The final two lessons tend to play against each other but are vital to learn if you hope to succeed in the challenges of running a freelance business.

Jump through Hoops

Tricks and trials are taught in advanced dog obedience. They’re also an important set of lessons for advanced freelancers to learn and understand. Just as some dogs won’t be easy to train, some clients, won’t be easy to work with. They’ll ask you to jump through hoops. They’ll want you to produce above and beyond. They’ll expect speedy turn arounds and near impossible feats of bravery.

This is the freelancing life. Clients often don’t understand what our day to day work schedule is like. They don’t understand that they are not our primary concern. Indeed, if you’re customer service is up to par they’ll feel like they ARE always number one.

Don’t feel you always have to jump through hoops for your client. Lay out your contract and shake upon it. Deliver above and beyond only as you feel able without overworking yourself. Meeting your clients needs does not always equal meeting their demands.

The important thing to remember is to remain diplomatic. Discuss your concerns with your client. Explain any difficulties you may have meeting their requests and don’t be afraid to insist on a higher pay bracket should they expect more than your original agreement outlined.

Every dog, and every freelancer, has the power to choose when to obey.

Kisses and Cuddles

At the end of your training session it’s important to praise, kiss, cuddle and reward your dog. It’s equally important to consider your personal achievements, reward yourself, congratulate yourself on a job well done, involve your loved ones in the emotional fulfillment. You truly have accomplished remarkable feats.

We all have difficult days and taking the time to cherish and reward yourself will make it easier to face the ups and downs of a freelancers life. Pay yourself, consider yourself the vital element in your business.

Without the love and care you can give yourself it becomes harder to achieve. Without these kinds of incentives we begin to wonder why we follow those commands. Why sit? Why fetch?

While you absorb your rewards, remind yourself why you love this career; Why it is the only job you can ever imagine yourself doing for the rest of your life. Smile, you’re living your dream!

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Beg

Dog have this adorable look when they’re leaning on their hind legs with that pleading look upon their faces. Writer’s mightn’t look half so cute begging but it’s an important part of a freelancers routine. Ok, well, begging might be an extreme term but in a way that is exactly what it is.

Writer’s must go out into the world with their tin cup a-rattling. We need to actively seek out work. We need to become visable to potential clients and show them our talents and skills. If you sit back, waiting for work to come to you there is an almost 100% chance your career will never get off the ground. You’ve got to get out there, make eye contact, raise your paws, and truly show people why it is important they give you money for the services you can offer them.

Fetch

In the same way we must be proactive about fetching when an opportunity comes our way. Potential clients might post an opportunity on a job board, or a listing in the local newspaper. To a writer, these are sticks to chase down. There are a multitude of jobs requiring freelance writers that you don’t need to beg for. You need to fetch, grab the opportunity in your jaws and bring it home.

Other opportunities you should fetch are those that come by word of mouth. Anyone who has come to you, showing an interest, mightn’t be sold simply by the initial contact. They’ve thrown the stick, and it’s important that you do what you can to ensure their needs are met. Fetch their stick by maintaining contact and the relationship you develop may lead to jobs in the future.

Shake

Finally, with all these deals you’ve begged for or fetched you must learn to shake. Put your writer’s paw into the hand of your potential client and make a firm pact with expectations clearly marked. Freelancers should design a contract and make sure the terms are spelt out clearly for all parties. Get signatures on these documents. It might seem unappealing to you at first, as if you’re lacking trust, but the truth is, our freelancing career is a business and your clients will respect this business-like approach.

Some clients may have a contract of their own they would like you to sign. Read these carefully before shaking on their deal. Their contracts are usually straight forward and if a client has a contract they would usually prefer to use your own. It still makes sense to have your own contract outlines available if needed as not all clients will have one.

Stay tuned for next week when I’ll wrap up the Dog Train Your Writing Series!

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Free

All dogs love to embrace their freedom to roam, to explore, and discover. They’re pack animals at heart, loving to spend time in company, surrounded by activity, and deep into the thick of any event. Rambunctious and frolicking they throw themselves into every activity with all of their being.

Having so much abounding energy can be very draining. As writers, we turn this energy into a raw power that spins words on the page. We’ve followed the sit command but if we heel or sit too long inspiration wanes, frustration and boredom builds.

It’s important to let yourself off your writing leash from time to time. Schedule opportunities to write but include opportunities to play, to relax. You’re creativity depends on your ability to come to the page fresh and inspired.

Come

While you’re embracing freedom you’ll find ideas forming of their own accord. They’ll call you back to the page and when that ‘muse’ strikes it is vital you head the call.

The “Come” command is perhaps one of the hardest to teach a dog. It is also the hardest to learn as a writer. Turning away from other distractions and focusing on a single target is challenging. It’s tempting to put off, procrastinate, or ignore the call. A dog just wants to have fun.

It’s important to coax the animal within you with treats. Just as you’d reward a dog with praise and food when they come you need to train yourself to feel rewarded for taking that initiative.

Not heeding a call to “Come” can have disasterous ramifications for a writer. We’ve often been told the ‘muse’ is fickle. If you believe in the lady muses as a representation of where your creativity comes from, or as just a name we call that sense of feeling that has us eager to reach for paper, it’s important to remember, that if you ignore it, the ideas will fade. The more you turn away from the “come” command the less you’ll hear it. When you later come, you may sit or heel to your hearts desire but the words have wandered away without you.

Take action when inspiration strikes. Even if all you do is write notes about the ideas as you fit them into your lifestyle. Acknowledge the come command because you will always find opportunities to be free again after.

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Walk With Me: Heel

When a dog learns to heal they’re forced to open their mind a little. They must broaden their horizon. They still need to reign in their curiosity, listen to commands, and watch their progress carefully but they must also accept the leash, move forward and mark their steps at a steady rate.

Learning to heal as a writer requires the same attention to details. After having taken the time to sit regularly you need to find a direction and follow the path with a steady, dogged, determination. If you watch the steps you take and follow the lead of other successful writers you’ll find the walk an easier one to make. Progress is smoother and you share it with others going in the same direction.

Sometimes, it is tempting for a new pup to run ahead, to strain the leash. If given free reign he runs into dangers, pitfalls, or loses energy. A steady pace gives him the freedom to roam forward under the guiding hand of a friend.

A great way to discover your leash is to explore your community, online and off. Other writers have walked the path you walk before you and can offer guidance and advice. If you take a steady pace and listen to that advice along the way you’ll keep your momentum moving forward and avoid running out of steam or overwhelming your creativity.

When Is It Time To Stay?

At various points on any journey you’ll reach a place to pull aside, stay a while. For dogs, learning to stay is important because they need to know they can pause, take new notice of their surroundings, and take heed of any dangers that may have come into play around them.

As a writer, we also have dangers that come into play and pitfalls to be wary of. Sometimes it’s important to take time to pause and appreciate the warning signs around us. Listing to your instincts and do your research.

When you’re approaching a new market, discovering a new niche, are offered a new contract, or feel you’re going in the wrong direction with a client it is important to pause, Stay.

There is nothing wrong with taking a day, a week, to consider your options. It is safer to do this then to run ahead without accepting the consequences one choice might have versus another. It is also important, that after examining your options you take the next step forward in whichever direction you choose to head.

The Stay command is ALWAYS followed by Free, or Come. No dog, or writer, can remain stationary forever. A choice must be made and action taken to follow through.

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When I was a teenager my mother thought it would be important to strengthen my self-confidence by putting me in charge of training the family dog. Toby and I enrolled in obedience classes and became the best of friends. My confidence grew and along with it, my interest in animals and the structured processes involved in teaching.

Over the years, young Toby grew into older Toby. Despite having been a visitor, not the head of his pack, our bond remains. I’ve taken on the full time care of Toby in our new home and it is good to see much of the groundwork, laid so long ago, remains as a foundation on which to rebuild.

The First Lesson: Toby, Sit!

The first lesson young puppies learn is to sit on command. Their emotions are high and, surrounded by other young dogs, their excitement is set to burst. Sit is the command that focuses their attention. It calls them to listen to their owner, be prepared, be calm, be still.

Writer, Sit!

As writers we need to learn this command for ourselves. It is important to sit. We must ground ourselves, be prepared, be calm, be still. We need to practice lowering our energy levels and pulling our focus into our work. Be in the moment and be ‘the writer’ in that moment.

Learn to put aside distractions, stresses, and emotional chaos. Take on the BIC (Butt in Chair) challenge. Carve time for your writing and in any moment dig for your center; turn your attention to the work at hand. Ignore outside influences, ignore the crowded, noisy fast food outlet in the background, and put the children into a buffer for a few minutes or an hour. (I’m writing this while my three and seven year olds play outside at our local McDonald’s.). Set a timer if it helps you begin. “Writer, SIT!”

Writer, Stay!

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Dog Train Your Writing Skills Series. Next we’ll focus on two more vital commands that begin the training process, heel and stay. These commands have an interesting tie to writing and can influence the direction of your progress and your success.

What do you do to keep your writer’s training and obedience intact? Do you command yourself to sit frequently? How do you find that sense of calm and quiet when chaos abounds?

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