Thanks again to Bob Calandra for his insights and advice on how to create value and repeat business in a shaky economy. Again, if you want to pick up his book (and I highly recommend it), you can find it at Amazon.com.
One of the book’s tips is “Add Technology to Your Brand.” That begs the question – how much do you need? It’s not enough to be email and Internet savvy. In my opinion, writers need to know at least one publishing program and should have a basic understanding of HTML tags. Trust me, the latter is easier to learn than the former, depending on your publishing software. But what about extras?
I have a job coming in this week that came through referral from a dear friend who’s on vacation. She was explaining what the client expected and told me her usual method was to edit it on paper and fax it back because she didn’t have PDF editing capabilities. When I said I could edit in the PDF, she said jokingly, “Don’t steal my job!” Not that I could – she’s the best editor I’ve come across. I’m flattered that she trusted me with the project.
I’m lucky to have a spouse who needs these things for his work. As a result, I’m loaded with extra applications. Dreamweaver? Sure. Access? Got it. Photoshop? Illustrator? Check and check. Mind you, I’m clueless as to how to use much of it – so far, no jobs have required these. But they’re there should I need them. And I have both Quark XPress and MS Publisher, which are similar. Having worked on PageMaker, I know they operate the same, but with some significant differences in what you can/cannot do.
So what do you need? If you had a wish list of software you’d like to own, what would that include? What have you found most useful? What software, beyond Word, do you use most often? Any recommendations? Warnings?
And if you don’t have a website, put one up. They’re cheap, they’re essential, and you don’t have to be a web genius as many providers have templates. Or hey, hire a designer and give a fellow freelancer a job, huh?
You know me — anti-niche and anti-brand for myself!
Need it written? I can write it.
Need a great design? You'll have to get a designer.
Although I find that the Macbook has so many great design functions, I'm re-designing all my ebooks and I'm redesigning two of my three websites myself.
iWork and the other stuff on the Mac give me more flexibility than any of the myriad Microsoft programs I wasted money on over the years — programs that were supposedly compatible and then wouldn't talk to each other.
This is the first time in my career that I can say I HAVE everything I need in my computer. I'm still learning how to use it, but it's there. I may upgrade to Aperture in a couple of years if the travel writing requires a higher quality of photo that I take/edit with iPhoto. But so far, so good.
I can edit in Pages or Word, I can create all kinds of marketing materials, web materials, I can edit, I can create — and LOCK — PDFs. Amazing to me.
For years, I just thought I was a techno-moron. Turned out I simply had the wrong tools.
There's the thing, Devon. The wrong tools can make or break you. I can create and lock PDFs, too. It's simple from any machine – with the right tools. Without the right tools, we flounder and waste entirely too much time trying to figure out a way to get it done.
Like you, I'm not a designer. I don't plan to add that to my background. I have these things because he says I should have them and learn to use them. 🙂
And that's it. I have what I need to provide writing and editing. The rest are toys I can't, and wouldn't use on a client job. For that, they need a different kind of freelancer.
Another option to hiring a designer is finding one who will work for trade. If a writer needs a functional site, you can bet that a designer's site could use some wordsmithing!
Great blog!!
Thanks for sharing.
Looking for job!
freelance management is a comprehensive company that lists quality Job openings.
I did that, Amie. It's worked very well, too!