I’m going to do something a little bit different today, because I’m in need of a little bit of levity, for one thing, and because my head feels like it’s stuffed full of moldy spaghetti, for another.

(Did you like that visual? That’s why I make the big bucks, people. Stunning imagery, artisan-crafted to render you speechless. And a little bit nauseated.)

Anyway, I thought today you could help my post, because I’m all about the giving and whatnot, but today I could use a little bit of help. And also because no one doesn’t love a Mad Lib, except maybe people who are sticklers about that whole double-negative thing. (Again, with the writing mastery! Don’t hate me because I’m the second coming of Hemingway!) Read the rest of this entry »

So, um, remember how I was taped for The Today Show? The segment aired yesterday.

It was kind of a surreal day.

We’d kind of been making all of these jokes about how you go do a shoot for six hours so that they can make a segment that’s ten seconds long, and then, well, they went and made a segment that included about ten seconds of footage from what we’d done. The fact that this surprised me is testament only to what a rookie I am when it comes to this stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

So, in part 1 of our adventure, we talked about how to first woo a client. You’ve done your background work; you know what they do and what you can do that they need; you’ve entered into the dance.

Let’s pause here for a little reminder: As in life, all of your negotiations in business should be polite and cordial. Generally I feel that this is something that should go without saying, but in light of a post I read recently about a disgruntled rejectee I suppose it bears repeating. Even if you’re strung along, even if they’ve not been particularly polite towards you, even if you’ve decided you never, in fact, want to work with a particular organization—remain professional. Your reputation is part of your portfolio in this business, and moreover, the company that bungles your hire today may lose your contact… who then heads to another company and wants to hire you. But that scenario never happens when you give your contact an earful about how poorly they treated you or whatever. Just keep it in mind. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve mentioned a few times before that at this point in my career, I don’t have to do a whole lot of active marketing. For one thing, I’ve got a steady stream of work, already, and for another, my name is out there and folks often come to me because they’re already familiar with my work. That’s very, very nice. On the other hand, I’m not exactly an international superstar (ha!), and sometimes I find myself wanting to work with a client who—for whatever silly reason—hasn’t come banging on my door of their own volition.

Thus begins the courtship of a client.

Like any courtship, there are unspoken rules and and a little dance we engage in, and the goal is for them to give me their varsity jacket to wear at the end of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday our tax refund check arrived (our taxes were particularly complicated this year so we elected to skip e-filing, at our accountant’s suggestion), and lo there was much rejoicing. A quick check of the IRS’ payout schedule for the upcoming stimulus incentive checks tells me that we can expect another chunk of money in about a month.

It’s a lovely thing, to have “free” money coming in, except (of course) that it’s not free and I am not the sort of person to grab it up and go wild. Sometimes I wish I was, but I’m not. Alas. I’m sensible to a fault, probably much to my husband’s dismay. My idea of a splurge is buying new flooring—new flooring which we planned to buy a year ago and have just now gotten around to actually purchasing. Woo! Read the rest of this entry »

I resisted signing up for Twitter for a long time. Really. “What do I need Twitter for?” I would scoff. (And so great was my disbelief, it caused me to end a sentence with a preposition. Horrors!) After all, I’m blogging all the time, plus I’m trying to keep up with the blogs I read, and email, and online news, and really, why in the world would I want a place to periodically report on my current status in 140 characters or less?

But I signed up and started following some of my favorite bloggers, and people would often tweet (look at me using the lingo! That’s what you do on Twitter, you tweet) amusing little things, and so I found myself tweeting now and then, and then I got my iPhone and discovered that being stuck in a meeting was a lot more entertaining if I could surreptitiously tweet “This is the meeting that never ends, never ends, never ends…” while I was fighting to stay awake. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s probably not a way to say this without sounding like I have a great big swelled head, but it’s relevant to a point I want to make so I’m just going to say it: My freelancing career (thus far) is a quintessential success story. I mean, in the grand scheme of what can happen when one decides to go into business for oneself, I somehow did it right and am reaping the rewards. I’m not rich—and probably never will be—but I earn a very respectable income. I have regular work and plenty of business contacts. My schedule is flexible and I set my own hours, yet I have more than enough work to make this a sustainable career choice.

Furthermore, my work and income levels have been… if not completely steady, at least predictable for over a year, at this point. Barring any major catastrophe (excuse me while I go knock on some wood), there’s no reason I shouldn’t believe that this is what my career will look like for years to come. Read the rest of this entry »

I tackled my taxes early this year, on account of I knew I was in something of a mess and was enlisting professional help. So Tuesday was just another day, for me, but I know that for many it was a Day Of Reckoning.

If you’re new to freelancing or if you had the good fortune to make a lot more money last year than you did the year before, it’s possible that completing your taxes this year was a good deal more painful than it’s been in the past. This is the part of the program where we hold hands and talk about what we’ve learned, kids! Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I’ve been home for over a week and everything is back to normal.

Haaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaaaa! I crack myself up.

Here’s the thing: No matter how much I prepare for a trip, no matter how much work I do when I’m away, no matter how diligently I work to catch up once I’m home again, no matter what I do to try to make re-entry as painless as possible, I am a creature of routine. Having that routine disrupted can take me a while to recover. And I know it’s stupid, and I know I should be more flexible or organized or something, but at one week back I still feel like I’ve barely returned. Read the rest of this entry »

You know that whole thing where the only way to get work is to have already worked, sometimes, and you start feeling very chicken-and-egg-ish about reaching your goals? I remember when I started out that I spent a lot of time being annoyed that I couldn’t get the experience everyone wanted without them, you know, giving me a chance to get the experience.

I also know that a similar conundrum can apply to setting up your home office, because until you’re making regular money, it can feel ridiculous and/or decadent to spend money on your workspace. But you really can’t work to your full potential without the right tools, so then you need to figure out the balance between what you need and what you just want. Read the rest of this entry »