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Monday 2 March The traditional Monday morning blues have been banished thanks to watching Fulham get a great point against Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. It’s going to take something pretty spectacular to de-rail my mood today. Spend the morning working on a batch of interviews for a supplement on equity income for Financial Adviser magazine. There is a lot to organise – and write – but a regular supply of caffeine gets me through to lunchtime. An email also arrives mid-morning from Jo Gornitzki at Moneywise asking me to write a feature on fund management. It’s always nice to get a commission early in the week, particularly when it’s on a subject I am particularly interested in.
With my wife working, and our default babysitters (my parents) on holiday, today is going to be quite a challenge. First stop is to watch my oldest son, who is six, perform in his school play. We get him there just in time… and to my delight there are bacon sandwiches and coffee on offer for parents. Result! Some good news when I get back to the office. Chris Torney at the Daily Express has emailed. He likes one of the ideas I sent through last week on raising cash and asks me to file 1,500 words by the early part of next week.
Aarrgh! When one door opens, another one shuts. Conjecture, Incisive Media’s weekly online programme for which I carry out the research, has had to cancel its scheduled debate on the US leaving a window in my schedule. I spend the rest of the morning having my powers of concentration tested to the limit as I attempt to work with my four-year-old boy climbing on my back and Power Rangers Mystic Force blaring out in the background. Word has got out that I’m writing an ISA feature as the phone is red hot in the afternoon with PRs pitching suggestions. The input is very welcome, but it’s just going to make it harder to choose what makes the final cut. The dreaded school run is at 3.30pm and after that I take my eldest to his weekly karate class before heading home to bath and feed the boys. They’re tucked up by 7pm and I return to my desk and put the bare bones of the ISA feature together.
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Up at the crack of dawn to proof and edit features, before catching a train to London to meet some contacts. Pick up a couple of potentially good health stories. While personal finance is my primary area, it makes sense to have different sources of income and adds a bit more variety to the working week. I use the journey to edit a piece I’ve been writing on investing for a contract publisher. These can be tricky animals. A client’s requests can often get distorted by the time they have gone through various account managers and editors, which can lead to avoidable requests for re-writes. However, the commissioning editor seems very much on the ball so I’m keeping everything crossed it will be straightforward. Getting any new customers in the current economic climate, of course, is a bonus.
This morning I write a property piece for the Daily Express and then start work on a Financial Work-out for FTAdviser.com. These are interactive training sessions for intermediaries, based around 15 increasingly detailed questions that I put together on a variety of topics. This one is on asset consolidation. Towards the end of the day I turn my attention to the accounts. Keeping on top of invoicing is crucial. A couple of clients have become very slow at paying, so I send some emails nudging them along and will follow that up with phone calls next week.
Although I’m lucky to still have work at the moment, I’m very much aware that we’re in a recession and tougher times could be ahead. With that in mind I’m in the process of revamping my website (www.robgriffin.co.uk) in the hope it will attract new clients, particularly, corporate work which is the holy grail of freelance commissions as far as cold, hard brass is concerned. I sketch out my ideas on the train up to see Fulham being steamrollered by Manchester United. The less said about that the better.
I try not to work on Sundays but being self-employed means the lure of checking emails proves too much to resist. I also go through my ideas files (containing items of interest I’ve cut from newspapers and received by email) and pitch some suggestions to various magazines, papers and websites. Keeping a constant flow of ideas and commissions is the key to survival at any time – especially in this market.
I then turn off the computer, for the last time today, and head off for a pub lunch followed by playing with the boys in the garden. Being a freelance can be difficult at times, but I wouldn’t swap it for anything. |
