Sizzling Summertime Musings

Nope, I’m not going to talk about the weather. There is nothing that I can add to the conversation that will make you feel cooler…just be thankful for air-conditioning!

I will, however, chat about making the most of your summer months, a time of the year where we tend to want to operate at a different pace although that doesn’t always mean we have fewer gigs on our plate. I’m very grateful that my workload is full, but I’m just as grateful that I can adjust my schedule when needed.

Summer Schedule

One thing I am not doing this summer is reading…books, that is. I’ve never been one to read much outside as the sunlight just hurts my eyes. And, with the need to be more flexible I’m concentrating on research projects that can be started well in advance of when an article is due. Still deadline driven, but not deadline consumed.

To give myself some flexibility, I have chosen to do the following this summer:

New Customers — Generally, I am not taking on new customers except for press releases through my new site, PRBeam.com. Even then, I had to turn one potential client down whose deadline clashed with other work I had pending. I expect to crank this end of my business up eventually, but not until after Labor Day.

My Websites — Balancing what customers need with what I manage on my own can be a challenge. That is one reason why I’m selling Auto Trends, as I plan to consolidate my work to a handful of sites. When it comes to who pays me, client work prevails. That means my work here will be mostly hit or miss until I get the rest of my stuff in order.

Flexible Schedule — Generally, I avoid evening work and working on weekends. Sunday is out: church and family time, but on some Saturday mornings I find it beneficial to write ahead in order to allow me to stop early some days or start later on other days.

Social Collaboration — I’m still using StumbleUpon and Twitter, but have cut back on using those social networking sites for now. I’m finding that the return on time investment doesn’t justify using these sites at least right now. I’m also limiting the number of guest articles I’m writing, but still accepting a few across my blog network. Again, this activity will ramp up after Labor Day.

How about you? Are you doing things differently this summer or are you maintaining the status quo?

Site Launch: PRBeam.com for $99 Press Releases

Yesterday, I launched my newest Web site, the first HTML/CSS based site I’ve designed in several years. I decided not to use WordPress as my content management system for PRBeam.com, my $99 press release promotional Web site, due in part to some recent hackings that have taken place with WP.

Those problems are now behind me, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Besides, with HTML I can keep my six static pages in place and leave it at that. No temptation to add a blog post and dilute my freelance writing message found here. I’m still tweaking the site to make it render nearly the same to viewers across major browser platforms; it actually looks better in Chrome and IE than it does in Firefox. Go figure.

Of course, PRBeam.com is not an end to itself. I’m hoping that it translates into new business for me while allowing small business operators to find an experienced press release copywriter who can give them what they need for less. Under my current arrangement, customers will receive a newsworthy press release for up to 400 words and distribute it themselves.

And I’m advising these same customers to use a quality distributor and to disseminate their news carefully. SEO is certainly important as is targeting your news release to the right people. Print newspapers are fading fast, but many journalists have transferred what they do to the Internet. Those people may be interested in your news too, using your release as a jumping-off place for a fresh article.

So where is my own press release announcing my press release service? I’m actually going to wait until June to publish it so that I can tend to the needs of my customers first. Besides, if PRBeam.com is a raging success, I might want to tweak that $99 offer or add a distribution option. Stay tuned!