It’s the beginning of conference season. The Association of Health Care Journalists is happening this week, the American Society of Journalists and Authors Boot Camp is next week and more gatherings for journalists, freelancers, fiction writers, bloggers and others of their ilk take place in the months between now and the end of summer.

If you’re planning a trip to your first writers conference before, you’re in for a treat. There’s nothing like rubbing shoulders with other writing practitioners to fall in love with the craft all over again.

But if you’re spending all that time and money to drive, ride or jet into some distance city, stay in a hotel and eat bad conference food, make sure it’s worth it.

Here are my suggestions for maximizing your time at a writers conference, based on attending – and speaking at – dozens of them over the years:

1. Go to as many sessions as possible. Start with sessions on topics you’re most interested in or that fit your writing business as it is today. But stretch yourself by attending sessions on topics you think you might want to know more about or the speaker is someone you’ve always wanted to meet.

2. Bring your laptop. Don’t be shy about using it take notes during the sessions. Get to a room early so you get an outlet, there usually aren’t enough for everyone who wants one. If you’re a loud typer sit in the back and ignore the Luddites giving you dirty looks.

3. Sit in the back if you’re live tweeting. Or on the side or somewhere else where you won’t bother people. Use the meeting hashtag when sharing tweets. Find the other people live tweeting the event: chances are you’ll have lots in common.

4. Mingle during the mixers. Networking is a big part of going to a conference. Talk to people you don’t know. I met a retired women’s magazine editor at one of the cocktail parties at last year’s ASJA conference who gave me the best piece of advice I got at the entire conference (sorry, I can’t share – it’s that good).

5. Exchange business cards. Use the old-fashioned paper kind or business card apps like Bump. Either way, jot down a few notes about the person that will jog your memory once you’re back in your office.

6. Make plans to have every meal with a writer(s) or editor. More networking, and you never know where it might lead. You could end up doing a book project with someone you had coffee with, or hiring a writer you met over drinks for the freelance editing gig you just landed. Don’t drink too much at dinner or getting up for early sessions the next morning will be hard.

7. Be nice to the conference organizers. They’re working hard and doing the best they can given hotel, union, and other restrictions.

8. Give yourself some down time. If you’re visiting somewhere you’ve never been before, or an old favorite, give yourself an afternoon, evening – or entire day if you can swing it – to see the sites, visit old haunts, pick up souvenirs or go for a stroll. When I go to meetings, my favorite downtime activity is visiting museums. You never know: your off-hours activity could help inspire an idea for a story.

What’s your best advice for attending a writers conference?

Another writer recently told me his marketing suffered from “paralysis of analysis.” He wanted marketing strategies that didn’t require a ton of thought.

Frankly, that’s how I see marketing anyway.

Lori Widmer

Maybe it’s the word. “Marketing” sounds ominous and complicated, like one of those torturous processes that corporations labor over for months to produce a few pages of strategy. Perhaps corporations need that process. However, for freelance writers, it needn’t be so tedious.

Maybe you suffer from that same paralysis as my writer friend, or are just bored with your current methods. If so, try adding one or more of these strategies to your marketing efforts:

1. Plan it. Choose how many clients you’re going to contact. Make it a number that feels manageable to get in touch with on any given day. The next day, contact that same number. Repeat this every work day. If you find you’re able to contact more clients than you originally thought, do it. The idea is to do something every day to expand your client list.

2. Suggest new projects. If you’ve worked with certain clients for years providing a specific service or product, suggest adding another service. Blogs, newsletters, and sales letters are just a few ways writers and editors can add to what they provide to increase their earnings. Create a sales package of everything you offer and present it to a client, showing how additional services or products can help them improve their businesses or lives.

3. Follow up. All those marketing pieces you sent out a month ago are useless unless you follow up. Get in touch with those contacts. Say hello, repeat your offer, send them a relevant article, or just ask what they need and how you can help. They may not need your services, but you won’t know if you don’t ask.

4. Target potential clients that resemble your existing clients. Not every client you’ll have will fit into the same box. For that reason, brainstorm where to direct your next marketing efforts. Look for potential clients that share similarities with companies you already do work for. If you work with doctors’ offices now, check out health-care suppliers. If a group of potential clients has similar needs, your chances of securing business increase.

5. Create several points of contact. Keeping your name in front of clients even when you’re not marketing to them directly can boost your business, too. Whom will your clients remember – the person who sent them a brochure, or the person they interact with every week on social media sites? Brush off your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ accounts and use them to get in touch with clients by sharing links, stories and ideas.

Inefficient marketing comes from lack of regular application. If you’re consistent with whatever methods you choose, you will see results.

What are your obstacles to consistent marketing?

Last year, I made business trips to Orlando, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. And the year before that I traveled about the same amount.

In my 20s while I was still single, I traveled a lot for work. Then I was a SAHM and got out of practice. So in the past few years, I’ve had to relearn what I need to take on a business trip and what will just end up weighing me down.

When I’m on the road, here’s what I take:

In case you missed them the first time around, here are the WordCount posts people were buzzing about this month:

• 10 reasons to clean out your office – now!
• Recommended reading for Nov. 18 – Occupy Portland photo
• 10 ways to find new freelance clients
• 10 phrases freelancers hate to hear
• 6 writing lessons from Pulitzer-winning biographer Stacy Schiff
• Top tax tips for freelancers

We’ll discuss how to make yourself and your story ideas veritable catnip to editors in our discussion of breaking into new markets.

The chat takes place today at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Use the #wclw hashtag on Twitter to join in the conversation.

We’ll start with introductions, answer a few pre-set questions and leave lots of time for other questions.

Here are the pre-set questions:

• Q1: What’s your biggest concern when approaching a new-to-you publication?
• Q2: If you’ve successfully worked with a new writing outlet in the last 1-2 years, how did it happen?
• Q3: How have you used social networks (LinkedIn, FB, Twitter, etc.) to mine new outlets for your writing?
• Q4: What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you first approached new markets?

Joining the #wclw chat

It’s possible to use the standard Twitter interface for the chat, but you might find it easier to follow along with an add-on application such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which you can log into using your Twitter account. You might want to alert followers that you’ll be tweeting more than usual during the chat, and suggest they use Muuter.com to temporarily mute you if they don’t want to tune into the conversation.

If you’re unable to join us, I’ll post highlights from the chat in an upcoming post.

For an editor, assigning something to a writer you haven’t worked with before is risky. They may look good on paper, but great clips don’t say anything about a person’s work ethic, resourcefulness and ability to meet deadlines, not to mention how much – or little – editing went into making those clips look so great.

To break into a new market you essentially have to convince an editor of two things, you’re too good a prospect to pass up, or the story you’re pitching is so perfect for your publication you don’t want anyone else to have it. Getting there is more of a marathon than a sprint: it takes a plan, practice and a lot of patience.

WordCount Last Wednesday

We’ll discuss how to make yourself and your story ideas veritable catnip to editors in our discussion of breaking into new markets on the next WordCount Last Wednesday writers’ chat. The chat takes place this Wednesday at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

Join the conversation by using the #wclw hashtag on Twitter.

Whether you’re just starting out or have years of freelance experience, please join us.

For the 60-minute chat, we’ll start with introductions, move to some pre-set questions and leave lots of time for other questions.

Here are the pre-set questions:

• Q1: What’s your biggest concern when approaching a new-to-you publication?
• Q2: If you’ve successfully worked with a new writing outlet in the last 1-2 years, how did it happen?
• Q3: How have you used social networks (LinkedIn, FB, Twitter, etc.) to mine new outlets for your writing?
• Q4: What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you first approached new markets?

Joining the #wclw chat

It’s possible to use the standard Twitter interface for the chat, but you might find it easier to follow along with an add-on application such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which you can log into using your Twitter account. You might want to alert followers that you’ll be tweeting more than usual during the chat, and suggest they use Muuter.com to temporarily mute you if they don’t want to tune into the conversation.

If you’re unable to join us, I’ll post highlights from the chat in an upcoming post.

Got an idea for a future #wclw chat? Would you like to participate as a guest speaker? Send your idea or bio to me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.

In this post on his blog today, Hochman writes about the three words never to say to a writer: “How’s it coming?”

As someone who’s worked as an editor and writer, I’ve probably said that a few times, and heard it plenty.

But it made me think: what are the other words or phrases freelancers hate to hear?

Here are 10 of my personal pet peeves:

“Your story is great. I have a few questions”
Translation – Warning, red ink ahead.

“We’re a start up.”
Translation – Our editorial budget is zero.

“What we lack in budget we make up for in exposure.”
Translation – We pay next to nothing.

“No other freelancer has asked to change that clause in the contract.”
Translation - Don’t make me have to ask legal about this.

“I don’t have any questions but I need to run this by the managing editor.”
Translation – Be prepared to be edited by committee.

“We’re looking for a fresh perspective on this topic.”
Translation – Good luck, we write about this all the time.

“We pay on publication.”
Translation – We can hold your story indefinitely and you won’t see a penny and there’s nothing you can do about it.

“I’ll check with accounting.”
Translation – I misplaced your invoice, forgot to submit it in the first place or the company’s having a bad month and behind on its bills.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Translation – Your pitch didn’t cut it, we’ve got something similar in the works, our No. 1 competitor ran that story last week, or my freelance budget is tapped out for the rest of the year.

“I’m not taking on new freelancers at this time.”
Translation – I’m too busy to read through your clips, your clips aren’t strong enough, I’m already managing more writers than I can handle or we’re getting ready for a major downsizing.

What common freelance industry phrases drive you crazy? Share by leaving a comment.

The Fighting Irish, under second-year head coach Brian Kelly, played its first night game in more than two decades. The stadium was packed with fans waving blue and white rally towels. The team upgraded to shiny gold helmets for the occasion.

Everything was perfect, except for one thing – the team didn’t play like they should have. A missed snap, a lackluster defense, penalties and other missteps cost them the game.

In football, you can have a million-dollar coach, the best recruiting system and the fanciest locker room. But if you don’t perform when it counts, none of it matters.

It’s the same in other professions. Think of actors or actresses who’ve been outstanding in one movie only to phone in their performance in their very next next film. Or a restaurant where the food and service is amazing on one visit, and mediocre or worse on the next.

It’s no different for writers. You could have clips from the highest circulation women’s magazines or the most prestigious newspapers in the country, you could have written bestselling books, you could be making $100,000 a year. None of it matters if you don’t bring your A game to the assignment you’re working on today.

As an editor, I’ve seen this a lot. To say it’s frustrating is an understatement. Every editor wants to think their publication is the No. 1 priority of the writers they work with. For some writers, it is, or at least, they do an admirable job of making it look that way. But I’ve also worked with good writers – really good ones – who don’t always turn in work that’s up to their potential, because they are over-committed, focused on other things, or just being lazy (though I hate to think so).

I’ve worked as a writer long enough, too, to know that giving your best performance day in and day out is difficult. You get sick, or your kids get sick. Sources don’t call so you get behind and then have to play catch up and can’t do as good a job as you wanted. I get it.

But those occasions should be the anomalies.

In the end, the writers who’ll go furthest aren’t just the ones with the natural abilities (and the best agents). They’re the one who – like Heisman Trophy winners and Super Bowl champs – push themselves day after day, year after year, to make the most of their natural abilities and experience. They may be good, but they put in the effort too.

Bad weather’s perfect for writing, which I’ve been doing a lot of in recent days. In case you missed them the first time around, here are the most popular WordCount posts from the past month:

• Blog comment tutorial: attract the good, deal with the bad
• Dear WordCount: What should freelancers wear to work?
• Back to basics: A 10-step freelance story workflow guide
• 5 ways to earn a full-time income freelancing part-time
• Big 3 social networks create press rooms for journalists
• Remembering 9/11
• 5 tips for using Outlook Calendar to manage your work day
• When it comes to story ideas, trust your gut
• Back to school means back to work

When the school doors open this morning at 8 a.m., I don’t know who’ll be more excited, my fifth grader or me.

I work from home, so summer break means the tranquil work space that’s all mine nine months of the year turns into activity central, with my fifth grader, two college-aged kids and their friends up and around all hours of the day and most of the night. No wonder I’ve turned into a morning person, it’s the only time it’s quiet.

Back to school isn’t just a date on a calendar for students. It also signals the end of summer, when people return from vacation ready to plunge into new projects and start planning for next year.

As we head back to work after Labor Day, here are a few things freelancers can do to get ready for the rest of the year:

1. Research  new markets. If you took it easy over the summer, finished working on some months-long projects or lost a client over budget cuts, it’s time to find out what else is out there. Good places to investigate: professional organizations such as the Specialized Interest Publishers Association, which represents subscription newsletters, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

2. Send letters of introduction.  Some editors would rather receive a letter of introduction than a pitch. In a LOI, explain who you are, what you specialize in, the type of writing or other work you’re seeking, why you’re qualified, and a summary of your relevant experience. Make it concise so the editor doesn’t have to scroll too far to get to the end.

3. Send queries. If your New Years resolution was to pitch some new-to-you publications but you haven’t yet, now’s the time. Just make sure what you’re sending is appropriate for the publication you’re querying. Read more on what to do to make sure editors get back to you.

4. Follow up on queries. Don’t let your queries fall into a black hole. If it’s been a couple weeks and you haven’t heard anything – less time if your pitch is time sensitive – follow up by email, or if you know the editor, by phone. Let them know that you’re wondering whether they received your query and if there’s any additional information you can send them about the idea or yourself.

5. Attend a conference. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like going to a conference or seminar. There are a handful of great  writing and media industry conferences taking place this fall; here’s a complete list.

6. Clear out your inbox. I love an empty email inbox as much as the next person, but it’s an easy thing to let slide if you’ve been preoccupied with deadlines. Be ruthless; ask yourself, do I really need this? Can I get this information somewhere else if I need it? If you can’t part with old emails, at least consider saving them in an archive folder or to a back-up hard drive so they aren’t cluttering your inbox, and taking up space on your computer.

7. Toss old notes. Check to see what policies the publications you write for have about holding onto old notes: some require three years, others longer. Once you’ve past the expiration date, shred them.

8. Update your LinkedIn profile. I interview recruiters all the time and one thing I hear a lot these days: you have to be on LinkedIn. If you aren’t, create an account and fill out your profile and work experience. If you have an existing LinkedIn profile, make sure it includes your most recent freelance gigs. It’s also important to include your skills and specialties, since publishers will search for those terms when they’re using the service to find writers.  Here’s more on how writers can use LinkedIn.

9. Give your blog a makeover. Is your blog stuck in 2009? Maybe it’s time for a makeover. Maybe all you need is a few new WordPress plugins to make it easier for readers to leave comments or subscribe to your blog feed. Maybe you want a whole new look and feel. Here’s a great list of WordPress themes, plugins and more.

10. Change your email signature. Got a new column, book or blog? Link to it from the sign off you use on your outgoing email messages. Don’t use an email signature? You should. Here’s some tips for what to include in an email signature.

11. Update your headshot. Spring for professional photos if you can. If you can’t, at the least change the photo you use on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Followers like it when people change up their online appearance.

12. Try a new social network. If you normally hang out on Facebook, sign up for Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Storify or another social network. Not sure whether a new network is worth it? Read more about how writers can use Twitter, why you should check out Google+ and how easy it is to get started on Tumblr.