How do you Take a Vacation from Blogging (or Freelancing)?

Today’s post will explain how you can take a break from both blogging and freelancing. I will also explain why I can only do one and not both right now.

Before I give you some useful information, I want you to know that I feel like I need a vacation. Badly.

I’ve been working my butt off trying to attain some of my personal writing and publishing goals.

And, in addition to being an author, I’m also a blogger AND a freelance writer and editor. (But you knew that, right?) 😉 I have a lot of responsibilities to many people. Fortunately, I don’t have a lot of clients to deal with. Some have been one-timers, some are occasional repeaters, and one is long-term. Because my freelancing business is on the smaller side right now, I’m able to effectively take a break from freelancing. Plus, one of the upsides to freelancing is setting your own hours. (I love that part!)

However, I really wanted to take a vacation from blogging, but I cannot. At least, I can’t right now. I have too many responsibilities to others that I need to fulfil.

It’s no secret WHY I want a break – it’s SUMMER!

Aside from the obvious reason of rejuvenation, I wanted to take a vacation from blogging because summer has finally arrived. In the great city where I live, it only lasts for about two month  – if that – and so I need to make the most of the nice weather while it’s here.

I have posts planned already and duties to fulfil to authors who’ve taken me up on my offer. Plus, I’ve recently released an ebook (my very first one – YAY!) and have started another blog on my new author website.

I wanted to do this last month, but the weather here has been pretty bleak. Hopefully the rainy days will go away soon and allow me to do things I want to do – like go swimming outdoors!

How to Take a Break from Freelancing

Taking a break from freelancing requires planning. You have to clear your schedule if you want to really enjoy your time off. To do this, you should:

  • inform your clients of the days you won’t be available, giving them a lot of notice so that they can adjust their schedules accordingly
  • do extra work beforehand so that you do not leave them in the lurch
  • remind your clients of the great work you do for them in order to get them to be more agreeable to your terms and not cause friction in the relationship
  • offer to do something nice for them as a bonus
  • remind them of what it says in your contract regarding vacation time

If you have never taken a freelancing break, some clients may become upset with you and feel like you are abandoning them. They may even become difficult to work with or threaten to fire you, especially if they feel slighted or if you have not taken time off since you began working with them. If any of these scenarios occur and you cannot resolve your differences, then it may be time to re-evaluate your entire relationship and potentially end your contract altogether.

How YOU can take a blogging break – and not feel guilty about it

For those of you who are not freelancers (yet), but who are bloggers, then this is the section for you!

I’m sure most of you have thought about going on vacation, but DIDN’T, for whatever reason.

If you are wondering how you can 1. take a break and 2. not feel guilty about it, I’d suggest reading How to Take a Summer Break from Blogging (without Feeling Guilty).

It’s a pretty darn good article. Great, actually, if I do say so myself. (Yes, I wrote it!)

😀 Plus, it includes some personal pictures of my brother’s pool and my sister’s little guy. 🙂

It actually started out as a post for this blog, but I deemed it so good that I offered to sell it. (I’m a freelancer, after all, and if I can earn money for my writing, I will.) Because it’s available for all the world to see, you can pop over to Dear Blogger and pick up a few blogging tips. (Or should I say “blogging break” tips?) 😉

I know when you read it, you’ll be a bit confused. But don’t forget, I’m writing for two different audiences, who overlap but are different. Greg’s audience consists of people wanting blogging tips. My audience consists of people who want blogging, freelancing, writing, and publishing tips.

See the difference? Thought so. 😀

Now it’s your turn…

Are you going to take a vacation this summer – or did you already? 

Share in the comments here, or on Dear Blogger. I”ll be responding to everyone on both sites. 😀

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Introductory photo image courtesy of samuiblue/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Whitefish Waters + Freelancing Tips

2 trees and dock with lake and nice sky

This post is for all you freelancers (or freelance wannabes) out there!

This past weekend, I enjoyed the freelance lifestyle by actually taking a couple of days to be away from my computer to go camping with a few friends at Whitefish Lake, which is only about an hour by car from the city in which I live. I don’t go camping very often, but I sure like it when I do!

With all the excitement of getting my ebook out there, monitoring and responding to some of the reviews, being interviewed, setting up my new author site, and doing a ton of other things, I really, REALLY needed a break.

It was nice to hang out with friends, have a few drinks (I RARELY drink alcohol), shoot the sh** by the fire, read by the lake, commune with nature (including a ton of spiders, mosquitoes, and dragonflies), and listen to the water lapping against the shoreline. Talk about peaceful!

I walked down to the lake to test the temperature of the water, and had to grab my phone to take a video of the moon with the melodic waters in the background. The video’s not much to look at, but it’s relaxing!

 

FYI, the white “dot” in the video is the moon!

Most of you who live in warm climates cannot truly appreciate the beauty I felt this past weekend. I live in a climate where it is winter for the majority of the year. It’s really only nice in June, July, and August, and swimming outdoors usually only happens in those months. The local outdoor pools are only open in the latter two months, too. 🙁

Enjoying the freelance lifestyle is one of the perks of being a freelancer. 🙂

Learning from others is another. 😉

Let’s Learn From Sophie and Francesca, shall we?

Sophie Lizard, from Be a Freelance Blogger, has started a new thing on her blog: Bloggers of Interest, where she interviews freelancers and gets them to share their best freelancing tips.

In her latest interview, she speaks to Francesca Nicasio, from Be a Freelance Writer, who shares excellent – and I mean excellent – freelancing tips!

Francesca is someone with whom I connected early on in my blogging days. She allowed me to guest post for her on her Credible Copywriting site, with the article Investing In Yourself: Why Surfing the Web is Necessary. I’ll admit that this was my very first guest post, and I was a fairly newbie blogger at the time. But obviously she saw something in me (the fact that I’m a darn good writer, perhaps?) and gave me the opportunity to publish my article on her site.

A year later, she paid me $50 for writing Two Simple Things You Can Do to Kick-start your Writing Success, which reveals how I use affirmations to help me be a positive person. (I list most of the ones I use, too. Feel free to steal them! Ralph Quintero, founder of Happy Someone, has given us all permission to use them!) 🙂

But back to Ms. Lizard. . .

This is her third interview so far. Sophie has also spoken with writers Jeff Goins and Tom Ewer.

Here is her interview with Jeff.

Here is her interview with Tom.

And here is her interview with Francesca! Enjoy!

 

 

Did you find any of her tips useful? Which ones?

Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comment section! 

Is the Freelance Life for You? (Hint: Ask yourself these 2 Questions)

 

Is the freelance life for you?

If you are unsure of whether or not the freelance life is for you, you should ask yourself these 2 questions, analyze your answers, and then decide. You may be surprised at your responses!

The 2 Questions to Ask Yourself to Know if the Freelance Life is Right For YOU

The questions you should be asking yourself are:

  1. Why do I want to freelance?
  2. How much time can I devote to freelancing?

Potential Answers to Freelance Life Question 1

Your answers to the question “Why do I want to freelance?” may include: Read More

20 Blog Post Must-Haves ebook

Are You A “Pro” Blogger Yet? Use 20 Blog Post Must-Haves and Become One!

20 Blog Post Must-Haves ebook

20 Blog Post Must-Haves is officially available to everyone now! I’m pleased to say that you can get it for free, too, if you hurry!

Let me tell you my story about how this came to be.

Yesterday, I had a guest post published about editing blog posts on a site called Mad Lemmings. Another one, on a different site, was published today on Dear Blogger!

That’s not the half of it, either! The two places where I’m guesting this week are on blogging blogs (blog about blogging)! Imagine that! I’m on my way becoming a pro blogger!

Wait – it get’s better! The two guys who are “having” me have never allowed guest posters on their blogs before!

Yes, I feel pretty special right about now.

WOW.

And having my name appear in close proximity to Problogger’s Darren Rowse is kinda neat.

gregs compliment comparing me to darren rowse

Read More