Freelance Chick

Cool website and podcast for freelance writers

2008-01-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

Just found this podcast on iTunes last week while searching for any podcast having to do with freelancing, freelance writing, and/or writing. I really dig it because it's only around 15 minutes long and full of useful info. The 15-minute podcast format is quickly becoming my favorite. Check out WritingForPay.org and download the podcast on iTunes. I especially love the podcast on Joy Gorsuch because she's a blonde freelance writer with glasses--like me! Are we all blonde chicks with glasses, or at least writers with glasses? Must be all the hours at the computer. Plus, she's a house sitter. This isn't the first time I've heard of a media chick doing house sitting to make ends meet. Even better: here's a professional house sitter as in she's homeless. She's also like me in that she's an underemployed radio personality doing a podcast. (Or well, my podcast with MelodyTrip is on hiatus right now). Check out how some of us freelance chicks manage to make ends meet!

My new year's blogging challenge and discovery of Tumblr

2008-01-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

My buddy says my drive to blog once a day on my sites sounds very "draconian." He's probably right. Since I have big ideas for my websites that are meant to lead to the eventual earning of money from them, I first need an audience. You can't draw an audience without the content. You can't amass content without putting something new up there every day.

The other good thing about writing every day is the ideas. I'm forcing myself to come up with an idea every day. It really works the brain to stay creative and on top of things instead of oscillating into a complacent pattern of thinking only about grocery lists and which Netflix DVD is coming next. It also allows me to cover my topics thoroughly. I am afraid a little bit of burnout and of this becoming about quantity over quality. But I don't have a quota or really any rules. The idea is just to blog once a day and if I can't, I blog twice the next. The blogs don't have to be a certain length so some are long and some are short. And I'm trying to stay away from just posting links to other stuff, which a lot of blogs do. I look at that as just filler so I try not to do it.

That's what Tumblr is for anyway. This blog and my Libertease blog are two that I update as I feel like it. Tumblr is super-easy and quick to update. It's more like an online collection or scrapbook than a blog. I can even update it from the Tumblet, which is a widget I downloaded for my Apple Dashboard. So now I have a Libertease Tumblr page that is a companion for the actual blog. This is a politics blog I keep just for kicks, mostly to log how I am making my decision on who to vote for as president. I really can't decide who to vote for this election and that's really unusual for me. Usually I know all year which is the right candidate for me. So I imagine I'll be looking back over the blog the first week of November, trying to remember who did and said what all year long as I make my final decision.

The two that get updated daily are The Music Stalker blog and the Hippy Shopping Chick Blog. They're hobby blogs.

I'm a radio veteran and a total music stalker, always on the lookout for something good to listen to music-wise. That's what The Music Stalker is for. I just couldn't find a place where I could write about all the music I like. Everyone wants to give you a label and a niche and you're supposed to stay within the lines. I can't do that. I really do like all music. It gives me a spot in cyberspace to work on my own brand of unique music journalism.

Hippy Shopping Chick is about conscious lifestyle choices through, of course, shopping. It's about veganism, vegetarianism, healthy food, food geek stuff, recipes, personal care products, eco-friendly stuff, household items, living with a meat eater, and anything else I've confronted since converting to a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. The site is for people who are new vegetarians or who are interested in getting the most out of their health food store--and the people who are afraid to navigate the local health food store at all. The site is also for non-vegetarians. It's just for people who want to spend their money on a better lifestyle. I was inspired to do it because a coworker told me she thought of me when driving by a Whole Foods. Everyone says that. Then people who don't know me starting asking for advice about non-conventional sunblock by the pool...it was like I had "Hippy Shopping Chick" written on my forehead! I probably do.

It's been a while since I've blogged

2008-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Let me try and make a long story short!

I am searching for a full-time job, but this is something I have done for a year now. Nobody has offered me anything I can't live without, so by default, I am still a freelancer. I am not sure I am happy about it. I am not sure I am ready to leave the world of being a worker bee for being a permanent freelancer. But I am closer than I was a year ago. If you're trying to decide whether to become a freelance writer, web programmer, designer or a freelance anything, this is a good thing to take into account. I think there are two kinds of freelancers.

1. Those who have enjoyed a long and fruitful career but who want to go out on their own and are ready to leave the comforts of a paycheck that comes every two weeks in the same amount.
2. Those who are forced to do it because their job search isn't going the way they want it to.

I'm in that second group and have been for over a year and a half. I guess it gives me an interesting perspective on trial by fire and being forced into this profession of being a freelancer. I do find it rewarding. If I take a full-time job tomorrow, I won't give up freelancing. I won't give up launching my own websites.

Speaking of...

My websites! They're updated!

WriterHeather.com has all kinds of updates, including an exciting new About Me page. Though I can't get the text to un-bold and don't know why. Suggestions welcome.

TheMusicStalker.com still needs some love and some expansion. But it's my very own piece of cyberspace dedicated to my own brand of music journalism. The action right now with The Music Stalker is all on the blog for the moment.

HippyShoppingChick.com is plugging along too and much faster than The Music Stalker main site. There's also action on the Hippy Shopping Chick blog.

In fact, that's my new year's resolution for 2008. I will blog daily on Hippy Shopping Chick and The Music Stalker in order to grow my audience. Let the adventure begin!

Check out my Mana review for Batanga.com

2007-09-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

My Mana concert review for Batanga.com is finally online here. So you can read it now.

The newest freelance gig

2007-09-02T13:16:00.001-07:00

I'm covering the Phoenix Mana concerts next weekend for Batanga.com!

Do I give up freelancing or do I keep going?

2007-08-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I would really like to take a break from freelancing and work a full-time job. I realize I will never quit freelancing completely. But I have been trying to steer away from it, I swear! Maybe it's an addiction without a twelve step program at the present time. Maybe someday there will be help for us freelancers, but not today.

I have started interning for Organic Processing Magazine and am enjoying it very much. So far I've done a tiny bit of writing and lots of proofreading. So I've gotten to indulge my anal-retentive and detail-oriented side with the proofreading while delving into the world of Organic Processing. I never knew how much effort went into organic foods and getting them to our table. I will definitely become even more of an organic consumer than I already am. (Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Cereal -- highly recommend it).

Another bright spot in my week so far is that I just found out I'm going to cover two Mana concerts here in Phoenix for Batanga.com! I love Mana so I can't wait!

In interest of breaking out and doing my own thing, or at least working towards it as a music journalist, I am crowning myself "The Music Stalker" and purchased:

TheMusicStalker.com
TheMusicStalker.net
TheMusicStalker.info

Also check out TheMusicStalker.blogspot.com.

I will eventually want to break off from Suite101.com, which is great, but I'll have to grow up and out of dues paying at some point. So I'm starting my transition now. There are other ideas I have for The Music Stalker, so stay tuned.

This is only just beginning...

Update time!

2007-07-22T16:54:00.001-07:00

The Freelance Chick (moi) has been busy. It's feast or famine in freelancing, which makes for a poor quality of life and lots of neglected blogging tasks... Since you're actually reading my blog you deserve an update though.

I'm on the air every day. That's eating up a LOT of my time!

I have managed to get a couple things done. You can check out my radio MySpace page. That's where I'll list the dates/times of my radio shows and let you know what all I'm up to in radio. You can listen to "airchecks" which is a fancy names for tapes of what I do on the air. You can see what kind of musical artists I'm into and read up on what I'm up to.

MySpace.com/radioheather

I'm also very excited today that I have found a leaked copy of the new Common album, "Finding Forever" online. You can read my discussion I just started on this very thing. Please visit the rest of the cool stuff on my pop music page at Suite101.com for the rest of what I've been writing lately. I've blogged about Live Earth, put up some discussions & polls, and also written about cool new artists like A Fine Frenzy and Sean Kingston. If you're a music fan, bookmark my page and study up!

My contract with CNET's Webshots has come to an end. It's sad because I loved working with them, but they are going in a non-freelance direction. Let me just have my little "law of attraction" moment here and hope that my every client from now on is just like CNET! Thanks for a great relationship, everyone!

The prospective internship is popping up again...

We've also reached our 16th podcast at MelodyTrip.com, which is awesome. I'm now plugging in some podsafe music into every podcast as well as news. My new goal is to get an interview into every podcast. Music fans can't exist on news and indie music alone!

So that's it for now. Check back soon for updates on my freelance chick world. And don't forget to check out WriterHeather.com for the rest of anything you'd ever want to know about me.

I Know It's Not Helping To Stop The Genocide In Africa But...

2007-06-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is important too, just in a different way. Today, Internet broadcasters are observing a day of silence in protest to a royalty rate hike so obscene, it could only be called price gouging. The music industry is singling out online radio stations and charging them tons more than they charge satellite radio in royalty rates. Payments are due July 15 unless the Internet Radio Equality Act passes.

Find out what is going on and how you can help. I wrote an article all about this ordeal.

The possible internship turns up again

2007-06-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

Being a freelancer, the phone either rings off the hook or never rings. Same with e-mail, snail mail, etc. I was trying to get an internship at a publication and figured after not hearing from the editor that this was dead in the water. I went through the same thing not too long ago with a freelance writing gig for a magazine where I just assumed they weren't interested in me. But in both these cases, out of the blue, I get an e-mail out of nowhere. Yes! They are interested!

That has been one hard thing to come to terms with as a freelancer. You hear nothing about queries you send or gigs you apply for to the point where enough time passes that you forget all about it. Then you get contacted out of the blue to fill a publication's need immediately. So it's really a feast or famine industry.

That is also the reason why freelancers have to hustle! Work can trickle in or come down like an avalanche. Most of the time, it's a trickle. So you always have to be networking, applying for gigs, and sending out queries. But what if all those feelers you put out for work come back all at once and you're loaded down with a mountain of deadlines suddenly?

I've yet to see that happen.

So happy hustling! Never be afraid to send out a pitch, apply for extra gigs, or pester an editor (within reason). If you haven't heard back from someone, that person just may be completely involved with putting together the latest magazine issue and has no time to breathe. Being a freelancer is a balancing act.

Reasons Why An Internship Is Good For Me At This Point:

1. Networking. You never know who that editor handing out the internship knows. Do well under that editor and maybe he/she will give you a glowing recommendation down the road when you need it.

2. Learning. Could I stand to learn more about publishing, writing, editing, etc? Absolutely. Never stop learning. I want to see how different people run their publications. I want my writing to grow. This doesn't happen working by myself in my office without anyone to bounce ideas off.

3. I need more current experience on my resume. I haven't interned in publishing in years. I interned for RAZOR magazine when it was still around. I also interned for SWEAT magazine way back when I first started taking classes again. My articles there were some of the first articles I wrote to ever be published. Times have definitely changed since then! I've written volumes of writing since then for a variety of different outlets. But I still want to do more. That's why I wake up every day to be a writer.

Podcast #12 is up at MelodyTrip.com

2007-06-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

I finished and posted podcast #12 last night. I cover Glastonbury and Bonnaroo. No other music festivals matter, right? I mentioned a little bit of news but most of it is related to Glastonbury and Bonnaroo. I also play podasfe music from Ingrid Michaelson.

New Freelance Adventures Await

2007-06-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

The only person you can depend on is yourself. This is why I am a freelancer. My success or failure depends on me alone. How I work, how much I hustle, the work I get, the clients I land, the work I put out -- it all depends on me.

Now I realize my freelance income is finally going to pay my bills. And it's just as well, as I didn't get a full-time job at the station I applied for. Maybe I don't need a full-time job working for someone else. I can run my own gravy train and I am. I don't think I make enough not to have a steady part-time job somewhere still so I'm going to seek out a part-time job. Oh, and working at home alone can be very lonely! So anything that brings me out for social interaction would be great.

Working part-time allows me the freedom to still pursue my freelance writing. So that's my advice to anyone looking to embark on a freelance career of any sort; don't quit your day job just yet. Go out and get a part-time job doing anything that will support you as you try to build a business doing what you love.

I'm looking to pursue two beats right now, music journalism and yoga/fitness/health/wellness journalism. So I'm going to work towards becoming an "expert" in those fields right now. Obviously I'm no 'expert' but the more experience I get covering those subjects as a journalist, the better off I am.

Podcast #11 on NXNE, Chicago Blues

2007-06-14T17:12:00.001-07:00

I do the weekly podcast for Melodytrip.com. This week, I talk to my colleague Danny Brown, the indie music writer at Suite101.com. He attended the North By Northeast (NXNE) fest in Toronto. I also talk to our Melodytrip correspondent, Leah Mueller, about Chicago Blues Fest.

Here is the link to podcast #11.

Here's another link, to my Podjunkie site. I will talk about our MelodyTrip podcasts there as well as whatever podcasts cross my path that I like.

The Paying Gig Is Going Away

2007-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

Since my work writing for the Peak Blog is not in the budget, it's going to cease being a paid gig after Friday. I have envisioned so many things content-wise for the Peak blog, or the website in general. And I'm thinking like a jock, or a music journalist, or just a plain old creative. But sales is always trying to hijack the website -- and I don't blame them one bit. There's a ton of money to be made on the 'net. I wish I had my own sales team for the sites I'm about to launch!

The thing is, old media wants to go new media so badly, but it's hard to merge the two. While I have every skill possible (as a content creator) to make the Peak website a cool new media destination for the Peak audience, it's trying to convince the very corporate, old-media top brass of what needs to be done that becomes the obstacle.

Now my creative battle rages on, but in a soon-to-be unpaid capacity. Meanwhile, we have monetized Steve's videos for the site. So I do have hope. Watch his latest work:

Maybe an internship?

2007-06-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

My goal has long been to establish working relationships with local publications and it's hard to break in. So I'm hoping to land an internship where I can work under someone very good. My writing definitely needs to grow. My pitching skills especially need work because I just feel like I'm hitting a wall lately with pitches. I know every freelance writer goes through that spell. It's a slump I have to bust!

So here's the latest:

Here are my latest posts on the Peak blog.

Then on our main site, I'm in the Tom Car video. I'm in the camo shorts and hat tearin' it up in the desert in the four-door car. Go here and then watch Peak TV to see it.

Did a few updates today on Suite101.com. I'm the pop music feature writer there. I added a discussion on Richie Sambora going to rehab and another on Joe covering Carrie Underwood. I also blog about fellow Suite101 writer Danny Brown going to NXNE all weekend. Be sure to check out the article I posted today about Kelly Rowland's new album. I have a feeling this one is going to be good!

We've also posted our tenth podcast at MelodyTrip.com. Woo-hoo! This one covers mostly music news with some podsafe music from Machete Avenue.

Activities This Week

2007-06-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've sent out one (as yet) unanswered query and pondered starting a strange business of my own. It's been a real holiday hangover week. To what I'm sure will someday be thunderous applause, (ha ha) I have just started a new blog href="http://bonotracker.blogspot.com/">tracking every movement of Bono. It's sort of an obsession/hobby. Most of my obsession/hobbies are writing-related, hence the many blogs I have going. I hope they entertain you as much as they do me! This is what I do on weeks like this that I just don't feel like I'm getting any answers back on queries, freelance gigs I applied for, or what have you.