Erica Martin is a freelance writer and the founder of MyEbookJourney.com. At My Ebook Journey she provides unbiased book review and advice for readers.
Question: Where are you from?
Answer: I live in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on the East Coast of the United States. I've also lived in several other states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, and Massachusetts.
Question: How long have you been freelancing?
Answer: I've been freelancing since 2008. I've done freelance writing and transcription for different websites, such as Yahoo, which no longer hires freelance writers, as well as others. Now I have a self-hosted websites – My eBook Journey, where I talk about what I've gone through writing my eBooks, and also publish other posts that might be interesting to other people that are in the process of writing eBooks, and also Work at Home Tips Online, where I publish posts about different topics that help people who work from home or want to work from home.
Question: Which is your favorite place to get freelance jobs?
Answer: My favorite place to get freelance jobs is Upwork – that site and Elance (before they merged with Odesk and became Upwork) are the two sites I've used most often to get freelance jobs, whether they've been writing jobs, transcription jobs, or other types of jobs. I've also done some work on Fiverr.
Question: Do you sometimes feel down, and unproductive? If you do, what do you think are the main causes in your case?
Answer: Yes I do. In my case I think it's lack of motivation, or wanting to do other things, especially when I'm working in my office and I hear my husband in the other room laughing at something he's watching on TV. When that happens I usually end up joining him, at least for a little while until he either falls asleep or decides to go do something else.
Question: What do you do get motivated again?
Answer: As I said in my previous answer, I usually end up joining my husband on the couch for a bit watching TV. In other cases I'll either listen to fast-paced, motivating music, or I'll switch to a different project – sometimes I find my lack of motivation is because I'm bored with whatever project I'm working on.
Question: Which motivational speakers do you listen to?
Answer: I don't listen to any motivational speakers on a regular basis, though I have listened to Jim Rohn and other motivational speakers in the past. I find that it's hard to listen to motivational speakers unless I really have the time to focus on what they're saying, which I usually don't.
Question: What advice would you give to the new freelancer just starting?
Answer: Make a plan for when you plan to work on your freelance projects, especially if you're also working another job, like I am. And don't be afraid to network – you can get some great advice, not to mention contacts for other freelance jobs, if you network on different sites.
Closing:
Thank you so much Erica Martin for your time and sharing with us.
TAKEAWAY #1: Make a plan for when you plan to work on your freelance projects.
TAKEAWAY #2: Don't be afraid to network – you can get some great advice, not to mention contacts for other freelance jobs.
Check out Erica Martin on Facebook, Twitter and her website ericalynnmartin.com
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4 Responses
Great interview Vince, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my advice and experiences. I should mention that since you originally did this interview with me, I’ve moved to Kannapolis, North Carolina, where my husband and I bought a house almost 18 months ago. I also currently have myebookjourney.com offline because I’m making some changes to it. I still have workathometipsonline.com going strong though, and ericalynnmartin.com, my business website is also starting to attract some clients.
Thank you Erica, for the updates. I’ll make the changes right away! Also my apologies for taking this long to publish. It’s good to know great things are happening in your business. Best wishes!
Thanks Vince, aslo, I wanted to mention that I recently entered my first writing contest. You and your readers can read and comment on my entry here: https://nuhafoundation.org/home/blog/bloggingentries/2018/adult/how-to-decrease-misunderstandings-and-increase-cooperation-by-listening-to-understand/#.W9hWwmhKiUk
That’s great thanks!