As many of you know, I suffered some personal and professional setbacks between 2014 and 2017. It was tough going through it but, now that I’ve come out the other end, I see how necessary the exercise was. If I hadn’t gone through the pain, I wouldn’t today be a full-time professional writer — what I wanted to be for as long as I can remember — making enough money to support my children, to splurge occasionally on my new lady and to exude the self-confidence that make me a better father and a better man that I had been.
The downside is this: Becoming successful at my chosen craft did not solve all my financial problems overnight. I dug myself a hole on my way down and it’s not filling itself in. So I live frugally and work when others don’t. I’m not just talking hours or days; I mean weeks and months. Maybe you took off for August, or even took a couple weeks around Memorial Day or Independence Day or Labor Day. I couldn’t, not this year. Rare is the weekend when I don’t have to log in at least a couple hours. And, despite my own grumbles of, “I’m too old for this,” I still put in the occasional all-nighter.
Some of this stems from my confessed difficulty with time management, but lately it has had more to do with the sheer volume of work I need to get through. Still, having had both experiences, I much prefer being too busy than not busy enough. So, aside from my sister’s adult bat mitzvah in Pennsylvania, I had absolutely no opportunity to travel this summer, and very few days when I could leave my MacBook on my desk and leave it there. But that’s a brag, not a complaint.
One company I’m very excited to add to my list of acknowledged clients is Built Technologies, which offers construction finance software solutions. I already have one article up on their blog, and look forward to many more.
Keeping my hand in the startup game, I’m working with my friend Luis Rivera, writing the business plan for his Ropa project. It’s part Shopify, part Instagram and an exciting new concept in online apparel retailing.
But I’ve also on-boarded a restaurant delivery software company, a financial advisor, a forex trader, an investor relations shop and two separate IT management consultancies. That’s who I have completed work or signed contracts with. There’s more in the pipeline.
And of course, there’s my continuing work for Sharestates, Global Finance and the private clients on the Work for Hire page. I’m grateful to all my long-term patrons. I’m also working on an interesting side project with Kevin Frija, CEO of VPR Brands, the cannabis client I mentioned in my last blog post — from the beginning of this very busy summer. (If you need the password to view protected pages, just hit me up offline.)
One I could live without, though, is Pageant Media, the owners of HFM and its related titles focused on the alternative investment space. It is a slow-paying operation and one that disrespects both freelance and staff talent. If you’re a fellow financial writer, I caution you against working with that outfit. (This is a personal opinion and does not reflect the position of the New York Financial Writers’ Association, for which I continue to serve on the board of governors.) Oh well, I got at least one good clip out of it.
So thanks for your attention. Now I gotta get back to work.
Fintech Writer William Freedman 