“Anyone can garden, and everyone should do it.” That’s the motto of Julie Martens, freelance garden writer and editor. A woman with an avid green thumb since childhood, Julie believes that gardening is a lifelong hobby—one that gives back and blesses not only the gardener, but also the world. Julie’s passions for writing and gardening combine beautifully in her work, having served as a garden editor for Better Homes and Gardens, Home Garden, Southern Living, and Garden Escape magazines. Her writing has also appeared on Garden.com, the first major gardening site to sprout on the Web. She also has consulted for horticultural events at Epcot Theme Park and written for plant displays at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme... [Read more]

Springtime teases, and I am chomping at the bit to get out there and start planting. It’s a little too early though—even here in the South we could get another frost. So to bide my time I am turning my focus indoors and planting another type of garden. Maybe I’m in a spring-fever-induced haze, but the more I think about it the more I think starting or maintaining a business is a bit like planning a garden. I’m planning both of mine right now, so I thought I’d share with you how the steps involved in planning a garden are helping me think about my approach to freelancing. Set realistic goals. Garden experts advise folks to start small or think about what they can accomplish in a single growing season. DIY gardener... [Read more]

How can you separate yourself from the pack in today’s market? One way to stand out to prospective clients, in my opinion, is to combine expertise with heartfelt enthusiasm. This sounds strange to me now, but at one time I made a lot of freelance hires based on availability. Sure, I expected high-quality work, timeliness, and professionalism. Good references were a plus too, of course. But in those days I seriously got excited about receiving an inquiry from a prospective new freelancer. If someone had the right attitude and a promising set of skills, I was willing to give them a shot! In the last couple of years, though, I think things started changing. I started looking for more in a freelancer’s résumé. And now that I’m... [Read more]

I’ve come to see a schedule as the backbone of every project. Because if you forge ahead without some kind of timeline, isn’t successfully completing your goal just a shot in the dark? Sunday I talked about utilizing a planner. And for any project that contains more than a step or two, I’ve learned it’s vital to break the big picture down into segments that can be estimated in terms of time, energy, and resources. Without doing that, I suppose it’ll get done eventually. But will it be done on time? And will it be a good product? In industries such as magazine and book publishing, production schedules are fairly standard practice. These usually are handled by a managing editor or production manager, and they can... [Read more]

Since I left the corporate world, I’ve been having a bit of a time dilemma. When I was working in an office, I had distractions, sure. But those were all within the realm of work. Trying to stay productive here at home is a little different. So my planner and I had a come-to-Jesus meeting on Friday, during which I was reminded of everything that made me successful at managing my time when I was immersed in the whirlwind of producing magazines. Being a good employee, I responded with an outline of how I plan to use it now in my daily freelance life. Biding My Time I invested in this version from AT-A-GLANCE. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of them, and what I like about this version is its dual-purpose space. Each day has one-third... [Read more]