In case you haven’t noticed, the new year is just a couple days away. Before you know it, it will be the middle of January and 2011 will be off and running. Now is the time to prepare your freelance writing career for the 12 months to come. If you continue to put this off, part of the year will be gone before you ever get organized.
Here are three ways to prepare for the new year today:
1. Update your business and marketing plan. I have been preaching this for many months, and it is something you must take care of sooner rather than later. This will help shape the months to come, while giving you something to rely on as you move forward.
2. Organize your taxes. Some people wait until April to collect the proper tax documents. Does this sound familiar? This may not appear to be a huge deal, but soon enough you will find that you are spending more time on your taxes than on your writing. In turn, your business is bound to suffer in some way.
3. Stay in touch with current clients to get a better idea of what they need in 2011. In addition to discussing what you have done for them in the past, talk about other services that you offer. This gives you the chance to increase your income without needing to land new clients.
Simple enough, right? These are three things you can do to ready your freelance writing career for the new year.
There is no denying that it can be difficult to find time for work during the busy holiday season. After all, you are going to spend a lot of your time with friends and family. On top of this, there are other “time wasters†such as shopping, sending out Christmas cards, and much more. Even though you may have a lot going on it does not mean you want to totally neglect your work. Instead, you should find a happy medium to ensure that you strike a balance between work and play.
If your regular work schedule does not suit your needs during the holiday season, try to fit in some time at your desk based on the suggestions below:
1. Get up earlier than usual. I know this can be difficult to do, especially if you have kids at home or others that may be disturbed. That being said, if you rise a few hours before everybody else you will be able to get a lot of work done with minimal distractions.
2. Become a night owl. Over the years I have found that working at night is a great way to stay on top of things when my normal schedule gets out of whack. Once everybody is in bed, head for your office. As long as you have enough energy to complete high quality work this is a great idea. Not to mention the fact that working at night often times means you can sleep later in the morning.
3. Set a schedule and make it work. Your career may not be the most important thing to you during the holidays. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can walk away and forget about things until the new year – especially if you are a freelance writer. When time gets tight, set a schedule and then do whatever it takes to stay the course. This may mean changing around some other tasks, but you have to do what you have to do.
The schedule that you work this holiday season is up to you. As long as you get your work done and keep your clients happy you will make it through this busy time of the year unscathed.
For my freelance writing course, December and January are always busy months. There are a couple of reasons for this:
1. I get tons of inquiries from people who want to start a freelance writing career in the new year.
2. Many current members finally find that they are in position to go full-time, and have chosen the new year as the best time to take the leap.
Although I would love to work with everybody who asks to join my course, it would be next to impossible to keep up with my projects while still giving one-on-one attention.
At this time, I have two openings. I am happy to say that both people who discontinued have told me that they will be freelancing full-time come January 2011. I hate to see them go, but glad that I was able to help them reach their goals.
If you want to grab one of these two spots please contact me as soon as possible. As always, they probably won’t last much longer than 24 hours – if that.
With the new year rapidly approaching now is the time to get on track to ensure that 2011 is the best yet!
