Category Archives: FOCUS

focus, online success, motivation, network, networking, entrepreneur, work from home, life skills, motivational secret, inspiration, inspirational, home business success, freelance education

X: Xenophobes Will Stay Poor

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 1 Comment

X: Xenophobes Will Stay Poor

I wonder how many A to Z challenge bloggers used the word Xenophobe today? I know of two. (http://sociologyfornerds.com, if the post is up).

I’ve learned an important lesson in recent months. I’ve been a freelancer for almost 20 years, and a full-timer for the past 13. Yet it took me this long to realize that being a xenophobe is bad for business.

We conduct a lot of our work online and via email. Most of our interactions look like black squiggles on a white page, and that little stream-of-consciousness voice in our heads may be the only sound we hear in a given day. Except maybe for the cat purring in the sunshine.

I describe myself as introverted; my happy-go-lucky friend Shane describes me as socially awkward. I started to notice a creeping xenophobia a few years ago—too many struggles with the mortgage company, too many arguments with the neighbor. My daughter grew up and moved off to college. I was turned off to people and shut myself inside my house and just focused on my business.

But recently I’ve been given a great gift: people. I was chasing a shiny idea and all of a sudden realized there were people out there, people with interesting stories and beautiful challenges and great responsibilities toward sustaining the world.

These people woke me up and are the direct First Cause for a new business I’ve launched. I’m determined to bring my knowledge to other freelancers, to share challenges for a time and help others leap higher, faster. The FOCUS writing series is gestating in my brain, but soon it’ll pop out into the world as a fully-grown offering.

And I have people to thank for that. My brush with xenophobia has passed, and now it’s time to do business.

If you’re interested in being one of the first to hear about Launch Day, please grab a copy of my ebook and share your name and email with me using the box on the right. People rock!

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Posted in AtoZ Challenge, FOCUS, Marketing Yourself

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V: Vacation Time!

Posted on April 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

V: Vacation Time!

You’ve worked hard enough. You’ve worked enough 24/7 shifts with your business, your kids, your family, your home, your schooling, and all the other 10,000 things you do each moment.

Take a vacation, already!

Most freelancers long wistfully for vacation time; kicking back at the beach or around the campfire, jetting off to exotic places like northern Minnesota or the hopping nightlife of Atlanta. We dream of vacations many more hours than we’re actually ON vacation, and it seems to take two days to detox and settle in anyway.

Here’s my checklist for planning a vacation:

  1. Tell all my clients I’ll be gone, and pad the time off with a week at either end so I can handle their last-minute emergencies.
  2. Make sure I work extra hard in the weeks leading up to vacation, and polish off projects that have been hanging out there.
  3. Never start on a new, crazy idea within a month of vacation time. (I have to scold myself for this one; I love shiny things.)
  4. Get my email newsletter list and messages in good order so I don’t leave something undone.
  5. Bring along my pen and paper so I can plan out my next years’ goals.

It might seem silly to plan my next year while on vacation, but there’s something so genuinely wonderful about sitting in the woods with no technology and just thinking. I reflect on where I’ve been, what I’ve done, who I’ve done it with, and where the next few months will lead me in my business growth. That’s precious time well-spent—plus I get to reconnect with my husband and my internal self and all is well after we get home.

Get your house in order before going on vacation. Really, truly leave the technology behind at home. Don’t fret about missing emails or opportunities. Just go, and be. It’ll all be waiting for you when you get back.

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Posted in AtoZ Challenge, FOCUS, Motivation

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U: Understand Your Target Market

Posted on April 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

U: Understand Your Target Market

Here’s an exercise that will help you develop empathy with your audience so you can understand WHY you’re writing what you’re writing. It’s part of the FOCUS training exercises, but I’ll release the password so you can access the exercise and get a taste for what I’m talking about in the FOCUS series.

Click here: http://10000seeds.com/conqueringcontent/focus-develop-your-empathy/

Enter the password when prompted: focus

If you’re intrigued, put your name and email address in the opt-in form on the right. I’ll send you more free exercises that will help you build your professional freelance writing business.

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Posted in AtoZ Challenge, FOCUS, Write Better

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T: Take Time to Breathe

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 1 Comment

T: Take Time to Breathe

So glad you’ve arrived on this blog, on this post, on this day, at this moment in time. Before you came here, you were in the middle of a long string of actions: click here, read that, take a sip of coffee, run a Google search, check your Facebook, look in on the napping baby… not necessarily in that order. And probably with more coffee.

Screech to a halt for the next three minutes. Take a deep breath and let it out. One more time—deep breath, let it out. Be still for just 120 seconds.

I’m going to insert a few blank spaces in this blog post, just to visually cue your brain and body to become still and be in the present moment.

 

 

There now, does your body feel calmer? Is your brain more collected? Is your heart beating slower? Do you feel (oh, no, there she goes with the woo-woo stuff) more centered?

If you often forget to breathe, bookmark this post. Set up a reminder in your calendar to come back here every day until 120 seconds of breathing is a habit in your life. Take time to breathe before resuming your zooming actions and I promise this three minutes will increase your productivity a thousand-fold.

Leave a comment below to share how you feel! Feelings are your friends, my friends.

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Posted in AtoZ Challenge, FOCUS, Work Stress

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S: Seek Out a Real Relationship With Another Writer

Posted on April 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

S: Seek Out a Real Relationship With Another Writer

Ah, writers. Most of us would prefer to live in high garrets with only the glow from our laptops illuminating our surroundings. Even if you’re more of a “people” person than I am, you’re probably considered an introvert at parties, right? You’re a thinker, a philosopher, an absorber of other people’s emotions and needs.

If you’re not this type of person, I wonder why you got into writing for a living. :)

This quietness prevents writers from reaching out to others and seeking relationships with peers and mentors. We’re all willing to help out a friend or friendly competitor, but we don’t usually volunteer our wisdom unless asked by the other person. So, I’m advising you today that it’s time to ask. Time to reach out and get involved with a writing buddy or a mentor.

When I launch my FOCUS training, one thing I’ll offer is a friendly ear and a mentoring role to other writers who want to be professional, well-paid freelance writers. My question to you reading this is: What’s the best way to develop and maintain that relationship? Would you like to email back and forth, or would an accountability phone call once a week satisfy you, or would you find support in a small-group webinar/teleclass?

I’m really looking for your opinions because I don’t know what would work best for my fellow writers. Please leave your ideas below, and know that you’re helping me decide a key component in my FOCUS training series. Thanks!

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Posted in AtoZ Challenge, FOCUS, Motivation

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