Creativity

I applied for what appears to be a dream job. The job requirements stressed creativity, and I'm pretty sure I have that in abundance.

When it comes to creativity, I swear I have little to no control over it--and can't even fathom where it comes from.

I might do or say something very creative and then have my mind tell me, wow, that was funny but a bit off-color for your audience, or, what a creative idea you had for that holiday wreath only it would cost about $5000 to make.

I love to write, which in itself is a creative process, but when I can write with a flair, flaunt rules, conjure up word choices that are fresh, original and creative, I'm at my happiest.

Snow Jobs

Did you ever take on an assignment and find out the boss men or women kept the truth from you?

Truth like: this job is only a pilot and we're only putting it up for bid to show the client our price;
this job has a lot more to it than we're going to tell you up front;
this job is so underpriced for the amount of work it entails, we are expecting 60 percent of the writers and editors to quit within the first week or so...etc?

Not every job is presented in a truthful way.

I'm seeing this more and more as clients attempt to get writers at such low fees, they are no longer hiring real writers but people who own a keyboard instead.

Oh yes, it's still snowing outside which is what inspired me to post this blog.

Cupcakes because they always make me happy when I see them.

Content Farms

I like the idea of a broker between myself and a client -- especially if it's a client I might never have had a chance to meet without that middleman pitching work for themselves and for me by extension.

I do think it gets a little absurd when clients think it's possible to buy a blog post that is well written, interesting and typo free for a few dollars. You do get what you pay for in life.

One plus of the content farms is being able to roam free on the farm, only pick up the work you want to write, and with luck, find a few clients who are willing to pay more competitive prices for your work through direct orders.

In most cases, direct orders come from taking one of the open orders, doing a bang up job on it and impressing the client enough they are willing to spend more money for you and your writing.

If I feel all the work has dried up, I go to my farms and pull out an open order to do with the hope I may be rewarded with a direct order in the future. It works frequently and because of that I don't mind sharing fees with the word broker at all.

Do you share your office space with a family member?

I'm all for intimacy, but I wish my husband would use the office space upstairs rather than plop all his work down on the kitchen table. You see, I like to plop all my work down on the kitchen table!

We end up having our computers about six inches apart, and along with that closeness, which can cause fights for lid space, we annoy each other. I read my writing out loud sometimes and he clears his throat more often than I like. There's more but I'll spare you. :)

But since he loves to cook, he's usually in the kitchen cooking and doing his work. Since I love to eat I'm usually in the kitchen waiting for something to come out of the oven, and I think neither of us want to be banished upstairs to the office space (that I call the litter box room.)

I have not figured out how exactly to make this work for us since he's only been working from home for a few months, but I'm looking for suggestions.

Right now I put on my headphones and crawl into my little word as I try not to notice anything around me and just get my work done -- unless the cat doesn't want me to get my work done and crawls up on the keyboard!

Spinning my wheels

It seems like I've been spinning my wheels since mid-February. This has been a bad earning cycle for me mostly because each job has taken much longer than necessary and much longer than I anticipated.

Time is money.

When we waste our time, we waste the opportunity to make money somewhere else -- or even relax and enjoy ourselves for that matter. That's allowed too!

When you feel you have been spinning your wheels and going nowhere fast, it's time to take a mental health break.

I am reading (for the second time) Tim by Colleen McCullough and am enjoying it. I read it years and years ago. It's an easy read and a quick one. It's exactly the short but important break I need between one job and the next.

I think I also deserve one easy client; one well-run project or one good paying job. Hoping March brings me one of the three!

When to dump a client

I've written for a variety of magazines, newspapers, online content providers and private clients. Some clients I keep for years and years, and other clients last only a few short weeks or months before I see the handwriting on the wall. For example:

·      They lower word count, fees or frequency of orders because they don’t want to spend the money for professional work.

·      They start picking at minutiae and frequently change their minds about what they want.

·      They want to appear unhappy with the writer’s work in order to get more out of the writer whether it’s HTML programming or adding in Creative Commons art/photos or other free services.

·      They become big time sucks and emotional burdens by constantly wanting to chat about an assignment, even one that pays in pennies -- all unpaid time.

·      They act like they have purchased you for life and now have you chained in their basement to a laptop on 24/7 call.

·       They don’t expect you to have other clients—even for a $10 blog post.

When I start to see these warning signs above, I know it’s time to say my adieus. I am not angry, but I’m not going to have a dysfunctional relationship with anyone from a family member to a client. It’s got to work for both of us; we have to be on the same page (had to use that cliché).

One of the main reasons I have to let a client go is because when they act like the above bullets, they are telling me they really don’t know what they want, so they change guidelines or focus or point of view hoping the writer will, through the process of elimination, come up with what they want even though they have no idea what they want.

I love working with clients to iron out the wrinkles of a project, find the voice and content they want and locate that sweet spot where they are deliriously happy with my work. I won't  waste my time or babysit a diva-style client who’s going to pay me enough money to buy a coffee and a donut, but not much more. I refuse to roll over and take it.

New Project Hints: Keep it Simple

So many times I work on a project where the manager does an information dump upon the writers as a way to get us to organize the work or because they want to give us every scrap of information on the project they have even before they or we understand what is expected from us.

I wish they would understand that you have to start off with baby steps when you're doing a complicated project. Managers can add new material, charts, spreadsheets, etc once the basics of the project have been absorbed.

It's like being given the responsibility to make a seven-course meal for 20 with no menu, just 20 boxes or bags of ingredients from lemon curd to shitake mushrooms.

I have managed a few projects in the past, and written copy for many complicated projects. I have a few tips for anyone starting up a project. Most of them will be a variation on the same theme: keep it simple.  I may revisit this title again but for now, here's two mighty important tips that will help your writers known what's expected, which means you'll meet your client deadlines.

1) Boil the project down to one concentrated paragraph. 

This project is to write ad copy for a catalog that sells high-end women's clothing for the 18-50 age group with sizes that range from 2 to 18. This catalog is written with a light, funky and amusing tone and product information is shown in bulleted lists. Total word count per item is 150 words and split into one 100-word description and one bulleted list of approximately 50 words.

2) Give an example to your copywriters.


One example is more effective than 200 pages of guidelines.

Blaine Berrywhite’s gorgeous long-sleeve polka-dot dress looks innocent enough until you realize the skirt is split on two sides right up to the hip and a matching peek-a-boo panty that snaps into place (so you stay a lady even if the wind blows).  What you’ll love about this dress is the synthetic-blend fabric (yes you will) that mimics your three most favorite fabrics in the world: cotton, linen and silk. The difference is with this luxury engineered fabric, you don’t get wrinkles, or booty clinging or see-through visual effects that make you look as naked as a full body scanner does in the airport.

•    Classic jewel neckline with roled edge

•    Long sleeves with cuffs

•    Pearl buttons on cuffs (2 per sleeve) 

•    Matching belt with leather and metal clasp

•    Pearl buttons cover clasp seam

•    Matching panty snaps into place

•    Double French seams

•    Bodice is lined in cotton batiste

•    Fit and flair style

•    Princess seams

•    Made in France

•    Dry clean only


If I had been given this information for a project, I would now feel very comfortable about taking on the assignment.  I'd know the format and the focus and the demographic and the tone. Once I understood the basics, I could expand my knowledge to other guidelines or recommendations, but for now I'd be able to crank out copy and be fairly sure I was doing it correctly.