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Go Where the Money Is
Now, I don’t mean to start out this post by talking about the almighty dollar. Like I said to the Berry-Brewer ladies when we were discussing print work, there’s more than money in writing. I am very satisfied to see my name in a byline, and to learn new things. Writing does more for me than pay my bills.
However, the economy is weighing on me, on everyone. It’s all we hear about. It’s on Twitter, it’s on the news, people talk about it. Incessantly. If you’re worried about being able to pay your bills 6 months or a year from now, (or even now), though, then you need to think about money and your career. Where is your career going?
One aspect of this is diversifying. At About.com, we talked about the “gig economy” and the fact that independent contractors, giggers, often have more than one career, gig or job.
I just finished a series of 4 seminars through the local community college. Each was on a Saturday for 7 hours and included another 3-4 hours of curriculum planning. It was seriously intense. I taught a class on freelance writing, and a class on blogging. In the course of the classes, I learned that there is a wide demographic of people who do not understand social media/social networking, but WANT to. I seized on that piece of knowledge and presented the info to the college. Now, I will be teaching THAT class in the Fall, too.
So, with the diversifying and the 3 classes in the Fall, at least I’ll be able to pay some of my bills after Summer.
What about you? What are you interested in? What MORE could you do? What are those skills that you’ve pushed aside to be a freelance writer? It’s time to dust them off, shine them up, and diversify. I’ve noticed many of my writers and readers come from a marketing background- how about some contractual marketing work? Heck, how about establishing your own virtual firm altogether? And most writers should at least try their hand at editing (not everyone can do it, but you should find out).
What are your additional skills? It’s time to shine them up!
It is great that being a writer can bring in other side gigs, such as teaching a workshop or class, not necessarily about writing, but it could be about what your are passionate about, such as teaching women about how to look after there skin and carry out a simple daily skincare routine.
Also recently I have picked up a copy editing gig, which requires a tiny bit of re-writing. And that was by simply having my profile on a self-publishing website.
So yes there are other opportunities out there, it’s just a matter of receiving them and acting on them.
What about syndication? I’ve been freelancing writing for individual publication but thought syndication might diversify my income? Have you ever tried a syndication marketplace like The Syndicated News? I’d be curious to hear you thoughts Allena!