Tag: communications

Secrets of a Freelance Writer

Published on by mbcoudalLeave a comment
the view from my old office, yesterday.

During yesterday’s long lunch with Hal, he mentioned casually, “You should be making about $2,500 a week freelancing.” Gulp. I reminded him that unemployment pays $405 a week. Next to my computer sits a book from my sister a few Christmases ago: Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $85,000 a Year by Robert W. Bly.

Since that 2nd edition, the third edition’s out. A potential freelancer’s pay’s shot up to $100,000 a year. Okay, great, let me get going.

I cracked open the book, looking to get on that $2,500/per week thing. Here are some tips (based on Bly’s book):

  • manage time well
  • be concise
  • get to the point
  • keep the client satisfied

All good. And here are some of my tips:

  • let go of the guilt for asking for any pay at all
  • make your promotional material pretty (like website, biz cards)
  • turn it on time
  • network well
  • give clients more than they asked for

I added that first bullet point, because I realize I have guilt for making money and guilt for not making money. (In yesterday’s post, I admitted to feelings of guilt for indulging in any activities that please myself only and do not please others.) Thus, I have to let go of all guilt, even about gilt!

I am letting go of my excuses for not pursuing the almighty dollar. Yes, yes, I was born a girl, raised Catholic, worked for a Christian group. I have believed (even unconsciously) that money was the father’s job. That the pursuit of money made me selfish or materialistic. That other people had greater need than me so let the poor suckers have my money. That I am artist so I must suffer and live in poverty.

Be direct and unemotional. This book advises you not to make the same mistakes she did.  I love and relate to her honesty.

None of this is true. And I felt affirmed in my quest for asking for top dollar after reading Mika Brzezinski’s book, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth. Mika faced and overcame the same problems I have with money. Her advice is:

  • be yourself
  • sponsor or mentor one another
  • stay matter of fact (don’t get emotional, apologetic)
  • I should have told Hal what I really think about making money. Money is just energy. To make more of it, just insert yourself into the energy’s flow. I buy that.
  • And I will get on it, right after I finish reading another book. And blogging.

Prezi.com So much fun

Published on by mbcoudal3 Comments

Learning Prezi.com

You picture your presentation as a big white board. You zoom in, zoom out, link here, link there, post pictures and words, mind map, point to tangential ideas. Am playing around and using this to summarize my sabbatical. If anyone at work asks for it.

http://prezi.com/lf5xhnrhhz1y/communicate/

So much more creative than power point. Click, square, click, square. Although I have loved making power points, have wasted days changing the ways a page flips onto the next.

I just simply like creating. And I don’t care what it is I’m creating. But given that I have to make something, I like using new technology to make something new. I like getting feedback and feeling affirmed (“Wow! Mary Beth! That’s so cool!”) I like and need to think in a non-linear fashion.

Yet, in my writing, let’s face it, I do and have jumped around and sometimes, yes, occasionally at work, people (one editor in particular) want me to be all chronological and probably she prefers the  click, square, next. Click, square, next.

The big circles, the jumping off points, the tangential thinking, the creative asides – some people don’t get that. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I can play by the rules and I can (and prefer to) play without any rules. Both And!