An uncompromised, unedited, and unfiltered look at the freelance writing life

Thursday, April 9, 2015

WAHM Lesson # 56

This disclaimer will be part of every WAHM Lesson. While these are true things that I've experienced as a work at home mom, many are written to make you laugh. They may or may not have happened in the order that they are listed. So, why is there a disclaimer? Because I know certain people that read this blog simply looking for dirt. Good luck with that. You won't find any. Go away and worry about your own life. For everyone that's here to read, learn, and laugh...welcome. Feel free to comment.

WAHM Lesson #56 - It's easy to lose and regain perspective.

I've worked in several professional capacities during my adult life. Even when I worked in entry level administrative assistant positions, I rather enjoyed dressing up for work (even if it wasn't a necessity). When I taught, it was a necessity for me to wear business professional clothing. Now that I work from home, my standard attire is essentially jeans and a t-shirt. Awesome, right? Well, it does make laundry easier.

Anyway, there are some days that I'm lucky to get a shower. Days like today, I'll be lucky to get much of anything done that people dream about when they think about working from home. There will be no naps. There are hardly ever any naps. There will be no downtime (unless you count me adding this post). Even my time on Facebook will be business related. I mean...you know, it is what it is. I'm really glad that I work from home because like I've stated I don't know how many times before...it's a very flexible lifestyle.

Yet...last night I was on my very large, covered front porch working. The weather was great. I had on mismatched socks, capri pants, and a black t-shirt. Sure, my hair was brushed...but I hadn't done anything with it. I wasn't working make up. I'm fairly sure that few of my past coworkers would have recognized me. I felt really, really frumpy. Then...one of my neighbors arrived home. He got out of his car dressed quite well...and I felt even worse about my appearance. It's not that I had or even have any desire to please some dude who lives next door. First, I'm very happily married to the world's most awesome dude. Second, my neighbor is not straight. Third, I've never really cared much about trying to make other people happy with my appearance. I've always dressed for me.

Then, I looked down at my laptop screen and realized that it was almost 8 pm. My home smelled like a delicious dinner. My youngest son was laughing and playing in the house. I could hear him through the open window. My husband was laughing at something on TV. And I felt better. That particular neighbor is usually gone for 12+ hours per day...and if he loves what he does, then I'm happy for him. He clearly has to get up earlier than necessary to bother getting dressed. He clearly has clothing that he must have professionally cleaned. If he's okay with doing all that, then that's great for him.

Me? I can save my valuable energy (and when you're a heart patient, all of your energy is valuable) for the things that matter. I don't have to impress anyone with what I wear. My job or my livelihood isn't dependent upon what someone thinks of my external appearance. I don't have to be up at a ridiculous hour (except apparently today) to work. I can work when I want to work. I have the choice of either dressing in my paralegal clothes or I can just wear this and go out with my youngest son and get dirty. I don't have to ask someone to take time off to do something for any of my children. I don't have to ask someone if I can come in late because of an appointment.

So, yeah...last night I lost my perspective for about 10 seconds...but not now.

Oh, and Tumblr....I set up a Tumblr that lists various writing opportunities. I'll still be curating and posting writing gigs here when I have time. Tumblr basically lists stuff that I've found through social media. It's easier to send that to my phone.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Be Careful What You Write

Yesterday I was on Facebook and saw an article from some website (I can't remember) that talked about how freelancers should use an "unschedule." So, basically you would first schedule all the stuff you want to do during the day that isn't work related and then stuff your work in around it. This is maddening and not good advice particularly for new freelancers. All I could think was, "So, how do they pay their bills? Are they trust fund babies?" My other thought while making dinner was that maybe they charge outrageous rates in an effort to put forth as little energy as possible. I'm a big fan of The Four Hour Work Week. However, it's just not something that everyone can do or should do.

Unscheduling is really bad advice for new freelancers or those that have bills. Freelancing is like any other small business. You need to actually put forth a large amount of effort in order to get steady clients and become established. Then you work in some of the fun stuff.

Please don't expect to roller skate and care for prize winning roses for six hours per day and pay your mortgage by blogging only two hours per day. It's unrealistic and you're going to get yourself in a bind.

Experienced freelancers, please be careful about what you write. Remember that new people read what you write and they think it is written for them. You know as well as I do that it takes insane hours to make a decent living of any sort.

New freelancers, don't believe everything you read. Not everything is written for you. Not everything you read online is the norm. You should know by now that the Internet is not full of truth and "your results may vary."

Friday, February 27, 2015

WAHM Lesson #3 - Always have a business card on hand.

Writing Gigs

It's been another really busy week here in House of Punk. I had to turn down a last minute business plan writing gig. I simply didn't have time (or the desire) to do something incredibly last minute. If you know someone who plans on attending a trade show, then they need to have their business plan complete far before they go. It's a lot of stress to do it last minute particularly when they don't have all of the information on hand for the financial section. Maybe I'll talk about business plans in another post.

Anyway, if you check out Gumroad today (Feb. 27) then you'll find something cool.

Business and Legal Writing

Content Writing

Staff Writer - TV Guide
Human Interest Writer - Bauer Media Group
Junior Writer - 24 Seven
Content Coordinator - Wargaming America
Entry Level Creative Services Writer - Greenway Health
Content Marketing Writer - Rightside
Writer and Editor - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Web Content Writer - The Creative Group

Copywriting

Copywriter - Backcountry
Copywriter for new dating website

Food Writing

Freelance Food Writer - WomensForum.com

Music Writing

EDM Writer

Professional Blogging

Filmmaker Blog Article Writer - 20 Questions Film
Healthy living bloggers wanted

Technical Writing

Monday, February 23, 2015

Monday Motivational: You Can Be Different

On Mondays when a lot of corporate employees wake up, they wish that they wouldn't have to go in. Maybe they dream of another job. Maybe they dream of working from home. Maybe they just dream of being on the beach with a drink in hand.

It doesn't really matter what the dream is that they have. They all have the same theme. They want something different. If you want something different, can you continue to do the exact same thing over and over again? No. If you want something different then you must do things differently.

Being different and doing things in a different way is okay. Of course, there are plenty of people ready to ostracize you. So, it does take a thick skin.

You're different. If you find that living life just like everyone else is akin to wearing clothes that are five sizes too small, then it's time to find ways to be different. That doesn't necessarily mean that you quit your job today. However, it does mean that you make a plan with actionable goals and begin to take steps to achieving your goals.

You can do it.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Writing Gigs - Feb. 18, 2015

Sometimes I am just amazed at how much time goes by between my posts here. However, after you start with your own writing gigs you quickly figure out that sometimes you don't have the time (or the energy) for a lot of other things.

I'm doing editing for two major websites and an up and coming self help author. Then, there is (of course) the ghostwriting. I'm also working on a business development Udemy course for a client. Oh, and let's not forget the research project on hydrofracking. One of my ghostwriting projects is due the 25th and has to be 20k words. In reality, that's not too bad. I just need to buckle down and get it done.

Needless to say, I've done a lot of mass deletion on my inbox during the last month or two. With freelance writing you can earn an extra $30 a week or bigger sums. I don't like to talk about money. My company makes enough to be comfortable. There is a full time income for part time work. However, you must realize that although you might write or edit part time that it is still a full time mental commitment.

With that said, don't forget to invest into your freelance writing future. You can pick up Crash Course Freelance Writing on Amazon or on Gumroad. You'll learn how to generate your own writing leads.

Business and Legal Writing

Business Plan Writer

Beauty and Fashion Writing

Content Writing

Content Writer - The Connors Group
Staff Writer - BH Media Group
Jr. Online Marketing Writer - Blinds.com
Website Content Writer
Teeth Whitening Content
Magazine Writer / Editor
Ebook: How to Hire the Best Dental Employees
Write a memoir

Copywriting

Educational Writing

Freelance Writer and Editor - NC State Univ.

Medical Writing

Writer / Editor - American Cancer Society

Technical Writing

Technical Writer - Edison Ventures
Process Documentation Writer - MedSyngergies

Travel Writing

Las Vegas article writing

Friday, February 13, 2015

Recipe Review: Nacho Cheese Chip Casserole

You'll see the recipe floating around online as Doritos Casserole. Recently, I decided to try shopping at Aldi's. I spent $46 (Oklahoma City) and have enough groceries for roughly five meals. I did buy my hamburger elsewhere. There's simply no difference in the price of beef at my local Aldi's. However, I also bought some great fresh asparagus for $1.99 and some lovely baby spinach.

Anyway, my goal with this review isn't necessarily the recipe itself. It is more about the quality and taste of the ingredients that I purchased from Aldi's. First, let's take a look at the basic recipe.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 lbs. hamburger
2 c. shredded cheddar
Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos

Essentially, you cook and crumble your hamburger. I season mine with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Of course, drain it if you use fatty meat.

Mix the meat with the two cans of cream soup. Place this in a casserole dish.

Top with shredded cheese. Crush chips and place on top.

Place in oven at 350 until cheese is melted. This took maybe 10 minutes.

I already had cream of mushroom soup on hand. I bought my hamburger from Walmart.

I bought cream of chicken soup, shredded sharp cheddar, and the nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips from Aldi's.

We really liked the shredded cheese from Aldi's. It had a really great flavor. The only thing I didn't like was the price. It was actually cheaper to buy Kraft shredded cheddar from a local store. I didn't know that until I later went there to get my youngest son some chocolate milk.

We really liked the cream of chicken soup from Aldi's, too. It had a really good flavor. It came out of the can easily. The top of the can is an easy open can. I was worried that it wouldn't have enough flavor or that it would be salty. I was wrong!

We could go either way on the nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips. They were fine for the casserole. However, they are not something that we would just eat with a sandwich or for a snack. The texture is really strange (and this is coming from someone who loves the Great Value brand nacho cheese tortilla chips). They are a little salty as well. The cheese flavoring is good.

I paid .59 cents for the soup, $2.79 for the shredded cheese, Had I known it was on sale at a local store, I could have saved almost a dollar. I paid $1.19 for the chips. The hamburger was purchased elsewhere for about $8. So, this meal cost us roughly $11. We are big eaters. Tonight there were three of us instead of five, but we ate the entire pan. Even the picky five year old liked the recipe. The hamburger was the most expensive component. You could probably save more if you used ground turkey or if you can find hamburger on sale.