Writing For Business - Meet Jennifer Gnaidecki

My current business is words. From blogging to articles to tips & advice. It’s what I do well and I find that I am having more fun doing this than anything else I’ve ever done since I started working at Burger King when I was fourteen.

I’m working on transitioning my online portfolio into print work, and I do speaking engagements locally for my book Non-Toxic Networking. I teach people how to talk to strangers.

So either the phone was ringing or the girls were fighting. I figured there had to be a better way! I’d never tried writing before because my memories as a child were of “starving artists” - I thought writers sat around trying to write the Great American Novel all day and night, never finishing and never getting paid.

Once I realized I could make money blogging, I realized my own misconceptions about writing were wrong and proceeded to surf the Internet to learn everything I could online about freelance writing.

Some extremely helpful sites were:

http://www.wahm.com

http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com

http://www.problogger.com

http://www.vanetworking.com

I started writing more, and blogging more, and doing my best to find ways to monetize my blogs without ruining the reader experience as well as getting a b5media blog, which is through a blog network. They pay better than monetizing on my own while putting a quality name by my work. Being part of a good blog network is saying, “Hey, I’m not the only one who thinks I should get paid for this!”

The problem most people have is that being told not to talk to strangers as kids has kind of crippled us when it comes to talking to people we don’t know as adults. Not only are we taught we should not talk to people we don’t know (so don’t learn the skill as a child) we are taught it is dangerous. This carries over into adulthood.

I’m as scared of rejection and not being liked as the next person, but just forcing yourself to talk to people you don’t know can result in amazing friendships both online and offline.

That five hours is spread among breakfast, snacktime, lunchtime, diaper changes, playtime, potty training, and other toddler-centric activities, so it feels like I work more than I actually do at times.

I also spend about two to three hours a day networking and enjoying myself online with the intention of meeting new people, putting up new blog posts, and reading news and other blogs. While this is part of my work, it’s really fun, so I don’t consider it work. (Isn’t that the best kind?)

I have no problem using personal experiences in my business blog, I have no problem using celebrity information either. Stories are everywhere waiting to be told from your perspective.

Know your boundaries.

If you know what you will or won’t be willing to write about online, you won’t spend a bunch of time looking at your monitor and wondering if you should really tell the story you’re about to publish on your blog.

Have an emergency list.

I keep a list of potential blog entries. If I’m tapped out and can’t think of anything to write, I break out the list and use something from there. It’s my emergency back-up plan.

2. Do your best on every assignment. You never know who is going to look at your work.

3. Remember there are thousands of people who want to do what you do. Make it easy for people to give you work, make them want to work with you again, and always let them know you are willing to work for them again (if you are.) Communication is key!

4. Blogging is not a conversation, it’s a speaking engagement, so say something people might actually want to hear.

5. Don’t sell yourself short, but remember that sometimes low-paying assignments turn into lucrative work. If you don’t have a long-term goal you may find yourself with no work at all.