#personally I have my books saved on 1. Google Docs 2. as a Word document on my computer 3. on a second cloud service 4. on a NAS server

[quinesone]

WaveMaker 4 (a PWA)

Really long rambling ahead!

I've been using this program mainly for my fanfiction (because that's what I've been starting more of lately) for almost two years now. I genuinely didn't expect to enjoy using this as much as I do now, and I'll be rambling here why!

Tl;dr:

I can have my notes beside what I'm writing, I can change the page color, and I can track the word count of each chapter/part/scene I work on. The grid planner and cards are very neat tools that I'm very thankful exist in this world lol. Overall, amazing free software that I recommend trying out and seeing for yourself if it works for you. 😊

Details below.

[Personal*] Pros:

*I put 'personal' here because these are based on my writing habits/process. May be different for you. c:

It's free.

All of my related projects can be saved in just one file (which is "Fanfiction Collection" in this example). Many stories are inside that one project/file, each with their own folders and documents too.

Files can be saved either locally or in Google Drive.

You can export your manuscript all at once as a .doc file (see screenshot below), but you can also export just one folder.

As you can also see in the screenshot, word count is automatically measured. (Don't judge my inconsistency lmao)

^Exporting the folder only, yay!

Now, here's the writing interface.

My favorite things about this are: (1) the note cards on the right. I need that; (2) you can pin and unpin the left list of contents and the notecards on the right; (3) notecards can be tagged and viewed by tag in the "My Cards" tool (rightmost icon on the upper left icon group); and (4) you can put pictures.

You can enable typewriter mode too if you prefer that. Typewriter mode is like a Focus Mode that puts only the text on the screen. Page and font color are customizable. See below.

Other great tools include: (1) The Planning Board tool which shows all the notecards you have in each chapter/part, arranged in order of your chapters; (2) Grid Planner where you can outline your story using a grid of cards. You can make the cards or link existing ones.

[Personal] Cons:

You can't arrange stories in alphabetical order in the main screen.

No other fonts. There's only the standard serif the app uses and the serif during Typewriter mode.

Preferences in settings aren't saved for your next session, so for example if I want to re-enable Full Width mode when I reopen the software, I have to click it again. (Fortunately, I need only to do this thing; after applying it, the settings for the text + page color are reapplied at the same time.)

When linking or reusing cards, you can't search by title or tags. You have to scroll the long list. And cards are project-wide. Which means if you have multiple books (like me) all of the cards for each book will be in the card database.

Word count is measured, but it doesn't seem to be accurate. Or I don't know when it stops or starts measuring.

Stories with complicated worldbuilding that needs a lot of complex notes will be hard to do here. At least, I can't imagine feasibly using this for my biggest fantasy original story. (May change once I try to figure out how to make it work.)

I have no idea how the Snowflakes Tool works; it doesn't seem intuitive to me. (Or maybe I'm dumb. I don't do snowflake method so ignore me.)

Mindmap and Timeline tools lack flexibility in terms of visuals (font and design).

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All in all, the cons aren't enough to take me away from this. The fact that I can see my notes right beside what I'm writing is really what I wanted because I need to see a lot of things at once to get my writing gears going. (I don't do well writing in super clean interfaces in the long term, like Google Docs and FocusWriter.)

As with any software that has auto save and manual saving options though, remember to keep backups. 😊 (I almost lost a lot of words on a huge fic because I forgot to.)

This video review is a good overview of the features too.

(Note: I haven't tried it on mobile yet, so unfortunately I have no thoughts regarding how well it works there.)

Alternatives to google docs

For various reasons, this is now a hot topic. I'm putting my favorites here, please add more in your reblogs. I'm not pointing to Microsoft Word because I hate it.

Local on your computer:

1.

LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/), Win, Linux, Mac.

Looks like early 2000 Word, works great, imports all formats. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

2.

FocusWriter (https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/) Win, Linux.

Super customizable to make it look pretty, all toolbars hide to be as non-distracting as possible. Can make typewriter sounds as you type, and you can set daily wordcount goals. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

3.

Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) Win, Mac, iOS

The lovechild of so many writers. Too many things to fiddle with for me, but I'm sure someone else can sing its praises. You can put the database folder into a Dropbox folder for cloud saving (but make sure to always close the program before shutting down).

Web-based:

4.

Reedsy bookeditor (https://reedsy.com/write-a-book) Browser based, works on Firefox on Android. Be aware that they also have a TOS that forbids pornography on publicly shared documents.

My current writing program. Just enough features to be helpful, not so many that I start fiddling. Writing is chapter based, exports to docx, epub, pdf. You can share chapters (for beta reading) with other people registered at Reedsy.

5.

Novelpad (https://novelpad.co/) Browser based.

Looks very promising, there's a youtuber with really informative videos about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHN8TnwjG1g). I wanted to love it, but the editor didn't work on Firefox on my phone. It might now, but I'm reluctant to switch again.

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So, this is my list. Please add more suggestions in reblogs.

[studythenight-away]

Hello! As finals season (aka 5-research-papers-due-in-a-week season) dawns on many of you, I thought I would share the process I used to write papers in college. This made writing long research papers much less daunting (but can also work on shorter papers). I really hope this helps some of you who feel stuck. Especially during these ridiculous times, when you're stuck at home and might have other uncontrollable factors affecting your mental health, a clear framework of what to do could be helpful. Good luck, my friends! You got this.

About me

I graduated college in 2018 with degrees in Political Science + International Studies and will be starting law school this fall. I wrote nearly 20 15 to 25-page papers, never earning below an A. I loved researching about my topics but hated writing. It's tedious, takes so much time, and everything I write sounds bad at first. Plus, I was a terrible procrastinator so most of these essays were written in under a week. Talk about stress.

Over time I found a process that worked for me, one that made churning out a paper seem straightforward, like going through a factory line rather than this terrifying concept of writing 10,000 words. It kept me sane without decreasing the quality of my work (or more importantly, how much I learned!) 

I'm thinking about making a short video to show this in action… let me know if that could be helpful!

Step 1: Research

How you organize your research is a key step in keeping you sane. Usually I'll have a pile of 20 books in my dorm along with dozens of JSTOR tabs open on my laptop, and that can get overwhelming very fast. Right now just focus on collecting ideas, not developing an argument or even an outline! As with most research papers, you could be starting with little to no background information on the topic, so it is still too early to be thinking about an argument.

Put all your research in one document

Open up a new doc: this will be the heart of everything. For a 15-page paper I usually end up with around 14-18 pages of typed research, 10 pt font, single spaced, tiny margins. This seems like a lot, but essentially all I do is type up anything I read that seems relevant to my topic, so luckily this step does not require that much brain power. Just type type type!

Use the table of contents

Find the chapter(s) that are actually relevant instead of skimming through the whole book. Time is of the essence here!

Use Zotero, cite right away

You can also use easybib or whatever you're used to, but keep track of your sources. I like Zotero because I can keep a log of all of my sources and copy the footnote or bibliography version whenever needed. Before you even begin reading, cite the source and copy it into your research doc. This will save you so much time later when you have to put in your citations in the actual paper. 

Here is an example of what my research doc looks like:

Full citation is my heading for each source just so it’s crystal clear

I ignore all typos (I don’t think there are any in this part though, go me!) because my head is buried in the book just trying to get all the info down

I always start with the page number so I know what to cite when I go back

Create a shorthand 

While typing up research, you might think of something that the author didn't talk about that you'll want to write in your paper. Or perhaps a few sentences already start to form. Put them all in one place, with your research, so you know what source you'll have to cite to then lead into your idea. I type "!@#" before anything that is strictly my own idea so I'm never confused. It's fast and stands out.

This is an example: the two bullet points above are evidence from my source, which made me think of this argument I could make, which I noted with “!@#”

Step 2: Read Your Research

Now that you have all your information, go back and read through it all. Every time you read about a new theme/person/event, write it down somewhere. You may come up with a list of 20+ different ideas in your research. No matter how small, as long as there is something about it, write it down. Each of these mini themes is going to end up being a paragraph in your paper or combined with another mini theme. 

Once you’ve made your list, look for larger overarching themes. In the paper I’ve shown you, I had mini categories like “political party x” “religion” “labor groups” “little organization” and “hierarchy.” When I looked back I though, hey these are all groups and how groups are working together, so they each became their own mini paragraph under the subsection of “Alliances.”

As with most research paper structures, I try to find three general themes/subsections (like an extended version of that 5-paragraph essay we wrote in middle school). It makes the paper less messy and also makes sure I’m not covering things that are beyond a reasonable scope.

During this step, you are also searching for your thesis. It won’t be your final version. As you fill in your outline in the next step you may make slight changes. But this is definitely when you start thinking about it.

Step 3: Outline

We’re ready to outline! Once I’ve collected all my different themes and organized all my subsections and paragraphs, it’s time to fill in that outline. I start a new doc just for the outline and take advantage of google doc’s headings function to make a clear document outline.

Here comes the fun part, I read through my research one more time, this time copy and pasting all my research into each section of the outline. The document outline in google docs makes this easy because I can just click on each subheading to get me there (super helpful when you’re dealing with 15+ pages of research).

Here is what it looks like:

Let’s say I need to add something to my outline about labor groups. Boom, labor groups. Also, the typos are really abound here haha

Step 4: Write the Paper

Okay, I get it, easier said than done. BUT! You already have everything set up. Your outline is essentially just a list of your paragraphs and all you have to do is paraphrase, cite, and create a topic sentence. And that’s how you should think about this: you’re essentially transforming bullet points into sentences and adding footnotes. 

In high school my English teacher introduced us to Sh*tty First Drafts for creative writing, but honestly the same applies to research papers. Sometimes I’ll even have phrases like “wait no that’s not what I meant but basically...” and when I go back to edit, I realize that what came after “but basically...” is fine! And I keep it. So just start typing.

How do you cite while you write? Because we’re trying to get a constant stream of writing going, inserting proper footnotes after each sentence you type is too bothersome. I usually split screen with my outline and my paper so I just copy and paste a few words from my bullet point into my footnote, like so:

(This is from a different paper about cluster munitions.)

Step 5: Edit the Paper

I work best when I print out my first draft and make all edits in red pen. I feel more productive and can visually see where I want to move sentences and what I need to change. The more red there is the better I can feel the paper getting. (Whether or not that’s true doesn’t matter. We’re trying to stay motivated here!) When it’s all digital I don’t really see the progress. Plus, once I finish all the red, I get another moment of passive brain work, where all I’m doing is transferring edits rather than thinking. And at this point in the process, that kind of relief is much welcomed. 

The good thing about this process is there’s not usually a need to cut entire paragraphs or pages because the paper you end up with is just a formalized version of your outline. Because you started with such a detailed outline, the cutting and editing now is just to refine your word choices and get rid of the “but basically”s. You’re almost there!

Step 6: Replace your citations

Now it’s time to go back and replace your footnotes with actual citations. Zotero makes this easy because in Word you can just insert and add the page number, and it’ll automatically do “Ibid.” for you when needed. Ctrl+f in the original research doc to quickly find the source.

Step 7: One More Read-Through and Submit!

Congratulations!! You’ve got a fully-researched and well-backed paper! Of course, even though the process is straightforward, it’s still a lot of work. In ideal situations I would start researching two weeks before the deadline, but if need be, I believe I’ve done this all in three miserable panic-filled days as well. 

Please message me if you have any questions at all! I really hope some of you find this helpful! Good luck!

[hiotisa]

Best Apps for School (Mac, Chrome Extensions, and iOS)

Something that I have loved doing is keeping my school work digitized throughout my entire high school and college experience, and there is a method to my madness! First of all, in the real world, as much as your teachers say that writing helps you learn more, for me, I have learned it to be a tremendous waste of time. When you work for organizations or you do personal work, it is more common than not to perform at a digital level. It is personally more effective and more efficient for me to digitize my life. Although hand writing notes and doing handwritten homework may scientifically make you learn more, I have learned that there are ways to expedite the process so that you can save time doing other things and save time by being focused on the computer.

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1. To-Do Microsoft (Mac, Chrome Extension, iOS)

This application was formerly Wunderlist, but it is a pretty convenient app. If you work best using and checking off lists, this is a highly functional tool in which you can not only make lists, have deadlines, reminders, etc., but you can also share lists with your peers. This can be an effective way in getting group projects done and delegating tasks.

2. Notability (Mac, iOS)

This app consistently comes out as a winner. You know why? It can be shared across platforms (ios and mac) and it also has the capacity to color code your notes, maintain organization for classes, insert pictures to abbreviate notes.

3. Zotero (Mac, Chrome Extension, iOS)

This app saves lives. I never did a single bibliography in college because I had this app as well as the browser extension. Not only will it do a works cited at the click of a button, but you can also do in-text citations easily in a word document or google doc. There is a function in which you can link your google docs or Word documents, and it will completely transform your life. Stop wasting your time on doing bibliography and in-text citations!

4. Kindle App (Mac, iOS)

Some of you may be wondering, why would you put the kindle app? First of all, even though you may like physical text, you read quicker on technology. It saves you time in the long run from doing some of those dreaded reading assignments for textbooks. Also, it is easier to interact with text through the Kindle App. Highlighting functions, note-taking, and other functions of this app make it very easy for students. You can make flashcards from your note-taking, and you can easily export annotations. Additionally, in college, a lot of professors require textbooks. It is often cheaper to rent or buy kindle book even for some high school lit classes. Plus, something that nobody tells you about is that your local library often has e-copies of books that you may read in your literature classes etc in which you can access through your kindle app.

5. Forest (Chrome Extension, iOS)

This is buy far one of my most used apps in college. It helped me stay productive by not using my phone. It is the only thing that kept me from not using my phone. It costs $1.99, but it is the best money you will ever spend to stay distracted from your phone. The concept is that you plant trees every time you stay focused for a certain period of time. You earn coins to grow different trees or you can put your coins towards planting real trees! Super dope if you ask me. You can also be productive with your friends by downloading the app together in a mode called plant together. It’s very aesthetic and lovely. You can also listen to different sounds like in the forest or you can just listen to the music of your choice.

6. Momentum (Chrome Extension)

This is an absolutely free extension in which is aesthetically pleasing, but it is also very functional. It gives you the ability to form a to-do list, customize your opening page, connect your accounts, and set daily goals. I really love this browser extension because it keeps me organized for my personal life.

7. iStudiez Pro (Mac, iOS)

This is a game-changing app. It does so many things for you for free like show your weekly schedule, create teacher information profiles, put due dates on your homework etc. Not only did this app keep me organized, but it enhanced my academic experience. I was able to know my teachers office hours from th click of a button. I could anticipate deadline more frequently. I am a physical planner girl, and it takes me forever to organize my work because I like to color-code everything. Plus, planners are expensive, so students on a budget will find this app extremely refreshing from this perspective.

8. Your Local Library App (may vary)

If you don’t have a card with your local library, the time is now. Save money on so many things like books, movies, and audiobooks. My library app let’s me access pretty much anything! If the resource isn’t available online, you can always place a hold and pick an item up at the library. I wish I had used this resource more often in high school, but I used it more often in college and it saved me a lot of money. Also check with your school or local library because they often have textbooks or can order textbooks that you may need for school!

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I hope this list can help in virtual learning as well as in-person learning. Just because your teacher or parent doesn’t teach you about these awesome resources doesn’t mean that you should make your life any harder without these tools! Good luck and happy studying!

[campfiretechnology]

A Practical Guide to Actually Writing Your Rough Draft

So you want to write a book.

Welcome to the club. In this guide, I’m going to do my best to define a concrete, executable plan to actually write a fiction novel. If you follow this guide to the T, you will produce an 80,000- to 100,000-word rough draft in 4 months.

If that sounds appealing to you, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get started.

Phase 1: Get Organized (1 Week)

Writing a book is not an easy task. You’re looking at 80,000 to 100,000 words – for simplicity let’s assume 80,000. If you write 1,000 words per day, that’s an 80-day undertaking. And that doesn’t allocate any time for planning.

What all this actually means is that if you’re serious about producing a novel efficiently, you need to get organized. Specifically, you need to organize your story information – characters, plot outlines, worldbuilding notes, etc – and your manuscript – the actual document that contains your novel.

You should spend your first week getting comfortable with a system to organize this information.

Story Information

You may be tempted to dive right into the writing part. This a bad idea unless you really know what you’re doing. To start, you’ll want to establish a system of keeping track of little bits of information about your story. This can be everything from character traits and backstories to extensive lore about the story’s setting.

Luckily, there are a variety of tools available to help you with this sort of organization, both free and paid. Here are a few, sorted from least structured to most structured:

A Plain Old Document – This could be in the form of a Google Doc, Microsoft Word document, etc. If you go this route, I’d suggest organizing it under the following headers: characters, world, and plot. However, this method isn’t quite as organized as the options below, so read on.

Spreadsheets – This involves using Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or smarter spreadsheets like AirTable to store information. This method is a little more structured. For example, you could have a spreadsheet for your characters, with each row corresponding to one character, and each column corresponding to an attribute like “eye color”, “height”, or “backstory”. Then, whenever you need one of those details, you can just search for the character in the spreadsheet and navigate to the correct column.

Story Planning Software – There are software programs designed specifically for keeping track of story information. We suggest Campfire Pro, the writing software that we make here at Campfire Technology. It’s certainly not necessary to follow along with this guide and write your first book, but it’s worth checking out if you want to get organized!

Campfire Pro’s Timeline View

The particular system you choose isn’t all that important – what matters is that you find one that works for you and you stick to it throughout the writing process. You’ll want to continually update it as you write so it’s always there as an aid when you get stuck or forget a key detail.

Manuscript

You’ll need somewhere to actually write your manuscript. There are a lot of options in this area as well, also ranging from free to paid.

For the simplest free manuscript editor, check out Google Docs. It has everything you need to write your novel, though people do say it can struggle a bit on slower computers with really long documents. For a more robust solution, check out Microsoft Word. Both of these options include a sidebar in the document that can show all your chapter titles so you can easily navigate between them.

Scrivener’s manuscript editor

Finally, I’d be remiss to ignore Scrivener, a desktop application for writing books that offers the ability to reorganize entire chapters by just dragging and dropping – something that neither Word nor Google Docs can do. It’s a very common choice for organizing manuscripts.

Once you’ve chosen your system of organizing the story information and manuscript, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Phase 2: Plan (1-3 Weeks)

Writers differ immensely in how much they plan before sitting down to actually write the manuscript. Some, like Stephen King, prefer to do very little planning. These folks are affectionately referred to as Pantsers – they like to fly by the seat of their pants with their writing. Others, like Brandon Sanderson, are architects who plan out in great detail how the story will unfold. These writers are called Plotters.

There have been brilliant writers of both kinds. However, we strongly recommend that every writer do at least a little bit of planning. Specifically, you should develop the story seed.

The story seed consists of three elements: a character, a place, and a predicament.

The character is the main character of your story. You don’t need a ton of detail here, but you should aim to have a rough idea of who your main character is. If you’re stuck, try to establish some backstory, a few personality traits, and some physical attributes.

The place is where your story takes place (or for Pantsers, where it begins). Again, aim for at a minimum a rough understanding of the setting – is it the modern United States, a medieval village, a galaxy far far away, or somewhere else entirely?

Finally, the predicament is what happens to the character in the place. If you’re a Pantser, then this predicament should probably occur at the beginning of the book – what happens to the character that kicks off the action? If you’re a Plotter, it should be the more overarching conflict that the entire book is about.

Here’s an example of a story seed for a Pantser:

A 10-year-old orphan in London discovers that he is a wizard.

Here’s the same story seed but for a Plotter:

A 10-year-old orphan in London must stop the return of the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time.

You should be able to develop this story seed in one week. Then, if you’re a hardcore Panster and you’re about to explode because of how much you hate planning, you can move on to Phase Three. That basic story seed is all you need to get started. If you’re a Plotter like me, you might want to spend as much as another two weeks planning. Read on.

Detailed Plotting

For a Plotter, the story seed does not represent a snapshot of the beginning of the story, but rather a summary of the story as a whole. As such, your predicament should refer to the major conflict that your character overcomes in the story. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the predicament is Lord Voldemort’s attempted return to power.

Once you have that predicament, you have a lot of plot to fill in. There are a few different structures you can use to help with this. The three-act structure provides a set of scenes or “story beats” that should occur on the way to the final conflict. The Hero’s Journey and Save the Cat provide similar frameworks. Learn about these, and then either choose one, merge them into your own framework, or ignore them all!

The Hero’s Journey in Campfire Pro

With any luck, the characters, plot, and world of your story will develop in parallel as you plan. For example, a decision about a character trait should influence what that character does (the plot). Similarly, a decision about the world could inspire part of a character’s backstory. If you feel stuck, just pick one aspect of the story and start adding detail – the rest will flow from there. Just make sure you’re keeping track of all the decisions you make using your organizational system. Fill in those spreadsheets!

As a Plotter, the end goal of all this planning is a book outline. If you’re writing an 80,000-word book, that means you need perhaps 10-25 chapters with word counts varying from 3,000 to 8,000 words. How you decide to break it up will depend on your writing style and your story – but you should aim to have an outline containing what happens in each chapter and an estimated word count.

Now, Pantsers and Plotters, is the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Phase 3: Write (12-14 Weeks)

Finally, you think to yourself. I can finally do what I’ve been wanting to do all along. Pat yourself on the back, and start writing. But make sure you stick to a schedule and stay organized.

Stick to a Schedule

Create a schedule and stick to it. Google Sheets can help with this!

Perhaps the most important thing to do if you want to actually finish your book is establishing a schedule and keeping to it. Set a minimum daily word count and number of days per week that you plan to write. It’s best to start low here – say, 500 words per day, 5 days per week – and then increase these amounts over time as writing becomes a habit.

If you like using Google Sheets, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a writing schedule template where you input the total target word count, the number of weeks you want to spend writing, the number of days per week you expect to write, and the date you start writing. The template computes your daily target word counts and will show you a progress bar as you get closer and closer to finishing the book! Just make sure you’re signed in with a Google account, and you can use File -> Make a Copy to copy the template to your own account and start making edits.

If you’re dedicated to getting your book done within the 4 month timeframe defined in this guide, make sure your daily goal eventually gets high enough. For example, if your target word count is 80,000 words and you have 12 weeks to write, you need to produce just over 6,650 words per week. With a five-day workweek, that’s 1,330 words per day on average. If you start at a lower goal than that, you’ll eventually need to compensate by going over if you want to reach your goal.

Your mileage may vary. Find a daily word count that works for you!

Just make sure you never go more than three days without working on your book, even if you only write a few hundred words. You’ll find that the story fades in your mind quite quickly if you don’t work on it for days on end. Keep the momentum going, and write as often as you can.

We have a lot more tips and tricks about this in our blog post Start Writing Strategically.

Stay Organized

Remember the organizational system we said you should make sure to have? Make sure you keep it up to date as you write. For Pantsers, you’ll thank yourself later when you’re writing chapter 38 and don’t have to sift through pages and pages just to find a character’s last name. Plotters, though you may have a lot of that information already nicely organized, your manuscript will almost certainly change course at least a little bit from the original plan. When it does, update your plan, or you’ll find yourself having the same issue of losing track of all those little details.

Keep your manuscript organized as you write.

When it comes to your manuscript, make sure you use headings or sections to break up the document into its chapters. That will allow for easy navigation between the different chapters, and will keep you grounded. Never get lost in your own book!

Conclusion

Hopefully this post has done its job, and you’re now a confident writer with a concrete plan to write a book from scratch. You’re about to open a new tab in your browser and search for the organizational system that’s right for you. Then you’ll pick the right manuscript editor and develop your story seed. If you’re a Plotter, you’ll add more detail to your characters, plot, and world until the story is broken up neatly into chapters, with each one moving the story along.

Finally, you’ll write the darn thing, and with some luck – publish it.

See you in four months.

Weekly TL;DR: Get organized, plan, and write your rough draft in four months using this practical guide. Don’t forget to use our writing schedule template.

If you have any questions or comments, join the discussion on our Discord!

[frozencharisma]

So you *really* want to plan a trip to Japan?

After years of talking about how much we wanted to visit Japan, my friends and I are finally taking the plunge.

Similar to many others, the biggest concerns we had were budget, taking enough time off of work, and not really having any idea how to approach it.

I have spent an exorbitant amount researching the interwebs and scouring reviews so if it helps anyone else, I am putting together several guides of what I thought was important to know with a focus on how to be budget-friendly.

*Please keep in mind this is for a group of friends visiting together from the US, so certain things may not be as applicable to solo or couple travelers or other countries, but many things should cross over.

GENERAL CHECKLIST with TIMELINE (links to more detailed posts on each topic to come)

~One year before

Decide on a general season/month that the group wants to go

Start figuring out who is fairly committed to going (you don’t need a final headcount yet but want to start narrowing it down)

Start SAVING (a dedicated Japan fund with 100 to 150 dollars per month can help ease the strain off big purchases you may need to make later on)

It’s not for everyone, but signing up for a good international travel credit card can help save some money

Expenses at this stage: none (you should be saving instead!)

~6-7 months before

Decide on a very basic itinerary. By this I mean an estimate of about how many cities you want to go and how much time you want to spend in Japan overall. This is necessary for the most important step, which is picking a flight

We chose a 14-day trip, and knew that we wanted to split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka

Keep an eye on airline prices the general month/season you want to go

Follow-up post on tips for cheap airfare to come but the highlights include: being flexible with the exact dates, setting up a price alert, going off-season, using travel rewards from a credit card

I did a lot of research on whether or not to fly into one city and fly out of the other but ultimately decided that the most cost-effective thing to do was fly in and out of Tokyo and use a JR pass to go back and forth between Kyoto/Osaka and Tokyo

Although it may be cheaper to fly mid-week, in the end it was a better use of our work PTO to fly out on Saturday and come back on the weekend. This also helps cushion the trip for travel time and jet lag

FINALIZE DATES AND A FLIGHT AND STICK TO THEM

A significant amount of planning for Japan depends on which dates you are going so you can’t keep switching them around

Most flights will be non-refundable and you don’t want to waste money having to change them around

An oft forgotten tip, CHECK YOUR PASSPORT NOW and make sure it is not expiring in the 6 months after your flight to Japan. If it is going to expire (as was the case for my BF), start getting your docs together and submit a renewal sooner rather than later

Expenses at this stage:

Airfare: ~$1000 (this varies widely but coming from the US, but this was our budget. We ended up getting it a lot cheaper using AA points)

IF you need to renew your passport, about $150 for passport photos, fees, and shipping

3 to 6 months before

Once you have your dates and your flights, you can really get the ball rolling. You will also start to finalize your true headcount now as people start buying tickets

Build out a slightly more detailed itinerary (not what you’ll be doing every day, but just in general what cities you want to spend each day in). We had a few restraints that helped us pin down our itinerary:

I wanted to save money by only doing a 7-day JR pass. Even though we were going to be in Japan for 14 days, the JR pass is really only cost-effective when you’re using it on long trips. So that means that we would activate our JR pass on the day we were planning to travel to Kyoto from Tokyo. From then, it would be active for 7 days, and we would need to get on a bullet train back from Osaka to Tokyo on the 7th day. So we knew we would be spending 7 days in Kyoto and Osaka and 7 days in Tokyo.

Specific events/festivals. For example, a couple people in our group wanted to attend a concert on a specific day in Osaka

If you are going during cherry blossom season, this will also affect which dates you spend in which cities

Pick where to stay (do not delay on this)

This was one of the most stressful and difficult things for me, to be honest. Balancing budget vs location vs amenities and space is really difficult. The good thing is there are a lot of good guides out there depending on where your budget is

In general, your options are hostels, low-budget hotels, very nice hotels, and airBnB

Ultimately airBnB seemed like the best pick for our group. The hotels seemed to be relatively tiny in Japan and we wanted to be able to stay somewhat nicely for a cheap price so an airbnb allowed us to all split the costs at one place.

Even after deciding on airBnB, we spent HOURS and DAYS choosing which one. If you are going during a hot season, airBnBs will get booked like hot cakes! As soon as you find a good one, you need to put a reservation in very quickly.

What helped us narrow it down was that we knew we wanted 2 bathrooms for the 6 of us. We also stuck to a budget of about $40-70/night/person. Being near a train station was important to us as well. I focused on keeping costs low here since we wouldn’t be spending much time in the place

I used google maps to make sure that the location we were choosing wouldn’t be too far away from major destinations we wanted to hit using public transportation (~40 mins or less)

Expenses at this stage:

Lodging: As mentioned, we had set our budget at about ~$55/night/per person which comes out to $715 for 13 nights. We scored some good thrifty deals and ended up at less than $600/per person for this.

1 to 3 months before

If there are any tours or tickets to events you want to do, I’d recommend booking them around 3 months out, especially if it’s going to be a busy season. I saw a lot of tours get sold out before I could get to them

We read stellar reviews for Mario go-karting around Japan and picked a date far in advance for this as we did not want to miss it. Will update on how it is once we go!

If you want to do the mario go kart, you will also need to get an International Driving Permit before you leave for Japan (you can get it for $25 at the AAA in the US)

We also booked a couple ‘experiences’ through Airbnb

If you haven’t yet, purchase your 7-day JR pass (this needs be done before you leave for Japan as well and shipped to you)

Purchase either a Wi-Fi hotspot or SIM card

This is when you want to start really doing your research and picking out generally which areas of town you want to spend each day in.

Though I am a bit OCD, I did not want to pack my schedule or plan every detail as I think that takes the fun out of traveling. I just picked big spots I did not want to miss and tried to figure out the most efficient ways to group them together. I really didn’t want to waste precious time in Japan figuring out things we could have researched before

This can take a lot longer than you expect!

Start familiarizing yourself with Japanese language and commuting

As mentioned, I wanted to make sure I had a basic understanding of things to minimize getting lost and other hassles

I used Youtube a lot and also took this time to download Google’s amazing google translate app

Expenses at this stage:

Tours/Experiences: These range between $40-$100. How many you do will depend on your budget and your time.

If doing mario go-kart, it cost us $95 for the longest time slot and an additional $25 for the international driving permit. 

Wifi Hot Spot: ~$50/for 7 days

JR pass: ~$270 for a 7-day pass, ~$455 for 14-days

Less than 1 month

Aside from being super excited, now’s the time to start making sure you have all the items you’ll need in Japan

Some things I made sure I got were a GoPro, a pretty backpack to take around that would fit the items I need, any outfits, an external battery pack, a universal adapter (confirm first if your electronics run on 110 v or not)

Keep researching/learning Japanese

Keep print outs on hand of important documents (passports, addresses, maps) in case your phone dies

Do some research on exactly what you need to do when you get off the plane. I realized that I had no idea where we would need to go to take the bullet train from the Narita airport to Kyoto. This will make your first hours in Japan less stressful

Exchange dollars for yen (A surprising amount of places do not accept credit card in Japan so I wanted to have about 50,000 Yen on hand in case of emergencies, and also wanted to limit how many times I needed to pull from ATMs to avoid the fees)

Confirm with your bank account/credit card company that you will be out of the country. Try to make sure you use a credit card that does not have foreign transaction fees

Expenses at this stage vary depending on how much you’ve traveled in the past and how many new things you may need to purchase.

Oof, that was a huge word dump, but that should cover at least the necessities (unless I missed something which I’m sure I did). We haven’t actually gone to Japan yet so it will be exciting to see what works out as planned and what goes totally the opposite. Once I make more detailed posts, I will link to those within here and remove all the details from here.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Apps and Tools I Use

As a writer I use a lot of tools and apps some help me keep focused others actually end up serving as a distraction, some help me stay organized and some help the process of my writing.

So i decided why not talk about them. So here we go; the apps and tools I use as a writer.

1) OneNote 

☆What is it?

-This Microsoft app is versatile. You can use it for notes, writing, planning, organizing things you see online by clipping it and sending to OneNote and so much more.

♡How I use it.

- I use this app for my planning. Everything fic or book focused I put in here. You can separate your ideas and projects with different notebooks then you can add pages and subpages to each. I writr out the format fornthe story bullets included and then use each page in the "notebook" to go into detail {dependong on the fic or story}. Its a gret little app for keeping things organized and keeping yourself on track.

2) Microsoft Word 

☆What is it?

Microsoft Word is an application for writing. Its also versatile especially if you have the newer versions but it can also hinder creativity depending on the settings you've set {i.e dictonary, grammar styles, autocorrect}.

♡How I use it.

- I love word and do 98% of my writing in a Word doc and then copy and past into a Tumblr post. Yes there are some annoying things about it like the ones I've listed above and others but for me its always been a comfort thing.

3) PlotBoard 

☆What is it?

-PlotBoard is an Apple App (unsure if its on Android as well), you use it like an idea board, you past pics, notes, whatever you like to keep them together. 

♡How I use it.

-This is what I used to create the mood boards to my fics. It’s really easy to use and actually fun.

4)Pinterest 

☆What is it?

-Pinterest is the bomb.com. It’s a creative app for apple, android, desktop, laptop, iPad whatever. You are able to discover information on the World Wide Web, mainly using images and on a smaller scale, GIFs and videos. It is incredibly versatile now that you can even shop from Pinterest.

♡How I use it.

-I LOVE Pinterest. Love, Love it. I have probably over a hundred boards ranging from recipes, to quotes, financial tips, clothing, even DIY project ideas, Travel destinations, just to name a few. I love to use Pinterest for character and story planning. I have a board called “Character Bank” this is where I put any faces I come across that appeal to me to be used for a story. I even use it to find outfits I insert via link for interactive fics or even descriptions. I will spend hours and hours getting dragged down the rabbit hole on Pinterest.

5) IMGBB 

☆What is it?

This is a free computer image hosting and sharing service. You can upload pictures, and easily share them without giving away your log in or anything personal. You can also access it from mobile, as far as I know there is not an app.

☆How I use it?

-When I include in a fic “**Interactive Chapter**” this is the application I use to upload pics and then insert the link into Tumblr. It is very easy to use and saves you from pasting every single image into your fic.

6) Google 

☆What is it?

-We all know what Google is. Google is amazing, ask it whatever the hell you want and watch it deliver (except for images of black couples and African American couples you will be disappointed). Also be careful your search topics I hear it’s monitored and anything suspicious will get your ass on the watch list. So don’t go crazy and ask for detailed instructions on how to make a bomb or what the chemical components of anthrax are. 

♡How I use?

-I use Google for everything. My research starts with Google.

7) Dragon Dictation

☆What is it?

-Speech recognition software that allows you to dictate while it types for you. It is not free, price ranges from 99.99 to 149.99. 

♡How I use it?

-I got this yeas ago never used it and remembered it when I hurt my finger and couldn’t type, I used this as an alternative. There is a slight lag with transfer to document. It’s fun to play around with.

8) Scrivener 

☆What is it?

-Scrivener is a word-processing program and outliner designed for authors. Allows writers to organize notes, concepts, research and whole documents for easy access and reference. They offer a trial, but the full version is not free, the price ranges from $38.00 to $45.00

♡How I use it.

- I have not fully gotten the hang of Scrivener, I am still new to it. I more so use this to write/plan books than write fanfics. I’ll talk more about it after I’ve gotten a good working knowledge.

***Okay so this is the basic list, there are a few others but I don’t want to make this too long. I hope this list is helpful. Maybe I’ll add to this with the others or any new ones that come along because I am always using/downloading something. 

[l0chn3ss]

I got tagged by @happyisahabit, a space fool, a pumpernickel, a baker who has yet to give me baked goods, please give me a cupcake

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

because anabell is love and anabell is life

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favorites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

uh... good question

seems like Fleeting has the most reviews and faves with a STAGGERING 26 reviews HAHAHAH

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

@xwynn sheds a tear every time but i goddamn love it

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Yeah dude @fluffypuppy77 and @quantamtheory1 for sure, something about seeing them warms my heart tbh. and then those i can’t find on tumblr but are active on ffnet are “Whispered Winters” and “8YearsOfMaka”

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

i’ll be real, i haven’t read much fanfiction lately, but if you force me to put a name on something then i’d say any of @happyisahabit‘s works

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

they’re pretty much outdated and irrelevant now

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

mythology, fantasy, supernatural, fae, witchy, magical; because i always return to my roots

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

listen, im thankful the maker of this ask game put where you can find it, but i can’t be arsed to check xD

5 mins later: i found it, but look im so pleased Total views to Profile Page : 1,881 that’s a beautiful number. a really good number. a mirrored, symmetrical number. i like that shit. NO ONE ELSE VIEW MY PROFILE FROM NOW ON. IF THAT NUMBER CHANGES I’LL CRY.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

I’ve always wanted to write obiyuki or like z.//e-ki or rusa the og ship id die for, but, one is too old shit, two im not quite there with character understanding and world competence yet but soon i’ll show up, and three the fandom is crazy and i wouldn’t touch it with a 10 meter pole. guess which.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

to echo liz, FINISHING MY WIPS???? and also writing cute smooches would be cool tho, but im too busy writing angst for that

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

i feel attacked by question eleven and i don’t like it’s tone.

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

69 stories on ffnet :) hehehehehehehehehe 69. + 1 cuz i posted one more a couple of days ago. i think there’s a disproportionate amount of unfinished fics to finished fics there too. it’s like schrodinger's cat at this point to my poor subcribers: am i gunna post a new fic or update an old one? if i don’t post you’ll never find out

@rebornfromash​ look hehehe 69

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

don’t.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

i have sticky notes, note cards, notebooks, dump docs on both google drive and word doc and notes on the iphone, slipped pieces of papers jammed into books, and friends who i just burst in and go “hi i have an idea and im going to use the ctrl f function to document my shit”

if i keep it solely in my head then it becomes lost and no longer a concept

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

yes i have :) good stories, better partners

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

i think my very first time i ever went on the site was caused by @roni-westbrook, a dramione fic called harmony

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

nah

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Thirsty Monsters From The Loch. Sip Sip Bish.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

one day i took at look at myself, and i went, “are you ready to truly become fandom trash?” and an answer came almost immediately, “hell yeah”

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Write. For. Your. Self.

i can’t say that enough because if you decide to let your audience dictate what you write and how well you write and how you feel about your writing due to the lack of reception or lots, you’re just entering a world of hurt. one day you may feel great about your writing because you got over a hundred notes, only to realize that you get at most about 30 for a popular ship and good idea sometimes and can’t figure out why. one day you may feel fabulous about your fic you worked hard on and love what youve done with it, only to see no one else cared. i’ve seen so many friends in pain from this, and i know that pity reblogs and reviews from me are only going to solve a problem in the moment and not in the long run.

you gotta be your own number one fan, realize who youre writing for and why youre writing. and alternatively if you write something for just a remote group of friends or even just one person as a gift, then please realize that their response and reaction will mean more to you than hundreds of others who simply stumbled upon it. ok?

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

i plot the skeleton most of the time, but then let the writing dictate where it’s going to go next. yeah you heard it here folks, my plot writes itself, because that’s how you get a realistic and non forced narrative

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

wow have y’all ever read that shit fic from 2015 that people took way too seriously? but that’s really it, im truly lucky

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

A C T I O N

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

this is a call out post and i don’t like this.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

number twenty four and number twenty five are conspiring against me and i feel attacked

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Absolutely not because I either do 8K in a night or 10 words in a month and there’s zero ground inbetween

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

both yes and no because i’m extremely lucky to have been able to have a great running start in 2015, but i think i plateaued as an author in terms of quality

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Fleeting is still by far my favorite story because not only is @captainpomelo a great person to work with but also i still think about it to this day, my goal for 2018 is to finish it

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

shit.fic.of.2015.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

like, better, hopefully

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

lyrical writing esp when it’s 3 am and im listening to “i will survive” on repeat

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

not writing passive voice

33. Why do you write?

it looked fun, and boy was i wrong. it’s suffering.

Lemme get those tags in shout out to everyone previously tagged plus @lucyrne @sabraeal @ilarual @sahdah @fullmetalgrigori​

[joeys-piano]

Writing Tag Meme

i was tagged by my peep, @n3rdlif343va ~! If you ever want to flesh out an idea, n3rd is a great person to bounce the thoughts with. Amiable, kind, energetic, and a sweetie-pie are some the adjectives I would describe them as, and n3rd is a cool person to chill with

Alright onto this thing…

1) How many works in progress to do you currently have in progress? Just one right now. Another one is in its outlining-stage so it might count??? I’m one of those people that can’t juggle more than one project at once. If I’m going to work on something, I have to commit to it to the very end.

2) Do you/would you write fan fiction?

79 fanfics on AO3 and about 12 more on ff.net. I don’t regret joining the fanfic-world because I’ve met so many people to talk to, hangout with, bounce ideas with, and to just chill. I don’t gift a lot of works, but I think it’s cool that peeps gift each other fics and just enjoy each other’s company.

3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks?

Paper book is easier for me to read because it doesn’t hurt my eyes, and I can draw my pencil under the sentences so I can keep track of where I am. It’s so hard for me to read fanfic because I have to use my finger so it smudges my one, the mouse cursor doesn’t move fast enough, and the brightness hurts my eyes.

4) When did you start writing?

Around 7th grade...so, I was 12 or 13 when I started. I told stories orally when I was younger and that was my foundation before I transitioned to the keyboard. I’ve thought about pursuing writing as a career, but I feel safer having it as a hobby. This is how I de-stress.

5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?

@fandomgirl394

is my AU buddy! I bounce ideas off of her every time we see each other, and she’s my best friend when it comes to figuring a story out and developing characters within an AU-scenario~<3

@n3rdlif343va is an amazing person, supporter, and writer. They’ve helped me a lot while outlining and world-building, and their enthusiasm keeps me going when I have to tackle long projects~!

@thewonderfulkatsukinikifrovs and I are goofy peeps who like to squeal when something cool happens in the fandom, and we often reply to each other’s posts to build ideas or HCs and that’s always fun~!

@stormstruck-angel , though we don’t talk about writing a lot, talking to storm has helped me develop a writing-voice for a Victorian-era parody that I’m currently doing~

6) Where is your favourite place to write?

Behind my laptop on a squishy couch with a fluffy blanket so I can snuggle against it. If I have to, I’ll “write” on my phone. I don’t carry around journals where I jot down ideas or leave sticky notes to myself. I tried the sticky note-thing once and my laptop screen was filled with all sorts of notes for myself and it got too cluttered! Just, if I have an idea for something, I open up the preexisting word document on Google Doc, break into a new page, and jot little bullet points of what I want to do

7) Favourite childhood book?

The Harry Potter series was what motivated me to read and create my own stories so~

8) Writing for fun or writing for publication?

Writing for fun. I used to dream about being published one day, but it would stress me out too much. haha

9) Pen and paper or computer?

Computer. And if I’m on my phone, Google Docs saves me a lot. I used to jot down with pen and paper, but I would write so much that it cramped my hands. Technology is easier for me.

10) Have you ever taken any writing classes?

Other than the standard English classes, I took a full-year Creative Writing course last year and wrote fanfic. That’s where the majority of my YoI fanfics came from. I just wrote them for class because I had the time. And I would write fanfic after I finished my programs for Computer Science, but that’s a different story.

11) What inspires you to write?

For laughter, to feel a certain way, to offer a different viewpoint to a topic, for hugs and good feelings when I don’t feel good inside, to vent whatever frustration I’ve been holding, to reconcile an issue between me and someone else, and I hope that my writing has made someone smile. Even if it’s just a little, and it feels great to make someone laugh.

I’m tagging: @vityanikiforova , @d2diamond , @agape-rose , @miraculous-katsukii , @silencedfalcon , @thewonderfulkatsukinikifrovs , @teekettle

[el-and-hop]

Some random study advice for English literature majors

Being an English literature major can be one of the most challenging and rewarding majors in college. It can be even more difficult if you have a learning disability like me. Here are some completely obscure tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the past 4 years as an English major

1. If you’re the type of person who can’t seem to get work done and always put it off, go somewhere other than your normal study spot to do your work. I find that if I go to the library with the intent of doing work, I get work done, even though I normally do work in my room. Putting in the effort to go somewhere, even if it is just a coffee shop, the library, or a different building on campus, can make you more productive

2. Ask your professor if you can record the audio from class. I’ve had multiple professors who have let me use an audio recorder since I’m not the fastest typer. 

3. Always plan at least 3 weeks in advance. This may sound a bit much, but knowing when a paper is due or a book should be read ahead of time lets you keep track of what you need done now and what you can put off for a bit.

4. Getting all of your research done for a literary criticism is the hardest part of writing a paper. It is also the most time consuming. If you get your research done early, you have more time to fully grasp your ideas and comprehend what you need done.

5. Try every type of note taking style until you find what’s right for you. Some people type all of their notes, while others can only comprehend their thoughts by handwriting. If the process you’re using now doesn’t seem to be working, try something different.

6. Figure out what your professors requirements are before starting a paper. Some will take points off a perfect paper for the margins being 2 inches rather than 1.5. Other professors might say they want MLA, but they want the 7th edition rather than the 8th. Always check. Even things as mundane as an Oxford comma can throw off your grade.

7. If you’re unsure about MLA, APA, or Chicago,  Purdue OWL is one of the best resources for citations, style guides, and general writing tips.

8. Learn to love the library. It is one of the greatest places for an english major, yet it is notoriously under utilized. The library staff will often help you with research if you just ask. Roaming the stacks and pulling random books on your topic can help stir up some thoughts. It helped me when I was writing on Melville.

9. ALWAYS PROOF READ. Print out a copy and go at it. Sometimes you miss things when you’re looking at the computer screen. Read it aloud and you’ll notice odd word phrasing and errors in grammar.

10. Visit your professors outside of class hours. Humanities professors are some of the most welcoming on a college campus, and they have office hours for a reason. They won’t do your research for you, and not all will proofread a paper, but you’d be surprised how much feedback they give you if you just ask them if your going in the right direction. My Capstone professor read my entire final paper and helped me by doing some digging on his own.

11. Participation in an English class is often not just suggested but required as part of the grade. You don’t have to be the one who always has an opinion, but sometimes just reiterating a point made by someone else and agreeing with it can be enough to get a good participation grade. Think improv: “Yes, and…”

12. If you have a disability and you require accommodations, always speak to the disability support staff on campus. They will become your guide and are always there to help. Since I have a documented learning disability, I get extra time on exams, a quiet place to take them, and the opportunity to type written exams. Your disability might allow for different accommodations, but you have to get them first.

13. Go to the free books section of the library because 1. they’re free books and 2. they often have notes written in them by professors

14. Listening to orchestral music to drown out talking or just for background noise can greatly improve your concentration. My fav is John Williams, fyi

15. Don’t take shit from other majors because they think English majors just read. You put in an equal if not more amount of time and effort into your work. 

16. Theory books like Critical Theory Today, argumentative writing books like They Say, I Say, and glossaries like The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms will be your favorite things to keep with you when you write. Trust me

17. Turn on auto-save. Auto-save saves lives.

18. If you have to upload your paper to an online homework site, make sure that you use .docx, and that the format transfers from google docs, pages, or any other service. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uploaded a file that I thought was double spaced but it came out screwed up.

19. When you’re typing a paper, always keep a pen or pencil and some paper close so that if you get an idea or you have an aha moment you can put it down without having to worry about messing up your doc. I’ve lost my best ideas at 4am because I didn't have paper.

20. Even though the library may be 24hr, that does not mean it is empty. Nor does it mean that you should stay up all night in the library. The best thing you can learn as and English major is time management.

21. If a paper is 8-10 pages, aim for 9, that way when you come up short you are still in the required page length. Professors do not look for length but quality. A good 8 pages will do better than an ok 12. 

22. Never compare your writing to your classmates. If you know that your writing may not be the most verbose or poetic, that does not mean that it is not good writing. More often than not consistent and concise are the best way to go. 

23. Despite what others may say, sometimes there isn’t room for improvement on a paper. Sometimes you need to say “I’ve done all I can, and anything else would be unnecessary.” 

24. You won’t finish all of the books you have to read. It is unescapable. Sometimes you have to fake your way through class discussions, papers, and reports. If you can skim, skim. But if you don’t have the time for that, do some research on the book, through cliff notes, spark notes, or even academic journals. Learn the characters, the basic outline of the plot, and maybe a scene or two. It will go a long way in a class discussion.

25. If you can get reading done before the semester starts, get it done. It will save you hours of work and will prevent stress in the future.

26. Play to your strengths. If you like historical research, opt for a new historical theoretical approach. If you’re better at close reading, use new criticism or deconstruction. There’s a theoretical approach for everyone.

[monawriter2020-blog]

Nook Tablet and Office Applications

We all know that Android, a mobile platform is the leading smartphone operating system currently. Office applications are important for working people. Good news is that with the availability of the Nook Tablet and Amazon Kindle Fire, more people are looking to do more with these e-book readers due to their cheaper prices. I would like to share my experience using those applications. There are six main applications but in this article, I will cover Documents To Go and Kingsoft Office one day leave application for urgent work.

DataViz's Documents To Go

This is one of my favourite "document manager" applications. I have been using this for quite some time on my smartphones and Apple's Ipad. Currently, the Android version is available in the Android Market. You can either download the free version or the full version for $29.99. Just like on other platforms, Dataviz focuses on maintaining the original document formatting through their InTact Technology. With this aim in mind, you will not see degradation in your office document. It is very attractive and looks awesome on your device.

This application starts up in a file browser page and you have the following options to gain access to documents:

1) Recent files

2) Local files

3) Starred files

4) Google Documents

5) Desktop files

I personally like the gear icon on the lower right on the main page as it gives me direct access to check for updates, view advance options, managing my desktop and others. It also comes with other important modules such as Word To Go, Sheet To Go, Slideshow To Go and PDF To Go.

Kingsoft Office

This application is an office document viewer for Android platform devices. Again, you have the free and paid version. It includes three parts namely; Word reader, Excel reader and PowerPoint reader. Best part is, it supports many different types of file formats such as .doc,.docx,.txt,.ppt,.xls and others. You can create, view and edit desktop documents created by Microsoft Word and Excel.

I personally love the cloud storage which allows me to save and share files amongst multiple computers through the online cloud service. When you launch this application, the welcome page itself will guide you through its features. There are many icons and toolbars for you to navigate around this application. The only problem with the toolbar is that it is too long and you have to swipe and pan your fingers across to see all the functions.

Some of the functions that I find useful are:

1) View all documents

2) Email a document

3) Duplicate an existing document

4) Send a document to the cloud

Other functions are basically creating and deleting documents, browse folders and view their help files. Same like Documents To Go, you have the Word, Excel and PowerPoint module. Sad part is, you cannot create PowerPoint slides with this application.

Overall, Kingsoft Office supports external Bluetooth keyboards and things such as shortcut keys for quick text entry and manipulation. This can save a whole load of your time!

I will cover OfficeSuite Pro and Polaris Office in the next article. I hope these information will help you to understand more about Office applications in the Nook Tablet.

[sorcerusdragonbionics]

Reading List 7/14-7/20

Only a google link because I went to update this and it kidnapped all my Tumblr formatted stuff. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12lrphSAHIEbNqcnL3DStEewJnZ78zELj_HG35MC2hBY

[entrepreneursbloguk]

New Post has been published on Entrepreneurs Blog

New Post has been published on https://www.entrepreneursblog.co.uk/blog/5-passive-income-ideas-that-you-can-action-now/

5 Passive Income Ideas That You Can Action Now.

Are you fed up of spending every waking hour working hard each day to make other people rich? Working 9-5, living pay slip to pay slip and never having enough money to actually save or have enough time to spend on the things you actually enjoy doing.

Well, the answer to this problem is passive income. You have a finite time to live on this planet, and the majority of that time is traded for a little bit of money. Wealthy people know this and change the equation and spend their time building their revenue streams to give them a passive income.

So to help you understand what things can help build a passive income revenue stream, and build one yourself, we have put together a list of 5 ways to earn a passive income.

Every idea on this list can be actioned and completed within a month or two and can earn passive income for years to come. So start now by spending some of your valuable time (when you’re not using it to make someone else richer) on one or more of these ideas and completely change your life for the better.

Idea 1: Write an ebook

Ebooks might not seem as profitable as other online revenue streams, but in my experience, they can be a great product to source a longterm passive income. An ebook can be something that you can put together within a month which could generate a passive income for years to come.

The reasons I love ebooks are;

They are relatively quick to put together and there is no real ongoing work once it has been completed (depending on your topic that is). You may need to update them from time to time, but generally speaking, it should look after its self.

Ebooks can earn you a passive income for years! Other streams of passive income sources can die out really quickly if you don’t keep them up to date. In my experience, an ebook that is based on an evergreen topic will keep generating an income for years.

You don’t have to be an amazing writer or even an expert to generate an income from an ebook. Many people will not write one as they are too scared, as they believe they don’t know enough about the topic and they think that they are not very good at writing. You just need to be brave, pick a topic that you know something about, and have an interest in and start. Write what you know about the topic and if you’re not already an expert then don’t pretend to be.

You can write your ebook from the perspective of a beginner, which might actually help your audience relate to you.

So how do you get started?

The best thing to do is just start. Think of a topic that you’re passionate in, and set up your Word Doc. Most eBooks are 50,000 words, but if you can write about 30,000 words then you’ll probably be fine. Once you’re done get a friend to proofread it, this will help fix typos or grammar issues.

Once you’re happy with your ebook, the next step is to get it published. smashwords.com is a great site that can help you with this. You can upload your Word document and they will convert it into the correct file type ready for distribution. They are able to get your ebook onto major distribution channels, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all other major e-book sites.

If you have a website, Youtube channel or social media following then you can use these to market your ebook as well.

It’s best to keep plugin your ebook to your market audience to increase the numbers seeing your published ebook.

Time to earn: 1 month Potential earning longevity: 10 years Earning potential for 30 days work: £100 – £1000 per month, but this depends on how you market it. Ongoing work: Almost none (depending on your choice of topic).

Idea 2: Build a passive income website

Here is the basic idea of building a passive income website. Take the same type of content that you would create an ebook and put it on your own website. If you target the right keywords (SEO) then with about 30 posts you can get enough traffic to earn a good income.

There are 3 ways you can earn income from your posts;

Affiliate products – you link to products that other people are selling (on Amazon or various other sites) and you earn a commission for every sale.

Advertising – Once you start to get some traffic, you can place ads from premium ad networks (like Google Adsense).

Information products – You can take some of your content and organise it into a premium content package. It can be in the format of a written guide, audio guide, or video course. You can then start selling this on your own site to those who want the premium content.

One key thing to building a passive income website is to make sure that you’re consistent. The biggest mistake that most people make is that they quit too soon. They write 30 + articles that don’t generate any money for 3 months they then give up and delete the site. Remember it is quite normal for a site to take 3-6months for its content to start bringing in any substantial amount of traffic.

It can be really easy to be overwhelmed when building a website from scratch, there is really a lot to think about, and a lot of things that need to be right on your site for it to get traction. If you’re not technically minded or don’t have the time to put together your site, then you can purchase a ready-made site with all of the technical bits and pieces in place. Click here for more info

Time to earn: 3-6 months Potential earning longevity: 2 to 15 years depending on the topic Earning potential for 30 days work: £500 to £5,000 per month Ongoing work required: Monthly updates, tweaks too content and weekly to fortnightly content writing.

Idea 3: Start a YouTube channel

Youtube is a huge opportunity for anyone looking to earn a passive income. Youtube can work just like a website. You pick a topic you can share information about and then start recording videos. The best way to do this is to keep them simple to start with, you can use your phone and YouTube video editor to give your self a starting point.

Once your channel starts to get views, you can start making money with ads. But that not even the best part. You can also recommend affiliate products and even sell your own information products from your channel.

The best way to start would be to spend a month making 30 or so videos. Upload them to your YouTube channel and schedule them to post once a week for 30 weeks. If it starts to pick up and you get positive view count and subscribers then you can decide to make more videos to keep promoting your affiliate products and your own products.

Time to earn: 5 -10 months Potential earning longevity: 1 to 5 years Earning potential for 30 days of work: £500 per month Ongoing work required: Adding more video content on a regular basis will dramatically grow your earnings.

Idea 4: Record a podcast

A podcast works in a similar way to a Youtube channel, it’s just through a different medium. You will need to record your podcast a bit like a TV show by adding seasons. Spend the next month recording 30 episodes on any topic that you’re interested in and schedule them to go out one a week. Podcasts work best if they are informative and entertaining. Think about how it is going to be listened to, most people will be listening to your podcast whilst driving or at the gym, don’t give them too much to do whilst they are listening.

Time to earn: 1 month Potential earning longevity: less than 2 years Earning potential for 30 days of work: £50 to £500 Ongoing working required: Just like a Youtube channel, the more content you create on a regular basis, the more your earnings will grow.

Idea 5: Start investing

Investing is the most important source of passive income over the course of your life. If you’re not putting money aside into some kind of investment then you’re missing out on more money.

The difference in how much wealth you can accumulate if you start investing is astounding. Every wealthy person on the planet understands how to make their money work for them and not the other way round.

There are a few ways that you can get started with investing. You can invest in commodities such as gold & silver, stocks or buying assets, like buy-to-let housing, that generate cash flow. Set aside a little bit of money every month, and build up a bit of a surplus. The idea is to create a bit of a buffer with money that you can afford to lose if everything goes south in your investment portfolio. You can decide where to put this money but the idea is to convert it into an asset that generates more money. Make your money work for you rather than you working for money.

If you don’t know anything about investing I would suggest that you spend some time learning as much as you can about it. A great place to start would be Rich dad poor dad, Robert Kiyosaki does a very good job in explaining how investing works in a simple way and will give you a solid base to start from.

Time to earn: immediately Potential earning longevity: Forever Earning potential for 30 days of work: infinite Ongoing work required: check in occasionally, learn as you grow, invest more.

Conclusion

All of the above ideas are a great way to start building your finances so that you can begin to have a bit more freedom within your life. Although each of the ideas will take a bit of work, to begin with, once the foundations have been built it they will pretty much look after themselves. The biggest hurdle to all of this is getting started. So free up some of your valuable time, and put it to good use, something that you will benefit from in the long term.

[nora-reads-homestuck]

"Fan" Album, old archived posts by Hussie, some videos, and two actual Fanworks!

(SkaiaMechanic) Another Fanfest Post! What Nora responded to here was actually done back in December. However, various parts were incomplete (for reasons you’ll see) so this just sat around in the Google Doc for months. It’s getting to a point where it’s just clogging up the shared document, so I’m posting what’s here and will make additional posts based on the rest of the content when/if she gets to them. Enjoy!

brrrrrrrrd submitted to nora-reads-homestuck:

Visual art has never really been my thing, and other people have been far better at sharing pre-Act 6 art than I could be, but I can submit a few things you may have missed.  They’re all somewhat dubiously labeled “fanwork” being that most of them made by either members of the music team or Hussie himself, but I don’t know of any better time to post them.  

———————————————————————————

Before we get into the meat of this post, there is one more “fan” album you are current on.  It came out just a week after Act 6 began and has no songs about anything from it.  It’s called Tomb of the Ancestors and is by Kalibration (aka Robert Blaker) who also wrote Upward Movement (Dave Owns), Skaian Flight, Play the Wind, and Ira Quod Angelus, among other things.  https://homestuckgaiden.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-the-ancestors-unofficial-album 

There’s nothing more recent than Nov. 17th, 2011 on that page.

(Past!Skaia) As a single person fan-album, it’s not necessary to review this, at least not now. If you were going to, I would suggest holding onto it for later, when the amount of music albums in the story dramatically drops off.

(Nora) I agree, and will hold off for now! Album reviews actually take me a while to get finished because I can only listen to things at certain times, and I want to save my steam for meatier posts right now.

———————————————————————————

Most of this stuff is stuff that has previously been deleted by Hussie or hidden by the original poster, so if that’s not kosher then feel free to skip down to the section below this one.  A little background:  Hussie at previous points in time had both a Formspring and a Tumblr on which he would talk about various things Homestuck, and other various things.  He also has a nasty habit of deleting old things, meaning a LOT of his old posts are gone and most of them only exist as archives.  Here’s some of that stuff, most which was posted before Act 6 or if it was posted during only very early on and not referencing events of Act 6.

To start things off, the origin story of Hussie’s horse painting.  This one actually still exists, but the images are broken:  https://web.archive.org/web/20140408053025/http://andrewhussie.blogspot.com/2009/01/need-for-steed.html

(Nora) I’ve seen this one before, but I read it again and I think I guffawed just as hard, if not harder. Hussie has quite the way with words… and homoeroticism.

Hussie’s infamous trip to Olive Garden: https://web.archive.org/web/20130312060633/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/12963616983/land-of-souls-and-olives-a-conclusion-pasta-la-vista

Olive Garden part 2: https://web.archive.org/web/20130312060012/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/13585722775/land-of-souls-and-olives-a-conclusion-plmfers-part

(Nora) Trix once suggested I audio react to these. Would that be a good idea?

(Past!Skaia) Nah, just read them through. It’s definitely worth a read, but nothing more than that. (Current!Skaia: As of 3/5/17, there’s no indication whether she’s gone through it or not. I’ll keep it in the GoogleDoc just in case though.)

The post-Cascade recap part 1, in which he talks about the the process of creating it and then the content of it.  Really great insight into his creation process:  http://web.archive.org/web/20111028175330/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11938555890/about-eoa5-part-1

Cascade recap part 2: http://web.archive.org/web/20111028222551/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11941710181/about-eoa5-part-2

Recap part 3: http://web.archive.org/web/20120801112223/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11960418585/about-eoa5-part-3

Recap part 4: http://web.archive.org/web/20111029142442/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/11975241895/about-eoa5-part-4

There are more posts on his tumblr if you go to the archive and and mess around with the Wayback Machines captures, including a reddit AMA that for some reason only collected the questions from reddit and answered them on tumblr.  But that’s for a point much later in the comic.

(Nora) Huh! Fascinating read-through. I enjoyed him talking about the process in particular (he makes it seem deceptively simple, doesn’t he, considering the lion’s share of the comic was a completely solo project banged out at a nearly inhuman pace). It hadn’t occurred to me that [S] Descend was actually scored, as opposed to simply animated to existing music, which is a bit embarrassing since it is obviously a medley. I also like what he says when he clarifies Doc Scratch’s means and motive—it’s basically exactly what I’d surmised from reading all his conversations. That tricky, tricky bastard. I am however still mystified by the Horrorterrors, and neither does Hussie seem keen to provide a real explanation for their actions:

The dark gods helped chart their course through this spacetime maze to deliver them to this location, at this time. Take that for what you will

(Nora) Also… why the hell did I not ever realize that Lord English is literally a giant green space pimp??? He’s got the gold tooth, the horrible gaudy coat, the pimp cane cue stick peg leg…

First of all, [Jade] didn’t actually conjure the 4th wall out of thin air. Remember when Karkat told her to turn the wall off, and then draw it? He was asking her to captchalogue an undamaged copy using her Pictionary modus, for this exact purpose. The eventual getaway. So she had it on standby, waiting for the right time to use it.

(Nora) Ohhhhh. OHHHHHHHH. Wow, this whole plan was even more convoluted than I thought, and with the whole password system and all, it was already pretty damn convoluted.

What’s waiting for them on the other side, beside a big ugly coat? Recall the setup I had with the two 4th walls facing each other, separated by one yard. They will break through the wall on the right, traveling nearly the speed of light, and presumably, break through the wall on the left to enter another reality. If you were thorough during Seer: Descend, you might have caught this excerpt on a bookshelf. “Though we adore Him we shall never enjoy His beauteous Croak. We spill our blood on acres of black and white so they may cross the yellow yard. At last in Skaia’s reflection through broken glass He may find the pond in which He’s meant to squat.”

(Nora)You may recall that when I played through the minigame, upon coming across that excerpt I said the following:

(PastPast!Nora) ….’They’ may cross the ‘yellow yard’? This must be referring to Hussie’s aforementioned interference with the story. It’s pretty abstruse, but I feel like it’s telling me something that I’m going to come back and go ‘OHHHH’ over, when I’ve seen more of the story.

(Nora) Consider me motherfuckin’ OHHHH’ed.

However, speaking of AMAs, Hussie’s Formspring was essentially a year and a half long AMA and most if not all of the questions answered there have been compiled here:  http://irratio.org/andrew_hussie_formspring_archives.html

Most of the early questions are inane, but after a while (after he stops answering everything that comes across his message box) there’s some really great responses in there (and some really funny jokes.)  Only thing is, it is *LONG* and will take a really long time to get through.  It went on from late February of 2010 to early October of 2011, with the last responses being around the beginning of the pause during work on Cascade.

(Past!Skaia) It truly is long. Kinda worth it though, and amusing to see Hussie’s actual trolling. 

(Nora) Hahahaha, Hussie is a troll and I love him.

Who do you think should be the next president of the United States?

dumb

(Nora) Welp, consider that one prophetic.

Once there is a reasonable number of strips, is there any chance of a Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff book with commentary by Dave Strider?

yeah

(Nora) That one too, I guess.

When do you think HS will be over?

ive been considering ending it on 8/26/10.

but who the hell knows if that’ll pan out.

(Nora) AHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHA. AHAHA. HA.

(Nora) I’m going to leave it here for now, as there are SO MANY DAMN QUESTIONS and I really ought to finish my text post.

(Past!Skaia)Sounds good. Once you finish the post above I’ll set up a queue for your responses to the messages above.

(Current!Skaia) This was the main reason I held onto this post. It’s no telling when she’ll get back to this though, so I’m posting what I have. I’ll keep the link in the document, and if she ever does go back to read and comment more I’ll make some more posts!

———————���———————————————————

Enough decidedly *not* fanworks, here’s some things you might possibly call fanworks!  If you can call things made by Bowman or Toby Fox fanworks.  And bonus actual fanworks!

(Current!Skaia) I have not shown Nora any of the below. I think…they’re not really necessary? Except Savior of the Slamming Jam, obviously, but that’s also in a submission she hasn’t gotten to yet. If enough people think she “needs” to see them I’ll pass it along but otherwise I’m just leaving it here.

A concert in someone’s front yard!  http://www.nospoiler.com/y/HRT758PTmpw

Toby Fox’s Homestuck Abridged!  [Removed for Giant Spoilers!]

An actual fanwork, Savior of the Slamming Jam! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/CKrO8kS8D6g

Chorale for Jaspers & Pony Chorale, Live! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/o0Z0oopPGpM

I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew, Live! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/xR5vN0ve4lY

How Do I Live, live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDSEXd4KyO8

Actual fanwork, Club’s Deuce’s Homework! http://www.nospoiler.com/y/dLo22lvynNg

And two shitpost videos by Bowman:

1) Cascade announcement (can’t no spoiler link to this one, but comments are disabled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o4NvBz8xac

2) “Toby Fox” is now on YouTube (can’t no spoiler link to this one either, unfortunately.  Still, comments disabled):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=WL&v=pA9uy3KdeEU

———————————————————————————

I don’t think I have anything else at this time that either definitely has spoilers or possibly does due to having come out squarely in 2012 or later.

[ronaldsmcrae86]

How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job as a Freelancer (11 Pro Tips)

Want to use LinkedIn to find a job?

You’re not alone.

With over 300 million monthly LinkedIn users and over 20 million job postings open at any given time, LinkedIn is a virtual gold mine for freelancers (or anyone, really) looking to find their dream job.

Of course, where there’s gold, there’s competition. To stand out from the crowd and land any of those great jobs on LinkedIn, you need a plan.

That’s why we’ve put together this handy guide. It will give you a step-by-step walkthrough of the most effective tips to leverage LinkedIn’s massive job platform — tips that’ll help you find, and land, a new job.

And we’ll start with arguably the most important one…

1. Create a Standout LinkedIn Profile

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile should be your number one priority if you want to land a freelance gig.

First impressions are integral in your job search. It’s essential to ensure that your LinkedIn profile offers a testament to your writing career, expertise, and experience level.

Try these top tips to enhance your LinkedIn profile to attract more freelance clients:

Create a succinct LinkedIn headline that captures your expertise in three key phrases

Fill your bio with relevant words and phrases so it’ll rank higher in LinkedIn job searches

Specify details of past freelance work experience

Offer an industry-specific writing sample

Link to examples of published content writing

Include a digital portfolio of your best freelance work

Use a professional, approachable headshot for your profile photo

Post an up-to-date, well-presented resume

Demonstrate your expertise and technical ability using Skills & Endorsements

Offer social proof with recommendations from your past freelance client base

Remember to make sure your profile is visible to everyone — especially your profile picture as professionals are less trusting of candidates without professional photos. You can do this by going to LinkedIn’s homepage (or any page, really), clicking “Me” in the top-navigation menu, and going to “Settings and Privacy”.

In addition to pictures, I highly recommend creating a video resume or animated explainer video that details your writing process, your style, your quality, social proof, and more.

Editor’s Note: If creating a video resume sounds daunting, check out this great guide from Madeline Mann. It’ll show you how to create a video CV even if you don’t have any editing skills (or enjoy speaking on camera):

Finally, make sure your profile is grammatically correct before applying for any jobs. According to Talent Inc., 79% of employers will ignore LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and job applications that have spelling or grammar mistakes in them.

If you’re prone to mishaps, use spelling and grammar tools like Grammarly and Hemingway to ensure your LinkedIn profile is free of errors and easy to read.

2. Fill Out the “Open to Work” Section

If you want to land freelance clients, you need your LinkedIn profile to be visible to potential recruiters, writing clients and LinkedIn connections.

Just under your profile picture, you’ll find a small box that invites you to show that you’re job hunting. By switching on this feature, your next potential employer can see you’re ready to take on a new job.

If you haven’t changed the settings, simply:

Click on the box that says “Show recruiters you’re open to work”

Fill out the pop-up with your relevant writing skills and geographical availability

Save the changes

To make sure it’s changed, check back to the box under your profile picture.

If you’ve done this correctly, this box should state that you’re #OpenToWork.

3. Personalize Your Job Applications

Gone are the days when you could print a hundred resumes for your services and send them to “Dear Sir/Madam.” No, you need to personalize each job application.

By customizing your resume and cover letter for each specific job posting, prospective employer, and related industry; you’ll find potential employers to be more responsive.

A whopping 1/3 of employers say that a non-customized resume is a deal-breaker. If a job seeker turns in a generalized resume with no connection to the job posting, employers will simply ignore them.

With this in mind, you should be tailoring your resume and cover letter to speak to each individual job.

My advice?

Craft templates using a document collaboration tool such as Google Docs or Microsoft 365 that you can then customize for each prospective employer or client.

Try these tactics:

Find out the name of the hiring manager and address your job application to this person directly

Document relevant industry-related work experience

Research the prospective employers business and figure out a problem that you specialize in solving

Offer previous client testimonials as social proof of your best work

Include points about why you like the job posting and how it suits your skill set

If applicable, link to a portfolio of your work or to published works from previous jobs

Only present up-to-date work

Avoid rambling on about irrelevant achievements

4. Research the Companies You’d Like to Work With

The first step to finding companies you’d like to work with is figuring out which niches or industries most appeal to you.

For example, if you were a writer, ask yourself questions like these to find your ideal niche/industry:

What style of writing do you excel most at?

In which industry-areas do you enjoy writing?

What values would I like the companies I work for to uphold?

What types of projects are a no-go for you?

Next, take your top industries, and find companies within those sectors that implement your values and excite your passions.

Follow these accounts to add them to your LinkedIn connections so you can stay up-to-date with their progress.

Now, search within those organizations for job roles that suit your expertise.

So, if you’re a writer, you might search for roles like:

Content Writer

Content Marketer

Social Media Manager

Content Marketing Manager

Content Strategist

Digital Marketing Manager

Content Manager

You can search for such openings in the “Jobs” section on the left-hand side of the target company’s LinkedIn page:

Source: Contentsquare

The “Jobs” page will showcase the company’s top available job postings right now. These are usually ordered by how recently they’ve been posted.

Hopefully, a job posting will jump off the page.

But if not, use the advanced search function to search for relevant job titles.

When you search for a job posting, LinkedIn will lead you to a list view of each job opportunity.

Click on each job opening to see a full job description of the job opportunity. You can save jobs that catch your eye or apply directly from this page.

LinkedIn also shows you how many applicants have applied for your dream job, as well as any mutual connections you have that work for the prospective employer.

Not finding any good job openings with a company you really like? No worries. You can “Follow” the company and create a job alert:

LinkedIn will then notify you whenever a new position opens within the company.

5. Build Your Network and First-Degree Connections

Start building your first-degree LinkedIn connections by adding people you know from real life — even if their own job roles are irrelevant to your career.

Begin with your professional circles. Add:

Previous clients

Past employers

Other colleagues and ex-colleagues

Connections you know from your general career

Professionals outside your industry that you know through business

Next, add professional connections you know from your social circles. Find LinkedIn connections for:

Friends with professional careers

Associates with similar job interests

Alumni and school friends succeeding as professionals

Friends of friends who thrive in the professional world

People you’ve hired for their services

To exhaust everyone you know, run through your Facebook contacts, email connections, phonebook, address book, old wedding invitations, and more.

Remember, it only takes one excellent lead to land a career-changing job.

You may find that your real-world contacts have LinkedIn connections with a job opportunity available that neither of you had considered, making way for an introduction.

Remember to include everyone from your aging rolodex. You never know which alumni or school friends may be the connection to your ideal job.

But don’t stop there.

You can have up to 30,000 LinkedIn connections, so take full advantage. Try searching for connections who would hire someone with your very particular set of skills.

Let’s go back to our writer example. If you were a freelance writer looking for paid job opportunities, you’d want to ask yourself who the key decision makers are when it comes to hiring content writers.

As a content writer looking to build a LinkedIn network, you’d want to connect with content managers of companies with job openings you’re interested in. You could also try connecting to:

Content marketing managers

Content managers

HR managers of content agencies and writing firms

Marketing managers in small business in your industry

When asking to connect, take advantage of the “connection request” message box with a succinct call-to-action. How you word this could make or break your connection.

Include a link to an appointment setting page, your writer website, or use a landing page builder to get more leads.

You only have 140 characters, so try something like:

Thanks for connecting, Jamie. I think I can help you with X. Let’s book a call! [link]

When it comes to outlining ‘X’, refer to:

A LinkedIn job posting you have seen

A common interest

An post written by the connection

An issue your connection is having

Something you’ve noticed on their website, social networks, etc.

6. Ask Your Connections for an Introduction

When searching for job opportunities, you may notice that LinkedIn alerts you of mutual connections.

Each of these mutual connections is a potential gold mine.

If you see that one of your connections has a link to a job or professional you’re interested in, ask them for an introduction.

But don’t stop there. Sift through your first-degree connections’ connections. You may find second- and third-degree connections that could be useful to you.

Additionally, when searching for prospective employer connections, prioritize those that identify mutual connections.

These second- and third-degree connections are warm leads. They could be your ideal client, but without an introduction, it can be tough to get your foot in the door.

When connecting to these prospective employers, ask your first-degree connections to warm these prospects up for you with a referral.

Asking for a referral is easy — just craft a personalized message. If you’re a writer, it might look something like this:

Hi X,

I hope you’re well and everything with life and business is prospering. I saw that you have been doing X,Y, Z.

Currently, I’m in the process of pivoting my career/accepting new freelance clients. During my search, I found LinkedIn job postings that have mutual connections with you.

If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d love you to introduce me to [name the connection]. I’m interested in connecting as they have a [job/role/network] that I’d be interested to explore.

Would it be possible to connect the dots for us?

I recognize that you’re busy, and hope you’re thriving.

Thanks

[Your Name]

If you’re confident in your relationship with this connection, contact them directly or send them an InMail.

If you’re not all that familiar with them, don’t be shy. They may have seen your work posted on your LinkedIn profile or know your work from mutual connections.

You can use the official LinkedIn referral system to ask for a referral for a job directly.

If you see a job posting in the “In my Network” search, click the “Ask for a Referral” button if you have mutual connections.

7. Share an Update of Your Availability (and Tag for Searchability)

Use LinkedIn as a place to regularly let potential clients and employers know about your availability.

Release weekly posts that let people know your schedule.

By demonstrating that you’re available for work, your connections may be able to direct you to positions they know about.

Plus, if you’re a freelancer, showing your schedule sends a virtual signal about the demand for your work. Try posting a weekly updated schedule that blanks out unavailable times.

This is especially effective if your freelance diary fills up fast, as it creates urgency and implies that your work is high quality.

To optimize your job updates for the best visibility on LinkedIn, try these tactics:

Tag companies and professionals within your niche

Tag companies with open job postings

Use relevant industry and topic-specific hashtags

Tag your current clients

Tag past clients in case they need new work

8. Engage with Industry-Specific LinkedIn Groups

Depending on your profession, you may straddle a few different industries. Luckily, you can find a LinkedIn Group for everything.

Find the LinkedIn groups where the industry professionals relevant to you are congregating. This is where key decision makers will be asking for tips and referrals for hiring and managing remote workers.

You need to establish a reputation in each relevant LinkedIn group. Do this by:

Sharing content from other members of the LinkedIn group

Liking and commenting on posts by other members

Ask questions to learn from other LinkedIn members

Share content from industry thought leaders that you think the Linkedin group members might enjoy

Make a website and share your own content to show expertise

By contributing to the group, you show any onlooking potential clients that you’re established in the industry.

You also broaden your LinkedIn network, boosting the number of connections on your LinkedIn accounts.

This creates a snowball effect where you see more and more relevant job openings in your feed. As you build an industry-specific LinkedIn network, you’ll find you can automate the process for sourcing each new client.

9. Share Valuable Content as an Industry Thought Leader

You need to establish your credibility, authority, and expertise to build trust with potential freelance clients. This demonstrates you as a thought leader; a freelance professional worth high rates for high-quality work and forward-thinking ideas.

Since your own work requires you to create outstanding content, demonstrate these skills by implementing your own personal evergreen content strategy for LinkedIn.

If you’re put off by the time commitment to develop such a strategy, don’t be. You can easily set up a content marketing workflow to streamline your efforts and become visible across multiple mediums.

Build a LinkedIn content strategy where you release regular self-authored content that shows your passion and interest in the industry, alongside your exceptional content-creation prowess.

Source: Katie Wager

In addition, be sure to leverage things like infographics that are easily shared on LinkedIn. These can go viral far faster than just text-based articles alone.

For example, pick a subject matter that is of interest to your target market (like how CEOs sleep) and create a great infographic for your article:

Source: Sleep Junkie

Use these articles as a way to:

Share valuable insights from your industry

Demonstrate how you would solve problems in your sector

Given personal opinions on current affairs related to your industry

Share content and insights from other industry thought leaders

Teach potential customers the value you have as a freelance content specialist

Show prospective clients how your finished work looks

If you don’t have time to create content, you can always consider creating your LinkedIn content strategy and outsourcing it to another content writer.

Since content needs to be thorough (around 1,890 words minimum, according to experts), don’t settle for the first or cheapest writer you find.

By paying someone to create a regular, high-quality LinkedIn campaign, you’ll show consistency to your prospective clients and you’ll appear in job searches more often.

If you’re really struggling to get your own ideas down, at least try to share engaging industry-specific content.

10. Interact With Other Thought Leaders’ Content to Increase Visibility

Increase profile views and set the way for partnerships and referrals by interacting with other experts in your industry.

Marketing guru, Gary Vaynerchuk, explains this idea well with his $1.80 strategy.

Here’s the idea:

Find 10 top hashtags for your niche. Comment on, share, or like the top nine posts of each of those hashtags. Tailor your interactions to establish the importance of your particular freelance services within this niche.

Repeat this process and you’ll start to form LinkedIn connections with others in your industry, priming you for referrals.

Why is it called the $1.80 strategy? Because you give your “two cents” over nine posts across 10 hashtags. $0.02 x 9 x 10 = $1.80.

Try using sales tools, like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, to pinpoint important industry professionals.

11. Reach Out to the Hiring Manager (Bonus Strategy)

While you can apply for a job offer through the normal LinkedIn channels, why not show some initiative?

Find a new opportunity you like where the hiring manager is considering hiring someone full-time. Instead of applying for the job, try to connect with the decision maker by sending a direct InMail or cold email offering your freelance services.

Try to include a stellar portfolio, including links to your work, an introductory video, and a landing page to book an appointment.

Ready to Get a Job Using LinkedIn?

For many freelancers, LinkedIn is the go-to resource for making new connections and landing their next job.

How about you?

Ready to expand your professional network? Ready to end your job hunt and land your dream client?

Follow the strategies outlined in this post, roll up your sleeves, and make it happen.

The post How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job as a Freelancer (11 Pro Tips) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/how-to-use-linkedin-to-find-a-job/

[williamlwolf89]

How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job as a Freelancer (11 Pro Tips)

Want to use LinkedIn to find a job?

You’re not alone.

With over 300 million monthly LinkedIn users and over 20 million job postings open at any given time, LinkedIn is a virtual gold mine for freelancers (or anyone, really) looking to find their dream job.

Of course, where there’s gold, there’s competition. To stand out from the crowd and land any of those great jobs on LinkedIn, you need a plan.

That’s why we’ve put together this handy guide. It will give you a step-by-step walkthrough of the most effective tips to leverage LinkedIn’s massive job platform — tips that’ll help you find, and land, a new job.

And we’ll start with arguably the most important one…

1. Create a Standout LinkedIn Profile

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile should be your number one priority if you want to land a freelance gig.

First impressions are integral in your job search. It’s essential to ensure that your LinkedIn profile offers a testament to your writing career, expertise, and experience level.

Try these top tips to enhance your LinkedIn profile to attract more freelance clients:

Create a succinct LinkedIn headline that captures your expertise in three key phrases

Fill your bio with relevant words and phrases so it’ll rank higher in LinkedIn job searches

Specify details of past freelance work experience

Offer an industry-specific writing sample

Link to examples of published content writing

Include a digital portfolio of your best freelance work

Use a professional, approachable headshot for your profile photo

Post an up-to-date, well-presented resume

Demonstrate your expertise and technical ability using Skills & Endorsements

Offer social proof with recommendations from your past freelance client base

Remember to make sure your profile is visible to everyone — especially your profile picture as professionals are less trusting of candidates without professional photos. You can do this by going to LinkedIn’s homepage (or any page, really), clicking “Me” in the top-navigation menu, and going to “Settings and Privacy”.

In addition to pictures, I highly recommend creating a video resume or animated explainer video that details your writing process, your style, your quality, social proof, and more.

Editor’s Note: If creating a video resume sounds daunting, check out this great guide from Madeline Mann. It’ll show you how to create a video CV even if you don’t have any editing skills (or enjoy speaking on camera):

Finally, make sure your profile is grammatically correct before applying for any jobs. According to Talent Inc., 79% of employers will ignore LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and job applications that have spelling or grammar mistakes in them.

If you’re prone to mishaps, use spelling and grammar tools like Grammarly and Hemingway to ensure your LinkedIn profile is free of errors and easy to read.

2. Fill Out the “Open to Work” Section

If you want to land freelance clients, you need your LinkedIn profile to be visible to potential recruiters, writing clients and LinkedIn connections.

Just under your profile picture, you’ll find a small box that invites you to show that you’re job hunting. By switching on this feature, your next potential employer can see you’re ready to take on a new job.

If you haven’t changed the settings, simply:

Click on the box that says “Show recruiters you’re open to work”

Fill out the pop-up with your relevant writing skills and geographical availability

Save the changes

To make sure it’s changed, check back to the box under your profile picture.

If you’ve done this correctly, this box should state that you’re #OpenToWork.

3. Personalize Your Job Applications

Gone are the days when you could print a hundred resumes for your services and send them to “Dear Sir/Madam.” No, you need to personalize each job application.

By customizing your resume and cover letter for each specific job posting, prospective employer, and related industry; you’ll find potential employers to be more responsive.

A whopping 1/3 of employers say that a non-customized resume is a deal-breaker. If a job seeker turns in a generalized resume with no connection to the job posting, employers will simply ignore them.

With this in mind, you should be tailoring your resume and cover letter to speak to each individual job.

My advice?

Craft templates using a document collaboration tool such as Google Docs or Microsoft 365 that you can then customize for each prospective employer or client.

Try these tactics:

Find out the name of the hiring manager and address your job application to this person directly

Document relevant industry-related work experience

Research the prospective employers business and figure out a problem that you specialize in solving

Offer previous client testimonials as social proof of your best work

Include points about why you like the job posting and how it suits your skill set

If applicable, link to a portfolio of your work or to published works from previous jobs

Only present up-to-date work

Avoid rambling on about irrelevant achievements

4. Research the Companies You’d Like to Work With

The first step to finding companies you’d like to work with is figuring out which niches or industries most appeal to you.

For example, if you were a writer, ask yourself questions like these to find your ideal niche/industry:

What style of writing do you excel most at?

In which industry-areas do you enjoy writing?

What values would I like the companies I work for to uphold?

What types of projects are a no-go for you?

Next, take your top industries, and find companies within those sectors that implement your values and excite your passions.

Follow these accounts to add them to your LinkedIn connections so you can stay up-to-date with their progress.

Now, search within those organizations for job roles that suit your expertise.

So, if you’re a writer, you might search for roles like:

Content Writer

Content Marketer

Social Media Manager

Content Marketing Manager

Content Strategist

Digital Marketing Manager

Content Manager

You can search for such openings in the “Jobs” section on the left-hand side of the target company’s LinkedIn page:

Source: Contentsquare

The “Jobs” page will showcase the company’s top available job postings right now. These are usually ordered by how recently they’ve been posted.

Hopefully, a job posting will jump off the page.

But if not, use the advanced search function to search for relevant job titles.

When you search for a job posting, LinkedIn will lead you to a list view of each job opportunity.

Click on each job opening to see a full job description of the job opportunity. You can save jobs that catch your eye or apply directly from this page.

LinkedIn also shows you how many applicants have applied for your dream job, as well as any mutual connections you have that work for the prospective employer.

Not finding any good job openings with a company you really like? No worries. You can “Follow” the company and create a job alert:

LinkedIn will then notify you whenever a new position opens within the company.

5. Build Your Network and First-Degree Connections

Start building your first-degree LinkedIn connections by adding people you know from real life — even if their own job roles are irrelevant to your career.

Begin with your professional circles. Add:

Previous clients

Past employers

Other colleagues and ex-colleagues

Connections you know from your general career

Professionals outside your industry that you know through business

Next, add professional connections you know from your social circles. Find LinkedIn connections for:

Friends with professional careers

Associates with similar job interests

Alumni and school friends succeeding as professionals

Friends of friends who thrive in the professional world

People you’ve hired for their services

To exhaust everyone you know, run through your Facebook contacts, email connections, phonebook, address book, old wedding invitations, and more.

Remember, it only takes one excellent lead to land a career-changing job.

You may find that your real-world contacts have LinkedIn connections with a job opportunity available that neither of you had considered, making way for an introduction.

Remember to include everyone from your aging rolodex. You never know which alumni or school friends may be the connection to your ideal job.

But don’t stop there.

You can have up to 30,000 LinkedIn connections, so take full advantage. Try searching for connections who would hire someone with your very particular set of skills.

Let’s go back to our writer example. If you were a freelance writer looking for paid job opportunities, you’d want to ask yourself who the key decision makers are when it comes to hiring content writers.

As a content writer looking to build a LinkedIn network, you’d want to connect with content managers of companies with job openings you’re interested in. You could also try connecting to:

Content marketing managers

Content managers

HR managers of content agencies and writing firms

Marketing managers in small business in your industry

When asking to connect, take advantage of the “connection request” message box with a succinct call-to-action. How you word this could make or break your connection.

Include a link to an appointment setting page, your writer website, or use a landing page builder to get more leads.

You only have 140 characters, so try something like:

Thanks for connecting, Jamie. I think I can help you with X. Let’s book a call! [link]

When it comes to outlining ‘X’, refer to:

A LinkedIn job posting you have seen

A common interest

An post written by the connection

An issue your connection is having

Something you’ve noticed on their website, social networks, etc.

6. Ask Your Connections for an Introduction

When searching for job opportunities, you may notice that LinkedIn alerts you of mutual connections.

Each of these mutual connections is a potential gold mine.

If you see that one of your connections has a link to a job or professional you’re interested in, ask them for an introduction.

But don’t stop there. Sift through your first-degree connections’ connections. You may find second- and third-degree connections that could be useful to you.

Additionally, when searching for prospective employer connections, prioritize those that identify mutual connections.

These second- and third-degree connections are warm leads. They could be your ideal client, but without an introduction, it can be tough to get your foot in the door.

When connecting to these prospective employers, ask your first-degree connections to warm these prospects up for you with a referral.

Asking for a referral is easy — just craft a personalized message. If you’re a writer, it might look something like this:

Hi X,

I hope you’re well and everything with life and business is prospering. I saw that you have been doing X,Y, Z.

Currently, I’m in the process of pivoting my career/accepting new freelance clients. During my search, I found LinkedIn job postings that have mutual connections with you.

If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d love you to introduce me to [name the connection]. I’m interested in connecting as they have a [job/role/network] that I’d be interested to explore.

Would it be possible to connect the dots for us?

I recognize that you’re busy, and hope you’re thriving.

Thanks

[Your Name]

If you’re confident in your relationship with this connection, contact them directly or send them an InMail.

If you’re not all that familiar with them, don’t be shy. They may have seen your work posted on your LinkedIn profile or know your work from mutual connections.

You can use the official LinkedIn referral system to ask for a referral for a job directly.

If you see a job posting in the “In my Network” search, click the “Ask for a Referral” button if you have mutual connections.

7. Share an Update of Your Availability (and Tag for Searchability)

Use LinkedIn as a place to regularly let potential clients and employers know about your availability.

Release weekly posts that let people know your schedule.

By demonstrating that you’re available for work, your connections may be able to direct you to positions they know about.

Plus, if you’re a freelancer, showing your schedule sends a virtual signal about the demand for your work. Try posting a weekly updated schedule that blanks out unavailable times.

This is especially effective if your freelance diary fills up fast, as it creates urgency and implies that your work is high quality.

To optimize your job updates for the best visibility on LinkedIn, try these tactics:

Tag companies and professionals within your niche

Tag companies with open job postings

Use relevant industry and topic-specific hashtags

Tag your current clients

Tag past clients in case they need new work

8. Engage with Industry-Specific LinkedIn Groups

Depending on your profession, you may straddle a few different industries. Luckily, you can find a LinkedIn Group for everything.

Find the LinkedIn groups where the industry professionals relevant to you are congregating. This is where key decision makers will be asking for tips and referrals for hiring and managing remote workers.

You need to establish a reputation in each relevant LinkedIn group. Do this by:

Sharing content from other members of the LinkedIn group

Liking and commenting on posts by other members

Ask questions to learn from other LinkedIn members

Share content from industry thought leaders that you think the Linkedin group members might enjoy

Make a website and share your own content to show expertise

By contributing to the group, you show any onlooking potential clients that you’re established in the industry.

You also broaden your LinkedIn network, boosting the number of connections on your LinkedIn accounts.

This creates a snowball effect where you see more and more relevant job openings in your feed. As you build an industry-specific LinkedIn network, you’ll find you can automate the process for sourcing each new client.

9. Share Valuable Content as an Industry Thought Leader

You need to establish your credibility, authority, and expertise to build trust with potential freelance clients. This demonstrates you as a thought leader; a freelance professional worth high rates for high-quality work and forward-thinking ideas.

Since your own work requires you to create outstanding content, demonstrate these skills by implementing your own personal evergreen content strategy for LinkedIn.

If you’re put off by the time commitment to develop such a strategy, don’t be. You can easily set up a content marketing workflow to streamline your efforts and become visible across multiple mediums.

Build a LinkedIn content strategy where you release regular self-authored content that shows your passion and interest in the industry, alongside your exceptional content-creation prowess.

Source: Katie Wager

In addition, be sure to leverage things like infographics that are easily shared on LinkedIn. These can go viral far faster than just text-based articles alone.

For example, pick a subject matter that is of interest to your target market (like how CEOs sleep) and create a great infographic for your article:

Source: Sleep Junkie

Use these articles as a way to:

Share valuable insights from your industry

Demonstrate how you would solve problems in your sector

Given personal opinions on current affairs related to your industry

Share content and insights from other industry thought leaders

Teach potential customers the value you have as a freelance content specialist

Show prospective clients how your finished work looks

If you don’t have time to create content, you can always consider creating your LinkedIn content strategy and outsourcing it to another content writer.

Since content needs to be thorough (around 1,890 words minimum, according to experts), don’t settle for the first or cheapest writer you find.

By paying someone to create a regular, high-quality LinkedIn campaign, you’ll show consistency to your prospective clients and you’ll appear in job searches more often.

If you’re really struggling to get your own ideas down, at least try to share engaging industry-specific content.

10. Interact With Other Thought Leaders’ Content to Increase Visibility

Increase profile views and set the way for partnerships and referrals by interacting with other experts in your industry.

Marketing guru, Gary Vaynerchuk, explains this idea well with his $1.80 strategy.

Here’s the idea:

Find 10 top hashtags for your niche. Comment on, share, or like the top nine posts of each of those hashtags. Tailor your interactions to establish the importance of your particular freelance services within this niche.

Repeat this process and you’ll start to form LinkedIn connections with others in your industry, priming you for referrals.

Why is it called the $1.80 strategy? Because you give your “two cents” over nine posts across 10 hashtags. $0.02 x 9 x 10 = $1.80.

Try using sales tools, like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, to pinpoint important industry professionals.

11. Reach Out to the Hiring Manager (Bonus Strategy)

While you can apply for a job offer through the normal LinkedIn channels, why not show some initiative?

Find a new opportunity you like where the hiring manager is considering hiring someone full-time. Instead of applying for the job, try to connect with the decision maker by sending a direct InMail or cold email offering your freelance services.

Try to include a stellar portfolio, including links to your work, an introductory video, and a landing page to book an appointment.

Ready to Get a Job Using LinkedIn?

For many freelancers, LinkedIn is the go-to resource for making new connections and landing their next job.

How about you?

Ready to expand your professional network? Ready to end your job hunt and land your dream client?

Follow the strategies outlined in this post, roll up your sleeves, and make it happen.

The post How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job as a Freelancer (11 Pro Tips) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/how-to-use-linkedin-to-find-a-job/

[doxampage]

12 Tips and Tools For Becoming a Successful and Prepared Print Professional

In conversations across the spectrum of the printing industry, I hear again and again that we increase our odds of success by BEING PREPARED. The right tips and tools make a difference, wherever we are in our professional career path. 

The truth is, you can open new doors by being the one who is ready to go when opportunities arise. Knowing how to use these tools can make or break a situation, so being prepared also means practicing ahead of time. After you read my tips, let me know what you think! 

Here are my 12 Success Tips and Tools to use when you need a quick solution or when you want to position yourself more professionally in your print career. 

1. P.O. Box – You may use your home or business address for just about everything, but it helps to have a separate post office box, too. If you change jobs or move, a post office box can provide continuity of an address. You can rent the smallest one your post office offers. If something large arrives, they will put it in a bigger box until you can retrieve it with their handy key. If someone wants to send you something you’re not sure about, or you don’t want to give out your work or home address, you have a place it can go. I remember a very brief promotion for a free book, only while supplies lasted. Normally book promos require you to pay the shipping fee, but not this time. I jumped on it, and it turned out to be a book that actually changed how I run my business. I would not have ordered through a promotion like that and given out my home address, but I was prepared. Good thing!

2. A Gmail account – Many people hate Gmail and just refuse to get a Gmail address on principal. However, I love the Google suite of office apps, especially Google Docs and Google Sheets. You can open Word docs and Excel files with them, and everything works as it should. I like having a doc that I can share, that is always updated, and that can be embedded in other apps as a live document so I’m not fooling around with versions. In addition, if you want to work with YouTube, your Gmail account is a very easy way to create a channel and start adding videos. I remember a situation where I needed to share a large amount of info very quickly with a client. I narrated the instructions onto video, uploaded it, and was able to help them without a big hassle on either end. Any other solution would have been too technical for them. So a Gmail account, even if you don’t use it often, can be a lifesaver.

3. Calendar – Yes, I know, you’re one of those hands on people who wants to call people or email them endlessly to set up an appointment. Most of the time, texting someone works fine to get to a consensus, but some of my clients don’t text. With a shared calendar, you can set up recurring appointments, reserve times each week or month, set up reminders, and notify everyone automatically if there’s a change. Whether you share your own calendar or use an app like Calendly, you can block out chunks of time where you will accept appointments. You can define what the appointments will be and how much you charge if it’s that kind of meeting. I have client intake meetings that can take a few hours, and my clients have their V.A.s attend, so a shared calendar makes everything tidy. Even if you don’t share your own calendar, you should send calendar invitations if you are the person setting up the meeting. Oh, the last thing, choose a calendar app that integrates with your CRM and email newsletter platform, especially if you’re in print sales.

4. V.A.s – Virtual Assistants. You have one, right? If you are in growth mode, it is very handy to have an assistant who keeps you organized, is spot on with technology, checks your calendar each week, and keeps things from getting in the way. You can have a stand-up meeting on Monday morning and get your burndown chart organized. You’ll probably communicate and work inside a project management app (Trello, Asana, Basecamp, Glip, etc.). A V.A. in a time zone ahead of yours is helpful, as that person will be up and working when you start your day. Also, a V.A. will help you keep your goals in mind and remind you of your priorities if you start going astray. By the way, I know many printing salespeople who have their own V.A.s, so it’s not a luxury. It’s becoming a necessity for all kinds of professionals in the printing industry. 

5. Your alarm clock – Of course we all use our phone alarms now, but you know what I mean. When I first started my home business, a colleague told me, “Never work in your pajamas. Always get up an hour before your best client, shower, and dress nicely. You never know what the day will bring.” I almost always follow this advice and a salute to those of you around the printing world who have seen me Skype in my “Casual Friday” clothes. 

6. PayPal – Yes, we hate their fees. However, if you go ahead and set up your account, you will have it if you need it. I remember a conversation with a very well-known industry guru just a few months after I started my business. “Sandy, I want you to re-purpose all my evergreen content. I will pay you (a healthy) retainer. Go ahead and invoice me today for next month on PayPal, and I will pay you before I leave town next week.” Guess what? I didn’t have PayPal. If you’re in business, you should have at least three ways people can pay you in addition to a check. I have heard about creative ways to handle a transaction in a pinch, especially at trade shows and print industry events. Ask your bookkeeper, your banker, and your V.A.

7. Social media – First of all, LinkedIn. Seriously, who doesn’t have LinkedIn? If you’re somewhat regular about using it, and you fill in your profile as prompted, LinkedIn will DELIVER prospects to your doorstep. Also, your LinkedIn profile will rank on the first page of Google almost always, and you get to control the content of your profile. There is plenty of advice out there about how to set up and operate a successful LinkedIn account. If you’re struggling with this, or you’re not seeing the right activity, let me know. Your LinkedIn profile follows you when you change jobs, sell your business, graduate from college, etc. It pays to have one place people can always find you. Twitter also ranks really high in search rankings. I have been on Twitter since 2009, and I have found so many people I truly enjoy, both locally and internationally. Have an open mind, and you will find that you expand your horizons and connect with interesting people. Whatever your social media platform of choice, dig in and get to know the features. Be a good social media citizen. Remember, not everyone is a prospect!

8. Web conferencing – If you need to throw together a virtual sales meeting quickly, be prepared and get an account with Zoom, WebEx or the like. Skype works great for a small group. You may be a person who always has someone else set up the meeting. Try out some free software on your own, with a friend or two (I’ll attend your practice session if you want!), and practice starting a meeting, recording it, muting and unmuting, and adding graphics or video. Find out what each platform offers in terms of features. For an impromptu gathering, try your project management app. There’s probably an online meeting feature. By the way, if, during a meeting, someone hands you the reins and asks you to share your computer desktop on screen, it’s nice if it looks professional. Another lesson learned!

9. Portable storage devices – I always carry a thumb drive with my recent presentations on it. I am reminded of this because, as in #5, I had my presentation on my computer desktop. I am a PC user, and when I got to the venue and plugged in, my computer began doing a Microsoft update. OMG! It went on and on. Finally, someone offered me their computer, and I grabbed my presentation out of the cloud, which took a few minutes. Now I know — and I always have a loaded thumb drive in my computer bag along with a few blank ones. Why not!

10. Power and Paper –  As long as we are talking about technology…always carry an extra charged battery with cables for both Android and Apple. I have saved other presenters’ bacon by having a battery they could borrow. Carry an extra pen (with your company name and logo) and a medium-sized notepad (with cool cover art and your contact info). If someone needs to write something down, they will be grateful, and they have the gift of your branded materials.

11. Quickbooks – Accounting software can be and should be simple. People make finances so hard. I work with both large and small printing companies who can’t pull together a cash flow, a monthly income statement or an accounts receivable list without enlisting all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. Even if you’re a small business owner or a solopreneur, learn how to generate financial reports so your advisors can see what you’re starting with and then help you get you where you want to go.

12. Print, of course! – Finally, I would be remiss if I did not point out that a professional business person uses printed products strategically…with attractive business cards, a memorable brochure or interactive piece of marketing collateral, and customizable letters and thank you cards that can be mailed promptly and cheerfully. If you keep stamps and stationery in your car, you’re always ready to get the job done.

Whether you’re a printing company owner, an individual trying to build a personal brand, a successful salesperson, a college student, or anyone with career aspirations, these tips and tools can help you be more successful. 

Remember, being a successful print professional means being prepared. Do you have tips and tools of your own? Share them below!

 Sandy Hubbard is a growth strategist and marketing advisor for printing companies. She works with you to build business growth programs that can be sustained over the long haul, with affordable tools and your own people…without stress! Find @sandyhubbard on Twitter every Wednesday at 4 PM ET, assisting #PrintChat host Deborah Corn @PrintMediaCentr  with a lively online discussion for printers and those who love print.

Read more from Sandy here. 

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