When I was Gainfully Employed in sales/marketing/training, on any given day I could have made more calls, come up with another way to promote my products, etc. But as long as I was on track to meet my goals, I could almost always leave at 5:00 to pursue other activities. I didn’t work weekends.

Freelancers rarely control their work flow. Even when you’re already swamped with assignments, most GU don’t want to say no when another opportunity comes up at the last minute.

We:
–don’t want to disappoint a client.
–aren’t on salary and probably want the $.
–don’t know when the next job will come in and so don’t want to miss out on this one.

Example: I already had a full day of work planned plus somewhere I’d agreed to be at 2:00. But at 3:00 the day before, an agent called to ask if I was available to do a VO job in the suburbs for a client I’d worked with before. Of course I want to book work with my agent and keep returning clients. I said yes; she confirmed around a half hour later. I rearranged my schedule.

It’s wonderful to have so much work; I feel very fortunate. But when GU are so occupied with what’s on their plates and meeting deadlines (putting out fires), finding creative energy and making time to move forward on our own projects such as books in progress and submitting or self-publishing completed ones (growing your forest) can be a challenge. Marketing and client relationship building often takes a back seat. Though we want to do these things and they need to be done, we may put them off because there’s no income guarantee.

One approach that’s been useful is having a writing buddy or group. Find someone who’s in a similar situation, then make appointments to get together and work on projects you’ve been wanting to finish. By helping each other, you don’t end up saying, “I really want to do X. Someday.”

Not only does this carve out time for individual writing, we focus more intensely than we might on our own….and keep each other in line to avoid distractions like surfing the Internet or spending too much time on Facebook. We feel great about what we accomplish.

Sometimes you make more progress with a friend’s help. Sometimes even the motivated need motivation and support.

If your printer, PC, phone or other electronic device seems to be on its last legs, is it worth repairing or should you buy a new one? If you buy new, what do you do with the old?

My Canon i900D color printer lasted almost 7 years to the day, before the PRINTER JAM error message kept showing up, though after thorough explorations via flashlight by me and a friend, not paper was found. A search of the Canon site recommended repair.

I called the Geek Squad, who said unless I really wanted this particular printer for some special function, I should pay for repairs. But given the prices and current features, he suggested buying new.

My Canon worked great for years with great quality. After searching reviews online and checking with friends, I’m also considering HP….the number of brands, types of printers, features, and places to buy boggles the mind.

The next question is what to do with the old device. Freecycle is great for things that work. Fortunately the nearby BestBuy will recycle my defunct printer.

We have more electronics than ever, and it seems that they have shorter lifespans than they used to…so we’ll be making these decisions more often.

It’s too late for my i900D, but here are links to suggestions for extending the lifespan of your printer(s).

PCMech.com

PCTechNotes.com

I’ve talked several times about poor customer service…and how it’s not only frustrating on that day because: 1) resolution, if you get it, takes too long and b) negative feelings linger and make you not want to patronize that company again if there’s another option. I think if more companies beefed up the quality and ease of use of their customer service, sales would increase.

So today I’d like to mention 3 companies that recently provided great customer service.

1) Clog Kingdom
I’d tried on a pair of shoes in a store, but they didn’t have my small size, plus Chicago’s sales tax is one of the highest in the country. So I went online and found the same shoes here for less money and in more colors, plus no sales tax and free shipping.

I quickly placed my order. Too quickly…because when the confirmation email came, I realized I’d clicked the wrong size (European sizes can be a bit confusing–a 37 is a 6 and a 36 is a 5)…I’d chosen 35 (which is a 4) when I needed 36. The site offered free returns, but I didn’t want to wait for the shoes, have to return them and reorder.

I couldn’t find customer service info on how to change orders. But there was an email address for a guy named Jeff. I wrote and explained the situation.

Lo and behold, he called the next morning to make sure I knew what size I wanted because of how that designer runs.

2) American Airlines: I used miles for a trip. I needed to change my arrival date but was leery of the cost, red tape, or lack of available seats for miles. I called the number on the e-ticket and was transferred to the frequent flyer line (why they couldn’t also list that number on the ticket, I don’t know). Within 5 minutes, a very pleasant person had changed my flight. For free. A few weeks later, closer to the travel date, I needed to change my departure. Again I called, and within minutes got the flight I wanted. For free.

Impressive, easy, and makes me want to fly American the next time.

3) I wanted a fancy summer dress. I happened to be near the main Macy’s. Unfortunately their dress department was unpleasant in both decor and merchandise display. The dresses were crammed together, and the quality made me miss Marshall Field’s. Their petite selection also left a lot to be desired. I did by a cute sequined t-shirt for $14.85 reduced from $49. doubt I’ll go there again for anything but casual clothes.

BCBG: Upon entering the Bucktown store, a friendly salesperson approached, asked what I was looking for, and helped me gather items in my size. Perhaps she was a bit overzealous in bringing extra things to try on, but she knew which items ran a little larger/smaller and helped me put outfits together. Almost everything I liked was available in my size, which is rare. I bought a dress.

Good customer service can reinforce or change your attitude toward a company and its products. Maybe some executives are too far removed from what happens in the field and should go on Undercover Boss and see how their customers are treated. Maybe they should implement best practices from companies where they recieve good service.

I used to have a circular magnet that said “TUIT” in red letters, which meant “get around to it.” These days most of us have “To Do” lists that are so long, many items fall into the “when I get around to it” or WIGATI category. Some of us may have items that we don’t really want to do but are necessary (such as doing our taxes) or would make our lives easier but seem daunting (like cleaning out the closets).

My DayTimer® yes, I still prefer print calendars to those online. I think it’s easier and faster to flip open my DayTimer and see what’s going on than to click around on my PC, sync with my phone and then when out and about have to poke around the calendar app) has a page near the front called “TO BE DONE IN” whatever month. Lately I’ve found that I’ve been transferring most of these items to the next month instead of getting them done.

Things like downloading and figuring out Dropbox. Learning more about using LinkedIn. Reviewing my AT&T plan and investigating cheaper options/providers. Freecycling http://www.freecycle.org/ items I no longer need or want. Important, beneficial tasks, yet they take a backseat to things on my “TO BE DONE TODAY” list.

I keep thinking I’ll have a free day when I can tackle some WAGATI tasks. Then each week I’m fortunate to see my schedule fill with auditions, jobs, rehearsals, performances, submission requests, and, yes, a social life. None of us can work 24/7.

Years ago I went to a life coach, who didn’t want to get started until I completed assorted tasks I’d been meaning to do. She said these outstanding tasks weigh us down.

I’m going to set a goal to whittle down my nagging task list by at least 3 items a month…what about you?

A couple of articles on the topic:

Life Makeover

Live Bold and Bloom

Whether you’re deciding if you should accept or what to charge for a freelance assignment, finding out parameters of a new project at work, what’s expected of your kids at school (and what you as parents are expected to contribute) or dealing with your significant other or family members, successful communication is the key to a positive, rewarding outcome.

The problem is that people communicate in different ways. We’re required to take trigonometry or calculus and other subjects the vast majority of us rarely or never need. Yet we communicate with a variety of people every day. We may have to take public speaking, but why isn’t there a mandatory Interpersonal Communications course, in both high school (to facilitate relationships with parents and peers) and college (so students learn how to present themselves in work situations…many young’uns I see apparently haven’t learned how to be professional)? The prevalence of relatively new forms of corresponding, such as texting and social media, make knowledge of quality communication even more crucial.

Dozens of methods for improving communication exist, from books such as Men Are From Mars… to tests such as Myers-Briggs® (I’m an ENTJ, by the way) to marriage counselors to assorted kinds of presentation consultants to advice on the Internet. But many may not avail themselves of any of these options, either because of cost, time involved, or not realizing they could benefit from them.

Also, we don’t always know all the right questions to ask. Nor do others always offer up all the information we might need. The more people involved in a given situation, the more ripples lack of or unclear information can have. Some people fear speaking their mind or are shy, some become defensive and so aren’t willing to listen to or accept others’ opinions.

What kind of communicator are you? Here are a few articles/sites:

About.com

Chris Witt

Associated Content

Live Strong

There are things we mean to do, keep saying we’ll do, but put off doing. Whether it’s not tackling that project due next month, exercising, eating better, cleaning/organizing, looking for more work, scheduling a doctor’s appointment or finishing that book/play we started, often we find reasons or make excuses we convince ourselves are reasons why we can’t or won’t do them.

Certainly there are more fun things to do than vacuuming, scrubbing the toilet, or self-marketing. There are countless media options from TV shows to Youtube videos to distract us. Scheduling social plans every night means “I don’t have time” to write. If you don’t fit in a trip to the grocery and your cupboards are bare, grabbing a hot dog and fries or ordering in is easier to justify.

Why do we procrastinate, and in the process make ourselves worry about not finishing what we’ve set out to or need to do? Why scramble to meet deadlines? Why berate ourselves for not working out or being late?

I think the key is finding the right mix of discipline and reward, work and play. We can learn to control some of our impulses to have fun so we can complete projects we’ve been putting off. If the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment you’ll feel after getting something off your plate isn’t enough incentive, many sites promote rewarding yourself when you achieve a goal.

Wouldn’t you rather be checking items off your to do list and reaping the rewards than fretting because you’re behind schedule or disappointing yourself?

Writing Rewards

Reward Yourself

Goal Setting

When our cell phones and/or PCs malfunction, most freelancers can’t work or get work. Getting them back up to speed is a priority. That’s how dependent we’ve become on modern technology. Last week, I was preparing to upgrade my phone’s software and receive a new PC.

Phone: Loading the latest version of Android on my cell phone went smoothly, as did re-personalizing. But then I saw that somehow my FB contacts had been added to my phone contacts. I like my FB peeps, but don’t need all of their info in my phone because that many contacts makes it more difficult to find info. Despite backing up as instructed by customer service, I had to call again. They said I’d clicked “sync to FB” or something, but I didn’t. (I found it later as a default in setup that had to be unchecked . Hmm.) One by one we went through the contacts I wanted to save. Yet some still didn’t make it to my phone. I asked for some compensation for my time and frustration. They offered a $20 credit.

PC: I ended up having to pick it up @ FedEx. Not happy about that. Setup went smoothly until I turned it on. The first thing I saw on my brand new, state of the art Dell PC was “CPU fan error. Press F1 to continue or F2” blah blah. Who wants their PC to overheat? I pressed F2, but couldn’t see what to do. I pressed F1…everything seemed to work fine. Monday morning I called customer service. A half hour after the guy took control of my PC to investigate, he told me I needed a new part and a technician would call. He’d check back on Wednesday.

No call came. I called back Tuesday afternoon to learn the part was on back order, and if it didn’t arrive, they’d send a new system. Why hadn’t anyone bothered tell me that? No good answer. Then he asked if I’d opened the PC case. I hadn’t. So he walked me through the process. Lo and behold, the instant I got the cover off I saw cables blocking the fan. Probably happened while the thing spent several days rumbling around in FedEx’s truck. All I had to do was tuck the cable out of the way, and voila. No more error message.

If the first guy had told me to check inside, I’d have saved a lot of time and frustration. If they’d clipped the cables in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. So I asked to speak to a supervisor, who offered up to $100 in Dell products. A credit would’ve been more useful, but…

The moral of the stories:

Vendors, please ensure consistent procedures and provide easy access to information so callers don’t have to laboriously repeat themselves. Train your representatives to be good communicators, believably friendly and sympathetic to the value of each caller’s time.

Customers, if you’re having technology troubles, consider asking if the vendor will provide some compensation.

The word “anticipation” makes me think of Carly Simon’s song, and then the famous Heinz Ketchup commercial.

Merriam-Webster Online’s definition, in pertinent part: “1a : a prior action that takes into account or forestalls a later action b : the act of looking forward; especially : pleasurable expectation 3a : visualization of a future event or state.”

I think there’s positive anticipation (PA), as in definition 3a, but also negative anticipation (NA). When you have PA, you’re looking forward to something you think will be good, fun: a romantic date, a vacation or spa visit. PA could also be the payoff of a goal you’ve worked toward: the release of your book, opening night of a play you’re in.

With NA, the approaching event is likely to be unpleasant or something you wish you could avoid: a medical procedure or an unwelcome or unfamiliar project at work. For some, NA might even include giving a speech (often first on lists of top fears). A big portion of NA is fear. Maybe we believe that by worrying about what’s to come, we can prepare ourselves for the worst.

The problem with even good anticipation is that you’re not living in the moment…you’re living in the unknowable, unpredictable future. While PA may make you smile and inspire pleasurable feelings, on some level it’s an avoidance of whatever is happening right now. Too much PA might raise expectations that reality doesn’t meet. Instead of enjoying the event, you could end up disappointed. “What if…” may help many writers with plots, but in real life too much of it may not be a good thing.

Of course some preparation is important. Most of us wouldn’t want to go on that big date without figuring out where we’re going. In Chicago, not making a dinner reservation or buying theatre tickets ahead of time could put quite a damper on things. Nor would most of us agree to undergo many medical procedures without researching providers and options.

The key, I think, is to control anticipation and not let it control you. Consider: 1) Not letting NA, often fear of the unknown, paralyze you from moving forward or keep you from trying new things. 2) Don’t allow PA to build up so much that an approaching event takes on a meaning or importance out of proportion, or that’s unlikely to be reached by what actually happens.

Be the kid who can enjoy whatever birthday gift she receives, not the kid who’s worried she won’t get what she wants or only wanted a pony and refuses to be happy with anything else.

When I initially joined the Gainfully Unemployed, I had time to do almost everything I wanted…with fewer auditions and fewer bookings, I self-marketed more and worked more on my manuscripts and submissions. I kept up on TV/renting movies and fit in many social events. Errands were completed efficiently and before I ran out of supplies. I cleaned my condo every week or so because I like everything in its place, not dust or disarray.

But today I found my first dust bunny. Ever. A sizeable, lumpy thing lurking in my entryway. Because in the past month or so, either the Universe opened up to furnish opportunities or all the groundwork I’d been laying finally came to fruition all at once.

This week I’ve had 5 auditions (3 VO, 1 TV commercial and 1 on camera industrial) and a callback for a TV commercial. The VO auditions I recorded from home, but the others required travel to the city and some prep work to familiarize myself with the copy. I also had 3 VO sessions: one in the burbs, one at a friend’s studio, and one at a recording studio.

I have an article due May 1. The manuscript that finaled in the national writing contest needs a teeny bit of tweaking ASAP before I can submit to agents/editors, my non-fiction project just needs a little more revising to be complete. Add hours of chorus and play rehearsals, lines to learn, a few social events…let’s just say my TiVo is filling up fast.

Despite prioritizing and working at a fairly frenetic pace, there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day these days, even if I’m at my desk by 7 AM. Maybe I need to try Red Bull or those 5 hour energy drinks. Maybe I need to resign myself to the fact that sometimes something’s gotta give. Like frequent housecleaning. Though I toss in a load of laundry every now and again and squeezed in a quick trip to the grocery, the vaccuum forlornly awaits as I scurry past on my way to the next event. My cleaning supplies may dessicate from lack of use. Does Windex expire?

I did throw out the dust bunny. Hmm. Maybe they’re actually good things, because by accumulating all the dust and stuff into clumps, they save you the trouble of Swiffering. I’m glad to be so busy I don’t make time to sweep.

I’ll take amazing and fun acting, writing and social opportunities over a spotless household any day.