Repetition is Good for You

Remember back in school when you were learning those spelling words or learning those math equations? If you went to a school like I did, you were expected to spell those words out five, ten times in order to remember. With math, you had to complete a bunch of similar equations in order to understand the concept. Same thing later in school if you were learning a language or memorizing historical facts or dates. It worked, didn't it? Let's apply that logic to some of the advice I've tossed around here on occasion, more specifically places and employers you should not be working for.

Here are some of the places/employers you need to forget about:

Startup companies. They may have a great idea or a great new service, but nine times out of ten they have no organization or cash. Good luck getting paid. I've been on the edge of that cliff more than once, which has made me swear to avoid them altogether. How can you tell it's a startup? They'll use language like "ground-floor opportunity" (synonomous with "low pay" anyway), or they'll say they're a new company or startup.

Foreign employers. To date, I've not come across anyone who's had any positive experience with a person in another country. Seriously, if they default, how are you going to collect? There are enough employers domestically to go around. Work with people who are subject to the same laws you are.

People with posses. This one isn't easy to spot at the outset, if at all. But nervous clients can tend to want to run their copy past friends, family, coworkers, etc. That's death to you and your check. No writer or editor can survive the onslaught of several, differing opinions and still serve the paying client's needs. No one. And it's totally uncool of your client to expect it. Do what I do - put a clause in your contract now that states no third-party involvement without both parties agreeing to such in writing. It's because I've had such experiences more than three times that I've started putting that into contracts. Make it a deal breaker so you have an out should it happen.

Job/client listing sites that charge fees. This one's never an easy sell. Others have had success getting jobs through these places, but they also have had more than their share of headaches as sites like eLance change the rules so that it costs a writer more to secure clients. I object to sites that charge writers for job listings as much as I object to sites that act as a clearinghouse for clients and writers. You never needed a third party to intervene before - why now? If you feel that strongly about representation for those connections, hire an agent.

The same goes for membership sites. There are some sites out there that expect you to pay for your memberships. Look, maybe you get some value out of rubbing elbows with other people who pay 20 bucks a month or more. If so, don't expect it to be anything more than an online country club. If you decide to join (and some may be fun - I can't say), do so on the assumption that it's more of a club and not so much a place to find work.

Anyone who posts an ad using the words "It's an easy job for the right person." In nearly every case this phrase is included, the "employer" expects you to work your arse off for much less than you should be paid for the job. This is a person who doesn't understand the scope of the project or worse, does understand and wants it for next-to-nothing. I guarantee any job with that phrase attached is going to pay crap wages.

Clients who won't sign a contract. Yea, I dropped a job once because the client wouldn't sign a standard contract. Anyone who avoids a written commitment is someone whose integrity should be reconsidered. I had one dude go ballistic on me when I refused to finish a project after he'd said he won't sign. He'd assured me he was a stand-up sort and that he's much more relaxed than that. How very cool for you, but I'm uptight when a client refuses the most basic arrangement protecting both of us.

There are so many more, but these are my biggies. How about you? What work or employers are you avoiding?

Too Many Twitters, Too Little Time

Thanks to all of you who joined in the first annual Writer's Worth Day! It was a great start to what I hope is a group effort to raise awareness, offer more support, and bring more value to our industry.

Onto other things... I read the Word Wrangler's rant about the proliferation of social networks and posts on how to capitalize on each one. He asked, very wisely, just how much is too much? I ask something a bit different - just how much time can one waste before one realizes that social networks are not much more than time sinks?

I don't Twitter. I have no idea what a Squidoo looks like. I have a Facebook page because my kid put it up for me. Same with My Space. I should go there sometime. I don't. And I still have a career. Go figure.

I do belong to two networks. One offers an array of professionals, and it seems to be the standard for business people. I've connected with other professionals and have used a few folks' comments in articles. I joined only after four contacts/clients invited me. The other is a female-only network, and it's just nice to be connected with other successful women. But I can count on one hand the number of hours per month I spend on either of these networks. Why? Because I think the time is better spent connecting directly with potential or existing clients.

The problem I see is there are more social networks to choose from, so folks are choosing them all. How exactly is that smart? If you belong to say 5 networks and spend about 15 minutes a day on each one, do the math. That's time you could spend calling or emailing clients, or sending out proposals or queries for actual work. So I ask you - are you applying any kind of vetting process in your search for the social network that best suits you?

Networks are fun. They're a great way to reconnect or to meet new people. But in my humble opinion, they are not a fantastic place to find work. From my view, most people on social networking sites are looking for work. Not too many are hiring. I left one social network because it was rife with people marketing the bejeezuz out of their companies or services, and there wasn't a lot of connecting going on beyond that. In effect, it was a waste of time and bandwidth.

Raising Awareness One Writer at a Time

This is it - my self-proclaimed first annual day to celebrate what we writers are worth. If you have a blog, please join me in saying yes to competitive wages and no to accepting what isn't worthy of our talents. Share your experiences, your advice, your support to all writers in hopes that we can convince our counterparts to appreciate themselves as paid professionals. Visit other blogs or forums and leave comments or links to this or any other site singing the praises of decent pay for decent work. We can't stop the crap jobs from coming in. We can, however, stop dragging down our industry by reducing the number of people responding to these ads.

Beginning writers, look. I know where you're coming from. I used to be a beginner myself, you know? I took jobs that paid somewhere around 50 bucks for more work than you can imagine. I've been where you are. You think you need those clips so badly that it's okay to take that job offering $5 for 50 articles.

No. No you don't. Those aren't clips - those are a serious waste of time and talent. If you were to point a potential client to those clips, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot. Why? Because real employers know what crap websites look like, and your work plastered all over it, even if it's good work, is going to reflect very badly on you. Suddenly this otherwise seemingly intelligent person has shown a lack of sound judgment. Whom you affiliate with is as important as any clips you might have.

Do yourself a favor - take a freelance job at the local newspaper. I'm serious. You get paid something for your efforts, and you build credible experience. Who cares if your community is your only audience? Believe me, it's much more impressive to show newspaper experience on your resume than it is to show that you churned out articles for an article mill or for a foreign-based "employer" who never did pay you those 40 rupees... Newspapers are where most of us started out. They speak very well to your ability and your reliability, as most newspapers have short deadlines.

Think you can't do a newspaper? Then find yourself a print publication (not online - not until you have the experience to discern viable jobs from trash) and start submitting paper/email queries. Do your homework (we all have to) and learn how to submit properly first. You can find lots of links (here, too) on this site and others that will help you.

If you need help or guidance, ask. We're always here to help. By all means, make sure you place a value on your work that allows you to earn the wage you deserve (note - that's much more than you think). Your career, and all of ours, depends on it.

I Have Titles!

Just a reminder - tomorrow is Writer's Worth Day. It's time for all of us to post on our blogs or leave comments around the blogosphere motivating our fellow writers in the beginning stages of their careers to value themselves enough to demand proper payment. Whatever you feel like sharing - education on what to charge or how to spot a raw deal, posts encouraging others to bring their prices to at least minimum wage, whatever moves you.

On to other things.... there should be a task force that prohibits dorks from using the Internet. Here I was, over 2 years into my Blogger experience when a writing chum points out that my feeds have no titles - and no content, for that matter. Uh, huh? She was kind enough to spend some time fixing the problem for me, which turned out to be lack of a Title space on my posting options. Why it doesn't default to this is beyond me, but I should've investigated a bit further. Thank you, Kristen. :)

The week is going much better. My Jetta will live, amen. It may not be 100 percent, as I think the bent axle is going to come back to haunt me, but my daughter can drive it while we're out of the country, which is good. We spent last night looking for flights to Heathrow, and like fools we waited until this morning. The price tripled. Oy. But again, we were fortunate. He called his travel agent. We were able to get the same ticket for just a smidgen more than what we'd have paid last night. Amen again.

I'll be out for a little more than a week. And I'm nervous. It seems like every time I have a vacation, I come home to zero work. Mind you, I do have ongoing work that keeps me busy at all times, but the larger projects tend to drop off if I'm not here to light fires under my career. How does one effectively come back and drop into work again?

Here's how I did it this time - I set up some smaller projects with deadlines shortly after I return. Knowing I will come home to some activity makes me feel much better about leaving. Also, I'm sending out a proposal today for another article project, which may or may not have a later deadline, but will still give me some work through the lean summer months. Another possible project waits, as well. A very busy company that needs editing help is on my to-do list for Monday. I've contacted them twice, and this is my follow-up to see if we can line something up for when I return.

It's always hard allowing yourself time to relax. Why not make it easier on yourself? What do you do to prepare both for your vacation and for the time after?

Pledge with Me, People

I've read scores of blog postings this week both arguing against and defending low-paying, scummy wages (and please read this article to get yourself in the right mood). We've tried separately to shake others back into shape, but to no avail. We all know the problem exists. We also know that change comes from within.

I've preached it until I've turned numerous shades of blue and red. I've given cyber shakes and left my anti-nonpayment manifestos plastered all over the Internet. I've torn out my now-thin red hair over it. But I'm one person. I can't change the world by myself, nor can I personally slap upside the head each writer who agrees to less than he's/she's worth. So I'm proposing that all of us - all writers who hack it out for a living - band together and do something about it. Time for action. Solitary bitching doesn't cut it. Let's do something as a profession.

Let's set aside this Friday as Writer's Worth Day. Let's post in our own separate ways on our very own blogs (and leave comments on forums) the ugly truth about taking low-paying crap jobs, of devaluing yourself and in turn, devaluing all writers. Let's vow to post encouragement to beginning writers and help them determine how low too low really is. Let's find a way to be proactive in the push against the pseudo-employers who want nothing more than to get our hard work for next-to-nothing.

Please post this plea around the Internet. Let's help raise some much-needed awareness of how writers should conduct themselves - as business people who deserve to be paid for specialized services.

Let's take no more of it. Please leave your commitment to join the fight right here in the comments section. And join us all on Friday as we raise awareness and thus, raise rates.

Scams and the Scamming Scammers Who Scam Them

(With thanks to Al Franken)

I'm talking about rental car companies, insurance companies, and anyone or any company that sugar-coats anything unsavory and packages it as a "deal." Rental car companies, much like insurance companies, have you coming and going (ironic as that statement may be). I rented a car yesterday so daughter could get about while I'm out of the country in a few weeks. Only....she can't drive it. No no no... the accident that wasn't her fault that put my car out of commission? It's put her out of a set of wheels entirely.

She isn't 21. Rental car companies generally think the 19 year old girls are a huge risk (not the 57-year-old men who hit her car). Oh, if she had the insurance in her name (which would cost a mere $3K annually just for her, just for liability - HA!) and if she had a major credit card in her name (easier to do, but no freakin' way!), she could drive it. Not rent it, no no. Just drive it. So I must now consider how to get her mobile while I'm not around. Friends are still at school. Other friends work, too, and cannot shuttle her. We live in the freakin' suburbs, which means there's no public transportation. The suburbs are some suspended form of Hell reserved for people who think they'll always have a car handy. No sidewalks, no stores close by, no sense of community beyond waving to neighbors in passing. But that's another story, and another reason why I'm ready to head back to the country or deep into a city where neighborhoods still exist...

Rental car companies - legalized robbery in the form of arbitrary rules that they blame on their insurers, which is most likely true. Insurers base all their underwriting decisions on probability of risk. She's 19. That means she's not to be trusted with their insurance coverage. However, can they not allow for exceptions - even exceptions parents would be willing to fork over extra for, given that the child in question has a job and a real need for a car?

Alas, my project is due and I can't think about this now. I have a dull headache caused either by stress or that too-sugary margarita I had last evening - can't say. Neither one is good for me. That's what comes from trying to live a little at the end of a lousy day. My Jetta may be hauled off for good, destined to be parts for some undeserving soul. That car's in fantastic shape (beyond the obvious dork-induced accident damage), and it fits me. Best car I've ever owned. Odd how I'm clinging to this car. I was always so anxious to get a new car before, but this one, well, it's been good to me.

One positive note - I have in my hands a much-overdue check from the company that was giving me the obvious run-around. I don't know if my attorney/sister got in touch, but it was the very next day after I'd sent her the information and she'd promised to send a legal response that the phone call came with the promise my check was mailed. Until yesterday, I thought, "Yea, right." (which is, by the way, the only time two positives make a negative) I'm happy to say it's here. I'm be thrilled in about 14 days after it clears both accounts. At least some scams are easy to spot and easier to correct.

How Can You Expect the Unexpected?

I had big plans today. I got up early and got some ongoing project work out of the way so I could concentrate on an article that has a short deadline. Only I get this call from my child - "Mom, come outside. I've had an accident." Not what you want to hear when your kid's out with your car. Seems she was stopped waiting to make a left onto our street when someone came flying over the hill behind her, swerved to miss her, went into the center of the road and forced the oncoming car off the road, all while wiping out the side of my car.

No one was hurt, amen. However, after I got the tire changed (rim was bent something awful), it just didn't look right. Tires shouldn't lean inward, you know? So I took it up the block to the mechanic. He said, "Park it. That's not safe to drive." Something underneath is obviously bent, and I'm out a car. And she works. Time for the rental.

As Robbie Burns once said, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'menGang aft agley." Simply put, it doesn't matter what you think you're doing - you're just screwed so don't bother. (If you want a belly laugh, check out Eddie Izzard's bit on how that phrase may have come to be created - hysterical).

This puts me behind yet another day. That ticks me off, because I've scheduled two different outings this week. I may have to cancel one or both in order to get the car situation sorted out, and that, my friends, is where the sucky part comes in.

So how do you handle the curve ball in your seemingly organized life? I'm headed for the kitchen and some tea. You?

Best Posts of the Week

Some posts just warrant extra attention, don't you think? Maybe I'll make this a weekly habit, maybe I won't. But I've decided when I come across an invaluable article or blog post, I have to share it.

This one in particular caught my eye. Urban Muse Susan Johnston wrote an excellent guest post over on Deb Ng's Freelance Writing Jobs. Go read it. Seriously. It will enhance the way you find work.

Okay, this one was last week, but it ties in with Susan's idea above. The Word Wrangler lassoes ways to gain more blog traffic. Look, traffic equals brand awareness, folks. You want to have some clout when you go to that potential employer and request a higher fee. If your name is all over the place and people are looking to you for some answers, your chances might be a bit better.

I meant to mention this post last week, but I somehow overlooked it. Jennifer over at Catalyst Blogger has a great post on determining your rates. She's put together a great step-by-step guide for getting to your bottom line. Definitely something you should be doing.

What I like about Kristen King is her constant search for more ways to enhance her business. It's more than admirable - it's what we should all be doing. Kristen's just returned from a terrific conference, and she's already sharing things she's learned. One notable item - describe what you do in ten words or fewer.

Bob Younce has fast become one of my favorite bloggers. He gives it to you straight, and every bit of it is useful. And fun. I went back a few posts for this gem, which I've decided should be our Writing Commandments. Bob calls it 178 Ways to Improve Your Internet Writing, but honestly, it will improve everyone's writing. Personal favorites on the list are numbers 50 and 51.

Hate networking? Don't know where to start? Never fear - over on Biz Chicks Rule, Kristen King has given us a primer on networking, and it's a good one. It's do-able. It won't overwhelm you. Promise. Kristen gets two nods this week because she's putting the goods out there for us.

Have a favorite post you'd like to share? Leave your link love in the comments section.