What kind of projects do you like?

Do you generally lean toward work/projects that are longer and pay more, or would you rather take several smaller jobs with smaller pay?

Where do you write? How do you swing it?

Today husband and I decided that if I am going to get my two huge projects done before we go on vacation, then I'll need to ge tthe heck outta the house. Despite having a near perfect home office set up, with high speed, two desks, three computers, blah, blah, there is also the little issue of the two kids, three cats, one dog (who all happen to be in love with me right when I sit down to work), not to mention laundry, dishes, to do lists and always yardwork.

I know these things are not new to most freelancers and that you are all nodding your heads.

Anyway, at the end of all this is: I am writing from my good friends BEANERS Coffee mmm mmm. Now, while there is a fair bit of noise and chattering at the local Beaners, none of it is directed at or involves me. Plus theres caffeine. So I'm good.

Where do you write from? Do you need an internet connection, or could you plop down in the middle of the city park and be happy?

"Daily" Feature:

Writing High: Not getting a complete flogging from a client when I admitted I messed up due dates
Writing Low: Talking with Husband about some of the issues I've had lately- 12 hour days, too many simultaneous projects, distractions
Money Out: None today
#Jobs Considered: About 25
#Jobs Applied For: 2
#Jobs Received: 0
#Jobs Lost: 0
What I worked on today: Law document edit
On my to-do list: Finish the edit and move on to retail site content. Plus WRG. Plus hubpages.

What is your dream job?

Since you are here, I assume theres some kind of writing involved (well, unless you are a looky-loo, which is OK!). If you could describe the perfect job, what would it be?



I am an active member of a forum that focuses on working at home moms. I am not fully on board with the WAHM thing, but I do find the writing moms forum there to be an exhasutive resource on writing. Many of the women there desire to stay at home with their children, but bring it "extra" money. They would probably say that WAH is their dream job.



What is yours? Do you have one?

I have struggled with this very question for close to a decade. I honestly have. After having my daughter 7 years ago, I began to consider finishing my BA. I looked into several areas...Education being one of the biggest. I knew then (and fully admit it now) that a teacher can change the world. That's almost a given. Maybe not any teacher, maybe not every teacher, but it sure is possible.

Close to ten years it's taken me to shape my purpose in life. It really has- most of my 20s. And theres been even as much soul searching AFTER I 'finished' my education as before and during.

It always comes back to this:


I want to help others. I don't want to spend my writing talent on helping someone's bottom line. I actually pretty much turned away from a position that offered just that. I had spent hours on their website trying to justify taking the job to myself. But I couldn't.



I want to write. It is my talent, my passion and my life. I am a writer. I have always been a writer.



So I want to write in a way that helps others. That's it. That's the description of my dream job.

Some of my writing with GardenWall does that, and I am happy with it. I like what I do here. I do spend a lot more time helping others bottom lines, but that's not all I do.

It's worth it.

I think that we need to fully explore what we want to do with our lives from the end backwards. I had an epiphany of sorts when my grandmother died in April, at her service. The things they said about her...made me think...What will be said about me? What do I want to be said about me?

Career wise: That I cared for others. That I used my life to help them. That I used and developed the talents I was given.

:(

I fully meant to grow my business. I did not mean, however, to change up my whole life and routines.

I have accepted some positions which are lucrative, but taxing. I feel as if I work 12 hours per day. When I am not working, I am thinking about working. Part of me missed the exact line between Work Hours and Home Hours.

I am tired and I miss my family. And yet, we need my pay.

New Daily Feature:

Want to know how a freelancer gets jobs? Want to know what a WAHM day is like? Want to know how much I spend getting myself out there into the writing world?

This new feature will focus on the daily grind of freelance writing. Things like scrounging and applying for jobs, the realities of freelance writing, and last but not least....money!!!! All the things you really want to ask, but don't.

Most days, I will post the following summary:

Writing High

Writing Low

Money Out

#Jobs Considered

#Jobs Applied For

#Jobs Received

#Jobs Lost

What I worked on today

On my to-do list

Everyone's Favorite Subject....

With Dreams Come Responsibilities

~Langston Hughes

Today I got both Debng's list of freelance jobs and Wednesday's "Morning Coffee" list.

Now, even just two weeks it took me three hours to get through these. I was not very picky about jobs, could not afford to be, and if I could write it, I applied for it...even if it was not necessarily interesting, well paying or...well, etc.

This is not to say that this is a "new job" for me. GardenWall has been around for years, but always part time, always on the side, and always for a few select people. In fact, I can honestly say that the inspiration for GardenWall was all my fellow students at MSU who so desperately needed proofreading!

But, I do admit that GardenWall has grown exponentially in the past couple months. The website got a perk up. I joined the Freelance Writers Union, and several freelancers profile sites. My clips built and built, because, like I said, I accepted just about 90% of the jobs offered to me.

Today, though, I applied for 2 jobs off of Deb's blog and 1 of the Morning Coffee offerings. These are ones that I am truly interested in, know I could fit in my schedule, and know I would not dread.

My point though, other than the great links I've provided today:) , is that the jobs will come.

And you know when they will come? They will come when you put the right amount of effort into getting them. Daily effort. Unique effort. And dedicated effort.

So here's a cliche for any new freelancers or work-at-homers: anything, ever, worth doing is worth doing well!

Cheap Graphics!

I hope you've noticed my new logo, pictured here to the left. Now, I was an English major, and two things that I definitely lack are math and GRAPHICS! But I was able to get this great branding mark, which fully conveys the name of my business, is unique, and is high quality for only 50 bucks!

Pretty good, right? Interested?

First and foremost, I highly recommend this designer. His name is Steve Butler and he is out of the U.K. (steve.j.butler@ntlworld.com). He was so easy to work with, seemed to read my mind, and even educated me a bit on graphic use and lingo.

But, more generally, how do you get anything you need for your business without expending dollars that you just don't have? The answer is BIDDING SITES!

Think eBay, but for services as opposed to goods. "Providers" compete to get your business by submitting cost bids, showing portfolios and sending you PMB's (basically just private messages).

You can find incredible providers like Brian in the graphics areas, or reliable writers like me and my associates in the writing areas! I have got a whole heck of a lot of jobs from www.ifreelance.com and www.getafreelancer.com.

So next time you need a job done that you can't do yourself, be sure to check out a bidding site like these. Unless you need writing work done- then just contact me!

How To Budget on Freelance Earnings

It's easy to start a budget when the same amount of money rolls in every month. Just minus expenses from this number, stick to it, and there you have it!

But what do freelancers do, given the proverbial "feast or famine" nature of monthly earnings?

One possibility is to base your numbers on percentages instead of hard amounts. If you have an outline of a budget, this is very easy. Instead of committing $100 to gas out of a paycheck of $1000, commit 10%.

Here's what this would look like:

BEFORE:
Income: $1000
Mortgage: -500
Gas: -100
Utilities: -300
Spending: -100

AFTER:
Income: 100%
Mortgage: -50%
Gas: -10%
Utilities: -30%
Spending: -10%

Of course, I fully admit this is very idealistic, and assumes that there is a second income in the family. But it's what I've thought of so far.... So how do you manage your earnings?

Welcome to the Garden

GardenWall Publications is all about sharing information through the printed word. "Printed" today means something much more (in quantity and quality) than it did years ago, and true to that, 90% of GardenWall clients are virtual.

So let's share some information! You are more than welcome here if you are a friend, family member, freelancer, writer, home worker, telecommuter, editor, cleint, or if you just want to be one of the above... Either way welcome to the Garden! Let's get writing.