Can you believe it’s November already?!  I know, I’m showing my age by saying something like that but wowza how time flies!

This month I’ve been reading Women and Money by Suze Orman.  I like her no holds barred opinions and advice because it comes from a place of knowledge and compassion.  She’s not condescending nor patronizing - I find that many financial writers are both.  I also like that she has an abundance of steps, tips, and resources for those who want to take more control over their finances.  Her style isn’t for everyone however as a writer I can appreciate the format, structure, and tone of her content.  Good stuff!

I’m also reading, or rather listening to, Joe Vitale’s Awakening Course.  Not sure where I fall in the believability scale on this type of information but I do know that it energizes me and it’s always good to hear and pay attention to other perspectives, approaches, and philosophies.  Keeping an open mind.

Other than that the only other books on my bookshelf are books to read for Romantic Times.  It seems February is a huge month for romance releases - go figure!  So I have a ton of reading, and reviewing, to do this month.  Looking forward to every minute of it.

So…what are you reading?

For those of you who’ve been freelancing for quite some time you’ve likely gone through the stages - much like a teenager growing into adulthood.

Here they are as I see them:

Stage 1 - Elementary school - completely thrilled with any client that comes your way and willing to do whatever it takes to please them.

Stage 2 - Junior high - my clients are stupid, they don’t know what they’re talking about and while I still REALLY want to please them, I”m not going to be happy about it.

Stage 3 - High school - maybe I don’t need to please everyone.  Perhaps it’s better to please the clients whom I work well with and let the other ones find a more compatible service provider.  Though - I’m still likely to make some mistakes and work with clients who make me react like I’m in Junior High.

Stage 4 - Adulthood - You can’t please everyone every time and though I’m going to put 100% of myself into my work, I’m not going to let the difficult clients get to me.  I’m doing my very best, I’m professional and reasonable and ‘this too will pass.’

I’ve been at stage 4 for years and thought I was handling my business in a very ‘adult’ manner.  I have a wonderful client list and a fantastic support team.  However, I realized last night after a week of tremendous ups and downs that I’m tired of the seesaw.  The difficult projects still get to me though only for a few minutes however, the ups are just as exhausting.

Stage 5…In order to achieve a sense of inner calm and contentment in our daily lives, the good has to have the same limited effect on you as the bad.  You can’t stay on a high for three days becasue a client loves your  work just like you can’t stay on a down for any lenght of time becasue you missed the mark with a project.  The final stage in freelancing is - enlightenment.

It’s the stage where you’re happy to be working, loving what you do for a living and at the same time not letting the ups and downs that the freelancing life has to offer affect you or how you do your job.  It’s a tough stage, each day offers new challenges.  Each day presents opportunities to pat yourself on the back and each day offers the potential for a dissatisfied client.  The key to remember is that each day offers us the opportunity to control our reactions to both situations - to remain calm and to not let others affect our disposition, our level of contentment.

Of all the stages this one, I’m assuming it’s the final stage, offers the most challenge and the most reward.

What freelancing stage are you in?  How do you remain unaffected by both the ups and downs of not just freelancing but owning a business?

Lately it seems that my entire life evolves around getting work completed for clients.  It’s a good thing, it means business is at maximum capacity.  However at maximum capacity it leaves little time for actually planning and growing the business and it leaves little time for self improvement - and let’s face it, we could all use a little improvement!

I took some very bold steps, bold for me anyway, and hired a handful of new writers in anticipation of a heavier work load.  I took some steps to create a heavier work load too.  For me it took a leap of faith, it took letting go of a scarcity mindset - the what happens if there isn’t enough work to pay the bills - to having faith that the business is growing and the steps taken will help it continue to grow despite the current economic mindset.  (I’m actually very excited about the future it just took one of those leaps of faith)

Now as the business grows and the clients become more and more sophisticated, it’s important that my skills not only keep up but that they improve.  Therefore, I’ve committed to attending at least one seminar, workshop or conference a month.  Pretty hefty commitment, right?  Actually, many of the courses are offered online so it’s actually pretty easy to schedule.

My first workshop happens to be a fiction writing workshop through a RWA chapter called Passionate Ink - it’s an online chapter which focuses on erotic romance.  No, it’s not a class on how to write better sex scenes, though that might be fun, it’s actually a class on characterization and plot.  It’s taught by R.E. Matheson and I have to say after day one - I’m impressed.  I’m glad I’ve taken this class and that I’ve made the commitment to one workshop a month.

Believe it or not, this class will also apply to the non-fiction content writing because storytelling is a very important part of content.  I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned to my next article project!

Here’s a list of great sites for writing workshops, seminars and conferences.  I’ve left out some of the obvious ones like Shaw Guides, Gotham, and Writers Digest because…they’re obvious:-)

• http://www.coffeehouseforwriters.com/courses.html
• http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html
• http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/retail/courses.aspx?r=little-red-writing-workshop
• http://www.writingclasses.com/CourseDescriptionPages/GenrePages.php/ClassGenreCode/AR
• http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/online/writing/
• http://writingtrainers.com/index.html
• http://www.writers.com/classes.html
• http://www.absoluteclasses.com/Katz/short_stuff.htm

Happy Writing!

It’s been a good PR week. I received a tip, yes an actual tip, from a client who loved the content I delivered. Said it was “exactly what he was looking for.” Love it when I hear those magic words!

I also received a huge plug for my business AllCustomContent.com which is essentially a ghostwriting service specializing in web content. Jack Humphrey interviewed Michel Fortin for his Webside Chat podcast. Michel Fortin, for those of you who may be unfamiliar, is a copywriting expert with a blog that has over 24,000 subscribers.

I’m proud and delighted to say that Michel mentioned AllCustomContent several times during his interview. You can hear the podcast here

http://www.jackhumphrey.com/fridaytrafficreport/webside-chats/webside-chat-with-michel-fortin/

There’s nothing better than happy clients and celebrity endorsements!

All in all, it’s been a great week!

The folks over at DailyWritingTips.com offer some great tips for minimizing distractions while you’re writing, you can read the post DailyWritingTips.com offer some great tips for minimizing distractions while you’re writing, you can read the post here

I’d like to offer one more tip to their list. Set a timer. Yep, set a timer. It’s very easy to get caught up on a sentence, mired by a paragraph, or bogged down with plot, main point, headline etc… However when you set a timer and a goal to reach in that set amount of time, you don’t have time to ponder whether the word whisper or hissed is the best word. You simply write.

So now a few questions may have come to mind. How long do you set the timer for? What types of goals do you set? What happens if mad, frantic writing results in pages of material for the recycle bin? Let’s address them independently.

How long do you set the timer? If you’re very motivated to finish your project, 5 minutes. Hate to be rushed and feel anxious when you have time hanging over your head then set it for 10 or 15 minutes. Really. Find a timer which repeats automatically so you hear it go off every 5, 10, or 15 minutes without having to reset it. I use a cute little pink IronMan Triathlon Timex watch.

What goals do you set for yourself during that writing time? Again, a page every 5 minutes if you’re motivated. 1 page every 10 or 15 minutes if you’re anxiety prone. Don’t like those goals, set your own. How much do you want to accomplish in your given amount of time? For example if you want to write a 20 page report, five minutes a page is 100 minutes, right? A little more than an hour and a half. How much time do you have? If you’ve given yourself the day to complete the report then you have 4 hours to write it and 4 hours to edit and polish it. 4 hours is 240 minutes. I think that’s 12 minutes per page. So there you go, set your timer for 12 minutes.

The final question…what if after this speed writing exercise you end up with junk? You won’t. When you’re writing under pressure quite often your thoughts flow onto the paper very well. The rough parts? Well you’ll fix them when you edit and polish. Even if you’d taken a full hour to write that single page you’d still need to edit and polish it.

So how does a timer minimize distractions? When you’re on the clock trying to meet your own personal and hopefully challenging deadlines, nothing else matters. You won’t have time to think about the laundry, what’s in the refrigerator, that new social networking site you’ve joined or calling or emailing your friends. The only thing you’ll be able to think about is the words flowing from your clever and creative mind onto the paper.

Happy writing!