News And Updates
Earlier this week, Jezebel had this interesting post, in which the writers tried to recall what bits of knowledge they had actually retained from early-childhood home ec classes.
They went on to ponder what sort of knowledge they would have actually benefited from.
I remember well my first job out of college. The company had hired me as their first-ever editor (I was more like a glorified word processor) and, once they had me, they weren’t quite sure what to do with me. I was miserable there. The work was mind-numbing, and I was left with large swaths of time in which I had absolutely nothing to do.
So I began writing.
And boy, did I get a lot done, even getting published on MediaBistro with an essay I had written during work hours.
I can’t imagine that this is uncommon.
My husband battled his fears of eventual bankruptcy by supporting my decision to leave my staff job and pursue freelancing full-time. And when I succeeded in bringing in my former staffer income within half a year as a freelancer, I sort of wanted to wiggle my butt and point and scream “In! Your! Face!”
The only thing that kept me from doing so was the knowledge that I still had a lot of debt to manage…debt that I probably should have taken care of before leaving my job.
This past week, I’ve had to face the fact that — if I don’t begin to self-market myself more aggressively — my at-home business will never grow. Which is why I focused on self-marketing all week long, with:
- How To Market Yourself: Strengthening Your Web Presence
- Product Placement: The Resume T-Shirt
- How To Market Yourself: Getting Out More, and
- Product Placement: Business Cards
Still, even when we know all there is to know about the logistics of self-marketing, we can still have difficulty implementing the necessary steps. Much of this is due to fear.
What’s your biggest distraction when it comes to working from home?
I often find myself being distracted by…everything. Reality television. The mail. Even housework! Stuff I would usually avoid like the plague at any other time.
And it seems that remaining in front of my computer can be just as dangerous, if not more so.
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!
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.
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?