Tag Archives: iPhone

advice

Phone Interviews: A Few Tips To Get Started

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Everyone knows by now that I am a huge iPhone fan, but this post actually isn’t directly about that particular phone. It’s a post about interviewing by phone. I thought I’d share a tip or two about this, since I had to learn on the fly. I paid my dues heavily when I first started out in this biz. Now, you can benefit from my mistakes! In that spirit, I’d like to share a few things with you here:

  1. If you are going to interview by phone–prepare. Take at least 15 minutes before you call (or get the call) to go over what you know about the person and their related business or company. Pull up their webpage on your computer if you can. Jot down a few notes. It makes a huge difference if you are ready to go.
  2. Jot down a few questions in case it’s hard to get things started. You don’t have to use them, but it can help if you get stuck.
  3. Have them tell you a little about themselves to get things warmed up. Let them ramble a bit and then take notes on anything you’d like to come back to later.
  4. If you get someone who rambles too much, don’t be afraid to re-direct the conversation. Be gentle, but firm.
  5. At the end of the interview, check your facts. Go over statistics and figures to make sure you have them right. Ask them to spell their name and title. This is extremely important.

Just a few thoughts to get you going. Joe and I will be touching on this subject more as the New Year progresses, so stay tuned for more interview tips!

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Snap Tell

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Hello iPhone users……a quick “App” suggestion for writers out there…..snaptell can be found in the App Store and is a neat thing to have handy–plus, it’s free. Writers are generally readers, and this application works with books, DVDs and CDs as well. Simply snap a picture of the cover and you will instantly get back comprehensive information such as reviews and more on the item. Regular cell phone users can use it too. Simply take a photo of the cover and send to fun@snaptell.com.

gear, lifestyle

Testing the iPhone WordPress App

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I downloaded the WordPress app for the iPhone today and thought I’d try writing a post from the phone.

It is a bit of a pain the arse to use-I’d never want you to an article from the iPhone, but for quickie posts like this it can be quite handy.

Soon I will try posting via this app from the train and see how it goes. If you want to try the app yourself, just search in the iPhone App Store using “wordpress ” as your keyword. It’s the one simply called “WordPress”.

advice, editorial, gear, lifestyle

Strategic Tax Write-Offs

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First things first: this is NOT tax advice. I am simply telling you what I do to protect myself. Use this info at your own risk and don’t say I didn’t warn you to get the advice of a tax expert before committing to a financial strategy like this. I take no responsibility for…anything every anwhere. Nyah nyah.

Onward.

One of the best things in the world any freelancer can do for themselves is to–this Monday–gather up all the year’s receipts and tally them up. Compare your deductions to how much you think you’re going to owe on your 2008 tax form.  If you don’t know how to do that, consider how much money you made this year, calculate approximately 22% to 28% of that sum as your taxable income. If you made 30K this year, chances are you’ll be closer to 22%. If you made more than 50K chances are you’re edging closer to 28%. (These are guesstimate figures, folks. Do your homework.)

Once you have a number, take a good look at your office equipment, your desk, your phone, and anything else that might need to be repaired, replaced, upgraded or purchased as a legitimate enhancement to your business. Do you have a resume website? Are you conducting business on your home phone instead of a dedicated line? Does your computer have a date stamped on it older than 2005?

If you are in dire need of some additional deductions, consider making some FY2008 last-minute purchases that legitimately apply to your freelancing business. You have two choices–you can pay the money you’d spend (and legally deduct) to the government, or you can take any deduction you’re entitled to by law and improve the state of your freelancing business in preparation for 2009. Continue reading Strategic Tax Write-Offs →

advice, gear, lifestyle

Five New Year’s Resolutions

Sure, it’s a few weeks early to be obsessing over New Year’s resolutions, but here are my current five favorites for 2009:

5. Pay attention to my back.  2008 has been full of bad ergonomics, couch-slouching with the laptop and overall crappy posture. If I want to be writing comfortably at my desk for any length of time, I’m going to have to pay more attention to good ergonomics. Otherwise, I’ll wind up looking with a nickname like “Jerry the Pretzel Boy”.

4. Stop working around the clock. Another bad habit I fell into late this year. Writers go freelance presumably so they can have a life. Where’s mine? Oh, there it is, buried under those deadlines over there. Smell the roses, you.

3. Exercise more. This one ties directly into #5. The mind-body connection cannot be ignored when it comes to cranking out good, dependable material…unless you are Hunter S. Thompson…and he’s dead now. So what’s MY excuse?

2. Buy a damn filing cabinet. All of 2008’s receipts are currently overflowing out of TWO boxes, and it’s a shameful state of affairs. Organization is the key to good record keeping.

1. Buy an iPhone. Yes, I plan on becoming ONE of THEM. Tully beat me to it on this one, usually I’m more geeked out than that. This year they caught me napping.

I currently plan on keeping ALL these resolutions…but especially #1. If I do nothing else next year, the iPhone is on the list. THEN I’ll climb Kilamanjaro, cure an infectious disease and spread world peace.

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For Writers: The Mighty iPhone

Well folks–I finally took the plunge! Yesterday I bought an iPhone; and I couldn’t be happier. E-mail at my whim? Yes please. Research on the road. Oh yeah. A GPS at your fingertips? I’ll have some of that.

This phone truly is a dream–especially for writers. I updated my contact list right away, so I have editors phone numbers and e-mail info with me at all times. I browsed all of the fun applications and am deciding on what to get. (There is one particularly cool app that gives you a wider keyboard for composing and responding to e-mails. VERY handy.) I can make conversation with my editor pals in Boston about the weather there–I programmed it into my phone. And now I won’t have to do the math on the time difference between here and Hong Kong for my latest overseas client.

I’d say oh so much more–but I have to get back to my iPhone.

It comes highly recommended.