 of 5 stars It is easy to speak highly of book where you agree with nearly everything the author has to say, and in some ways acts as an endorsement for some of…
mid-summer heat settled shouts out curling leaf fronds brown and cracked clear voices cry rain hear us rain When my mother and sister arrived in Iloilo City 2 weeks ago, they both asked about the brown stuff they could see…
I can ride I can ride I can ride ... He shouts like every kid who ever learned to ride Then hits a tree [not pictured]. Hiring a bicycle for Jerry to learn to ride in the gardens of the…
Sitting in a taxi not fitted with seatbelts, I spotted this group of young men on their way to work. Their van was crammed so full of catering equipment (chairs, tables, tents, and serving trays) -- the workers who would…
In our family, the iPhone 6 Plus that I absorbed from a finalised Telstra Plan in 2016, is colloquially known as ‘The Red’. Factually, The Red is a piece of melded sapphire glass, aluminium, graphite, cobalt et al that somehow…
One of the things I love best about the Philippines is their strong cultural observances, customs and traditions. You don't have to be Catholic (or even Filipino) to get swept into a Holy Week procession and become part of a…
Is it possible to see a piece of art and not look for yourself? Or arrange each piece without turning it into your own autobiography of lost toys, lost time lost poetry, and lost vindications? Not today. Blogging-U: This blog…
It's been 5 days since my mother and sister went back to Australia. And apart from the picture of me when I was 13 that mum brought over and gave to Jerry, it's hard to imagine them even being here…
Isn’t it just the coolest thing when you’re sitting under a shredded tarpaulin on a stinking hot day — at a school after the Grade 6 graduation — and you look up and here’s this little kid in the full…
Jerry has just finished Grade 4, receiving his very first recognition medal and awards. It was an exciting experience for both of us, especially when you consider that just 4 years ago Jerry was wandering around the local pier (not…
Last week I was having coffee with a new friend, and she was suggesting things for a newbie to do here in Iloilo City. Museums, galleries, historical sites ... the type of stuff to help you get to know a…
flying late my Easter moon alighting Dubai
It's time to talk about that forbidden subject ... the topic that no freelancer wants to discuss with you. The horrifying amount of weight it's possible to gain if you spend your whole life in front of a computer screen,…
wet skies falling over burnt bits of land My Uncle Richard emailed me his latest watercolour a few days ago -- inspired by the "water, wet skies and bits of land" (he told me) of the NSW New England. Yet all…
standing next to the sun I saw the city shine © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine
Freelance writers are independent agents who write for a wide range of publications and media. It's absolutely one of the best things about being a freelance writer -- our freedom to write about the topics we love and leave behind…
glowing on the beach lighting her long hair, carried cool before their kiss
barbed blade and broken midrib, cobweb netted vein cover river sand in your story
Posturing Above his subjects Always a street cat, still
her painted smile outstretched the years of silent heat and stormed cloud
He is beautiful. Representative of an ideal. But never forget, he can never be real.
little flags cerise black red flapping in the wind
wind strikes hollow bamboo sticks against long since seashells
Allowing yourself to write sloppy sentences, or draw an imperfect picture, or to keep playing a song with gusto when you miss a chord is great way to invite your timid, self-conscious creativity out into the open. When you allow…
A few months ago I disabled the ‘show likes’ facility on all my blog posts. Like many of us, the yardstick for measuring the ‘success’ of my writing had been reduced to how many people had ‘liked’ or shared something.…
“like ballet” said a young voice “like a ballet of water”
While I'm writing I love to be surrounded in books, pictures and musical instruments. For the past few months I've been working on my new writing space and freelancing office, decorating the walls with cut-up art books. It seemed a…
Imagine finding an award winning book (signed by the author) -- that teaches you how to awaken the extraordinary in your life -- in a second hand book bin for less than $3. ‘The Everyday Work of Art’ by Eric Booth is…
a gift handbound pages for poems
"The morning pages are not supposed to sound smart -- although sometimes they might. Most times they won't, and nobody will ever know except you." Julia Cameron The Artist's Way None of us emerge from the womb accomplished writers. And…
shrieks of excitement birthday wrappers all torn spinning toys spin -- for hours
How wonderful to live in a period of time where you can be anywhere in the world and still use your local library. Even better when you spend 10-11 months of the year abroad with a 10 year old boy…
In the distance the drums continued to beat. © 2019 Melinda J. Irvine [lmt-post-modified-info]
Being able to work from anywhere that has internet signal or mobile service is absolutely one of the best perks of being a freelance writer. And in this blog I'll be sharing some of my experiences, as well my 5…
we hold in our own hands EARTH and OCEAN do we hold them as carefully as our wallets? This stunning painting by Ilonggo artist Marrz Capanang was created during Artivism 2.0 (Iloilo City, Philippines) earlier this month. Artivism is a…
Three goats out — eating winter monsoon sod Three goats run — running mid-season squall
Do you have a sales and marketing kit to send out to leads and proposals to new clients? This blog is a practical guide for freelance writers needing a quality set of marketing tools to support query letters, client proposals,…
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin My rating: 5 of 5 stars 'Mao's Last Dancer' has become a favourite of mine and I read it again between Christmas and New Year -- well listened to the audiobook compliments of the…
Our new year burst into view through a network of fireworks, unison'ed countdowns, and plastic horn blowers that stretched as far as we could hear and see from our little balcony. And I remembered what it was like to be…
What are your plans for your writing business? Do you have enough time to write? Do you know who your readers are? This blog applies the principles in Stephen Covey’s classic book: 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' to your writing business.
'Faunaverse Tasmania' is a book of 26 fun and funky poems about the unique wildlife and flora of Australia's island state (Tasmania). It doesn't matter whether you are a kid or all grown up, you'll delight in Alex and Jane…
connecting each to each building to building house to house pole to pole pod to pod me to me you from you post from post tribe from tribe boozer from boozer each from each disconnecting © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
