Those of us who have had to work a full time job while launching a writing career know that it’s no easy task, for a variety of reasons. What people sometimes fail to realize is working a day job that has nothing to do with writing can also give you a huge advantage. Being in the workforce can teach you many valuable lessons that can be applied directly to your writing career.
Building Your Brand
Look at any successful writer’s career and all of them have effectively coined their, “brand.” This is consistency...your own unique voice or way of telling a story. Once developed it’s a golden thread that runs through all of your projects and will keep core readers who resonate with your style coming back for more. Working in your intended genre should feel natural and organic, like breathing. When you have identified your natural, “brand” this will be the key to attracting your niche readership. Also, pay close attention to your reputation and guard it with your life.
“Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don’t own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your “blind” date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto." – Tim Ferriss
Be Punctual
Respect other people’s time, this one simple act will gain you a lot of respect in any business, especially creative careers. Let’s face it, creative people (myself included) are so often lost in thought we can appear to be scatterbrained and lackadaisical. There is an incredibly talented pool of writers out there and the competition is fierce. Make a serious effort to set yourself apart from the crowd by becoming trustworthy and a pleasure to do business with.
Deliver on Your Promises
You must prove to the world that you’re serious about your career. I learned a valuable secret from working in my corporate career, habitually under promise and over deliver. This not only has a tendency to impress but it takes pressure off of you when trying to juggle many responsibilities at once. If you think you can complete a project in a month, promise it in a month and a half or two months. You will quickly establish a reputation with everyone you deal with for being the rock star that you are.
“Over deliver on promises and deadlines. Show up early, deliver your product early, and deliver more than you promised. Over deliver now, and in the future, you will be overpaid.” - Clay Clark”
Practice Respect (You Get What You Give)
Be respectful and professional with everyone and try to, “Pay It Forward” when you can. Whether people are several rungs higher on the ladder than you are or just on the ground floor of the business they all deserve the same amount of respect. Along with the quality of your work, your reputation is your greatest asset. Once you’ve achieved a certain amount of success in your career writers will flock to you for advice and, at times, it can feel overwhelming.
It has become my practice, as often as possible, to share what I have learned and offer advice when asked. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to write this Indie Author Series. I feel a great affinity towards anyone undertaking creative endeavors, especially writing. Being a writer can be an extremely rough road but sharing the lessons you have learned can save another writer from the pain of your mistakes and help to provide them with the quantum leap they need to be successful.
Stay Positive
Keep your communications positive when posting on your social media outlets. With time, it is very easy to get comfortable and start posting details of your personal life. This is okay to do sometimes because people are naturally curious but it is best to keep the more negative aspects of your life off of social media and to keep certain aspects of your personal life, well, personal. Attract the quality of readers you want by keeping your communications positive. Lift people up, don’t bring them down and they will reward you for it by coming back and continuing to support you and your work.
Also, you will find some readers who, “like” your Facebook author page or upvote your posts may also search your personal social media accounts and request you as a personal friend. Although I value my readers greatly, for obvious reasons, I’m very selective about who I let into my personal life. If I have no personal connection with a person I do not accept the invitation to connect to my personal accounts. As your writing career progresses this practice becomes increasingly important.
Utilizing All Available Resources
Take advantage of any in-house courses that you can apply to your writing career or tuition reimbursement that the company you work for provides. Once you begin to view your day job not as a curse or a burden but as a stepping stone and opportunity to further enhance your writing career it can really spark a shift in perception that improves your mood and outlook as well as the quality of your day to day life. This change in attitude might just save your sanity.
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(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
Eric Vance Walton - Media
