There is a light at the end of the tunnel-o-work in which I've been hiding out for the past month. In that time I have practically forgotten I'm actually in Paris since I so rarely have gotten out to see any of it (recent day trip to the Pompidou with out-of-town friend being the one major exception). But it's all good because lots of work means lots of money to stay here and some spare traveling cash for the summer book research trip I want to take around Europe.
Today I finished one of the major projects, the second of two websites I've developed and built for my very dear friend/client and my former personal coach, Laura Berman Fortgang. If you're not familiar with Laura's three books or her work as a world-renowned coach and speaker, now is as good a time as any to check out what she's doing. Go here and here to see the fruits of our collaborative labors over the past few months. Every client should be as delightful, focused and easy to work with as Laura... maybe that's why this is probably my best design work yet (good clients = good results).
Ah, it feels good to FINISH something, and not only to finish it but to know that you did your best, that the client is thrilled, and that you had fun doing it. Does anyone else get that feeling in their work when they complete something big? I can't be the only one! Everyone who finished a big project recently and did a good job at it, raise your hand... and then pat yourself on the back along with me. Well done, us!
Now, after this blogging break, it's on to the next couple of things: editing a software tutorial guide for one client, writing three sample chapters to finish a book proposal for another client, and starting a whole new ghostwriting project on Friday with a third client. The first project should be wrapped up within a week (I hope) so that's a shorter-term thing. The book proposal is something I've been working on with the client for a couple of months and we're down to the last part now, and I think the book is going to be pretty significant so I'm eager to finish. That way,the client can get to work on getting it in the hands of some publishers (he's got excellent contacts in that area AND a compelling true story to tell that has all the things publishers are looking for -- like divorce, money, greed and corruption -- so I feel it's just a matter of a few months before he's got a lucrative deal on the table) -- and I will ghostwrite THAT as well. And the third project, which I also think will be great, has a tight deadline where the client wants to have something in hand for a November event. Picture me figuring out how to write a whole book by end of September for that to even be possible!
Oh, and did I mention I'm supposed to start a web site overhaul for another friend/client in the next few weeks? At least with that one, there's no time pressure from the client. Plus there are always small writing and web design jobs for my existing client base, things that tend to come up with little notice but where I can usually fit them in around the bigger stuff. Suffice to say, I know how I'll be spending my summer this year, save for a few weeks of traveling. I hope Paris will still look the same when I'm able to come up for air!
In the nearly 9 years I've been self-employed, I have never had work like this, projects falling into my lap everywhere I turn. I've never had to turn things down the way I've been doing. Something is definitely "up" with the Universe which is sending a whole lotta opportunities my way. They're not all things I'd even WANT to do, but the very fact that I am approached pretty much every week with someone seeking a ghostwriter for this or that project feels really good. How are these people finding me, you wonder? Google, mostly. And I even stopped paying for Google Adwords months ago. They're finding me ANYWAY.
"They" say it takes two to three years to ramp up a new business, and I've been in the freelance writing business, officially, for about that length of time now. And it looks like a corner has been turned, where I'm finally attracting the kinds of clients and projects I want. It's a nice feeling, although I'm not resting on my laurels yet. But I have decided to raise my fees a bit from this point on. Not drastically, but just enough to get me out of the "rookie" leagues and closer to being on an even playing field with some of the higher-paid ghostwriters.
I can really only attribute this upsurge in my work to having taken the leap last year to move here, because while I know I've got a fair amount of writing ability, it's not talent alone that's responsible for more work coming my way, and I'm doing virtually nothing to advertise. But when you do things that make you happy, your energy can't help but shift in a positive way, and everything around you has no choice but to shift, too. And that's what this feels like: a definite SHIFT toward abundance and prosperity in all things.
Now if I can only carve out the time I need to write my OWN books, maybe I can put the wheels in motion for the next phase of my writing career: getting paid to write my own original work, instead of something that has someone else's name on it. The latter is nice work if you can get it... but the former is going to be WAY better.
Meanwhile, after two consecutive weeks and weekends of barely leaving the 15ème, I'm actually going for a haircut on Thursday (oh so needed!) and to visit Aimee and Max, and Saturday doing a little cruise + picnic on the Canal St. Martin. And maybe dinner or a movie with a friend. Because all work and no play will make Lisa... well... insane.
Not to mention just a little bit bitchy.
Photos taken by me, at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
