Today would’ve been my dad’s 78th birthday. Here’s to you, Dad.

• Book Glutton: Online book clubs that go a step further.
• Headers, footers, columns, and templates by my friend and knowledgeable designer, Ben Henick.
• The Minimalist Way to Launch a Freelance Career.
• Put a Little Love in Your Marketing.
• The Big Secret No One Talks About: Rates. Yes, they still make my stomach churn as established as I am in my business.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• RepairPal: Unbiased help regarding auto repair and price estimates.
• 37 Years of Super Bowl Commercials: C’mon you know you wanna check them out despite the hype.
• NationMaster: Data stats ranging from oil use and divorces to the national bird of countries and how happy people are with their lives.
• 21 Best Mugshots: Either always look nice or try not to do anything illegal.
• Collection of Preloaders: Few sites still provide the preloader countdown (or up) to let you know how long it’ll be before the page loads. With faster Internet connections and less bulky sites, it’s a dying art. But this site shows one preoloader after the next.
• New York in Legos: Love the Flat Iron Building one. I heart NY [Link: Good Experience (the next two, too)].
• Aretha Franklin’s Hat… everywhere!
• Tacky road names, but not meant that way originally.

• How much should you get paid to blog: Good article even though it includes a quote from me.
• Going full-time: Four things you’ll miss from the day job
• 5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter
• Live Blogging: Getting Organized: See one person getting organized in action. Danged paper cuts!
• The One About Trains, Tweets & Lying Down in Public: Retain your sanity in this world of too much information.
• Tracks: Do you have yours figured out?

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Get ready to say good-bye to these car models especially the gas guzzling Hummer H2 [Link: Tumblemoose]
• Human records: Guinness gone crazy
• This Is Sand: Play with sand of all colors. Hint: Click on dot in upper left-hand corner for instructions.
• How to Clean Stuff: Start cleaning no matter the season.
• Damn Interesting: Trust me — interesting facts that I can’t begin to explain.

• How to Sell Twitter to a Client (And Your Boss): You could do this with blogs, but twitter takes less time to read and you can read many more folk’s thoughts.
• 70 Tools Freelancers Rely on Most
• Editors as Mentors
• How to Write Great Query Letters: Write a Great Headline
• 35 Best Tools for Writing Online
• Readers share their favorite words and why in Powell’s Books contest.
• 40 creative blog footer designs

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Pilot School: Pilot scripts of many shows. Loved reading the pilot for 30 Rock. Liz Lemon was originally Lisa Lemon. Yeah, Liz works better.
• 70 Beautiful Dual-Screen Desktop Wallpapers: Love my dual screens. This collection includes Dallas’ skyline.
• drop.io: Share files without registering.
• Oooh. I want this laptop with three screens. No hanging out at Geekologie for me. Just turns me into a kid in a toy store.
• Drawminos: Play with dominoes creations or create your own.
• Cardboard cutouts: Wish she lived close and I’d recycle all my boxes.

I love Terri Libenson’s The Pajama Diaries. My mom saves them for me since my local newspaper doesn’t carry the comic strip (I submitted a request for it). The strip revolves around freelancer Jill Kaplan, a mother and Jewish woman. That’s me. AND my maiden name is Kaplan. The following strip captures a day in the life of a freelancer except add PTA and volunteer work in there.

Click to view larger

Jill is an graphic designer, but most of the time the strip focuses on the fact she’s a freelancer working in an home office. Here you can see more examples. I would love to see the series come out in book form like Baby Blues, which I also love. I relate to the Pajama Diaries more from a career and balance work and home-life perspective. Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott do a lovely job capturing parenthood and children in Baby Blues.

You’ve probably read or heard many experts say that keeping your clients costs less than obtaining new ones. A Bain and Company study reports that boosting customer loyalty by 5 percent improves your profits by 25 percent at the very least and can go up to 95 percent. You can’t ask for better numbers than that.

I’ve been fortunate that 99 percent of my clients use my services a second time. While maintaining strong customer relationships helps keep clients, remember that marketing should always be a part of your job as a freelancer. Overbooked or not, I must keep on marketing as projects end, clients move projects in-house, or a business closes.

Here are six easy ways to hold on to your clients:

1. Listen. Sounds obvious, but freelancers might not understand the client’s request and start working on the project without understanding what the client said. It’s OK to ask for clarification. Better to ask and get it right the first time than produce something off target and have to do it again.
2. Ask for feedback. After working for a client for a reasonable time, I ask for feedback letting the client know it can be short or long — whatever works for the client as I don’t want to take up the client’s time. I ask one yes/no question and one open-ended question: “Are you happy with the work you’re getting from me?” and “What can I do to better serve you?”
3. Ask what the client wants. When starting with a new client, I ask for samples of what he/she likes so I can incorporate that into the content. A client couldn’t provide samples (they were in a language I didn’t know), so I asked for details such as word count, formatting requirements (headers, bullets, etc. acceptable?), quotes allowed, and so on. Something worked because he was pleased with the article.
4. Handle mistakes with grace. You and I are human not machines. We make mistakes. I believe how a person handles those mistakes can make a big difference between success and screw up. You could not charge a client extra for the added time to fix something, provide a discount on the next invoice, or simply apologize and move on.
5. Think of your clients. If I see a PR opportunity that fits my client, a comic strip pertaining to the client’s interest, or some other valuable resource — I pass it on to my clients. I want them to be successful and have all the knowledge they need.
6. Thank your clients. Every year I send a handwritten note to every client. Yes, it means serious carpal tunnel for my southpaw, but we don’t see enough handwriting anymore. My handwriting isn’t special, but it’s more personal than typewriting.

Ready to see your profits to soar over 25 percent? Listen well and watch out for opportunities such as customers asking for a new service or a product that your business should and could handle — get on it! How do you keep ‘em happy?

Deb Ng no longer works as a freelance writer and has a full-time gig. However, she still works from a home office and doesn’t sit in meetings or watch presentations that bore. The differences between full-time work from home and freelance work from home …

• Hours: Freelancers have more flexibility in the hours, but they also might work in the evenings and on weekends depending on projects and schedules. Full-timers work set hours like most in the corporate world. But then in the corporate world, people rarely work the standard 8am to 5pm anymore (at least in the U.S.). I attend PTA meetings, play tennis, volunteer, and take my kids to their appointments. Would full-time work allow for this? Not so sure.
• Employer: Full-timers only work for one client, don’t have to worry about quoting rates, bookkeeping, and marketing. Freelancers have to make all of this part of their jobs. Freelancers must manage multiple clients. However, if freelancers lose a client — they already (should) have other clients to keep things going. A full-timer losing a job has no other income (this doesn’t count those who might have a couple gigs on the side).
• Benefits: Full-timers usually have benefits and freelancers don’t. Full-timers can go on paid vacation with little guilt. Freelancers can go on vacation, but don’t get paid for it — which can lead to feeling guilty (some are great about it and others like me aren’t).
• Illness: Full-timers get sick days. Company sick days vary widely, but freelancers don’t get money when they don’t work unless they’ve built up passive income. When I don’t feel well, I use my laptop and rest on the sofa or on my comfy bed. How much I work depends on deadlines — just a matter of finding a compromise. But when I feel awful (flu), I’m out and I won’t force anything.

One thing about going freelance is that it has given me a more well-rounded life than before when I worked in the corporate world. Before, it was work and family. Now, it’s volunteer (much more and sitting on the boards, too), tennis, more family involvement, and work (more variety and people).

I just need to add travel (other than Austin!) to the mix. At least, it’s a greater mix than when I worked in the corporate world. I didn’t exactly take real vacations while in the corporate world, but did sneak in a couple (one in 1998 and one in 2002).

Which type of career would you prefer? Why?

The winner of one full copy of Spinword PC game from Joyboost from the How to Become a Freelance Writer entry is Karen Swim! Congratulations again, Karen. It’s possible to win more than once in the blog entry prizes.

This entry’s prizes are a book by Tara Calishain and AWAI’s Accelerated Six Figure Copywriting program (excellent — I have it… but never had time to finish it). Just leave a 30-word comment on this post by June 21 to get an entry for a drawing.

I was going to call this “Telling the Violent Truths of the Writing Life,” but Freelance Folder already has dibs on “violent.” Just joking — that’s the name of guest blogger Bob Younce’s excellent series over there.

I met Bob through Poewar. Obviously, John Hewitt of Poewar connected me with a lot of new writer friends. Thank you, John. It only took me a second to consider him a friend. His articles on writing and freelancing — whether on his site or elsewhere — provide a lot of value.

Telling the Hard Truths of the Writing Life

It’s easy, if you listen to one element of the Internet writing community, to think that freelance writing consists entirely of days on the beach sipping margaritas and writing for half an hour on your laptop. For anyone who’s been writing for more than a few weeks, though, you know it just isn’t true. Anyone who tells you that it’s possible to make a living in minutes a day is selling something.

Not that selling is bad, mind you; in fact, writers have to do it in order to be successful. But these folks are selling a false idea. In this life, you reap what you sow, plain and simple.

These folks prey on unsuspecting new moms, for example, that want to work from home. They prey on guys tired of their cubicle careers who are looking for a way out. They look for a felt need and offer a fake solution.

At the same time, there are folks on the opposite end of the spectrum. There’s me, for example. If you’ve read much of my writing at all, you know I constantly promote the idea of hard work and, sometimes, long hours. I have probably turned more people away from a writing career than I have recruited, in my time.

I like to think that the realist approach is a good thing, and that it helps folks considering the writing life to count the cost before they get into something they’re not willing to follow through on.

Maybe I’m just trying to keep away the competition. I don’t think that’s it, though.

Here’s the danger that I constantly find myself in, though. I want to be able to encourage writers. I want to cheer them on. I want them to see the same kind of success I’ve had, and the same kind of success Meryl has had right here.

So, those of us honest folk in the Internet writing community wind up saying something like this:

“Freelance writing is hard work. You can make an honest living doing it, and there’s no better life. But you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to have your wits about you.”

On occasion, I think it’s worth talking about all of the good things in the writing life. I think it’s worth celebrating a success or two, both our own and others’ successes.

Like Meryl, here. She’s been plugging away at this site for the better part of a decade. My goofy little blog has been on the map since February; Meryl’s been here for 8 Februarys.

That says something, folks. It says something about character. It says something about tenacity. It says something about dedication. It’s these characteristics that you’ve got to have to make it as a writer.

So, I celebrate with Meryl. I thank her for her inspiring example. I take a moment away from telling the hard truths of the writing life to tell a pleasant one:

Writing success is possible. Look at Meryl, and at others who have done it. Dream your dream, and dream it big. You can get there, no matter what challenges you face. Stick with it. Be dedicated. And remember: you’re standing on the shoulders of giants.

Thanks, Meryl. Enjoy your vacation, and come back soon.

About the author: Bob Younce is a full-time Internet writer and writing mentor living in Linwood, Michigan. He is dedicated to helping Internet writers to achieve their dreams. Visit Bob at The Writing Journey or follow him on Twitter.

• Add Spark to Your Writing with These 3 Simple Tweaks: I shy away from sentences where I use repeating words even though a comma separates them. This convinced me otherwise.
• So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer? Four part article with advice from the pros.
• Best Pro-Blogging Sentence in 2008: Wonderful quote from a CEO on why blogging matters in business.
• Disposable Email Addresses: Want something? Not sure if you can trust a source asking for your email?
• The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: Love this. I’ve got friends who do this in email plus add unnecessary apostrophes. Nice to laugh instead of cringe for a change.
• Idea Seeds for Successful Articles and Posts: Creative approach to finding ideas.
• Searching for Mr. (Pardon, Mrs. and Ms., too) Good Host: A guest post of mine over at my guest blogger‘s site

And for fun… because we’re allowed…

• Speak LOL Cat [Link: Peter Shankman]
• Bored at work, but don’t want to get caught reading fiction or poetry? How about reading this stuff in PowerPoint? This takes work to figure out — but you log in as a user and click the folders. Start Here.

Karen Putz asks how I do it — balance full-time writing and being a parent to three kids. I should be asking her how she does it — she interviews Marlee Matlin!

As I mentioned in my how I became a writer story, the whole thing started as a part-time venture while managing a part-time corporate job (for most of it) and three kids. I believe writing on the side while holding down a corporate job is a better route than chucking it all for the freelance life.

Yes, life is about risks, but you’re more likely to succeed by building up instead of starting with zip. Had I chucked it all back in 2000, I would’ve had less than a part-time amount of work and no health benefits. My spouse got laid off in 2003, right before #3 came along. We would’ve been in deep trouble had I chucked, which would’ve been more of an upchuck (holds back from the woodchuck routine).

I also volunteer and sit on several PTA boards. My mom was a full-time volunteer for the second half of my childhood. I wanted to be like her. Living a balanced life is important to me. My kids will grow up, so I need to enjoy them NOW.

Prefer to be all about your career? You might want to read Wake Up, Damn It! If your career makes you happy, then go for it and ignore everything here.

So how do I manage all of this? Not without a little insanity and stress at times, but these tips help make it easier:

1. Enroll younger kids in pre-school. Keeping them at home isn’t doable (unless you have a nanny). My youngest has learned amazing stuff he would never have learned had he stayed home. He enters kindergarten in the fall (sob).
2. Rely on a personal information manager complete with contacts, calendar, and to do lists. The Palm desktop has been my trusty sidekick since 1995. Use Outlook. Use any of the many online web-based applications.
3. Balance your schedule for the week. Non-work appointments take too many of my slots this week. I’ve rescheduled two. I try to spread out appointments, but that doesn’t always work and find a week becomes overloaded. So when I realize it, I start moving things around where I can. I review the week ahead sometime between Friday and Monday to ensure balance or to do something about it.
4. Accept working off hours. While I work a standard work week, appointments and kid events can cut into my work time. So I make it up in the evening or on weekends, but never at the sacrifice of sleep bring us to the next point…
5. Get sleep. Everyone requires a different amount of sleep to function well. If I stay up late working on something, I’m hurting more than helping my clients and business. While I might get something done late at night, I’m useless the next day and lose an entire day. So better to sleep and finish in the morning.
6. Avoid waiting until last minute to do work to make deadline. To avoid late nights, I make sure I have room to meet the deadline. This prevents racing the clock or sacrificing quality to make a deadline.
7. Make “No” part of your vocabulary. Or else, get stuck with deadlines close to each other, overload your schedule, and turn yourself into a stress machine (which affects your health). I believe, “When mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” So parents, it may feel selfish to say, “No,” but your family benefits.
8. Drop stressful clients. I’ve dropped a client or two because I didn’t enjoy the work and dreaded working on their projects. Add these together spells energy drain. Worried about replacing them? Writers should always include marketing a part of their job.
9. Balance your kids’ activities. Who says they need to take music lessons, play sports, dance, and do scouts all at once? Kids need a break, too. Try to limit younger ones’ — who are trying things to find what they like — current activities to one or two. When one ends, you can try something else. After all, fewer activities means fewer chauffeuring jobs for parents.
10. Use your “I can’t write now” time wisely. When we find ourselves unable to write or work, we can easily fall into the trap of needlessly surfing the Web or doing other wasteful activities. When I’m in a stupor, I fold laundry, exercise, play games (that I need to review) — Things that benefit me.

How do you balance your writing life with your personal life?

• 10 Clever Ways to Wow Your Clients
• Are You Approaching Freelancing All Wrong?
• The Only 12 1/2 Writing Rules You’ll Ever Need poster. Should get this for my office. Actually have wall space. [Link: Deb Ng]
• Four Ways to Target Online Buyers with the Right Words
• Write for Food
• Grammar Lessons from the English Chick.
• 9 Niche Carving Techniques: Even if you want to be a Jack or Jackie of all trades, you can still have a niche as this entry shows.
• 50 open source resources for writers.

Interesting:

• Is the Palm OS Dying? Should you care? I do! I have owned a Palm device since 1995 and am still hoping the company will surprise us and SOON.
• Student twitters his way out of Egyptian jail. WOW. Talk about major twitter impact. If I had done the same thing, I’d still be in jail.
• 20 things to do with nail polish. Well, color won’t work well for some of these, but good tips. Men — it’s OK to use nail polish! [Link: Deb Ng]

And because we always look for ways to save money:

• AAA gas price finder

And because I had my first job out of college at DOT:

• Secretary of DOT blog: My first job out of college was as a DOT trainee. We rotated to three different areas in one year and then permanently settled with one of the areas. I still stay in touch with many folks there — they are good people. Don’t let the FAA’s problems deter you from thinking otherwise.