The Super "Become Independent" Daily Journal Thread

[Brando]

Wow, I gotta say I'm easily impressed with this blog. Infact, I've decided to make a small personal blog to help with my own goals. Thanks for the inspiration.

It sounds like you've made some good progress so far, and even hit a bump along the road. (Referring to the curb incident, it's a lame joke, I know. ) But it's good to see your not giving up, driving isn't always that easy, and no matter with how many years of experience you have it can still be a challenge.

Finally, I just wanted to wish you the best, and good luck with all your future endeavors.

[Matt Willard]

I wouldn't say it's a blog, but if you're inspired, hey, glad I could help. Besides, I already have a blog that's strictly reserved for poop jokes about video games.


DAY 85 - AUGUST 27, 2009

Was fiddling with my humor article query today, so I decided to read up about writing those. Turns out the general consensus is to send the piece on spec (which I really should've remembered instead). So that's out of the way-I'll draft up my idea instead. I also made some good progress on the loan situation, and now I just have to take a form up to FCCJ to get the next steps done.

Tomorrow I need to watch some more standup. Rest is blog stuff and making sure I'm prepared for my trip to the mall expo on Saturday.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 86 - AUGUST 28, 2009

I've been searching for writing jobs online, but I haven't really found anything I can confidently apply for. I think it's time to redirect my efforts-next week I'll make strides to secure some actual clips, both in humor and in copywriting. (Getting close to the end of the handbook, so it's time to put it into practice.) Besides that, I did blog work, began editing my video project, and studied a lot of great comedy.

Tomorrow I'm going to the expo. Need to spend some time tonight making my last preparations. I dunno how it's gonna turn out-this is the first time I've done this, after all. But I'm going to push out of my comfort zone and go for it. I'm looking foward to enjoying myself.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 87 - AUGUST 29, 2009

Er, scratch the "enjoying myself" bit. Today's trip to the expo was a colossal bust. I'll spare you the details, because I don't feel like censoring paragraphs.

Anyway, since said trip was a bust, it's imperative I begin doing local work in order to develop skills I can actually sell. I'll be making plans tomorrow, per usual, so that's what I'll shoot for. Furthermore, since tomorrow's Sunday and I'm trying to get ahead on my blog posts, I'm drafting another one then.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 88 - AUGUST 30, 2009

Gonna try some things differently this week. First off, since I spend most of my week attending to the blog, I'm going to try attending to it on the evenings instead, which frees up a task slot for other things. I still plan to write during the day, but I'll reserve that for humor articles I intend to pass to magazines as well as any future copywriting assignments I get. Besides, my evenings need to be more interesting than "refresh YouTube constantly".

Secondly, I'm pushing aside the weekly goals for a while. They never really got done all the way, I noticed. Instead, for a while I'm going to try just a monthly goal, which is a subgoal of my overall goal. This month's goal is "get one humor article published and land one copywriting gig". This gives me some room to work each week while giving me an overall target. Gonna start a bit easy this time to get adjusted to it.

Now, since I drafted a new blog post today, I intended to revise it tomorrow during the day. But since I'm shifting it to evening time now, that plan's changed. Tomorrow is marketing stuff-not only do I want to work on the humor piece I'm going to send in to a local paper, but I've got an idea to give something of value to a fellow niche blogger. It'd be good to make deeper friendships with the other little guys I know, that's for sure.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 89 - AUGUST 31, 2009

What'd I do today? Eh...not a lot. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I'll tell you now that if I get really frustrated about something, and if I can't solve it right away, my day is effectively shot because I get really moody, really fast. That's something I don't really want. Have to fix that in the future.

On the bright side, something clicked today-a difficult concept for me to comprehend has suddenly become more clear, and now I know what to do next.

What am I doing tomorrow? Um...basically what I tried to do today? :V This time, though, it should go better.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 90 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

I've made a lot of stupid mistakes recently, and I've realized that if I don't confront my weak and unneccessary fears head-on, then I won't get anywhere. This means cold calling, mustering up the courage to apply to certain jobs, taking responsibility for the actions I've taken in the past...that kind of thing.

Today, after applying to three jobs, I figured out which niche sites I wanted to guest post for, in order to promote myself. That took too long, so in order to claim some progress, I sent a guest post query to a retro blog. I did some work for an internship I applied to weeks ago and got (a mistake that I now have to face head-on), and I managed to rewrite one ad out of an intended six for my copywriting portfolio. I worked hard and I feel tired, but I'm glad I did it-I feel like real progress was made for a chance, now that I've confronted things head-on. I also wrote fast and committed to a strict timeline on that internship, which is something I've never done before. I've really made pushes against my comfort zone today.

I want to start finding local companies to pitch services to, but I'd like to finish my copywriting portfolio first so I'd have something to show. That's why I'll make connections on niche forums tomorrow as the last task of the day. Before that, I want to finish that portfolio and start working on that on spec humor article I've been trying to write.

As for what I did this month...blogged too much, didn't spread my name enough. Struggled against bureaucracy, looked at a lot of jobs I didn't apply for. Basically, it stunk. I will do better this month.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 91 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

Took a shower this morning, so that ate into my schedule. I applied for three more jobs, at least two of which involved copyediting. I also wrote out the last five ad copy rewrites AND revised them, which I'm very proud of. Now I have a copywriting portfolio in place!

But then I did my marketing work for the day. I intended to make cold calls, but I saved that for last so I could finish the portfolio first. Then I remembered that Query-Free Freelancer was doing that Marketing Boot Camp series. Went over there and did day 1. Now that I've figured out my unique selling proposition and target market, it's effectively nullified the portfolio I just put together. (The ads I rewrote are not related to the gaming industry in any way, which is who I want to write for.)

So I'll save what I have and pour through the issues of Game Informer we have lying around to make a more appropriate portfolio. There may be some combination tactics later on. We'll see.

Tomorrow I need to look into communities where my intended clients will be at, so I can make connections. Also, more writing for my other gig. Really gotta make time to actually WRITE humor.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 92 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Hmmm. Constantly shifting priorities means not a lot is getting done. Since I'm following this "marketing boot camp", I'm going to back off searching for gigs for a while. I want to see where this boot camp leads, because it's geared for finding gigs in a completely different way. Although...maybe instead I can use the copywriting I've already created to find some part-time stuff while I work this out. Though I need to actually assemble the portfolio first...well, I'll do that tomorrow.

I don't want to back off into doing the easy things, though. If I'm not searching for jobs that way for now, then I'll work instead on creating and sending out humor. Also, since I've decided to focus on writing for the gaming industry as part of the boot camp, I'm going to need some gaming copywriting samples. Fortunately we have a bunch of recent issues of Game Informer. I'll just rewrite some of the ads to show how I can improve them.

Let's just hope my focus doesn't change suddenly because of this boot camp.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 93 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2009

Marketing boot camp, drafted and revised my humor piece...then I got blargh tired. Tomorrow I wanted to do minor tasks anyway, so I'll take a break.

[princelucfiehr]

Cool, youre doing great, keep it up!

[Matt Willard]

DAY 94 - SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

Surprising no one, I did little effective today except watch an Arhkam Asylum playthrough :V Besides marketing boot camp, tomorrow I just want to catch up on blog stuff. No blog stuff during the week, though-got more important things to work on.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 95 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

Blog work today, pretty much. This boot camp is going a bit slow (thought it'd update today, but it didn't) so it's time to get a bit proactive. I'll spend some time figuring out where my potential clients are based on the notes I already have, and trying to reach out to them. Besides that, humor writing, and improving my copywriting portfolio.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 96 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Okay, today didn't really go anywhere. Did some formatting, went out to have breakfast, then ended up buying and playing Clue :V This boot camp's gonna be slow for the week-it's mainly about setting up a website, and I already have one, as you may have noticed. (If it offers tips to improve what I've got, though, I'll definitely take them into consideration.) So I'll mostly be using this week to catch up on stuff.

However, I want to be proactive. I think I'll scour the other blogs of the "boot camp instructor" and see what I can add to my existing notes.

[Cochonette]

I'm waiting for today's entry. :P

[Matt Willard]

Don't worry, I've got it.


DAY 97 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I got pretty ill last night and didn't sleep well, so I took a bit of today out to nap. (You know it's bad when I actually decide to nap in the middle of the day.) Overall, not much done. Gonna be proactive and start independently marketing while this boot camp catches up-got a whole bunch of forums to start making connections on. Really, I just need to do it every day as opposed to the half-hearted weekly attempts I made in the past.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully tie off that humor article I've been writing. More blog stuff, that intended marketing, and hopefully enough time to take care of some hanging minor stuff. The day after, I want to get back to that copywriting portfolio extra business I wanted to take care of.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 98 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

So I'm on my own for now until the boot camp picks up. Since the blog's going to be a big part of my strategy, my marketing will involve connecting with others on forums and blogs where I can utilize my signature. I also plan to build relationships with other major players in my niche. I already started connecting on forums today.

I also finally finished my humor article. Now to draw up a cover letter for it so I can send it out. I'll also use my normal fourth task to do some minor stuff that's been building up.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 99 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

I'm a bit proud of myself today because I drew up a cover letter and sent out my on spec article submission. Did it work? Well...no. But what's important is that I did it. All I have to do is keep it up, and I should be able to find it a home.

Beyond that, finally arranged a date to take my silly loan form up to FCCJ so I can get the ball rolling on that again. Also revised my blog a bit in accordance with the boot camp.

Tomorrow I'm working on another side gig I applied to. (They always seem to respond after I cease thinking my application was a good idea :V) I'm also going to brainstorm and outline a potential e-book to distribute on my blog. Hopefully I can also send out those emails I intended to send today.

When Sunday rolls around, I definitely need to retarget my plans and simplify, though. I want to make sure I'm focused on the right path here.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 100 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Worked on a revision job, worked on blog post, did some marketing through forums and sending out letters. Didn't get around to planning the ebook, though, so I just cleaned my inbox instead. Someone referred a client to me-hope he's willing to purchase my services!

Tomorrow's Saturday, so...yeah, don't expect anything to get done :V

[Matt Willard]

DAY 101 - SEPTEMBER 12, 2009

Well, things have suddenly gotten interesting! The freelancer who runs the boot camp referred one of her clients to me, and I made a deal to write five articles for him! At my newly adjusted rates, mind you. Well, with a bit of a new client discount, but still, that's way more than I've earned before. I owe him two articles by this week, so suffice to say, I'm gonna start cracking on those tomorrow. I'm also going to find some niche-related blogs to make connections on, and rejoin some old ones I haven't gone to in a while. Finally, with time permitting, I'm going to finish up writing my latest post. It's gotten me work, so obviously it's worth investing in! :V

[nhaasch]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

The freelancer who runs the boot camp referred one of her clients to me, and I made a deal to write five articles for him! At my newly adjusted rates, mind you.

Woot!

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by nhaasch

Woot!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bend this metal beam! YAAAAARGH


DAY 102 - SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Well, today was certainly a busy one! I worked on my articles for that big gig, spending a long time drafting and planning them out. One of them is fully drafted, while the other needs to be finished. By then I was pretty exhausted. (The pizza slice I had this morning didn't help :V) Tried to do some quality marketing, but it didn't go all that well. Found some good blogs to start networking on, though.

I wanted to clean my bathroom tomorrow, but I've got a lot of work to do still with those articles, so it'll have to wait. Besides spending time on those new blogs tomorrow, I'm also going to attend to the beginning stages of that e-book I'm planning. Minor tasks will fill up any remaining gaps.

(I'll also verify that my next 30 day trial will be a daily morning walk when I get out of bed, to give myself energy throughout the day.)

[Matt Willard]

DAY 103 - SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Boy, I'm tired. Spent a major stint of time today writing and revising my articles. According to the hourly rate I set, though, I'm effectively earning half of what I'm supposed to earn, so I need to change things up. Not being so anal about rewriting can help, but doing a better draft can as well. I want to write good, quality work, though...hmmm.

Besides that, did some networking on blogs and forums, and I did a bit of Day 8 of the boot camp. Really, I was pretty pooped, so I didn't do much.

Tomorrow I'm heading up to FCCJ to turn in this form and FINALLY make some progress, so I anticipate I'll only be able to work on one of the articles, as well as my marketing. (No forums tomorrow-gonna take care of some side stuff.) However, tomorrow I'm also picking up a new game I preordered, so...here's hoping I can resist its lure for a while!

[Matt Willard]

DAY 104 - SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

So, yeah. I got the game I've been really wanting today, and needless to say, it's a productivity killer. However, I did manage to finish one of the two articles that's due this week. Also did Day 9 of the boot camp, and as a result, signed up for two more forums in order to network more efficently. (They are the LAST two forums I will be joining, unless I end up hating them.)

Tomorrow I naturally get to the other article. If I've got time, some other writing work, and interacting on those new blogs and forums. Good thing I apparently don't have to do that EVERY DAY-I don't think I could handle that very well. (This is the first real time in a while that I've been in a timecrunch because of this client, so let's just say things are going to get very interesting soon.)

[Matt Willard]

DAY 105 - SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Both articles are done. Now for the final stages of getting them up. Beyond that, did some other writing work and marketing stuff. I'm on forums and blogs a lot, so I need to diversify my marketing efforts...and I've got some good ideas for doing that.

I've been working hard this week, so tomorrow I'm gonna have a bit of fun. Sure, there are the guest posts I need to write for the marketing boot camp, but I'm also going to begin work on SQ5 Part 3, as well as record another playthrough for some filler content. This should help me out, since most of my traffic is from YouTube.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 106 - SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

Well, today went nowhere fast. I was going to do some writing, but then I figured, "Hey, I'd better upload those articles I finished first." What was supposed to be an hour-long task TOOK ALL DAY. When I was finally done, I was so tired and frustrated that I barely managed to work on the boot camp that I said, "Screw it".

Well, tomorrow I work on a lot of boot camp stuff, and I also need to get cracking on my financial aid stuff: got some unpleasant mail today and I need forbearance on my loan, NOW. This really makes me wish I never got involved in this dumb college business.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 108 - SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

Sorry for not posting last night-had some computer hijinks to take care of. Don't worry, I didn't do much on Friday, and today was my day off anyway.

Right! Now that I've gotten paid for my work, it's time to begin attacking the next two blog posts I promised. Since I've negotiated for a bit more time, I'm gonna try and take it easier this week. Due to said computer troubles, I completely missed my blog update for this week, so I'm gonna find in time to get something real good up. Besides the article, I'll be working on that ebook as part of the boot camp, and draw up my usual Weekly Progress Report.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 109 - SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

Well, today went really well. Begun work on my next article, did marketing work by writing out my short ebook, and I even cleared up a lot of little minor tasks. Also, through my Weekly Progress Report, I figured out that this week I'll spend part of my marketing engaging on a guest post campaign in order to market my blog. It's all good.

Tomorrow I REALLY need to clean up in here, so I'm going to do that while Mom's at class.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 110 - SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

Finally cleaned up a bit around here. Even better, I had enough time to finish one of my articles, do some networking, AND plan out my guest post campaign. Tomorrow is just as simple-begin work on the next article, finish off the ebook, and begin executing my guest post campaign.

[nhaasch]

Happy 110th day! Your persistence admirable! =)