Comments on: Monthly Assessment – April

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Well, January through March you had the family stuff, didn't you, Kathy? Hardly your fault things were slow.

Katharine, I like "comfortable." :)

Ruthibelle, so you didn't meet last month's goals. Today's your new start. :) It's never too late to set yourself back on track.

By: Ruthibelle

Ruthibelle — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:48:00 +0000

I no i'm the student/rookie who's OUT of the workin world at the moment, but, hey, i had goals too, lol!!

And nope, I didnt meet em. Part of the plan was to locate the sofrware/hardware that I'd need to be effective in this industry, but instead, my laptop presented technical challenges that have me now using public resources (not happy at all). So that now has to be corrected. =D

By: Irreverent Freelancer

Irreverent Freelancer — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:15:00 +0000

I’ll be back shortly after I actually complete my monthly billing. However, I believe April was a much better month than January through March. As a bonus, a lot of the projects I picked up toward the end of the month are slated to run through May and some even into June.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:14:00 +0000

Well, I don’t know about “swamped” — comfortable is probably a better word. Though I definitely needed it in April, between taxes and still playing catch up from taking 2 weeks off in March!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:32:00 +0000

I’m glad to hear you’re swamped Katharine! Let’s hope it becomes OUR pandemic. 🙂

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I did pretty well in April, especially for not really marketing at all. (Oops.) My regular clients are giving me tons of work and keeping me busy, though, so a little slacking off in the marketing department is okay for now. I know I need to get back into the habit of marketing regularly, though, so I’ll make that my goal for May.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Jennifer, that’s a great goal! I’m so glad you’ve set one. Just make sure to revisit it monthly and adjust to make sure you get there. 🙂

I hear you on the new business, Gabriella. It’s rather brutal right now, but I foresee a busy summer for all of us. 🙂

By: Gabriella F.

Gabriella F. — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Thanks again, Lori, for being so open. Here's my assessment.

1. Income--Weaker than my average month last year, but I'm holding my own. As I've said before, if I can make enough money to pay bills, the IRS, and save some each month, I'll be happy this year. So far, I've been able to do that. Wish I could earn more, but that's probably not in the cards this year.

2. New business--Totally dead. I'm not even looking at job postings anymore because they're all crap. I'm doing well by pitching new ideas to existing clients, but I really need to add a new, solid client. I'm going to really start working on that in early May.

Please let this recession end.

By: Jennifer Truempler

Jennifer Truempler — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Thanks for the encouraging post, Lori. It is nice to see that experienced writers also spend time on goal setting and self assessment. I'm just starting out as a freelance writer and editor. Right now I am dependent on my existing clients (people who hit me up as soon as they heard I was going freelance), and I'm working on branching out to new clients.

Good luck with your $5K goal. That is awesome! My goal is $1K, but it's a start, right? And I made it two months in a row so far.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:06:00 +0000

I’m giving serious consideration to a different computer. I have another one sitting next to the desk – a newer version of this old workhorse. I’m sure the processor is at least double the speed (this one is, oh my lord, 9 years old already?). I’m just so USED to things working that I don’t want to upset the balance.