All Entries in the "WAHM" Category
Why All Writers Should Move Once In A While
All writers should change physical locations once in a while.
Some of you may know that we are in the process of moving our household from one physical location to another.
While the move is a very good thing for our family (nicer area) and for my business (a real office with a real door), it’s going slower than expected.
It’s going slower than expected for two reasons:
- We’re doing most of the moving ourselves to save money
- We’ve lived in this place so long (hint: my teens don’t remember living anywhere else) that we’ve accumulated a lot of stuff
It’s probably that last one that’s taking the the most time. You see, we’re now sorting through stuff that we didn’t even know we had. As we sort we ask these questions:
- What is it?
- How did we get it?
- Why do we still have it?
- Are we going to use it?
As we sort, it occurs to me that these are not bad questions for a freelance writer to ask about their writing business (or a blogger to ask about their blog).
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
Image Source: www.sxc.hu
Is Being a Work-At-Home Mom Harmful to Your Career?
Some may think so.
In fact I’ve asked this question myself, upon occasion.
You see, I’m quite open about being a work-at-home mom. Not only do I blog at a place called Work From Home Momma, but I’ve also regularly run work-at-home mom features here at WritingThougts.
I also make no secret of the fact that wanting to spend more time with my family was one of my prime motivators for starting my own business.
Bob Younce seems to think that being a work-at-home mom can harm your branding. In his post over at Freelance Folder he shares that he has written as a work-at-home mom and that his image as a work-at-home mom has kept him from getting as many writing jobs as he might have liked.
My own experience has been the exact opposite. While find web-based jobs was initially slow, my writing business has really taken off. So much so that recently, I’ve had to negotiate project deadlines or turn work down.
But, are all my writing projects limited to “mommy writing” since I’ve been open about being a work-at-home mom?
Not at all.
I’ve edited textbooks for a major textbook publisher, written and editing continuing education courses for accountants, and co-blogged on a popular blog that examines the role of blogging in business (mostly corporate) environment.
I’ve also completed numerous “ghostwriting” web content projects on business topics for a wide variety of clients.
My specific knowledge of business, business writing, marketing writing, and accounting are definite assets that I successfully bring to my writing business. My concrete experience in each of those areas supplements the writing skills that I am able to offer my clients.
Have I written some “mommy” content?
Sure. Why shouldn’t I? Parenting is also an area where I’m knowledgeable.
What do you think?
If you’re a work-at-home mom does it hold you back?
Image Source: www.sxc.hu
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
Starting Your Own Business – What You Need To Know
While many WritingThoughts readers are already in business for themselves, I know that some of you are in the process of deciding whether or not to start a writing business.
The process of going into business for yourself can be a difficult, sometimes painful, one. I should know. I put it off for years.
Even when people told me that I ought to start a business, that my skills were perfect for it, I hesitated.
I wish now that I’d had someone like me back then — someone who’d been there to talk to. That’s why I wrote a post specifically to help guide those who might be thinking about starting a business of any kind.
You can find that post over at Home Biz Notes where I’m a guest blogger today.
Whether you are thinking of starting a business, or you’ve been in business for a while, why not stop by and leave your feedback?
Image Source: www.sxc.hu
Tags: Home Biz Notes, Business Startup, starting a business, starting a writing business, working from home, home business
WAHM WritingThoughts FeaturedHow Important Is It To Have a Photo On Your About Page?
How important is it to have a photo of yourself on your blog?
When I first started blogging the lack of a photo on my About page was one of the biggest criticisms that I received.
“Readers can’t trust you if they can’t see you” I was told.
“Nobody will take you seriously if you don’t display your picture” another commentator added.
It’s been over a year. While I notice that I still haven’t gotten around to adding a photograph of myself to WritingThoughts, I have accepted other blogging gigs that have required me to post my picture. I’ve also started using my photo in social media networking.
How valid were those early comments?
I wonder…
A quick survey of some very popular sites shows that there are several that lack the blogger’s photo (as far as I can tell), including:
On the other hand, there are also many popular sites where the blogger’s photo is evident, even prominent. Here are several of those:
What do you think? Is it necessary for a blogger to post their photo? Is it helpful?
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
Image Source: www.sxc.hu
WAHM Wednesday: How Are You Handling The Spring Crunch?
I think it’s been a while since I’ve done a real WAHM Wednesday post.
Well, the wait is over! Today I’m posting on a real WAHM (work-at-home mom) issue for all of you freelance writers who are also WAHMs.
If you have school age children, then you may also be facing what I’m facing right now: the spring crunch.
The spring crunch happens every year, but every year it catches me somewhat by surprise (even though I was expecting it – if that makes sense).
The spring crunch occurs not only because of my busy workload, but also because of the extra assignments and activities that the kids must do to wrap up the school year.
How about you? Are you facing the spring crunch this year? If so, how are you handling it?
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
WAHM Wednesday: How Many Pages Should A Writer Produce in a Day?
Years ago, I remember tagging along behind my manager as neophyte technical writer while she met with a consultant.
That was the question that she asked, “How many pages should a writer produce in an eight hour day?”
To better put the matter in context, we were writing technical manuals at the time. Each manual was several hundred pages long and required extensive research and revision.
We were also using the technology of the time.
I still remember the consultant’s answer, “A writer should be able to produce four pages that are ready for the printing press every day.”
I thought is might be interesting to bring the same question into today’s writing environment.
With the original question in mind, I’m throwing the question back out to my blog readers for a new answer. If we can consider a page to be about 400 words, the how many finished pages do you think that a writer should be able to produce in a day?
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
productivity speed writing WAHM writing rateThe Twitter Experiment
I’ve joined Twitter as an experiment to see if it can be of any use for business. You can read all about it here: Can Twitter Be Used For Business?
Since I kept reading all of these posts from bloggers who claimed to be getting business use out of Twitter, last week I decided to find out for myself whether or not the tool could be of any business use. (Here’s another post about Twitter and business.)
As a result of the experiment, I’ll be twittering for a short time almost every day over the course of the next month, or so. I’ll keep track of my impressions and let you know what I think of it at the end of the experiment. I’ll also post a summary of the experiment over at the Business and Blogging blog.
In the meantime, if you want to follow me, you can find me here: TXWriter.
(If you missed the last time that I gave out my social media information, here it is again: StumbleUpon: TXWriter, Sk*rt: TXWriter, Facebook: use Laura [at symbol] writingthoughts [dot] com. I think those are the only ones that I really use, although I do have profiles elsewhere.)
Do you use Twitter already? What are you impressions of it?Â
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
Fun Stuff WAHM Web Content ThursdaysWAHM Wednesday: Do You Call Yourself a Professional Writer?
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Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and visit with the mother of one of my daughter’s friends that I only know casually.
The conversation when something like this:
Her, in a pitying tone: So, are you writing a novel from home?
(If there had been one of those cartoon bubbles over her head to show her thoughts, it probably would have read something like this: poor deluded thing, she thinks that she’s an author…)
Me, somewhat surprised at her tone: Actually, I do all of my writing for businesses. I write study guides and tests for business professionals, create content for companies that have websites, and develop instructional manuals for software systems. I have also done some newsletters.
(I didn’t even attempt to explain what a blog is to her.)
Her turn to be surprised: So you really do stay busy…
She sighs: I need to find something that I can do from home and get paid.
Unfortunately, her response is not all that unusual. When I tell people that I’m a writer they typically ask to read one of my books. That’s because, for most people the occupation title “professional writer” seems to be synonymous with the occupation title “book author.” Most people think that writing a book is the only way that a writer can get paid.
I ran across this post from my blogging friend, Nikki, that asks when you should call yourself a professional writer.
My opinion is that you are a professional writer if you are earning your living from writing, but I’m curious to find out what you think.
What do you think? At what point can you call yourself a professional writer?
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
book author Professional writer types of writers WAHM writing job titles writing profession writing titlesWAHM Wednesdays: Has Your Blog Helped You To Get Back In Touch With Old Friends?
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Something that I’ve wondered about is whether or not anyone has ever been reconnected to old friends through blogging.
Personally, it hasn’t happened to me yet. I’m a little surprised, though. I keep half-expecting to get an e-mail from someone that says: “are you the Laura Spencer that I knew at XYZ college?” Or, “are you the same person that I worked with at ABC company?”
On the one hand, you’d think that this would happen all the time. On the other hand, my blog probably doesn’t really have that much reach.
However, I’m curious as to whether or not this has happened to any of my readers.
Has it? Has someone that you’ve lost touch with contacted you through your blog?
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
blogging and connection old friends staying in touch WAHMWAHM Wednesday: We’re Not Too Stressed…
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At least we say that we’re not. Not very much, anyway…
A few weeks ago I asked WritingThoughts readers whether or not they found blogging to be stressful.
The poll is closed now. Seventeen readers took part. Here are the results:
- 41% of you answered that blogging was slightly stressful.
- 36% of you answered that blogging is either not at all stressful, or is a stress reliever.
- 18% of you answered that blogging is moderately stressful.
- 6% (or one of you) find blogging to be so stressful that it “affects my physical and/or mental well-being.”
By the way, I didn’t take the survey. I feel it’s only fair to share my answer now. I would have answered that I find blogging to be slightly stressful. That’s because spending too much time blogging (and there’s always a temptation to spend too much time blogging) takes time away from my other responsibilities.
Watching the results come in for the survey was interesting. It was as though we are afraid to admit that something we love so much, blogging, might cause us a little stress.
The first votes that came in were almost unanimously against blogging as a cause of stress. As time went by, however, I watched the votes creep up the chart. First someone admitted that blogging might be slightly stressful, and a few other voters followed. Then someone else admitted that blogging might be moderately stressful for them, and a few others followed.
Just in case we’re more stressed out than we admit, I’ve blogged about stress at Work From Home Momma today.
Feel free to leave your own comments about stress.
Contents (c) Copyright 2008, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
blogging and stress feeling stressed stress management stress relief stressed WAHM
