Last week, I started this two part series on increasing your freelance writing rates by explaining the first two steps in my three step process – reviewing your existing rates and being able to justify an increase.

At the end of any rate increase, you should always end up smiling

Today, I’m going to explain what I do after I’ve reviewed my existing rates to confirm I actually need to increase them and feel confident that I can justify a raise with both my existing clients and potential new clients.

3. Increase your rates confidently

Although this section of the three step process is one step overall, I’ve divided it up into three sub-sections, as I consider it important to fully understand each aspect individually.

3.a.  Be confident.  And stubborn.

I hated raising my freelance writing rates when I first started out, as I was never confident enough to challenge anyone who said they wouldn’t pay my new rates – I wanted clients and as long as I wasn’t working for peanuts, it was better to have the clients on a lower rate than no clients at all.

Now I have a strict rule – if I increase my rates and people don’t like it, I’ll walk away, unless a) we come to an agreement that is suited to both of us (i.e., additional benefits) or b) they’re an existing client with certain circumstances (discussed in point 3.b below).

There’s no need to be angrily stubborn if someone challenges your rates, but you need to be confident enough to say to a client, either current or potential, that they’re your rates and although you’re willing to negotiate slightly dependent upon the project size / volume / benefits, your rate card is applicable as it stands.

Freelancers have a hard time when it comes to rates and it’s not just freelance writers.  My Better Half is a self-employed piano teacher and the number of people she gets questioning what is often a bi-annual increase of 50p (50p!) per lesson is incredible.

We may not work in a traditional 9 to 5 job that sees us pick up a pay cheque at the end of the month, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to make a living.

3.b.  Speak to your existing clients

I always speak to my existing clients first when raising my rates, as although it is unlikely to happen, there is always the chance that a client could look on my website, see my updated rate card and act on that information, whether that’s panicking that they can’t afford to pay me or they start looking for a new writer immediately.

Also, while I said above that it is worthwhile being stubborn, I just want to reiterate the fact that you should never approach clients forcefully or angrily – I always do so in the politest way possible, maybe even in a voice that is more formal than I’d normally speak to them in.

I usually approach the topic by e-mail first and simply follow the process that I’ve discussed so far – explain that my rates have remained the same for x amount of months, that the work I’ve carried out to date for the client has seen x, x and x improve and I’m therefore looking to increase my freelance writing rates across the board.

And one of the most important pieces of information I’ve ever taken in as a freelance writer is that you shouldn’t always expect your existing clients to roll over and say they’ll pay your new rates.

The reason behind this is you may have been working with a client since you first started writing several years ago and they’ve remained on your initial rate of, for instance, $15 per 400 word blog post.

As you’ve now realised you want to start charging $30 per 400 word blog post, while this figure might be acceptable to new clients, your existing client has been paying $15 for several years and jumping to $30 is a 100% increase.

It’s here where you need to use your own understanding of the client, as although you need to increase your rates, you need to determine whether a 100% increase is manageable – and justifiable in the client’s eyes – or whether you should approach them with a slightly lower figure, explaining it’s a reduced rate because of their loyalty.

In all honesty, I’ve done both and by working closely with my clients, I’ve managed to negotiate a rate that has been suited to both parties.

3.c.  Update your new client rate card

Whether you display your rate card on your website / blog / portfolio or not, it’s imperative that you start using your new rate card from the moment you increase your rates.

If you attempt a phased approach, you’ll find that you continue to look for projects that fall within your old rate card range, as you know that market and feel comfortable within it.

However, although that’s the easy option, you’ll see much more financial benefit if you aim to move markets slightly, pitching for projects and providing quotes for clients that you haven’t spoken to previously, but who you believe will feel comfortable with your new rate card.

Confidence is key here, as increasing your freelance writing rates can be much more of a troublesome time than most first believe.  I’m not saying that you should never work for less than what you state on your rate card or that you should turn your nose up at every customer who asks if you can write a piece for lower than what you normally charge – you just need to be willing to say no on occasion, something that I know all to well how difficult it can be.

Increasing your freelance writing rates should never be something you do on a whim and I hope that the information I’ve provided in this short series helps you to increase your freelance writing rates successfully.

Image:  Ian Paterson (Geograph)

by Lior Levin

Every blogger, at some point in their writing career, gets a little stumped when it comes to finding something great to write about. In the beginning, ideas are flowing like crazy. But at some point, between wanting to be completely original and yet wanting to drive tons of traffic to the blog, many bloggers find themselves slowly but steadily running out of steam.

This is where content planning comes in. I admit that planning out every post for the next year seems incredibly difficult, but content planning doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to come up with all of the content at once. Instead, simply try to incorporate different types of posts. The ideas will come naturally when you start there.

Here is a list of 8 types of posts that will bring a nice mix of content to your blog and get ideas flowing again.

News Posts

Too many bloggers fail to embrace the significance of the news. While the news, by its very nature, is not evergreen, covering news from time to time is going to bring fresh, and predictable, traffic to the blog. Most bloggers forsake traditional reporting, leaving all of the opportunity to mainstream media. Take advantage of the fact that people are searching for articles related to current events – and also realize that these articles get retweeted and shared on social media sites rather frequently as well.

Event Posts

This is another type of post that’s fairly easy to write if you’re finding yourself nearing blogger’s block, or if you’re tired of writing the same things all the time. Blogging about events actually has more than one benefit. If the event requires ticket sales, it’s possible that you could generate affiliate income by directing your readers to purchase tickets, if an affiliate option is available. Events also bring both “before” and “after” traffic by people searching for information about it. Lastly, like the news, events are rarely covered by the mass majority of bloggers out there, so you will give yourself the advantage of offering something unique to your readership.

Pick of the Week Posts (Content Curation)

Whether it is a great photo, tweet, blog post, or comment left by a reader, singling out a group of favorite things will ensure that you have something to talk about. My personal favorite is re-capping the comments that have been left on a blog by readers. Remind people that your blog is a place to be social and to speak up. Highlighting photos weekly – perhaps ones that are especially bizarre, timely, or moving – also gives your blog some texture. These types of posts take very little time to write since they primarily involve content curation.

How to Posts

It is widely accepted notion by pro bloggers that how to posts are a critical type of post to add to your content plan. How to posts have the potential to do two things: (1) generate consistent traffic, and (2) increase blog authority. They are likely to be referenced in other user-generated content articles (blogs, Squidoo lenses, Hubpages, etc.), which both drives traffic and increases incoming links. And how to posts may be bookmarked both publicly and privately, creating repeat, loyal readership.

Focusing too much on how to posts could lead to blogger’s block, though, if you’re more focused on simply incorporating this type of post than you are on actually communicating something important. When considering what to write, think of the last time you needed to figure out how to do something. What was it? Write the process down and publish it on your blog. Instant content!

Controversial Posts

It’s probably fair to say that you don’t agree with everything that you read. If you are a regular blogger and blog reader, it might even be fair to say that daily, you find something you totally disagree with. Write about it – and link to the source. Don’t just spout your personal opinion about something which the reader has no frame of reference. Specifically talk about the fact that you read something that you don’t agree with. Include why, link to it, and for some flavor, pull a quote or two from the original source and put that into your post. See if you don’t inspire some heated discussion from your readers.

Introduction To/Subject Overview Posts

While it may seem boring, writing a post that introduces and/or explains a topic is easy and incredibly beneficial for increasing traffic and blog authority. From time to time, write a post that is simply an overview of a particular topic. Include links, images, pull quotes, and whatever else you can curate to give readers a very substantial and quality overview. More than likely, this type of post will not be a hot topic in social media circles, but if your blog already has great authority and page rank, you will find yourself generating a lot of traffic by people who are searching for information on that topic. You’ll also earn yourself links from writers who feel your post is the most reliable source of information on that topic.

Research Results Posts

When you’re finding yourself at a loss for something to write, turn to your favorite press release distributor, such as PR Newswire, PRWeb, or something similar. They are excellent places to come up with great ideas – especially those based on recent research. On your blog, publish your opinion – or ask your readers for their opinions – on research results that would be of interest to them.

Infographic Posts

This is possibly the easiest way to eliminate blogger’s block. Infographics are created to be written about and shared. The nice thing about this type of post is that you don’t need to be the one to create the infographic. Instead, just share it. Grab the code, insert it into your blog post, and publish. If you want, you could add a paragraph or two summing up your opinion on the infographic, or you could write an overview for it. You could also include a poll from PollDaddy.com on the subject, giving your readers a way to interact with the content. If the infographic is good, you’re likely to get a lot of social media shares and links.

The DailyInfographic.com is a great source for infographics. The more timely your infographic, the more likely it will be that you will see a surge in traffic and shares from it.

Those 8 types of posts alone could keep you busy for awhile. What other types of posts inspire ideas for you?

This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a company that offers psd to xhtml conversion.

Photo credit: Michael Davie

I’m so pleased to welcome Anne Wayman as a guest poster on Get Paid to Write Online, since I’ve been following her writing blog for years. Today she shares her views on must-haves for a successful freelance writing business.

Don't panic about your freelance writing business - show some moxie instead.

Ask a dozen people, or do a search on the ‘net, about what you need to start a freelance writing business and you’re likely to end up with a list as long as someone’s proverbial arm.

Online you’ll be told about something called the entrepreneur’s personality. This type of article almost always offers test purporting to tell you if you have such a mind or not. Everyone who can fill out their email form correctly passes and qualifies for a course on starting a business that costs – well, there’s that arm again, along with a leg.

You’ll also find lists ranging from 10 to 50 things you must have in place before you dare to step out on your own. Ten might make sense, 50 is a stopper as far as I’m concerned.

Friends and family will have another set of suggestions about what you need that is often comes in the form of “What! Are you crazy?” or some variant.

While some of this information can be helpful, particularly if you take it in small bites, it can also be so overwhelming it will make you think starting your business is impossible – it’s not. There’s a huge difference between what you really need to start a freelance writing career and what’s nice to have.

Three Must-Haves for a Freelance Writing Career

Here are the three things you absolutely must have to start a freelance writing business:

Some writing talent. You don’t have to be Pulitzer Prize material or in line for a columnist job at, oh say, The Atlantic. You do need the ability to recognize and write complete sentences, do some basic research and recognize that ideas are everywhere. Chances are if you love to read and you grew up in an English speaking country you write well enough.

A computer and an internet connection and somewhere to use it. You can set it up on a desk in your bedroom or, dare I mention, the kitchen table featured in so many get-rich-quick schemes, or on your lap in your living room. I have at one friend who runs the majority of her writing business from various coffee shops around town with her laptop.

A bit of Moxie.  Moxie is an old fashioned word meaning, among other things, including. “1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage. 2. … initiative… ”

The Most Important Quality for Writers

Of the three I, suspect moxie is the both the most important and perhaps the most difficult to come by. It’s not the skills that are difficult, although there is certainly some of that required. It’s that “ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage” that can be hard to come by, as well as the “initiative.”

Make no mistake about it, starting a writing business or any other for that matter, requires “imitative” and I can guarantee that you will meet difficulties that a bit of bravery will help you solve.

I know from my email that many who say they want to be freelance writers lack the moxie to do what it takes; I’m not sure why.

Some, of course, are just looking for an easier, softer way.

But many suffer from one or both of two fears – rejection and/or not getting it right.

When you have moxie you may have those feelings, but you don’t let them stop you.

That means that although you’re totally panicked at the idea of submitting a query, you do it anyway. Maybe you set a goal of getting it out in the next five days. Even when the fear becomes so strong you can barely type it out, you do it anyway, and you get it in the mail, E or snail.

Or maybe you want to start corporate writing. You determine to contact one local company a day by email for two weeks. As you compose the email you find you’re making typos because of the fear that someone will laugh at you or that that no one will respond. You send the emails anyway and you do it again the next week, making the emails better each week.

And when you get a response from a query or an email you sent regarding corporate writing you open it right away. And you read it until you’re sure you understand what it says.

If it’s a rejection, and in the beginning it usually is, you take a deep breath, and pin it to the wall in celebration because you’ve begun to actually take the steps that will lead you to a successful freelance writing career.

If, as occasionally happens, it’s an acceptance, you celebrate and then get on with the writing so you can do it all over again.

What do you find you need for your freelance writing business?

Anne Wayman is a ghostwriter and writing coach. You can find her at AboutFreelanceWriting and other websites including PowerfullyRecovered! and WhenGrandmotherSpeaks. Her professional site is AnneWayman.com.

Photo credit: Simon_K

For most new freelance writers, writing rates are arguably the most complicated and frustrating part of their new career, for a variety of reasons.

Increasing your freelance writing rates can be difficult, but it's an important part of your continual development

Thinking back to when I first started freelancing, the primary reasons why it was such a headache topic for me were firstly because I had absolutely no idea what a ‘good’ per word / article rate was and secondly because I was, without sounding a little melodramatic, petrified that if I ever increased my rates, all of my existing clients would leave and I’d have to completely rebuild by client base.

Over the following years, I received some great advice on various aspects of freelance writing rates and now, at the start of every year, I take the time to sit down, review what my rates currently are, whether there is justification to increase them and how exactly to increase them if need be.

And in this two part blog post, I’m going to explain exactly what I do, step-by-step, to hopefully give other freelance writers who are in the position most freelance writers were in once, a helping hand when it comes to increasing your freelance writing rates.

Step 1:  Review my existing rates

When I’m looking at increasing my freelance writing rates, the very first thing I do is review my existing rates and question whether I actually need to increase them.

In all honesty, I haven’t ever said to myself ‘No, I don’t need to raise my freelance writing rates this year’, but I always ask myself the question.

The main reason behind this is an increase in my rates could lead to a drop in business, whether that’s because I’ve continued to raise my rates year-on-year and I’ve priced myself out of the market or the economy has had such a detrimental impact on my target audience that I need to remain as competitive as possible to continue a steady stream of work.

Step 2:  Can I justify increasing my rates?

There is often a belief amongst many new freelance writers that because they’ve been writing at a certain rate for 12 months, the absolutely must increase their rates, irrelevant of any other impacting factor.

The problem is, not all freelance writers can justify increasing their freelance rates, particularly with regards to existing clients.

With new clients, it isn’t such an issue – you’re offering a price for a project and if they can afford it, great, if not, they’ll move on – but with existing clients, you need to be able to justify increasing your rates if you want to remain working with them, as you’re essentially asking for more money for exactly the same output.

One of my favourite methods of justification is being able to prove that the writing I’ve provided over the last year has been particularly beneficial to the client – being able to show actual proof, such as an increased conversion rate or better search engine ranking is fantastic – and without the work, there would be a noticeable drop in certain aspects of their business.

Considering, as freelance writers, we often promote other people’s products and services, I’ve found that a lot of writers struggle with justifying an increase in their rates – the equivalent of basically telling people how good you are.

You don’t need to blow your own trumpet to the customer and make them think you’re the world’s best writer, but you do need to be able to impress them enough for them to see how beneficial the service you provide is.

The information here details two of the three steps I carry out at the start of each year and next week, I’m going to explain how I exactly increase my freelance writing rates after I’ve reviewed my existing rates and justified an increase.

Image:  damozelijane (Flickr)

As easy as writing sales copy might seem – let’s face it, it’s what we do every day and we are supposed to know how to get it right (within reason) – I recently got reminded that things are not always that easy for us, the craftsmen of words.

Up until early last year I hadn’t written a single word for a hotel. Sure, I had some knowledge about hotel sales copy but it came mostly from studying hotel websites while booking our holidays and playing smart alec, thinking I could write it better.

Real life likes to play tricks on us and my writing skills and confidence were put to the test when I landed a job as an SEO and main writer for a large chain of serviced apartments in the UK.

There are certain things I learned about the industry that helped me overcome the initial bump on the road. Today I want to share them with you.

No warm ups. Period!

I have a tendency to use warm ups in my posts. I am sure you noticed that in this article as well. In many cases, warm ups work like a charm. However, when it comes to holiday makers, your readers have hardly any time at all to go through your copy and might not even get past the warm up.

Insight – write for people who:

- Have a very limited time to do their research.
- Expect to see nothing more than a list of things that are included in their booking.
- Need to remember your copy and offer past the research stage to come back and buy.

Friendly Tone is a Way to Go

Nothing works worse when you are trying to sell a hotel than a dry, professional tone. The tone of your copy has to reflect the cushy atmosphere of the holiday accommodation that you are selling. A friendly tone is the way to go in this case. However, the difficulty is that most people look for nothing more than a list of things they get with their booking plus some location info and a price.

Keywords Do Not Always Work The Way You’d Expect Them To

Writing a copy for a hotel is a constant battle between satisfying both research and sales stages of the process. On one end, your copy needs to inspire your readers while they still check out many different hotels so that they remember yours and will come back to make a booking. On the other hand, you want them to book straight away and must write copy to inspire them to do that too.

The best way to achieve success with both is by using the right keywords. However, these work in a quite specific way in the hotel industry.

Insight – hotel keywords characteristics:

- Holiday makers usually use plural keywords during their research.
- Short tail keywords are mainly used for research and have a low conversion rate.
- You will get better conversion rates on long tail, low traffic keywords.

It was a steep learning curve, but I made it through and I am now enjoying  great success at work. I hope these tips will help you do the same.

Pawel Grabowski works as an SEO Specialist and web content writer for a leading serviced apartments provider in the UK. He is also the author of “The Smart Business Guide to Winning New Work“, the best beginners’ guide to selling and brining new clients in. Connect with Pawel on Google+.

Image: Bernard Gagnon via Wikimedia Commons

By Lori Widmer

It’s tough when you’re first building your writing career to make the right choices. The easy choices aren’t necessarily the best choices, but when you’re fresh at it, how do you know?

When I first started freelancing, I chased the money – meaning I never turned down a client no matter how bad the fit was. The result: lousy working conditions, terrible pay, and referrals from cheap clients that led to even more cheap clients. I was stuck in a rut.

No more. Thanks to lessons learned the hard way, and lessons taught by other freelancers, I can now spot a lousy deal in milliseconds. I’ve now adopted three rules by which I judge all clients and offers.

Rule #1: Don’t pay for access to clients. That includes bidding sites, sites that require a fee in exchange for “access” to projects, and clients asking for “processing fees” or any other remuneration in exchange for a job. The idea behind freelancing is to be paid for your work, not the other way around. Worse, these sites often offer “premium” projects the likes of which can be found on Craig’s List – $4 an article? Really?

Rule #2: Don’t bid. Refer to rule #1. Let me qualify this because we do have to provide bids to clients frequently – don’t bid against writers in any open forum. That cheapens both the writer and the fee. Also, don’t bid on any project without contacting the client directly or knowing anything about the project. Instead, set your own rates. Do negotiate with clients so that you come to mutually agreeable terms, but don’t attempt to barter on a job board. You’re a professional. Professionals don’t beg.

Rule #3: Don’t weed through ads. I can’t remember the last time I scored a client gig through an advertised job. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I even looked at the ads. There may be true jewels among the rubble of job listings sites, but each one you find is also being found by thousands of your peers. Instead, choose your own clients and contact them directly offering your services. This does two things – it allows you to reach clients who truly value your skills, and it allows you to control your own earnings. Job listings usually state a rate, and it’s usually not up to what you should be earning.

By following these three rules, you can shed the low-paying gigs and lift yourself and your career out of an ever-deepening rut. It requires a little more work from you, but once you’re earning to your potential, you’ll be glad you put the effort into it.

What rules have you established for yourself and your business?

Lori Widmer is a veteran writer and editor who holds fast to her own rules. Her specialties include business and trade writing, and she teaches marketing and business development skills to freelance writers. Her e-book, The Worthy Writer’s Guide to Building a Better Business, is now available.  She blogs daily at Words on the Page.

Photo credit: Bruno Boutot

Weigh up the options before bartering your writing services.

For most writers, getting paid to write means just that – money in the pocket. I’ve never advocated writing for free, but when is it ok to use the barter system?

Barter is something we often get into as kids. Perhaps we traded an hour spent washing the car for an extra hour of  watching TV. With our friends, we almost certainly traded lunch items we didn’t want for ones we found more appealing, and also traded collectibles of all kinds. Human beings like to trade, but is writing for anything but mondy a sound business practice?

I have to be honest. In most cases, I go for the cash – a deposit up front and the rest on completion. Sometimes, though, barter can be worth it. Here are a few examples from my writing business.

Barter and My Writing Business – Case Studies

Case Study 1

A friend approached me to help get her WordPress website set up. We agreed a fee for the initial job (a slightly discounted mate’s rate, as we would call it in the UK) and started the job. However, it turned out to be a much longer job, partly because we kept refining what the site really needed. We also had some hosting and technical problems to sort out. Since I knew the budget was tight, I offered to do the rest of the job on a part cash, part services basis. She is a massage therapist, and I’ve got a pampering session booked in for some time in the next month. She got her site up and I get some self-care. Everyone wins.

Case Study 2

I had a meeting with a new client who was strapped for cash. However, he was upfront about it and wanted to compensate me. He offers business and organizational development courses. We agreed to swap a three day course for a package of writing services.  That means I get some professional development which all of us need sometimes. Even better, I’m top of his list for payment for services when his next cash inflow comes.

Case Study 3

I once traded writing a promotional article for placement of my ad on a site where the ad fees would normally have been too high. The person who wanted the writing placed value on my writing services and I was happy with the ad placement and traffic I received in return.

Case Study 4

I run an ongoing promotion for a site that’s useful for writers on this blog in exchange for access to the daily job opportunity updates. I also promote the site wherever I can, as it’s a useful service. So far, we’re both happy with the arrangement.

How to Barter Successfully

So, yes, barter can work, but I don’t accept every offer.  There are some important aspects to bartering successfully:

• First, you have to know the value of the services you want to trade. If you are a writer with a price list (even if it’s only in your head), then you know what you would expect to earn for writing an article, blog post or ebook. Keep that figure in mind when making a barter arrangement.
• Second, the other person has to have something that you want – and probably something that you wouldn’t normally buy, otherwise there’s no incentive for you.
• Third, you need to work out some equivalency. How much of your writing is worth how much of their product or service? You both have to be happy that there’s parity, otherwise one of you will end up feeling disgruntled.
• Fourth, only barter if you can live with the fact that you’re not getting cash on this occasion. Man – or woman – cannot live by barter alone. It might have been possible in the days before utility bills and cars, but it certainly isn’t now. Try bartering with the electricity company and you’ll see what I mean.
• Fifth, limit the arrangement. Most business people won’t want to barter forever. In the case of the second client I mentioned above, I stated clearly that while I was happy to barter in the short term, in the medium term I would expect to get paid so I could eat. He understood where I was coming from.

That’s my experience with barter – what’s yours? Have you learned any lessons you’d care to share?

This is my WordCarnival entry. Be sure to check out the other posts on the topic of barter – they will be great!

Photo credit: Sepehr Ehsani

Would you consider money to be the most prominent aspect of your success?

There are a lot of great freelance writing blogs out there (including Get Paid To Write Online ) and while I don’t get chance to look at all of them every week, I tend to have a day once every week or two where I go through several blogs and see what other freelance writers are saying.

Earlier on today, I came across a post by Allena Tapia from 4th January where she explained that someone had made a comment on a piece she wrote for The Huffington Post, essentially saying that she wasn’t a successful freelance writer because she had time to volunteer at her child’s school.

Now, I don’t know Allena personally, but from what I’ve read about her / from her, I’d say she was a particularly successful freelance writer and I believe our views on success will be similar – if you can make a full-time living from freelance writing while also being able to live the life you want, that would make you pretty successful in my book.

This person who commented on Allena’s piece, although I don’t agree with their comment, obviously doesn’t believe that this is what success is based on and it appears that they believe the more  time you’re working throughout the day, the more successful you are.

One of the issues – or benefits, depending on which way you look at it – with freelance writing is that as it is such a varied profession, it’s extremely difficult to pigeon hole people into being successful or unsuccessful.

With other careers, there are often pre-planned routes that lead to a specific point whereby you – and people around you – can assume that you’ve become successful within that career.

And while there are some writing career routes that do have more of a structured path, your standard freelance writing career isn’t one of them.

What also makes measuring success difficult as a freelance writer is that success can come in many different forms and your idea of success can change from one form to another over even a short space of time.

For example, when I first started writing, I remember I had the goal of wanting to earn more from freelance writing than I did from my salaried role and once this was complete, I’d consider myself to be a successful writer.

After achieving this goal, however, my idea of success changed and I wanted to write full-time in place of my salaried role – and now my idea of success has changed once again, as I want to continue to increase my income, but lower my working hours.

There’s no doubt that everyone’s view of what it takes to become a successful freelance writer differs – often widely so – but I would go as far to say that the person who commented on Allena’s post was in the minority when judging success, as I don’t believe there are many people out there who truly believe working all the hours available makes you a successful freelance writer.

Image:  tobym (fotopedia)

I enjoyed this guest post from Victoria Virgo, which shows how she has started the writing year right by booting out procrastination.

The first thing is admitting you have a problem. OK, here goes. Hi my name is Victoria and I am a procrastinator. I will find any excuse not to get things done but this year I am trying to figure out how to achieve my goals while suffering from this unfortunate affliction. The good news is that I have now learned a little secret that is helping to keep me on the straight and narrow and towards the righteous path of achievement and success.

It is the beginning of a brand new year and just like scores of other people all over the world I have prepared a well crafted list of things that I hope to achieve over the next 12 months. The majority of New Year’s Resolutions lists normally comprise of something to do with weight loss, perhaps getting a new job or even finding true love. Actually, to be honest with you I have left that last one off my list for this year and am instead opting for a cosy water bottle to keep me warm on a cold night. Well frankly there’s no room left in my bed what with the pile of self help books and self improvement magazines that have now taken up permanent residence on the left side of to the bed.

Anyhoo back to the point of this post – I am sure that by now you can be in no doubt that I am a procrastinator and will take any opportunity to go off at a tangent. Focus, Victoria, focus.

The Secret To Achieving Your Goals

The little secret that I have discovered is actually not that much of a secret. Everyone knows what it is but we seem to conveniently forget it every time we look failure in the eye. The secret to success comes down to proper planning and execution, plain and simple. If you are serious about hitting your targets you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What is My Goal?
• What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?
• When Do I want To Achieve This By?

As you can imagine, these questions will send someone like me off to procrastination heaven. I have therefore given myself permission to rest my chin in the palms of my hands and look out into the middle distance as I ponder the what’s and wherefores of these three valid points. Actually I allow myself about 5 minutes then snap back to reality and write out a step by step response to each question.

The Goal Setting Process in Action

Here is how I have used this simple process to achieve one of the goals on my New Year’s Resolutions list.

What is My Goal?

To write an article and get it published as a guest blogger.

What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?

Make a list of blogs that accept guest posts. Find out about the site owner and the type of articles that they are looking for. Create a suitable article and submit it for publication. I will write a fresh new article and submit it to a blog owner at least once a week.

When Do I Want To Achieve This By?

Within 3 months.

The Results

I happily got to work and lookey here, this is my first guest post. Hurrah! By getting organised and breaking my goal into bite size tasks, I was able to tame the procrastinator within and get the job done.

This process can be applied to almost any goal that you set for yourself. Once you know what you want you can then work out the steps you need to take in order to succeed. I hope this approach works for you too. Good luck fellow procrastinators.

(Image: By Jorge Barrios (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Victoria Virgo is a freelance writer from London, England. You can visit her personal blog My Daily Cuppa to discover how she is dealing with procrastination. She also owns Two Pretty Things where she writes reviews on whatever takes her fancy. 

My goals for 2012 seem to revolve around having a happier time - how about yours?

Before Christmas, I explained that I wasn’t going to set any goals for 2012 until after we’d welcomed in the New Year, taking a step back from my usual way of working.

The reason behind this was that I’ve noticed in the past few years that I generally feel different towards freelance writing and my career in general after I’ve had chance to relax and spend time with friends and family, rather than in the often manic month of December.

I did make a few notes about what goals I would have set if I planned them in December and as expected, they have changed, with the following being my goals for the coming year.

1.  Get more into working from home

As some of you will be aware from my previous blog post (Working From Home vs Working In An Office – Which Do You Prefer?), I’m a bit indifferent to working from home at the moment.  After years of working towards having a more flexible schedule, generally revolving around working from home rather than an office, I’m surprised at how I’ve struggled somewhat with working from home.

I believe this is down to the work I carry out (which I’ll cover in goal #2) and the fact that after working in the public sector for the past 8 years, I’ve become somewhat accustomed to an extremely structured way of working.

I’ve always wanted to work from home and so one of my primary aims for 2012 is to embrace working from home as much as possible – it has so many benefits and with so many people stuck in 9 to 5 jobs, I’d be stupid not to savour and enjoy every moment I have to work from home.

2.  Start doing more work I truly enjoy

The last 12 months turned out to be quite a whirlwind time for me in terms of my career, as I changed my salaried role and almost all of my freelance work.

What I’ve realised over the past few weeks is that while the salaried role is great in various respects, from financially to the fact that I get to travel, it’s not something I truly enjoy – unlike my freelance work.

I’m not saying that I’m going to give up my salaried work completely immediately, but by the end of the year, I want to know that I’ve made at least some steps forward to carrying out as much work as possible that I really, really enjoy.

3.  Start improving my working relationships

The past year has been somewhat manic for me and one of the aspects of my career that’s suffered is my relationship with various colleagues.

I started to develop some really great friendships with a lot of freelance writers, but unfortunately, I didn’t get chance to do a lot of socialising and networking in 2011, so they’ve suffered.

For the coming year, I want to get these relationships back to where they were – good working friendships with people I know I can rely on and talk to.

4.  Learn the basics of a few languages

One of my goals for 2011 was to learn French and although I started, I never got round to giving it the time needed to develop my knowledge.

So, for 2012, I want to give learning a language another go, but in a slightly different respect.

I like travelling and wherever possible, I like to try and say a few basic words and phrases.  At best, though, they are basic phrases (and are very often non-existent) and so by the end of 2012, I’m looking to have developed a basic understanding of a few different languages, at least to the extent that I don’t have to consult a phrase book when I want to say hello, goodbye, please and thank you, for example, every time I visit a different country.

For me, those are my goals for 2012.  Not extensive by any means, but each and every one of them has been thought through and I’d be absolutely delighted if I could achieve them all over the coming 12 months.

How about you?  What are your goals for 2012?  My goals seem to revolve heavily around having a better, more enjoyable personal life – do yours or are they more focused on heavily developing your career?

Image:  ucumari (fotopedia)