Keeping busy during economic mess ...

So, how are you dealing with these economic times?

My copywriting business is good. But that's really because I'm using it to help others. While they pay me, it's not enough to afford me a full paying copywriting business. That sounds like I'm selling myself short. It's not. The ones I'm helping are ones that I've chosen for personal reasons, such as helping my church to survive during these times - and a friend who's given me complete freedom over the materials and agreed to be my guinea pig.

I haven't picked up on the marketing, mainly due to the fact that I've been suffering from a cold for the past few weeks that settled into my throat. I'm better now, although still with a few side effects. I have applied for a few jobs, but those companies are still going through the copywriting applications. And I do have some spec jobs that I'm working on.

I have a lot more latitude with how I direct myself than many people. My hubby has a good-paying job that will probably not be affected by this economic time. So, if one section is slowing down for me, I can move to another without worrying about whether or not pay will be coming in. Not that it's all roses... I have thought about taking a day job again (eww!), just to pay down some extra expenses and allow some breathing room. But that's just a time waster, really, when I have valuable information and services to market. So, I am definitely picking up on the marketing, now that my voice has returned.

I'm leaving enough time for my fiction work though. While my voice was out, I got through all the proof pages for book one in the SR series. Just have a few corrections to type into the file and the manuscript file is ready to send to the publisher. Still have to write the synopsis and book jacket yet, but that shouldn't take long, especially since I already have the extended synopsis done. Then, it's be patient and wait to hear back from the publisher about whether or not they will buy the book. That's a process that can take up to a year, depending on the publisher's schedule and workload. This one is 2-6 months.

While waiting, I've lined up more information products, and figured that I can take on two more copywriting jobs. There are some people who've asked me for help - copywriting students - and I've made them wait way longer than I expected(dratted cold!)... I really should get involved with the student board again. This is the tough times when upcoming copywriters need all the encouragement they can get!

And I've got to go through my notes from my down time. I have tons of good stuff for here now.