Re-evaluation Time

Wow- I was on a roll with BlogMutt. I was getting paid for several blogs a week. Then, I took a week off to work on another project for another virtual assistant. Now, I am having trouble getting back into the routine. I always found a new client and would write several blog posts for them. In a few weeks, I would come back and do more for them. Now, I am simply staring at the screen. I just look at the list of clients and wonder where I should even start.

So, what should I do?

Revisit my goals.

Since I have last set my goals, I have paid off my credit cards, but now I have a car payment. My goal is to make enough (and then some) to pay my car payment each month. I am going to continue to strive to write two blogs five days a week. After a few weeks, I will revisit this to see if it is going to be enough to pay for my car payment each month.

Revisit my writing style.

I have always searched for a few topics that interested me. Then, once I find a customer who only has one or two posts, I write quite a few blogs and fill up their whole queue. The only problem with this is that it takes me several weeks to get paid. I also do not find out if they like my writing style before I submit several blogs for them. I have never had this happen, but I could imagine that they could reject all of my blogs at once.

Revisit some of my favorite customers.

I should go through and see if any of my customers have queues that are pretty empty. Though this can present a problem because some customers I have only written for once (and been rejected). However, I do have many repeat (and happy) customers. I should really see if any of them have small queues that need to be filled.

See if there are any new BlogMutt customers that have empty queues.

New customers join the site all of the time. Though not necessarily important, you get extra points for writing the first post for a customer. Sometimes your best customer can be a new customer. Especially when you like to write about popular topics such as health, nutrition, and pets. I fall into this category and have several blog posts that have been sitting in the queues for months.

Print this list out.

I am going to print this out so the next time that I stare at the computer screen and act like I don’t know where to start, I will remember that I actually do know what to do. I might actually take this list a step further and include a list of my favorite customers, so I know which queues to look at.

Don’t forget to spend time brainstorming.

When I am extremely stuck, I need to take the time to do some brainstorming. Maybe now would be a good time to try to write about some topics that I haven't written about before. Maybe I should look for other paying writing gigs.

In fact, I found Vocal, while trying to look for a new place to write. I was stuck and looking for something different. It allows me to write what I want, whenever I want. I can write about animals all that I want. I can also put other pieces that have been published elsewhere. Sometimes, you need to just sit down and write, in order to keep going.

Here is to more successful writing time. We must always remember that goals must be re-evaluated and motivation may come and go. Life may get in the way, but if it is something important, you will find a way to keep going. Sometimes, it also takes a break where you can reevaluate your goals, or maybe you need a simple brainstorming session (or writing session) so you can find the clarity you were lacking.