All Work and No Work

Just a couple of days ago I wrote about trying to fit work and promotion
into an already crowded schedule. Life as a freelancer is like that, there's either more work than you can get done in the time available, so you end up ghosting it; or you haven't put sufficient time into promotion and the work dries up.

Finding the Balance

Successful freelancing is about balance, balancing the work you do against the time you need to spend finding more work. One way of doing this is to have a couple of things to fall back. Associated Content and Constant Content are both sites where you can earn money writing articles and it is worth writing some during your down time because they could bring you in some money. Another site that will pay you for news reviews is Brigit they provide links to news articles and you review them in a hundred and fifty words - if your review is accepted then you earn five dollars.

It is not easy to forecast when the work is going to come in which is why it is a good idea to have some kind of fall back plan where you could earn a bit of money, and put the rest of the time into promotion.

What do you do when the pendulum swings from all work to no work?

Promotion and Pint Pots

Packing It All In

I have just been reading Bob Younce on promotion and trying to get a handle on it. This guy really packs things into his day, virtually no time wasting unlike yours truly. Although having said that on days when I am not wasting time it does feel like I am trying to do too much.

Pint Pots

Since I lost my eldest son last May I have had trouble sleeping so I end up working ghosters and feeling wasted during the day but still not able to sleep. I have been managing on 4-5 hours a night for months when I really need 6 and a half hours sleep.

At the same time when I look clearly at what I am doing in my life, not just as a writer, but as a lecturer, researcher, wife, mother and doting dotty dog owner it does sometimes feel that I am trying to squeeze a gallon into a pint pot. Now I am trying harder to promote by twittering on twitter, and burning most of my posts - besides bidding for writing work. How do you fit everything in and do you sometimes feel that you're squeezing in too much - even if you're not the most highly organized person.

Sometimes the Writing Gets Tough

Why Am I Doing This?

Much as I love writing there are times when I find that it is one of the most difficult tasks I have set myself. I find that it's especially hard when you do your best to please a client and then they want three quarts out of a pint pot - that's when the writing gets tough, and I have to ask myself why I am doing it. I have had some very similar problems lately
and I have to say that unless I can believe I am writing for myself as well as for others then I lose the spark that makes me a writer.

That is the Rate

No matter how many times you say it there will always be clients who will try to get you to lower your rates. Unless it is a project that really interests you, or you are having trouble getting any work at all, then don't do it. Word soon gets around and other people will start to jump on the rates boat. The fact of the matter is that whether you are contracted to write 10 articles or 50 unless you can learn to type faster than the speed of light your hourly rate does not change - and I for one refuse to work for less than minimum wage. How about you?