Comments on: Monthly Assessment – August

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:57:15 +0000

Maybe it's because you're doing things you like, Katharine, that you were able to be productive in the time you had. Or hey, you're charging what you're worth. Go, girl!

Stick your neck out, Brenda. :) Look at it as dipping a toe in. Starting is the hard part - keeping at it is tougher. But we're here for you!

By: Brenda Susan

Brenda Susan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:59:04 +0000

I totally understand what you said about how idea come when you are relaxing! I just took 4 days off this last weekend & on the long drive home I had some great ideas for magazine articles! And I've never been published, just fantasized about it!
I think it may be time to stick my neck out there!

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:51:23 +0000

August was good for me, not quite as lucrative as July, but close! I didn't apply for any job postings, but here's what I'm happy about: I was able to make nearly as much as in July, despite all the time I spent at the barn, doing pre-wedding stuff with my friend, and going to lots of doctor's appointments for a medical study I'm participating in.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:29:55 +0000

Following Devon's agricultural metaphor, my crops have greatly improved. I completed several articles and a few columns, am working on seven more articles, and nabbed two very promising new clients.

Next comes the hardest part: waiting patiently to reap the harvest as payments begin filtering in.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:41:01 +0000

They'll be back, Kathy. We gotta have faith (as George Michael says). 🙂

By: Irreverent Freelancer

Irreverent Freelancer — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:03:09 +0000

In a word, my August was crappy. After having a solid May, June and July, I was hoping for a fourpeat. That was not to be. And unlike you, I put out all kinds of feelers on job postings (being very selective of course) with my free time. Not a one panned out. My only work in August came from existing clients. Keeping my fingers crossed that the day after Labor Day brings all the clients out of their summer slumber.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:58:37 +0000

Gabriella, sometimes transparency makes me feel a little naked! But I'm determined to bare my, er, soul so everyone else will examine their own situations. It's the ony way to keep on top of your goals.

Devon, I'm surprised at Apple. You'd think by now they'd have had this solved for you. Disappointing to say the least.

By: Gabriella F.

Gabriella F. — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:15:10 +0000

It does seem like we did this just yesterday!

OK, as with July, my revenue is solid and steady. However, I'm still doing a ton of procrastination. So an assignment I could have finished this month is flopping over into September (the deadline is Sept. 9, but I certainly could have had the article done by now). That means my August income isn't as high as it could be. Que sera sera.

On the marketing side, I'm still not doing enough to market myself to new customers. It seems I do that in spurts, and I haven't been able to make myself have a spurt in the past several months. Fall goal: make new marketing contacts!

Like you, I didn't apply for a single posted job. I read them, but it's plain they're all an utter waste of time.

The good news is that one of my clients for whom I did a bi-monthly column and who dumped me in June because of a budget slash has now rehired me. Money's back!

Maybe that's a good sign for all of us?

Thanks, Lori, for your transparency each month!

By: Devon ellington

Devon ellington — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:14:56 +0000

oh, my, I trailed off in mid-sentence. Sorry.

August has been more of a seed-sowing month than a harvest month, I'm afraid.

But hopefully, I'll be able to harvest in a few months.

By: Devon ellington

Devon ellington — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:13:14 +0000

August was hit and miss, mostly because Apple refuses to come up with an acceptable solution to the fact that they sold me a heap of scrap metal masquerading as a computer, and they don't want to do anything about it.

I lost thousands of dollars and days' worth of time dealing with this, and they still just want to "talk."

I don't want a therapist. I want a working computer.

And I re-iterate -- if I was a man, this would have been solved the first time I brought the non-working computer through the door. But since I'm a woman, I'm treated like the cute, dumb little errand girl who's supposed to run back and forth from store to store for solutions that don't work.

I am done.

I expected more from Apple.

Did some good work on the fiction.

Prepping for Prague.

September will be dismal as far is income because of the trip, but October is almost fully booked, and I'm getting out an enormous mailing (provided the computer doesn't eat it) when I return from my trip.

August has been more