Beyond Words

It’s been one of those days when I’m not sure I can say I’ve been productive or not? When I woke up at 6 AM, there was an email from a prospective client that brought me fully awake. (yes, I keep my iPhone by the bed).  Client wrote to say that he liked my style but my price was a little over his budget, would I negotiate?  I replied pretty quickly to say yes and now I’m waiting. This could be a ploy to get me to drop my rates or it could be genuine interest. We’ll see.

After a few cups of coffee I wrote two articles on marketing and social media for a client. Next is the slightly less clear part of my day. I started the internet browse, mixed with some emailing , mingled with some job searching. I applied for a few jobs and read up on mobile marketing for a client.  Now it’s 2 PM and I’ve only completed two paid assignments. I’ve written my blogs, but that doesn’t count. Or does it?

Most freelancers or bloggers will admit to cruising the internet, looking at tweets to see what’s up, sorting through email, following links across the globe. It’s hard to define what is Work and what’s work. Without a direct click to dollar connection who’s to say? But, I think most of us agree that the background work is vital.

Here’s what I think I ‘got’ today that counts towards my ultimate goal of earning money as a freelancer:

• Mobile marketing research for Client A (paid article) can be repitched and written with new slant for Client B.
• The job search brought a few prospects and ideas for new sites to search for relevant jobs.
• I wrote a current client and pitched an idea- we’re working on scheduling for next month.
• While searching, I added links to some of my published work to my resume-updating my stuff.
• One job I researched had great ideas for marketing which I will remember for my next presentation to nonprofits.
• I cleared out some of the ‘dead’ mail in my gmail account and feel more on top of what’s unread
• During the clearing, I visited a few blogs, and left some good comments-hopefully adding value and providing a way for people to come back and find my blogs
• I took a link to one of my recently published articles and sent it out to a few people. It’s an article I wrote for ThirdAge.com which was picked up by Yahoo’s Shine. I’m pretty pumped about that one. Go read!!
• I feel pretty psyched about the job possibilities and energized.

I also had lunch, played and won 2 games of Spider Solitaire and had a good chat with a friend. All in all, the day has been a  perfect balance of work and play. The promotion, job application and research is a crucial part of any self-employed person’s job… there is a constant need to keep looking for jobs. We can slack off when it’s busy and pump up the search in leaner periods. If I don’t promote myself and network with other writers I’m not going to achieve my goals with the intensity I need. So, I have to remind myself that what I’m doing is absolutely necessary. Like putting a few dollars in the bank, hopefully I’ll earn back something from my investments.

Now, I’m off to the gym where I’ll think about an upcoming guest post and return home to write that guest post and another one I’ll query out to a few bloggers. I already know of 2 who might be interested. And, now as I review what I’ve written here, the process of synthesizing it in one big list helps me see that I’ve had a very productive day. It’s important to do this every now and then, like a congratulatory pat on the back. Atta Girl!