Hello, everyone. I took off from blogging on Independence Day weekend. I apologize for not announcing this in advance.
I have had my editing business for two and a half years now (it will be three years in October). How time flies! Still, I rather consider myself a newbie in this whole business thing, because I continue to learn new things about it. Well, everyone should be learning, no matter how long they have been in business and how much of an expert they are, but I digress. I have learned a number of important rules about having an editing business over the last almost-three years, and I would like to share them with you.
- If you aren’t an organized person by nature, get more organized. This means investing in file folders, extra bookcases, and more cloud storage. I am not an organized person by nature, but I have definitely gotten better and am still improving.
- Think twice before writing off that meal you had with a client friend as a “business meal.” Was the business the primary reason for the get-together? Was the business discussed the majority of the time? If the two of you mostly chit-chatted about your families, pets, and/or vacation plans, survey says…BZZZ! (I have scruples.)
- Get a computer (laptop or desktop) that you will dedicate to your business. Don’t rely on the computer in the spare bedroom that the whole family shares, unless your business-dedicated computer breaks down. Even then, make the shared computer a temporary last resort. The last thing you want to do is lose your hard work–which bring me to the next rule…
- Invest in cloud storage, such as Dropbox (my personal preference). What would happen if you were to lose your precious flash drive, or break it, or spill Diet Mountain Dew on it? Better not risk that.
These are, of course, rules which I learned that were not immediately obvious to me. There are countless other rules that I follow which are extremely obvious, such as “Keep your earnings/expenses records up to date.”
What rules have you learned since you began your editing business?