lwidmer | Words on the Page

When to be Unreliable

Posted on March 26, 2009 by lwidmer

There are a few people from my past who keep showing up occasionally wanting favors. They don’t ask how I am, nor do they care. They want help. Free help. And they want it yesterday. They’re life suckers – they roll into my life and suck up any and all free time, help, money, etc….

Murphy’s Law and Putting Your Foot Down

Posted on March 25, 2009 by lwidmer

It never fails – the minute I’m facing a slow day and I think maybe I’ll take the laptop and disappear into the local cafe, the work comes flying at me like those monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. That was my yesterday. Two small projects that I could have finished by 11 am were…

No You Didn’t

Posted on March 24, 2009 by lwidmer

I was reading a fun post by Maria Schneider the other day about the stupid things people say to writers. Go read the “You Get Paid For That?” post. I’ll wait…. So what was the stupidest/rudest thing someone said to you upon learning you were a writer? We’ve all heard the “Oh wow! I’ve always…

Is Time Off a Deal Breaker?

Posted on March 23, 2009 by lwidmer

Good news on the work front – a call came in yesterday from what turned out to be a potential client. Honestly, the client identified his company, but having at least 12 calls a day from telemarketers, it wasn’t until I hung up I realized he was calling about work. He’d asked if I had…

Even Cheerleaders Need Prozac

Posted on March 20, 2009 by lwidmer

I didn’t want to admit it, and I tried keeping my chin up and my cheerleader game face on, but it’s no use. Work, right now, is mighty tough to come by. Maybe it’s not fair to compare one year over another, but last year at this time I couldn’t keep up with the projects….

Can We Charge for It?

Posted on March 19, 2009 by lwidmer

On Twitter the other day a fellow writer was lamenting how she’d spent quality time putting together a proposal for a client she suspected had no money. Turns out she was right. She wondered out loud (in Twitter Land) if there was something to be done so that she could stop spinning her wheels and…

And the Winner Is….

Posted on March 18, 2009 by lwidmer

…Stacy Quarty! You are the winner of the Amazon e-gift card. Send me a note with your preferred email (just click on the link to the left there) and I’ll send your Amazon card today! Here’s how we decided – I went to Random.org and typed in numbers 1 through 10 as values (I’d posted…

Three Years and Counting

Posted on March 17, 2009 by lwidmer

Three years ago today, I posted my first blog entry and wondered “If I write it, will they come?” They did. At first in trickles, but three years later the Words on the Page blog is a thriving little community of commenters, online chums and offline friends who keep coming back for more. I’m honored,…

Giving Good Phone

Posted on March 16, 2009 by lwidmer

Last week I had a call that was expected to take 20 minutes. An hour and a half and several failed attempts to interrupt the talker later, I made excuses and hung up. It was gawd-awful. Worse, the caller was offended when I halted the one-sided conversation. Devon came to my rescue beeping in on…

Devon Ellington

March 16, 2009

I rarely, if ever, do business on the phone, and that’s in my contract. I HATE the phone. Most phone calls with clients are a total waste of time.

I make it clear they can leave a DETAILED message during working hours, not a “call me” message. I check messages twice a day and return calls, but my phone is OFF when I’m working.

I check my email frequently throughout the day, so if they want a quick response, they can email me.

Also, I do not IM, and I don’t accept clients who required IM. Waste of time in 90% of the cases.

I am a WRITER. I work with WORDS ON THE PAGE! (pun intended).

Lori

March 16, 2009

Nyuck nyuck! Good one. 🙂

There are times – interviews for articles, etc. – that the phone is a must. But I agree with you. All other times, I prefer email. It’ just easier to dash off a quick, coherent note than to reread emails and notes and have a drawn-out conversation with someone.

But sometimes we just have to talk on the phone. For those times, we need a system. 🙂

Kimberly Ben

March 16, 2009

I really enjoyed this post , and I can soooo relate. I completely agree with Devon. I really don’t care for the hone and prefer to conduct business through email as much as possible because phone calls can suck up valuable time.

That said, there have been time where phone calls were necessary because some clients cannot communicate their needs well in writing (I guess that’s why they hire us?).

I have a client that seems to have a knack for calling when I’m breaking my neck on deadline. He’s a sweetheart, but is very long winded and tends to repeat the same points over and over again in the conversation. A conversation that should take 10 minutes wilo very often creep over into an hour.

I now let him know I only have 15 minutes to talk before he gets started, and I still must politely cut him off to make sure we don’t go over.

I also don’t like IM. I have a client that requested I sign up for Skype messaging early on (before I knew better) and he acted as if he were my only client. He’d call if he didn’t see me online. I had to let hime know that I would only sign on briefly fromhere on out when he and I needed to communicate on a specific project. Never again!

Gabriella F.

March 16, 2009

Hi Lori.

Thanks for the tips. When I set up interviews, which is almost always by e-mail, I say I’d like to do a brief, 15-minute telephone interview. Then, I usually start out phone interviews by saying, “Thanks for taking the time to be interviewed today. As I mentioned in my e-mail, my article is very short, so I won’t take up much of your time…”

I’ve never had anybody like you had–who plainly wasn’t listening to interruptions. But I’ve got no problem interrupting and saying, “I’ve got another interview in a few minutes, so I’ll need to wrap this up.”

I guess that’s the benefit of my friends telling me I’m sometimes abrupt!

Lori

March 16, 2009

Abrupt works! LOL I would’ve given anything for that last week!

Kimberly, I suffer the “but I’m your only client!” syndrome a few times a year myself. It’s why I limit my availability to phone and email, and, rarely, cell phone. It’s not for the masses of clients who conduct themselves in a professional manner. It’s for those rare few who don’t understand boundaries. And good for you for enforcing the IM boundaries! Technology gives people the false impression that we’re always able to respond instantly. We’re not. We have to actually work at some point!

Rebecca Smith

March 17, 2009

Thanks for the great tips, Lori! I do my best to set up strict interview times in advance, but sometimes the interviewee has a timetable of their own. I’ve actually ended up on the phone for close to an hour and a half for a 175-word story! In retrospect, I should have just emailed the subject and asked her to send me a quote. It would have saved us both a lot of time!

Lori

March 17, 2009

That’s so frustrating, isn’t it? An hour and a half of billable time wasted because of overshare. While it’s great that we have people willing to talk to us, it’s maddening when they don’t follow the rules of etiquette. To talk that long, no matter who you are, is just rude.

Devon Ellington

March 17, 2009

Lawyers bill for phone calls; why shouldn’t we?

How about a clause in the contract that says X amount of phone time and anything over that is billable?

75% of the time, they want to talk to a therapist, not a writer anyway.

marisol

March 18, 2009

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Betty

http://desktopmemory.info

Lori

March 20, 2009

Hi Betty! Glad to have you here! I’m coming over to your blog to introduce myself. 🙂