From Bunny Slippers to Business Plans
Hey there y’all! For those of you who are regular readers, you’ve already read my post on how to bring in new work without lifting a finger. But check it! BlogHer was kind enough to syndicate my blog post!
For those of you coming here from BlogHer, welcome! I hope you have fun digging around my archives and, please, by all means, stay awhile. We love having new people to hang with. 
Why have I embraced writing so fully? Perhaps because I’m just better in writing. And because I have major social anxiety. And I’m an introvert with reclusive tendencies. And I have a history of passing out in front of large groups of people.
Seriously. During one book presentation in high school, I literally saw my world go gray. And during a choir rehearsal, I full-on passed out. I had been standing on the second level of a set of risers and, when my head hit the floor (just narrowly missing the corner of the piano), my choir director actually thought the risers were collapsing!
So when my senior editor at YourTango asked if I would be interested in reading at their lit crawl event this year, I was equal parts excited and balls-out horrified.
Earlier this week, I sent out the very first edition of Word Nerd News (note: I’ve finally added a sign-up form to the Freelancedom sidebar —–>). It was a lot of fun to put together, and I was way excited to send it out, but what was even more exciting was what was inside.
Because — aside from the career advice, the great resources, and the must-click links (seriously, you should sign up) — I had a pretty exciting announcement to make.
This is for those of you who read Freelancedom regularly, but are hungry for more. It’s for those of you who feel you should be pitching more, but don’t know where to start. It’s also for those of you who agonize over your query letters to the point where you’re afraid to send them out. Befuddled by writing contracts? Click through. Want to make your content more palatable for the web? Yeah. You should totally click through. Finally, this is for those of you who don’t feel ready to commit to a coaching relationship, or who don’t need heavy, in-depth coaching, but would benefit from some solid, freelance writing advice. Really. I got your back here.
So as you know, I’ve been trying to devote more time to my coaching practice lately, doing things like planning out several e-course curricula, starting a monthly newsletter, and forcing my husband to make my website look pretty. I also have a pretty extensive marketing plan to get through, so that people… um… know that I exist, and know exactly what type of awesome I can bring into their lives. In the spirit of promoting myself and explaining what it is, exactly, that I do, I jumped at the chance to be interviewed by J. Maureen Henderson of Generation Meh.
If you’re dying to see me in a video interview, head over here to see our chat about coaching, consulting, sex writing, and the many levels of TMI.
Aside from the amount of times I say “um,” it’s not too horrific. In fact, I dare say that I actually sound… articulate. ::confetti::
Related: Receive Some Guaranteed Awesome In Your Inbox, Career Stalled? What You’re Doing Wrong
So I took advantage of the long, holiday weekend. I went hang gliding and wine tasting, drank lots of sangria at my in-laws’ annual July 4 barbecue, and made some headway on a few personal projects. This included rethinking the services I’d be offering as a career coach, and updating the content on my coaching site.
Among the latest updates? A sign-up form for my new, monthly newsletter. It will include original, coaching-related content; news on the publishing industry; and information on any forthcoming e-courses, webinars, events, and more.
Now if that doesn’t sound like a piñata filled with Awesome, I don’t know what does.
I’m so excited about all the plans I have for Career Coaching for Word Nerds, and I hope you are, too. If you are, do sign up.
Related: My New Web Platform Has Launched!
I am going to try so. hard. not to overload you guys with shameless LoveMom promotions, but I really wanted to share the post I wrote this week. Because it was an exceptionally personal one, and because it felt so good to write it all out. I’ve already received so many helpful comments on the post, something that makes me all weepy with gratitude. I love that I have writing to turn to when it comes to things like this.
Without further ado:
Hey there guys. I’ve finally carved out some time to build up my coaching practice. Before giving things a big marketing push, though, I’d like to evaluate everything I’m offering, and make sure it’s everything I could and should be offering.
So I drew up a market research survey, and I’d really appreciate it if you could fill it out for me. It would be a huge help.
And feel free to pass it along to anyone you think might be interested, or in need of my services.
Thanks. You’re a peach. 
My life has been pretty full lately. A little too full. But in case you were wondering what I looked forward to most in the course of my work week (aside from the moment when the lights go out and my head hits the pillow), I thought I’d share with you one of my latest projects.
The other day, I wrote a post on mentors, and where you can find them. I wrote it as part of a round table Holly Hoffman was putting together on her blog, WorkLoveLife. Well, the round table is finally up! Head on over to read 21 other posts about mentors. Among my favorites:
Related: 6 Ways To Find Your Next Mentor
Hey there guys! Before I give you your link love for the week, I’d like to indulge in a little bit of self-promotion. I’m thrilled and honored to report that Brazen Careerist has named me as one of the nominees in their Top 50 Blog Posts of 2009/Blogger of the Year contest! There are a lot of great writers on the list, and it feels pretty darn good to be among them. If you find me worthy of top honors, however, I’d appreciate your vote! Instructions — and a link to the other nominees — are at the link above but, really, all you have to do is tweet the following:
I’m voting for @stephauteri’s post in the #Brazen Careerist #BestOf 2009 contest: http://bit.ly/UaRsw
Hashtags, URL, and all. (That link, by the way, leads to my winning blog post.) I’d appreciate any Twitter love you can give me! (Plus, your votes enter you for a chance to win a Starbucks gift card. Coffee = Major Win.)
And now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… [Read more...]
