One of the biggest benefits of being self-employed is the freedom that it offers. This means the freedom to wake up when you want, quit when you want, and oversee every last detail of your business. But at the same time, the biggest drawback of being self-employed is exactly the same. With so much leeway in what you can do, wasting time is something that every self-employed worker has to deal with.
Keep this in mind: even if you are self-employed it does not mean that you can slack off. In fact, the exact opposite is true. If you slack off you are not going to get paid. This is not the way that it works if you are employed by a company. You may get fired sooner or later for being a bit lazy, but until then, the paychecks will continue to roll in.
It is easier today than ever before to waste time during the workday. You can thank the internet for this. With so many distractions looming around every corner of the net, you could easily get off track and spend hours on end reading, gawking, and searching for useless information.
The way that I avoid wasting time is quite simple. Every night before I shut my computer down, I write out a list of what I have to get done the next day. When I wake up, I look at this again and devise a plan for working through the tasks. If I am lucky enough to complete them early, I will then allow myself a few minutes to scour the internet for information that is not related to work. This is more or less a reward that I give myself for working hard to complete my tasks list.
But even then, this is easier said than done. Yesterday, despite having a list of 15 things to do, I found myself searching the internet for information on dogs. I am interested in buying a dog, so of course, it was on my mind yesterday morning. Before I knew it, 15 minutes went by and I was still staring at pictures and reading about buying a new puppy. At that moment, even though I was having fun, I had to pull myself back to work. I bookmarked the page I was reading, and then made a promise that I would finish it after my work was done.
Although the internet may be the biggest way to waste time, if you work from home, you will be faced with even more distractions. This includes everything from television to radio to playing with your kids.
If you want to be successful as a self-employed worker, you need to learn how to resist temptation. Make a list, work through your tasks, and then reward yourself!
For most freelance writers, obtaining new clients is the lifeblood of their business. If you are capable of securing new work on a regular basis, you are going to succeed. Of course, you will also want to work hard at keeping the clients you currently work for. After all, recurring business is the best kind.
I have been lucky enough to secure some pretty big contracts over the years, but one of them sticks out head and shoulders above the rest. About 15 months ago I came across an ad on one of the many freelance writing job boards that I check every morning. From what I can remember, the ad was actually posted on several different boards including the one at journalismjobs.com.
The job description was simple and to the point. They were looking for somebody who could write approximately 500 words per day on real estate. Being that I had experience with this type of content in the past, I fired off a quick note with some samples and my resume attached. Not expecting to hear anything back for a few days at the least, I began to move on to the rest of my work. But much to my surprise, within five minutes, I received a call from the company that I had just emailed. They liked what they saw, offered me the job, and gave me some basic details on getting started.
But while all this was going on, I was still wondering about one very important detail. What was the pay for this job? The ad did not mention the rate, and the client had yet to say anything. Right then, he said to me, “What is your going rate for a job like this?†I quickly responded that I would be glad to help at $.10/word. He said great, I said awesome, and that was that.
Each month, like clockwork, I receive $1,000 or so from this client. I always wonder how I got so lucky as to secure this client. It is obvious that the hiring individual was reading emails at that time, and mine happened to roll in. Talk about great timing!
Wouldn’t it be easy if every contract was this simple to secure? These are the ones that every freelance writer dreams about, but of course, the ones that are most difficult to capture!
As you continue to grow your blog, you will hopefully begin to receive comments on each post that you make. After all, what would a blog be if you were not getting other people involved? Everyday I read five to ten blogs, and some of them have in upwards of 100 comments on each post. Of course, this is not a goal that you will be able to reach in a few days, but definitely something to strive for in the long run.
Another great thing about comments is that you can make a lot of acquaintances this way. Although my blog has only been around for a month or so, I have come to take notice that those who comment really know what they are talking about.
You may have noticed that Danielle from http://www.msdanielle.com/ will leave insightful comments from time to time. And of course, I do my best to head over to her blog and do the same. Her content is quite similar to mine, and this alone has gone a long way in helping me to expand and develop my blog.
Another person who makes regular comments on this blog is V. Neely from http://nutshelljournal.com/. Once again, the depth and nature of her comments are always welcome, and have gone a long way in getting some good conversations started. If you are looking for information on blogging and website development, her blog is a good place to start.
Now can you see why comments are so important to blogs? It is always nice to have people respond to your posts, and anytime you get the chance, you should take the time to return the favor. Remember, blogging would not be the same if your readers were not taking the time to interact with you!Â
