There’s a difference between working as a writer and running a writing business. As Avenue Z Writing Solutions grows, I’m discovering I need to dedicate more and more time to simply keeping the business going.

I now spend a couple of hours a day (at least) just … umm… doing business things: answering emails, setting appointments, maintaining my blog, etc. And that doesn’t include the time I should be spending on marketing and organization.

This may sound crazy, but I’m hiring an assistant, or at least I’m taking the steps to hire one. I placed an ad on craigslist this morning, and I just received my first reply.

I’m asking for help for 4 hours a week. This will give me a dedicated person to help with my blog and website, follow through with marketing, assist with research and bug me about doing my billing and accounting.

One of the main benefits will be the peace of mind I’ll get by being able to get some of my tasks out of my head. When I’m relaxing in the tub or running in the evening or heading off to bed, I’m ALWAYS feeling guilty about things left undone. I have great marketing ideas I want to put in motion. I need to really clean up this blog. I have to update the samples and testimonials on my website. These little things drive me crazy and make it almost impossible for me to truly relax.

Side note — Productivity Guru David Allen’s philosophy is that these little nagging thoughts are what stop you from being productive. His book rocks!

Thus, I’m hiring someone. I’m justifying it because I’m no longer hitting the coffee shop every day, and, believe it or not, I was spending almost as much per month at the coffee shop as I will be paying an assistant. Yeah. I had a problem.

Cross your fingers!

I just asked my group of consultant friends for their elevator speeches, and I realized I needed to write one of my own. What do you think of this?

Beth Ziesenis of Avenue Z Writing Solutions provides clear thinking, great writing and engaging brainstorming for corporations and associations. With more than 20 years of professional writing experience, Beth produces new ideas and innovative copy for your marketing and outreach.

PS – Ask about Avenue Z’s specialty: Education as Marketing©!

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Oh, and this is funny. Go to elevatorrules.com

On Friday I had a call with a Senior Editor for a firm that creates websites for lawyers. On the phone, he sounded young and unhappy, impatient and tight lipped. I understand why he’s not happy to speak with me. I was hired to rewrite the content that his team wrote for my client, who is very unhappy with the content they produced. Having an outsider like me write the content was “very unusual to our standard process,” he said.

I’m not a lawyer, but I know how to write. Their original content was horrible. I tried to show Mr. Senior Editor a few examples of the inconsistencies, changes in tone, illogical sentences… and he said nothing. Perhaps he was nodding as he was texting on his iPhone. Maybe he was rolling his eyes. When he did talk, he mentioned over and over the ramifications and consequences of bringing me in and how it was going to mess up the SEO that was so important.

I had two sets of voices talking in my head about our conversation:

1. The confident voice said, “Buddy — I know enough about SEO to ensure it’s still there, and your writing is crap no matter what you’re trying to optimize.”
2. The smaller voice said, “Do I really know what I’m doing enough? Is he right?”

When we ended the call, it was my job to write a summary of our next steps to my client with a CC to Mr. Senior Editor.  I dashed off the plan and hit send.

As it was leaving my computer, I noticed my signature:

Avenue Z Writing Solutions

…copywriting solutions for organizations with something to say

bziesenis@avenuez.net

619 231 9225

The serious side: www.avenuez.net

What’s behind the curtain: www.lifeonavenuez.com

I thought of tight-lipped Mr. Senior Editor getting my email and clicking through to my blog through “What’s behind the curtain.” And then I thought of him clicking around my blog, learning about the things I do wrong, the insecurities I share, the “oh gosh” amazement I have that I’m able to live this life. I thought of his lip perhaps moving into a sneer as he had the opportunity to judge. Perhaps he caught a typo or he really hated my writing style. Perhaps he just enjoyed how ridiculous I look when I put myself out there.

Hell. I don’t even know if he clicked on the link. He may have actually enjoyed his visit here. He may think I’m a cool chick, or he may not care in the slightest. But when I clicked the link in my own signature and tried to see this blog through his eyes, I saw a very exposed, very real human being. And I again felt small.

This is the long way to get to the point of this post: Though I frequently feel very vulnerable for not putting up a brave front, I prefer being a real human being. I’m glad I don’t sit in an office and leave my smiles and winces at home. I’m not afraid to show my soft underbelly.

The other day I discovered another real human being, and I want to share him. He’s Matt Harding, and he traveled around the world dancing in dozens of cities with hundreds of strangers. Here’s his blog, where he talks about how tired he gets of people thinking he did the dancing on a green screen or how tough it was to read that someone called him “doughy.” That’s real. Here’s a post on a marketing website about Stride Gum’s sponsorship of Matt’s dancing trips and how their low-profile advertising technique kept the project even more real.

And, more importantly, here’s the video, which makes me tear up each time I watch it. I admire Matt for being real, and I strive to be as real as he is.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

I have shopped for therapists once or twice before (what — you thought I was always this sane?). It was always annoying to me that I couldn’t meet with someone first to see if I liked him and his style. I always had to make an appointment and pay for a visit or two or three to see if we’d get along.

But we don’t get to try out therapists before we buy. We don’t get to audition a plumber or sample a dish at a restaurant before we sit down to dinner. As consumers, we gather recommendations from friends or the web and hope that we’re happy with the service. And if we’re not, we usually pay anyway.

As a freelance writer, I’m asked from time to time to write a sample paragraph or, in one case, a whole article on spec — meaning I write something for free hoping they’ll like it and pay me. Chrisblogging.com says there are two reasons you might want to write something on spec: if you’re new and if you really want to get into work with a certain company. Author Deborah Straw warns that you have no legal rights when you write something on spec, and you can get burned like she did.

I’m actually not bothered by writing a few paragraphs to show someone I can write for a new market. I’m generally a fast writer, and if someone asks me to write a few words to see if I can speak to an audience, I usually dash something off in an email within a half an hour. I figure that if they don’t like what they see, I’m really no worse off. And if they do like it, I’ve probably earned a fairly loyal client.

I’ve been rockin’ busy this morning with calls, emails and plans. I have another telecon in 20 minutes, and I need several minutes to prepare. I’m hectic and productive.

At about 11 a.m. I took out a healthful chicken breast to cook for lunch. Seven minutes ago I realized I was starving and didn’t have time to wait, so I frantically stuffed down some broken, stale tortilla chips, dipping them into the mostly empty dregs of three bottles of salsas and spreads.

You’d think I’d be able to manage lunch better since I work at home.You’d think I’d remember that yesterday someone thought I looked thin.

You’d be wrong.