Oh where does the time go? I just realized it has been more than one month since I last visited my beloved blog. Not one note, message or post whatsoever during the month of October. What does that tell ya? Okay, I agree. It tells you nothing.
In reality I just finished floating through two of the slowest writing months of the year, and oddly enough managed to earn more money during those two months than any other. Go figure. Being the squeaky wheel does pay off…literally.
These slow months had my mouse searching in all sorts of nooks and crannies that I otherwise would not have ventured into. From all this rummaging and clicking I stumbled upon a new client. How good was that find! Well, it turned out to be wonderful…so far, anyway. They weren’t hiring, nor was there even an ad encouraging such a thing, but I introduced myself all the same – a little pushy perhaps, but hey – and got a great response from, what has turned out to be, an amazing lady.
After a month of e-mail exchanges in between summer holidays and other forms of personal activity, I was eventually asked, quite out of the blue, ‘can you do this – I need it in three days’. I took that to mean I was officially part of the team. The clients and topics are quite diverse, some of which had me jumping for joy. One company in particular was a law firm I wanted to write for.
I did a bang-up job on an article meant for their international clients. The law firm’s immediate response was “this is generally quite good”…which trust me, is a compliment coming from an uptight English law firm. Even though I was awarded the job, I ended up turning it down. There is such a thing as too tightly wound.
My time yesterday was spent writing a set of articles for an affluent travel client who caters to the ‘above average income’ – as they vehemently made a point of stating. In turn, they wanted (expected?) above average material to match. Personally, I think I did a fine job. With articles submitted I am officially at the wait-and-see stage.
This week, aside from my regular clients, I will keep an eye out for a response from a marketing firm based out of New York. They have sent a brief and stated they need material to be written for their upscale clients. What is it lately with all these upscale, uptight and above average clients? This one I’m not so sure about. It has time-consuming written all over it – pay rate not to match – and we’re still trying to agree on the ever-so-important dollar figure.
One thing I’ve learned from freelance writing, especially internationally, is that more times than not the smallest clients are the best. Instead of setting goals for a high-end marketing company or international law firm – which you will inevitably provide ghostwritten material for anyway, so don’t wait around for a marquee with your name on it – your small, ever-so-faithful, consistent clients always know what they want. They are not indecisive, formal or stuffy and they always pay on time. They are clear and precise in their needs, and at the end of the day, that is where I’ve learned my time is often better invested, literally.
. My stats climb (because you can’t go less than zero) as long as I write often. The less I write, the less they come, they less they read. I’d say the less they clang too but again, tough to get less than zero. I get lots if you include spam attempt though.
