From Bunny Slippers to Business Plans
What a week. I made headway on my book proposal and started my career coaching certification program. And this weekend, I’m visiting the last huge chunk of wineries in NJ for my regional magazine piece. I feel pooped, but it’s a good kind of pooped. What helped and inspired me along the way? Check it:
It’s been quite the month, but I can finally breathe again. Thursday was the last day of my temporary, on-site proofreading gig, and Friday was the due date of a legwork-heavy magazine article. Since then, I’ve (finally) signed up for a career coaching certification program, and also turned my attention to another legwork-heavy magazine article (and by legwork, I mean traveling all over my home state and drinking lots of wine; tough stuff).
I’m about to head out to two more wineries today but, before I go, I thought I’d leave you with this past week’s link love:
Oh you guys. I am sooo pooped. I got home at 1 a.m. last night after an 11.5-hour drive during which I was crammed into the middle back seat of a car between my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law.
I am cranky.
Anyways, last week’s installment of Link Love is going up late, because I was en route to Michigan this past Friday. Here you go:
We’re at it again. Modern Materialist, the Nerve.com products blog that provides the bulk of my income, is again hiring. And as MM’s lead blogger, I’m the lucky chica in charge of finding the best darn products blogger out there.
In the midst of blogging, Christmas shopping, and tree trimming, I’ve been sneaking away all week to steal some alone time with My So-Called Freelance Life, the most recent freelance survival guide from alt-work guru Michelle Goodman. And let me tell you. It is good.
Which is why I’m taking a break from our usual Thursday interview to introduce you to a true source of infinite wisdom, in paperback form.
Honestly? This is the book I wish I had a year ago.
Over the course of the past 10 years, I’ve juggled on-campus jobs, part-time retail work, temp work, full-time work, freelance projects, and internships, all in varying combinations.
At first, in my earliest post-college years, I considered full-time work to be the obvious end goal and, for a time, was quite proud of myself as I moved up in the world of academic book publishing.
As my longing for more creative work grew, however, I determined that I could only find happiness as a full-time freelancer.
Now, as the New York Sun teeters on the brink of end times, and I find myself losing a main source of income that was more part-time than freelance (except for the 1099), I’ve been forced to consider that an all-or-nothing approach is perhaps not the best one for me.
And maybe you’ve come to the same conclusion. Perhaps you’ve read The Anti 9 to 5 Guide and One Person/Multiple Careers and are already masterminding the perfect balance of multiple income streams. After the jump, the types of income sources you should consider, and why:
Seal Press is a goldmine (I swear, they’re all I’ve been posting about lately) and, though the press is aimed toward women, many of their how-tos and handbooks are relevant to men as well. Which is why I don’t mind bringing up another one of their books, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears’s The Boss of You.
After reading this book, I feel prepared to rethink and re-tackle the way the way I went about starting up my at-home business and, after reading the 7 things I love about this book, you’ll see why:
Over at Nerve, I blog about products you need, products you’ll love, and products you probably don’t need but, gosh, they’re so nifty! (My work there gave me the idea to have a regular products feature here at Freelancedom.) During the course of all this blogging, I’ve found many prepackaged “survival” kits, which got me thinking… what could a freelancer on the go use in a survival kit? After the jump, the 6 items I came up with.
