OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I used to be a business consultant, implementing systems into large corporates, and I was miserable as hell!
It took me 3.5 years of writing and working on this site part-time before I had the income to move into being a full-time author-entrepreneur, but there have been many challenges along the way.
I shared my own lessons learned from 1 year last September, and today I am really pleased to welcome Liz Broomfield, who has made a similar transition. She has a new book out – Going it alone at 40: How I survived my first year of full-time self-employment. This is all important stuff because writers (and editors) are small businesses too.
Whether you’re starting out as a professional writer of fiction or non-fiction, or running another kind of business, from selling jewellery to providing editing services, if you’re already lucky enough to be employed, it’s a good idea to start off your business part time, to test the waters, make sure it’s viable, and make sure you like doing it! Here are five top tips for starting a business part time, and five for when you take the plunge and go full time.
Note: when I say “business”, this includes “being self-employed”.
Many writers won’t think of themselves as being a “business”. But if you get used to thinking of your self-employment as a business, it will help you to be more committed, more organised and more, well, businesslike!
If you want your books out there actually selling, you need to think like a business person in terms of marketing, time management, finance and all of those things as well as sitting down and putting fingers to keys.
Five top tips for starting a business part time …
So, you’re thinking of being a professional writer or starting up that business. Why not do it part time while you work at the day job, to test it out, make sure you’ve got enough money to support yourself, and launch the safer way? These top tips will help you to work out what to do and when to do it:
1. Start as you mean to go on – set up routines, whether that’s invoicing templates, writing aids or software or a special area of the house to work in.
2. Embrace good time management – it’s hard to juggle but will be oh, so much easier when you’re full time doing the thing you love.
3. Keep time for yourself – give up watching TV if you need to, scale down nights out with friends, but make sure you still keep some “me” time and some “us” time (whether the other half of the “us” is your life partner, your cat or your best mate).
4. Plan, plan, plan – have that full-time goal in mind, keep on track, work out when the right time to go part-time at your job or leave altogether, and then it’s more routine and less scary to take the plunge when you know it’s the right time.
5. Be realistic – not working out? Hating writing even part-time? Sick of beads and wire? It’s better to find that out now than later! Think of this time like an engagement or a trial period: find out what you enjoy and what works while it isn’t critical.
… and five top tips for when you’re full time
You’ve hit the sweet spot where you’re earning enough to support yourself while you work on what you love doing full time. Now you’re fully committed to writing that novel or that series of self-help books; or you’re at a point in your business where you need more time for your clients or for making your crafts. This is easier than working part-time on one job and part-time on your business, but these tips will help it to go more smoothly:
1. Have a routine – if you’re working at home all day, it’s all-too-easy to slip into those pyjamas and never answer the door. Try to go out every day, try to take exercise and try to eat well. You might even want to make a list of what you’ll do every day and post it online or on the fridge!
2. Claim something back – now you’re full time, you SHOULD have some more free time. If you gave something up in stage one, now’s the time to claim back those telly programmes, Saturday morning lie-Ins or nights out with the girls.
3. Maintain those routines – you’ll be doing more of everything, so now’s the time to make sure those routines you’ve set up really work for you, and consider outsourcing some of the boring bits.
4. Develop a social media strategy – you’ll have time for the Facebook and Twitter updates, refining your website (or setting one up) and networking in person and online. This is a great way to build your business and move it on to the next level.
5. Remain realistic – keep note of what you’re doing, what works, what doesn’t. Keep on top of your records of income and outgoings and check you’re making enough profit to support yourself. Still set goals for yourself and still monitor your progress – as your business matures, or your writing career develops, you need to keep tabs on it, and constantly monitor, refine and position yourself.
You can do it: that’s the key.
Working part-time on your writing “business” or your crafting or service provision allows you to hone what you’re doing and make sure you know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and how to do it best while still held in the supportive framework of a job and a salary.
This will give you much more ammunition when it’s time to tell yourself (and your loved ones) that it’s time to go solo and strike out on your own. Good luck!
Do you want to move into writing/editing full-time? Do you have any questions or comments about it? Please leave them below and Liz and I will be happy to answer.
Liz Broomfield has been there, done that and written the book! Starting her editing and localisation business in 2009, she finally took the full-time plunge in December 2011, and has recently published a book all about surviving her first year in full-time self-employment.
Liz’s book on Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Alone-Full-Time-Self-Employment-ebook/dp/B00CBEUSXM/
Book web page with links to worldwide Amazon sites: http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/e-book-going-it-alone-at-40/
Liz’s professional blog – small business, language and Word tips: http://www.libroediting.com/
Liz’s personal blog – self-employment, reading and writing: http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Lyzzybee_Libro
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/libroediting
Top image: Flickr Creative Commons Green Grass – is it always greener? by CH Berge
I’m a single dad working as a fulltime college instructor. I’ve self-published two books. I’m building a platform. It’s been about 15 months since I published my first book and started seriously blogging and building. However, I only have a couple of hours a day. I need to reach 50K per year before I could even think of becoming self employed. Right now, with meager book sales, that seems a long way off. I like to think I can reach that level in five years. How do you keep yourself inspired and motivated when progress is so slow?
Thanks for your comment, Dan. If you pop over to my blogs you’ll see that I did it pretty slowly – I was working full time at the day job and part time with Libro for one year, then part time at the day job and part time at Libro for one year, then went full time. During that time, I built my customer base and worked out when I was ready to go (as I live with my partner and we don’t have dependents, I was able to go for a lower amount to trigger me gong full time, but I was also working in a fairly low-paid day job, which helped).
It’s important to note, though, that I don’t make my living from my books. My main source of income is my editing/proofreading/transcribing/localising business. I’ve only released Going It Alone At 40 a month ago but that’s very much a secondary focus for me; something that will give me a passive income. Most authors do something else other than writing and selling their own fiction or non-fiction books, e.g. Jo Penn’s range of services and products, etc.
I hope that helps. I had my eye on the prize of having more freedom and flexibility in my life, and doing a job I loved all the time, which certainly helped during the hard times when I was effectively working two jobs at the same time (my book has some of my schedules from then and now – scary, looking back at it!).
Thanks, Liz.
I understand that most writers find other ways to monetize their blogs/writing. I’m still working on that. Although I wander, my blog is about, “writing, and writing as a form of therapy.” I think the second part might be the key to how I can monetize my work. I’ll get there.
Thanks,
dan
Keep flexible, keep thinking laterally, and you’ll get there. Where “there” is of course is a different matter! What I do now is really different from what I thought I’d be doing when I set up Libro …
Hi Dan,
Progress is indeed slow but I’ve now been at this 5 years and the pace of change speeds up over time. I kept myself motivated by the very fact that I couldn’t imagine myself doing a job I hated for many more years. If you are happy in your work, then there really is no hurry – but I made sure I was always working on the alternative path – writing, marketing and more – because I was so determined to change my life. It couldn’t NOT happen! So decide what the ‘why’ is behind your need to change. There’s a good book I also recommend – The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy – all about incremental change.
Thanks for your encouragement, Joanna. Yes, I do like my work, but I want a better future for my eight-year-old daughter. I’d like to be able to have the freedom to move to better city (we live in a city that has the 10th highest crime rate in the country), and have the funds to send her to a great college. I also want to help others get through the hard knocks of life as much as I can. I am determined to continue. I work in rhythms of variety and intensity to keep myself from burning out, but I keep going. Thanks for the book recommendation. I will go take a look at it now.
…popping over to Amazon to pick up a copy. As it happens, I went full-time this year as a writer at 40 too, so I imagine it’ll be an interesting read 🙂
It’s definitely a different experience for me – particularly as I have to manage a chronic illness on top of my business. But I’m definitely not complaining – I *love* my job.
Excellent – I hope you enjoy it – and welcome to the new job at 40 club!
Hi Liz & Joanna,
Great article and no doubt you’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve always found the 80/20 rule interesting, where 20% of your efforts gives 80% of the payback; the trick being to identify the best 20 and focus away from the ineffective 80. Maybe an example or two of what doesn’t work?
I’m interested in your thoughts on this and I’m sure other readers would be, too.
Thanks for your comment, Garry. I’ve got some information about that in my book: as my business has matured, I’ve carefully optimised my client base to make sure that all of my clients give me as much payback as possible in terms of
– money
– enjoyment
They’re not necessarily the same clients, but I’ve balanced it out and I bet if I did some sums, 80% of my income comes from the high-earning jobs and 20% from the really cool ones that I enjoy most. Another use of that marvellous 80/20 rule.
I’ve also been blogging about Return on Investment lately, which you might find interesting. Rather than repeat myself here, you might want to pop over for a read: http://libroediting.com/2013/05/15/how-do-you-know-when-its-worth-investing/
Thank you so much for this post. I think that points 2 and 4 are the most important. As common sense as it may seem, when you “plan, plan, plan” you tend to get much more accomplished and be much more productive. Imagine that! When you plan out a schedule you are more productive! I find myself the most productive when I set weekly goals for myself.
Thanks for the post.
Thanks for your comment, Jordan, and I’m glad you’ve found the post interesting and useful. Yes, planning is key – and the busier you are, the more planning you need to do, of course!
Heya, this is Subin. I’m a college going Student pursuing graduation. First of all this article has really made me think a lot about my time devotion to writing. I’m interested in writing Short Stories and poem. I’ve recently Started a novel and am confused how to go ahead with it. Each time I Sit in front of my Computer I get confused about the story and a new Story line enters my brain . This is very deary. Also I’m working as well as Studying, so time has a very less place.It’s really confusing. Do give your valuable suggestions.
Hi there, Subin. It is hard to do both studying and working as well as writing, but the tips I give about working part time on your writing should help. Joanna is the one to help you about fiction writing, so I’ll let her cover that, but I’d say that for me, these things work:
– set aside the time for your writing and make sure you’re not distracted (turn the phone off!)
– write down all the ideas that are jumbling around in your head (use something like Scrivener, perhaps) to get them out of your head and onto the page. You don’t have to write it all in order from page 1 onwards
– schedule editing time as well as writing time, so you can sort out those ideas as well as getting them down on the page
– let yourself enjoy the process, otherwise it’s dreary indeed!
I hope that helps, and good luck with your studies and writing!
“4. Develop a social media strategy” – I really like this now. A month ago I argued that I did not have a product to sell. I did not have one book published in the bookstores or eVenues. I have several works submitted and waiting which could be another three months or more. Some pointed out that “social media” could sell me, the writer, to readers and publishers. I overheard comments for years of “He wants to be a successful writer and he does not even have a FACEBOOK.” Relatives and local friends would ask if I had a FACEBOOK account. Back then, I said no and I would re-direct them to a blog or E-mail, if they wanted to contact me. I would tell them to search my name on a search engine. I just joined FACEBOOK last Wednesday. I really like the idea of having one. On FACEBOOK I am using the search engine mostly. I see having a FACEBOOK account as advertising that I am a novelist on an international newspaper read by those with Internet access. Readers can see my FACEBOOK accidentally or looking for it, from now on. I did not feel that way after developing a blog. It is probably because it caused me to interact instead of just putting something on a blog. If I searched, I can see the readers doing the same. I told them; I am a novelist.
Hello Daniel; yes, it’s vital to be as visible and searchable as possible – Facebook shows up well in the search engines, too, so will make you more findable.
This post is perfectly timed. I registered my business six months ago and have been doing paid posts (in my diet blog) and some ghost blogging. But, if I’m going to survive financially, I need to move to the next level. Some of these factors – like having a routine – are essential!
Deb
Thanks, Deb, and glad this has come at a good time for you. All of these tips are ones I have used myself in establishing my business, so I know they work!
Hello Joanna, I wrote my first book about an horrific experince in my life. My purpose was to share with others going through the same tragedy then I found writing theraputic. I found your tips quite enlightening and useful. I’m not quite as compter savvy as I should be. My daughter in law helps me a great deal being a writer herself. I hope to use your tips to further my writing career. Please keep posting. Kim
Hi Kimblerly, I personally find Joanna’s tips and hints very useful and often send the writers I work with to this website for advice. Hopefully you found my guest post useful too. Best wishes for your writing career, Liz
Great article, I hope to be full tiem after blogging for only one year, but hey maybe I am crazy?