Organizing the Assignments

Being a freelancer means being your own boss.

And that translates into constant self-discipline to work as if someone is standing at your right elbow shouting, "Deadline was 5 minutes ago!"

The problem is that there are some mornings where there are so many pieces of things to do that it's hard to get started with just one. This is one such morning for me.

Now I don't know if you've ever taken a Myers Briggs personality test, but in one of the categories, I consistently score 100 percent as a "J," or "Judging." Basically, that means I live a structured and decided lifestyle. I'm a planner to the nth degree.

So on a morning like today, I put my J skills in action. Here's how I tackled the mountain of tasks. It's a very simple solution for you, too:

Get out a blank piece of white paper and a black Sharpie. Why use a magic marker rather than an ink pen? I find that if I write my tasks in thick, black ink, my mind snaps to attention. The larger letters command my action.

Now draw two vertical lines down the paper and two horizontal lines across. This should give you boxes in which to write.

In each box, write and underline the name of a task. In my case, three of my boxes had titles of three different stories I'm working on. One box was for personal errands. One box was for correspondence with current editors. One box was for business development.

In the boxes with the story titles, I listed what had to be done for each story. Which sources do I still need to contact? Which line of research still needs to be unearthed? Which one has a pending interview? And what time will I start writing each one?

The box for personal errands lists things I have to do this afternoon that have nothing to do with work.

The box for correspondence with editors included a list of phone calls and emails for pitch follow-ups, story planning sessions and other housekeeping matters, i.e., checking on when I can expect my money for work completed.

And the box for business development? My list includes time to work on my book project, time to redesign my business Web site and time to research new companies to pitch.

As you can see, no wonder I had such a mental block when it came time to diving into my Monday morning! The list was enormous! But by dividing these tasks up in categories and looking at them on this sheet of paper in capital letters written with a fat Sharpie, I'm now focused and ready, and I've already crossed several things off the list.

Which brings up my last point .... When you complete a task, cross it off. I don't know why this psychologically helps me, but doing so gives me a boost of energy because of a sense of self-accomplishment. I have more drive then to tackle the rest of the items.

Will I get to all of them in one day?

Certainly not.

But the list will stay in front of me all week, and by Friday, I'll feel like I've earned the downtime I will so richly reserve.

You will, too! Try it!

Why I Ponder the 4th of July on the Last Week of December

We have a light snowy dusting among the grass blades and a roaring fire on this blustery December day.

But I'm not thinking about the hot chocolate or the mittens and boots ...

.... I'm contemplating fireworks safety, best ways to quench a dying thirst on a humid summer's day and Fourth of July cookout recipes.

Why????

Well, because in the world of freelance writing, you never live in the present when it comes to pitching ideas. Magazines are on an entirely different schedule than the rest of the world. While you're sipping egg nog in the muted light of a Christmas tree, your potential editors are already thinking ahead to the layout for the St. Patrick's Day issue -- maybe even planning for Passover or Easter spreads, too.

That's why, to stay ahead of your competition, you need to think even further ahead than that.

This doesn't just apply to stories about recipes and crafts. Spin it out and think outside the box. In October, I was thinking about tax planning stories for my Realtor magazines. In December, I think about pieces for the summer tourist season for magazines that reach small business owners in resort areas. In January, I move to pitching ideas on successful job hunting for magazines that college graduates will be reading in June. By April, I'm churning back-to-school coping stories for my military magazines, because their families may have moved to a new geographic location, and they need help adjusting.

As you can see, to beat your competition and always guarantee an assignment, you don't focus on the obvious, like pitching a story in May on the best ways to set a Thanksgiving table. (Although, hey! That's a good idea, too!) You can always send those ideas, but unless you're a regular contributor to that publication, chances are they've already been assigned to one of the writers with which the editors are already familiar.

Don't sit around and complain that competition is too stiff, or the economy is bad, or that your queries keep hitting the slush pile. Just think ahead .... by about five to six months .... and then think outside the box.

Plan your July work this week, and in July, get back to me about how much money you're making.

End of Year Pitches

December: The month when we all stop for a full week to hit holiday parties and exchange gifts and eat lots and lots of cookies .....

Or do we?

If you're trying to run a freelance writing business, this month is your prime opportunity to line up work for the coming year so that you're not scrambling month to month.

Don't know where to start? That's okay, I'm here to help. Here's what I do:

1) Make a list of all of your current clients. Check out their calendars for the coming year and for any themes that will be prevalent in each monthly issue. Contact them and find out if they will entertain a list of story ideas from you.

2) When you hear back from each client (who will always say, "Yes! Send us ideas!"), work on a list of 10-12 topics. This usually takes me about eight hours to research, but if I net just one or two assignments for specific months, I'm able to schedule that and know with certainty that it's money in the bank. It's not wasted time if it results in a $1,000-$2,000 assignment, is it?

3) After you've nailed work with current clients, now research new markets. Make sure your Web site is current (in this case, I'm revamping mine this year), and go through the same process that you did with the current clients. Look at each publication's editorial calendar. Send an email to each magazine asking if they'll accept pitches. When you hear back from each one, research topics based on the calendar and send 10-12 story ideas.

This may sound like it's time-consuming, but think of it this way: If you handle this during December every night for just one hour after you sign a few Christmas cards, you'll start seeing results.

Get the work on the calendar before the year begins.

As the snow begins falling, you'll watch the assignments snowball.

Heidi and the Terrible Horrible No Good Rotten Day

I'm a freelancer, but I'm also a single mom, which means that we love the "new bedtime story classics," like "Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Rotten Day." This little book has been one of our favorites for bed-time reading.

Today, I'm substituting Alexander's name for mine, because quite frankly, I think I've earned it.

Ever wonder what a freelance writer's life is like on the home front? No, we don't spend the entire day in fuzzy pink slippers and Mickey Mouse T-shirts from Disney World, although I wish today I'd just stayed clad in that getup with my head under a pillow.

It all started with a little plastic toy named Chop Chop the Monkey. Before I could swig down a gulp of Moroccan green mint tea, my kiddo had demolished my room.

"WHAT are you doing?"

"I've lost Chop Chop, and I figured it must be in your bed," he said in a pile of disheveled down.

"Why ever would Chop Chop be in MY bed?"

"Oh, here he is!" and the little monster grabbed his monkey and went tearing off.

Now that wouldn't be so bad, but then I went into what I call "prep time" for one of my magazine interviews. If you're a writer, you'll understand this crucial time before you chat someone up for the pertinent details of their life and times. I researched the interviewee and assembled interview questions, all to the background sound of the kiddo singing a loud and off-key rendition of, "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" while he was doing God-knows-what in the bathroom .... and I had three minutes to go before I made my phone call ... when all of a sudden ....

"UH OH!"

The bathroom door SLAMS, and I hear the linen closet door open with many mumblings of, "I gotta take care of this before she sees it!" .... and of course, you have guessed that it was a case of too much paper in the porcelain throne with a nice flood of lovely items strewn across the floor ....

But NOW it was time for my interview .... so I commanded the little stinker to wash his hands and pull up Phineas and Ferb on the Internet while I called the poor soul two minutes late.

After the interview (yes, I pulled it off), I scoured the bathroom with rubber-gloved hands and Clorox, unclogged the offending toilet, threw towels in the laundry .... when I heard ...

CRASH!

.... only to peek into the room of the child who obviously was raised by wolves and had been dropped off at my doorstep ....

And if you're a parent, you know Legos, right? Well do you know about ultra tiny Legos, the ones that are so tiny that they're about the size of the top of your pinky finger?

Those.

Those were strewn in the nooks and crannies of the carpet divots, along the sides of the walls ....  and mingled with ... you guessed it ... popcorn kernels.

Apparently, this child popped himself a bag of buttery movie-style Orville Redenbacher while I was on the magazine interview and somehow the thing imploded along with the tiny Lego pieces delivered on Christmas Day from a sadistic relative.

We spent 45 minutes cleaning the room. Yes. It took 45 minutes.

I returned to my laptop to see that a response had come in for an interview request with another magazine.

What met my eyes pretty much was the cherry on the sundae, the pinnacle of Everest, the spindle of the Eiffel and the speed of the Concorde to this lovely day ...

"We want to participate in the interview, but just send us the interview questions and we'll write the story ourselves."

We'll write the story ourselves?

For one red-hot second, I forgot my laptop wasn't a pillow and almost threw it against the wall, because never in my 22 years of writing for a living has anyone said anything remotely like that to me.

As a freelancer, you have a choice at that point. You can get huffy and insult the intelligence quotient of the PR person who obviously just completed 3rd grade and moved right into the job "representing" their client ... or do what I did: Let the editor handle it.

In my newsroom days, we would've laughed in the person's face and used EXTREMELY COLORFUL language to tell them exactly what we thought of that little idea. But as a freelancer and single mom who has to keep a roof over my child's head and food on the table, these battles are not mine to fight.

I politely gave the person the editor's phone number and took out my frustration (which by now had reached Vesuvius-exploding levels) .... on my house. I walked around with Clorox for the next 30 minutes and scoured every surface .... took a deep breath, prepared my child's lunch and decided that after we'd eaten, I'd dive back into part 2 of my day, which involves more magazine interviews and story research for a second and third magazine, respectively.

Just as I was stepping out of the kitchen with a prepared plate of food, the little urchin comes tearing around the corner.

"I have to dig into the trash outside!"

Dead silence.

"Why?"

"I threw Chop Chop away when we were picking up the Legos and the popcorn."

Yeah.

And on that note, I hope your day is going splendidly.

Sources Who Make the Cut

OK, so there is no real easy way to explain to PR professionals why some of your sources make the cut for a story and others don't.


But I had a scenario arise this week with a story I was doing on a tight deadline. The course of events are a perfect illustration as to how these particular people made the final cut into the piece.

First of all, let me say that I almost always (always!) only quote three people in the average story of about 1,000 words. That's been the rule of thumb during my 22 years in the business.

Now let me show you how that played out this week:


I've used a resource for about a dozen years called Profnet. If you're unfamiliar with it, Profnet allows journalists to post online the particulars of a story they've been assigned and who they would like to interview for the story. I've used it since I worked for The Associated Press in the late 1990s, and as a freelancer, it is my first go-to place when I need to quote people from around the nation who I otherwise would never encounter.


So on Tuesday, I put up a Profnet request for one of my stories, which is due this coming Sunday (in the next 2 days).


And just like in the past, the responses came flooding. Within about three hours, I had a list of about 10 sources from which to choose. 

If I'd been working for AP and had a deadline of "five minutes ago," I would have taken the first responders. As this was a magazine story with more flexibility on time, I could carve through the list at my leisure and choose the best options.

Now some people respond to Profnet with a very long email that lists their qualifications. Others respond by specifically addressing the story topic and citing statistics or data that pertain to it. (Those are usually my first choices.) And others don't need to go that far. For example, if one of my responders is a well-known politician, author or celebrity, they are an automatic "yes." Sorry to be blunt about it, but the big names carry a lot of weight and credibility and interest with my readers.

I have 1,000 words of copy to write, and my editors are strict that I keep story length. But everyone who responded looked great for this topic, so I chose five sources.

Now we come to a crucial juncture, because not all of those sources are still going to be in the story. Do you know who gets in?

Those who make it into the story are those who set up the interview immediately and then actually are there when I call them on the phone.

It's as simple as that. Line up the interview asap and then be ready to take the call.

You'd think that every person would make it.

But they don't.

And you'd think that each person who stands me up and calls me later will still get in.

But they don't. (Unless they're a celebrity, they don't.) 


The reason is simple.


My time is valuable.


Yes, I'm a freelancer, and as such, you might think my time is flexible. It's not. I freelance for a reason -- to be able to aptly balance my work life and personal life. If I say to someone, "I have five interviews on Monday, but I can get you in at 2:30 and have a hard stop at 3 p.m. to meet my child's school bus," that's what I mean. I make no apologies for mentioning the school bus. Some people may say that's unprofessional, but I'm an open individual and want others to understand where I'm available and where I'm not and why I'm not. If the interviewee stands me up and calls at 3:20 p.m. when I'm now engaged with doing homework with my child? Too bad.


The reason I can adopt this flippant attitude goes back to what I said earlier. Let's rewind it, shall we? .............. I had 10 people respond to the Profnet and selected five. Five are too many for 1,000 words. If you stand me up, you might be doing me a favor (unless you're a celebrity). If you stand me up and I still need a source, guess what? There are five more people in the wings who didn't make the first cut who are ready to be quoted in your place.


So now, I'm writing my story.

And do you know how many people are in it?

Three.

One stood me up. One didn't get back to me quickly enough. I only have enough copy room for three, anyway. 

One last thing. You may wonder, "What would you have done if all 5 had been available as promised?" Sometimes that happens. But there are always at least two of them who have their own agenda and don't want to play along with the story angle assigned by the editor. Always.

And they get chucked.

I always end up with three.

And now if you'll kindly excuse me, I have a story to write.

The Low-Hanging Fruit

I've been freelancing full-time coming up on 11 years now, and I constantly get the question, "How did you survive the Recession?"

I'm going to share a secret with my fellow freelancers, one that I've mostly kept to myself. But for those of you who are serious about entrepreneurship, it bears repeating:

Go for the low-hanging fruit.

What do I mean by that?

Simply this: You'll never see my byline in magazines like Good Housekeeping or Glamour. The reason is very strategic -- the magazines you pick up in the supermarket are the magazines that everyone pitches for work. They're the first places writers will go for assignments.

Do you realize how many queries those editors get per day? You might as well throw a stone at the Empire State Building, hoping it reaches the observation deck.

Now I'm not saying it can't be done, and if you have successfully pitched those magazines and landed an assignment, my hat is off to you. But if you want to make a living at this -- if you want to pay your electric bill and feed your children -- don't even bother with the highly-competitive glossies.

Go for the low-hanging fruit.

There are scores of magazines out there that may not get national recognition but still do stand-up journalistic work and make you proud that your byline is included in them.

Visit www.writersmarket.com. They have an extensive database of every single trade magazine imagined, on every continent, in numerous languages. Spend a week researching markets you'd like to hit. Then look for the magazines that none of your colleagues are considering and pitch them. Writersmarket.com only charges about $6 per month for this exhaustive service, but I sincerely doubt that most would-be freelancers give it a second thought.

I had to come to a difficult realization 11 years ago: The chances that I'd land a byline in one of the large supermarket magazines were slim. I analyzed why this made me upset, and you know what the bottom line was? My emotions about this were not tied to money, but were solely affected by whether someone at that magazine thought I was good enough to print. It was all about my ego.

I examined my body of work, and I came to the realization that I'm good. Really good. I don't need a New York City editor or a 28-year-old hot shot to give their approval. I know that my work is quality-driven, that I'm honest, that I'm creative, that I'm thorough and that I'm objective. A byline in one of those magazines is just fuel for my ego.

When I was able to reconcile that one little fact, hitting the trade magazines no longer seemed unpalatable.

And you know what?

I started grabbing one assignment after another, and my business made it through one tough Recession, despite the fact that many talented journalists were being laid off and were flooding my freelance market.

Go for the low-hanging fruit.

I promise you -- your ego will not suffer, and your business will do just fine.

Bread-and-Butter Writing vs. Bliss Writing

Writers often bemoan that they can't get paid to do the type of writing they love to do.

So I have a solution.

Do both.

I call this, "Bread-and-Butter Writing vs. Bliss Writing."

Here's how it works for me: I write for trade magazines. Those stories are my "Bread-and-Butter Writing." Sometimes, the topics I'm covering are less than interesting to the average bear. And that puts the onus on me to make them sparkle as much as possible.

How do I do it?

I do it with my "Bliss Writing."

Besides this blog, I have two others that focus on my Christian faith. In those, I do the research and writing that I love to do. I don't get paid for these blogs, mostly because I feel that if I'm sharing my faith or information about God, I shouldn't make people pay for that.

In addition, I'm working on a novel. Research for that will require travel to Turkey. While I'm researching the novel and studying the Turkish language, I'm also coming up with story lines and the way in which I want to spin my tale.

Now suppose I'm in the middle of a HORRIBLE Bread-and-Butter assignment. I mean, mind-numbing awful. You know the types of stories I'm talking about, right?

Even if I'm on a deadline, I will take a break from my suffering with my Bliss Writing. I'll head over to one of my blogs, or I'll dig up some more novel research. You may think that this takes away valuable time from the matter at hand. But it actually has an opposite effect.

When I focus on the writing I love to do, something happens creatively with me. Truthfully, I don't know if anyone has done a scientific study of this (and if they haven't, they should). But when I dive into the creative story ... suddenly the Bread-and-Butter story takes shape in my mind. Suddenly, I have my lead, my focus, my structure. Suddenly, the words just FLY.

Does it matter that I get paid for my Bliss Writing? I won't lie -- I would love to see my novel published and on book shelves in Barnes & Noble. But life is short! Why not dig into what I love while I also use that same skill to make my livelihood?

We'd all love to write the things we love to write AND get paid for them. But if you want a life where ... say ... you make enough money to travel to Turkey to interview people and research a novel in archaeological digs for a splendorous work of art ... then take the Bread-and-Butter assignments.

Be grateful for them.

And then let your Bliss Writing fuel your Muse. Because I guarantee you, that Muse WILL awaken. The Bread-and-Butter Writing will no longer seem a chore ... but actually, you might be surprised when it transforms into Bliss.

The Power of Positive People on Your Freelancing Business

During the past couple of days, I've been engaging in an online freelance writers' forum. The person who posted the discussion topic was frustrated with people who would write for a nickel a word.

What poured out from that was a deluge of negativity. People discussed how the economy had affected their ability to land assignments paying a decent wage.

I was surprised by the responses. I've been freelancing solo for 10 years (June is my decade anniversary). I've never been without clients, and I've never worked for anyone who paid me the pittance that was described in that writers' forum.

As I reflected on this last night, I realized the reason I've succeeded:

From the get-go, I surrounded myself with positive people.

These people were writers, journalists, editors ... but they also were friends who were solo entrepreneurs. One is a public speaker, for example. (Denise Ryan of Firestar speaking is a dynamo! To see what I'm talking about, check out her positive site at www.firestarspeaking.com)

And, I made a habit in those early days of attending a local coffee group of entrepreneurs. We were all in different businesses -- from real estate to masseuse professionals. But we all had one thing in common. We were positive that our efforts would succeed. We shared tips on how we grabbed the cream of the customers, while our competition lagged behind with the dregs.

Those people infused me with so much energy and optimism! Back then, I think I realized something without even knowing it -- that successful people will always see the gold in the clouds, while everyone else sees the rain.

Yes, we are in a dire economic period.

But let me tell you some of the things I've survived during the past decade:

Three months after I launched my business, the Twin Towers fell. Talk about a bad time to start!

My former husband was sent to war 3 times.

I had a horrific pregnancy in which I was told 4 times that my child was dead. (He was born healthy.) And 3 weeks after a C-section, I bid adieu to my husband as he crossed the sea to Iraq for several months.

I've gone through four moves since I started my business.

I've had five surgeries in a 7-year period.

Last year, I had to leave my marriage ... for reasons I really can't state here. Suffice it to say, the past 12 months have been nothing short of hell.

OK ... the reason I tell you all of this:

I have never gone for one month without business.

I have the best editors in the world.

I have the best paying-people in the world.

I am surrounded by kind, positive and compassionate professionals.

I talk to people globally for my stories.

I'm able to balance my crazy single-mom-hood status with a full plate of stories. Every month. Every month. Every month.

And on average, I'm paid $1 a word.

Now.

If you listen to people in chat rooms and forums, if you drag yourself into their negativity, guess what? You will be convinced that they're right.

Surround yourself with positive individuals. No, I'm not a Pollyanna. I am a realist. And I am realistically telling you: If you give yourself the gift of positive influence, you will thrive as a freelancer.

Feel free to contact me if you need a boost of energy!

Cold Calls: The Bane of the Freelancer's Existence

So if you think that being a freelance writer entails a life of sitting by the fire with a steaming English teapot while you craft brilliant prose by channeling your Muse ...

OK.

That's part of it.

That's the delicious part of it.

But, to get to that point, you also have to be willing to do the unthinkable.

Cold Calls.

You heard me right.

I see the shudders now through my computer screen.

Listen. Cold calls, when all is said and done, are the only way to go when you're trying to beat your competition. Don't sit there and tell me, "But I have a great query idea!" If you want to pay your mortgage and your bills ... if you want to feed your children and put clothes on everyone's back ... if you want to collect so much business that there's plenty left over for that trip to Yosemite, or better yet, a cruise or a flight to Paris ... you have to be willing to make cold calls.

When I started freelancing 10 years ago, I read this little tip in a book and thought, "You ARE kidding me." But then I decided to carve out just one week to do nothing but cold calls.

I won't kid you.

It's not for the faint of heart, and I hate every single blasted second of it.

And you may not think the results are that great. Expect a 1 percent return. That's right. For every 100 calls you make, expect one to turn into a client.

Here's the thing, though: I've had those clients (2 of them) for 10 years. Now let's do the math. If each of those clients gives me an average of six to eight stories per year, averaging $1,000 per story ... over 10 years ... do you see the income we're generating here?

If you just block out one week -- ONE WEEK -- for cold calls, yes, you will hear a lot of "Nos." But the YESes far outweigh them.

And just think -- if one of those out of 100 pays you $1 per word and hires you again and again, wouldn't you say that week spent of eating crow and begging for work over the phone was worth it?

You betcha.

So tomorrow ... I am going to suck it up and do the unthinkable.

I am going to embrace the cold call. And you can bet that instead of focusing on the rejections, I'm going to be dialing with dollar signs in my eyes.

Because I WILL land that one client who will make it all worth it.

My Secret Weapon: Profnet

I interview people all over the world for my articles.

People ask me, "How on earth do you find them?"

I'm going to tell you my little secret, one that may cause you to scoff, but it's absolutely a gold mine for source digging:

PROFNET.

This is a service I used when I was a newswoman at The Associated Press in Harrisburg, PA. Initially, it was a resource for us when we needed to quote an expert -- or a professor -- to analyze a breaking news story.

Today, it's a massive database, filled with all types of experts to quote, including leaders of major corporations, politicians, military members, small business people -- you name it, they've got it.

If you haven't used the service (which is free, by the way), this is what you do:

Go to https://profnet.prnewswire.com/ProfNetHome.aspx and fill out a membership application. From there, you can search the Profnet database for the expertise you need. Not only that, you can put out a direct query, stating your story, your deadline, your qualifications on who can be quoted ... and voila. Watch your Inbox fill with the most fascinating people!

I know I sound like an advertisement, and believe me when I say I am NOT being paid for this blog entry. I just wanted to share with you that this is a fantastic resource, and it'll make your life SOOOOOOOOOOOO easy.

--Heidi Rafferty

My Guest Blog at EBaumer Consulting

EB is a great friend I met on Twitter, and she has a remarkable knack for calling things as she sees them. Recently, she asked me to guest-write a blog entry for her about working from home.

Truth be told, I feel that I learn so much more from EB than the other way around, but I was honored  to participate!

Here's the link to the entry ... and while you're there, peruse EB's advice and other blog entries. You'll be so glad you did!

http://ebaumerconsulting.com/eblog/?s=Heidi

--Heidi Russell Rafferty