Armed with my Monday, get-things-done attitude, I started putting together a proposal for one of my newest clients. We have discussed his newsletter desires several times, and I’ve probably spent 5 unpaid hours total working on getting this business.

So last night we’re going over the specs for the project, and when he saw that the industry average for newsletter opens was less than 20 percent, he decided he wanted a very different newsletter. The new idea will consist of monthly stats that he will provide, a monthly product feature that he will provide and a monthly letter …. that he will provide.

My job would be to organize things so that he can remember to provide the info. The original concept would have been interviewing people, writing articles, collecting info and more. Now it’s completely admin. It’s maybe $200 a month, but it’s not likely to be something I enjoy or look forward to.

I have to tell him I need to pass on the project.

It hurts to say no, but I have to remember what I do for a living. I write. The name of my company is Avenue Z Writing Solutions. I’ve written before about the troubles my former company had when we tried to be all things to all people. That identity crisis made us lose focus and eventually hurt the bottom line, no matter how much it helped in the short term. I’ve done some other types of projects, but the fundamental purpose was writing, not admin.

 I picked up an Avenue Z record of three new clients last week, and they all appeared outside my coordinated marketing efforts with the webinar. Woo Hoo!

I feel comfortable saying that I don’t need to work on marketing this week. Ordinarily I spend several hours a week on activities that help get my name out there… emails, responses to listservs, direct mailing projects, etc. But this week I simply need to crank out some of the projects that have solidified and get things crossed off the list.

It’s hard to know what kind of balance to strike. One side of me says, “You’re busy! Just work with the people you have, and more will come in a little at a time.” Another thought creeps up: “You have to keep marketing every day and every way. If you’re too successful, so be it. Turn down work. But never stop the heavy company promotion because you can never be sure of your next paycheck.”

I don’t really know which side to listen to as a whole, but I do know that I can settle in for a few days at least and do nothing but churn out words for my clients.

Next steps today:

1. Hide the BlackBerry
2. Close Microsoft Outlook
3. Make a to do list
4. Start cranking

The news has been bad lately… the US seems to be headed into a recession. For reasons that are a bit beyond me, Congress’ answer is to create a package that will give us all checks for $600 in May. I don’t understand much about how governmental budgets work, but haven’t they been reading the newspapers? Why didn’t they work on a long-term goal to fix this instead of tossing $600 into everyone’s pockets so we can go buy the Wii we always wanted?

Err… anyway. This is not a political blog.

So, the country’s economy is unstable, and people are worried. I just started a business as a freelance copywriter, and I’m not sure whether this trend is going to be good or bad for my business.

It could be bad
If companies lock down marketing budgets, cut off advertising, hunker down and refuse to produce any more eNewsletters, make do with last year’s  brochures… my business will suffer. My existing clients will say, “Beth, we just can’t afford to keep the newsletter going right now.” Potential clients will say, “Sorry — we’ve cut our budget for marketing. Call us when we’re in the black again.”  People will simply not produce the things I write.

It could be good
I see two potential trends that might make someone in my position very happy.  First, businesses could decide to cut their internal communications and marketing staffs. They’ll turn to contractors to do specific projects instead of having a person or department always on call. Second, businesses will realize that they have to do more marketing and outreach to keep their clients. They’ll need more newsletters, marketing campaigns, tip sheets, etc.

I’m going to stick with the optimism and guess that freelance writers will be fine during the recession, but I’m not going to stop my own marketing and outreach efforts, even when I’m busy and can’t really take on much more work.

Ok, so I’m a fairly new business owner, and quite inexperienced. But articles about the expected economy-boosting tax rebates really perplex me:

The rebates, expected to go out in June, would cost about $100 billion, aides said. The package also includes close to $50 billion in business tax cuts.

The package would allow businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment and permit small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment.

“Write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment”? What the heck does that mean? Do businesses usually purchase giant plants, or are they talking about potted plants? Is everyone out there buying plant facilities? Am I missing something? And are plants considered “capital equipment”? Will I have to buy a factory to get the savings?

I’d like to think that this means potted plants because the EPA wants businesses to think green. I could use a couple of potted plants for my little office.

If I kill them, do I get a 100 percent write off?

I’ve been trying since last night to come up with just one topic today’s daily post. Picking one idea out of the million thoughts that are racing through my brain right now is impossible, so here are a few hot topics.

Things making me smile

• Yesterday’s webinar was a big success, with 50 participants and an average evaluation of more than 4 out of 5. Of the 31 people who filled out the survey, 12 wanted more information about my services. Yes!
• D.J. comes home on Sunday.
• A long-lost lead wrote last night to offer me another regular gig writing his newsletter.
• I took a few minutes this morning to write out my to dos, and the list looks manageable.
• My 9 a.m. appointment just rescheduled, freeing my morning quite a bit.
• I had to turn down a job this morning because I’m too busy and the pay scale wasn’t what I need. Five months ago I was dying to have work from this group!
• I recycled my ink cartridges at last.

Things making me worry

• When I ordered my second double Americano this morning (before 8 a.m.), the counter guy said, “Beth, you have a problem.”
• All the follow up from the webinar with the new projects — have I created too much work? How can I keep a balance? How can I scale my business as it grows?
• My laundry. My dishes. My unwanted body hair. My knees after running. Gravity’s effect on women over 40.
• The economy — will the downturn mean no one does any marketing for a few years, or does it mean companies fire their communications staff and hire me to write for them?

Things making me feel guilty

• I just sent a thank you note to two of the guys who helped on the webinar yesterday. They work in the same office, so I just sent one note. I know I should have sent one to each of them.
• It’s garbage day, and my neighbor was just fighting with the trash can in our complex driveway. It was too late to help her, and she was hopping mad about having to do it alone since it’s filled with construction debris and very heavy. She was already finished, so I exited. She is probably hopping mad about that as well.
• I haven’t been calling home much, and when I do, I’m distracted. My mother thinks I’m too tired, and my father keeps asking if I have the temperment to run my own business.