If you stick with me through a short pity party, I’ll relate it to a point about business. Promise…

I’m just plain old lonely this week. D.J. (the boyfriend) is in Fiji on a diving trip. He left on Thursday and won’t be back until next Saturday. I’ve become pretty accustomed to spending my weekends with him, and his absence has brought to light a problem I didn’t know I had….

I’m running low on friends.

My awesome buddy Erin moved to Davis to work on her Ph.D. My superlative friend Jenny has been busy with her new business, and we used to see each other often at the coffee shop that I rarely visit anymore. Some of my friends are busy with their own new significant others, and I’m very much to blame for letting other relationships grow quiet because I hang out with D.J. so much.

So, when D.J. is gone, I feel pretty sorry for myself. I spent this weekend pretty much alone: Ran 13 miles alone. Drank coffee in the coffee shop alone. Ate alone. I got a last-minute invite to a San Diego Chargers’ playoff game get-together, but instead chose to sit here and lament that I wasn’t *really* invited (meaning thought of earlier) to a Chargers’ watching get-together. I’m pathetic.

(Ok, here’s where I start to make a relevant point.)

In the not too distant past, my dance card was full. I gave and attended parties. I met friends for coffee. I chatted online with buddies, cajoled girlfriends into going to workout with me, met other runners for long runs…. But then I put a lot of my social energy into one relationship (D.J.), and I stopped seeking new ones or even nurturing current ones. I have to say that I also withdrew a bit when we found out about Mom’s health.

And this, my friends, can also happen in business. Do you have a big, fancy new client with large projects? Do a few key clients keep your business running? Sometimes we get caught up in taking care of our biggest and brightest relationships and forget to think about the future.

What if your boyfriend dumps you… err… I mean what if your main contact from your biggest client leaves her job (this happened to me twice)? Are you giving enough attention to your smaller clients — the ones that don’t call often? Perhaps you could prompt new projects by getting back in touch.

And, most importantly, are you always making the effort to talk to new potential clients? How are you building your database of contacts? How are you keeping in touch? What are your plans for being the person they think of when they need the type of services you offer?

One more question… If D.J.’s traveling on Super Bowl Sunday, can I come to your house?

By Guest Blogger Mark Long of TSTC Publishing, the publishing arm of the Texas State Technical College System

Back when I was kicking around grad school probably the most useful thing I overheard one of my classmates happen to say one day was, “Well, that’s the thing about reputations: for better or worse they’re always earned, never given.”

And one reason I like Life on Avenue Z is because Beth talks about the different types of companies she’s working with: the good, the bad, and the ones that fall somewhere in-between. You know, ones who change the parameters half way through (or more often than that) a project, those that just disappear at some point never to be heard from again, or wind up being slow pays once everything is done. All freelancers have to suffer through a degree of trial and error figuring out who is worth the investment of their valuable time and energy to work with versus those they’ll (politely and, hopefully, in their minds only) run screaming from as fast as possible.

So, given Beth’s perspective, I thought that I would add my own as a book publisher who frequently employs both editorial and graphics freelancers. In particular, there are three basic things I would suggest freelancers keep in mind as they are bidding for jobs and then subsequently working to complete:

1. Contract for jobs that you have the necessary skills and resources to complete.
   Although there is certainly some “learn by doing” that comes with freelancing, you need to already have a basic handle on what you’ve agreed to do. And, to be honest, on the editorial side a lot of this we figure out by the questions potential freelancers don’t ask about style, audience, word count, documentation, and the like. On the graphics side, when we talk to prospective freelancers who say stuff like, “Well, this all sounds great but I don’t have Adobe Creative Suite, so what should I do?” that’s when the alarm goes off and we move to the next person on our list.
2. Stay in communication over the course of a project.
   If you don’t do stay in touch, it usually winds up as what I refer to as the “mad scientist syndrome.” That is, someone disappears for X amount of time without a word only to reappear and say “I’m done.” This always make us a little twitchy because projects do inevitably morph to some degree, we want to know about any problems as they crop up so that we can help out and, to be honest, when folks drop off the face of the Earth we don’t know that we’re ever actually going to hear from them again so we begin to plan accordingly.
3. Meet the deadlines you’ve agreed to with high-quality work.
   Whether or not you have the basic skills to do a job or stay in touch as you go, the deliverables are what ultimately count: coming in on time and looking the way they’re supposed to. Many of our freelancers started out as interns in our office—that way, we can cull through them ahead of time—but even then we have folks who unexpectedly drop the ball. If you’ve established a good track record this can be worked around upon occasion, but if it’s your first time out of the chute that’s usually the end any work you’ll be doing us in the future.

These three things being said, it is worth noting, of course, that all this applies to the companies that freelancers are looking to contract with as well. As a (primarily) textbook publisher that is part of a college system, we had to work especially hard to overcome these issues when we were in our initial start-up phase five years ago. We had no track record at that point so who knew if we could actually publish a single book, much less meet a year-in, year-out schedule? Who knew if they worked on a project with us if the final product would be worth their time and effort? And, most importantly, could we pay people on time what they were supposed to be paid? Five years later we still keep these issues in mind but, at the same time, we’ve consciously worked to build the reputation we want to have: being the kind of company that people want to work with. I mean, really, what’s the alternative? Sooner or later it will all just fall apart. And it’s much more difficult, if not impossible, to repair your reputation after the fact than just do the right kind of things from the get go.

Finally, all this being said, I have to say that one of the beauties of freelancing is its project-based nature: you work on something until it is done, at the end of it you have something tangible, and then you move on to the next assignment. My dad told me once that everyone needs a job they find interesting every day, no matter what it might be. For example, I have a friend who’s a carpenter and he loves it because every job is a new “problem” to solve. For me? It’s publishing because every book project has its own set of concerns (and rewards). And for those who have the temperament to be freelancers, the endless variety of work to keep you interested greatly exceeds what’s to be found at the vast majority of typical 8-5 desk job “jobs” out there.

Mark Long oversees TSTC Publishing for the Texas State Technical College System. His current incarnation as a textbook publisher follows stints as a project manager, English instructor, lawn mower, TV show description writer, and market researcher, among others. One day he plans to open his own press to publish post-apocalyptic, dystopian novels of loss, despair . . . and more loss.

I have a writing hangover: bloodshot eyes, sore forehead muscles from furrowing my brow, a papercut from the cardboard jacket on the coffee cup…. I stayed up all night working on deadline, but the experience (as usual) proved educational.

I picked up a very large job with a new client in early December, and the first major deadline was this morning. I’ve had a seat to start this project no less than 6 times over the past week, but it just wouldn’t come. I need some kind of an epiphany about the angle of the copy — something that would allow me to use their facts and figures but transform them into compelling reasons to join their association.

I want very much to make the argument that I WAS NOT PROCRASTINATING! The ideas had to simmer, percolate, evolve, escape… whatever. This is frequently me my strategy, especially with a new client. I spend lots of time thinking about the project: while running, in the bath, as I fall asleep, driving to the post office. I mull and mull and mull, and something usually comes to me that helps me pull the words together.

But last night was THE deadline. I could no longer mull. I had been mulling all week, and I had nuthin’. I needed to send her the email that she would be able to open this morning.

So, last night I forced the “aha” experience. By 11 p.m. I identified three potential angles for the copy, and I used them on different sample web pages to see which approach she likes best (we’re meeting with her team in 30 minutes). I already received an email from her this morning, and she said she was happy with the first review. Whew.

The fact that I pulled this off makes me wonder: AM I just procrastinating? If I can glue my fingers to the keyboard and force a creative moment when the deadline is critical, shouldn’t I be able to do it that way each time? Why give the ideas time to evolve? Just force them out!

Frankly, no. I have come to the realization that the idea incubation process is still my favorite way to create. Here’s why:

1. Working under pressure like that is stressful. Very stressful. It costs me sleep and causes weight gain. Last night after dinner I ate a bowl of cereal, 3 slices of cheese with edges so hard they crunched, a sweet potato and (why, I ask you?) almost an entire package of Ralph’s Real Turkey Bacon Pieces.
2. Some of my best ideas really do just crystallize. It’s like I keep an idea in my pocket to reach down and fondle throughout the day. I squeeze it, poke it, warm it with my fingers. Then it starts to shape. Sometimes it’s an “aha.” Other times it’s just “ahhhh.”
3. I need to think past what they already have. When I take on a new client, it’s usually because they want a fresh perspective and a new approach. If I force myself to look at their existing copy and create something from what they have, I don’t think I’m giving them everything they’re paying for. Their existing copy influences my end product, and we miss out on the new ideas that might happen if I think of approaches when I’m not staring at the computer.
4. Perhaps this is an ego thing, but I just don’t like the idea that I’m simply a machine that processes words. I’d like to think I do add value and creativity, and my process lets me do so.

Where does your creativity happen and how? Can it be forced? What happens when the inspiration hasn’t arrived but the deadline has?