Thank God For Universal Adaptors

Met with my new accounting officer this morning and chatting with him, I realised how much I have needed his services without actually realising it. I used to think I couldn't afford one [and money is always tight], but as a small business owner, I'm discovering I can't afford not to have one.

He understands the business of money so much better. And with him taking over the invoicing, reconciliation and all the tax associated business, I no longer have to battle and focus on what I do best, which is the writing end of the business.

Fixed the laptop issues

The small widgets allow the universal
adaptor to fit into any laptop.

I also managed to sort out my laptop, which has refused to be turned on for weeks. At last I will be able to work where I want, as I normally do, rather than always being confined to my homeoffice all the time.

Firstly, I established that there was nothing majorly wrong with the laptop itself. The problem was with the adaptor, which seemed to have burned out, for some reason. Got a quote for an adaptor from Incredible Connection  for R799, and from Matrix in a similar price range. My laptop is old, so i wasn't keen on spending too much money on parts.So, for a while, I was stuck. Until I saw a computer shop this morning in Braamfontein, at the corner of Stiemens and De Beer. The guy had a universal adaptor for R250.00.

Granted, universal adaptors are cheaper [weird considering they are more convenient], but you'd think the two retail stores would also have given me the option, instead of trying to sell me a more expensive adaptor. It's so annoying how salespeople sometimes withold information that would allow you to get a product that works for you just fine at a lower price, and keep punting the more expensive option as the only option!

Blog Action Day

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Have you signed up for Blog Action Day yet? As you know, it's an annual event taking place on the 15th October. This year's theme is WATER.

I'd also like to remind you that tomorrow is the deadline for submissions on the Protection from Harassment Bill. So if you were planning to blog about harassment or stalking or even cyber-bullying, now would be a good time? And don't forget to send me your link, so that my client Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre can include it in their submission.

Got a few more responses for the gigs I applied for. Two temp agencies for creatives will include me in their books. There is also a potential book project ( Yay me! You know how much I've been wanting more of those!). Then there is a sponsored blog gig. Small but potentially long-term.

Basically, the way the blogging thing will work is, the client (a retail company) will send me a topic, and I write a post about it, publish it here on Storypot, and then let her know that it's live. She checks it out, and then I invoice her, and I do the next post.

The posts will not be product promotions. Rather, they will be informational. So don't worry that I will suddenly bombard you with advertorial. And it will still be on something you know I enjoy doing and talking about, so you're not going to end up looking at this blog and thinking, "who are you?"

Once the sponsored blogging starts, PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think? If it's not working for you, I'd rather you told me than quietly leave. Yeah, cos I like you:-)

Anyhoo, some of you have previously asked me about freelance writing, especially the finding projects part of it. So I'm  trying to take you on this journey with me. Hopefully, you'll find something useful out of my learnings.

Received Copy Of Textbook I Contributed To

The book arrived by registered mail today.

Honestly? My contribution is miniscule. But the article is in there, and German kids are going to learn a bit more about Joburg from moi.

Hopefully, it will give them a more positive perspective of this city; help them to see it through my eyes and appreciate it enough to want to come visit when they're adults.

Ja, I am chuffed that I get to shape young minds....

Some Insights From My Gig-Hunting Experience

The workshop at St Giles on Saturday went extremely well, with really nice reviews. Some participants even asked for a paid, more detailed session. Felt good to know that people felt their Saturday morning was well-spent, and they would even be willing to pay to learn more.

I invested a lot of time in September looking for work, because I want to change my business model. For the past couple of years, I have relied very heavily on a few companies bringing in most of the income. The advantage is that, I mostly have guaranteed billable hours for the work I do for them. The disadvantage is that when that if the contract ends, or one client experiences financial challenges, or doesn't pay on time, I feel the impact more greatly than if it was a smaller client. So I'm trying to move things around so that I have more clients who offer small projects, but on a long-term basis. Ideally, they'd offer quick turnaround in the copy approval process and pay more quickly. I'll still keep the bigger clients, as they would bring irregular, but still, bigger chunks of cash.

Anyhoo, here are some of the things I learnt:

1. Apply for jobs that excite you. It's easy enough to look for jobs you're qualified to do, but is this really work you want to wake up in the morning to do for a while?
2. There are many ways to look for work. Yes, there are jobs boards online, where freelance gigs are advertised. And some of them look pretty good. You should also let your current clients and business contacts know that you're looking for work, so they think of you when opportunities arise. But as a writer, you should also consider approaching PR and communications companies, magazines, medium sized corporates and agencies that represent creatives who all hire writers.
3. Your own sense of optimism will carry you through. Yes, you may have the qualifications, skills and experience, but are you persistent enough to keep knocking on doors even when people don't respond immediately? Do you trully believe that you have something to offer? Because if you don't believe that, then you're going to have a hard time convincing others to invest in you and your services.
4. Watch out for people looking for original samples -  Once my responses started to trickle in, they were mostly positive. Some are still thinking about hiring me for specific projects; others don't have current needs but will keep me in their books. A few asked for original samples.  My answer to that request remains NO. I have enough published material across a variety of media and themes to prove that I can write. I'm not writing an original article for a client who has not hired me yet.And even if you're not very experienced, you shouldn't fall for this trap. Many an unscrupulous publisher have been known to get free samples from job ads, use them, and then advertise again. It's one of the cheapest ways to get people to write for you without ever having to pay them.

Anyhoo, I hope you have a productive week.

Automated Link Building?

I used to follow a blogger called Caroline Middlebrook, who was a former software developer. Turns out she quit blogging and developed a software package called Imautomator, which submits your links to a number of free social bookmarking sites.  The free service allows you a daily quota of 10 links to be scheduled for submission to 15 social bookmarkting sites.

Not a bad deal, if the package is effective, because it will help increase the number of links your site has with outside web sites, which in turn, improves your Google ranking and makes it easier for users to find you.

I'm not recommending the service yet because I don't know how well it works. I'm not even sure if, by automating this task, I'm in breach of some Internet etiquette ( if the social bookmarking sites would consider my links SPAM).  But if it does work, it would save me a lot of time and effort in my online promotion efforts.

Words Of Encouragement For Days When You Feel Like A Failure

I have an article published on Victim Empowerment South Africa, profiling my client Shukumisa. It was nice to find the email with the post first thing this morning. Felt like I accomplished something before the day even began.

I also spent part of the morning getting ready for the blogging workshop at St Giles Association on Saturday. I prepared the presentation when we first set the date for the workshop. Still, it doesn't hurt to double-check and make sure that all is in order.

Anyhoo, I leave you with a post by my favourite small business marketing maven. She's talking about life and succeeding and failing and the power not to give up.  And she's being very real about what it's like to dream of  doing something and to be afraid and still try. Oh, and when you have the time, follow the posts she hyperlinked to. Especially the one where she talks about things she's not proud of.

 Many thanks Naomi. I really needed your words of encouragement.

Y'all enjoy your holiday weekend!

He's Out!

A representative of Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, one of my clients was on 3Talk yesterday ( on SABC3) as an expert guest, talking about stalking, its consequences and what the victim can do to get help, and of course, the discussion led to the Protection from Harassment Bill. So yay us!

But this morning was so full of drama my stomach still hurts. I found out my friend is out on bail ( he came over to see me), and my stomach started churning as soon as I saw him. I thought my ulcer was going to start bleeding or I would throw up I was so upset. He tried to talk to me about what he did, to explain himself, and I was not ready to hear it, so he had to leave.

Right now I feel like I'm never going to be ready to hear his explanation. I'm so angry with him! The whole mess never had to happen. At some stage, he could have stopped the fight and used some common sense.

I'm also angry that he has come back to the same neighbourhood where the victim's widow lives. How is she supposed to feel seeing her husband's killer outside, resuming his normal life? I'm not even friendly with the woman, but right now I feel for her.

"I want my old life back," I said to my helper after he left. "I want my quiet, boring life where there was no drama and my most pressing decision was whether to cheat on my wheat-free diet and eat a slice of bread."

What are your pet peeves when it comes to online communication?

Someone annoyed me yesterday in her interaction with me online, and it occurred to me that we have very different expectations of online media and how we use it. So I decided to share my pet peeves and ask you to share yours.


1. Writing private messages on my Facebook wall

One of the most annoying things for me is when someone who knows me in a private capacity writes messages about my personal issues on my Facebook wall. Yes, we are family/friends /whatever our relationship may be. But I’m not in the same terms with the other people in my FB social network. So if you have something you want to ask me, or tell me, do so privately. FB has a send email feature. If you’re not sure about my email address, use it!

2. Chatting on IM even though I tell you I’m busy/in a meeting/whatever

Most days I feel ambushed when I go on FB, Skype and other social media platforms. Yes, I know the platforms are supposed to allow friends to connect instantly to chat. But consider that I am there for a reason, and like everyone else, I do have to work. Why not send me an email, which I can respond to when my time is free, rather than forcing me to brush you off? The beauty of technology is not just that you can find the person you’re looking for anytime you want. The beauty of it is also that it captures my messages, so I as a recipient can respond at my convenience.

3. Stretching other people’s boundaries (without their verbal or tacit consent)

This point is almost similar to point 1, except it relates to instances where people disseminate content or publish info /pictures of you without your consent. I’m not talking about damaging photos, like nude pictures or sexually explicit content. I’m talking about seemingly harmless content that the other party may prefer not publish.

You know that Facebook feature that asks you to suggest a profile picture for your friend if he/she is new on Facebook? I once used it, installed a very good picture of a friend of mine. It was a very classy head and shoulders picture. And I was trying to be very helpful to my friend. She completely freaked out on me, asked me to remove the picture immediately. I could literally hear her hyperventilate on the phone as we spoke.

The reason for her over-reaction? She had previously been stalked by an ex-boyfriend ( in real life) and she was still feeling insecure on getting on Facebook. In her mind, my putting her picture online was the same as putting a target sign on her forehead. I knew of the stalking, but somehow, in my helpfulness, I never even considered that she would have an issue.

So before you publish someone’s photos, or tag them on yours, ask, unless you’re 100% sure that they won’t mind. Don’t assume they won’t because the content is harmless.

So. Share. What are you pet peeves when it comes to online communication?

The First Thing You Do When Your Work Day Begins

What is the first thing that you do when your work day begins? Do you start out by finishing a task you started the day before? Or do you check your emails and respond to them? Do you post your status on Facebook and Twitter? Or do you read the papers to find out the news of the day. Maybe you do the most difficult task in your job, whatever that may be. Or you start out by making phone calls to business associates. Or maybe, your first task of the day varies from day to day.

So, tell me what your morning is like. I'm very curious.

I used to start the day with a long writing session. Never mind the emails and newspapers, I'll catch up with them later, I decided. Lately, not so much. I've mostly been starting my day by clearing out SPAM on the online groups I created and manage for clients. It seems that the bigger an online group gets, the more attractive it is to spammers, who're mostly trying to sell my people some get rich quick scheme or other.

It's annoying and I want my more positive start to the day back.

Hosting Free Blogging Workshop

I'm hosting a free blogging workshop as part of my community volunteering in my surburb.The event is on the 25 September at St Giles Association, at the corner of 10th and 11th Streets, Dewetshof.

Y'all welcome to attend, if you live in my area, feel that you still need to learn some things about blogging, or you're planning to start a community or small business blog. Donations from participants, or anyone who wants to support this organisation, should be made directly to St Giles.

Here are the event details on FB.

I Got Some Media Coverage & Offered Some Tips For Freelance Writers

One of my articles on freelance writing was recently published on Freelancewriting.com.  Check it out.

The article that I sent to a couple of media outlets on the Harassment Bill was also published. You've probably heard some of what I'm saying about the Bill. If not, check it out. It's entitled Call for a stronger digital focus on Harassment Bill.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Do You Ever Feel Overwhelmed & Unskilled To Do Your Job, Even Though You Are Capable?

Somehow, it’s easier for me to get started on a small project than on a large project that will take days, maybe even months to finish.


Part of it is that I always feel overwhelmed by the scope of the work. Usually, my inner critic then start to shriek about the amount of time and hard work that is needed to get the job done. And am I really sure that I have the necessary skills to do the job?

Sometimes I just curl up in a figurative corner, convinced that I can’t write. Naps are good then, even if it’s the middle of the day. Other times I do something else; anything else than what I’m supposed to. Then there are days when I get the courage from somewhere, and start on the project. Because once I’ve started, I get hooked, and I no longer have a problem. It’s only the beginning that I can’t stand.

Anyhoo, I faced the "start of a big project crisis" yesterday. So I spent hours doing something else – I wrote a press release on the Protection from Harassment Bill, walked it through the client approval process and then sent it to a number of media contacts.

Felt good about being able to make my procrastination measures productive in this particular instance. I’m not usually good with that.

I also felt bad that I was actually procrastinating on the work I had actually scheduled for that day, which I only started working on around 15h00.

Are You Vulnerable To Harassment By Technological Means?

Are you vulnerable to harassment by technological means? If so, how? If not, why not? The reason I ask is because this week I'm talking about the Protection From Harassment Bill which is in at that stage where South Africans have the opportunity to have their say.

 

Here's my post about the Bill on the Shukumisa web site, and your opportunity to have your comments included in the submissions byTshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, Women’sNet, Women’s Legal Centre and Triangle.

 

This morning I also sent out an article to Victim Empowerment South Africa ( to be published next week) and copy for a client newsletter. Felt good, as I did it before 10am and it's like the day can only get better afterwards. 

 

Also posted an article on what to do if you don't have a lot of space to start a garden. It's short and sweet.  Thanks Laura.  The picture of your herb garden inspired the post. 

Spending the rest of the day writing.

A Publisher Asks Prospective Writers To Pay To Get Their Submissions Read

I was going through the submission guidelines of a lliterary magazine that really sounded impressive. Until I got to the part where they explained that they're a non-profit and charge a reading fee of $20 to cover their admin costs.

Having worked with a number of non-profits over the years, I completely understand funding challenges. As a writer, I also understand the passion that can drive one to do whatever it takes to get your own material, and material that you deem as "good" out there to the reading public.

Still, I was floored by the suggestionthat a writer would pay a potential publisher to evaluate whether their work is suitable for publication. Isn't that a whole new low even for this very challenging industry?

What do you think? Would you pay a reading fee to a publisher??

Moderated Community-Building Workshop

Saturday morning was cold and cloudy and I didn't really want to get out of bed. But I had to drag myself out of bed, because I was scheduled to facilitate a workshop on Community Building  organised by our local residents association. 

The workshop was very well-attended, with over 100 ( I think) residents attending to discuss community development issues, with many of them also volunteering their services/expertise. My portion was community-building.


My group was really eager to communication tactics and instead of having to prompt them to talk, I had to mostly direct their input. It was fantastic. They also volunteered to take the process forward; help with the planning and implementation.

In the long-term, I hope to use some of what we're doing as a comms case study to show how a residents association can use various tools to mobilise community members to make a city suburb look better and feel better.

A School In My Village Profiled In The New York Times

Can I just say how proud  and inspired I am?

New Private Schools in South Africa Serve the Underserved
 

By CELIA W. DUGGER
As many public schools have failed a post-apartheid generation of children from poor townships and rural areas, a budding movement is increasingly searching for alternatives. 

 

Making A Living As A Writer In South Africa

The story of the late Lewis Nkosi, and how only earned R140 in royalties for his latest book Mandela's Ego left me rather sad, and very frightened, because I'm also a South African writer and unless something changes in our industry and/I do things differently, I could also face the same fate he did. I think I also find the whole story frightening because no one seems surprised by the news that he earned so little on the book.

 "The South African market is very small", we shrug.
 "In SA one writes for love not money...the market is very small," a READ SA member said.
"Out of a nation of 48million, how do we buy only 200 books of someone like Nkosi's work?" asks Don Makatile in an article published on Sowetan.

In my experience? Very easily, actually.

It's the reason we started READ SA, because we felt that we need to build a nation of readers and South Africans need to be encouraged to buy and read locally produced books. It also brings up my old soap-box: that South Africans writers need to be more proactive about promoting their books directly to potential buyers. We need to find them, talk to them, find out what they want and make it easy for them to buy our books.

Yes, I know that publishers are generally in charge of that tedious promotion business. But as a book buyer, I'm constantly online reading blogs by my favourite authors, reading samples of their works. In one genre, there's a captive audience that can't wait for December for a sequel of a novel by this particular author. And nope, practically speaking, this author is not famous. Nor is she celebrated. She's just out there, building a readership base one reader at a time...

And I want to do that. Having published two books with mainstream publishers ( The Doll That Grew; Boitshoko) which each earned me a bit under R5 000 ( they were secondary reading in the education system at the time), I have had to come to a sobering realisation that as a writer I have to take an active part in promoting my work. (Here are some regrets I expressed some years when I realised I had no idea  an anthology I contributed to was being promoted or not)

I also realise that I have to take charge of my writing career; try to find publishing options that can help me earn a living while I pursue the more difficult goal of publishing commercially successful books. For the moment, writing content for clients has been the most effective ways to pay bills and get my name out there. But I also want to have a different experience. I want to write and publish books that sell.

What do you think?

What would it take for the South African publishing market to evolve so that writers are able to earn decent money for their works? Is this something that can happen in our lifetimes? And what do we, as readers, writers, bloggers, publishers, booksellers etc need to do to play a role in making this change happen?

How Much Promotion Do You Do?

What the proportion of the time you spend writing/blogging versus the time you spend promoting your content/site? And what are some of the activities that you do to promote your blog?

And why do you promote it anyway ( or not promote it, depending on your needs).

I've realised I spend a lot of time promoting sites and my own works. Part of it is that the more readers I attract for client sites, the more people hear their messages, and the more I gain credibility as a web content writer, which leads to more work. And clients also have to justify their expenditures - it's no use having a web site if it's not being read by the target audience.

Anyhoo, talk to me. Tell me why you promote/don't promote your works and how you do it.

Publishing Your Blog As A Book

Have you ever considered publishing your blog as a book? Are you ever going to do it? And what did you think of books that evolved from blogs ( if you've read any). What did you like/dislike about these books?

The reason I ask is because I've just realised this is my 808th post on Storypot. Not a huge number considering that I've been blogging since January 2006. But it's a lot of words and a sharing of life experiences too. The thing is, I'm not quite sure if I was talking out my ear, or if I occassionally managed something useful/profound/life-changing/worth recording for posterity/worth sharing.

For now, I don't have a strong opinion on the issue, but I'd be curious to know what you think of blogs that evolve into books.

Crowds at Spring Fair being entertained.
 (Image courtesy of ILKA)

I'm presenting an Introduction to Blogging workshop at the St Giles Association on the 25th September. The event aims to empower small business owners and NGOs in my community to use social media to promote their businesses or cause. It's also a way to help raise money for St Giles. Basically, I donate s couple of hours, participants attend for free and are therefore empowered, but they are asked to make some kind of donation to St Giles. Eventually, it will also help build my business profile in the community. So we all win.

Spent some time over the weekend playing around with blogger. Found some new design features ( such as design template and the ability to create pages), so I was happy to bring some order to Storypot. I hope you like the way the blog now has menus at the top.

Spring Fair on Sunday in my neck of woods was great. The park was packed with local families and friends ready to have fun.  I ate way too many sweet things ( including cotton candy:-), and got to hang out with Zahn Koen Hughes,  who belongs to my book club and makes the most beautiful scatter cushions.

Testing a different template

What do you think? I wanted something fresh, but not too busy. Something I wouldn't mind looking at everyday.
Woke up with a really bad headache ( and it's a stress headache, I know). Worked anyway, because web sites don't update themselves.

Got a rejection from a national magazine for a proposed story. The good news is that he told me what he's looking for - more news, less featuresque - and gave me his phone number and I suggested I call him next time I have an idea that could work for him. So I'll no longer be querying into the dark beyond the next time I try out that this.
Putting up a number of articles on Ezine Articles for myself and clients. I hope it pays off with increased traffic. Traffic is always excellent for client reports.

Anyho, have a great weekend.

Winning Web Sites and Queries

Attended a cocktail event by Sangonet last night, where the winners of the 2010 South African NGO Web Awards were announced. The winners, who each won a prize of R10 000 sponsored by Torque IT are:

• University of the Witwatersrand Foundation
• Cancer Association of South Africa
• Habitat for Humanity South Africa

As mentioned previously, I was one of the judges of the competition and saw some really good NGO web sites. The overall objectives of the competition are to raise awareness amongst South African NGOs about the benefits of having an online presence, stimulate interest in the application of web solutions and applications, and showcase best practices in website creation and maintenance. To learn more about this competition, visit the Sangonet web site.

Enjoyed hanging out with some old and current friends, and also made some new acquiantances. And the event didn't drag on forever, which is always good in my view.

Earlier in the day I very impulsively decided to register the domain www.foodgardening.co.za. I've prevously said that I was not intending to start a gardening blog. But I love gardening and want to do more of it, and more writing about it, and it's a good domain to own, and maybe in time I will have the time to do something with it.

Also spent time reslanting a couple of previously published articles and sending them on to new markets. Also sent out four queries. One rejection by the end of the day and one "we're thinking about it and will get back to you."