If you can’t find a job, CREATE a job!

I always tell my children to do what they love and they will never work a day in their life, but it took me a while to learn this myself. I was a late bloomer. My first career was as an actress, so I studied acting and worked to learn. I did very well, but ended my stage career for my first husband (way too young!). By the time I realized how important a college degree was, I had been working as a professional temporary secretary for a number of years. It was good money, but I hated the work and the fact that I never had a work “home” for more than a few months before I moved to another assignment. So, I returned to college at 26, went through some stuff, and ended up graduating at 33-years-old. ‘Definitely not a moldable young graduate, but I tried my best. Each interview brought me a new opportunity to prove that I could take direction and that I was eager to use my new skills.

My last outside job before I took it all home was working with an organization for freelance writers. After a few months, I realized I was nothing more than a highly-skilled secretary when I really wanted to be doing THAT - what the members were doing. I wanted to write from home. After a few weeks of picking everyone’s brain, without the knowledge of my boss, I quit and became my own boss.

I cannot say this has all been a piece of cake, though. It is a matter of constantly looking for new assignments and new opportunities. When you find them, you have to present yourself as the solution to their problem. After that, it is a matter of doing everything to the best of your ability, making sure you are always producing a product that is better than the next guy. In this case it is the article or book or coaching sessions, or making sure my deadline is days earlier than my editor’s or client’s deadline. I am also very fond of outsourcing what I cannot do well or simply do not enjoy doing.

Lucinda Cross, author of "Corporate Mom Dropouts," says outsourcing is valuable when you think of how much your time is worth. Say you hate creating spreadsheets and resent the time it would take you to learn how to do it well. If you pay someone to create it, you will be able to use your time elsewhere. Besides, you will probably get someone who actually enjoys doing it. While they are doing that, you can do something else, all of which adds value to your business. Besides, your day becomes much more enjoyable if you are doing what you love to do.

When magazines started assigning articles to their in-house staff writers, my business took a hit. So I regrouped and researched what other writers were doing to pay the bills. Since I had always wanted to teach others what I know, I looked into adult education classes and ended up teaching at The Learning Connection in Providence, RI, near where I lived. I eventually extended that to Newport, RI, and in to Connecticut when I moved here. I still write articles, but I also copywrite for websites now, still teach because I love it, and have recently begun some private coaching for clients who want to write their novels or other books.

I want to be more than a one-hit wonder when it comes to publishing my novels, but I still have to pay the bills and make sure my children are taken care of. How I do that is up to me. With a little creativity and a lot of work, it can be done.

My advice is to figure out what you really love and then get good at it if you aren’t already. After that, look for those who need you even if they don’t know it yet. The Learning Connection did not have any writing courses that dealt with the business of being a writer, so I created the class. Many of my students here in Connecticut and online had the skills to write their books, but did not know how to sustain such a long project. In comes me and my assignments and out comes their book, the one that has been churning in their head sometimes for years. All they needed was someone with experience to prod them along toward the finish line.

The main thing to remember is to get good at what you enjoy doing and then go out and find those who need your services. If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.

I suggest the following books to help you take your work home:

Book Swapping

I just discovered a great website. It is called PaperBack Swap. You just list the books you are willing to trade and post the books you want. When someone requests your book, you simply mail it to them. In return, you receive credits toward books which other members then mail to you. The only cost is the postage, but that is reciprocated when someone mails a book to you.

This looks like a great way for those stationed overseas to get current titles on their wish list which you can also create on the site. I posted a copy of the book I wrote. In fact, that's how I discovered this site. My book was listed on someone's wish list. Isn't that great?

If you join, go through this site so I receive book credits. And make sure to post here and let me know you joined. This sounds like a great solution to my pile of books. It's like a global version of my local used book store without the drive.

Enjoy!
 Swap Books for Free - PaperBackSwap.com

West Haven Education in Crisis

West Haven Education in Crisis

Moving URL's

I have moved this blog to Wordpress. Please follow me at

http://CaffeinatedWriter.wordpress.com.

Come visit and let me know your thoughts.

2010 - Bring it!

Wishing Everyone a

Happy & Healthy

2010!

- Rosemary O'Brien

Monetizing My Blogging Efforts

I must be missing something. I have been a blogger for a couple of years now and have yet to make much of a profit. My original blog is, if I do say so myself, a great idea. It’s called Writing Military Mom. I have many readers, I do tons of reading about monetizing my blog, but hardly anyone comments and my affiliate links do not produce cold, hard cash. Caffeinated Writer is my new blog now that I am a former military spouse.

What do I need to do with this thing to produce a decent income? Would anyone like to provide a blog makeover of sorts in exchange for some writing? I could write a press release for your latest product, website copy, or whatever you need. Heck! I can even write a letter to your mother, I don’t care!

While I am waiting for your comments, I am working on my next novel. At least I am almost sure it will produce an income at some point if my reader base is any indication. In the meantime, check out my first novel, First Saturday, listed to the right. If you have already read it, I would love to hear your comments, both good and bad, but be constructive, please. Calling me stupid or trashing my characters without a good reason doesn’t do anything except make me delete your comment.

'Found My Peeps

I love my yearly writer’s conference. When I first attended the ASJA a few years ago, I came home refreshed and full of ideas. “I found my people,” I said to my husband as we walked to the car in the Metro North parking lot. During the those two days in New York, I meet others who are in the same boat, learn new tricks on how to promote myself or use some new form of technology, and usually come away with a connection to a job or an area in which I am interested.

Since I am a busy mommy of two younger boys, I also relish my peaceful nights in the hotel. I book an extra night in order to have a day in the city before the workshops and seminars begin the next day. As luck would have it, my brother lives in NYC, so the evening finds me sitting at a restaurant having a grown up meal with grown up conversation, too. If he is unavailable, that’s fine, too. There are a gazillion museums, shows and even room service if I have walked my feet off by the time dinner rolls around.

No, it is not easy being a freelance writer sometimes, but it can be very rewarding. Do you have a conference you attend no matter what? Which organization do you willingly fork over hundreds to soak in the culture of your peers? While I wait for feedback, I’m off to make my reservations.