Happy New Year! I hope you had a productive 2009, and of course I hope this year goes even better for you.

I’m not one to make resolutions just because there’s a new year, but it makes sense to mark the beginning of something (day, week, hour, minute) with some sort of goal or plan. My personal goal is to work harder on doing what I need to be doing. Making myself “go” has got to be one of the toughest things.

What general plans do you have for this beginning? Do share!

]]> http://crayonwriter.com/2010/01/02/happy-2010/feed/ http://crayonwriter.com/2010/01/01/get-it-in-writing/ http://crayonwriter.com/2010/01/01/get-it-in-writing/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:20:09 +0000 Theda K. http://crayonwriter.com/?p=526

Recently I agreed to do an editing project for an acquaintance of mine. We agreed that I would be getting paid for my services, and I agreed to work for less than I usually do.

This may not be a problem on its own, but I made the HUGE mistake of not getting a written contract. Or even a spoken contract. I trusted the acquaintance and thought that I’d at least get paid a fair wage for my work.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. And I know the damage is done.

Being a nice guy is great, I suppose, but if you want to get paid properly you really need to get some kind of contract. By just letting things fall where they may you set yourself up to be used. You can be a nice guy by giving your friend, family member, or acquaintance a “nice” contract to sign. It may seem harsh, but it’s the only way you can (sort of) protect yourself.

Even with a contract there’s no guarantee you’ll get paid. This is one reason it makes sense to get some type of deposit up-front…at least you get something for your work. But without a contract you set yourself up for getting nothing at all.

What kind of contract should you write?

The simplest (and maybe nicest) contract is an email exchange. After you talk on the phone or in person and iron out the details, send a short email summarizing what price and terms you’ve agreed to. I did do this with my last client, but I didn’t do one more crucial step. Before you start working on the project, WAIT for your client’s emailed response. In that responding email the client should clearly concur with your summation.

Another method is to write up a general agreement that outlines your terms and the price you’re charging. You should sign it and then give it to your client to sign. Either make a copy of the signed agreement or just have two agreements for the each of you to sign. Once you have that in hand, go ahead and start working on the assignment.

Contracts that are spoken — oral agreements — are legally binding, but they’re difficult to prove and, therefore, difficult to enforce. Don’t feel like you’re being a bad guy by running your business properly. As a benefit, you’ll start finding that clients treat you with respect when you command it from the beginning.

What kinds of contracts have you used for your freelance work? Do you have any horror stories?

Follow up. We hear it a thousand times. If you go for a job interview, make cold calls, or deal with a business for just about anything, it’s apparently crucial that you follow up.

Why?

Well after that initial contact — that initial great impression — the person you met with gets busy doing their everyday thing. And unfortunately, they start to forget things. Even that amazing conversation they had with you. Or even if they don’t forget, they get a follow-up call/email/letter from another candidate, and your brilliance suddenly becomes out-of-sight and out-of-mind.

Here’s a quick and easy follow up method. Hopefully it will work, even for the laziest among us:

• Before you head to the interview or appointment, address and put postage on your thank-you note’s envelope.

• During your appointment, start thinking about what you’ll say in your personalized follow-up note. For more ideas on how to accomplish this, take a peek at this Freelance Switch article on following up.

• As soon as you get home, write a personalized handwritten or typed note. If your initial communication was via phone, write a follow-up note before the end of the day.

• Using some type of reminder system (Outlook, tickler files, cellphone, calendar), set a date no more than a month in advance to send another follow-up note. This one will be similar to the first “thank you” note, but it should mention how excited you are to eventually work with them.

• If you’ve gotten no negative remarks, go ahead and schedule another note that goes out during a holiday or something similar. The point is to stay on your prospect’s mind in case a gig becomes available.

In my experience, the most difficult thing about following up is committing to doing it. If you’re pretty good at following up with potential clients, what’s your secret? Do you have a different method to share?

I started Tweeting almost one year ago. And boy, has it been an interesting journey! Twitter is a fascinating tool, and I’ve met cool people and learned new things. One of the things I love most about it is connecting with people in my local area. It’s also great for marketing your blog and, by default, your business.

There’s a lot of power to harness with Twitter, so if you haven’t yet given it a try, you’ve simply got to start! Here’s what you do. After you sign up, start following a few interesting people you know (like me), and take a look at who they’re following. Follow a few of them, and also start looking at some local people (like a local radio or news station). You’ll start getting followers as you start following. And be sure you actually Tweet too.

For more ideas, check out my first post on the subject of Twitter.

I also stumbled across the idea of using Twitter to make a modest amount of money. There are companies out there that know the power of Twitter, and they want to get their names out there. So they use Sponsored Tweets. It works by Tweeters agreeing to Tweet on behalf of an advertiser (with full disclosure). You get paid through Sponsored Tweets, and you can cash out once your account reaches $50. They’re the same company that does PayPerPost (IZEA).

If you’re not already following me on Twitter, go ahead and do so. There’s a link to my CrayonWriter account under my picture, and a link to Sponsored Tweets in my sidebar.

Do you use Twitter a lot? How do you use it?

]]> http://crayonwriter.com/2009/11/08/a-little-bird-told-me/feed/ http://crayonwriter.com/2009/11/03/writing-with-limited-time/ http://crayonwriter.com/2009/11/03/writing-with-limited-time/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:44:41 +0000 Theda K. http://crayonwriter.com/?p=507

Being the parent of a small child can mean that time is a rare and valuable commodity. In my case, my daughter is now four years old, but we’ve had challenges finding adequate childcare. Part of the reason is because, in my heart, I’d rather not send her to school. My dream is to be a homeschooler. But I recognize that she loves being with other kids, and I’m pretty boring since I’m on the computer all of the time.

The other reason adequate childcare has been an issue is because I don’t have the most compliant child in the world. She prefers to do things her own way, which can be a challenge in the preschool setting. Her idea of fun is to do the opposite of what she’s told. Not usually in defiance (though sometimes), but usually because it’s just more interesting for her.

I refuse to “break” her and make her comply for the sake of complying. So I’ve changed schools a few times, and I recently changed teachers. I think this new teacher “gets” my daughter’s spirit, and so things are working out beautifully (for now). Unfortunately, this teacher only has an opening two days a week.

How do I find time to write/work/make money then? It’s tough! And with a child who wakes up at the crack of dawn, I am up early. And I’m not a night owl like I used to be in my younger days.

Here’s what I do.

I do what I can. And I try to push myself to do a little more than I think I can. My latest plan involves scheduling certain activities for each day. Not a rigid schedule, but I won’t try to write on my blog, cold call prospects, follow-up with prospects, write articles, edit articles, and go to the zoo all on the same day. Whenever I try to do that I often wind up doing absolutely nothing. It’s too overwhelming.

How’s it working for me? It’s still a bit overwhelming to try to make myself pare down my million-things list into smaller, more manageable chunks, but it’s a learning process and I’m trying. I think that’s what counts.

What about you? What are your strategies for writing with limited time?

Thanks to a good friend of mine I recently found out about Google Voice. And am I ever so glad I did!

Google Voice is a freelancer’s dream.

Here’s how it works. You choose a phone number you like. I chose one that’s local to my current home.

Say you don’t have long distance at home, like I don’t. But your cellphone reception is poor in your home, like mine is. If you’re online with your computer, type in the phone number you want to call. Like magic, your landline home phone rings! You pick it up, and your call is connected (for free) to the number you typed in.

Not in front of your computer? No problem. Pick up your landline and dial your Google Voice number. You’ll get an option to place a call. Anywhere in the U.S. and it’s free!

Even better, give your new Google Voice number to anyone, like clients. When they call you, you can set it up so that both your home and cellphone ring. So you’ll never miss an important client call, unless you want to. And they’ll have a professional, local number to call, and you can answer it wherever you are. If you’re staying out of town for a week, you can set it to ring the phone wherever you happen to be residing.

I also like that you can block certain numbers, and you can even set it to make the caller give their name first. If you want, you can send them to voicemail (and even listen to their voice message as they’re leaving it).

Anyway, I think it’s cool, and I like not having to give out my real number to people. Their caller ID shows my Google Voice number as well. And if I ever need to make a change then poof! No one has my real numbers anymore. But call blocking should take care of any annoyances too.

The only drawback is that you have to request an invitation from Google Voice, and then you have to wait patiently (I waited about a month) for your invitation. I have no idea how many they’re giving out, or if it’ll always be free. But for now it is, so head on over and put in your request. But choose your number wisely. It costs $10 to change it later. You can enter a word you’d like your number to correspond to, or search through for certain numbers in a sequence.

One more perk…If you have an Android cellphone (like I do), you can automatically make all of your outgoing cellphone calls using Google Voice. So your cellphone number is still protected from folks, and if you’re calling local clients they still get that local number.

Do you have Google Voice? Let us know if you do, or if you plan to get it soon.

]]> http://crayonwriter.com/2009/10/18/google-voice-for-freelancers/feed/ http://crayonwriter.com/2009/10/15/am-i-a-guru/ http://crayonwriter.com/2009/10/15/am-i-a-guru/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:44:40 +0000 Theda K. http://crayonwriter.com/?p=500

One of my favorite ways to find writing gigs is through freelance job blogs. I recently applied for a job, and it turns out the client uses Guru.com to correspond with and pay their freelancers. I’d heard of Guru.com before, but a lot of writers say that with the bidding, pay gets watered down. So I never looked into it.

The gig I was applying for sounded cool, so I went on over to Guru.com to sign up (for free). Now that I’m there I’ll go ahead and fill out my profile and see if I can land some gigs this way too.

The more, the merrier. I’m beginning to realize that even though my goal is to work one-on-one with businesses that value writers (and are willing to pay accordingly), making no money is a quick way to get discouraged. “Right now” money takes the edge off.

Have you joined any bidding sites like Guru.com? Share your experiences with us.

Finding Nemo is one of my daughter’s favorite movies, and Dory’s cute little song, “Just keep swimming” came to mind. As an aspiring full-time writer, the only option is to just keep writing.

Controversial though it may be, I’ve decided to write for one of the lower-paying “writing mills,” Demand Studios. I’m not writing prize-winning articles, but I need to have some type of income while I market my “real” business. Demand Studios has been one of my staples along with my substitute teaching gigs. Their highest paying articles pay only $15 each, but I get to choose when and if I’ll write articles at any given time.

Demand Studios pays twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays), so as long as I can find articles interesting enough to churn out, and as long as I find the time to write them, I will definitely make some money. They do have editors, so you have to write well enough for your copy to be approved, but I haven’t had too much trouble with that.

For whatever reasons, they don’t accept everyone who applies, so if you’re interested check them out and see if it works for you. So far I haven’t checked to see if my accepted articles are published on the web yet, but all of them are slated to be on Ehow.com. I’ve written several bird-related articles, some home safety ones, and even some I just had an interest in learning about.

Writing good articles does require some research, and it can be argued that that time would be better spent marketing for your own business. But marketing brings future money, and, like me, you may need to get some “now” money. If you do write for Demand Studios or similar companies, just be sure to continue working toward your primary goal. Just keep writing and just keep marketing.

Also, writing consistently also allows me to exercise my writing mind. That’s always a good thing.

Do you write for Demand Studios? Have you? What do you think about writing for low pay?

Blogging has been fun for the past 2 years, but recently it seems I’ve lost my mojo. I think about Crayon Writer everyday, but somehow I never could make myself put my fingers to the keyboard.

Part of it has to do with being a perfectionist. I didn’t reach my 400 cold call goal, and I haven’t followed up properly with those calls that I did make. But I have to realize that life still happened and perhaps my readers still want to know what’s going on.

So how am I going to find my lost mojo?

I’ve decided that I’m just going to write about whatever’s going on, even if it isn’t directly related to my writing business.

Crayon Writer is a blog about my life as a single mother of a now 4-year-old daughter, and it’s about my goal of being a freelance-writing, work-at-home parent. Along the way I may work a full-time job, struggle with daycare, and dabble in less lucrative writing ventures. In other words, I may just live life while I reach for my goals.

Though I haven’t done a poll in a while (a long while, actually), please feel free to let me know what you think of my new method to finding my lost blogging passion. A couple of readers did tell me they enjoyed Crayon Writer because it was about a real life aspiring writer. If that’s what you enjoy too, you’re definitely in the right place.

Stay tuned.

A couple of weeks ago I started my Well-Fed Challenge. My goal is to make 400 cold calls to local businesses in 20 work days, letting them know I’m a freelance writer and finding out what their needs are. August 20 is my deadline.

So how am I doing?

So far I’ve made 103 calls! Yay!

Of those 103 calls, about 58 agreed I could send them my online commercial writing portfolio. Mind you, many of them were secretaries who were probably trying to get me off the phone, but it counts. I can now add them to my snail-mailing list of potential clients.

Of the 58 who gave me their email addresses, 18 were “hot” prospects. Either they use freelancer writers or they were very interested in seeing my portfolio. One of them even wants to interview me for a part-time position teaching copywriting at their college. I have the interview next week!

The companies I targeted for this first round all have a website, and were listed as having 25-250 employees in my library’s database. They are also all local. I made sure to have a few website designers, graphic designers, and advertising agencies in there too (so I wouldn’t get a million no’s).

One of my tactics is to be sure to ask for an email address every time, even if the secretary agreed to send me to voicemail. This is something Peter Bowerman suggests in The Well-Fed Writer. I figure that once I have an email address I can send future correspondence by snail mail (postcards, letters, etc.). I’ll start my snail mail follow-up campaign in a week or two.

Now for the downside.

I had to alter my plans a bit. I wanted to make 20-25 calls every day, but child care wasn’t available every day. So several days had to be skipped. On days when I did have child care, I sometimes would only have 2 hours to make my calls (and research each company a little bit before each call).

Also, when I did make my calls for the day, I still had to find time to go back and send emails with a link to my portfolio. With limited child care, and with a limited amount of steam (I fall asleep at about 10pm, shortly after my daughter goes to bed), I found that I needed to create time to send those emails. Sometimes I had to take time away from calling to do that.

After all, making the calls doesn’t get my information in front of people. Most of my calls are for information gathering only.

Next week will be a challenge. I have that interview, a doctor’s appointment, and I’m going to investigate another childcare provider. I will probably only be able to make calls and send emails on just 2 or 3 days (I hope).

Even if I don’t make my goal, I’ll keep reaching for it. Stay tuned!

Do you give up when you realize you can’t make your goal, do you keep trying, or do you alter your goal?