When I bought a Flip camera in 2008, I also grabbed video editing software. Before buying the software, I researched for a good editor that wasn’t fancy or power-packed. Just enough to get the job done without spending much time with the user manual. With new software, I can usually dig right in. However, past experience with editing software involved more reading time than editing time. After talking to a few folks and reading reviews, I went with Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Version 8.

I installed Vegas and never used it. Eventually, I uninstalled it because it took up unneeded resources and space. I decided to do a little winter cleaning by identifying the largest files on the computer. Three HD videos made the list, so that prompted me reinstall the editing software.

It can’t open the .m2ts files. This 2008 software has “HD” on the box, but it couldn’t open these files. I went to the website to see if the company had a patch or upgrade so it could open these files. It turned out they no longer support that version of the software. How hard would it be to create a plug-in to import these HD files? A search of user forums yielded nothing. I guess not too many people are using version 8 or they have cameras that don’t produce .m2st files.

Having learned my lesson that I don’t make time for editing videos, I looked around for freeware and cheap converter to convert these HD files into one Vegas 8 could handle. Unfortunately, no freeware app can handle these big files. Actually, there was one and it failed. Besides, I wasn’t comfortable using it because there had been concerns about the app having malware. (While working on this, I came across 10 Free Apps for Working with Video, but none could solve this problem.)

The trial version of Sony Vegas 11 converted the three big videos into one. Windows Media Player (Scroll way down to MPEG-4 section for why) couldn’t play it. Two other players could. Whew. I’m out of the video editing business. Back to using the old digital camera for videos.

I understand software companies have to draw the line in how long they support older versions of software. Is it fair to stop supporting a three-year-old app? Maybe Sony would’ve had a fan in me if they had a solution other than upgrade to 11.

What’s your take on software and support?

And now for your weekly links …

Brain food …

• How to Read Virtual Body Language in Email. Some people still don’t know how to write emails and rub people the wrong way. Here are 10 virtual body language cues.
• 20 Ways to Live a More Simple Life. Always try to keep kids’ activities to a minimum and possessions few. For more ideas … 100 Ways to Live a Better Life.
• 5 Unusual questions that freelancers MUST ask their clients. A keeper. When I meet potential new clients, I always ask how they found me. These questions are for after you’ve landed the client.
• 10 Best Ways To Show Gratitude For Others. Gratitude … it’s not just for Thanksgiving.
• 30 Top Facebook Apps for Business. Save yourself time … try this list first.

For fun …

• Daily Infographic. Infographics are cool and provide neat insight. But really … most of them are not true infographics because they have a lot of content. Effective infographics let the pictures do the talking.
• 12 Cutest Finger Drawings. They do look like they have personalities.
• 10 websites that changed the world. Surprised I’m not familiar with most of them.
• 12 hilarious closed signs. Warning: PG-ish sign or two.

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Image from sxc.hu user krissyOoO

How do you get most of your business? For me, it’s referrals. For fellow freelance writer Thursday Bram, it’s her address book. This guest post from Thursday shows how to make connections and make them work for your freelancing business. 

As a freelancer, my business wouldn’t bring me a lot of money if I had to sell it — except for my address book. It’s the main asset I have to work with. I have a computer, some on-going client accounts and not much else that an appraiser would even bother to put a price tag on.

That’s perfectly fine with me. Business is booming, because of that address book. I do minimal marketing and yet I’m turning away work almost constantly. That’s because the right connections really are incredibly valuable.

Connections Are the Most Important Asset You Can Build

As a freelancer, word of mouth has to be one of the best marketing methods available to you. There’s no direct cost that you have to budget for, like advertising and the like. Clients prefer to work with freelancers and contractors that come with a referral, rather than someone they find through an online search or the like. All of that adds up to create a situation in which it simply pays off for you to invest time and effort into building up the right connections to bring you word of mouth business.

Think about how many novice freelancers are encouraged to start out by asking their friends and family for connections to people who might need work. Relying on your connections is not something you only do in the first days that you are looking for freelance work, however. It’s easy to let meeting new people and maintaining your relationships by the wayside when you have a full slate of work. It’s the same issue that goes along with marketing for any freelancer — unless you put out special effort, you only go looking for work when you don’t actually have any.

But if you’re willing to invest time in building up your address book, you can smooth out some of those hills and valleys.

Going Out of Your Way to Build More Connections

For some freelancers, networking is the hardest task we can set ourselves. It’s not uncommon for a freelancer to choose to work for herself so that she wouldn’t have to deal so much with the in-office networking necessary to get ahead as an employee. Unfortunately, the reality is that most of us freelancers wind up talking to people more when we’re running our own businesses than we ever did before.

You have to put yourself in the position to make more connections — and they need to be the right connections. Of course, you can make friends with anyone and there will be a chance that they’ll pass your name along to someone who needs a freelancer. But if you have a good idea of who your perfect client is, you can figure out where you can connect with the people who match that profile. That way, you can focus your energy on connecting with people who are actually likely to hire you.

Pick the conferences and events your prospective clients are going to be at, and make sure that you can attend. Even if it isn’t an event that you’d normally be interested in, the people who will be there are more important than the event itself.

New Connections and Old: You Need Both

While you’re going to have to go out and actually meet some people in order to have any business relationships you can build on, a truly valuable address book is a lot more than just some place to put the business cards you collect at networking events.

I make a point of following up with new connections within a month of meeting them. It helps if you make sure that during your conversation you discuss something that makes the follow up easy — like promising to forward an article you read — but even if you’re only sending out an email to touch base, you’re still doing more than most of the people that were at any given event. It’s my experience that even at an event that was specifically intended to help people network and build their businesses, well under 10 percent of people ever follow up after the event.

Every day, I send out at least three emails to people I already know. I make an effort to meet up with people for coffee or lunch as often as possible, even if the person I’m meeting isn’t going to hire me. I put as much effort into maintaining my relationships (or even making them more valuable) as I do into meeting new people.

That’s what makes my address book more than a list of names: it’s a list of people who like and know me, and know that I’m a good choice for their freelance projects.

Thursday Bram has been freelancing for more than eight years — the last four full-time. She’s the co-founder of EnhancedFreelance.com, a membership site for freelancers ready to up their game.

How do you find most of your clients? What other ways do you find clients?

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Here’s my “where I was” September 11 story. Where were you?

• Can Pre-Paid Legal Services Help Freelancers? You may have seen ads for Pre-Paid Legal or know someone who told you about it. It turned me off especially because of its MLM setup. But take away the marketing and it’s a good service.
• Book Blogger Directory. A keeper for authors. Remember, don’t just email ‘em all asking to review your book. Target blogs that match your book’s ideal reader. [Link: Chapter and Voice]
• How to Focus in the Age of Distraction. Great mindmap. But I had a hard time focusing and trying to stick with one branch. I kept jumping over. =)
• Where to hang out at Google+ Hangouts. I haven’t joined one yet. Have you? What was your experience?
• Two great Twitter tools. Twitblock: Scans your followers for potential spammers following you. DoesFollow: Quick way to find out if someone is following you without sending a DM or scanning that person’s long list of followers.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• Pencil pictures. Very cool.
• Brandversations: When competitors invade each other’s logos. Love the artwork.
• 8 Retro Imaginary Advertisements for Modern. More beautiful artwork that combines old time advertising styles with modern day gadgets. Think old Coca-Cola ads meet Macbook.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

I was born and bred in Fort Worth. I’ve lived in the Dallas / Fort Worth area for my entire life except for the six years I lived in Washington, DC. So all my favorite teams are the ones from here including the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks. I stuck with all of ‘em through great years and forgettable years. When folks kept saying the Mavs were a joke and never contenders, I reminded them of the Mavs’ good years in the ’80s with Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Roy Tarpley and Brad Davis.

Thanks to Donald Carter for bringing the team to Dallas. Thanks to Mark Cuban for turning them into champions in a short 11 years. The Mavs almost did it in 2006, you know?

Meryl's Dad in USAF Uniform

Dads. Happy Father’s Day to all the involved dads out there who play catch with the kids, take them to school, help them with homework and be there for them. I’m lucky to be married to one of those dads. My dad (in loving memory) was one, too. We played catch many times, he took me to lots of Texas Ranger games, he embarrassed me on my way to school by waving at me while taking his morning walk and he was always there for me.

Best advice for the week: How to deal with criticism in one single step: “Don’t care. You’re not going to please everybody.” Even the nicest people have a few non-fans. You can produce the most beautiful work product and your boss, editor, client loves it. Someone, somewhere out there will hate it.

Brain food…

• How to Create a 5 Step Facebook Marketing Strategy for Your Blog: This one is doable for just about everyone.
• The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Taking a Vacation: Not just for entrepreneurs… Americans, too. My husband had been doing a lot of research on human resources stuff for his international company and Americans are sorely behind other countries in benefits and other areas. I challenged him by asking questions like “Maybe we have a better salary? Maybe we have a lower cost of living?” He had solid answers for all of them.
• 10 Reasons I Don’t Answer Your Email: I reply to most emails. The ones that don’t get a reply often fall into one of these 10.
• 3 Steps You Can Take to Reduce the Firefox 4 Memory Leak: Memory has been a Firefox problem for years. I had two tabs open and Firefox managed to hold on to 1,000,000K of memory one day last week! Bad, foxy, bad.
• World’s Worst Freelance Advice: Write what you know… seriously. If I followed that advice, I wouldn’t write about cars, Billiards or buffaloes.
• Book Marketing Q&A: Q&A worth listening to or reading.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Coolest (and 5 Worst) Father’s Day Gifts: My husband would love that Corvette Wall Shelf.
• 8 Weirdest Dog Breeds Ever: Some of these look familiar as they’ve appeared in movies and TV shows.
• Praha Opening: Choreography in a Skydive Arena. Very cool. Yes, watch to the smooth ending.
• 12 Funny Signs Found at the Beach: Some not safe for work.
• 15 Coolest Pictures Taken at the Right Time: I have one of those (not on Oddee, mind you). I captured a lightning bolt by the Washington Monument. I’m not a good photographer, but am proud of the picture that I have it on the wall in my office.
• Neon Movie Signs: Wow.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Two ways you can easily help others and make a big impact: Donate blood and join the bone marrow registry. Donating blood takes little time and helps many. You have a few options for donating blood and some depends on your physical attributes. My tall husband can donate double red, I can’t.

Another great option is donating platelets, which you can do every three days. With platelets, you have very little — if any — physical reaction. Some people say that donating whole blood makes them lightheaded or too tired. Platelets don’t do that since the machine returns some of the blood properties back to you. I used to donate platelets, but I had a lot of problems with it. Because I couldn’t always hear the the beeping sound that lets you know when it’s downloading or uploading blood, the alarm kept going off due to low pressure. I tried watching the monitor, but it didn’t work either.

So I donate whole blood. I do it quickly and with no side effects. The blood center is grateful for anything you can do. Whole blood requires waiting 56 days between donations. Double red requires 112 days between donations. If you can do double red, it’s an amazing way to contribute and it’s only a few times a year.

Brain food…

• 7 Don’t-Miss Sites for Online Marketing: Focuses on authors.
• Finding Case Studies for Your Articles: Facebook is also great.
• 50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing: I just learned the word “tricolon” before reading this. Oh, I’ve used tricolon. I just didn’t know it had a name. “A series of three parallel words, phrases, clauses, or statements: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” “Veni, Vidi, Vici.”  [Link: Elizabeth S Craig]
• Why Selling Similar Work to Multiple Clients is Risky Business: And don’t do it when you do a guest post. At least, be honest about it and post a second version months later.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Demotivational Posters for Freelancers: Demotivational posters aren’t new, but this is a great collection.
• Paper vs. Rock: Yeah, paper magically wraps itself around rock. If it could do that, it’d attack us when we write all over it.
• Scrabble a la Typography: Love this! [Link: Esther Schindler]
• Admiral Grammar letter to Colonel Burn: I salute you, Admiral!

We used to call it a chart. Now it’s “information visualization.” 1 syllable to 10. George Carlin would have a field day. – @markhurst (Yikes! I’d never thought I’d be guilty of such a thing!)

I thought about naming this the Aquarium edition in honor of the field trip I went on with my son’s second grade class this week where I loved seeing my son’s face as he was in awe of some of the discoveries. (Like in this photo.) However, Thanksgiving is a delightful holiday, perhaps my favorite because it contains no pressure and no stress. The only stress for some folks may be the cooking. There’s no shopping for gifts, sending holiday wishes and preparation outside of cooking like decorating the home.

My mom does all the cooking. And guess what? She says Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday. Her and Dad’s anniversary always falls around Thanksgiving. They married on Thanksgiving in 1955. Though Dad passed away in 2007, I sent her a note on her anniversary date. Mom appreciated the senitment. So if you know someone whose spouse has passed away, go ahead and drop ‘em a line on their anniversary date. Just because a mate is gone doesn’t mean you have to forget the date.

Just be with your fave people (OK, maybe Uncle youknow gets on your nerves — remember people don’t live forever and you don’t have to see them daily)  loved ones and relish the time together. For my family, add “watch the Dallas Cowboys.” Yeah, yeah… they lost in an exciting come from behind game. You gotta give ‘em credit for trying when their playoff hopes are long gone.

Brain food…

• How to Enchant Your Customer: I rarely link to popular sites and experts, but this one from Guy Kawasaki is a worthy read.
• How to Be an Original in a Blogosophere Polluted with Regurgitations: I’ve covered topics that many others have. One thing I try to do that no one else can… be me without focusing on me as my life is not that interesting.
• Six Dilemmas That Freelancers Face Over the Holidays: I take some time off. I hope you do, too. Gotta give that brain of yours a break and experience joy.
• achieving, without goals: Yes, it’s possible.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Pac-Man Cookie Cutters: Is it me or do these shapes make those cookies look more delish?
• 12 Funniest Misspelled Billboards: Oddee says it best, “Misspelling is not good, but to have it in a super size panel makes it much worse.”
• Butterbeer?! Oh Yes, Friends! Butterbeer!:  Sugarbear’s recipe looks simpler than some of the others posted. I must just try this. I wonder how using sugar free cream soda compares.

Tell us about your Thanksgiving.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

Ah, I got nothing today — no stories, nada. Just lots and lots of work since I had a few appointments not related to business. At least, it’s been beautiful and sunny all week.

Brain food…

• Bite-Size Edits: “Bite-Size Edits takes a text, chops it into pieces, and serves those pieces randomly to editors. Players get points for editing text, for providing useful comments, for helping to get a text completely edited.”
• Using Web Tools For Creating and Managing Contracts: Important topic. I had one client (I had worked with him before without problems) who failed to live up to his part of agreement and I had no contract for it. (I know. Shame on me.)
• How to Make Better Decisions: “Accepting ownership of consequences and balancing responsibility with your own personal goals lets you overcome stress, enabling you to making empowering decisions.”
• I wish I would have known: Answers from 11 top freelancers: Focus on designers, but applies to others including writers. I wish I would have known that my inability to use the phone like everyone else would be a big barrier to getting clients. But reflecting on my life and career — the path that got me here was the best route.
• The Five Best Mispronunciations I’ve Ever Heard: I love malapropisms every since I learned about them reading The Rivals
  . They’re fun. They inject humor in a conversation. Just heard one on NCIS this week: A character from another country said in reference to Kennedy shooting, “…shot from the book suppository.” More discussions over at Nathan Branford’s blog.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Cool and Unusual Business Card Designs: I love these round ups. Such creativity! And 10 free orange business card templates.
• 15 Entertaining Toilet Paper Designs: Notebook paper for writers. That’s productive!
• 15 photos that are real, not Photoshopped: My heart fell into my stomach looking at Dean Potter on tightrope walk in Yosemite.
• Cool Cupcake Creations: Tasty! Glad I haven’t seen these locally… they’d be tough to resist!
• Another 12 Unfortunate Logos: Aw, c’mon. How do you end up with these logos? Logo work isn’t something that’s done in five minutes and usually involves at least two people. Someone HAS to catch these!

• The 100 Most Popular Twitter Applications
• 7 Fresh and Simple Ways to Test Cross-Browser Compatibility
• How strong are your passwords on sites like PayPal? These need to be impossible to remember because of the connection with your bank account. Check your password strength.
• 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn: Way beyond looking for jobs.
• 90-10 Rule for Successful Twitter Networking
• How to Promote on Twitter without Pissing People Off [Link: Amy Derby]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• ZooBorn: Awww… Just like it sounds… zoo newborns.
• Adobe Cards: Amazing animation with decks of cards. After it loads, move the slider all the way to the right to play the entire show.
• Twittering with Ben Franklin, James Madison, Aaron Burr [Link: Brad Shorr].

Our life on Monday…

• Wordle: Create word clouds.
• 10 Harsh Truths about Corporate Web Sites [Link: Laura Carlson]
• Can’t Get Your Writing Project Started? Just Start Anyway!
• 7 Important Lessons Freelance Writers Can Learn from Working in Fast Food
• Salted Spring Fever and Hot Wax Zombies: Where Twitter and Old Posts Meet
• Get Your Money: Best Invoicing Practices for Freelancers: Only had two clients who were difficult about payment, but they were also unresponsive when the project team sent them work to review.
• Social Media Case Studies SUPERLIST- 20 Extensive Lists of Organizations Using Social Media
• The End of Marketing and PR?

And for fun and love because we’re allowed…

• Beautiful love story by Karen Swim, my friend.
• What I Learned from Love entries from Robert Hruzek’s Middle Musings.
• About Haiku Day on Twitter and the #LittleLove results.

• Permission to Change Direction: Must read if you have a niche blog and strong reader relationship… you don’t mind if this blog turns into one about sewing, right? Just kidding.
• How a Credit Card Makes Freelancers Bawl… by me. I had fun with it… wish I could come up with more stuff like this.
• Why an Ugly Website Might Be More Profitable for You: Sage advice from Yuwanda. Wish I had an idea in the first place.
• How to Redesign Your Web Site.
• Someone Has It Together Over There at Craig’s List: Where can I come up with ideas like this???
• Getting Started Freelancing: FAQ for Beginning Writers
• I am thinking about Yolanda.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Can you guess my accent?
• Top 10 Tools for Soccer Moms… and volleyball moms and baseball moms…
• 12 Promising New Web Sites and Services
• Say Cheese: 12 Photos That Should Never Have Been Posted Online
• Finally got around to watching Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. Also found Time Management, but it was not captioned as promised. It took further looking to find it. This Time Management video also has German subtitles.
• Top 10 Wild Kitchen Gadgets You’ll Only Use Once

Going to back specialist today. Pray he can figure out what’s going on with me. I can’t go without tennis for too long! I’ve had back problems for years, but this resembles nothing I’ve had before so it has me worried.