Category Archives: General Ruminations

Taking up assignments that are not in my field

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Of late – for the past 5 odd months – I have been taking assignments that I haven’t mentioned on this website, for instance designing and developing websites and setting up content management systems such as Joomla and PHPNuke. These assignments are so not content writing. But they earn me some good money, some quick money. The amount of money that I make writing content for say, 5 projects, I can make the same amount with just one project of designing a website. You might wonder then why the hell do I write content instead of making websites?

I used to make websites a few years ago and in fact only those people approach me for web designing and development work who somehow know that I used to make websites. I wrapped up my web design and development business because my soul was not into it; I wanted to write. That is why I started providing content writing services to various clients. Back then I needed to heavily advertise using AdWords because very few people were looking for content writers and online copywriters. I don’t know why I never stopped learning the new web design and development techniques. So when people started creating CSS based layouts I also learned how to do that and when people started incorporating Ajax functionalities into their applications I also used them while working for one of my permanent clients. Maybe that is the reason; I have always been in touch with web design and development and I never work on a project half-heartedly even though my primary business is content writing.

There is another reason why I often get this work. When new clients approach me many times they are just starting a new website. So they ask me by any chance do I know a good web designer. I often reply that I don’t know any web designer but there are a few websites that I have designed and if they like those designs and if they are ready to pay what I am asking for maybe I can give it a try. This is how everything begins.

Especially these days I try to do as much work as I can because one is never sure of the prevalent economic conditions. Although I don’t prefer designing websites if they get me some good money in little time and I have to do something that I already know it becomes difficult for me to refuse. Does this mean I am ignoring my core business? I don’t know, maybe. On second thought, I think earning money and creating a backup is also essential for my content writing business. With enough money I don’t have to take up “desperate projects” and I can be choosy. I am still thinking about it.

Recognizing my market and reaching out to unrecognized markets

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These days I am constantly thinking about increasing my business. My conversion rate is quite high, fortunately. You won’t believe I receive 60 odd visitors per day and still on an average I get one business query everyday and at least three projects every week. If somehow I can manage 240 visitors every day maybe my work will be multiplied by the same proportion. Although, I make a comfortable living I have some financial goals for the coming years and for that I definitely need to increase the number of assignments I get every month. Besides I would like to focus more on marketing and promotion and get the writing done (of course, while maintaining the current standard and even improving it) from other writers from India as well as in other countries. If I want to do this I must get lots of assignments so that the margin is big enough for me.

Along with constantly working at increasing my traffic (relevant traffic, not just any traffic) I’m also thinking about recognizing and approaching newer markets. I was just reading this blog post by Rohit Bhargava who talks about exploring unrecognized markets while referring to a new social networking website called Savvy Aunties; this website targets women who have money but no kids and who would like to spend money on their nephews, nieces and any other kids they would like to shower their affections upon. Now this is a completely unexplored market because people are mostly targeting moms and dads, grand moms and grand dads, and brothers and sisters. With more and more successful women deciding to remain single or not have kids I think this is a great market to target with a very vertical niche.

Most of my clients come from the USA and Europe. Even in Europe, it’s mostly the UK from where the clients contact me. There are still many countries that remain out of reach and I must try to reach those countries and markets. In the coming days I am going to study how I can do that. Whatever I learn I will be sharing on this blog. I will be honored to receive suggestions from you.

Sharing your knowledge and increasing your business

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I don’t know where I read this – and I have read it numerous times – that we live in a knowledge economy. Knowledge economy means you acquire knowledge and you share it with your audience, no matter what is the medium.

Bloggers, one way or another, have always done that. Based on their knowledge and communication skill they first build an audience and then with the help of that audience that build businesses. 37 signals is one company that has given its knowledge for free and earned a few million dollars consequently.

Does sharing your knowledge freely always earn you money? It depends on what you are trying to share and it also depends on your audience. For example, the 37 signals audience would be freelance web designers, software professionals, and all those professionals who work from multiple locations on multiple projects. They target small businesses and freelancers who don’t have big budgets for managing their projects and promotional activities.

I was thinking how to apply the same logic (of course not the exact copy, because every business is unique) to my own business – content writing and copywriting service. I have always been sharing knowledge on my website in the form of articles and blog posts on how to improve your writing and how to make an impact through your writing. This fetches me lots of relevant traffic. This also increases my relevancy – my traffic is miniscule but I make a comfortable living. But it doesn’t mean I’m satisfied. I want to increase my business so much that I mostly managing projects instead of working on them.

For that I need to build traffic, and more than the traffic and need to build an audience, and you can build an audience when you share your knowledge honestly, without holding anything back, and on a regular basis. For me here, the key word is “regularity” because this is something I am not able to follow consistently.

Anyway, I found this immensely insightful video featuring Jason Fried from 37 signals in which he explains how it makes sense to share your knowledge and business secrets openly and increase your business in the process.

Does the way you design your surroundings affect your performance?

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I’m not sure if I’m correct – JK Rowling wrote her first novel in a cafeteria. Now, if you want to define distraction, what place can be more distracting than a cafeteria (or may be not?)? I was just now reading this interview at Tim Ferriss’ blog about designing your workspace and optimizing your performance as a result.

As I wrote in one of my recent posts I shifted to my music room to work. Previously my desk was in the main room, bang in front of the entrance door and distractions were right, left and center. I couldn’t write a single sentence without getting interrupted, unless it was midnight and everybody was asleep. I initially settled in the main room because it’s very spacious and open on two sides, so lots of cross-ventilation and bright natural light during daytime. The present room is darker, no cross-ventilation, and quite cramped because lots of stuff is lying around here and there. Distraction is 60% less (you cannot eliminate it completely if you have a hyperactive 3-year-old running around) and performance has improved more than 100%.

I’m constantly thinking of how to increase efficiency and performance and I think surroundings play an important role. Your surroundings should eliminate distractions as much as possible, they should be pleasant and they should help you improve your performance.  It doesn’t have to be lavish like a five-star hotel.  Just a clean room with well organized papers, books, wires and other paraphernalia, can bring about a dramatic change in the way you look at your work and perform.  This is extremely important if you are working from home because surroundings take a backstage  because of the extra effort and sometimes expense involved but I think this is worth the effort.  Even if you have to spend some extra cash you should create a pleasant aura around your workspace because you spend a major part of your life doing your work.  You should create a workspace that you find welcoming and look forward to coming to every morning (afternoon, evening, whenever your schedule starts).

Mahatma Gandhi used to say that cleanliness is next to godliness and I totally subscribe to this view.  Even if you don’t have expensive furniture and latest gadgets, a clean workspace brings you a sense of peace and harmony.

Should business pages be published using WordPress?

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Of late I’ve been using WordPress to publish various non-blog pages on my website. Maintenance becomes easier and I don’t have to connect the FTP whenever I want to add new pages (and I plan to add them quite fast).  It becomes very easy; just use a blog editing tool like the windows live writer to publish the pages and you can even search engine optimize them by using a WordPress SEO plug-in.

But the problem is that now all these pages depend on the MySQL server hosted by the hosting company.  There are generally two types of server problems when the website is down: either the main server, where all the files reside, is down, or the MySQL server is down.  This means whenever the MySQL server is down the websites that have got nothing to do with the database are not affected and they keep on running.  But the websites that depend on the database become inaccessible.  This means all the pages that are published using WordPress become inaccessible to humans as well search engine crawlers whenever the MySQL server is down; the MySQL server – so I have noticed – is down many times where I am hosting my websites.  Right now, when I am typing this, the server is down and all my blogs are down too. Luckily, my main business website is still running (this post will appear only when the MySQL is working again).

Should I switch back to using the normal PHP pages, ignore this once in a while problem, or change my host?  I like my host, though. But I would quickly like to add that I’ve got nothing to say against WordPress or any other content publishing solutions people use to publish and manage their business websites.  Anyway, I’m still thinking.