Credit: Mike Johnson on sxc.hu

Last week I had a meeting with a new prospective client that got seriously off-track. She burst into the café where we were meeting, flopped down and launched into a story about this crazy thing that had just happened to her. She had me giggling so hard that I had to dab tears from my eyes. Turns out, I had a similar story, so, of course, I had to share mine.

For a long while after that discussion there was no talk of business, just knee-slapping stories and riotous laughter. It was only an hour later, when we were both merrily pretending to wolf down cheeseburgers, that I remembered I was in search of a new client, not a new BFF. But with all those laughter-induced endorphins running through me, I couldn’t help but wonder: would it be so wrong if she turned out to be both?

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Credit: ~ggvic~/Flickr

Know what my goal is for 2011? To not buy a gym membership.

I’m one of those people who pay high sums to keep the equipment at my gym clean and untouched. As a freelance writer, you’d think I’d be able to find a few hours a week to hit the gym (I must think so too since I keep renewing my membership), but seeing that most of my work is currently sandwiched in between naptimes and play dates, spending an hour of precious writing time at the gym seems awfully extravagant. In 2011, I am determined to recognize the situation for what it is and not squander my hard-earned money on club fees.

But of course, I need exercise. Clicking the mouse doesn’t exactly tone muscle. And no matter how excited I get over a particular project, my heart doesn’t thump at anywhere near my target rate. As a writer who often pens health and fitness articles, I know that all it takes is a lousy 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity exercise – even if it’s in 10 minute increments – to reap health benefits.

So , I decided to do all of us time-strapped, non-gym-going freelancers out there a service by asking fitness professionals what we can do to stay in shape from home. These four 5-10 minute routines won’t make you break a sweat, but they’ll get your blood flowing and give your heart a little goose. What’s more they’re specifically designed to address the peaks, valleys and long, flat stretches in a freelancer’s life, so you’ll know exactly when to do them.

Now….no more excuses. Get moving!* Continue Reading

Credit: photo by shodensan on Flickr

A few months ago, as I was engaged in some much-needed tidying of my desk, I discovered beneath a stack of index cards and tangle of wires a magnetized card with the following quote:

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face…Do the thing you think you cannot do.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

I bought this card many years ago when I was going through a difficult period that had nothing to do with freelancing or writing. Back then, I would wake in the morning and reach for this card, which was waiting for me on my nightstand. For a long time, this quote helped me to get out of bed every day and fight the good fight.

Happily, my life has since moved on to a much smoother phase. Nonetheless, after finding the card on my desk, I propped it next to my computer. As a freelancer, it’s good to have a daily reminder to be bold. Continue Reading

When I was a practicing corporate lawyer and dreamed of getting into freelance writing, I didn’t think that the two worlds had much in common. Sure, I knew that both jobs required a good deal of reading, researching and writing. But apart from that fundamental skill set, I imagined that with the ditching of my high heels, dark suits, and litigation bag, I would be leaving behind many of professional rules and practices that shaped my life.

Wrong. After I got over the I’ll-write-all-day-in-my-PJs fantasy, and realized that a successful freelance career involves much more than writing, I saw that my legal experience taught me extremely valuable lessons about running a freelance business (not to mention that it financed my start-up). Here are 5 key lessons that I learned: Continue Reading

Writers have a reputation for being reclusive, phone-haters.  Is it true?  Maybe, maybe not.  But it’s true for me. I hate it.  To me, the phone is for talking with family, friends and the computer repair guy.  Conversations with strangers over the phone unnerve me – particularly when I’m interviewing a source. I find myself speaking in a strange, high-pitched voice that both irritates and distracts me.  And I stammer.  A lot.

The internet has made it easy for Haters like me to avoid the telephone: we can conduct the bulk of our research with a few clicks of the mouse, and interview hoity-toity experts without saying a word.  But by shunning telephone interviews, we Haters might be doing ourselves a disservice. Continue Reading