• Fellowes PS-79Ci Cross-Cut 100% Jam Proof Shredder
• Epson WorkForce 610
• Elfa products from The Container Store ($250 value)
• Library edition binders from Russell + Hazel
• Home Office Solutions: Creating a Space that Works for You book by Lisa Kanarek
• One-year subscription to Flexjobs
• “I’m working naked…are you?” t-shirt

I must admit, it’s the T-shirt that caught my interest. I had a good chuckle thinking about the kinds of comments that someone would get if they wore it out in public.

The contest starts on March 15, 2010 and runs until April 15. The winner will be announced April 30. You can get the details here. Please note that the site owner wants to see photos of an office, not people – whether they are working fully clothed or they have created a clothing-optional workspace for themselves. I’m all for whatever will help you to be happy and productive, BTW.

I like T-shirts with slogans on them. If I see a display of shirts at a store or a kiosk, I do stop to check them out. I usually find at least a couple with slogans that I find funny or interesting. The T-shirts we choose to wear give the person who sees them an idea of who we are without our having to say a word.

I remember the ’70s as being a time when T-shirts with messages were very popular. Customers could go into a store and look through a book of transfers to select the message they wanted to convey. The customer also got to choose the size, color and style of shirt they wanted and the order was completed while he or she waited.

At least one of my friends was sent home from school for showing up wearing a shirt that the administration felt was offensive, but for the most part the slogans were fun. I remember a friend of mine who was very tough and thankfully always had my back used to wear a shirt that read, “You Toucha Da Shirt, I Breaka You Face.” At least you always knew where you stood with her.

My sister adopted a different approach when she went out wearing one that said, “Improve Your Image; Be Seen With Me.” (She really needed to work in her low self-esteem issues.) I used to have a T-shirt that explained the process involved in competing in what could prove to be a popular Olympic sport: the Aluminum Man Triathlon. It involved using beer cans for the three events: Open, Chug and Crush.

What do messages on T-shirts have to do with being a freelance writer? Let me explain. Every time you write a blog post that is going out on your blog or under your own name, you are sending out a message to the reader. Your comments on blogs and discussion forums and your tweets do the same.

The reader may not remember your name at first, but they will remember the message you conveyed. If you are going to put something out there on your own version of an online T-shirt, make sure it’s an accurate reflection of who you are and what you want the reader to remember about you.

Case in point: I still remember working at a summer fair about 30 years ago and seeing a man walk by wearing a T-shirt that read, “I’m So Horny the Crack of Dawn Looks Good.” I have no recollection of how old he was or what he looked like, but I do remember the shirt…..and the fact that he had his wife with him. I’m sure she was very proud of her man’s fashion sense….not.

If your goal is to use your online communication to attract potential clients, make sure they are remembering you for the right reasons. What message do you want your online T-shirt to say to people?

If you’re not reading this through a feed reader it’s safe to assume the person who posted this is a slimy content thief who is too unoriginal to come up with his or her own ideas. Feel free to report this content theft to freelancewritinggigs(at)gmail(dot)com.

There are no short cuts to success.

The athletes that make it to the level required to qualify for the Olympics have been preparing for years. Most of them found a passion for their sport from a very young age and have been working hard to develop their abilities since that time.

Many writers also found themselves attracted to the power of words early in life, even if they couldn’t picture a way to get paid for their work at that point. Every time they put pen to paper or touched a keyboard they were practicing their skills. Raw talent is the starting point for world-class athletes and world-class writers, but it takes time to develop that natural ability, and the individual has to be prepared to do the work.

Hard work will eventually pay off.

When an athlete reaches his or her goal of being selected for the Olympic team, they know that the many hours of training and practice have paid off. To get to this level, a person must not only love their sport but they have to be dedicated to it. Training is not something they do when they happen to feel like it. They keep training, even when they are tired, discouraged or just don’t feel like it.

If you want to improve your writing skills, keep writing. Do it every day, even when you are struggling with writer’s block or you are having trouble finding the perfect approach to your project. Getting something down is the first step, and you can always edit later. Write for yourself if you don’t have any client projects to work on. Update your blog. Just keep writing.

You can bring your “A” game and still not win.

Part of what has made the Olympics so interesting is that not everyone who was expected to make it to the podium did so. All the preparation and work led up to having everything fall into place at the event, but there are any number of things that could get in the way of a top three finish. It comes down to which athlete or team was better on that day.

When you are looking for freelance writing gigs, you can do all the right things. Your resume can be all fresh and recently updated, your samples can be on topic and error free, and the client may choose someone else. It doesn’t mean that you lack talent or you couldn’t rock the gig. It means that on that day, someone else got the nod.

Being talented doesn’t give you a license to behave badly.

In the world of athletics and freelance writing, your reputation is something you should guard carefully. It takes to build up a positive one where you are someone who is well respected and sought after, and one bad decision can damage it. Unfortunately, once a person gets some negative buzz going around them, their accomplishments pale in comparison.

Once something gets out online, it is there forever. Anyone who takes the time to Google your name is going to find out about it, and even the stuff you share on Twitter gets indexed by search engines. It is a good idea to remember this and practice some CYA (Cover Your A$$) before you put something up for public consumption. I’m just saying……

What have you learned about freelance writing by watching the Olympics?

Twitter is an awesome resource to keep in touch with people you know, look for freelance writing jobs and promote yourself. Have you ever thought about whether you could condense your resume into a tweet?

The Hired Guns Twesume Contest allows participants to do just that. The contest runs until January 25 and the winner gets a personal coaching session with Top Gun Allison Hemming on his or her choice of topics, from “personal brand analysis and resume makeovers to interview strategies for landing your dream job!”

For full contest rules, check out the announcement on the Hired Guns web site. It sounds like a lot of fun. If you decide to enter, please let us know in the comments and if you feel like sharing your twesume, please do so.

I know that no job is perfect and that freelancers have been known to express their displeasure with this way of earning a living. We may have so much work that we’re tearing our hair out or go through a dry spell where we’re considering other options. Clients can be wonderful but there are some who micromanage projects or ask for multiple rounds of revisions (without expect to pay more). Waiting to get paid when you have your own bills to cover is another frustrating part of being a freelance writer.

If you are having one of those times when you are thinking the grass may be greener elsewhere, consider these alternative ways of generating income:

1. Telemarketer (nobody wants to hear from you)
2. Income Tax Auditor (see above)
3. Prison Guard
4. Sorter at Recycling Company (bo-r-ing)
5. Garbage Collector
6. Crime Scene Cleaner
7. Politician
8. Morgue Attendant
9. Bikini Waxer
10. Personal Assistant to a Celebrity (not as glamorous as you may think)

Even when you’re having one of those days when everything is getting to you and you are wondering if anyone would actually pay you to be a hermit so that you can get some peace and quiet, consider that there are worse ways to earn a living. What other jobs should have made this list?

Once upon a time there was a blog. This blog had several thousand visitors each day. They shared. They chatted. They commiserated. It was all good. Soon some mean people came by and began scaring away the happy chatters. The vibe changed from warm and fuzzy to not so much fun anymore. The owner did her best to build up community, but she was so busy with her projects and her job it wasn’t happening. She put a comment policy into place but the damage was already done. She had a reputation for having a community that liked to bicker.

She wants to change that.

If you remember the days when FWJ was a huge, lively community of writers helping writers, you may miss the golden days as well. Let’s try and get it all back. Several years ago, we built this community with a contest – a comments contest. We offered a $25 gift certficate to the person with the most comments. People came and never left. It was good.

We’re doing it again, except we’re upping the ante.

Beginning today, October 1st, we’re giving away $150 to the people who help to bring back this wonderful community. We’re giving away three $50 prizes.

• The person with the most comments between now and October 31st, on the homepage Freelance Writing Jobs blog, will receive $50.
• The person with the most comments across the whole FWJ network by the end of the month, that’s all of the blogs, will receive $50.
• The FWJ blogger who does the most to build community and join the conversation will win $50 at the end of the month.

Just a few notes:

• Comments that only say ” I agree” or add nothing to the conversation won’t count.
• Comments not adhering to our comment policy will be deleted and won’t count.
• Spammy comments or comment dropping links – unless they’re truly offering something to the conversation – won’t count.

I know you’re here. I see the numbers. Thousand of people visit each day and even more subscribe. Come join the conversation. Let’s bring community back!

Hi friends of the Freelance Writing Jobs blog network. In order to make FWJ a more pleasant, user friendly and informative experience, we need to periodically gauge our readers’ opinions. I hope you don’t mind taking a couple of minutes out of your busy schedule and taking our brief survey.

It’s all anonymous, we’re not collecting names. By filling it out it will let us know a little about your habits and your thoughts about this network.

Click Here to take survey

Thanks, once again, for your continued support.

Thank you so much for your time!

- Deb

As a freelance writer, this is usually the second question I get asked when I tell people what I do for a living. The first one is “What’s that?” (I kid you not.)

Here’s the thing. When you are a freelance anything, you are not working for your clients. You are working for yourself. You are the head of your own company – “Me, Inc.” for want of a better name.

You are not a prospective employee of the clients you are sending applications to or pitching directly. That would imply that your relationship is not one of equals. Instead, you are a highly-talented company owner who wants to talk to another one about about a business proposition that will benefit both of you.

An employee may not have a lot of choice about the amount or kind of work they do, or the conditions they are expected to work under. When you are your own company, though, you get to make decisions about which clients you want to take on, and the amount and type of work you want to do.

You want to present yourself in the best possible way when you are communicating with a prospective client, of course, but you are not looking for a “job.” You already have an employer: you. If your boss is anything like mine, you work a lot harder than you have for anyone else you have ever worked for. Your boss expects no less from you than your best effort at all times. That’s just how it is.

The next time someone asks you who you work for, tell them that you work for yourself. I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to reveal who your clients are or not.

I found this in my online travels on the WritersJokes web site and thought it was worth sharing. Enjoy!

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
6. Be more or less specific.
7. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
8. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
9. No sentence fragments.
10. Don’t use no double negatives.
11. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something.
12. Eschew obfuscation.

We have a couple of fun things going on here at the Freelance Writing Jobs network that I wanted to share with you.

If you love coffee (mmmm…coffee…..),  check out the Win a Dunkin Donuts Coffee Gift Basket Contest at Deb’s Freelance Writing Jobs and Other Stuff blog.

The other contest is over at Network Blogging Tips. Two readers will win a set of 250 post cards to help them promote their business.

Please check them out and enter for your chance to win.

Nacie Carson, who wrote a guest post recently about life after quitting her day job to go freelance, has writen an e-book about choosing to live The Life Uncommon. I have to agree wholeheartedly with the concept this e-book shares. This is not a dress rehearsal for something else, folks, and it’s up to us to make our lives what we want them to be.

She has generously decided to offer FWJ readers a 33 percent discount when they purchase the e-book. All you need to do is use the coupon code “FWJ” when you place your order. It’s Nacie’s way of thanking the FWJ community for being the wonderful people you are!