Dealing With Requests for Free Copy

Like a lot of freelancers, I do have a friends-and-family discount. Very few people in my life get completely free copywriting and editing help, no questions asked—but there are a handful of people I do that for. Close family. Close friends. My boyfriend. People like that. People who’d do anything for me, and people I’d do anything for—including write for free, anytime.

There are other people who fall into a gray area. A casual friend who mentions he’s setting up a website and starts to get excited about getting me involved—I get excited too, until it becomes clear to me he expects my help to be free. Random people like my landlord or my dentist—people I have a friendly relationship with, but not exactly a “do-anything-for-each-other” relationship.

The truth is, I can’t give free help to everyone who asks. Nor do I believe I should. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and if I’m doing something for free, it’s for someone or something very important to me. Still, a lot of the time, the people asking for help are friends, in a sense—people I have a good relationship with. So how do you say no without ruffling feathers?

Are You Competitive or Cooperative?

Are you a cooperative or competitive businessperson?

If you're a freelance writer, I'm supposed to think of you as my competition. If you're my competitor, I'm supposed to try to one-up you. I'm supposed to try to get more work than you, position myself as a better alternative than you, and generally outbid you for clients. In competitions, there's a loser and a winner, and being a good businessperson means being the winner--right?

Not always.

I've noticed that in the freelance writing industry, competition isn't really the dominant mood. Just look at Peter Bowerman and Bob Bly--two highly successful copywriters who could've just gone on being successful and landing high-profile clients, but decided to share their secrets with the rest of us. Chances are, at least one of their books got you started and provided you valuable advice along the way.

Of course, these guys don't do it from the goodness of their hearts. Both have now diversified their businesses by promoting their own information products to a new market: aspiring freelancers. It's a business plan that benefits them and the writing community as a whole. Competition isn't the only way to play the game.

I've found my business has benefited a great deal from a cooperative approach. If a project isn't a good fit for me or I'm overwhelmed, I refer to a colleague. I know they'll refer business to me when they're in the same spot--so everyone benefits. If I wanted to be competitive, I could try to hold on to each and every client. But I want to make a good impression, even when I'm not the one who gets the job--and referring to a qualified colleague will make a client much happier than taking on a job I don't have time for.

I'm also something of an evangelist for the freelance life. Nothing makes me happier than telling people about what I do and helping them figure out how they can do the same thing. Am I creating competition? Maybe. But I may also be creating a helpful colleague. I feel that helping others succeed can only benefit me in the long run.

So what's your approach--are you competitive or cooperative?

NOTE:I got the idea for this post from someone else who wrote a post on competitive vs. cooperative businesses and industries...and how cooperative freelance writing tends to be. It was a long time ago and now I can't find it anywhere. If it's you, drop the link here and I'll make sure I put you in the top paragraph.

Keeping Stress to a Minimum (It's All in Your Head)

My business is starting to grow. I'm landing higher-profile clients and more lucrative contracts. While this is definitely something worth celebrating--I'm not complaining, and I feel blessed to be doing well so far in this economy--I'm also feeling the level of pressure increase as the level of client and pay does. This is the ugly side of success that nobody tells you about.

Some people are naturally chill and relaxed, while others have so much confidence that nothing phases them. I'm a very high-strung individual, and I really, really want to please my clients. But this month I found myself under a lot of stress, and my traditional way of dealing with it--i.e. breathing heavily into a paper bag until the urge to pass out subsides--just wasn't cutting it any more.

At the beginning of the month, I landed myself in a situation where it seemed whatever could go wrong did. At the end of two weeks of incendiary contract disputes with a third-party client, I found myself on a bus to Boston on the way to a week-long business trip, stuck in traffic, twenty minutes from my flight's departure time. Under normal circumstances I would be banging my head against the window and shrieking at the driver to drive over the median to get there faster. But after all I'd been through up until then, I had to laugh. For what was probably the first time in my life, I thought to myself, "screw it. I'll either make the flight or I won't." And somehow, I did make the flight.

This taught me a big lesson: even though I have complete faith in my own skill as a writer, this job can still bring me enormous stress. I could handle it when I was just starting out. But at the levels I'm starting to compete at, it could easily consume me. I realized this month that this job could only get to me if I let it--and I had to stop letting it.

Here are a few mental tricks I'm putting into practice to lift the pressure.

Keep things in perspective. We're writers, not doctors. When we screw up, nobody dies. Nations don't rise and fall. Global economies don't crash. The worst that can happen is someone's promotion isn't as successful as hoped, or there's a typo in the headline of your sales letter, or your landing page doesn't beat the control. Not great, true--that typo thing can seem like the end of the world to us grammar perfectionists--but not exactly a national crisis, either. Whenever something doesn't go as planned and you feel yourself starting to stress, ask yourself this: in five years, will you care?

Pick and choose what you'll allow to stress you out. Let your family issues stress you out. Let your relationships stress you out. Let your dog's hip displasia stress you out. But do not let other people's stresses stress you out. As your business grows, you'll find yourself working with many, many people who are stressed themselves. They need your draft yesterday. They're dealing with pressures of their own. Do your best for them, but don't let their anxiety become your anxiety. Set boundaries when needed.

Let go of other people's responses. You don't want them to like your work--you want them to love it. As a professional with a very high standard of quality, i can totally relate to that. But bear in mind that the quality of your work and the client's response are not always tied to each other. No matter how on-target your copy is, you will almost always get nit-pickers and people who feel the need to mark their territory by giving you additional revisions. Take a deep breath and do the best you can, but do not let criticism of your work damage your confidence as a writer. That confidence is your livelihood.

There will always be another chance. Clients come and go. Projects come and go. Nothing is forever. If one business relationship doesn't work out, it could be a blessing in disguise--it could clear your schedule for that fabulous project or client just around the corner. When you let go of a troublesome business relationship, remember that the money will come back--you're freelance and flexible, and there are thousands of businesses who need your expertise.

Running your own business is always stressful. And in a creative field, you face myriad challenges from client attitudes toward writing in general, subjective direction, giant egos and third-party editors with agendas of their own, among other things. But as long as you're making enough money every month to support yourself, you're doing fine.

Interviews: Keeping Control of the Conversation

I've just returned from a big trip to a client site across the country. Hence not a lot of posting last week; I thought I'd get time to write a bunch of posts (again), but found myself wined and dined long after the traditional work day was over. I had a lovely time--but I also worked hard, interviewing multiple staffmembers at all levels of the organization.

Interviewing is hard work. It's tough to draw a person out, cultivate trust, and still keep the conversation focused and ensure you're getting all the information you need. I tend to be a very focused person--I want to get in, get out, and move on. But many people I interview don't work the way I do--they're less focused, and as the interviewer you need to be sure you can keep control of the conversation.

Here are several different types of interviewees I encountered on my trip--and how to make sure you get the answers you need from each of them.

The self-aggrandizer. The self-aggrandizer is thrilled to death that you're interviewing him. And he doesn't think you're interested in the company's services and the insight he brings to those--he thinks you're interested in him. Personally. So he might answer your questions perfunctorily, but he'll always wander back to himself--how he started working there, where he worked beforehand, his family and how they felt about his taking the job. When working with the self-aggrandizer, it's important to tell them at the outset why you're interviewing him and what information you're interested in. Sometimes it helps to give him his due and listen to his digressions, and act suitably impressed--once he feels he's been heard, he may be willing to move on to more relevant topics.

The befriender. The befriender can't sit down to have a conversation without trying to get to know you as well. And that would be great--if you didn't have six other people to interview today. She'll ask you questions about yourself and tell you personal details of her own life in an effort to build rapport. Let her do it for a bit--it will make her more likely to open up when you start asking the important questions--but don't let it continue for too long, or you'll have made a new friend without getting the info you need.

The clam. The clam doesn't have much to say. He answers your questions with one-word answers, and he's very difficult to draw out. When working with this guy, it's important to avoid yes-or-no answers like the plague; if he can get away with yes or no, he will. Be prepared to follow up with further questions and know exactly what information you're trying to get. With the clam, you may have to write your own quotes and then go back to him for approval; it's unlikely he'll deliver any memorable sound bites.

The confused soul. The confused one has difficulty staying on topic. He doesn't just want to tell you about the service the company offers now; he wants to talk about the services they're planning to offer next year, the services they tried and discontinued, and everything in between. With this one, it's key to tell him at the outset exactly what information you need at the outset and how you plan to use it. This way, he's more likely to focus only on the information that's useful to you.

Keeping control of the conversation is important for any interviewer. You need to make sure you get all the crucial information without wasting too much time--even though it takes time to build rapport and get someone to open up. When you're balancing thoroughness and efficiency, you always walk a tightrope. But with experience, you'll soon become adept at controlling the conversation without seeming abrupt.

Are 20-Something Workers Out of Line or On to Something?

I'm a regular contributor to Brazen Careerist, a blog and columnist network for twenty-something professionals. I'm interested in news about how my generation is changing and growing into the workplace, and I'm also fascinated by how the media and the larger corporate culture views us. Unfortunately, it's not all good.

The media thrives on stereotypes. And the ones about Generation Y are mixed. According to common wisdom, we're flexible, innovative, enthusiastic and technically savvy. But we're also arrogant and entitled--we're young upstarts who want a flexible workplace, an influential job, and great work-life balance right away. There's more info on this here, here and here, if you're interested.

I can see how this attitude can chafe on veteran workers who dedicated their early years to getting ahead. I also have great respect for those with more experience and years in their profession than I do--I jump at a chance for mentorship whenever I can get it. But I also feel very close to those Gen-Y stereotypes, because, well...look at me. I'm a 20-something entrepreneur who discovered a regular job just couldn't deliver the flexibility and control over my life that I wanted--so I abandoned the whole concept.

The traditional workplace doesn't like to bend to accommodate its employees' happiness. And maybe I'm naive about this, but my question is: why not? I'm an extremely hard worker. I am 100% dedicated to my job and I'm great at what I do. I know I could've done some great things for a company that was willing to make me happy. But life is awfully short, and I thought I would get what I wanted more quickly if I struck out on my own than I would with a regular job, hoping my employers came around. I might have missed opportunities to work with great companies by doing this--but they missed an opportunity with me, as well.

The bottom line is this: Generation Y doesn't want to wait to be happy. We've seen our parents pay their dues, only to be denied steady health insurance, deserved advancement or better quality of life--things they sacrificed their best years for. The things Generation Y is purported to want too early--flexibility, work-life balance, quality of life--are the same things everyone would like to have, no matter your generation. When people say my generation is out of line in wanting these things now, my internal response is always something like this: Why should I have to wait to be happy? Is any career goal worth spending my twenties in misery? I guess I have trouble seeing those things as rewards that you have to spend decades in toil to earn, rather than basic human rights.

I realize that you have to work hard to succeed. I do work hard. I work evenings and weekends. I work twelve-hour days. But the rewards I see for this are direct: greater pay, a more successful business, and more time to have fun later. Sometimes in a corporate situation, the rewards for such hard work aren't so directly delivered. There might be no time off later if you put in extra hours now. Your department may simply expect that kind of work as a matter of course, with no special recognition. You may deserve a bonus or promotion but not get it due to company politics that are out of your control. People put up with this for years.

I believe that everyone, no matter their age or place in the company, deserves a reasonable work-life balance, a flexible schedule and great quality of life. I might get people writing in to say that Corporate America would dissolve if such lax rules were in place, but I'm not so sure--if employees are engaged in their work, work in positions that use their strengths to best advantage, and see direct reward for their contributions, they'll work hard. And today's technologies have made remote working possible for people in diverse industries and positions.

People say Generation Y will change the workplace. I don't know if they will or if they'll just wind up settling for the status quo once they have children and mortgages and can't move around as freely. But it's my hope that older generations will take a look at them and think, "why shouldn't they have these things? Why shouldn't I?"

Are You Cut Out to Be a Freelancer?

I think my job is the greatest job ever. But recently I was telling someone what I do--very enthusiastically--and she wrinkled her nose. "You mean you don't know what you're going to make from month to month?" she said. "I would hate that."

We're not all cut out to be freelancers. Here are a few signs you shouldn't give up your day job--at least for the time being.

You really can't bring yourself to sell or market. I was like this when I first started, and to be honest I still don't market much. But I did do a fair amount of it when I first started, and before that I delayed starting my business for years because of a fear of marketing. It's a necessary evil, though. If you really can't do it, you have to learn--and you'd better not quit your day job until you do.

You can't stand the uncertainty. Freelancing comes with a lot of ups and downs. To me, it's exciting--I don't know what I'll make from month to month, and I might make a fabulous income next month! Of course, there's always the possibility that the opposite will happen. Some people are naturally more at home than others with the uncertainty, and some people have higher overhead--a mortgage, kids to support, college loans to pay--that makes them less able to handle uncertainty. Depending on how comfortable you are with an irregular income, you may be better off hanging on to your day job--at least until you have significant savings to get you through lean times.

You just want it to be easy. Some people just want to roll into work, do what they're paid to do, and go home again. With freelancing, you will take your job with you. You will work overtime and weekends sometimes. You will have lean months and periods of too much work. But you can also go jogging in the afternoon if you want, take on only the projects you want, and skip it all to go have coffee with a friend or catch a poetry reading. It's a balance, but running a business demands a lot of time and energy you likely wouldn't spend at a 9-to-5 job.

You need cash now. If you're looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, don't look here. Any freelancing business takes time to build, and you could labor for years before you're earning as much as you did at the office. Then again, you could earn signficantly more--who knows? But you're not likely to earn it quickly. If you have bills that need to be paid right away, you're better off looking for a full-time job to gain solvency before you strike out on your own.

Five Signs You're Working Too Hard

Ever have one of those weeks where you're so busy you forget to eat? Okay, maybe that's a little extreme. Or maybe it's not. I've done it. Here are a few signs you're working too hard and you need a break from the computer.

You're not eating right. You know the drill: the alarm goes off. You hit it a few times, then you go get your laptop, bring it back to bed, and start typing with half-closed eyes. You want to get a head start on the day, and you figure you'll get up in an hour and go get some corn flakes. Well, you don't. You want to get five articles done before lunch and you're already behind because you spent an hour answering emails and next thing you know it's halfway to dinnertime and you haven't eaten--or moved--in hours. Be vigilant about your eating schedule. Set the alarm clock for lunch and dinnertime.

You're not exercising. Ever have one of those days where you literally sat in one place all day? I do this sometimes. Ours can be a sedentary life, and it isn't healthy. For a while I did well when I got up early to exercise--then my whole day was free to write, guilt free--but it's tough for me to maintain because I'm really not a morning person. Still, it's important to set aside time for physical activity regularly.

You're slacking on your personal projects. We've all got a novel or screenplay or chapbook of poems we're working on. Chances are, you started your freelance business in part so you would have more time to work on these things. So why haven't you touched your personal projects in a month? If you're ignoring what gives you joy, you're missing the best part of being a freelancer. Be sure to set aside some time each week to dedicate to creative work. Your clients will benefit as much as you will.

Your friends and family forget you exist. Have the social calls tapered off? Has your family given up on knocking on your study door? If your kids are going "mommy? We have a mommy?" and your husband refers to you as "the troll who lives in our spare room/office," you've been in there too long.

You go pre-verbal. Freelancers don't talk to other people much. We're naturally reclusive and hermit-like. We can go full days without talking to anyone. Sometimes we forget how to talk entirely. If you're responding in grunts and nonsensical mutterings instead of real sentences, it's a sign you've been spending too much time in the office and not enough time interacting with human beings.

What are your personal signs of workaholism?

Are You the Right Writer For That Project?

When you're a freelancer, it can be tough to say no to any work that comes along. But sometimes money isn't the issue--there are legitimate reasons why you should turn a certain project down. Sometimes you can spot these signs a mile away--and other times you need to get your hands dirty before you find out.

The industry requires specialized knowledge. For many industries, the principles are the same for good copy. Know your audience. Emphasize benefits. Prove your claims. Paint a picture. But for some, specialized technical knowledge is required. I tend to avoid all but the most superficial copy in the tech and medical industries, and the legal industry is a whole 'nother ball of wax--it's extra sensitive to any possible misunderstanding, and sometimes you need to be a lawyer to know where to put the disclaimers. Even if you work for a wide variety of different industries, you need to know where to draw the line.

You're not comfortable in that format. I'm a strong believer in the idea that you should try new things, especially when you're first starting your business. But sometimes you know enough to know that you don't like writing a certain type of project. When I first started, I was uncomfortable with sales. I quickly learned that if I wanted to have a thriving business, I'd better get comfortable--and I took steps to become a strong sales writer. But I believe that the clarity and organization skills I learned writing primarily educational copy still serve me well. Some people aren't crazy about writing press releases or prefer writing for print than online. As freelancers, we have the freedom to follow our joy--so follow it.

This is a job for...not you. Some clients want you to be more than a writer. They want you to be a business adviser, a marketing strategist, sometimes a graphic designer or SEO or administrator. I stick to work that requires just the writing--I especially don't like technical troubleshooting, so I stay away from anything requiring uploading or maintenance of a site. Occasionally I'm willing to do basic formatting, but I always let people know up front I'm not a designer.

You and the client work very differently. This is tough to spot, but sometimes the client lets you know off the bat how they work. I've seen gigs advertised on bidding sites where you have to have your computer camera enabled so the client can see that you're working a certain number of hours. Even if the pay was good I'd avoid those gigs; they're a little too Big Brother for me, and I got into this business in the first place so I wouldn't have to put in face time. Sometimes the client won't go for your non-negotiable business terms, or is a micro-manager while you're a free spirit. To keep yourself happy, weigh the level of hassle with the level of pay--and get out if you're miserable.

You're not the right writer for every project. As a freelancer, it's key to know thyself--and what you'll put up with for a certain amount of money. Sometimes these guidelines are worth bending if the price is right.

My Five Truths of Freelancing

I saw this post on Words on the Page the other day about the seven truths of freelance writing. Lori covered a lot here, but I felt compelled to add a few of my own:

The more of a hurry they're in for the first draft, the longer they'll take to get back to you once it's turned in. This happens all the time. You'll get a client who is in an insane hurry for the finished product. He asks you to complete everything in half the time you usually take. You agree to it (charging a rush fee, hopefully) and you bust your butt to turn it in on time. You wait for a reply: "We loved it, send us the invoice!" would be fantastic, but you'll settle for "We need some major edits..." as long as you hear something back. You wait a week. You wait two weeks. Nothing. The more of a hurry the client is up front, the less of a hurry he'll be in once you pass in the work.

Learn to love the ebb and flow. Last year my big slow month was May. This year May was OK, but you never know how the rest of the year will turn out. You'll have busy months and slow months. If you've got too much work to do already, you'll hear from three more clients before the end of the month. If you're hungry for work, your clients won't need you that month. It's just how things are.

You can't get too complacent. Complacency is the freelancer's worst enemy. We don't have a sympathetic boss giving us raises and Christmas bonuses. We have to earn those ourselves. I love this post over at Rogue Ink about how much money you think you'll need. Set big goals. If you fail by a little, so what? You'll still make a lot of money.

Wearing your PJ's all day isn't as fun as it sounds. Trust me. You start to feel gross.

Writer's Block tends to evaporate under the pressure of paying the rent. Think you won't know what to say when the time comes? Trust me, you will. The client is counting on you. Your dependents are counting on you. Your houseplants are counting on you. The words will definitely come.

So what are your truths of freelancing?

My Four Biggest Mistakes as a Freelance Writer

Nobody's perfect. While I really feel I've grown as a writer and businessperson in the past two years, I made plenty of mistakes along the way--and some of them I'm still making. Here are four of my big freelancing no-no's--either ones that took me a long time to overcome, or ones I"m still working on.

Not carrying business cards around everywhere. I feel like lately, whenever I meet someone new and start talking about what I do, I invariably hear that the person I'm speaking to needs some help in the writing department. And do I ever have a business card? No. Writing my website address on a bar napkin is hardly a great way to make an impression. Like the person I just met is going to bring their scribbled-on bar napkin to the boss the next morning and say "Guess who I just met at Paddy's Shuck n' Jive last night! Our web copy problems are solved!"

Moral of the story? Need to get business cards. Need to carry them around.

Not putting my blog under my own domain name right away. I didn't put my blog under my own doman name because, well...I didn't know it was that important. Now I know otherwise. I also figure it will be a hassle to switch domain names at this point, and I'm going to have to reap the consequences of the cyber-choice I made later. If I had simply pointed this blog to my domain I wouldn't have to squander all the link love I've gotten since starting the blog, or worry about my subscribers, once I switch over.

Not being nearly as aggressive as I should be with marketing. I market when I notice work drying up. If I had a coherent marketing plan, work would be much more stable--fewer of the highs and lows of freelancing. Or at least that's what I assume.

Under-charging. We all make this mistake when we start out. While many freelancers start at the number they'd like to charge and then raise it, I started at that number and then lowered it.

So come on, confess: what are your biggest freelancing mistakes?

On-Site Writing vs. Freelancing: The Showdown

I know I've mentioned this quite a bit, but for those of you who were wondering where I've been the past three months or so, I've been working at an onsite gig: my former full-time employer needed a temporary fill-in for an employee who left unexpectedly, and I decided to take that on. This only months after broadcasting to all and sundry on Words on the Page that I would never do an onsite gig; not me, no way. Well, kids, we all have our price.

Anyway, I've come to realize that choosing between flexible freelancing and onsite reliability is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Many freelancers go in and out of full-time and part-time onsite work, all while maintaining and sometimes putting on hold their own independent businesses. Writing can be the ultimate fluid career, and your needs change depending on your life circumstances. Fresh off the onsite boat, here are my insights as to the benefits and drawbacks.

The Benefits:

A reliable income. This was my reason for taking the assignment on. I needed cash at the time, and I couldn't justify turning it down--even if it came in a less-than-ideal package. I could see going back to an onsite gig if the timing is right and I happen to need the money again, if only on a temporary basis. I could also consider doing it long-term if, for example, I wanted to buy a house. Banks are much more likely to give you a loan if you have a steady job, I've heard, and picking up an office job for a year could get me a better rate on my first home loan.

Social interaction. You do get pretty isolated freelancing, if you let yourself. I saw people every day for two months. I got to wear my cute work clothes and my cute work shoes. I got to meet new people. Although there are definite downsides to work interaction, it's not all bad.

Quick feedback on your work. One of the things I actually liked about the onsite writing work was that my boss was right there--I could hand in a draft, wait an hour, and get in-person feedback. This is definitely a different experience than emailing a draft to a client, waiting a few days, waiting a few more days, emailing them to remind them about the draft, waiting a few more days...OK, it's usually not that bad, but you get the point. In addition, I found I felt better about experimenting a little more. I wasn't worried about nailing the first draft every time, because my boss was right there to check out the draft, offer small tweaks or big changes, and give immediate feedback.

Total immersion in the project. Another benefit was the fact that everyone there was completely caught up on the work. The graphic design, the project management, the writing team--we were all right there, giving each other ideas, feeding off each other's energy. It definitely changed my writing; I think I would have written completely different material had I been doing it alone, with only a single client interview to guide me.

The Drawbacks:

Much less time to focus on my long-term goals. Despite these benefits, I will always be too independent to really feel at home at a full-time job. The problem with onsite work is that it takes away time you'd ordinarily spend moving yourself forward, and makes you focus on moving the company forward. I just can't be happy if I don't feel I'm dedicating a big part of every day to achieving my own personal goals, regardless of what another company wants. I had to put a lot of things on hold when I took on this onsite gig, and now, even though my bank account is thanking me, I still feel like I'm two months behind.

Inefficient use of time. I've grown used to being careful about how I use my time as a freelancer. I guide client phone calls to be as efficient and to-the-point as possible. I use my time efficiently so I have more time to play later. In an office, everyone's stuck there until closing time--so there's no incentive to not waste time. One of my biggest private peeves during this on-site experience was meetings. Long, pointless meetings where people got drawn off-topic, debated endlessly about whether or not there should be a comma in the title of an article (my answer: No! There shouldn't be! And you all have to listen to me, because I do this for a living!) and generally made me crazy.

Less opportunity to earn more through my business. Yes, the regular paycheck was good for my business. But I also found that as soon as I took on the onsite gig, for some reason new clients poured in for freelancing. I rushed home after working onsite and dove right into freelancing work, often working until long after traditional office hours should have ended. How much more money could I have made if I'd had the time to pursue more freelancing work? Sure, it's great to have a regular paycheck--but it can also be exciting to know that you have the potential to earn a lot more than usual one month--and you don't have time to do that when you're stuck at an onsite job.

I've known this for a long time, but this experience has only served to remind me that I am SO much happier and more productive freelancing. I'm looking forward to a footloose flexible summer of typing on the patio, impromptu beach trips and sleeping in a little every morning.

Five Worst Things About Being a Freelancer

I love my job--and I wouldn't trade it for any others on the planet (well, okay, if someone were to offer me Natalie Portman's job or Jodi Picoult's job, I wouldn't turn it down). But freelance writing isn't all skittles and rainbows, either. Over at Bob Bly's blog there's a discussion going on about the downside of freelancing, and some of them are biggies. Here are the biggest problems with being a freelancer--things that may make some people think twice about leaving their regular day jobs.

The benefit situation. This is probably one of the worst parts of going it alone--you're responsible for your own health care, retirement account, life insurance, and all those other perks you get with a regular job. The biggest problem (at least for me) is health insurance. It's painfully expensive for everybody, and if you have kids or a medical condition, forget about it.

Taxes. This is also a downside of freelancing: nobody is withholding your taxes. You have to have the willpower to withhold a portion of each check (and that's really tough when you need all of it one month). It's also on you to find the right tax professional and figure out the right structure for your business. I've been wrestling with this topic since February, and let me tell you: no English major should be forced to withstand such torture.

The many hats of freelance writing. If I had my way, all I would ever worry about would be sentence structure and appropriate word choice. I would never, ever think about marketing, bill collection, building a new website, or why my printer keeps jamming up. As a freelancer, some of the hats you have to wear aren't so bad--I like coming up with ideas for new ways to make money, for example. But the actual marketing....not so fun, especially if I have to use the phone to do it. I also can't stand chasing down late-paying clients or dealing with technical problems of any kind. If I could, I would hire flunkies to do all of that--but right now I fly solo, so I'm stuck with it.

Cash flow issues. It's a feast-or-famine game. One minute you've got so much work you're turning it away; the next minute your bank account is running low and no jobs are on the horizon. The unpredictability is something I love--you never know when your next windfall will be--but it can be nerve-wracking, too. It can take nerves of steel to stick with this business, especially when you're just starting out and don't have a long list of contacts.

Setting boundaries. I love talking about my job to others--but it can be a peeve when people hear "work from home" and think "oh, so that means you can pick up my brother from the airport next week!" Being a freelancer requires being firm about setting boundaries--and not only with clients, but also with loved ones. I have several freelancer friends who had to put their foot down when spouses and partners expected the house to be spotless and dinner to be on the table, since they were "home all day."

I love my job, but nothing's perfect--and these peeves are enough to make anyone want to tear some hair out. What are your biggest freelancing peeves?

"So, Which of Your Books Have I Read?"--Five Writing Myths Revealed

I never thought I'd say it this soon...or say it before I had a novel published--but I'm a professional writer. It makes me extremely proud to say it; part of me feels like even if I never write the Great American Novel, I've still already accomplished a very important goal I set for myself. Sometimes I mutter it to myself as I walk down the street, just 'cause I like the way it sounds. People stop and stare at me strangely--unless they hear what it is I'm muttering. Then they'll stop me and say, "oh, what books have you written?"

There are a lot of myths out there about the writing profession. Now that I can officially call myself "professional," I feel qualified to debunk a few. Here are some of the most prevalent ones that annoy me:

You're not a real writer unless you've written a book. Most people hear "writer" and think "novels." But novelists are only a very small fraction of the professional writing community. You've got ad copywriters, scriptwriters, speechwriters, journalists, professional bloggers....the list goes on and on. All of these people write something for a living. Don't think that just because someone says they're a writer, they've written a book--or that you're showing polite interest by asking them what books they've written. To a writer, that's a loaded question; it's like asking an out-of-work actor what blockbuster movies he's been in. Instead, show polite interest by asking them what kind of writing they do.

Writers' block. I saw a post over at Words on the Page today about writers' block, and it got me thinking about how incredibly over it I am. There's this idea that writers are terrified of the blank page; that we sometimes sit down and have existential struggles with ourselves over every phrase we write. And okay, when I was trying to write my first novel in sixth grade--it was about a unicorn--I occasionally indulged in writers' block. But my belief now is that it's a disease of writers who aren't working. I never experience writers' block when working on client projects; sometimes an idea is slow in coming, but that doesn't mean I bang my head against the keyboard and weep to the muses. Instead I brainstorm, go over my interview notes, check out what competitors are doing, and try to learn more about the product--and something always comes. And I've found that now I'm treating my novel-writing like a job, I never get writers' block there either.

You have to be a tortured soul to be a writer. To some, Byron and Poe are quintessential writers; they're dark, tortured souls whose messy personal lives inspired their writing. And maybe some writers can't do their work without some sort of angst to fuel them. But many writers are perfectly normal, well-adjusted people who just happen to have a way with words and a facile imagination. Occasionally when I talk to people about my artistic interests, they get all surprised that I'm not some kind of alcoholic or something--after all, I'm an artiste. But in my opinion you don't have to live conflict to write about it--and if you do, maybe your imagination is lacking.

Anyone can write. It's no sweat. I think this problem stems from the fact that we all learn to write in school--and many people don't read enough good writing to realize their own isn't that great. But anyone can jog down the street, too--and not everyone is a marathon runner. Just because you, in particular, know the alphabet and can construct a sentence, that doesn't mean you can write like a professional can. It takes skill to build believable characters and pace a story correctly, craft a sales letter that inspires people to buy, or even write an educational article that breaks a complicated idea down in a way anyone can understand.

You're not a real writer unless you... get up at four in the morning to write; experience a burning desire to write every day of your life; write esoteric short stories that nobody really wants to read; sacrifice a chicken to the Writing Gods at the full moon....the list goes on. There are all kinds of elitist messages out there about the hoops you have to jump through to be a "real" writer. As opposed to a fake writer. I think it's all nonsense. My definition of a "real" writer is someone who writes well--and I realize that some might consider "writing well" to be a pretty subjective judgment call, but believe me, you know good writing when you see it. I might also add that I believe you're a "real" writer when you're getting paid to write--even if it's not your full-time job. Other than that, all bets are off.

Promoting Something You Don't Believe In: The Copywriter's Conundrum

I found this post over at Bob Bly's blog about what to do when you don't think the product you're writing copy for will sell. A lot of writers simply said they'd let the client know about their reservations but give it a try anyway. I have two things to say about this: a). I personally wouldn't want to work on a project I wasn't passionate about, but we can't be that lucky all the time; and b). people buy bottled water. If you spin it right, it's possible people will buy anything.

My work tends more towards educational web content than sales copy. However, educational content can also be promotional, in a more subtle way, and I'm under no illusions about the fact that my copy sells just like a sales letter does--sometimes better, according to my clients. Sure, I'd like to think of myself as an "educator" first and foremost. But if there weren't money to be made from my writing, I wouldn't be getting paid.

In some ways, it's worse when you run into a problem like the one Bob outlined and you're writing educational copy. With a sales letter, your job is to find the product's selling points. With educational copy, your job is to provide information the consumer needs, in the hope that he will come to trust and respect your company enough to buy from you. You can't just put the right spin on--you have to be honest, or you'll undermine your efforts the minute your customers decide to do a little more research. For educational writers, it's not about whether the product will sell--but whether the product works the way the client wants you to say it does.

Once I was hired to write content for a website promoting a weight loss supplement. It sounded fine when I started, but in the course of my research I found that all the scientific studies on this particular supplement showed it didn't work. My job was to write educational content on how the supplement works and how to use it effectively--but the problem was that it didn't work at all.

I felt stuck. I'd already accepted a deposit and signed an agreement. And yet I didn't feel comfortable writing lies. I brought my concerns up to the client--I didn't know what else to do. Eventually the client decided I wasn't the right writer for the project. I've thought about the situation a lot since; I thought maybe I could have handled it better, but I really couldn't bring myself to write educational copy that wasn't actually educational. It's tough to guard against these things, as sometimes you don't know enough about the topic until you've gotten hired and done the research.

So today's post isn't a how-to; it's more of a what-would-you-do. What would you do in this situation? Have you ever been faced with something like this? What are your thoughts?

Gender Generalizations: Asking for Trouble?

Just now I had someone make a gender-based generalization on my blog. It was pretty inoffensive, and I even related to it--but even so it stirred the pot a little bit. I had planned to reply in the comments, but every time I did my comment turned out about as long as a regular blog post. I thought this topic was too interesting not to devote an entire post to.

I relate to some gender-based generalizations--for instance, I'm not as strong as most guys I know. I'm aware of it. I come with all the necessary equipment to give birth, and I'm aware that guys don't. However, I do think that if you make general gender statements in public--even about something as obvious as physical difference--you're asking for trouble. Here's why I think it's a bad idea to make gender-generalization comments on your business blog.

Because nothing applies to everybody. Okay, some gender generalizations seem really obvious. But even some of the really obvious ones may not apply to the particular people who are hearing you. And I know that whenever I hear a generalization about women that I don't feel applies to me, I always feel a little twinge of annoyance. I start thinking something like "this person doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm not like that." I get a little defensive. Often I look at the situation rationally a little later and realize that the person means well--but my first reaction is always negative.

When you make generalizations about gender, you run the risk of giving a definition of manhood or womanhood that doesn't include the listener. And chances are that even if the person you're talking to doesn't get all offended, he or she probably had an internal moment of annoyance.

Because you'd be surprised at what's offensive to some. You know the one that sometimes bothers me? That old stereotype that women are more nurturing than men. You'd think that statement wouldn't be offensive; after all, being nurturing is a positive thing and if anything, women should like that such a positive quality is associated with them.

But I don't see it that way. I guess because to me, it sounds like saying women aren't as "tough" as men; or because women are so nurturing they're biologically better suited to staying home and having babies than going out in the world and being successful. To me--and to some other women I know--that phrase "women are more nurturing" has a lot of negative connotations. Someone who doesn't understand those associations might make a perfectly innocent comment about the nurturing nature of women--and cause offense where it wasn't meant. That's the thing about gender generalizations--you think what you're saying is perfectly innocent or even positive, but you might not know what you're wading into.

Even "physical" generalizations might cause offense. There's a lot of science out there that says women and men problem-solve, listen, and see the world differently. But not even scientific studies are always the last word--this article in the Boston Globe makes a lot of sense to me. It discusses how the studies that back up gender-based stereotypes are not always as conclusive as they look.

How good is the science behind brain difference studies? I'm not sure. But whether they're right or wrong isn't the point, in my opinion. If somebody tells me women or men are a certain way because their brains or hormones or something else in their bodies are just different, it doesn't close the conversation for me. And it might not be closed for whoever you're talking to. I'll still get a little bothered when someone tells me women are worse drivers than men, for example, even though there's a study out there that backs it.

Because even if you don't mean to be sexist, you can come off looking that way. Some people might not be offended at all by gender stereotyping--they may even agree with some stereotypes. But unless you know how everyone you're talking to will respond, gender generalizations are definitely risky. Even if you don't mean to sound sexist, starting a conversation with "Women are all...." or "Men always..." might get people to see you as the type of person who makes assumptions based on gender--especially if they don't know you well.

Some people get annoyed at the fact that they have to watch what they say to avoid offending people. I know a lot of people who might say something like "well, if it's so easy to offend people, maybe they're the problem. Maybe they need to lighten up." I'm not really interested in judging whether it's wrong or right that people can get prickly over gender generalizations--but I think the reality is that they do. In a world where some social pitfalls are hard to spot, gender generalizations are obvious and easy to avoid--so why wouldn't you?

Should You Specialize? The Pros And Cons

I've always resisted specializing. Creatively, i write short fiction, poetry, memoir, and novels. Professionally, I write content articles, web copy, ebooks, autoresponders, e-courses, and a hodgepodge of other types of writing, as well as proofreading and editing. I've started to specialize slowly over time in web content with an educational (rather than salesy) tone, and this has happened naturally as I've chosen to pursue certain types of projects over others. But I certainly don't specialize as much as I could. Some writers write only one type of project (like Michael at Writing White Papers, for example) and others focus only on certain markets, like financial writing or medical writing.

Specialization is the way to go for many writers, and there are good reasons why. When I was first getting started, I heard a lot of advice to pick a niche--the more focused the better--when planning my business. Here are the most commonly-cited benefits to specializing.

You can command higher rates. There's a perception that if you specialize in one thing, you're better at that thing than anyone else. A writer who writes only brochures may be able to charge more for a brochure project than a writer who does brochures, website copy, articles, proofreading, et cetera. The phrase "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" certainly applies to client perception.

Clients hire freelancers in one of two ways: either by finding one writer they like and bringing him in for every project they have, or by looking high and low for just the right fit for each project. In my experience, higher-paying and more established companies tend to be the latter; the former tends to consist of small businesses who don't have the time or resources to look for a new writer on every project. Those high-paying clients look for writers with a portfolio of work that looks just like what they're looking for--not versatility.

You may get more work if you can corner a niche. If you're a generalist, your competition is every other writer out there--other generalists and niche writers for each specific job. But if you only write for one specific niche, word might get around that you're the "go-to" guy for that niche--and you'll have much less competition. You'll reach a smaller audience, but they'll only be looking at you.

Despite the benefits of specializing, however, i've never quite been able to bring myself to do it entirely. Here are a few reasons why I continue to offer a range of services, and probably will for the foreseeable future.

Many types of writing may make you a better writer. I feel that the more versatile I can be, the better I am as a writer. Sometimes different types of writing inform on and improve each other. For example, the type of characterization and storytelling skills prized by fiction writers can make a nonfiction piece much more gripping, and the type of linguistic precision and discipline required by poetry can make any type of writing better.

Professionally, I feel that being familiar with a wide range of writing projects makes me better able to understand my clients' marketing needs. Because I handle a variety of projects, I'm well-placed to become that "go-to" writer for businesses who need a single partner they can trust. I can also increase my sales by offering an autoresponder series to an article marketing client, web page writing services to an e-book client, and so on.

Writing the same thing all the time is boring. Some writers have made successful careers in niche markets. But I couldn't imagine only writing about one topic all the time. I'd get burned out pretty quickly. I love learning new things, and if I focus on one topic constantly, there's a limit to how much I can learn. So I look for projects on a wide variety of topics. I can also get burned out by doing the same type of project all the time. One of the things I love about freelancing is that I don't have to focus on just one thing--I can learn new skills and offer new services all the time.

I used to stress a lot about finding my niche and what to specialize in, and now I hear sometimes from people just starting out on whether to be a specialist or a generalist. My answer now is to let it happen naturally. If you're new to freelancing, take on a wide variety of different projects. Write sales letters, newsletters, articles, and brochures. Try on lots of different writing styles, and write on any topic that appeals to you. Eventually, you'll find that you particularly like certain types of projects; when you write in a certain tone your clients tend to love it; or you just love writing about a certain topic. Give your specialty time to evolve--or stick to being a generalist. Peter Bowerman of The Well-Fed Writer makes a decent living at it, and no doubt you can, too.

A Career in Writing: Four Things My College Education Didn't Teach Me

Like a lot of freelance writers out there, I have a degree in English. When I was in school, I remember a lot of people saying things like "So what are you going to do with it--teach?" and "Hope you don't mind starving!" But I never planned to give up food in trade for a career--and as much as I respect teachers, I never wanted to be one. All I ever wanted to do was write.

I loved earning my English degree. I loved reading different authors from diverse cultures and time periods. I loved writing, loved talking about writing like it was the one thing on earth that mattered most, loved critiquing other people's work. I think that my writing degree taught me a lot about writing as an art--and practically nothing about making a living at it.

I think that many liberal-arts schools fail students who study the arts. The cliche of the "starving artist" is so prevalent that a lot of schools don't expect more of their arts students than to continue their interest in art as a hobby. The tragedy is that so many humanities graduates leave school with thousands of dollars in debt and no idea how to have a meaningful career. Many of us wind up taking jobs outside of our interests out of necessity, and these can turn into a lifetime of work that feels meaningless and unfulfilling.

But for some of us, writing on the side just isn't good enough. We've got the talent--we see the pros at work and we think, "I can do that." But it takes more than just talent to make a living, and a lot of writers don't realize this until they get out of college and have to figure it out for themselves. Here are four things I wish my professors would have told me before I graduated.

It's not just about your creative talent. It's also about your self-promotion skills. Before I graduated, I thought that if I wrote well, opportunities would naturally come my way. But that's not really how it works. There are thousands--maybe millions--of people out there who want to be writers. Even if only a small percentage actually wrote anything worth reading, that's still a great deal of competition to deal with. When you're a professional writer, you'll be competing with other writers for the attention of agents, publishers, critics, clients, and readers. Many of them will write worse than you. Many will write better.

When competition is this fierce, you have to be able to promote yourself at every stage of the game. To succeed as a writer, you have to hone your self-promotion skills as much as your writing skills. I never took any classes on marketing in college--no general business marketing courses, and no specific courses on marketing myself as a writer. In my opinion, it should have been a required part of the curriculum.

Want to do your creative work on the side? It's harder than you think. When I was in college I just assumed I would have some sort of job, and I'd work my writing around that until my "real career" came through. After I graduated, I found that the reality was somewhat different. I worked full-time at several different companies, and I found that my employers didn't care about my outside interests: if the company needed me to stay late and come in early, I had to do it. I often felt too drained after a long day's work to put much time into developing my outside interests into a career I could live with.

Many people assume they will find fulfillment doing what they love outside of work. But unless you have a very undemanding job, it can be tough to find the spare time you need to truly live up to your creative potential. And when you have other outside responsibilities to deal with--like kids, for instance--the time you have to pursue your passions can quickly dwindle into nothing. I didn't realize how important flexibility would be to me until I lived without it for years.

There are plenty of ways to integrate your talents into a career that works for you. When I was in college, I assumed I had two choices as a writer: novelist or journalist. Nobody told me anything different. No helpful career counselor sat down with me my senior year and talked to me about career options that would let me use my writing skills. I talked to a career counselor, but they didn't really know what to do with me--I didn't want to go corporate or be a teacher, like most English majors.

I wish someone had talked to me in college about careers for writers--jobs like the one I have now. If you're artistic, you don't have to shove your talents into a dark, unseen corner of your life while you labor away at something you have no interest in. You can craft a career as a consultant or freelancer doing practically anything. Performance artists can become public speaking experts. Visual artists can become graphic designers. Writers can become copywriters. You can work for a company, or you can run your own business.

Business isn't as scary as it looks. I never considered running my own business as a college student. I thought that "business" and "creativity" were two extremely different, unrelated categories. I didn't see how businesses need--even thrive on--creative people. I just saw lots of people with conservative suits on and seas of drab cubicles, and I assumed I would never really fit in any business environment. I had classes that taught me to think like a creative person--like an artist.
But now, my "business environment" is my laptop. And business isn't just about wearing a boring suit and working in a boring office. It's about making your dreams a reality.

When I was in college, I had a very different attitude--and I faced a steep learning curve as a result. It took me years to come around to the fact that I'd have to be business-savvy in order to thrive. If I had had classes in college that taught me to think like a businessperson--and to use business principles to get what I want in the world--I might have had a plan right out of college. I might have been able to hit the ground running.

With the amount of money a college education costs nowadays, I feel colleges owe a little more to their humanities graduates. They owe them a solid education in their chosen field--but they should also take them seriously as future professional artists. Many creative types don't need a degree to succeed--nobody cares what Susan Sontag, Pablo Picasso, or Ian McKellan majored in. But we do need guidance in how to make a living at what we love. Give us that, and a college education will be more than worth it.

Is Perfectionism Killing Your Career?

I'm a perfectionist. And for most of my life, I saw that as a positive quality. After all, aren't successful people supposed to want their work to be the best it can be? And what can be better than perfect? For a long time, I was proud of my perfectionism. I thought it made me a better editor, writer, and employee.

But now that I'm writing full-time, I've started rethinking my idea of perfectionism as a good thing--and here's why.

Perfectionism isn't realistic. "Perfect" is like the Tooth Fairy. They're both pretty stories, but neither one exists. And no matter how much you try to make your writing perfect, there's always something you could have done better. Once you reach a certain level, some improvements become a matter of taste, not dogma--and then you enter into some very subjective waters. Believing in perfection means believing that there is one absolute perfect way to write something, and that just isn't true. Chasing after perfection is like chasing after a mirage.

Perfectionism wastes time. Now that I write for a living, I have to be careful of how I spend my time. If I'm not making a certain hourly minimum and charging a price that's in line with how long I take to do a job, I can hurt my finances. As a freelancer, it's best to work as efficiently as possible. However, I know I am fully capable of spending hours trying to get a simple how-to content article exactly right--even though the amount I charge is based on an hour-long completion estimate. I'm not advocating sending a client something that's not good--but sometimes chasing after perfection just isn't financially worth it.

Perfectionism can keep you from taking risks. The biggest risk I ever took was in leaving my full-time job before conventional wisdom would have said I was ready. I didn't have a year's worth of savings in the bank. I didn't have a bunch of lucrative leads for freelance writing. All I had was the belief in my own writing ability, a copy of Peter Bowerman's The Well Fed Writer, and a lot of impatience. It was the first time in my life I went against my own perfectionistic tendencies--and if I hadn't, I might still be working for The Man today.

I was lucky, I think--what I did may not be the right choice for everyone. When you're taking a big risk, it's definitely important to be prepared. But if you wait until conditions are perfect, you might never get started at all--because conditions never will be exactly perfect for anything. Life just isn't like that.

Perfectionism can keep you from finishing tasks. I struggle with perfectionism every time I sit down to write a novel--which I do when I don't have client work or marketing work to do. I want my novel to be absolutely perfect, so I obsess over each line and paragraph. The problem is, when you're trying to write a 100,000 word document, you can't afford to be that picky about each word. Maybe that's why I've been working on novels since I was in grade school--but I've never finished one. I know that if I ever really want to be a novelist, I have to learn to turn the nit-picking off while I bang out the first draft.

Perfectionism can inhibit your creativity. The problem with perfectionism is that it makes you judge your own work quite harshly. And nothing kills creativity like over-harsh criticism. I face this sometimes when I'm doing more creative work for clients. I sometimes find myself thinking of ten different ideas and discarding each one as not good enough before even writing them down. If I'm not careful, I could find my harsh inner critic shooting down every idea i have before I get a chance to explore it.

Creativity requires freedom. I have to force myself sometimes to write down every idea I have when I'm brainstorming, even if my initial reaction is "that's dumb." Once I have all my ideas down on paper, I can judge which ones are worth pursuing.

Perfectionism can be extremely useful during the editing stage. But if you let it take over all facets of your writing life, it can harm your career by keeping you from finishing projects, working efficiently, taking risks, and exploring new ideas. Someone once told me that perfectionists make great critics, but lousy writers--and I really believe that's true.

My Business Resolutions for 2008

It's almost the end of the year, and just about everyone is posting their New Years' Resolutions in cyberspace. I think this is a good idea--a whole bunch of people will see my resolutions, and they'll know if I don't follow through. Hopefully this means I'll be more driven to accomplish them--public shame is a great motivator.

What works better for me, however, is setting goals I can achieve. I'm a dreamer by nature. I love setting elaborate, fantastic, reach-for-the-stars goals. When I was in school, this worked pretty well--I was surrounded by a network of teachers and parents who would help me out. However, I'm finding that the key to adult success isn't necessarily dreaming big--anyone can do that. The key is to keep trudging along--a bunch of little achievements can add up to some big-time success.

Anyway, enough motivational blather. Here are my (eminently achievable) business goals for 2008:

Move this blog to Wordpress. I would really like to move this blog from its current Blogger location to my own URL: www.catalystwriters.com. There are a few reasons, but the biggest is that I think the continual updating on that URL will help my business site's Google rankings, plus make my blog look a bit more professional. I'd love to do a whole-site-in-Wordpress thing like Matt's site at Copywriter's Crucible, but I'm sticking to one thing at a time here.

Monetize this blog. I can't say this blog hasn't been a blast, but I'd have even more fun if I was generating some income from it. I think I'll give myself a few months to see if my current traffic levels will sustain--I got a big boost from the Top Ten Blogs for Writers awards. Then I'm going to start looking into ways to monetize that won't be too intrusive to readers. Expect a few surveys on which types of blog advertising you mind the least and the most while I figure this out.

Streamline my marketing routine. I have to admit, I haven't been experiencing the same slowdown I've seen Lori writing about at Words on the Page. I think part of the reason is that I'm lucky: right now I have two very regular clients who put in large orders each month, as well as a circulating stream of repeat clients who drop in every few months or so with new orders. Most of these folks I met through Elance--either by bidding or by keeping my profile up--which is why I stuck with the site all this time, in case anyone's wondering why I've bothered. But a few of them came to me through other marketing tactics--and some even found me through Search.

All this is great, but I'm very aware that my two regulars could take off at any time and my circulating regulars often do fade out--and they need to be reminded or replaced with new clients. My marketing habits are haphazard at best--I start thinking about it only during the slow months. Instead, I'd like to develop a streamlined process that I can apply continuously, so that there will always be more work waiting.

Look into some passive income streams. PLR has caught my attention lately, and I've been thinking about writing an E-book for ages. This year, I'd like to make a commitment to start developing some passive-income products I can sell on my site.

Continue with my article marketing campaign. It's been working well for me already, but I've been slacking off lately on article marketing. I've still got a long list of titles for articles I haven't written, and I think it's definitely doable to work through it this year and raise my site's Google rank even further.

This year has been great for my freelance writing business--I've accomplished a great deal. Here's hoping I can continue my progress in 2008.

Productive Procrastination

I'm a compulsive procrastinator. Right now I'm writing a blog post instead of writing some articles for my article marketing campaign, revising a resume I haven't used in years so I can send it to a potential client, doing some job searching, getting a head start on next week's big client project, and going to the gym.

There are many different types of procrastination. Some of us procrastinate in big ways--putting things off for days or weeks, only to scramble at the last minute to make deadline. Others procrastinate in small ways throughout the day. Everything gets done--but it gets done much more slowly than it could. It may be impossible to break the habit completely, but here are a few ideas for making procrastination productive.

Checking email. I'm an obsessive email-checker. If a project isn't coming easily, I take a break every third paragraph or so just to see if I have any email. It's sad, really--especially when it's the ninth time I've checked in the past thirty minutes and I still don't have any mail. Somebody write me something, already!

Checking email incessantly can be productive, though. I came across this tip at Freelance Switch, and it's worth sharing: focus on action when you check your mail. Most emails require you to do something--schedule a meeting, call someone, send a sample or resume, or write an email back. Instead of putting it off, do it right then. Your clients will love how responsive you are, and you'll get something useful done.

Surfing the net. The Internet is one big portal to procrastination. And it's right there at our fingertips. It's frightening how easy it is to get sucked in--and how much time you can lose there. When I do creative writing projects, I often go to a local coffee shop that doesn't have online access--just so I can't procrastinate this way. But when I'm doing client work, I usually need online access.

When I procrastinate online, I go to the job boards. Or I head over to some forums to leave some comments and put some links out there. Or I try to find an easy tutorial for a technical problem that's holding me up. Yes, this can cause me to lose a lot of time. But at least it's useful and productive in its own right.

Reading blogs. Blogs are another huge time drain. But you can waste your time at it--or you can make it a productive activity. I try to stay on industry-specific blogs so I pick up useful tips that will help my writing business. I also make a point to leave comments with links where it's appropriate. This can bring you a boost in traffic and notice from more established blogging communities.

Cleaning. I hardly ever clean to put anything else off. Cleaning is something I'll put off by doing actual work. But some people are obsessive cleaners, especially when there's something else to be done. If you clean to procrastinate, focus your efforts on your office. Clean off your desk, take care of all the paperwork you've been piling up and forgetting about, or update your calendar. You'll have to get these things done eventually--and when else will you want to do them except when you have something more important to do instead?

Put off doing something important by doing something only slightly less important. Instead of doing something completely useless to procrastinate, choose something else you've been planning to do and that you just never find the time for. A lot of things aren't immediately pressing, but they're useful--and when you want to do anything but that one important task you need to get done, they can start to look more attractive.

When I'm putting off working on my novel--NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and I still don't have something I can shop around to agents--I work on article marketing. When I'm supposed to work on article marketing and just don't feel like it, I brainstorm topics for an e-book or a set of PLR articles. And when I'm supposed to be doing those things, I get to work on my novel. Procrastination really can help you get things done--you just have to trick yourself into it.