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:

      

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.

I need your votes!

I am applying for a six-month contract as Sam-E’s Good Mood Blogger. Please go to the button in the side column and vote for me before October 23rd. Tell all your friends!

This contract would allow me six months of time to work on my next novel as well as a chance to blog for a company I have patronized for several years now. So tell everyone you know, through email, social networks, standing on the street corner with a sandwich board … any way you want! I need your votes to become the next Good Mood Blogger.

Thank you in advance for spreading the word.

Rosemary

Adding To Your Services

A few weeks ago, a client asked me to create a PowerPoint Presentation. While we discussed what he wanted to include, he made a comment about my voice. He wanted a voiceover for his presentation and said my voice sounded very nice on the phone. Could I record the voiceover for him? Was that too difficult to add to my services, he asked?

“Well, no, Bob, it is not too difficult,” I began. My former career was as a musical theater actor. With my formal vocal training, I was the perfect candidate. I ended up writing the script before recording it, and now I am simply attaching the audio to the presentation. When it is finished, my client will end up getting a great product for a serious bargain. You see because these skills were things I already knew how to do and do well, I was able to offer them to the client at a serious deal. Since there were fewer contractors involved, fewer steps saved a lot of time - and money.

I have spoken about diversifying your writing business before, but have you tried it? Think about the skills you have in your own repertoire. They do not have to be writing skills. Maybe you have a special interest or talent. Can you offer that expertise to a specific market? For example, were you raised on a horse farm or are you restoring a vintage car? Maybe you can write for an auto association or for a magazine devoted to showing horses.

Make a list of all of the things you like to do -or did - in a previous career. In this economic climate, many unemployed workers are reinventing themselves. Why not be one of them? Add to the services you provide as a writer. It never hurts to offer a benefit to your clients while enjoying your day just a little bit more.