I really want to know because it’s what makes the difference for success. When I become a fan, I stick with the object of my affinity, be it a movie, actor, artist or whatever. Needless to say I’m pretty picky about what I give my affections to.

Before I continue, I have to say that I am not in any way claiming to be the ultimate judge of what is good taste. I am however quite knowledgeable on what moves me. For example, one of my all-time favorite movies is The Mirror has Two Faces, starring Barbara Streisand, (who also directed the movie), Lauren Becall, Jeff Bridges, Brenda Vaccaro, and many other greats.

I have the same sticky response to businesses and blogs I enjoy and find useful. Consider that your audience is picky and they picked you. Do business, run your blogs from that position, and many things will fall into place.

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Six Figure Blogger Blueprint

by David Risley

Yesterday, I downloaded the PDF from pro blogger, David Risley. In his publication, he details how he got to being a six figure blogger. The premise is that others may benefit from his blueprint for success. That’s my hope.

What I Found So Far

Risley gives honest reactions to some of the crappy shortcuts people take. The fact that he calls out the bad practices is refreshing. That’s a big help for people who may get confused about which tactics are considered to be less than above board. The book is a detailed how-to. And just a quick perusal has shown why he’s getting such good reviews already. I see already that I’ll be printing it out to write my notes in the margins (a useful habit for historical review as well as learning and developing a plan).

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Happy New Year! 2010 is as good a year as any to put your ideas into play as you get them, right? Of course it is. However…

If you’re anything like me and my friends, you get a ton of ideas at once in a massive new year deluge. The time of year when you’re awash with inspiration, creativity, desire, hope. Really you want to go for everything, I know. And you can go for more than one, in fact as many as you’re physically and financially able to pursue. But, usually you can’t pursue all your ideas at once. Read more »

Answer to #11 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own.

This is very hard for a new person on the grid, but it’s a great way to jump in, I think. I look for the leads that give information about the job and contact and tell you what they want concisely. I’d like to get more specific here but I think that would be best served in a full post on the subject. Right now, I’m still learning the things that appeal to me, and how my choices measure up in secured assignments.

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Answer to #5 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own.

When you think about human resources, you generally think Human Resources, or HR, right? That’s the department you go to when you have questions about your benefits, wages, work problems, or to seek another position.

Networking

Similar situations occur when you work for yourself. Whether you’re in an office or a room at your home, situations arise when you need others. Either you need them for yourself or for a client. Knowing who your resources are saves a lot of time, especially when you’re in the middle of an important project. No point wasting time if you can help it.

On our own as freelancers, we refer to these individuals or groups as people in our network.

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Here’s answer #2 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own. This is a short answer. But don’t be fooled. Targeting and tracking your audience is a lot of work. As a freelancer you are in a position to choose. You may do different kinds of writing to make ends meet. Notice the topics that present more attraction for you than others. Start there.

• Determine what writing genre interests you, what subjects, and what is the niche you want to fill in that area.
• Research topics in your area of interest. Read through the popular keywords to know what has people’s attention. Review the information to determine if there’s an audience.
• Describe your target audience: individual, company, family or business, end-user or publication.
• Keeping on top of trends is a matter of reading, reviewing and searching topics. Follow tangents to know what is related and may potentially become a focal point.

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Have you ever had a day that makes you wonder why you do the work you do? People hire you to work for them. They give you assignments which you complete effectively. They receive it with no fanfare, only thanks. I work well alone, with no fanfare is nice. I just want to do the work to the best of my ability. When my work is accepted and goes live or into circulation, that is reward enough. And of course being paid well is definitely fulfilling. With that, I’m ready for the next thing. What more do you need, right? Read more »

I used to work as an administrative assistant [AA] for a temp-to-hire placement agency. For one assignment, they placed me at this company where their AA was on maternity leave. Their temp worker before me got the flu, so I was up. A very nice man was assigned to walk me through what I would be doing for them through the end of the week. We got along well, and it wasn’t because I was nice and he was nice. It turned out, he was nice to me because I knew stuff. On the second day, he asked me why I was doing temp work with all the skills I had. Read more »