This is one of those days that is a bit frustrating, but so funny I can't get mad. All of it just reinforces the reasons that I chose this route for my life.
I'm sitting here at the computer, working on a couple of queries before starting on articles I have for a client. My one year old has decided that the computer is his, too, and keeps trying to help me.
However, the only key he can reach from where he stands is the "3" on the keypad. So every few words, I find myself deleting a few randomly placed 3's. Annoying, but no big deal, just have to proofread before I send.
That got old, so he decides its time for a snack. Gave him a couple of crackers, keeping him distracted for a whopping 5 minutes. I guess he got full, because now he's breaking off pieces and "sharing" them with the printer. He "feeds" one to the paper tray and says "mmmmmm". Fun stuff. Thankfully it's a front loader, so he can't get the crumbs too far in. Again, annoying, but no big deal, just have to get the air canister and blow them out later.
Now, he's noticed the pretty orange light on the surge protector. Now that is where mommy draws the line. Gotta relocate the big couch cushions over the front of the computer desk to cover the distraction.
Now somebody explain to me why my husband thinks I have the "easy" job around here?! Easy, I think not, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!
I'm not going to get too in depth with my embarrassing personal screw up of the week. I had I job for a client that was causing me a lot of personal stress and taking me away from the reasons I chose to work at home in the first place. This was causing major blow ups at home and affecting the quality of the job for my client. Not a good situation, so I decided it was time to bow out before things got any uglier.
However, I'm going to try to find a way to turn my mistake into a growing experience. I'll be taking the time that I'd have otherwise spent on that project and querying for new work. Work that pays more, is more enjoyable, and less time consuming. Hopefully, I can turn my own self-picked lemons into lemonade!
The moral of my short little story is:
When you get in to something that is causing you more drama than the money is worth, admit it and get out early. Don't follow in my footsteps hoping it will get better or easier, because chances are it won't.
A hard lesson learned, but hopefully an experience that I won't repeat again.
It looks like the Google search engine monsters needed a snack this week and ate our friend Deb's blog. She has had a top ranked blog for freelance writing jobs for some time and it suddenly is no longer showing up in searches.
If you have been looking for Deb's link with searches, she does still exist! She's just not quite sure at the moment why Google has dropped her. You can find her here or at the link in my blogroll. Make sure you bookmark her, to find her easily until the Google issue gets worked out.
For anyone who does not know about Deb's blog and what she does there, you are missing out on a wonderful resource for freelance writers. Nearly every day, she scours the job boards and Craigslist and finds some of the best freelance writing opportunities. These are posted on her blog for anyone to check out, completely free of charge.
Many writers that I know use her blog regularly to find new clients without having to do extra leg work. This generous lady does the hard work for us, putting the best freelance jobs all in one place. If you haven't checked her site out, take a few minutes to visit her at Freelance Writing Jobs!
After all my recent complaining about not being motivated enough, today brought a couple of events that made the struggles seem worthwhile. Approval is definitely a very high form of flattery. Not trying to toot my own horn here, just make the point that a few words can make or break your day.
I returned from a 3 hour long battle with my ISP to find a couple of emails. After spending my week struggling with a sick baby and a computer that keeps attempting suicide, I almost didn't want to even know what they were. Little did I know that they were going to lift all my frustration and validate my work!
The first email was from a client, letting me know just how much he'd appreciated the job I had done recently and offering some more work. The praise and compliments were enough to make me smile. Knowing that I had made him happy enough to want to repeat his dealings with me made me feel wonderful!
The second email was from a fellow writer in need of some help this weekend. While I had to decline the job, due to my own looming deadlines, I was again flattered to know that I had been recommended to her by another writer. I think the peer approval even outshone the client approval!
While knowing that you have a satisfied customer is rewarding, there is something about finding out that another writer respects your efforts enough to recommend you to others. Particularly when said writer is someone you admire and respect. What a true compliment!
To both writers and my client, thank you for making my day! Those emails were just the kick that I needed to get myself going in the right direction.
To everyone else, if you appreciate someone's work, let them know. They could be having a week like mine, and really need that pat on the back to get them going again.
Why is it so hard to get motivated some days? I'm having one of those off-days where finding the energy and motivation to get anything done is much more than I can handle.
I have deadlines and plenty of work, but none of them are immediate enough to cause me to panic, so I'm loafing. Tomorrow, when things start coming due and I'm down to the last hours to get things done, I'll be kicking myself as I scramble to finish up. Why am I sitting here doing nothing?
How do you deal with those days where nothing seems to come easy and you know that it is going to come back to haunt you later? I need some motivation or I'll be joining the baby for a nap in a few minutes...
Five Reasons Why I Blog
Wow! I’ve been tagged! I suddenly feel as if I’m part of the “In” club. Either that or Carson was looking for some kind of sick satisfaction in making a baby blogger squirm when he tagged me in his own post about the reasons why he chooses to blog.
Good, bad, or indifferent, here are my five reasons…
Opportunity For Feedback – Since most of the people who would bother reading my blog are in the same boat with me, I can get outside opinions and thoughts on the issues I deal with as a writer.
Networking – Though my blog is fairly new, I’ve made a couple of wonderful new friends and contacts in the freelance world since I started out. Eventually I’d love to see it get to the point where I can market to clients through my blog writing, but I’m nowhere near that point yet.
To Help Other Writers – Again, I still have a long way to go, but eventually I’d love for people to see my blog as a resource. I have learned so much reading other people’s blogs, and would love to give back to other writers through my own successes and failures
It Gives Me A Home – Before I started my blog, I felt homeless in the writing world. Now I have a place to call my own and be comfortable. Friends can stop by and visit and I can relax and kick back.
Now for the hard part...who do I tag? Some of these people may not have half a clue who I am, but they will now! I'm choosing bloggers that I read regularly! Hope they don't hate me now!
- Diane Penna of The Write Path
- Deb Ng of Freelance Writing Jobs
- Kathy Kehrli of Screw You!
Everywhere I seem to go lately, article submission sites want to pay in ad revenue. I know there are many others who feel that this method pretty much stinks. I don't like the thoughts of relying on the so-called strategic placement of a link on my article's page to generate my income.
Am I missing the beauty of this whole writing for revenue phenomenon?
What about the reader who just wants information and isn't looking to purchase what the ads have to offer? I get no credit for that. What if there is a total screw up and the ads don't even fit with the topic? No credit there either. Do these people have to actually buy once they click or is it just about the click? I need a nice little "For Dummies" book to understand this whole thing.
Yeah, maybe after 3 years and 89,047 clicks, I might have made more than what most flat rates for articles would pay me, but I'm an instant gratification kind of chick. Even if the payment is slightly below what I'm used to, I'd rather have it all right now, rather than a few pennies a day, forever.
If there is something more to this that I am missing, will someone please enlighten me? I'll be your friend forever!
The majority of people are creatures of habit and, admittedly, I am one of those people. This early on in my career as a freelancer, I had found a comfort zone and was sticking with it. Note that I said "WAS" sticking with it.
This week, over at Content Done Better, Carson posted some insightful comments on getting in over your head. He compared "jumping off the diving board" to "picking pennies off the bottom of the shallow end." This analogy really made me think.
Sure, picking pennies is fun, and it does pay the bills, but I'm missing out on all the fun (and profits) that the "kids" in the big end are having. So, with that inspiration in mind, I took that first little jump off the diving board.
Guess what? The deep end is fun, and I can do it! On my first attempt, I gained a client, so I decided to jump again. The result was the same, SUCCESS!! What a confidence booster!
While I'm certainly not ready to give up my penny picking, or start doing neat tricks off that diving board, I have gained the confidence to enjoy both ends of the pool.
For those who haven't tried out the diving board, come on in, the water's fine!
And to Carson at Content Done Better, Thank you!!!!!!
I'm so sorry to have disappeared for a few days so early into my blog, but I found myself eyeball deep in client work over the weekend! I'm certainly not complaining about that!
My only beef with marathon writing sessions all weekend long is the time I lost with my family. Well, maybe not the only beef...I really need a more comfortable chair. It really made me think long and hard about managing my time better. After all, being available for my children and husband is my original inspiration for staying home.
I've been working to get my one year old on a better schedule, but I think its time to think about one for myself also. I'm really gaining nothing from working at home if I'm sacrificing my own happiness and enjoyment for working time.
If you have found yourself in the same boat that I am currently in, I encourage you to step back and look at why you chose to work from home. Are you able to accomplish what you set out to do, while working on the schedule you are? If not, maybe its time for some mental reorganization!
I'm about to start a fun venture with a few writer friends. We're beginning a new website/blog network. I'll give more details as things begin to come together.
Right now, the purpose of the site is two-fold.
The content of the site will be directed toward moms, particularly work at home moms, but many parts will be applicable to every parent. I will be running a blog about family time, giving advice and ideas about making the time necessary to spend with our children, even at the expense of working hours. The content of the pages should come pretty naturally, as it is a subject I deal with every day.
While the site's purpose will be helping other moms and families, the secondary reason behind it is to give us a marketing tool for our own writing. In theory, this sounds like an amazing idea for me, I'm not totally sure how to really make it work.
Does anyone use a non-writing blog to promote their writing work? What aspects of that site or blog have received the best results. I'm ready for trial and error, but if there are any tips or suggestions, I know that I'd be glad for the insight and so would the others involved.
Thanks for reading...Have a great day!
I have read a lot of posts on different blogs throughout the day and have really starting thinking more about what it is that I want to be when I grow up as a writer. Just saying "I'm a writer" is great, but if even I don't know exactly what I mean by that, how successful can I be?
A lot of people feel that just having your name in print makes you a writer.My name's in print already. I'm not that impressed. I don't feel much like a real writer yet, I feel more like I'm training to be a writer. I'm quite certain it will be a never ending learning experience.
I am also finding that the writing websites that originally appealed to me just aren't quite cutting it anymore. The people are nice, the conversation can be good, but they are lacking a learning element. Its more about how to grab a quick few bucks than learning to become a better writer.
Frankly, I'd rather get by for awhile and learn all I can. Exploring every avenue of writing while working to perfect my skills can only lead to better things. Eventually, the bigger paychecks will come, with less work to get them. I hope, anyway. Maybe I'm delusional, but I think I'll work hard to find out instead of waiting for it to fall in my lap.
Labels: freelance writing, learning, writer
