Me, on the beach, 55 years old, learning new things every day.

If you have been here a while you know I posted regularly from 2012 to 2015. Then I pretty much went dark. I was involved in other things, though I missed writing and it disturbed me that I wasn’t. But, my wise mother the painter, told me not to worry, I would get back to it. She has spent years away from her easel and always returns.

When the project I spearheaded wrapped up in October( click here to check it out; I’m proud of it) I knew it was time to return to writing, and it’s how I wanted to make my living. It was a big, scary decision.

I started studying how to start a freelance writing business. I learned a lot from Jorden Roper. I like her badass brand, focus, instructions on niching down, and cold emailing. I’m also grateful to Elna Cain.  She has a broad perspective and is exceptionally generous with her knowledge. Their material led me to SOOOOOO many tools and options I was in a state of overwhelm. Not their fault, they both have great programs I highly recommend. But, I’d been away from technology for a long time and didn’t know much when I was writing VSVEVG before. I am blown away by the resources available for entrepreneurs online. Most all have free options!

I had to learn to build a website and negotiate many new things, there was more than one day of weeping on my laptop. At 55, I felt like maybe it was just too much to learn, maybe my synapsis would never snap fast enough. But, that was bullshit. Every day it all gets a little clearer, and it’s fun! It feels great to learn like this again.

Some of the new tools in my belt:

I use lofi girl for my focus music. Maybe focus music doesn’t seem that important, but it has helped my ability to work solo immensely. I’ve never been able to listen to music while I write, and have always had a hard time focusing. But, Lofi works for me. I don’t notice every shiny thing nearly as much.

I use Grammarly. I debated whether it was cheating as a writer. I asked the google gods and mostly got a positive response unless you are a fiction writer, or in some people’s minds a ¨real writer¨. But, since I wasn’t concerned about whether anyone thought I was real or not, I went for it. It’s great, it has cut down on my editing time and I’m reminded of ¨the rules¨ I tend to ignore, sometimes they’re better.

Also: this is so freaking cool. Ask the Public. If you have any interest in how people look at the internet this is fascinating. I used it to create an SEO-optimized (yes, I say things like that now) title for this post. It’s not as catchy, as my titles usually are, but hopefully will reach more readers. There are many keyword search tools, but I like the way this one is organized. It’s more visually appealing and has a lot to offer for free, 3 searches a day, youtube tutorials, and free SEO classes via email.

Canva is a user-friendly design tool. I used it for my new business logo. Whadda ya think?

Deciding to post on vsvevg every day in February is a part of the process of building my freelance writing business. I flex my writing muscles, meet deadlines. It feels great, even when I woke up this morning with no idea what to write about. Of, course I didn’t plan the 28 articles I would need in advance. Kind of like when I did Napowritmo, but these posts have to make sense.

What cool tech tools do you use? Have you ever been away from something for a long time, returned, and had to do a lot of catch-up? What was your journey like? You know I love hearing from you.

I have a request for my friends reading from Facebook.  Please hit the follow button if you haven’t already, it would be really helpful, thank you in advance. Likes help too!

Hasta Mañana!