fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
How can logistics, delivery & mobility companies use location analytics
By: Aditi Sinha
Tags: Delivery, Logistics, Geospatial, Geolocation, Mobility

1: Supply-Demand Analysis: Analyzing the gaps between demand & supply

For an on-demand company (aka “Uber for X”), that is primarily a three-sided marketplace, matching demand and supply is at the core of the business and also extremely challenging. Moreover, the real-world introduces far more variation that leads to starker results than in the model.

When supply-demand gaps exist, we are either losing orders or our riders are idle — both of which are contributing to losing money. Normally, every micro-mobility company has a matching algorithm. But, how does that algorithm perform at different times of the day, days of the week, locations? Do they have a pattern? How do you analyze that?

Supply-Demand Analysis

Supply-demand analysis helps you decode where, when and why the gap between supply and demand occurs. For every unit of demand which is not met, you have lost an order. For every unit of supply which is idle, you are losing money on your vehicles.

Analyzing the gaps behind supply and demand helps you optimize for metrics such as utilization rate and the number of unserviced orders.

With Locale’s location analytics console you can easily visualize in which areas does the supply-demand gap exists so that you can tweak your operation to maintain a balance. Explore the tool and all the features it provides to improve your overall profitability

Decisions that can be taken using this analysis

Depending on the time of the day, day of week and location, you can decide:

Rider Incentives: The incentive that needs to be given to the rider to make them move to a particular area of higher demand

The incentive that needs to be given to the rider to make them move to a particular area of higher demand Surges and Discounts: The surges and discounts that we can give to the user to incentivize them to use your service in areas of high supply?

Insights required for taking these decisions

You can analyze the following metrics from the demand and supply side across different locations:

Number of Orders Lost vs Order Frequency: How many orders you are receiving and what percentage of that you are losing?

How many orders you are receiving and what percentage of that you are losing? Idle Supply vs Total Available Supply: How much total supply you have and what percentage of that is idle?

How much total supply you have and what percentage of that is idle? Distance of Lost Orders to Available Supply: What is the distance of orders that you are losing to the nearest idle supply?

Read more about these metrics here:
Tracking Covid-19 in India
By: Tech Attentive
Tags: Visualisation, GIS, Geospatial, Attentiveai, Covid 19

Humanity is facing an unprecedented challenge today in the form of a Covid-19 pandemic. The spread of this virus has crippled, even annihilated in numerous cases, economic and social orders. As countries reel in panic and isolation in the wake of the massive spread of this virus, there is a massive outburst of digital content on social media and internet outlets.

In India, very often in many of these content, the fine line between true statistics and fake news is blurred. The consequences of false reports create more adversities during this crisis as the government and health agencies find it hard to gauge the extent and depth of the issue at hand for efficient administrative or health policy development. The misinformation leads to mass panic if numbers reported are too high or mass complacency if they are on the lower side of the actual figures.

Even if we get the numbers right, there is always the problem of comprehension and analysis. How do we make sense of the numbers? Which parameters are important? Knowing the trend is important, but how do we see a pattern in the data? Thus as we sit in quarantine from a viral epidemic, we are also left to deal with information chaos.

We at Attentive AI have recognized the severity of issues that false data and misrepresented statistics might have on how we handle this situation at both individual and social levels. This is why we have developed a real-time Covid-19 Tracking Dashboard for India that presents the latest, accurate information of the pandemic through meaningful and comprehensive visualizations.

This Dashboard is powered with information from India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website. Overall numbers of Covid-19 infections are displayed along with a graph that shows the infection trend over a period of time. State-wise infection cases are also available along with a bubble map visualization. Important details and information about the pandemic are also available.

With this dashboard, we hope to provide a single reference that is easy to understand and thus help in creating a better and informed consensus on the disease in India. Do visit our Dashboard by clicking here for real-time, accurate and meaningful information around Covid-19.
Why 2020 was a year of geospatial thinking for WFP
By: Barbara Pereira Mendes
Tags: Geospatial, Mapping, 2020, World Food Programme

For well over a decade, geospatial technology has sustained informed decision-making in WFP, helping stakeholders develop insight into complex dynamics during major emergencies.

Geographic information systems (GIS) provide actionable information that improves disaster management strategies and programme planning. Annually, the geospatial unit produces an average of 2,000 maps — 80 percent for immediate emergency support.

Currently, WFP has integrated geospatial applications into several functional areas, and its activities have grown in complexity.

The geospatial unit won the 2020 Special Achievement in GIS award from ESRI

“I see a paradigm shift in how WFP consumes GIS technology compared to a decade ago,” says Lara Prades, head of the geospatial unit. “The focus was initially on data editing and mapping. At present, the needs have grown to automated systems, near-real-time advanced analytics, interactive online dashboards with business intelligence, to name a few”.

The geospatial unit won the 2020 Special Achievement in GIS award from ESRI, for its innovation in problem-solving and its impact on reaching vulnerable people — well-deserved recognition for the unit’s support to informed decision-making and data-driven response.
Satellite image processing made simple
Tags: Image Processing, Product, Geospatial, Open Source, Satellite Imagery

Working with satellite imagery can mean hours of finding the type of data you need, then figuring out the steps to process it. Satellite imagery can be hard to read and use because of the many formats that it can come in. Typically, you’ll need to process it so that it’s analysis-ready. Correcting, enhancing, classifying. There’s a lot to it. Could we make this a bit easier?

Our core philosophy is usability. We’re dedicated to simplifying your geospatial workflows. That’s why we’re continuously releasing new UP42 processing blocks on the marketplace. Blocks are units of datasets and algorithms, wrapped up and ready to be added to your workflows. Essentially: they’re building blocks for your workflows.

While our partners bring you easy access to datasets such as Sentinel-5P and Pléiades, and analytics algorithms such as object detection and vegetation monitoring — our data team builds basic processing tools. We’ve got pansharpening, vectorization, data type conversion, and much more. Our aim? To make processing imagery as effortless as can be.

By covering the processing blocks, we’re leaving room for you to focus on extracting specific insights using other blocks on the marketplace.

You’ve been able to access UP42 blocks since we launched in August, but because they’re so useful we think they deserve a special mention.

Here’s a roundup of our latest processing blocks:

This processing block converts image data to different coordinate reference systems (CRS) to the given EPSG code. By default, it converts the CRS to the best fitting UTM zone projection of the input footprint. It does this by taking an input, applying a CRS transformation process, and returning the EPSG code for consumption and analysis.
FOAM in 2018, a Year in Review
By: Ryan John King
Tags: Featured, Blockchain, Maps, Geospatial, Ethereum

Proof of Location

By the end of last January we launched a new website were ready to announce and introduce the work being done on the FOAM Proof of Location protocol, one with features that could be fault tolerant, independent, open and permission less, accountable and incentivized. This post explains the need for Proof of Location, the vulnerabilities of GPS and how Low Power Wide Area Network radios can play a role. Since publishing we have seen a number of blockchain projects in the location space emerge, all focused on the glaring Web 2.0 issues in location services.

Spatial Index Visualizer & Beta

In February we revealed the technology stack of the Spatial Index Visualizer, a general purpose visual blockchain explorer. The Spatial Index can serve as the front-end for any decentralized application that needs to visualize smart contracts on a map.

By late February a private beta of the Spatial Index was opened to the FOAM community, which was made public later in the Spring. The beta is currently live on the Rinkeby test net and can be accessed at beta.foam.space We learned a lot from this beta and were able to optimize the back end to ultimately power the FOAM Map main net application. The beta also has a very slick integration with the uPort application for self sovereign identity, points can be added and biometrically signed on the iOS application. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Around this time we also announced that FOAM had joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, was expanding to have desk space at Full Node in Berlin, joined MOBI, the mobility alliance, as well as released the FOAM promotional video, which visually articulates Proof of Location and the resulting accurate location verification data along with a video interview series with our team and an overview of future use cases.
Advantages of Continuous Infrastructure Monitoring
By: Near Space Labs
Tags: Space, GIS, Geospatial, Data Science, Infrastructure

Asset and infrastructure management requires consistent monitoring to uncover and address issues like pipeline leaks, vegetation encroachment and weather-induced damage. If you maintain, service or operate power lines, substations, road infrastructure, piping or other assets, you will be aware of the hurdles involved in watching hundreds of miles of infrastructure. Some imaging-based monitoring solutions exist, but they are either infrequent, low resolution, or cannot cover large perimeters.

Enter Near Space Labs’ daily, high resolution imaging. At Near Space Labs we have developed a high-altitude flying platform capable of imaging large areas in a single high resolution capture. This unprecedented technology is changing the aerial imaging market and unlocking new opportunities for all types of infrastructure monitoring. In this article we examine recent images captured by our system in Austin, TX, and how you could use them to keep track of all your infrastructure.

Flood management, repairs and production at power plants

The Tom Miller Dam in the Colorado river is fundamental for electric generation and flood management in the Austin area. Recently, it has been under construction to replace the dam’s original floodgates. Have a look at the state of the progress as of August 2019. The yellow outline marks the substations on both sides, the construction platform and the power lines across. With this image you can also check the water levels and note that the flood gates are shut at the moment. Sign-up here and get access to this imagery.
Working with GeoSpatial Data — Part:3, Basic data Processing
By: Manish Sahu
Tags: Geospatial, Gdal, Python, Tech

Installing Libraries using conda package

conda install gdal

pip install numpy

pip install geoconvert

pip install matplotlib

Reprojecting

Reprojecting here means transforming dataset from one coordinate system to another. You can read more about coordinate system here. Each coordinate system is given an EPSG code. This code contains all the necessary information required to define a coordinate system.

Let first inspect our dataset using gdalifo

gdalinfo City.tif Driver: GTiff/GeoTIFF

Files: City.tif

Size is 45276, 24557

Coordinate System is:

PROJCS["WGS 84 / UTM zone 21S"]

Origin = (385295.154380000021774,6290181.414930000901222)

Pixel Size = (0.079250000000000,-0.079250000000000)

Metadata:

AREA_OR_POINT=Area

Image Structure Metadata:

COMPRESSION=YCbCr JPEG

INTERLEAVE=PIXEL

SOURCE_COLOR_SPACE=YCbCr

We can see that our data is in UTM zone 21S coordinate system and upon searching its ESPG code is 32721. We wanted to transform its coordinate system to geographic coordinate system having EPSG:4326.

GDAL library has a method call Warp. It will be used to reproject raster data. Find below a code snippet and complete Jupyter Notebook

path_tif = 'City.tif'

path_dst = 'Reprojected.tif'

dst_proj = 'EPSG:4326' Destination_datasource = gdal.Warp(path_dst, path_tif, dstSRS=dst_proj, format='GTiff')

Jupyter Notebook to Reproject Raster Layer

2. Clipping

It is often observed that we work on small patch of data instead of whole or we wanted to share only a small of data to a user then Clipping tool would be very handy. We often uses GIS softwares like QGIS/ArcGIS to do such task but this can be very done using python and GDAL library.

Clipping can have 2 workflows: Exact Clipping, Bounding Box Clipping. These are described in images below.

Bounding Box based Clipping vs Exact Boundary Clipping

Find below a code snippet from jupyter notebook.

OutTile = gdal.Warp(path_output, source_datasource,

format='GTiff',

dstSRS=Projection,

cutlineDSName=path_shp,

cropToCutline=True,

multithread=True)

Jupyter Notebook to Clip Raster Layer

All the Notebooks are hosted in Github repo here
Interactive Geospatial AI Visualization in Jupyter Notebook
By: Juan Nathaniel
Tags: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Geospatial, Visualization, Data Science

Introduction to Layers, Raster, and Vector

Now, this will be where most of your EDA will take place. I’m going to showcase how to add layers and how to manipulate them.

But first thing first.

What are Layers? Layers are used to display geographic datasets. Their purpose is to separate different geographic information that may or may not correlate with each other. To showcase a map of a city, for example, you might want to display a layer of the basemap (highlighted earlier), the road network in the city, the housing places, the elevation level, and the presence of water bodies & recreational areas.

Now, What is a Raster or Vector? Raster data is stored as a grid of values (think of an image with pixels) while vector data represents a specific feature such as a point, line, or polygon.

The figure below provides a handy illustration to know what are layers, and the difference between raster / vector data.

Layers, Raster, and Vector data explained (source: SBCounty.gov)

If you want a more detailed explanation on this topic, do checkout my other blog post below.

Adding Layer

Last but not least, an interactive geospatial map is incomplete without the ability to add your own layers.

Let’s first add a Raster layer by calling the add_layer() method.

from ipyleaflet import basemap_to_tiles as btt, basemaps, Map



raster = btt(basemaps.NASAGIBS.ModisTerraTrueColorCR, "2019-06-24")

map.add_layer(raster) map

Adding Layer (GIF by Author)

If you choose to remove this layer, then you can simply call the remove_layer() method.

map.remove_layer(raster) map

Removing Layer (GIF by Author)

But what if you do not want to keep adding or removing layers by writing a code. You can do so on the map itself by adding a layer control.

from ipyleaflet import LayersControl map.add_control(LayersControl())

Layers Control (GIF by Author)

You can now have more controls over your layer in the map itself!

Conclusion

That’s it for an introduction to interactive geospatial visualization on Jupyter Notebook. I will create a second part soon to discuss more advanced techniques such as map splitting, adding data from GeoJSON and other file format, etc. Stay tuned!
A Predictive Earthquake Damage Model written in Python
By: Madeline Jones
Tags: Natural Disasters, Earthquake, Geospatial, Python Programming, Data Science

I have been working on a project over the last couple of years in my role as a Data Scientist at New Light Technologies to develop a model that predicts damages to structures in near-real-time following earthquakes in the USA using nationwide building centroids and Hazus damage functions.

Hazus is a risk model for earthquakes, floods tsunamis, and hurricanes and is the authoritative voice for predicted impacts following one of these major events. To learn more about Hazus, you can read about it directly from the Hazus program’s website.

This blog post describes the methodology and supplemental data sets used in the Earthquake Damage Model, which is available on GitHub here. The model is a Python program that can be set up to run regularly as a scheduled task, in which case it could provide predicted structural damage following an earthquake in near-real-time.

Data and Tables:

There are several important data sources used in this predictive model. The GitHub repo contains all required tables, however, some of the external data sets must either be downloaded and/or generated by the user with some basic geoprocessing steps, which are outlined in the GitHub readme file.

Building Centroids: In order to try and predict the number of buildings damaged in an area following an earthquake, you first need to know how many buildings are present. I used Oak Ridge National Labs building outlines from the USA Structures project. Some other open and public data sets that could be used instead are Microsoft Building Footprints or OpenStreetMap. The building centroids are used to calculate the count of structures within each Census Tract.

General Building Stock (GBS): This is the Census Tract-level breakdown of structure types. Not only do you need to calculate how many buildings are within each Tract, but you need to be able to estimate what kinds of structures they are. This information was extracted from Hazus at the Tract-level. The count of building centroids is multiplied by this breakdown of structure types to estimate the number of structures within each structure type per Tract. The Hazus Earthquake building types are defined in the Hazus Technical User Manual (p. 17).
How to load geospatial data in Amazon Redshift
By: Borja Muñoz
Tags: Redshift, Geospatial, Geojson, AWS

Import the data to Redshift

Now that we have the CSV file in S3, we are going to load the data into Redshift using the COPY command. We have different options for executing SQL commands in Redshift; some of them are the following:

We can use the psycopg driver for PostgreSQL. Although Redshift is not completely PostgreSQL-compatible, we can use this driver to connect to Redshift and execute SQL statements. This option only allows us to use traditional database authentication.

Another option is using the Redshift ODBC driver with the pyodbc module. This is a similar solution to psycopg, with Redshift-specific features that also provides only traditional database authentication.

A better option would be to use the Python Redshift connector. It is Redshift specific, developed by AWS, and supports Redshift specific features like IAM authentication.

The option we have finally chosen is the Redshift Data API. It makes asynchronous HTTP calls using the boto3 package. The code is a bit more complex (you need to execute the statement, wait for it to end and then retrieve the results) but it provides IAM and Secrets Manager authentication and avoids the need for managing a connection.

To use the Redshift Data API, we need our credentials to have the AmazonRedshiftDataFullAccess policy attached. Use the AWS IAM console to attach the policy as explained above.

Before we can load the data we need to create the table where it will be imported. We need to prepare the SQL statement with the column name and data types from the input file. Fiona provides a schema property that we can use to map the Python data types as read from Fiona to Redshift data types. Please take a look at the get_create_table_statement and get_field_mappings functions to understand the process.

To execute SQL statements on Redshift we need to provide the database credentials to access the database. The script uses credentials stored in AWS Secrets Manager. This is one of the recommended options for connecting to Redshift and it provides really useful functionalities for rotating, managing and retrieving database credentials. We also need to provide the ARN of this secret.

Once we have created the table, we can import the data using the COPY command. In addition to the database credentials, we need to attach a role to our Redshift cluster that allows read access to S3. Once we have attached this role, we will use the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the role in the COPY command.

You can see below the syntax for the execute_statement function. Besides the cluster identifier and the database, we specify the ARN of the secret with the database credentials and the SQL statement. In the SQL statement we need to indicate the path to the CSV file in S3 and the IAM role attached to the Redshift cluster with read access to S3.

Please take a look at the full source code to see how we can check if the SQL statement execution was successful and additional options that we need to use like the TIMEFORMAT parameter in the COPY command to interpret date/time fields correctly.
Geospatial Data Analysis
By: Vaishnavi Sonawane
Tags: Data Analysis, Geospatial Industry, Geospatial Analytics, Geospatial, Geospatial Data

Overview

It is evident that Geospatial Data analysis is currently blooming in agriculture, defense/security, engineering/construction, environment-monitoring, geovisualization, GIS analysis, imaging, remote sensing (RS), manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), healthcare, insurance, mining/manufacturing & natural resources based industries. The geospatial imagery analytics market is expected to have a revenue of $9 billion by 2026, driven by demands from the mining/manufacturing and engineering/construction industries. It is an ever-evolving domain. Interested in exploring this domain yet? Get started.

Table of Contents

· Overview

· Table of Contents

· What is Geospatial Data?

∘ What is Raster Data?

∘ What is Vector Data?

· What is Geospatial Data Analysis?

· Sample Project: Covid-19 Spatial Analysis

What is Geospatial Data?

When we talk about Geospatial Data, we are talking about-

The data which represents objects/features on the surface of Earth & it’s specific location on the globe.

Now, that being said, an ubiquitous source through which we can retrieve such sort of data comes to mind, doesn’t it? Yes, you’re right. We are talking about satellites here. Although, manned (airplanes) & unmanned (drones) aerial vehicles are also used to cater to our purpose.

Also, Geospatial data is available in various formats. The primary formats being as follows:

Raster Data

Vector Data

What is Raster Data?

(Raster representation of a land)

Definition:

Raster data formats are basically grids wherein each pixel has a value. This value is used to communicate the information about the targeted element in the question. Now, the data could be formed of either one or several layers of bands. Although all the bands are of equal spatial area, each band represents different information about the targeted element. It is a continuous form of data format.

Applications:

Raster data can be used to determine temperature, air pressure, soil PH, distance etc. of a particular region.

What is Vector Data?

(Vector representation of a land)

Definition:

Vector data format can be described as a graphical representation of the real world. Why is that? That is so because it represents data using sequential points or vertices. Hence, connecting those points forms a line & connecting those lines will eventually create a polygon. This polygon will certainly be enclosing an area. We can easily use this to represent an object or a region on the sorface of the earth. Hence, we can say that vectors are best used to present generalizations of objects or features on the surface of the Earth.

Applications:

Vector data can be used to represent rivers, roads, administrative borders, linear features etc.
Analyze the Earth with RasterFrames
By: Astraea Earth Ai
Tags: Spark, Geospatial, Big Data, Satellite Imagery, Data Science

Query the Earth

Earth Observation data has been Big Data since before the term existed. This legacy means that even today much of the tooling and techniques for finding and acquiring EO data are focused around the task of downloading big files. But downloading big files is not querying data, it’s just accessing the data. Querying data means describing which data you want to access in a way that integrates with describing what you want to do with it, all without having to describe how to access the data.

As with so many other types of data, EO data storage is transitioning to the cloud. RasterFrames leverages this trend by enabling queries across these cloud stores. It eliminates downloading and moving files by:

Reading directly from cloud store Grabbing only as much data as needed for the analysis

RasterFrames provides a broad enough functionality to integrate access with analysis; removing the artificial barrier and friction associated with data archival.

Analyze the Earth

Because RasterFrames puts EO data in a DataFrame, it enables data scientists and other analysts to analyze the data in a familiar way. DataFrames are general purpose and the basic operations on them are well known. RasterFrames lets the user take full advantage of that functionality in multiple programming languages such as Python or SQL. RasterFrames also adds custom functions for EO data in a way that seamlessly integrates with the existing DataFrame functionality, including a broad variety of machine learning modeling techniques.

Scale the Earth

The size of the datasets describing the Earth is mind-boggling and growing at an exponential rate. With RasterFrames, users can build and tweak their analyses or models locally, then scale them to thousands of servers in the cloud, without changing the code. In the EO space, this capability allows a data scientist to train a model over a limited geographic area (e.g. classify crops in Central Virginia), validate performance locally, then deploy the model over a much broader geographic area (e.g. classify crops nationwide). In practice, this hybrid approach saves users both time and money — a point that we’ll explore later on in this series.
There’s A Struggle Going On OnlineTo Maintain High-Quality Written Content
Tags: Gig Economy, Freelance Writing, Blogging Tips

Is The Writing On The Wall?

That’s the question that’s being asked by professional writers as they compete against the content mills. I myself have a gig on one of these platforms, but that’s only because I don’t want to lose out on a potential stream of income that would otherwise be lost.

Do you see the problem? Beginner freelancers want to work their way up to the big leagues, want to command higher rates while their works spread across popular blogs and magazines. But the gig industry beckons. The writer posts a half-dozen piddling jobs, which are severely undervalued, by the way, and another career is lost to the lower end of the freelancing spectrum.

So, what can be done? Do writing courses, improve your writing, gain experience in other styles and tones. Be conversational or formal. Ad SEO experience and knowledge on the many social platforms that inhabit the net.

Meanwhile, maybe a give an inch, give a mile mentality is called for. Post a gig on Fiverr or some similar gig website. Market those developing skills. As the jobs accumulate, view the work as experience gained.

Bringing All The New Skill Sets Together

There’s still every chance of a full and enriching career in freelance writing. Armed with the SEO skills and WordPress know-how, build a website. Build it and they will come, didn’t some famous movie star once say those words?

By doing the time, making the effort and putting in the time, that website and know-how could just be the launchpad you need to make better things happen. Above all else, don’t get stuck on content mills or gig sites, not unless you’re already making big bucks on these sites.
This is Proven to Be the Best Way to Start a Headline
By: Aishwarya Jagani
Tags: Copywriting, Content Writing, Writing Headlines, Writing Jobs From Home, Freelance Writing

In my last article, we spoke about the most engaging phrases to include in headlines.

Today, we discuss the best ways to start a headline.

The top ways to start a headline (based on Facebook engagement) are:

This is how… This is the… This is what… X things you… X reasons why…

It’s no surprise that 3 of the top 5 headline-starters begin with ‘this’.

‘This’ is one of the most powerful curiosity-generators in the English language. It opens up a knowledge gap in your prospect’s head that they just can’t wait to fill.

Here are some more examples. Think about whether you would click on these headlines or not.

This Rich-Man’s Strategy is The Most Closely-Guarded Secret in The World

This is Why You Should Be Sleeping On Your Left Side Only

The top 2 best ways to start a headline are both listicles: ‘X things you’ and ‘X reasons why’. No surprises there, either — I’ll bet you know headlines starting with numbers out-perform almost everything else on the planet.

That is why all your Buzzfeed, Scoopwhoop and Mashable articles begin ‘X Reasons Why…’, ‘X Things to…’ and ‘X Ways to…’

More on writing powerful headlines in tomorrow’s article.

If you would like to write super-responsive winning headlines, pick up your e-book here.
How to Win Writing Jobs Even With Competition
By: Elna Cain
Tags: Writing, Business, Freelance, Freelance Writing, Business Strategy

As a digital marketing writer, I know the top writers in my field. I know which companies pick them up and how much most of them bring in a year. It can feel overwhelming trying to compete with them especially since most of them are not on full-time mom with twins.

But that’s the thing. I don’t need to compete with them. And you don’t have to compete with others in your niche either.If you have the mindset that you will never get work or that there is not enough work for you, then you are right.

If you are going to stick with that negative mindset then don’t be surprised when you have negative results.

I know a lot of writers are into some mindset chants or what not. That’s not me. Instead, I just believe that there are unlimited opportunities available and that through enough hustle and exposure, I will get the writing jobs I need.

Change your stomping grounds

Still think your niche is overcrowded? You don’t need to change your niche; you just need to get to know your ideal client better.

For example, say you wanted to write about pet health. There might only be 30 outlets online, and you feel like you exhausted them all. Pet health isn’t profitable, you think. I should ditch the niche.

Woah!

Just because you aren’t getting the traction you want with pet magazines and websites does not mean pet health is a dead industry.

Millennials admit to spending over $1,200 a year on their fur babies and Americans spent a total of $72.56 billion on their pets in 2018. Instead of looking for pet places that are hiring writers, you need to start looking for the big pockets that are profiting off of pet owners.

Here are just a few: vets, online pet stores, pet food, pet toys, pet tech, pet sitting services, pet vitamins, pet meds, etc. That should give you over 1,000 leads to pitch just there.

Change your offerings
How I earned RM4k/month in 4 months of freelancing
By: Diyana Rahim
Tags: Freelancing, Copywriting, Freelance, Freelance Writing, Content Marketing

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

I’m an average Asian.

I stress the words “average” and “Asian” because I thought being a successful freelancer is for wealthy or extraordinary Caucasians.

Of course that’s not true.

I’ve proven it to myself by going after what I had envisioned and keeping up the momentum.

Now, I can proudly say that being a freelance writer based in Malaysia is my full-time job.

How did I get started?

At the start of 2019, I wrote down one major goal:

To become a full-time freelance writer

And that set the tone for the year and got the ball rolling.

It’s true what they say about manifestation. Once you’ve got it out of your head and written it down, you’ll start doing work that’s geared towards that vision.

You have no choice but to embody it and make it happen.

In my case, I gave myself about 6 months to:

improve my copywriting skills

build my portfolio

find potential clients

I was working a 9–5 at an agency at that time, so checking off the first two on the list was relatively easy.

The difficulty was deciding what niche service I should give and what kind of clients I should approach.

It turns out that I didn’t have to think so hard.

The client was right in front of me i.e. my employer at that time.

When I plucked up the courage to resign, I also stated my request to continue working with them, but as a freelancer. This would mean the same workflow but without me in the office and getting any of the company’s benefits.

I suppose this scheme was beneficial to them, too, and so my ex-company became my first recurring client.

This lasted only a short 3 months when they managed to hire a new in-house copywriter (and by the way, I was the only one in the company for a year).

I expected this.

So when they gave me their month’s notice, as stated in our contract, I began to rigorously search for more clients.

Finding a new client

I took the advice of many copywriters and decided to find a client based on my chosen niche.

That narrowed things down.

Once I got my portfolio edited towards that niche, I searched for clients on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Basically, wherever I could.

And then, I sent out cold emails.

Some of them replied but most did not.

I even managed to get a one-off client via LinkedIn thanks to my optimized LinkedIn profile.

But I was looking for a more long-term client. That’s one of the few ways that I could sustain myself.

One day, as I was flipping through Instagram Stories, I came across a job ad for a Content Writer. It stated that they were open to hiring freelancers and so I applied.

We had a couple of interviews and naturally, they asked about my expected fee.

Knowing how clients would always ask for a lower price, I aimed higher.

But all along, I was targeting for RM 4,000 (~$1,000).

Sure enough, by the fourth month of my freelancing full-time, I got what I wanted.

Know your worth and ask for it

What have I learnt from my experience?

These are the important points that may help you too:
This is what happens when you overextend yourself
By: Taylor Croissant
Tags: Content Writing, Freelance Writer, Freelancers, Writing Tips, Freelance Writing

Why overextending yourself doesn’t work

Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash

I took on jobs I didn’t have the time for. So I found a way to make it work. And by making it work, I mean late nights and weekends, working weeks at a time without a single day off.

I remember chugging RedBull and trying to prop my eyes up. Writing those last few words or answering those last few emails.

Does this sound familiar to you?

If it does, it’s because overextending yourself is actually pretty easy. Here’s the recipe:

1. You want to be successful.

2. You set out to be a freelance writer

3. You tell everyone you know what you’re doing before you’ve landed a single client

So of course you’re going to take on everything you can get your hands on. But there’s a price. And I paid it.

I burnt out within months as I threw all professional boundaries out the window. I never stopped checking email. I ghosted out of my personal life. I turned in subpar work that I rushed through.

Why it doesn’t work (but also kinda works)

It wasn’t pretty because I overextended myself and I lost control over my schedule.

On the flip side, those late nights are why I can write so quickly now. I pushed myself to get it done.

Now I know exactly how long it’ll take me to do something. And I can trust myself to always get it done — even if I make a mistake or double-book my calendar with tasks. I know I can get it done, but the difference now is that I set myself up for success by managing the workload.
Social Media For Writers: 21 Simple Tips
By: Michael Leonard
Tags: Marketing, Writing, Writing Tips, Social Media, Freelance Writing

Social Media for Writers — 21 Easy and Effective Tips to Attract Clients

Photo by BiancoBlue on Deposit Photos

Social media is one of the best ways to land writing gigs and grow your freelance writing business.

To me, social media is the new resume.

In my 24 months of freelance writing, I’ve never once been asked for a resume, but clients have found me through social media.

I feel that building a brand online is one of the best ways to separate yourself from so many other writers. Social media gives you a voice and allows you to show off your skills.

But before you get worried and think it’s too much work or not worth your time, hear me out.

First off, I’m not saying that you have to post on every platform, do Instagram stories daily, document every second of your life, or vlog on a YouTube channel.

I think that not having active profiles on the biggest social media platforms is limiting your potential as a writer. I say this because, in my first year of writing online, I had barely any online presence.

But when I launched my podcast, I started getting active on Instagram as I wanted to get listeners to my show. The theme of season one was all about interviewing inspiring entrepreneurs and learning more about their journey to success.

Unknowingly, it aligned perfectly with my freelance writing niche of creating content in the personal development and entrepreneurial space.

And my Instagram content attracted a client in December of 2018 that I still work with regularly. He found my videos, visited my freelance writing website, loved my writing style, and DMed me to learn about working together.

Fourteen months later, he’s more than a client — he’s also a mentor. I’ve helped him write tons of epic content to build his brand, and he’s taught me a ton about entrepreneurship and personal development.

Not to mention, I’ve earned over $35,000 working with him.

I say none of this to brag. I just want to point out why I think it’s important to show up on social media, even if you avoid it like the plague right now.

Had I not posted those videos, I could have missed out on one of the best clients I’ve had since starting as a freelance writer.
The Most Important Things Most Writers Never Do
By: Paulette Perhach
Tags: Writing, Business, Freelance, Freelance Writing, Writer

I’d be driving and think, “Oh damn it, I never followed up with Susan.”

I’d be shopping and realize it had been six months since that editor offered to read some pitches.

I’d look in my email for the last time I made contact with that person who would help me get where I want to be, and it had been two years.

And I realized that I need a better system.

As cluster-f*ck prevention, I’ve been keeping my Writer’s Mission Control Center for years, tracking my submissions, story ideas, and publications. But there was something I wasn’t tracking, that, as essentially a B2B salesperson (a subset of what we writers are), it was crazy I wasn’t writing down.

It was my opportunities.

There’s this concept of the sales funnel, which essentially says that a small portion of the people who know about your work will eventually buy it. At the top, the widest portion are just about anyone who hears about you. While there’s no universal definition for an opportunity, I would define it as a situation that presents a higher chance of getting a sale (or anything else of value, like a speaking opportunity that could lead to bigger things.)

When I look at my opportunities, I see editors I’ve been recommended to, publications that have invited me to send work, and — I just added this one — calls to pitch.

When the new year came, I kept seeing all these calls to submit to magazines. I took screenshots and emailed them to myself. But my question was: Where do I keep these so I know I’ll actually follow up?

I realized, then that a call to pitch is a kind of opportunity. These now live organized in my Writer’s Mission Control Center:

But wait… how do you know you’ll actually follow up???

That’s where my Executive Meeting comes in. Every Monday, I have an all-day meeting with myself, where I go through the most important 10,000 ft issues of my freelance writing business. I have a list of about 20 things I do. On them is the item: Check and update opportunities.

This has me sending little emails just checking in, taking small steps toward big goals. It has people emailing me to say, “Thanks for being great at following up.” Who, me?

Get your own Writer’s Mission Control Center here!
Is Content Writing A Good Freelance Career Option ?
By: G Shrivastava
Tags: Freelancing, Content Writing, Gig Economy, Freelance Writing, Content Marketing

In a web-content oriented world, the scope and popularity of content writing is huge and ever-growing. As long as a business module requires an online presence, it takes on its identity through content. This has led to an impressive growth in quality content and content makers.

Although content writing is in no way a new concept, it has gotten a new lease of life and is here to stay for good. The digital transformation that has taken place over the years has created a brand new demand for talented content writers with many young professionals and fresh graduates aspiring to create a name for themselves in this field.

Content writers are responsible for everything we see on the web today. They play a vital role in making the digital world the one stop source for all information. They produce a variety of different content for websites, blogs, social media, technical documentation and many other platforms. It is a fulfilling path for those who wish to pursue a career in writing.

One aspect that adds to its appeal is that like most of the mainstream career choices, you don’t necessarily need a degree in a specific stream to become a writer. If you have a flair for writing, good communication skills, know how to put your thoughts into words and possess some knowledge of the digital world, you are good to go. This eliminates the entry barriers that deter individuals from pursuing it as a career. However, if you plan to take up content writing on a full time basis, it is recommended to be a graduate in any field.

Companies are on the lookout for those who can communicate with customers through well-written and appealing content. But working in a big corporation is vastly different to working in a start-up. A large organisation has more people and follows a well-defined structure, which makes it easier to share responsibilities.

The content writing industry in India is growing exponentially. There are many tech and e-learning companies that are offering opportunities to writers. If you are looking forward to a career in content writing, some areas that offer great opportunities are:

Blog Writing

Article Writing

Copy Writing

Technical Writing

Editing

Digital Marketing (SEO, SMO)

Whether you are a fresh graduate or an experienced professional, there is ample scope in content writing with growth prospects for the future as well. It is an interesting career option that could lead to a highly rewarding profession.
How Many People Depend On You as a Content Creator?
By: Mysson Victor
Tags: Freelance Jobs, Content Creation, Freelance Writing, Humanity, Paid To Write

How many people depend on your service?

Let me tell you: 4 groups.

Yes, your client, your editors, and the consumer (reader)

But those are only three?

Yes, the fourth person is you.

The most important group here is the consumer. They are relying on your content to help them make informed choices. This cuts across all niches.

So if you are writing a product review, you probably going through the ins and the outs of the product. As a consumer, I will finally sigh when I land on your article, take a rest and whip out my debit card.

Writing detailed content is a service (funny how we sometimes forget this).

Content creators (freelancers and bloggers) just like teachers and doctors, serve humanity in the best way they know how. The main reason why we spend 4 hours or so researching a topic is because we know someone else on the other end of the world, will be relying on this information.

Do not belittle your own contribution and you are deserving of every coin that your client pays you. If you are a client, your creators are deserving of every coin you give them and both of you are doing awesome work and you are deserving of every profit you make because you are running an awesome business.

My focus right now is to stabilize PennyMedia, and so most of my creations are those that go directly to PennyMatters and those that promote our web design services. Maybe I will venture into freelancing later on

For inspirations, read your blog comments. When you find one that touches you, screenshot it, print it and frame it. Place this around your workspace to help you keep going when the going gets tough.

PS: the comment below is for this blogging guide

And yes, Mysson doesn't mind if you link it to it tomorrow when updating an old post.
The motivational and talent utilizing world of Freelancing.
By: Haris Ul Haq
Tags: Motivation, Freelance Writing, Creativity

I had this storm of emotions inside, but clueless of how to deal with it for so long. I have been cut off from social media since 2012, the thought of it gave me nausea. I came across many unethical stuff which lead me to social distance myself from the digital society.

What changed?

Well my disappearance for sure had no effect, but since then social media has changed and there are platforms which have to offer much more to the potential of the talented and skillful.Blogging and freelancing platforms have elegantly and efficiently carried the world to the next level. They discover talents and skill sets and get you a price for your services.

Evolved Passion.

Getting Paid for your Talent (Freelance).

Over the ages life inside the digital world evolved to such an extent, that talented and skillful are getting even paid for their passion. This for sure is a rise of a more promising future for the upcoming generations. Where you may get just exploited for your work, the same work has been a blessing in the world of freelance. It does have a certain amount of cons but the pros are even more promising. It doesn't matter what skills you have but if you can use it as a service you will get paid for it.

So you can too

If I was able to change and step up for myself in doing what was my passion, and in what I had more thrilling and fun experience so you can too. Discover yourself, decide today, yes it will take time, yes it will require an effort but believe me you'll get to a more high and prosperous place in time. You'll learn more and grow more. So, believe in your dreams and start pursuing them.