But, that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. Instead of hanging out here, I’d like to encourage you all to head over WAHM Talk Radio. The podcast is hosted by Sparkplugging’s own Kelly McCausey of the WAHM 2.0 Blog, and Tamara and I were her guests this week.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about the ladies behind Freelance Parent, give it a listen. I was worried about figuring out how to download it and everything, and it was a matter of clicking one button…so don’t be intimidated! Not only that, but Kelly is just really awesome, and I’m in favor of supporting her show.

Here at Freelance Parent, we’ve been hinting around for a few weeks that we’re bringing more people onto the Berry-Brewer team. We started talking about it with “Weighing the Pros and Cons of Outsourcing.” Well, we’ve now hired a couple of folks but didn’t want to make any big fuss about it until we were pretty sure things were going to work out.

We forgot to tell the people we hired about that plan.

Oops. So Laurie Mapp from Halo Secretarial sort of let the cat out of the bag in her comment on Tamara’s post called “Keeping Trade Secrets, Well, Secret.” We have, in fact, brought her onboard in a limited capacity to act as our virtual assistant. It’s one of those deals where the more successful we become (with her help), the more we’ll have for her to do. We are absolutely stoked about it.

Part of the reason that we’re feeling so good about Laurie is because we’ve already been having a great experience working with another Freelance Parent reader. About a month ago, Genesis Davies of At Home Mom Blog joined our team, too. She’s done a great job with a variety of projects that we’ve been able to assign to her. We have a couple of local people who have been getting their feet wet, too.

Last week, Tamara and I were really, really excited, because we finally felt like we were at a point where we could hire a former coworker of ours. It was sort of emotional for us, because from the day we started our business, we’ve been trying to figure out how we could afford to bring this person onboard. Last Thursday we were finally able to sit down with her and offer her a very part-time contract with the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency. It was awesome.

For four days.

Today we received an email telling us that after thinking it through, she realizes that she really needs to focus on finding full-time employment. We’re bummed, but she’s got to do what’s right for her. One of the reasons that we were so excited about this writer was because she has expertise in a particular area. We were looking forward to having a go-to person for a specific type of project.

When we got to looking at it, we realized that there are a few areas where we’d like to have a go-to person. Since we’ve had such great luck finding reliable folks through this blog, we decided to throw an invitation out to you all.

Start at the End

I think the primary differences between freelancing and running a “business” are in the way you structure an exit strategy. Most individual freelancers either plan to work forever, create a self-employed 401(k), or simply don’t think about one at all. However, because we have set up our company as a freelance writing business, we are essentially building a recognizable name with an extensive client list. The end goal is to find a way to make this business self-sustaining so that Lorna and I can either step away to enjoy our retirements or sell the enterprise to another budding writer-turned-entrepreneur.

How Much Do You Love the Work?

Of course, that’s not the only difference. Freelancing is like any other career – spend a good 10 or 20 years at it, and there’s a good chance you’ll get burned out. I like to think that having a freelance business saves me from a portion of this burnout. Already, I find myself splitting my time between writing, editing, marketing, project management, and accounting. This mixture comes in handy when I just cannot write one more SEO article for the week, and it also allows me the flexibility to choose which projects I want to work on and which ones I’d rather not do (while still meeting all my clients’ needs).

Let’s Talk about the Money

I am open to a lively debate here, but I really think that a freelancing business is more profitable than individual freelancing. We all talk about feasts and famines, but the fact of the matter is, if you can keep your client roster full, you stand a better chance of keeping those famines at bay. An individual freelancer is necessarily restricted by the amount of man-hours he or she is physically (and mentally) capable of working. A freelancing business is only restricted by the number of independent contractors it has to draw from. And while leaving your independent contractors hanging in the event of a famine so that you can hog all the clients to yourself isn’t a very nice business practice, it can work in your favor – especially if you encourage your independent contractors to diversify their own sources of work instead of relying solely on you for support.

Of course, there’s also the small matter of the financial benefits of running a larger business. Large corporations are run by CEOs who make millions of dollars a year for a reason: there’s money at the top. If you can build your own empire through which you automatically get to play top dog, chances are you’ll be pulling in bigger figures at the end.

Where’s Your Passion?

Lorna and I have this dream of running a freelance business that is not only successful, but that pays an actual living wage and encourages WAHMs (and other professional types) to fulfill their own personal dreams. We want to run an eco-friendly company that gives back to the community, practices ethical business, and serves as a model for others.

This doesn’t make us any better than the freelancer who wants to get a good byline and make it into Oprah Magazine (hey, we want that, too); it simply means that we’re looking for something a little different out of our careers.

So, Which is Better?

Neither, I’m afraid. While running a freelance business has its perks, there are drawbacks, too. There are heaps of added administrative tasks, all the risks associated with independent contractors who don’t meet their deadlines and clients who don’t pay up, and legal and tax-related responsibilities to consider, as well.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to what you want out of your self-made career. Money is good, retirement plans are better, but no one can tell you what to do but you.

Hey, that’s why we do this at all, right?

That being said, I’d like to let you in on a little secret…you don’t know all our secrets. That’s right. There are some business practices that Lorna and I keep to ourselves – and have no intention of ever divulging.

The reason I bring this up is because we just hired a virtual assistant to help us with some of our weekly administrative tasks. (Yay us!) In order to allow her to do her job properly, we will have to share one of these well-guarded trade secrets. Oh, it’s not the one-word answer to finding high-paying jobs or an instant code for access to Elance’s back door; these things are the Holy Grail of the freelancing world, and we gave up searching for them after our first attempt at the last crusade. Really, it’s just a neat little trick we discovered for landing clients who might be on the fence about hiring us. If we shared it, it would diminish its effectiveness, so we keep it to ourselves and reap a few benefits.

Now, I’m really excited about our VA, and I have no qualms about giving her this little secret of ours to further our business, but it did make me start to think about the other secrets being clutched to virtual bosoms around the freelancing community.

In reality, trade secrets are nothing new. Coca-Cola has one. The Colonel has one. They’ve been around for as long as healthy competition has been driving big business, and most of us aren’t really affected by them. Because, really, how many of us aspire to re-create the taste of Coke and open up a beverage conglomerate?

However, when you start to look at these kinds of secrets on a different type of scale – say on the scale of hundreds of freelancers vying for a single job and only one landing it – these secrets actually take on a pretty big meaning. They can even mean the difference between success and struggle.

While I’m certainly not asking anyone to divulge what they might guard as their own trade secret of freelancing, I am curious if this is more common than it first appears. Do you share all the tricks you’ve learned to boost your business, or are there just some things you nourish as your own?

However, on about Thursday of last week, I realized that I hit around 20,000 words and had yet to even introduce one of the pivotal characters in my plot. In NaNoWriMo terms, I was almost half done, but in actual book terms, I was just getting started.

This left me with several options. I could:

a) Slow myself down to be on target to hit the 50,000 word mark by November 30. (Definitely better for business.)

b) Realize I’m being far too wordy and not enough plot-ty, and therefore need to move things along in the plot now and add the filler later. (Definitely not as much fun.)

c) Stop being obsessive about my word count and just get the words out. (Definitely a good idea.)

d) Double my own goal so that I have to work like a maniac to hit 100,000 words instead of 50,000. (Definitely the one I chose.)

So here I am, now tied to a goal of 100,000 words – a goal I am working toward obsessively.

NaNoWriMo itself tells us that 50,000 words isn’t really a whole novel, and that you can go back in and add words later. But the idea of having an entirely finished first draft in my hands come December 1 just seems too good to let go.

100,000 words it is!

First of all, I have to point out that—as is so often the case with debates—I think we all ended up practically “arguing” the same point, just in different words. I agree with the way James phrased it:

“We’ve determined (all four of us) that it’s possible (but not preferable) to start a freelancing business on less than $500.”

Yep. We agree on that. You can totally do it with less than $500, but you’d better have a backup plan.

So, here’s where I get a little rant-y. I hope you’ll bear with me, as I think I actually have two mini-rants brewing at the moment.

Point #1:

Tamara and I absolutely know that we are privileged. The mere fact that we live in North America means that we are privileged. Also, the reason that I mentioned our working spouses was to be clear to everyone that we knew we were in a fortunate situation. Of course, that’s not to say that we are (as Tamara so eloquently put it) “a couple of rich bitches who decided to take up freelancing because we got bored of sitting around and having our nails done.”

We started freelancing because we needed money and wanted to earn it on our own terms. When we decided to start our business, Tamara’s husband had taken on a second job, and I was trying to figure out which maternity outfit was going to work best for my upcoming job interviews. She even took a part-time job at the beginning to help her family meet expenses. So, while we are absolutely a couple of fortunate people, we want to be clear that this wasn’t just a lark or a hobby.

This leads nicely into my second rant…

1. It’s my first time doing it, and I’m really excited. My family and friends only want to hear about it for so long, so this offers me an outlet for my enthusiasm.
2. I’m hoping that by making my intention public, I’ll be held more accountable for getting it done successfully.
3. Most of us are writers here, so it’s pretty relevant. While the bulk of my days are spent writing website content and SEO articles, there is a very strong link between writing fiction and writing nonfiction. Yes, the two require entirely different sets of skills and focus, but writing is a habit that, once gained, is hard to break.

This last reason is the one I’d like to talk about in this blog post. As many of us already know, the purpose behind National Novel Writing Month is that it forces people to really sit down and get the words out. Almost everyone claims to have a great novel inside them just waiting to get out, and NaNoWriMo says, “All right already. Do it. Commit to one month of intense writing, and you’re well on your way to getting that novel done.”

Even if your novel sucks and never gets published (or if it’s fantastic and still never gets published), you have proven to yourself that yes, indeed, you can do anything you put your mind to, including writing 50,000 words in 30 days. And perhaps more importantly, you’ve developed a habit of writing that can lead into your next novel, or the one after, or the one after. It is this habit that lends itself to success.

I once read an interview with Mary Doria Russell, one of my favorite contemporary authors. In it, she stated that she gets up each morning, sits down at her computer, writes ten pages, and then goes about the rest of her day - whether that means intensive research, going to lunch with friends, or (I assume) occasionally vegging out in front of the television. Ten pages, on a generous scale of 500 words per page, is 5,000 words. Ten pages, on a stingy scale of 250 words per page, is 2,500. Either way, that would place her well above the average necessary to meet the NaNoWriMo goals every single month of the year.

How is she able to accomplish so much? Well, first of all, she’s a professional author, which means that unlike the rest of us juggling our creative writing with freelance writing jobs or office jobs or raising the kids, she gets paid for those words she writes every day. But more importantly, she is a writer. It probably took her years to develop the kind of habit that allows her to sit down every day and make that kind of commitment.

I’m happy to report that as of right now, three days into NaNoWriMo, I am finding things easier than I expected. I am well past my 1,667 word per day average, and really excited about continuing in this vein. Perhaps I may change my tune a few weeks from now, but I kind of doubt it. Why? Because over this past year and a half, I have developed the habit of writing. On an average day, I probably plug at least 4,000 words of SEO content, website writing, nonprofit articles, and the like. Heck, as of right now, this post itself is 565 words.

This means that not only are my fingers accustomed to moving pretty quickly over the keyboard, but I also have the self-discipline to sit down and just write. (Note: Not everything I write at first glance is roses, but I already know about the fine art of the first draft.) If you had asked me three years ago if I could write 50,000 words in a month, I would have laughed at you. Today, it seems par for the course.

As I mentioned before, this is my first time doing NaNoWriMo, so I may end up eating these very words. However, as a professional writer who uses words to make a living, I can’t help but feel that as long as the writing habit is a part of your daily life, you should be able to make the same kind of commitment that hundreds of thousands of people around the world made a few short days ago.

We set a large financial goal of $5,000 for the month for the pair of us, and I’m happy to say that we got there. This is pretty amazing, considering about a year ago we were struggling to find a way to reach even half that. As almost all successful freelancers will tell you, there seems to be a breaking point where all of a sudden the works just multiplies itself. It takes time and hard work to get there, but it is worth it!

We’ve decided to take a page from another brave freelancer’s first financial report and actually share dollar amounts this month. Hopefully, it will help everyone to see where and how we’re doing our business.

Total Income for October: $5337

SEO writing = $1832
E-books = $1405
Print media = $462
Nonprofit = $414
Blogs = $99
Web content = $1125

Next month should be an interesting one. Lorna has set some pretty high financial goals personally, so she expects to be increasing her workload as November wears on. On the flip side, I am actually taking a step back from freelancing (not stopping altogether, but definitely slowing the stream) to follow some goals of my own. That’s right – it’s NaNoWriMo time, and I fully intend to become a part of the mania that is 50,000 words in 30 days. Wish both of us luck!

What Did You Have to Say?

Anyway, there have been some really good discussions sparked by the debate, both in the comments here and over at their blog.

Some folks see things the way Tamara and I do:

Annette Elton has first-hand experience starting a freelancing business with nothing more than a website and an Elance account.

Tony Lawrence also has some experience bootstrapping, although he points out that it shouldn’t be a way of life.

Genesis Davies started freelancing by spending $1 an hour at an internet cafe!

Others feel that it takes more to be successful:

Heidi Blodgett is investing over time to allow her to make the leap from her day job.

Heike Miller is finding that it’s much more expensive to become a virtual assistant than he originally expected.

Trish Lambert feels like we need to get rid of the “starving artists” metaphor once and for all.

Some saw both sides of the story:

Laura Spencer notes that while it may not be totally cheap to run a freelance business, it beats the pants off of working for The Man.

Graham Strong also weighed out some pros and cons, citing that a freelance business is inexpensive to start, but there are some other benefits (and drawbacks) to working from home.

John Hewitt points out that you can get started on the cheap, but that it’s really a lot easier if you’ve got some cash to back you up.

A whole lot of the arguments we wanted to make were already brought up in the comments sections on both blogs, but we’re going to go ahead and make them anyway. After all, we started this thing, it seems only right we’d be bull-headed enough to make you listen to the rest of our thoughts, eh? So, what follows on the next page is the rest of our side of things.

You can read James’ response to our first post on the topic by checking out Men with Pens and “The True Cost of Starting a Freelance Business”. Feel free to leave him and Harry a comment over there to say why you think Tamara and I have the right idea. (Or tell them why you think they’re right…really, it’s all in good fun.) Then come back here on Friday to see our rebuttal to their response.

Well, the public’s wish is our command.

Our amiable friends James and Harry over at Men with Pens have agreed to let us call them out this week, and we’re taking full advantage.

You see, we like James and Harry. We think they’re swell. We think it’s totally cool how they’re two guy friends running a freelance company. After all, we’re two girl friends running a freelance company. We like it that they’re a little geeky, too. We’re nerds, as well; just in a different way.

Still, we have some major differences of opinion among us. You see, Tamara and I believe that one of the best parts of having a freelance business is that fact that it costs practically nothing to start and run. Unlike other businesses, we didn’t have to pay for a franchise, stock up a bunch of inventory, or go back to school and get an MBA.

We figure that we started the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency for the cost of about $220. That includes filing for our tax ID, getting city and state licenses, and setting up a Vendor account on Guru.com. We each contributed half, and we were able to pay ourselves back after getting our first couple of gigs. You could probably also add in a few bucks for the coffee and bagels we consumed at our first real business meeting. All-in-all, though, the financial investment was pretty darn low.

Now, over at Men with Pens, they have a different take on the cost of setting up shop, and if you pop on over there, they’re going to tell you why the Freelance Parent ladies are all washed up with their post “The True Cost of Freelancing.” Feel free to add your two-cents’ worth by sharing your thoughts in the comments section. Better yet, pipe up and tell them why we’re right! We’d love to know how you figure the cost of starting and running your freelance business. In fact, we’re going to be at this all week long, so if there’s a topic you’d like to see us debate, bring it on.

So, if you’re going through debate withdrawal now that the candidates are back on the campaign trail, you can join in with us and the boys as we take a look at how much it really costs to play the freelancing game.

However, while the laughs are (in my opinion) a vital component of the work we do, it’s only fair to note that the topics we address are not always entertaining. For every ebook I write on one of my personal interests, diving in and learning about the subject from all angles, I write one that requires a bit of daily self-motivation that consists primarily of, “Tamara, suck it up and do this. It’s not as boring as it seems. Don’t put it off. Just get it done.”

And it’s not just the big projects like ebooks; it’s SEO articles, website content, and blogs. Let’s face it: there are some pretty dull and less-than-endearing topics out there, and in order to meet financial goals, these topics sometimes wind up on our plates.

While I’ll admit that my writing and project commitment are at their peak when I am in love with the topic (or am at least interested in it), I like to think that the boring topics get equal consideration and care. In fact, I sometimes think they get more, since I work extra hard to give the appearance that I don’t think the topic is a bunch of junk. It’s like a quote from Emma (the movie version – not the novel, I’m afraid), where Emma decides she must throw a party for her nemesis, because “otherwise everyone will feel at once how much I dislike her.”

That brings me to the point of this post: do you have to believe in a topic to write about it?

I say no. As a writer for hire, it is my job to make a topic appealing to the audience, despite their initial reservations or lack of interest (or my own initial reservations or lack of interest). This can be done by:

• Presenting the facts with minimal embellishment. If I am writing about payday loans, I do it in a way that garners interest without lying or luring people into something they cannot afford. This is not always the easiest thing to do – especially if sales are the expected outcome – but I try very hard not to let my work conflict with my morals.

• Finding the interesting angle. Yes, even subjects like paper shredders can be at least a little bit interesting. There are always little factoids to be discovered about things like the annual output of a paper shredder and how that compares to the weight of a queen-sized mattress. If you can find even small things that make you smile, your article and/or web content will be much richer.

• Using your imagination. So what if you will never have a need for cloth diapers in the Phoenix region. Imagine you are a parent whose child is allergic to paper diapers but who still has to live in the stifling heat of Arizona. Imagine you really are curious about the ecological benefits of going cloth. What information would you most want in that situation?

• Breaking the project down into manageable chunks. Sometimes, no amount of dedication in the world will make you be able to sit down with wedding invitation product descriptions for hours at a time. So don’t do it for hours at a time. Schedule five of them in for the top of every hour. Do it for one hour and then move on to something else. Your dislike of a subject is less likely to show if you aren’t working on it for the fifth god-forsaken hour in a row.

Some of the topics I know far more about than the average person:

Bloodhounds
Home Security Systems
Pest Control
Vibrational Medicine
Parks in U.S. cities
Tattoos
Separation Anxiety

I Twittered (Tweeted?) about my thoughts, and found out that I’m not the only one with a wealth of random trivial knowledge. 

@DebNg challenged me to ask her anything about pallet racks. (OK, Deb. I’ve got one for you…what on earth is a pallet rack?)

@DanaPrince shared that she knows pretty much all there is to know about rubber stable mats.

@athomemom says that she now knows so much about beekeeping that she could set up a beeyard and teach classes.

So, what about you? What totally random topics could you go on and on about at a cocktail party as a result of your freelancing career? Tell us in the comments section. You get extra points for weird, funny, fascinating, or downright insane.

Let the competition commence!

By the way, if you want to follow us on Twitter, we’re @berrybrewer.

(For Tamara’s opinion on just what makes freelancers so brilliant, check out her post on Why Freelancers Are the Smartest People in the World.)

This quote is so applicable to what we do as freelancers.  When we first started out, it often seemed like it was all about cramming as much as possible into each hour.  “If I can do three articles instead of two, I’ll be making $15 an hour instead of $10.”

As things progressed, though, we began to learn more about our own worth.  We’ve always felt that what we did was valauble, we just didn’t necessarily realize that others could recognize that, too.

I’m happy to say that is changing.  The more we do, the more we have clients coming back and referring their friends.  They don’t do it because we’re cheap; they do it because we’re valuable.

It’s a really good feeling.

So, it’s no big shocker when I say that I’m having a hard time keeping up with my Google Reader. I so love reading other people’s blogs, but I’m starting to get to the point where it almost feels like a luxury. I find little times to sneak them in, though. The most common is to scroll with one hand while the baby is nursing. (Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?)

As usual, I’ve found some great stuff in the last couple of week and thought I’d pass the links along to you in case you’re also too busy to go find this great advice on your own.

• This article from ProBlogger’s Darren Rowse is one of those that I’ll continue to visit over and over as I implement the ideas offered in How to Get Featured on the New York Times, CNN, CNET and Newsweek.
• Bob Younce from the Writing Journey gives some great advice in his series on How to Start Your Freelance Writing Business.  I liked this post on Education.  While you’re there, take the time to check out another posts called Recognizing Success.
• While we’re on the topic of getting started, check out Deg Ng’s Back to Basics: Step 1 How to Get Started Finding a Freelance Writing Job.
• Anne at The Golden Pencil answers all kinds of questions in her blog.  She recently tackled one submitted by KP.  I’m not KP, but we both want to know How Do I Write a Magazine Query?
• Tereece M. Clark also has something to say on the subject with her post Best Query Advice over at Freelance Writing Jobs.
• James has some good thoughts to share about why you should learn to love bookkeeping.  You can find him all over the place, but this great article is on Freelance Writing Jobs.  He’s got another gem up there from last Friday called Three Tips and a Bonus to Market Yourself. 
• Speaking of marketing, if you want to know the best marketing advice we ever got, check out our post for Sparkplug CEO’s group writing contest.  Our entry is uninspiringly called The Best Marketing Advice for Freelancers.  Don’t let the title fool you, though, it’s some damn good advice.
• At Freelance Switch, they’re asking Are You Missing the Point of Being a Freelancer?  I love the subheading “Freelancing Should Be a Springboard, Not a Treadmill.”
• John Hewitt over at Poe War has done a rather thoughtful post on how the current economic situation can affect freelance writers with Will the Recession Hurt Your Career?  If you think you’re alone in your bad freelancer habits, think again, and check out another of John’s posts called Better Writing Through Stress. (I hope it’s tounge-in-cheek.)

There are plenty of other posts “starred” in my Reader, but I’m guessing you don’t have a ton of time to ge check them all out either.  Still, the ones listed above seemed especially helpful both for newbies and those who have been freelancing for a while now.

The Best Freelance Marketing Advice We Ever Got

When the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency came into being, you could say that my business partner and I were wet behind the ears. I had tried the freelancing game on my own a couple of years before to no avail. My downfall: I was just dreadful at marketing myself.

It turns out that Tamara wasn’t all that great at it either. So, we struggled a bit as we did everything we could to learn the ropes and become successful. We even made “marketing materials” that we thought were going to be our ticket to the big time.

Why did we design these beautiful four-color brochures that would never even get printed? Because that was our understanding of what marketing was. The grand total of our marketing knowledge could probably be summed up as follows:

Business Cards + Brochures + A Blog = Marketing

(It turns out there’s a whole lot missing from that equation.)

The most important piece of marketing advice we got turned out to this: “Align yourself with other businesses who are already marketing to the clients you want.”

For example, we worked with a wonderful marketer when we decided to rebrand our company. Billie Gaura at Rainmaker Marketing was not only good at her job, but she also “got” us. We plunked down what was (to us) a pretty penny in order to have her on our team. (Don’t let that scare you off, her rates are actually really, really good.)

In the end, we ended up being on her team. Now, when her clients need a good writer, she’s quick to say, “I know this great agency…”

Another way that this has been so beneficial to us is by teaming up with graphic designers. For example, we hired Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios to set up our Nonprofit Perspective blog. Since then, she has referred us to two of her clients. In fact, she is the second designer to do so.

As a final example, we’re also working with a search engine optimization company. They go out and find their clients. They set up plans and packages and prices and the whole nine yards. When they’ve got all that done, they turn around and ask us to write some articles. It’s very low-fuss for us, but it brings in a nice bit of our income these days.

If there’s one thing that has made a difference in our marketing strategy, it has been to have all of these other folks marketing for us. We’re all targeting the same clients, after all, and we have the opportunity to support one another by teaming up for a great customer experience.

If you’re interested in some of the other cool marketing techniques we’ve learned, check out Eight Creative Marketing Campaigns adapted for Freelancers.

The printer isn’t even the whole prize. As a matter of fact, the idea is that any small business can put this “WorkForce Work Horse” (oh, gee, Epson should pay me to market for them, don’t you think) to work to create its own professional brand. To sweeten the pot, they’re also throwing in a ton of paper, envelopes, inks, and other stuff. The scrapbooker in me is just seething with jealousy already.

But wait, there’s more. Randa Clay Design will also design a logo for the winner’s business. Seriously, this could be just the thing you need to brand your business and take it to the next level.

So, how do you enter? Visit Wendy’s Sparkplug CEO blog for details. You get two entries for participating in her group writing project, and another for leaving a comment about how you would use the prize if you won.

Oh, and the submissions for the group writing project are going to be included in a free ebook so that we can all learn from one another.

It’s like a switch went off inside of me, and now I feel compelled to save all the babies. I want to go to Africa to dig wells for villagers and to buy mosquito nets for children in South America. I want to teach little ones to read in Tennessee and give them milk in my own state.

But there are so many of them. There are so many babies who don’t understand how their lives could be different and so many mothers who are heartbreakingly aware that things could be better. And there are those of us who are standing on the sidelines wishing with all our hearts that we could save the babies.

The truth is that the problem seems so huge and overwhelming that sometimes it’s just easier not to think about it. Because paying attention to the suffering of these babies and the women who love them is like sandpaper on your heart. Sure, I make loans to entrepreneurs through Kiva.org, and I make the occasional sandwich for a homeless person, but each gesture seems like such a tiny drop in the bucket that one has to question if they’re really making any difference at all.

As a part of Blog Action Day 2008, all of the participants are blogging about poverty. I’m not really sure what I can say that isn’t being said in tens of thousands of other places right now, but the cause is important enough for each of us to take a few minutes out of our day to reflect on just how much some people have to struggle.

I expect to read a lot about poverty today. I won’t shut my eyes or turn my head. I will think about how much those mothers are suffering because they must watch their children suffer. And I will gather ideas from the blog posts that I read and will find some small way that I can make a difference for at least one of them.

I very much encourage you to do the same.

I’d long been wondering about Deb’s transition from FWJ over to Blog Talk Radio. She was gracious enough to share with us how that change has affected her. Thanks again, Deb!

Here’s what Susan had to say:

“Wow, you guys do a lot from Guru! Are you Guru Vendors? I just signed up as one (gulp. $250 is a lot of $$)! I’d like to learn more about how you use Guru to get jobs and beat the cheapies that bid on projects (as I’m sure your readers would too).”

Choosing to be Guru Vendors

To answer her first question, yes, we are at the vendor level on guru. We decided the first time that we signed up (we’ve now renewed for a second year), that we were going to take ourselves seriously as a business, and that was one way we did so. Susan’s right, as the $250 was a bit of a pill to swallow, but we made $10,000 through Guru in our first year, so that was a pretty good return on investment.

Fortunately for us, we were able to afford the enrollment fee at the time. If someone else can’t then it could still be worthwhile to sign up at the basic level. Of course, you’ll be competing with even more freelancers, and a lot of them are probably bidding really, really low because, hey, they didn’t even have enough money to get a vendor account – they’re obviously strapped, and a couple of bucks for an article sounds great.

How We Use Guru.com

It’s probably safe to say that we look at guru.com as sort of a “necessary evil.” I know, that’s a little harsh, but we are plenty annoyed that they take such a big percentage of our pay, in addition to the annual fee. Not only that, but if the client pays with a credit card, the freelancer has to eat the service charge. I still can’t figure out how that’s fair.

On the other hand, it’s been one of the best places for us to go to find new clients. I will admit, however, that when we’re busy, bidding on jobs on guru.com quickly gets pushed to the backburner.

I don’t know that there are any special tricks to how we bid for jobs. Tamara does it more often than I, but each of us tends to bid on jobs we find personally appealing. For example, she’s more interested in ad copy than I am, and I’m more interested in environmental topics than she is. We each have templates created that we use to bid for certain types of jobs. However, we personalize every single one that we send out.

That means that we pay attention to what the potential client has asked about, and we address those issues. This gets mixed in with our usual spiel that says something like, “my bid of $50 for this article represents a very reasonable rate of 0.07 per word.” We bid based on the job description and on what we think we should get paid. Then we usually lower it a bit.

Beating “The Cheapies”

Tamara did an experiment a few months ago in which she bid what she really felt she should get for jobs, and we didn’t get a single bite. So, we do bid lower than we would like. We don’t bid ridiculously low, however. There are no $5 articles for us.

That was not always the case, though. When we first started our business, we were just desperate for clients. Any amount of money coming in was proof that we could do this thing. We did some dirt-cheap projects in the beginning. As we did the projects however, two things happened.

1. We got really sick of selling our time for so little.
2. Our ranking kept improving on guru.com.

Both of these factors played into us getting more money for jobs. First of all, we started asking for it. Secondly, clients began to realize we were worth it. Our client feedback rating averages five stars, and we work to keep it that way. As of today, we are ranked at number 43 in the Writing/Editing/Translation section of Guru.

I suspect that the third thing that helped us along was presenting ourselves as professionals. We have a pretty good profile on Guru, although I suspect it could be better. We also have a link to our Berry-Brewer web site, which we happen to think looks pretty professional.

Any More Questions about Guru.com?

We’re really enjoying posting our freelance income reports each month. We think it’s useful to our readers, and it really gives us another way to be accountable for our work. It’s great fun to watch the numbers from month to month. As it turns out, those are also the posts that seem to spur our readers to ask questions. If you have any more questions about Guru or how we use it, feel free to ask in the comments.