One of my friends just offered me a job to rework the copy on his website. A running buddy asked me to look over some marketing materials for her. A former colleague wanted me to build his website for him.

I keep saying yes, but am I making a mistake?

The jury is still out on whether it’s smart for me to be a friend first then a service provider later. A few weeks ago I wrote about how my clients keep becoming my friends, but I’m not really clear on how things will work the other way around.

I know I go by the motto that people work with people they like, but what if something goes wrong? What if D.J. (yep — the one with the occasional ex-boyfriend title) hates the copy for his website? What if Rebecca finds my suggestions for marketing unhelpful? Will they all respect me in the morning?

I’m treading lightly here, but I have a tough time saying no. I would love to be able to help friends with projects, but I’m scared that I’ll get into trouble, especially if they want to pay me. Let’s say I hire a friend to take care of my cat, and I come home and find she never came by and the cat is dead. Yeah. Not so good for our friendship, and I have a dead cat to boot. (I actually have a great cat sitter who is a great friend.)

For now, I’m diving in. I finished Jim’s website, had lunch with Rebecca to look at her marketing stuff and am meeting with D.J. next week to talk about his web copy. I sure hope I don’t screw things up.

My core business is writing, but I do work on several fronts to keep finding customers who want me to write for them.

1. Write and submit articles to industry publications.
   A few weeks ago I wrote a blog entry on organizations’ push to market themselves as green. I submitted it to an international marketing group, and they featured it in their newsletter. I picked up two new clients.
2. Give presentations at conferences.
   I’m doing more in-person presentations for groups and conferences. Sometimes I do them for free just for the exposure. The more gigs I do, the more gigs I get. The more speaking gigs I get, the more exposure I get….
3. Send out a monthly newsletter.
   I write articles or feature stories in a newsletter I send out to just under 2000 people a month. I almost always end up getting a few inquiries about the work I do, and most of my business comes from people in the newsletter database.
4. Stage in-house webinars.
   When I put on my own webinars, attendees get to know me and my style a little better. They also get to see my expertise, such as working with newsletter content. And the more of these I do, the more live speaking gigs I get (see #2).
5. Always be writing.
   I’m adding this one based on yesterday’s post, where I was uncertain if joining an advanced writers’ group would help me with my copywriting business. Of course it will help! What was I thinking??? The group is going to prompt me to start my book about starting your own copywriting business. And I loved feeding off the energies of the other writers. They’re so good! I don’t know what I was afraid of.

Last week I found out I earned a coveted spot in an advanced writing and critique group here in sunny San Diego. I submitted an application several months ago, between boyfriends and in one of those “just get out of the house” modes. They accepted me, and I was third or fourth on a waiting list for one of the eight spots.

She wrote over the weekend, and my first meeting is today.

Uh oh. Now what?

For writing groups, I’ve written mostly literary fiction. I write dark little short stories with unhappy endings that reveal the futility of life. I published a handful here and there, and I think I’ve grossed perhaps a total of $85 in my fiction-writing life.

Literary fiction doesn’t sell well. I can’t make a living by writing short stories. I’ve got an idea for a fiction mystery series, and those types of models will sell well. But I am embarrassed to bring my pop fiction to this kind of group.

Don’t get me wrong… I love literary fiction. I’m excited that I was chosen, and I love to learn from writers whose talents exceed mine. I love to be pushed. And I’m looking forward to meeting some fellow writers. I made lifelong friends at my last writing group in Philadelphia. But I’m questioning the wisdom of my giving up every Tuesday afternoon to pursue a project that may not further my career.

Oh well. I’m in. Wish me luck.

Sunday I corralled a bunch of girlfriends to run the Iron Girl 10k race with me. “Come for the swag!” I pleaded. “You get a stuffed duck!”

The duck was Iron Girl sponsor Aflac’s successful attempt to engage the 3000+ women who ran the race. Sure, I wanted the medal, the free breakfast, the t-shirt… but I really wanted the duck.

The duck is sitting here in an honored place on my desk. I keep pushing the “Squeeze Me” sticker to hear his soothing call… “Aflac. Aflac. Aflaaaaaaaccccc.” Just like the commercial.

As a freelance copywriter, I often help my clients create pieces that keep their company name in front of present and prospective customers. Most of the time we create tip sheets to make customers’ lives easier, or white papers with information they need to do their jobs. But I’ve yet to create a PDF file with as much personality as this silly little Aflac duck on my desk.

After my sister’s surprising emergency surgery for her gall bladder a couple of months ago, I began to wonder about what would happen if I couldn’t work for 6 weeks. I pondered supplemental insurance, and, honest to goodness… the only company name I could think of for supplemental insurance was Aflac. And that was before I even knew I could earn a duck of my own.

My goal for my company is to keep my name in front of people so that when they realize they need a freelance copywriter, I’m the one they think of first. And I want to do the same for my clients. But I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to live up to the marketers who gave me this dang duck.