TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Writing doesn’t pay my bills. Most folks think just because you actually have a book, or two, or seven, published by a major publisher, then you just have to be rolling in dough. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily so, most especially if the only thing you’re published in is romance and your career is kind of middle-of-the-road. I'm not a newbie, but I haven’t attained superstar status yet. Attaining national, best-selling author status has many a perk, but financial reward has yet to be one of them. Truth be told, my writing doesn’t even come close to supporting me. If I had to depend on my writing to eat, I’d be hungry more times than I’d probably care to count. Depending on how you look at it that might not be a bad thing since I wouldn’t have to go out of my way to diet.

Thanks to the husband I eat fairly well. I told him he’d eventually come in handy for something and since I embarked on writing and getting published he’s come in very handy ‘cause the bills still have to be paid whether I’m being paid, or not.

With my corporate experience I periodically do freelance work and some consulting. I’m a pro when it comes to procedural evaluations. Most especially in small businesses. Defining what works and what doesn’t in order to make a business run more effectively has been one of my specialties. One reason I’ve been successful with it has been my hands on approach. I can’t tell you what’s not working if I’m not down in the trenches experiencing what’s going on first hand. It has made for some very interesting moments and afforded me much experience in numerous professions.

I’m working for one such company right now. I’ve actually run the cash register, stocked the shelves, interacted with the customers and have learned the subtle nuances that one only gains by doing the actual work. And what I’ve learned in this particular business is that consumers aren’t only finicky but they can be less than loyal for very unselfish reasons. I’ve made suggestions and many of the recommended changes have been effected. Just as many haven’t been. Sure, I can tell a business owner what I think needs to happen for his business to be more efficient because that’s what he’s paying me for, but I can’t tell him how to run his business. He’s going to do that his way no matter if it works or not.

And the whole point of this post is to give myself one good swift kick in my very wide behind. Sometimes I forget that I’m a writer and I’m running my own business. I have a responsibility to myself to stay published, promote my work, gain name recognition, and write. Lately I’ve done a piss poor job of doing my job. I’ve been telling myself what I think I need to do, but I haven’t been doing it. And that changes right now. The old way hasn’t been working well for me. I've been less than efficient. I think I’ll try the right way and see if that doesn’t make some kind of difference.