oDesk Makes Interactive Freelancing Easier

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I started freelancing part time about 4 months after I graduated from college in December 2006. The first project I got was doing market research for a sustainable economic development conference in Houston, Texas. I worked about 15 hours a week for a few months. It was really exhilarating to get hired for something I'm actually good at and passionate about. I would leave my then 9-5 job with huge excitement because I knew the next few hours would involved me holed up at a local coffee shop doing work that was rewarding, rather than draining and stressful.

How To Talk About Your Job And Not Bore People

By day, I work for a software company, which sounds very 1990's if you ask me. Sometimes I like to just leave it at that in conversation, but if I feel the person I'm speaking to is sharp or interested I'll delve in a little deeper about what the software actually does (and why I'm qualified to work on it). I've been here a little less than a year and it was a seriously difficult thing to get people to understand or care about what the product I support actually does. The 100 character blurb that describes my position is terribly boring and obtuse.

I support front and back-end aspects of Company X's proprietary marketing and public relations analytics solutions.

Doesn't make you want to jump out of your seat and demand an explanation, no? This is why I can't be a sales person. I'd never be able grab someone's attention in 30 seconds unless I lied and exaggerated until I was struck down by powers above.
Instead, I break it down to a simple and applicable description that goes like this,

So, you know how companies have like, brands? Yeah, well they market those brands to certain parts of the population that they think might buy them. Our software measures what people say about this brand campaigns in blogs, message forums, newspaper articles, etc. Basically we hear everything that goes on within the web and we're able to analyze the tonality and frequency of when and how it's mentioned.

Usually when I break it down like that, I get a "that's really cool" and I smile and say, "yeah it is."

Other times I'll mention that I'm a freelancer on the side. That always gets a good amount of interest, especially when I say my topics of choice to write about are the environment, renewable energy, career development and the economy. Often times I don't even need to overtly network with people because they'll ask me for a card or my website.

I suppose talking about yourself quite a bit comes of as narcissistic, but I'm convinced the only real way that people can understand you in a meaningful way is if you articulate what you do and what you care about when they're listening. When you have a captive audience, don't waste it!

More importantly, be a good listener when it's their turn to talk about their lives and work. If people think you're uninterested in hearing them speak, they'll never really open up to what you have to say.

All this being said, does anyone have any good suggestions for business cards that are nice looking yet easy on the wallet? Any other creative ideas for handing out your info?

My Intent with Content: Punches in Bunches

I like to consider myself to be more than just a half-hearted blogger. I do quite a bit of driving and extracurricular in my life and I still feel like I put out some quality content whenever I make the time. There are certain avenues of which I get paid for my writing. None of them are particularly lucrative, but they do help in assuaging the feeling that I'm doing this just for my own pleasure. However, the stipulation ussually presents itself that I keep my rights to whatever content I produce, but that whomever is paying me for it gets to print it first on their website.

This is fine except for the fact that these websites that pay me take a long time to review what I've written and post payment. In which time my piece may not be timely anymore. Therefor I have resolved myself to writing blog posts in bunches so that I can submit them whenever finished and queue them up for my blog posts once the payment and publishing happens on the other end.

I think this solution will help me to keep my creative flow going and allow me to write whenever I want. As long as I write often, I should have a steady stream of paid for blog posts ready to go.

Next step: finding a fairer wage for my articles and blog posts.

Took a break, now back at it.

So, the first half of this week and all last weekend I haven't spent any serious time submitting freelance articles. I haven't quit, I've just needed a little bit of a breather from the every day hustle. Gary V. may not be happy with that, but it has felt pretty good to just hang out a few days and not stress.

But today I'm back at it working on certain articles and searching out freelance work that pays more than 15 dollars an article. Where can I find this stuff? Anybody have any suggestions? I want to write more and make more money. I'd also like to have my portfolio look a little more professional and substantive.