What’s on the iPod: The Runaway by The Clarks
I have a post up over at Anne Wayman’s About Freelance Writing. Go on over and give her some comment love.
How was the weekend? We spent Saturday cleaning the basement and hauling stuff away. Finally, we can walk down there again. We’d had a minor, unexpected flood a few months back (leaking kitchen water pipe) and we’d had to scramble to move things and dry them out/vacuum up the water. Stuff was everywhere.
Now things are all back in their proper places and the kids have found things they no longer want, amen. Three dinettes were just too much, as were the several bookcases and three desks (two are now history).
So, it’s the end of the month. Time to look back at the progress and reassess the direction and the goals. You can join me or you can comment or just read along. It’s my attempt to remain accountable to others, which has been a huge help in staying with my goals. Try it if you like – no judgments here. Especially when you see some of my own results.
So let’s see what February looked like:
Queries:
I sent out a number of smallish queries, mostly related to referrals. One two weeks ago resulted in immediate, ongoing work that’s netted me almost $1K. In two weeks, involving two hours a week. I can handle that. I didn’t hit the queries too hard this month because I was busy developing a project about to be announced.
Job postings:
Didn’t even look. Didn’t miss the search, either.
Referrals:
The one referral mentioned above was an immediate yes, which turned into another referral and another immediate yes. It’s the second month in a row in which I’ve had referrals, which means I’m managing something right.
Existing clients:
My two regular clients kept me busy. A third client is still waiting to decide on their website revamp, so I’m in a holding pattern. I have two article ideas out to other semi-regular magazine clients, but no word yet.
New clients:
Still trying to finish up that article that the newest magazine client assigned. The interviews are done. The article lead is written, and the subheads are decided. Fill in the blanks. I’ve been very busy with other things, which is great because March should be amazing, but it’s frustrating in that I can’t get this thing done. I’ll be pulling some late nights this week.
Earnings:
I’m still off my target by about 22 percent, but I have things in the works that should shoot me past my goal for March. Fingers crossed.
Bottom line:
I spent a lot of time on a large project, which did cut into the invoices this month, but once it launches I expect a steady, lucrative stream of income from it. The little marketing I managed was spot on and netted instant work. The referrals were great – free marketing done by others! Who doesn’t love that?
I could have improved by sending out more queries. I have the ideas, but I’ve not devoted time to getting them circulating. I had hoped for a few things that didn’t materialize, so that impacted the income a bit.
How was your February? What has been the theme for you this month? What’s working? What isn’t?
17 responses to “Monthly Assessment: February 2011”
February was good, March will be lean, but then it picks up a bit. I have enough work so I think I can take August off.
I posted my list on the Goals, Dreams, and REsolutions site, along with some re-envisioning this month's events have caused:
http://goalsdreamsresolutions.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/february-2011-wrap-up-re-envisioning/
I've been sick as a dog for a little over a week, and survived a hard-drive fatality (story here) early last week. Considering all that, I managed to do just about everything that needed doing. I even started doing my taxes while high on Benadryl.
I have family coming into town this week and spring break is in two weeks, so I'm gonna need to throw things into overdrive, yikes. But, hey, my calendar shows Great Big Sea on the 23rd, so that's the carrot dangling out there!
There you go, Jake! That's a concert to look forward to!
Sorry to hear you've been sick, and even more sorry about the hard drive crash. That's just sickening, isn't it? Thank God you were able to save the photos! That makes a strong case for online storage.
Devon, I love your GDR site! You always impress me with how much you manage to do in a month. I'm running to catch up.
OK, I'll play, even though my results this month are embarrassing.
Income: Low, low, low! I could have made this month more solid by finishing a few assignments early and booking the income to February. But I decided that wouldn't matter to my overall annual income, so why make myself nuts?
The result: A pitiful February, but March is totally booked, and if all goes as planned, it'll be one of my best months ever.
Queries: Sent a bunch to current clients and got a good response, which is what's making March stellar.
Worked all month on trying to land a writing gig with a new-client book publisher, which I did. But I ended up turning down the work because they offered only $.15 a word. (The editor rambled on during the payment discussion, saying, "Yeah, some people complain about our pay, but I tell them, it's what writers are paid today." Sorry, hon, not this writer [especially when the book topic is a specialized subject like business law!]).
I'm willing to negotiate a lower rate for steady, long-term gigs. But not that low.
The good news: I made some progress toward launching my own little business gig! Another freelancer and I are discussing teaming up with a website publisher to launch a subscription-based website on a specialized topic.
I think that's the only way we writers can control our own pay in the future–working for ourselves more than for others. Nowhere near launch, but pleased with forward progress.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your monthly assessment, Lori. It forces me to do the same, which, while depressing sometimes, is necessary!
Started a new gig mid-month, so the full effects will hit in March.
Jake, I feel for you. Just last night, after I edited some articles (and emailed them to myself, thankfully), I closed my MacBook Pro. And that was the last time it booted up properly. Going to have to take it in today, it appears.
And my brand new Win7 laptop is doing some crazy things as well. Random crashes are starting to happen. I don't think I've even had it a full month yet.
What is it with me and computers right now? The universe is determined to take away any excess income? Is that it? *sigh*
Becky, if you tell me your new laptop is an HP, I wouldn't be surprised. Too many people around me have had huge issues with their laptops. I have their desktop, which I bought from the company. It's been terrific, but you couldn't give me their laptop.
Gabriella, good for you! Okay, February wasn't the best, but look at your March! Sometimes we have to invest in ourselves in order to grow business, which you've done.
I would have walked on that publisher, too. That's absurd! That is NOT what writers are paid these days – only what she pays them. And she's foolish – she'll get what she pays for, which ain't much.
LOVE the idea of your business gig! I think you've hit on something very critical – we DO have to make our own paths by working for ourselves more. Super idea!
First off – Lori and Gabriella, I am already inspired by your yet-to-be announced projects.
I can sum my February up pretty quickly: Lots of work for too few checks.
Remember, I don't count my income until the checks have cleared. That's because good intentions can't pay my bills – something two publishers apparently think actually works. Yes, I'm on their butts about it. One agreed to a payment plan for a small $160 piece they ran in their November issue. Yes, a payment plan. They probably hoped it wasn't worth my time to pursue a measly $160, but they were wrong. It's my money. I earned it. Pay up. Wouldn't you think a publisher would be embarrassed at having to pay off a $160 story in installments?
The other place isn't nearly as far behind, but they don't pay well enough for me to cut them any slack. They keep trying to assign more articles and I keep saying, "Ask me again after I've been paid."
I've been busy with two articles, columns, and a series of small projects. I sent a boatload of queries to Favorite Editor in anticipation of a huge annual issue coming up in June. Have another idea to send her today. Two other favorite editors let several of us know they'll soon start assigning for several special issues that run from May through August, something they'd cut back on last summer.
No job postings. No new clients.
I wish I could bill someone for the unpaid hours I spent shoveling this month, which last night officially broke the snowiest February ever for our city.
Actual earnings were about 1/3 of my goal, but my invoice-able output is just a couple hundred dollars shy of my monthly goal. (That doesn't count the outstanding invoices I'm still trying to collect, which combined almost as much as I've invoiced out for the month.)
Give 'em hell, Paula! 🙂 I like that you chase the payment. We all should. If we owed our doctors or mechanics even five dollars, they'd bill us for it (and expect it). We are just as much a business entity.
As for your snow, ours is almost melted, save that pile at the mall. It's raining and wam here today. I'd rather it was snowy, but hey, you get what you get. 🙂
Wow. Computer problems galore, I guess. My desktop went down and I'm in the process of overhauling that. Pain in my behind. It's my lifeline. I have my laptop, but it's not the same.
I haven't really looked,but I think my Feb. was pretty average for me.
Lori, it's a Sony Vaio. And I'm beginning to think that's why it was on sale… but got hubby one, too, and his seems to be fine so far.
I'm way more concerned about my macbook. I didn't do a full backup recently, but I've been transferring documents via email and thumb drive anyway, so I don't think I will have lost much of anything.
Oh no! Becky, that's supposed to be a terrific machine. And I'm sorry about the Macbook, too. Bad week for computers!
Wendy, not you, too? I'm going to back up beyond my daily backup. All of you have me a little worried!
You guys have all made me nervous. I've got an older desktop Mac and no backup computers.
My February was not so great, which was disappointing after a really good December and January. On the plus side, I picked up a new client and I have another really good lead that (fingers crossed) should lead to work in March. Both of these I scored through job ads, so I wouldn't count that avenue out completely. I'm just really picky about what I apply to. Another client I haven't worked with in two years reappeared, which was a nice surprise. I've got plenty of work this week, so I'm cautiously optimistic about March.
Really, if I didn't do any backup, I would be up sh*t creek and it wouldn't matter if I had a paddle or not. My external hardrive and my online backup sources saved my butt. I lost a couple of minor things, though, but they aren't worth worrying about.
Kathy, I hope your March is much better as a result of that client reappearing. Fingers crossed for you. 🙂
Wendy, it's scary, isn't it? Right now, I back up with Mozy (the freebie), but I have nothing else. My husband wants me to partition the drive and save to it, but what if the entire drive dies? I'm more inclined to go external.
Got a call yesterday regarding the Mac – it's a known issue & covered by Apple. Whew!
Now here's hoping the Vaio behaves…
Amen, Becky!
Fingers crossed on the Vaio!