I had blogged about the business of freelancing on my own blog, The Productive Muse, for several months. But when the opportunity to write for b5media.com presented itself, I jumped at the chance.

Long before I launched my freelance business, I was reading ProBlogger, Darren Rowse’s blog about blogging (Darren also is cofounder of b5media—the company that owns this one). So my history with and admiration for  Darren, b5media.com, and everyone on the b5media team goes back several years.

If you’ve followed my journey on b5media.com—on The Golden Pencil and most recently on the Freelancing channel on bizzia.com—you’ll recall that I accepted a full-time position as a communications and marketing manager at the beginning of last month and went part-time with my freelance business.

It soon became clear that juggling both was going to be quite a challenge. So I decided to invite my friend and longtime colleague, Shelley DeLuca, to blog here with me about the business of freelancing. This was a perfect arrangement—she was a full-time freelancer and I was a part-timer. And between the two of us, we had most aspects of the publishing and media industries and work experiences covered. Everything was humming along very nicely until about a week ago when simultaneously, demands on my time increased and Shelley was offered a full-time position.

If you’re reading this and wondering whether you should start writing your own blog, Shelley and I are both good examples of how blogging leads to new, exciting opportunities. Due in part to our blogging and social media experiences, we’re now traveling along new, exciting career paths.

Personally, I had not planned on switching gears and scaling back on my freelance business. But sometimes opportunities show up, and they’re simply too good to pass up. And that, dear readers, is how all this transpired for both of us.

Perhaps I will freelance part time at some point again. But with the new position, long hours, and increasing demands on my time in the family arena, I have to wind things down for now.

The decision to give up this gig was a very, very difficult one. I have loved writing this blog, helping other freelancers and independent contractors, and getting to know all of you. And I know Shelley has enjoyed it too.

But after today, we’ll no longer be able to join you here every day.

That said, you’ll still be able to find us on Twitter (@JennyCromie and @shelleydeluca). Some of you will still see us on the other social media networking sites and online communities we belong to. And at some point, I’ll begin blogging on The Productive Muse again (maybe sooner rather than later).

So we’re not going to say goodbye. We’ll just say “see you later” or “see you online.”

Take good care, and we’ll talk soon,

Jenny and Shelley

Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Goodbye For Now, Dear Readers

I know more than a few freelancers who have found themselves trying to juggle deadlines with family illnesses and other lesser crises. And most freelancers I know have taken on too much work at one time or another and found themselves juggling and scrambling to meet all their deadlines.

So how do you avoid freelance overload? And if you find yourself in the precarious position of having to juggle deadlines with unexpected and unavoidable life events, what can you do?

1) Get honest. If you have a legitimate emergency, pick up the phone and call your client or editor right away and let them know your circumstances. Ask for a deadline extension if necessary. Most editors I know would rather find out that you might be running late before the deadline, rather than after the deadline.

2) Pare down. The other day I talked about the importance of sticking to the knitting—in other words, focusing on your core business. To avoid overload,  it’s important to ask yourself how incoming assignments tie in to the primary focus of your business. Granted, it can be tempting to accept assignments that don’t necessarily tie in to your core business in this economy. But if you take on too many of these types of assignments, you’re likely to spread yourself too thin and not further your primary business goals.

3) Prioritize. When you’re crunched for time, look for nonessential to-do items to strike off your list. What on your list can be put on hold until the crisis has passed? Or are there less important tasks that can be delegated to someone else? Or simply let certain things go temporarily—so what if there are a few more dirty dishes in the sink than normal?

4) Call it good enough. Many writers and editors I know have a strong perfectionist streak. If you’re on overload, sometimes you just have to do your best and call the job good enough when you’re done. And chances are—if you’re like most writers and editors I know—what you call good enough is much better than average.

5) Just say no. “No” is one of the shortest words in the English language, but often the toughest to say. But if you’re already on overload, set strong boundaries around your time and don’t volunteer for additional items. And while you’re at it, if you’re really pressed for time, turn your phone off, quit checking your e-mail, and shut out all other distractions until the job is done.

Photo credit: oddsock (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

How To Manage Freelance Overload

Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Lisa Collier Cool, a best-selling author and winner of 18 journalism awards. She’s written more than 400 articles for the Associated Press, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Fitness, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s, Hallmark, Harper’s Bazaar, Health, Health Monitor, Ladies Home Journal, Marie Claire, O the Oprah Magazine, Parenting, Parents, Penthouse, Publishers Weekly, Redbook, Reader’s Digest, Self, Woman’s Day, Writer’s Digest and many others.

Lisa also is a prolific author. Her book, Beware the Night: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural (with coauthor Ralph Sarchie), reached #3 on the Amazon bestseller list, and #10 on Ingram’s bestseller list. Movie rights from the book also were sold to Jerry Bruckheimer at Disney Pictures. Lisa also has written several other books, including Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How To Live With Them, When To Leave Them (with Carole Lieberman, M.D.); How to Give Good Phone; How to Write Irresistible Query Letters; and How to Sell Every Magazine Article You Write.

Lisa also is past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and currently serves on the organization’s board of directors. She also is chair of the board of trustees of the Writers Emergency Fund.

Lisa  has appeared on more than 100 radio talk shows in the United States and abroad, as well as on numerous television shows, including the Early Show, Good Housekeeping Reports, Good Morning America and Hard Copy.  Before becoming a freelance writer, Lisa worked as a literary agent, and sold more than 400 books, many of them bestsellers.

How long have you freelanced? How did you get your start?

I became a freelancer in 1984 after the birth of my twins, Alison and Georgia. Previously, I was a literary agent in NYC, but wanted a job that let me work at home and be with my kids. When I was an agent, I used to write part time, so had accumulated both contacts and credits before I made the jump to full-time freelancing.

I understand you used to be a literary agent (for what agency?). How long did you work as a literary agent, and what made you decide to start writing? Had you always written? What did being a literary agent teach you about writing?

I had my own agency, Collier Associates, which I started at age 23. Previously, I was an assistant at another agency my father ran with his former business partner. Then he was offered a great job at a publishing company, so he turned the business over to me. I was an agent for 8 years. As an agent, I learned that what separates successful writers from the rest is that they are better marketers. I sold books by writers whose skills seemed marginal at best—and watched them become giant sellers, because these authors were masterful at packaging their ideas to sell. Finding the right spin on your concept, and having a nose for news and what’s hot, are also key.

I was always interested in writing. At age 9, I had a letter to the editor published in Ladies Home Journal. My mom subscribed to all the women’s magazines, so I started reading them too. I guess it was my destiny to write for LHJ, because its one of my best markets these days. In 6th grade, I won a regional essay contest, writing on “What My Flag Means to Me.” I was proud and thrilled to not only get a $25 U.S. savings bond as my prize, but also to be invited to read my essay at a Memorial Day event that was broadcast on the local radio station. I felt incredibly lucky! My father was a tremendous mentor to me and encouraged me to write.

On your Web site, there’s a quote from an article in The Writer that says: “Lisa Collier Cool has a clip file that reads like the magazine rack at Barnes & Noble.” Most people don’t start out with national credits and glowing reviews like that. Can you talk a little bit about where you started from and how you got to where you are today?

I made my first sale in 1976. It was an election year and I learned of a group of Libertarians who were waging a fake campaign, with the slogan, “Vote for Nobody, because Nobody keeps his campaign promises.” I thought that was interesting and with the help of my father, the literary agent, I found a newspaper syndicate that offered me $35 to write a 500 word piece on spec. When they accepted the story, I did other stories for them until one day I thought, “Maybe, just maybe, there is someone out there who pays MORE than $35.” Turns out there was.

I sent queries to all sorts of magazines and sold a tiny piece to Harper’s Magazine, which added a lot of luster to my bio. Soon after becoming a full-time freelancer, I landed a contributing editor gig at Cosmopolitan, which bought dozens of articles from me. From there I branched out to other women’s magazines and later Reader’s Digest, another of my childhood favorites.

You’ve written several books, including a few about freelance writing. Based on your years in the business and all the advice you’ve dispensed in your books, what are the top three things that freelancers need to know? And what are some myths they need to stop buying into?

I’m a huge believer in persistence. When I was an agent, one book I was marketing was rejected by 40 publishers, but I made yet another round of submissions and got 3 offers. The book went on to become a bestseller. That taught me not to give up on something I felt was salable. Another tip I often offer is to that the best way to get an editor’s attention is to punch her in the nose—with your first paragraph. A good query has to grab editors right away or they may never read the second paragraph.

Also you need to shrug off rejection and immediately resubmit your pitch if someone says no. I once got discouraged after several editors turned down one of my queries—all for the same reason. But I brainstormed with a writer friend who suggested sending it to Parents Magazine, a market I’d never tried before. Not only did Parents buy it, but the story went on to win an award. Networking with other writers is very powerful and has helped advance my career dramatically over the years.

One myth is that after a certain point, there’s not much else you can learn from other freelancers. But the most successful writer I know, Cec Murphey, who has written 112 books, including bestsellers that have each sold millions of copies, told me recently that early in his career, he made 2 promises: to never stop learning about writing and to do everything in his power to help others. There’s always ways to improve your work and take it to the next level if you’re open to new approaches. I also look for new tools I can turn to profit. For example, I now find anecdotes for articles through social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as e-blasts to my personal writer’s query list of 500 contacts who help me find sources. (Most of these contacts are publicists who have sent me press releases over the years.)

I know that you have typically written a lot of articles for consumer magazines. Now that we’re experiencing this economic downturn, what are you noticing in terms of your own workflow? Have you noticed work slowing down? If so, how are you combating that and changing your business model? Are you employing any new tactics that you would recommend for other freelancers?

It’s a lot more work to get work than it used to be. I’m also finding that editors are more cautious about committing to an assignment, so now when I write a query, I take extra steps to rejection-proof it, such as suggesting 2 or 3 ways I could do the piece. I might propose a profile of a certain person, but also say that I could do a roundup of 3 women who have dealt with that issue. I suggest an interesting box, and point out that idea could even be a separate article.

That way, if they don’t like the approach I initially propose, they can see other ways to make it work. Also, I don’t take no for an answer. If someone says my story isn’t a good fit for their demographic, I e-mail back a solution or facts showing why the topic IS relevant for their readers. If they say there’s not enough service, then I propose flipping the topic to focus on that, or send a different idea full of practical tips. Recently, an editor at Woman’s Day rejected my pitch because she felt the person I wanted to write about had gotten too much national publicity. I shot back a reply describing something new the woman was doing that would be quite inspiring to readers drowning in bad news about the recession—and landed a $3,000 assignment.

I am also doing more stories for custom magazines. They pay less per word, but the hassle factor is lower and the pay prompter.

Have you freelanced during previous recessions? If so, how is this one different? How have you adjusted your businesses to current conditions? Did you see this decline coming, or has it been more rapid than you expected?

I have freelanced during earlier recessions, but the impact on me personally was far less than with the current crisis. That may because magazines weren’t competing with the Internet then, so even though some of my markets folded, it was easier to replace them with others that were still assigning. Since the start of the year, the downturn has been more drastic than I expected, but I am working harder, marketing more aggressively, following up faster, getting more pitches out, and it’s starting to pay off. I always have lots of ideas so I’ve been more diligent about getting them out quickly and broadly. That includes making multiple submissions of timely ideas.

Right now, we’re witnessing the rapid decline of the newspaper industry. Do you think the magazine industry is headed in the same direction? Where is the industry headed, and how will current conditions impact magazine writers?

I have an optimistic nature, but I have to be realistic. I’m very concerned about the magazine industry, with some of the giants toppling or looking wobbly. Writers have to be very nimble and adept at marketing to survive in this environment. Some won’t. The magazine world is shrinking, so we have to target additional markets, which could include corporate work, being a writing coach, or creating Web content.

You’ve written so many different articles on such a wide variety of topics. How would you characterize your writing? Would you say that you have several specialties or do you consider yourself a generalist? Which is more advantageous for a freelancer—to be a specialist or a generalist?

My main focus is health reporting, but I also like to write dramatic narratives and profiles. I’ve also done personal finance and travel stories recently. For me, it’s been more profitable to have a specialty. I’ve added a new one lately by writing celebrity health profiles. Previously, I’d only done one celebrity story.

What is the best piece of advice that you ever received as a freelancer? As a small business owner?

The best advice was Cec Murphey telling me to never stop learning about writing and to help others. I believe in paying it forward. As a small business owner, I donate to charity. I’m chair of the board of trustees of ASJA’s Writers Emergency Assistance Fund, a registered 501 (c) (3) charity. Donations are fully tax-deductible and aid professional writers facing hardship due to illness, disability, natural disaster, advanced age or an extraordinary crisis. To donate, download a grant application, or find out more about this worthy cause, run by volunteers, go to www.weaf.org.

The annual ASJA Writers Conference is coming up next month, and as you know, finances are tight for many freelancers right now. That said, why is this year’s conference a good investment for writers and freelancers? What will people walk away with knowledge-wise if they attend?

It’s a great investment for several reasons. In this difficult climate, networking with editors and other writers is especially important. Not only have I made tens of thousands of dollars through editorial contacts made at the ASJA conference over the years, but at one conference I met an ASJA member who regularly speaks on six-figure freelancer panels. She’s become one of my best friends and we talk on the phone  almost every day about our ideas, new markets to try, how to solve creative problems that crop up while writing our articles, and much more. That’s resulted in both of us making a lot more money and sales. Just meeting that one person has more than paid for a lifetime of conferences.

What are the top three mistakes that freelancers and small business owners tend to make? What about in this business climate?

Some freelancers don’t spend enough time marketing. When you have a few assignments, there’s a temptation to stop pitching and focus on getting the pieces done. But that can lead to lack of work down the road, particularly in this daunting environment. I send out new pitches every Monday, as well as resubmitting old ones. I also go on idea hunts—for me, one of the most exciting things to find a great story. It’s also important to keep yourself on the editors’ radar. Since I live near NYC, I go to ASJA evening programs to make new contacts and reconnect with former customers. Not only are these programs webcast free to ASJA members all over the world, but nonmembers can download them for $10 apiece at the ASJA store. There’s a ton of terrific market information in these programs—and I should know, because I’m chair of ASJA’s Program Committee.

You also have to get out of your comfort zone. I’m pitching markets I never tried before as well as old ones.  I developed a letter of introduction to send to custom publishers. I’m a bit of technophobe, but this year, I finally created and launched my Web site. And I did it entirely by trial-and-error, using iWeb. You have to be nimble to adapt to these conditions.

After launching my Web site, I read an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal about how to boost your search engine ranking. I followed the tips, and my Web site zoomed from not even being in the first 30 results for googling my name in quotes to #2 if you Google my name without quotes. The most helpful tip is to plaster your URL on as many sites as possible, especially on LinkedIn and Facebook.

You have a book called How to Sell Every Magazine Article That You Write. Is that even possible anymore or have times changed? Given current economic conditions, are there additional pieces of advice that you’d offer, but that weren’t covered in the book?

I still sell every article I write, because I always write the query first. If it doesn’t snag an assignment, then I don’t write the article. I sell about 50 percent of my queries. My best advice to freelancers is to form a brainstorming/goal buddy group with a few colleagues. I did that with 7 writers I respect, including my best ASJA friend, and we share market information, brainstorm about where to submit our queries, vent about problems, share our goals for the week, and support and encourage each other during these difficult times. It’s been extremely valuable for all of us.

I’ve discovered new tools I can turn to profit. For example, I now find anecdotes for articles through social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as through e-blasts to my personal writer’s query list of 500 contacts who help me find sources, such as publicists I know. Also, I think about ways I can use the recession as a news hook for stories, such as a recent Woman’s Day article I did titled, “Can You Afford a Vacation?”

Post from: EveryJoe

Successful Freelancer: Lisa Collier Cool

In the well-known management book, In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, there’s a chapter called “Stick to the Knitting.” The chapter talks about the importance of sticking with the business that you know. And it talks about what happens when companies wander too far away from their core services and products—the things that they they do best, and the things that originally contributed to their business success.

In recent months, I’ve talked a lot about the importance of diversification. And I still maintain that freelancers—now more than ever—need to constantly diversify and redefine what they do to stay viable and competitive. You can’t stick to the same business model you had 5 years ago—or, in this climate, even a year to six months ago. You have to continue to evolve your business to reflect changes in the marketplace and shifts in demand for your products and services.

But while you’re diversifying your business, don’t wander too far from your core. What I mean is this: If you are a known expert in health writing, and you have built your personal brand around that body of knowledge, it wouldn’t be smart for you to completely abandon your focus on that topic. However, you could expand pure health writing into other areas. For example, you could transfer some of the knowledge you have about health into topics like fitness and sports medicine. But if you were to suddenly stop writing about health and start writing about HR or business, you’d lose the traction you gained in the marketplace as a health writer.  You can diversify your writing focus so that you are still writing about health-related topics—just in a different way, and for different markets.

So how does the phrase—Stick to the Knitting—apply to you and your business? How can you diversify your business while still remaining true to your core business?

Photo credit:  abbynormy (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Stick to the Knitting for Freelance Success

The other day, I talked about how to prepare financially for going full time with your freelance business. But what if you don’t have time to get your finances in order before diving in to full-time freelancing? What if you don’t have time to build a months’ long cushion to get you through the lean times? Or even if you’ve been in the business for a while, what do you do if you suddenly find your work slowing down to a trickle? What can you do to stay afloat?

Here are a few ideas:

Cut expenditures. No matter what the economic conditions, it’s always a smart to look for ways to trim unnecessary expenses. Take a hard look at your monthly income and expenditures. Add up your expenditures and income for the past three to six months. Based on that information, figure out what an average month looks like—what are you typically paying out and what are you taking in? Once you have your average month figured out, go back through your expenditures and see where you could have saved money. For an unvarnished picture, add up all the eat-out expenditures from your checkbook ledger. Evaluate your bills and services. Are you paying for full-service cable when basic service would do the trick? Is your phone usage matching up to the amount of money you’re paying out every month, or would it make more sense to switch plans? Ask credit card companies to lower rates or fees, refinance your auto loan, switch car insurance companies if you find a better rate. Evaluate every service you’re paying for—I guarantee that you will find someplace to cut if you dig deep enough into your finances.

Use the buy-it-later rule. I went through some pretty lean times as a full-time freelancer, and one trick that I routinely employed was what I call the buy-it-later rule. It works like this: If you think you want to buy something other than groceries or basic bread-and-butter items, put the item back on the shelf or navigate away from the grocery cart on the Web page and walk away for 24 to 48 hours. If you still want to buy the item after the waiting period, then by all means, consider it. I find that this tactic is very effective. And many times, I not only forget about the waiting period the next day, I often forget about the thing that I so desperately wanted a few hours earlier. The key is to avoid impulse purchases of all kinds—even with routine, basic grocery items.

Apply the Starbucks rule. What could you do with $1,277.50? That’s how much you’d save in a year if you kicked your $3.50 a day Starbucks habit. Look at other things that you spend money on without thinking. What about that Diet Coke that you pick up on the way home from work every day? Pick two or three things that you regularly spend money on but don’t think twice about, and add up how much you’re actually spending in a year on those items. I guarantee you’ll be surprised how much money you’re burning through on purchases that you normally don’t give a second thought to.

Downsize your office. Most full-time freelancers I know work out of their homes. So aside from basic expenses, you really shouldn’t have high operating costs. But if you’re like me, you occasionally might get the urge to splurge at the office supply store. Based on personal experience and a few expensive lessons, I know that it’s possible to spend a lot of money on items that you convince yourself that you “need.” I was always one of those kids who couldn’t wait to buy school supplies for the year. So as an adult, that same love for pens and paper carried through to office supplies. And for me, shopping for office supplies online is especially dangerous. So before you put reams of paper, fancy pens, and expensive office chairs in your virtual shopping cart, ask yourself if you really need the items. You also might want to look at eliminating certain office activities to save money. With the exception of an occasional document, I no longer print anything I write. Printer cartridges are expensive, and so is paper. Save a few trees—stop printing documents.

Execute plan B. When you’re a full-time freelancer, it’s always a good idea to have the plan that you’re actually living, as well as several plans in place (if only in your mind) in case Plan A doesn’t pan out or your finances need a bailout. In this economy, it’s a do-what-you-need-to-do world. Don’t think twice about taking a second job if you need to, or about working full time and going part time with your freelance career. Do what you need to do to survive the downturn, and keep an open mind. There’s no right or wrong way to approach a freelance career when it comes to doing other things to supplement your income. I know a fair number of freelancers who do other things in addition to freelancing—teaching, speaking, consulting, and nursing. The possibilities are endless. So don’t get locked into thinking that there’s only one way to approach your freelance business. The more diversified you are in your business model, the better.

Hire a good CPA. I probably don’t have to tell you how important it is to find a good CPA. Over the long haul, a CPA can save you a lot of money by helping you figure out all tax deductions available to you. And they also can provide basic advice on how to save on taxes throughout the year. I know some freelancers who insist on doing their own taxes. But the way I see it, CPAs are required to stay up to speed on tax law. I, on the other hand, prefer to focus on other things that I enjoy doing more—like writing and editing. So I leave the heavy lifting to someone else when it comes to taxes.

So what about you? Do you have any tips or ideas on how other freelancers or independent contractors can save money?

Photo credit: Tracy O (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Financial Fitness for Full-Time Freelancers

Several years of working as a reporter also helped prepare me for running a lean full-time freelance operation. Because as some of you may know, reporting jobs generally don’t pay well. So in addition to learning how to write and report during my newspaper years, I also perfected the art of living on a shoestring budget without feeling like a pauper.

If you have the benefit of planning ahead before going full time with your freelance career, I strongly suggest several financial moves before you take the plunge:

1) Build a cushion. You need a financial safety net for those months when assignments are coming in slower or your clients are taking longer to pay. Before striking out on my own, I saved about four months’ worth of living expenses as a cushion. Over time, I managed to build that cushion up to about 8 months’ worth of living expenses. If my cushion dipped below a certain dollar amount, I adjusted accordingly by cutting back on spending, taking on more work, and increasing my marketing efforts. Now that I’m freelancing part time and working full time in an office job, I am still maintaining this strategy and building that cushion.

2) Pay off your debt. Before I went full time with my freelance business, I paid off as much debt as I could manage—while still saving money. I wasn’t successful in eliminating all of that debt before going out on my own, but I did manage to pay off some it. For a couple of higher interest cards, I obtained a loan through my credit union at a lower interest rate to pay those high-interest balances off. I also negotiated lower rates with a couple of credit card companies. Granted, I did these things before current market conditions hit, but I would still recommend the same strategy.

3) Eliminate or lower expenses. When you’re running your own business, it’s important to examine all your expenses and find ways to eliminate or lower them—not only in a recession, but at any time. Well before I went full time with my freelance business, I started cutting back on my spending. No more visits to Starbucks or lunches out. If there was a generic or store brand at the grocery store, that’s what I bought. I eliminated unnecessary household purchases (did I really need carpet powder when baking soda would accomplish the same thing?). Instead of cleaning with paper towels, I bought dish rags and started using those instead. It doesn’t sound like much, but little things like these add up. And the money I saved from those cost-cutting measures, I banked the amount in my savings. I also carried around a notebook and started recording all of my daily expenses. And I wouldn’t allow myself to spend more than a certain amount per week. If I went over the amount I had budgeted, I had to subtract that amount from the following week’s allotment. I looked at all of my bills and looked for ways to trim services or eliminate them entirely. Even though I was still earning a regular paycheck, I started living like I was already freelancing months before I actually took the leap.

Stay tuned—on Thursday, I’ll pass along some more financial advice for full-time freelancers.

Jenny

Photo credit: Sami Keinänen (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Finances for Full-Time Freelancers

Often referred to as Lean, the goal in very simple terms is to create more value with less work, fewer resources, and less waste. In other words, the goal of Lean is to find efficiencies and eliminate any practices or resources that do not help create value for the customer or client. This management philosophy comes primarily from the Toyota Production System (TPS), which turned one of the world’s smallest automotive manufacturers into one of the largest and most successful ones.

According to the management philosophy, which is based largely on TPS, there are seven primary forms of waste in a production setting. Waste usually comes in the form of:

1. Overproduction (e.g. making more product than you can sell)
2. Delay (e.g. waiting for processing)
3. Transporting (e.g. moving parts or materials from process to process)
4. Overprocessing (e.g. doing more work to a part or product than required)
5. Inventory (e.g. committing money or storage space to unsold goods)
6. Motion (e.g. moving product more than what is required to complete and ship them)
7. Making defective parts (e.g. creating parts or a product that requires rework before it can be sold)

Granted, operating an independent contracting business is a lot different than manufacturing automobiles, but the concept of creating more value, in less time, and with fewer resources should resonate with any small business owner. Particularly with current economic conditions, I would imagine that almost any small business owner would want to save time, eliminate costs, and learn how to run a more efficient business.

To apply Lean thinking to your own business, here are a few questions to ask:

1. Am I spending too much time on projects that don’t create a lot of financial return?
2. In working on my projects, are there any stages in the process where I am waiting for someone else to complete their work? Can the waiting time be eliminated or put to better use?
3. Am I spending more money than I need to on overhead and unnecessary services? If I had to trim three expenses from my existing operation today, what would those be?
4. What projects are taking the most time? Is there any way to speed up parts of the process? Am I taking unnecessary steps to get the job done?
5. Am I having to spend large amounts of time correcting someone else’s work? Is there a way to eliminate some of this work? Or by talking to the client, is there a way to help them produce a better product or cleaner content before it gets to me?
6. Am I having a hard time selling certain services, content, or product? In other words, am I dealing with some kind of real or hidden inventory? What do I need to change about my business model to eliminate the inventory, and how do I get rid of the inventory I currently have?
7. Am I spending too much time on certain aspects of an assignment or project? In other words, am I doing more than the necessary amount of work than the job requires? What can I do to increase my efficiency or to determine when the job is done and good enough?
8. Are there are any steps in my internal processes that are creating inefficiencies? For example, am I maintaining four different e-mail accounts? Am I using outdated software that is creating more work for me or my clients? Would buying a scanner be cheaper over the long haul than driving to Kinko’s every week?

I’m sure that you can come up with many of your own questions. But I find the Lean manufacturing business model and the whole concept of making your business more efficient very appealing.

And even though Lean is a philosophy that is usually tossed around at larger companies, I think that freelancers and independent contractors can benefit from asking themselves the same basic questions. Waste—whether in the form of time or money—can eat away at your bottom line. And sometimes, the biggest culprits are processes and old ways of thinking and doing things that people no longer question. The aspects of your business that are on automatic pilot—the because-I’ve-always-done-it-that-way processes—are probably the areas where you’ll find the greatest amount of waste and the biggest opportunity for creating a more efficient business.

So what about you? Are you running a leaner operation these days? How have you made your business more efficient?

Photo credit: Ivy Dawned (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Do You Have a Lean Mindset?

Do you remember what it was like to sit outside in your sandbox and build sand castles? What about the smell from a box of 64 Crayola crayons, and afternoons you spent coloring in a new coloring book? Or all the buildings you used to build with Legos and Lincoln Logs—remember those?

Just thinking about these things conjures up so many fond memories of my childhood. What about you?

By now, I bet you’re wondering what all this has to do with freelancing and life as an independent contractor, right? And you’re probably wondering why I’m focusing on something like tapping into your inner child on Bizzia.com—after all, it is a business channel.

Well, let me explain. I think sometimes that we get so locked into our adult responsibilities and lives that we forget how to play. I’m not suggesting that you go out and buy an adult-sized sandbox or that you take Friday afternoon off so you can build a mansion out of Legos. But I am suggesting that you invite the spirit of play into your life and your work is a key component of the creative process. When you’re playing or experimenting, it usually means you’re having fun. And if you’re having fun while you’re working, it’ll come through in the final product.

So today’s Freelance Fun on Friday activity is to wrap up your workday a little early and take time out for play. Do something that you haven’t done in years—maybe even since grade school. Here are a few suggestions:

• Do you miss coloring? Go buy a box of Crayolas, a great coloring book, and color between (or outside) the lines for a while.
• What was your favorite childhood book, and when was the last time you read it? Do you own a copy? Go find one and take a walk down memory lane.
• When was the last time you played on playground equipment or sat in a swing? Go find a playground and let your inner child out to play.
• What was your favorite childhood movie, and when was the last time you watched it? Go rent the movie and watch it again.
• Do you have any toys left over from your childhood? When was the last time you took them out of the box? Go grab that box and take out some relics from your past.

I’m betting that some of you might feel like this exercise is a waste of time. But in the spirit of open-mindedness and experimentation (both good traits to have as a business owner), suspend your disbelief if you have any and take some time out for play this afternoon.

Drop me a line and tell me what happens! Did you learn anything during playtime that will help you in your business?

Photo credit: John-Morgan (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Freelance Fun on Fridays: Time for Play

Most freelancers and independent contractors I know love the freedom of self-employment and enjoy the variety that the traditional workplace could never provide them. And while full-time company jobs used to represent security, a glance at recent headlines quickly underscores the fact that there’s no longer that kind of guarantee. In fact, there just might be more security for those who freelance and work as independent contractors because they are more likely to have multiple streams of income rather than a regular paycheck coming from one source.

And for employers struggling to compete in an increasingly global marketplace, hiring independent contractors and freelancers is, in many cases, a more cost-effective option than hiring a new full-time employee. Companies don’t have to pay for costly benefits and health insurance when they hire independent contractors. And because there are more independent contractors these days, there’s more competition to provide quality, cost-effective service to clients. So in many ways, it’s a buyer’s market for companies right now when it comes to finding top talent and quality services at the best price.

I’ve talked about it here recently, but the ranks of independent contractors is continuing to grow. According to 2006 statistics, the U.S. General Accountability Office, reported that nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce, or about 42.6 million people, were going to work every week but were not classified as full-time employees. Of those, about 21.5 million of these workers were independent contractors, freelancers, or self-employed. And in recent months, I’m sure these numbers have skyrocketed.

That said, economic conditions also are forcing some companies to trim the budgets they’ve traditionally used to hire freelancers and independent contractors. And instead of jobbing out work, some companies are bringing work back in house as a way to preserve full-time jobs and conserve costs.

While freelancers and independent contractors don’t have any control over how companies manage their budgets, they do have control over how they provide services to clients.

If you’re providing quality, cost-effective work to a client and you continue to nurture that relationship even when you’re not currently working on assignment for them, you just might land on the short list of independent contractors that a cash-strapped company can’t afford to let loose.

To end up on this short list, though, it’s necessary to do an assessment of yourself and your business. When you think about the services you’re providing your clients right now, ask yourself the following questions:

1. How is my work helping the client?
2. Is the client able to get the same quality of work somewhere else for less money?
3. What distinguishes my work from that of other similar businesses? How is my business different and/or better?
4. Is there anything that I can do to provide more value or service to my clients at or near the same price that I’m currently charging them?
5. How often am I following up with current clients and those I haven’t heard from for a while? Am I nurturing my business relationships through regular contact?
6. Is there any way that I can help my clients streamline their businesses with my work/services?
7. Is there any way that I can help my clients trim costs, and eliminate the waste of time and resources?
8. Am I really listening to what my clients need or am I only providing them with the work/services that I want to provide?
9. What value am I adding to my client’s business?
10. How can I provide better services and quality work to current and potential clients?

Answering these questions honestly can help reset your thinking when it comes to this current economy, and that’s a very important exercise right now.

Working in this economic environment is a different ball game—even from what it was six months ago. It’s a much more competitive environment. Work is harder to come by, and there’s not as much of it to go around. So anything you can do to set yourself and your business apart from others can help you ride out this recession and keep your business afloat.

So what are your thoughts about working in the gig economy? What are some of your biggest concerns right now? Drop me a line and tell me about it!

Photo credit: zsofiguria (Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Working in the Gig Economy

Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Emma Johnson, a freelance writer who specializes in business, finance, and money topics. She’s written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Psychology Today, USA Today, and dozens of other publications. Her “Launch Your Life” multimedia series on MSN Money explores personal finance topics of interest to people in their 20s and 30s. Emma also is frequently interviewed by the media about money and business topics. Most recently, she was interviewed on the TODAY show.

With all of the emphasis on the economy and readers’ insatiable interest in all things financial these days, I thought Emma would be the perfect person for this interview.

How long have you freelanced? How did you get your start?

I’ve been freelancing for more than six years, full time for four. I started my career as a newspaper reporter, and then six years ago I moved to New York with no job lined up. Before I moved here I didn’t know anyone who freelanced full time—it seemed too good to be true! It wasn’t even a dream. While I desperately looked for steady employment I took freelance assignments to pay the bills. Also, editors I was trying to get to hire me full time offered freelance assignments. I quickly realized that a) I could easily make way more money per hour freelancing than at a staff job, b) it didn’t seem too terribly hard to get assignments, and c) I loved the hustle and strategy required for freelancing. I also was meeting successful freelancers during this time, and I attended the ASJA conference. Full-time freelancing started to materialize as my long-term goal.

After six months in New York I landed a job at a jewelry trade magazine, and a few months after that I landed a staff position at the Associated Press’s financial wire, which was just starting up. That gig seemed like it was too good to be true—until I started. The job entailed writing 20 to 30 equities briefs each day. These were hardcore, dry-as-a-boiled bone numbers stories, and I hated every letter I typed. But I did love all the freelancing I was doing on the side. My goal was to build my freelance business so that I could make as much money freelancing as I was making with my AP salary—then quit.

During that time I really hustled. I built up a steady roster of trade and custom pub clients, but I also pitched like crazy and got bylines in big publications. That did two things: it gave me a sexy bio, and it boosted my confidence. My first national credit was The New York Times. Coming from very small newspapers with names like The Valdosta Daily Times (Ga.) , and the East Valley Tribune (Ariz.) , it just seemed so hot.

In less than a year after starting at the Associated Press, I reached my goal. So I quit my day job, as it were.

How did you start writing about business, finance, and money topics? Were these always interests of yours or did this interest evolve over time after you started freelancing?

When I got out of journalism school, I was the typical want-to-save-the-world cub reporter. I never thought I would wind up specializing in business. But looking back, I was doing a lot of business writing from the start. When you write for a small daily newspaper, you write about everything, including business. Hospitals denying patients care? Business and economics story. Mobile home manufacturers pedaling shoddy product to the poor? Business. The state increasing education funding? It’s all about money and business.

My first Web site for my freelance business five or six years ago promoted me as a general assignment reporter who could write about health, travel, lifestyle, and business. But a few things happened. One, my AP credentials really positioned me to be a business and finance writer. While I didn’t enjoy it, that job taught me to read a quarterly report, how to navigate basic financial terms and functions, and speak to business people about publicly held companies in a way I could not before. Plus, it looks really good on my résumé.

Also, I soon found that there was a bigger market for money-related stories than any of the other “specialties” I was pimping. As luck would have it, I also learned that I enjoyed writing about money more than anything else. I really love interviewing small business owners, as well as talking to everyday people about their thoughts and attitudes about money. Despite finance screaming across the headlines, money is still a taboo subject—yet it dominates many of our thoughts and actions. I guess it is a little bit like sex that way.

Are you noticing an increased demand for stories about money, business, and finance topics right now? How are you finding your workflow? Are you busier than ever or are you also experiencing a business downturn?

I was cruising along until about a month ago, and then I did see a drop in business. Just like everyone else, longtime clients are having a hard time and freezing or squeezing freelance budgets. I’d also come to rely on new clients popping up rather regularly—whether they were new publications, editors at general interest magazines looking for personal finance coverage, or corporate clients. There is still work out there for sure—it is just harder to come by.

That said, just look at the headlines in any newspaper, broadcast, or Web site. Of course business and financial news is hot right now, and especially non-business publications are looking for that specialty. Of course, their budgets are challenged now, too.

One unexpected thing has happened as a result of working as a money writer in these economic times: I’m suddenly receiving a lot of publicity opportunities. In the past couple of weeks I’ve been interviewed on the Huffington Post, TODAY, a Voice America radio show—not to mention this interview! Just yesterday I was asked to guest blog on a big site.

Since business, money, and finance topics are in so much demand these days, I would imagine that more freelance writers are wanting to write about these topics as well. Based on your experience, do you think it’s more difficult to break into finance-related publications right now, or easier? How would you advise freelancers who are interested in breaking into these areas?

Many people think that business writing is covering the markets each day, or doing in-depth pieces about the World Bank. It can mean that, but I don’t do those stories (nor do I want to).

I write hardcore financial stories for some trade magazines that need that specialty from time-to-time, but my real focus is on the softer side of business and personal finance topics. Every topic has a business story in it somewhere. Some time ago on one of the freelance writers’ forums, a theater writer said she could never make much money because there simply weren’t that many publications that carried theater reviews. I rarely go to the theater and I don’t have a bit of knowledge in that sector, but I could come up with a half dozen business-related story ideas about theater in 30 seconds. Maybe you have to have a knack for thinking about things that way, but as a freelancer you also are a business owner, so you should be doing that for your own enterprise.

There are some basic business themes: marketing, advertising, HR, real estate, inventory, manufacturing, and sales. And then there is personal finance: credit, debt, investing, real estate, savings, work-life balance, money attitudes, and culture. I find that my familiarity with each of these general concepts and the news affecting them helps me to interview business owners and individuals about their situations, and also to spot interesting stories and trends. But let’s not forget: money and business are huge, broad topics. It’s not really a specialty or beat, but rather a familiarity.

Given current economic conditions, are you doing anything differently from a business standpoint than you were six months, one year, and/or two years ago?

My business has changed drastically in the past year. About a year ago, a series for MSN Money on which I’d been producing content for the previous two years went live. This has been a huge opportunity for me, and has opened a lot of doors. I can’t say that I’ve made any huge, sweeping entrances into any of those doors yet because of the other thing that happened to me a year ago—my daughter Helena was born.

I work part time now, and I am focusing on projects that either enhance my profile, are very interesting to me, or that just pay a lot of dough. The pace of my career has slowed because I am taking fewer assignments from fewer clients, but the momentum is a lot stronger. It is definitely a lot easier to start conversations with editors, agents, and publishers with a platform of stories that have received online attention from millions of unique visitors.

In response to the economic climate, have you changed your business model? If so, how did you make the transition and how would you advise other freelancers to evaluate and change theirs?

I’ll admit that for a while I got lazy. Projects and clients would come easily to me, I was meeting or exceeding my financial goals, and my profile was increasing. I feel like my profile is still onward and upward, but the money and projects are harder to come by these days. It stinks, but it is really a blessing for me. I’d gotten in a rut of working with lovely longtime clients that paid so-so for writing about topics that are interesting to me, but not compelling, and for publications that will do nothing for my long-term goals.

Now I have to hustle again, and this time instead of writing for everyone and anyone who would pay—as I did when starting out—I can be a little more strategic these days. I can afford that because I do have a stable of steady, quality clients, and also because I have the focus that a few years of running my business has taught me about the industry, and about myself, what I enjoy, and what my goals are.

Have you learned anything in the process of writing about business, finance, and money topics that you now apply to your own business? Any similar guidance that you would offer to other freelancers and independent contractors right now?

I learn so much by interviewing other entrepreneurs, but also by paying attention to the small businesses I patronize in my personal life. A few that stand out:

I once interviewed a jeweler in Milwaukee who had a retail shop, but also specialized in catering to NBA and MLB athletes. Even though these guys make millions and millions each year, the jeweler always gives them good deals on their bling. “Everyone likes to feel like they’re getting a good deal,” he said. That stuck with me. My freelance career has taken a trajectory from taking whatever an editor offered because I was so flattered to get the job, to being a really sharp negotiator, asking for and usually getting higher rates than offered on every assignment, to being a little softer in the process. Especially now that editors are really under pressure to stay within their own budgets, it helps create a symbiotic relationship to go with the flow a little. Plus, if they’re paying you a premium rate, that comes with premium expectations. That can easily blow up in your face and foster disappointment in the client. After all, what is premium writing and reporting? That said, I have a minimum rate I absolutely do not go below.

From my personal life: there is a small coffee shop on my block, and it is clear that the owner is having a tough time. It seems that every week a new sign appears in the window showcasing yet ANOTHER product on offer: coffee, espresso drinks, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, soup, falafel, roasted chicken, empanadas, cakes, cookies, brownies … on and on. I happen to know that this woman makes outstanding empanadas and pound cake. Everything else is so-so.

The lesson here is to one, specialize. Do what you are really good at and figure out how to market it. Otherwise those really great skills get lost in the mix and wasted. The other lesson is to keep your cards close to the vest. By adding a new product every week, she is advertising her desperation. There is something to be said about keeping up appearances.

Again from the personal files … I took a good pair of earrings to be repaired at a very nice boutique in Manhattan where they were bought. The owner explained how they would be repaired, that they would be ready in a week, she’d clean them for me and call me when they were ready. After six or eight weeks of me calling repeatedly about their status, I was told they were ready for pick up. Not only were they shoddily repaired using a different method than promised, but they were not cleaned. When I complained, the owner threw up her hands and blamed the manufacturer, who did the repair. “I didn’t even look at them!” she said.

The take away? Own your work! I wasn’t doing business with the manufacturer. I was the jeweler’s customer, and I expected service from her. The fact that this was a $50 repair and not a $1,000 sale didn’t mean the transaction wasn’t important.

What are the top three mistakes that freelancers and independent contractors make when it comes to running their own businesses?

These are all clichés, but they say it better than I could:

1.  It’s business, not personal.
2.  It’s not who you know, but who knows you.
3.  You can never afford to stop marketing.

Post from: EveryJoe

Freelancer Spotlight: Emma Johnson