What’s on the iPod: Glorious by MaMuse
Oh, what a day… per the song above, it’s glorious. Why? It’s Friday, the weekend is upon us, and we have absolutely no freaking home projects to work on this weekend. It’s all about play. I’ve planned a get-away for us, so bye-bye floors, kitchen cabinets, counter styles, stains, paints, decisions….
It’s also the end of a very good month for me. The surgeon said it would take a good six months to get my energy back, and here we are, just about six months out. I feel as normal as a person can without part of a liver. I was able to work, exercise, and pretend nothing had ever happened. Glorious indeed.
What’s also glorious is how the month rounded out. I’m sitting here in a holding pattern now, but there are there projects about to hit next week. Alas, I’d hoped to add one more to this month’s total, but even so, I’m in decent shape.
Here’s how this month played:
Queries:
I sent about six of them, mostly to existing clients, but a few to new pubs. No word yet, but I’m hopeful.
LOIs:
I started up on these in earnest again. There’s a conference coming in six months — time for clients to plan those brochures and handouts. Time for me to remind them. I sent out quite a few, so I’m hoping I’ll secure some gigs on the follow-up notes.
Existing clients:
The work I had this month, which wasn’t a ton, all came from existing clients. I finished that huge project for the newer client, and got a few projects done for regulars. Once again, the regular clients were my bread and butter.
On a side note, a favorite past client returned. They called this week and happily, I get to work with them again. We were both puzzled as to how we’d let a year go by without any contact, but given the year I’ve had, I can give a good guess as to why it slipped my mind. The call resulted in a retainer arrangement.
New clients:
I met with and am now contracted with a new client, who has given me a monthly assignment as well as other projects. One project will be started next week, and I have a few more to get proposals to him about.
Earnings:
Key the music again — this was a month in which I surpassed my earnings goal by a good bit. I didn’t work a lot or terribly hard, but I worked smart. That netted me more than expected with fewer hours tied up in the work. If I could bottle that, I’d drink it every month.
Bottom line:
I focused on quality instead of quantity and it worked. It’s not an ideal mix as having fewer clients could spell disaster should one or more suddenly depart, but once in a while it’s a treat to be able to give more attention to those favorites. My marketing is hitting high gear this month, and I’m looking forward to having projects this month (already do) and getting some work in for December. The goal is to have things in place to start the new year with plenty of work.
How did you do this October? What were your surprises? Where could you improve?
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