Tweet I go to a once a week Meetup for professional women who work at home. In the group, one of the main issues everyone can agree on is how isolating it is. One person made a comment that the only person she talks to on some days is the UPS guy. Do I hear a Amen?! Many freelance writers love the flexibility of their job and the creativity with dreaming up their own life. But the downside? No more 15 minute coffee breaks with your pal in the next cubicle. Ever watch The Office and actually feel pangs of…
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Tweet photo by: yui.kubo You know that saying, “You are what you eat?” I think it applies to writing too. How? As a graduate student in Psychology, I learned that there was an important interchangeable triangle that affected the way we did things. Thoughts, Feelings, Behaviors What we think influences how we feel. For example, if you’re telling yourself how horrible of a writer you are, you’ll feel horrible. And how you feel also affects your behavior. What we feel influences what we think. If you just received another magazine rejection and feel like you’ll never get published, you’ll start…
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Tweet photo by: kelsey_lovefusionphoto Desperate times calls for desperate measures. And when freelance writing job leads are up, it’s tempting to apply for all of them. I know because I’ve been there. I used to do the same thing with regular full-time jobs, which explains why I’ve once worked as a private investigator, a research assistant and a loan executive (to name a few). It’s also why I once applied like crazy for freelance writing gigs everything from start-up magazines to unknown websites. If you’re doing the same, stop, and read this. Applying for jobs out of desperation is kind of…
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Tweet I’ve become enamored with Martha Beck’s book, “The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life.” Knee deep in chapter 4 (Creativity), I’ve been filled with mind blowing concepts that has thrilled me to no end. One of the titillating tidbits made me question my own freelance writing business skills and I thought I’d share the wealth with you. I’m sure you already know that your thoughts control your actions. Saying to yourself hundred times of day, “I’m not good enough to make it as a freelancer,” for example, will inevitably help your thoughts become reality. But I…
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Tweet I’m not a magician, but over time I’ve learned the magic of transforming nothing into everything. Here’s what I mean. When you have a dream to work at home as a freelance writer, you basically start from nothing. You may have a handful of clients to begin with (and if you do kudos to you!), but in general you’re starting from scratch. When you blog, for example, all you have is a blinking white screen staring at you. You’ve got no fans on Facebook, zero tweeps following you on Twitter and no one reading your blogs. If you’re on a…
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Tweet This post will cover the five things you shouldn’t do (not including the basics like failing to do any work for a client or refusing to pay a freelancer) if you want a healthy, happy long-term and profitable business relationship. Whether you’re a freelancer or a start-up looking to hire a freelancer, there are a few things you should know before you start something new. You wouldn’t marry the first person that you meet, so why jump blindly into a partnership with a client/freelancer you hardly know? To prevent lots of time wasted, money lost and bridges burned, read what not…
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Tweet photo by: Express Monorail Have you ever been stunned like a deer-caught-in-the headlights when someone asks you, “What you do for a living?” Well I have and I can’t plea ignorance on this one! All over the web, articles on creating an elevator speech have been popping up. I’ve seen them, read them, but failed to do anything about it.
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Tweet photo by: kevindooley It’s the end of another long week freelancers. And on this freelance Friday, I must ask, “What do you do to decompress?” I know how it goes. You’re toiling away at your computer, making phone calls, coming up with creative queries, networking, marketing your services and spending the spare time you have left on Facebook or Twitter. With all of that and your ever growing to-do list, do you ever make time for yourself? In Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance (Artist’s Way), author Julia Cameron suggests artists make a weekly date with themselves, write daily in…
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Tweet I’ve always been uber shy. When I was a child, my mom bought me books where the protagonists are always shrinking violets. In elementary school, I took a failing grade because the thought of speaking up in public was more mortifying than seeing an F on my report card. It’s one of the reasons why I took so well to writing. I could create words on paper and express myself while keeping any verbal discourse to myself. Yet, somewhere along the line I realized that writing wasn’t just about sitting quietly and typing. I could write all I wanted,…
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Tweet This may be a silly question, but I have to ask – what do you write with? Do you have a favorite tool to get your juices flowing? It could be a pen or pencil, but some prefer typewriter or computer. I’ll admit that I’ve had somewhat of a fetish of pens and vintage typewriters lately. Yet, everything goes from notes on notepaper to words on my computer. When it comes to shorter prose, like poetry or an essay, putting pen to thoughts is the only way inspiration flows. It was a golden pen etched with a floral design…