Looks like President Obama made good on his 2012 goal to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax increases and federal spending cuts that would have automatically kicked in on Dec. 31, even if it did take Congress an extra day to pass it.
If he can do it, so can you.
2013 Freelance Writing Goals
Is this the year you decide to act on a long-term goal, or take your writing career in a new direction? If you’ve struggled with time management, is this the year you vow to be more productive? Or are you finally going to take that two-week vacation you’ve been talking about forever?
Let’s share freelance writing goals for this year, as a way of giving each other a boost
I’ll start. Hopefully putting these out there will make me more accountable.
My goals for my freelance business in 2013 are to:
- Work on at least one dream writing project, something that I want to do even if I don’t have a specific publication in mind when I start working on it.
- Break into one new market, and continue writing for the great publications I broke into last year.
- Be more efficient as an editor, talking to writers more and line editing less.
- Compile at least one e-book based on posts I’ve written for this blog.
- Get more advertisers for this blog, my newsletter and the WordCount blogathon.
- Pay quarterly taxes on time, every quarter.
- Maintain the work/life balance I cultivated in 2012, including taking vacations and not working while I’m on them!
- Do a better job of planning those vacations in advance.
What are your freelance writing resolutions for 2013? Please share what your goals are by leaving a comment.
Here’s to a productive and prosperous New Year for us all.
[Flickr photo by simplyla]
2012 was an awesome year as I finally realized my dream of breaking back into freelance writing. I hired a writing coach, queried a number of magazines, newspapers and websites and landed four assignments. One was published in September, another has been submitted and revised for publication in the spring, a third is at the writing stage also for the spring, and a fourth is slated for next winter! Three of these assignments are for one magazine. I need to work out some goals for 2013 to discuss with my coach next week, so I’ll use this as a little brainstorming session.
* Keep researching, writing and sending out killer pitches, a minimum of four new ones per month.
* At least one per month should be directed at breaking into science and nature publications.
* Write one essay every two months to submit on spec.
* Plan and start writing a book (fiction or non-fiction).
* Learn to use PhotoShop (one of my assignments so far is a photo essay, and I would love to do more).
* Maintain a high standard of blog content (that photo assignment came thanks to my blog).
* Figure out what it takes to get revenue from my blog.
* Take one week vacation out of every 12. Travel.
Congratulations on a fantastic year Van, and I’m happy that the blogathon played a small part in it. Keep up the good work!
Michelle
The Blogathon played more than a small role, Michelle. It connected me to freelancers, who connected me to more freelancers, who all together gave me the courage to take the plunge. Thanks so much!
I forgot to mention that 2013 is also going to be my year of healthier living: better eating, sleeping and exercise habits. Some of those have been on the back burner while I concentrated on launching a writing career, but now that work has started settling into a happy routine, I need to look after my body.
Amen to healthier living. One of my resolutions for 2012 was to work less and workout more. I did, adding a fourth day of workouts to my weekly routine. That fell by the wayside in the last months of the year as I traveled and then got ready for the holidays. But I’ll be back at it starting next week. Getting enough exercise is a mental and physical boost – it’s all good.
Michelle
Love your resolution on vacations! Here are mine:
– Publish three blog posts a month
– Publish one article outside my blog (e.g. magazine/online site) every two months
– Get paid for writing a minimum of one article a month
– Share Content Marketing tips with at least one interested candidate in a month
All the best for 2013!
Good for you, these sound like practical, doable goals. Check in six months from now to let us know how you’re doing! And if you don’t mind the plug, join me for the 2013 WordCount Blogathon, where we attempt to post every day in May. Even if you don’t write that often, it’s a great way to build enthusiasm and momentum for your blog. I’ll be making announcements about registration and other blogathon-related activities in this space in coming weeks, so check back often.
Michelle Rafter
I’ve set three goals for my freelance writing business this year and, like you, one of mine is about work-life balance (I’m going to take a planned entire week off in one go!). We actually talked about setting freelance writing goals on our latest podcast http://www.philippawrites.co.uk/podcast-episode-20-goal-planning-your-freelance-aims-for-2013/ which may help your readers to clarify their aims. My other two goals are a bit long winded to explain, but I’m clear in my mind about exactly what I’m doing, and feel nice and focused – so far!
The first holiday is the hardest. After that you learn when to go, where to go with good wifi coverage, or whether to arrange someone to cover, or whether it’s ok to take a complete break.
I like to go to Asia because it’s so cheap there. It’s actually cheaper to live there in a hotel than it is back at home. So if I stay for long enough and rent out my apartment in the UK I actually save money by being on holiday!
I’ve found the best time to go on vacation for a freelancer is between December and February. Things naturally slow down a bit then.