As my family prepared to move in our first home, like most people — we had lots to do in the house. To do it all would mean taking shortcuts and buying low-priced items. The result would be less than flattering. The job called for prioritizing to ensure we bought decent quality items. First up: windows. We needed blinds, lots of blinds or else I would go blind with the too many windows we had. (Seriously, the eyes are sensitive to sunlight.)
Next, bedroom furniture. Previously, we lived in military housing and chose to focus on the downstairs rooms rather than upstairs including our bedroom. The rest we added when we could or when we saw something that worked.
Good thing we didn’t do it all. It turned out those first few items we bought were my least favorites. The toddler-abused blinds need replacing. The bedroom furniture … I love its function, but not its color. I thought the wood would be a white wash wood. Instead, it was painted a bothersome faint white. We could paint it, but the colors wouldn’t work well in the dark-colored bedroom. Natural wood color works best.
This situation can happen when work slows down and it’s time to bring in new business. It’s tempting to take on every opportunity that comes along. It’s like a reverse of firing bad clients except you’re proactive. Instead of finding yourself working with a less than ideal client, feeling miserable and having to figure out how to get out of it — you skip all that.
I happened to be working on finding another client to serve when several opportunities came in. For one of them, warning signs alerted me to do serious due diligence. In the other, the prospect asked if I could write articles on X, Y, Z topics. I turned it down because I know those topics would require a lot of energy and most of it not good. I’d rather spend the energy looking for a client I can better serve doing work I enjoy.
Turning Down Opportunities
These signs give you the clues you need that a potential assignment or client may not work for you. Be careful when it comes to an assignment that scares you because you’re afraid to fail, not because something is iffy about the client. It may be an opportunity to grow.
Digging Deeper
Sometimes the first or second contact isn’t enough to decide yea or nay. This is the time to dig deeper. Someone contacted me about writing a bunch of blog posts. First warning sign. The email address came from a yahoo.com address. Second warning sign. The “From” address only had a first name, but she signed her last name in the first message. Half a warning sign.
I searched her name, email address and company name (I had to ask for the company name as she didn’t mention it in the first email — another sign) and found nothing. At this point, I decided this wouldn’t work out. Rather than turning it down, I replied with more questions. Never heard back. Hmm …
When you’re not sure about an assignment, these actions help:
What types of assignments or clients have you turned down? What do you watch for when a prospect contacts you?
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans
One thing about working for myself — no worries about April Fool’s pranks. But I do have kids and one in particular likes to pull stuff. Full alert! Here are some great April Fool’s office pranks [Link: Marc Harty] — fun ‘n safe. #37 cracked me up. What’s your favorite April Fool’s prank?
Legoland Discovery Center rocked. It blew away this adult who has seen many incredible creations. See a taste of MINILAND in the below Dallas skyline picture. That’s only part of it. It also had famous buildings from Fort Worth, my hometown.
A lot of GREAT stuff this week… so go explore.
Brain food…

And for fun because we’re allowed…
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day last Monday (we won’t debate the merits of whether it’s a valid holiday or not), I want to thank you for reading and commenting. Because of you, I keep on trekking and sharing what I learn along the way.
Brain food…
For fun because we’re allowed…
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans
I’m grateful to live in a time and a place where we treat people for who they are inside not what’s visible.
Brain food…
And for fun because we’re allowed…
Despite the $$$ of going to the State Fair, I’m glad my family went to the State Fair. (Minus our daughter who had a high school class. Ironically, she went to the fair that night.) Some of you may know about Texas Star, the giant ferris wheel. Well, it cost $24 for four of us to ride it! And that was the average cost for most rides. The cheapest — a fun house — cost $4 per person.
We couldn’t ask for better weather. It turns out this year’s fair made it into the record books with $37 million spent on food and rides. Well, yeah, price probably goes up every year. The previous record was $29 million. Attendance went up thanks to the perfect weather and the tribute to legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Laundry exhibit. Paul and I wanted to go check out the exhibit, but the line was long and it was right before we left the fair with tired boys. (It turns out we picked the right time to leave. By the time I got off public transportation to walk to our car, my legs turned into lead.
Quick review of what we did: Watched diving show, rode rides (I did the Texas Star and a small, jerky roller coaster with my older son), checked out the cars in the auto show (The Dallas Auto Show is better) and walked for miles. Of course, we got a pic with Big Tex.
Oh, fried food? The only fried food we bought were French fries for the boys’ lunch. This year’s lineup just didn’t appeal. They also had the more appealing ones from previous years, but I opted to save the cash and my arteries.
We also saw fried beds. OK, this was one company’s poke at fried food with its ad.
Brain food…
For fun because we’re allowed…
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans
Ah… kids get out early today as we begin winter break. We don’t have anything planned except a couple of trips to Grandma’s in Fort Worth for the younger set. Maybe play some board games. 5th grader has to work on his science project. I imagine there will be movies and board games happening during the break. What about you?
Please vote for your top 25 books on writing.
Brain food…
And for fun because we’re allowed… FailBlog edition (most links from the I Can Has a Cheezeburger crew)
Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas (OK, the blog doesn’t live on a server in my house — but that’s where you’ll find me… in Plano, not in the server). We’re happy to be a stop in Sara Morgan’s WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. Here’s a bit about fellow work from anywhere’r Sara… (Stay tuned in this long post if ya wanna win this book!)
About Sara Morgan
Sara Morgan knows just what it is like to have a good job that is just not the “right” job. As a software developer, she has worked for large and small companies spanning multiple industries. None of these jobs ever provided Sara with the fulfilling life she was searching for and in 2005 she made the jump to self-employment with the start-up of her own consulting company, Custom Solutions, LLC. Sara Morgan is the author of No Limits: How I escaped the clutches of Corporate America to live the Self-employed life of my dreams. For more information about Sara and her book, check out www.nolimitsthebook.com.
Having Multiple Streams of Income Is Key for the Self-employed Individual by Sara Morgan
Four years ago, I quit my high-paying corporate job as a web developer and started my own software consulting business. I was one of the lucky ones, because I had a high-paying and high-in-demand skill set that allowed me to make a good income, despite the inevitable challenges of self-employment.
I realize though that most people seeking self-employment will not be this fortunate. For these people, I strongly suggest having multiple streams of income. By doing so, you can ensure that you are always able to pay the bills, even when one thing you are doing fails to generate the income you need. It is just the simple concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket. This is very old, yet still appropriate advice that applies aptly to the self-employed individual.
For myself, since I am promoting my latest book No Limits full time and have not been doing any software work for over six months, money has just been going out and not coming in. I was lucky enough to have built a small nest egg, which has allowed me to get away with this for a while. However, that can only last so long, so I recently started a third business as an independent garden consultant for The Happy Gardener.
The Happy Gardener is a great company that I only found out about when I interviewed the owner, Annette Pelliccio for my latest book. The company makes and distributes earth-friendly lawn and garden products that are chemical free and actually good for the environment. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know how important it is for all of us to be environmentally conscious, so I am really excited about being able to get behind a company like this.
If you are considering making a jump to self-employment, I would suggest that you have at least three alternative sources of income. This will help you to weather the inevitable “life” storms that affect us all. Other than that, always remember to Work, Live and Have fun!
Your Turn
Leave a 50+ word comment in this post by 11:59pm on October 21. That’s all ya gotta do to be entered to win this book. Tell us about your dream career or whatever strikes ya. The unbiased and robotic Random.org will pick the winner.
(moment of silence) Thank you, soldiers.
And for fun because we’re allowed…
Well, my dear, they come from many places. If you go to the library known as Freelance Folder, you’ll see people sharing how they find their clients.
When a freelancer and a client meet, they check out each other to ensure they are a fit. It may take some bio and web site reading to get familiar with each other. After making it pass the test phase, they come together and a product or service is born. No storks involved.
But how do freelancers and clients meet in the first place? Believe it or not, Mommy never relies on cold calling. Isn’t she lucky? Imagine how many bad phone calls I’ve had trying to contact strangers through the relay service. Blind dates just don’t work well here.
All of the following ways work because Mommy met at least one client each way.
I’ve bought ads for directories with local non-profit organizations. I knew it was more for helping out the organization than advertising. As you know, I have only one local client and he found me through an online search.
So there you have it, darling. That’s where Mommy’s clients come from. And in not one instance did I rely on protection in the form of advertising or blind dates from cold calling.
And for fun and love because we’re allowed…