Archives for July 2008

How To Get Your Guy, and Look Good Doing It

July 21, 2008 by Leave a Comment

My pretty pretty website.

After reading a post on website stickiness over at ProBlogger, I spent a good amount of time this past weekend implementing Darren’s tips, in order to make this blog more inviting to readers.

As I uploaded plugin after plugin, and asked my husband to make design tweak after design tweak (I may be his most demanding customer), it occurred to me that a first impression post was in order.

After all, despite our having the ability to wear bunny slippers and fuzzy pants for the bulk of the day, first impressions with prospective clients still count for a lot.

So…what did I learn from the changes I implemented?

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Filed Under: preparation Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Public Service Announcement

July 19, 2008 by 3 Comments

Despite not being the most tech-savvy person around, I’ve been working this weekend to deal with some of my theme’s design quirks. With the magic of plugins, and my husband’s web design capabilities, I’ve managed to make some changes that I hope you’ll like.

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Coffee Break: Tweeting Your Way To Success

July 18, 2008 by Leave a Comment

coffee break

After reading a ton of Twitter-happy posts over at ProBlogger, I went ahead and opened up my own account. After all, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger believes you can tweet your way to blogging success, while Jen A. Miller showed MediaBistro readers how to twitter in order to promote their books.

I still haven’t gotten the hang of tweeting regularly (or even knowing what’s worth tweeting), but I feel as if Twitter can be an invaluable marketing tool when used in a self-aware and targeted way.

Have any of you used your Twitter accounts to promote a blog or other business? Link to your Twitter profile in the comments!

Filed Under: marketing Tagged With: ,

My 5 Favorite Things In: What To Charge

July 17, 2008 by 5 Comments

what to charge.

Since I’ve started freelancing for a living, I’ve screwed myself over multiple times, mostly by undercharging clients.

It never fails. A new possible client asks for my rates, I panic, and then I proceed to sell myself short. I’m still learning, even as I get a firmer grip on market norms, which is why Laurie Lewis’s What To Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants is such a great resource to have on hand.

After the jump, my five favorite things about Ms. Lewis’s book:

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Filed Under: book review Tagged With: , ,

He Said/She Said: How To Launch a Freelance Career

July 16, 2008 by Leave a Comment

me and mike.

As I’ve hopefully established by this point, I’m a full-time freelancer, earning the bulk of my income with blogging and proofreading. My husband, on the other hand, juggles both a full-time copywriting job and freelance web design.

Unsurprisingly, he’s the practical one in this set-up, while I’m the one who just loves taking risks with her career.

As two people who are both pursuing the freelance life — each in their own, special way — our day-to-day requires quite the balancing act.

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Filed Under: preparation

Product Placement: Task Clips Remember So You Don’t Have To

July 15, 2008 by Leave a Comment

clips.

I’ve always thought that the best part of going back to school was back-to-school shopping.

When I eventually left the classroom behind for the office, things barely changed.

Forget the office supply closet. I brought in my own office supplies, even going so far as to lug in my own, higher-quality three-hole punch.

Now that I have a home office, I feel that my office supplies have no bounds.

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Filed Under: products Tagged With:

How To Keep From Becoming a Recluse (and Why)

July 14, 2008 by Leave a Comment

shake hands.

I attended my very first Jersey Bloggers meetup just last week, along with my husband, who was attending as part of the Metro NJ PHP Meetup Group, and the Northern NJ MySQL Meetup Group. The three groups apparently rendezvous every month at a local Panera Bread.

I was eager to meet bloggers closer to home. I’ve been attending MediaBistro cocktail parties for years now, and when I had met up with the NY Bloggers Meetup Group, I had met a lot of great people, and even scored a paying gig through one of my new acquaintances!

My NJ meetup, however, ended up being far different from what I had expected.

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Filed Under: marketing Tagged With:

Coffee Break: How Do You Handle the Holidays?

July 11, 2008 by Leave a Comment

coffee break

As Fridays are a cool-down sort of day, I thought I’d designate a weekly coffee break, during which we could discuss a specified topic. This week, I’d like to bring up the challenge of handling business during the holidays.

In the magazine biz, special issues always correspond with seasonal occurrences, resulting in back-to-school issues, or holiday gift guide issues. As a blogger, I have more flexibility in terms of content development (magazines tend to work three to six months in advance), and so take advantage of holidays and events in my various blogs.

For example, this past week, I actually blogged about seasonal content, given the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend.

fireworks.

On another blog, me and my fellow bloggers blogged about “green” products and happy hour possibilities all day long, in honor of St. Patrick’s day. Later that same month, I did a week’s worth of cupcake-related posts in honor of the Martha Stewart-designated Cupcake Week.

How have you guys tied in business with seasonal pleasure?

Filed Under: writing Tagged With: ,

My 5 Favorite Things In: ProBlogger

July 10, 2008 by Leave a Comment

problogger

I’m a bit of a booktard.

I started out with Golden Books, moved on to Nancy Drew, graduated to John Saul, V.C. Andrews, and Stephen King, and finally ended up with Barbara Kingsolver, Lorrie Moore, etc.

When thoughts of freelancedom completely hijacked my brain, I naturally moved on to how-tos. Now, to show my gratitude, I feel I ought to highlight some of the books that got me to this point.

This week, I thought I’d mention ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and Chris Garrett of chrisg. While most of you may not necessarily aim to be career bloggers, I believe it’s a great tool to have in your belt when trying to launch your own business. After all, blogs can showcase your talents, acting as a virtual portfolio. Or they can function as promotional tools. Or they can keep present clients updated on your business. My five favorite things in this book?

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Filed Under: book review Tagged With: ,

How To Get Dressed in the Morning (Among Other Things)

July 9, 2008 by 6 Comments

pajamas and laptop.

I experienced a plethora of unforeseeable problems upon casting off the shackles off full-time office work and proceeding with freelancedom:

  1. I don’t want to wake up. Ever.
  2. When I finally wake up, I’m too lazy to even shower. Besides, my fuzzy, Cookie Monster pajama pants are way comfortable.
  3. I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.
  4. By the time I figure out what to do, I’m ready for a lunch break. This leads to a four-hour America’s Next Top Model marathon.
  5. Due to guilt over the lack of daytime productivity, I work late into the night, when I should be preparing dinner, or bonding with my husband.

Obviously, despite my eagerness to leave behind the 9-to-5, I still required some semblance of a schedule. A few moves that keep me on track:

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Filed Under: productivity Tagged With:
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