Earlier this year we welcomed 13 wonderfully talented women to co-author this blog and present engaging and uplifting original content for us all to enjoy. I'm sure you'll agree there have been some fantastic insights and tips shared by these ladies, and I thank them all very much for their commitment to the task!

Next year, some of our contributors are moving on the persue new businesses, career changes and family additions (hooray for them!), and so we're looking for a few fresh voices to join our blogging team. Are you interested?

Who we are looking for:

Any creative woman, with any professional or hobbyist writing/blogging background, from any creative industry, whether you are currently working or not. You don’t necessarily have to be from Melbourne, but read on for more specific location details.

Skills required: 

Basically, you should enjoy coming up with ideas for interesting blog post content, writing posts, and taking/sourcing photos.

More specifically, you should:

• have some basic knowledge of how a blog works and what makes an interesting blog post.
• know how to appropriately credit image sources and link to relevant online information in a blog post.
• have enough time to research & write a blog-post once a month and submit the post by the deadline date.
• have a strong grasp of the English language, spelling and grammar.

The commitment:  One post per every 5-6 weeks for the year (if successful you'll be sent a comprehensive schedule to help with planning and posting). Your first post will be on the blog in February/March 2013.

Blog posts can vary in length from 200-1000 words and might include taking/sourcing photos or graphics – but this will depend on the nature of your column.

The benefits of becoming a CWC blog columnist: The benefits of becoming a CWC blog contributor boil down to your name, business, work, creations and personality reaching a large audience of people (over 22,000 visitors this year!) who may want to engage with you, promote you, hire you, or buy your stuff.

Other benefits include meeting people and learning things about yourself and others in the course of writing and preparing your posts; and writing, sharing your skills and knowledge - being seen as an ‘expert’ in your field.

If I have learned anything running the CWC and other blogs, it’s that the art of self-promotion and ‘getting one’s name out there’ is all about engaging with the online world, and then marvelling at how that translates to projects, work, collaborations and friendships in the offline world. Our contributors this year have used their position to enhance their CV, approach creatives they admire to learn more about their work, network, share their expertise, hone their writing skills and break out of their day-to-day work mindframe and challenge themselves.

(As you can see, there is no direct monetary benefit, but the opportunities for self-promotion and networking are priceless.)

Here are the columns that are looking for authors in 2013:

Bricks and mortar (see past examples of this column here) Every month, you visit an actual bricks-and-mortar establishment run by a creative lady, such as a retail shop, a cafe, a design studio etc, and document that business/workplace through photos and words (mostly photos).

Would suit: Someone who likes getting out and about, meeting people in person and enjoys taking photos. Arranging the visit with the person/place you have chosen beforehand would be essential – this is not a covert operation-style blog post.

Location: Melbourne preferred, but if you travel interstate regularly or if you are from interstate then you could author or co-author this column.

Women in the world (see past examples of this column here) Every month, you tell our readers about the work, or plight, of creative women in another part of the world. Perhaps they are creating beautiful products and supporting themselves and their families/communities. Perhaps they have social or lifestyle issues that would be unheard of in Australia, and CWC readers can do something creative to assist them in some way.

Would suit: Someone who is socially conscious and enjoys researching and promoting not-for-profit causes and alerting others to the living and working conditions, or creative pursuits, of women around the world.

Location: You could be based anywhere to author this column.

Women in art (see past examples of this column here) Every month, you alert us to upcoming exhibitions, installations or performances that are by women. You could choose to focus on one major event, or a round-up of several local events (even categorised by state/city if so desired!).

Location: Melbourne preferred.

Organise me! (see past examples of this column here) Every month, you'll give us ideas, tips, tricks or advice about how to stay organised when running a solo business. You might focus on record keeping, stockist management, or material organisation. You might seek out and ask other organised creatives for their top tips or advice that makes them feel ‘on top of it’. Bonus points for profiling mums who manage creative work & kid-wrangling.

Would suit: An organised person who loves creating new systems and processes to help their life and creative work run smoothly.

Location: You could be based anywhere to author this column.

Book reviews (see past examples of this column here) Do you regularly read creative/business-related books or biographies? Perhaps you’d like to review or recommend a title to us once a month.

Location: You could be based anywhere to author this column.

Social media news, tips & tricks (see past examples of this column here) The social media world moves quickly... each month, you would tell us about a new/existing social media tool, website platform or app, or offer your tips for using them effectively for marketing, promotion or business organisation.

Would suit: An ‘early adopter’ or frequent user of internet tools, apps and social platforms, who can easily see the benefit to creatives, small business owners and the like.

Location: You could be based anywhere to author this column.

Member interviews (see past examples of this column here) Find out more about our members by interviewing them about their passions, workspace, skills, strengths and career story.

Would suit: Anyone with a burning desire to ask those they admire how they do what they do!

Location: You could be based anywhere to author this column.

How to apply:

Applications are now closed. Thanks for your interest! x