Ride the Coworking Wave

This looks like a great idea for freelancers or anyone who works from home. The Bourse is a new coworking space in New Haven. I’m interested in this type of place after learning about their existence sometime last year and visiting one in New York City.

At one of these coworking establishments, you get a place to work, usually free coffee, printing facilities and use of a copy machine, and you can even rent a conference room for meetings. They provide a variety of membership options, too, if you just want to try it out. If you just need to get out and work around other people, it seems like a perfect solution.

I would love to hear from you if you have tried one of these coworking places. Did you meet anyone interesting with whom to collaborate or did your creativity blossom around other entrepreneurial spirits? Let me know.

Please answer the question I asked.

When I ask a question via email, I am as specific as possible. It only makes sense to be specific so you do not waste the reader’s time. By being specific, you cut through the small talk, get to the point, and we can all go back to our regularly scheduled programming. Why is it, then, that most of the responses to my very specific emails give me an answer to a question I am not asking?

For example, by asking if a company hires remote writers after reading a post for on-site writers, I obviously want to know if the same job can be done off-site. I really do not appreciate someone from H.R. responding with a link to the job post that originally begat the emailed question.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually reads their email at work or just scrolls through for the funny stories and pictures from their friend’s weekend or last vacation. I want to be paid for NOT reading my email, too.

I’m just sayin’…

Writers don’t only write!

I laughed when I watched this. Too many writers think when the book is published, it is all over. It’s not! Every author should take advantage of every media outlet available to them. New venues should be explored and tweaked until you can use it to promote your book, then promote it already! You need to blow your own horn for a change. You want eyes on your books? You have to find those eyes and stick the book in front of them, one way or another. Find those ways and you will find your readers.

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.

Leave it to the professionals

Writing is a skill, so why write it yourself? You may have done well in college English, and you can probably write a decent letter, but that doesn’t mean you should write the copy for your website or create the press release to announce your latest project. Hire a professional to get the job done well, on time and in budget. Your boss will love you and you will love yourself if you are the boss!! Give it a try. What do you have to lose beside some aggravation?

Call me for a quote.