As I mentioned in yesterday’s What’s Up Wednesdays post, there is very little in terms of formal training and education when it comes to the business of freelance writing. This applies to the phenomenon of working at home in general and the experience can be terribly confusing for someone looking to get their feet wet. Thankfully, there are people out there who have been there, done that, and want to share their knowledge with you.

The first person to take advantage of my half price review special (which runs until the end of this month) is Chris De La Rosa. He runs Obzokee.com, a blog that is meant to provide “a work from home truth.”

What is Obzokee?

According to the about page, Obzokee “is a word traditionally used in Trinidad & Tobago when something is awkward in appearance, anything bent or twisted out of shape.” As you know, the entire work from home industry is a pretty jumbled mess, filled with scams and charlatans. There are also some fantastic opportunities out there as well. Obzokee is a blog that demystifies the industry, helping you to “secure a work from home, contract, freelance or telecommute job.” Along the way, you may learn a thing or two about earning passive income too.

The overall design of this work from home blog is quite pleasing to the eye. The gentle blues and oranges are quite soothing. Navigation seems straight-forward enough, but I do find it strange that there are two sets of navigation links near the top of the page. I would recommend trimming the fat and integrating the two sets of links into a single navigation bar. The Twitter link could be pushed to the sidebar, for example. I’d also recommend getting a more unique header image, because I recognize the two pictures involved as stock photography.

Reading About Working From Home

I appreciate the personal touch that Chris has taken with Obzokee. All the posts are written from a personal perspective and it’s not uncommon for him to mention his family in a post. The about page gives a bit of a personal history as well, though I find it strange that with this much intimacy, not a single picture of Chris can be found anywhere on the site. Completing the personal touch with a photo on the About page can go a long way.

In terms of content, Obzokee covers just about anything that you’d want to know about finding jobs that you can do from the comfort of your home, as well as all the related administrative and customer service-related tasks that come along with the territory. Some posts that caught my eye are:

• Pray that your better-half gets a benefit package at work
• Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it
• Your desk was not designed to be an eating place
• How to stand out from your peers and stay employed longer

Those are all from the month of June. Obzokee has an archive that dates back to July 2006 and Chris De La Rosa maintains a posting schedule of about one article every day or two. If you want to get in on the action, Chris also invites you to write for him too.

A Few More Suggestions

Chris has a pretty good thing going for him with Obzokee. As gas prices continue to soar and more people seek greater independence, there is going to be a greater demand for information about working from home. Whether you’re looking for help designing a home office or ensuring that your virtual assistant stays happy, Chris is there to guide you every step of the way.

As I mentioned earlier, the overall design of Obzokee is reasonably pleasing to the eye, but it is getting a little cluttered. Chris is not shy about advertising, but the banners are not overly intrusive. I would like to see a streamlining of the navigational links, however, especially since he’s even got a link to a couple of external sites in there.

Furthermore, I would like to see a simpler archives page, because it’s not exactly usable as it stands. Something closer to my archives would be more suitable.

Don’t let the oddball name throw you off, because Obzokee looks to be a good resource for people who want to work from home. Be sure to subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss a thing.

Oh, retirement. For some people, it means the end of working for the man and finally being able to enjoy life without restraint. No longer will you need to wake up early each morning, put on a monkey suit, or sit in a cubicle all day long. No longer do you have to deal with the day-to-day tasks related to raising a family, because the kids are probably all grown up and having families of their own. Maybe you can finally take that world cruise that you’ve been dreaming about all these years.

Sounds pretty appealing, right? Although freelance writers lead a slightly different existence than those who hold conventional jobs, they are just as inclined to yearn for the day when they can retire. Writing can be fun, but it has its frustrating (and even infuriating) moments at times. Retirement can offer reprieve and escape from these unpleasantries.

The Mind of a Writer

Let’s face it. While a livable — or even impressive — income can be earned as a freelancer, most people who get into this business don’t do so for the money. It’s because they love to write. I enjoy playing with new gadgets all day and then expressing my opinion on them. I enjoy writing these blog posts, not only because it organizes my thoughts, but also because I know that there are people out there who actually care to read my thoughts. That’s gratifying above and beyond the money side of things.

When you work for a company, you could be forced into retirement at a certain age. Even if you are not, conventional wisdom and social pressures will lead you to punch out that time card for the last time at some point. However, when you run your own business (like a freelance writer), there isn’t the same kind of social pressure and there is no such thing as forced retirement. You can call it quits at 30 just as easily as you can call it quits at 80. Even so, for a writer who loves writing, there’s no reason to hang ‘em up at the age of 30.

What Would Retirement Entail?

A writer’s retirement would be no different than anyone else’s. Presumably, a writer would want to take a few vacations and travel the world. Maybe they’d like to move permanently to somewhere with sunnier climes. Perhaps they’d join a few local social clubs and learn how to play lawn bowling.

The biggest critical difference between the retirement of a freelance writer and the retirement of someone else is that the former will not have a company pension plan, presumably, on which to live out his or her golden years. A person with a regular job should still have a savings plan in place above and beyond what their employer may offer, but at least the company pension is there. For a freelancer, they’ve only got themselves. This is much the same scenario as with sick days.

Before a writer can retire, just like any other entrepreneur, a fairly significant nest egg will need to have been developed and sustained.

Why Writers Can Never Really Retire

Writers write because they love to write. It doesn’t matter if it’s writing about technology, public affairs, or anything else. Writing is a passion. In this way, while freelance writers and authors may start to ramp down their level of production as they enter their golden years, I find it unlikely that writers ever truly retire. I plan on blogging for the rest of my life (assuming that blogs still exist), even if I don’t earn another dime. Not that I’d be opposed to getting an extra dollar or two along the way.

This post is in response to Handing out Headlines by Nick of RomanDock.com.

While there are certainly some misconceptions about the business of freelance writing, working from home also has a good number of advantages. I don’t have to suffer through gridiron traffic during a daily commute and I have a relative level of freedom when it comes to setting my work schedule. That said, a shortcoming to freelancing is the fact that you work in relative isolation. It can prove to be a pretty lonely experience.

When you work in an office environment, you are generally surrounded by like-minded individuals. Your working environment may not be quite as quirky as the one portrayed in The Office, Dilbert, or Office Space, but there is a certain level of co-worker camaraderie. You can gather around the water cooler and discuss politics. You can complain to one another about a malfunctioning photocopier. You can even participate in a great office war, if that’s your kind of thing. For freelancers and other work-at-home professionals, this simply does not exist.

Online Interactions Supplant Real Life Ones

I asked the Twitter community what they do to overcome the lack of co-worker camaraderie when they work from home, and the use of instant messengers came up as a suitable replacement for water cooler conversations. Whether it be through Twitter, Google Talk, Windows Live, AIM, or whatever, it’s not hard to “talk” to other freelancers in real time.

Using these tools, you can talk politics just like you would around the water cooler. Better still, you can instantly share useful tips, funny pictures, and other things that you find on the net. If you gather a good group of online friends, it’s almost like you are working in the same office, even if you are not working for the same company.

Replacing Co-Workers with Surrogates

The silence is deafening! Working by yourself in a home office every day can be enough to drive some people mad. Part of the reason why some people opt for a career in freelance writing in the first place is so that they can stay home with their families. Spending time with the kids is fun and all, but don’t forget that you still need to get work done!

Instead of actual co-workers, just having some companionship at home can go a long way. Zac Johnson has a dog, for example, and I used to have a rabbit. If you’re not so inclined to take care of an animal, then you may want to consider the Stephen Fung route and stare at Flip Flap all day. Alternatively, you can do like Israel Lagares and watch your money grow.

Real Life Networking

In the end, the absolute best way to overcome the lack of interaction with real life coworkers is to get out there and network with like-minded individuals in the real world. I look forward to Dot Com Pho every week, not so much because of the Vietnamese noodles that I consume, but more because of the interaction I get with other online entrepreneurs.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed from our videos, lunch with moguls can be pretty fun.

Inspiration for blog posts can come from all sorts of places. Maybe You heard about something on television or you had an interesting conversation with a friend. One of the best places to get blog post ideas is from the rest of the blogosphere. This is especially true when you get called out by your fellow blogger. (Don’t worry, Nick, I haven’t forgotten about your headline.)

I recently got tagged by Damien Riley to write about someone that I admire. It has been difficult to narrow it down to just one person. Along the way, I considered authors like Bill Watterson and Michael Crichton. I thought about entertainers like Jay Leno and Robin Williams. And then it hit me that one of the most influential people in my life is someone with whom I went to high school: Joseph Planta.

Who is Joseph Planta?

Most of the readers of Beyond the Rhetoric may not be terribly familiar with Joseph, but I did post an interview with him in this space some time back. Joseph Planta is the Founding Editor of The Commentary, a site that is mostly focused on entertainment and politics.

Most of the attention on The Commentary is currently being paid to the On The Line interview segment. Among the guests that Joseph has had in the past are Rafe Mair, Grant Fuhr, Rachel Marsden, and Jerry Wasserman. There is also a column on the site where Joseph expounds his opinion on a wide variety of topics, most recently discussing Frank Sinatra.

Why is Joseph Planta Important?

If it weren’t for Joseph, I’m not sure if I would have ever gotten into journalism, blogging, and freelance writing in the first place. Let me explain.

The Commentary didn’t always have a website. It got its humble beginnings as an email newsletter back in our high school days. Inspired by Joseph’s column, I decided to start an email newsletter of my own called Now That’s Entertainment. That eventually matured into a Geocities site, which in turn became Beyond the Rhetoric years later. If I were not inspired by the original email version of The Commentary, I would have never started Now That’s Entertainment. NTE is my precursor to blogging.

In like accord, it was through The Commentary that I got my start with covering community events and trade shows. I attended a pet expo, a car show, a skateboard competition, and more under the banner of The Commentary. If it wasn’t for this experience, I would not have been as well equipped to cover larger trade shows like CES in Las Vegas and COMPUTEX in Taipei.

Considering these two elements today, it is perfectly fathomable that I would have never started blogging or launched a freelance writing career if it were not for Joseph Planta and The Commentary. Even though the latter is not nearly as monetized as it could be, Joseph remains motivated to keep the site updated. It is his passion, and for that, I admire him.

Who Inspires or Influences You the Most?

Is there someone in your life from whom you draw inspiration? It could be a family member, a close friend, or even a celebrity who you know through proxy. I encourage you to participate in the Amazing Visions writing contest being hosted by Damien Riley. There are free backlinks and great prizes to be won.

Running a freelance writing business is really not all that different than running any other kind of business. You need to get in contact with your clients on a regular basis, communicating with them to ensure that you are staying on track and delivering exactly the product that they desire. Writing for a technology blog on a daily basis is definitely not the same as ghostwriting a book on how to make money online.

Most freelance writers, myself included, make extensive use of email to communicate with clients. While it may be true that email can stunt your productivity, it is still the most efficient and convenient way to exchange information. Because accurate records are kept on both sides of the conversation, you can minimize the number of disputes down the line. Contrast this to the lack of records typically associated with phone calls and you’ll see why email can be so useful.

Fax Provides Paper in Hand

Living in such a high-tech society, some freelancers and other business owners may be wondering if they still need a fax machine. Email is great and all, but some customers still want a physical piece of paper in their hands. This is especially true when it comes to forms and signatures. In addition to the fax machine itself, you’ll still have to deal with toner and paper. Is it still worth it to invest in a fax machine that you may not use all that often anyways?

I did make use of a fax machine as part of the process to get my business card done. Even so, it would have been much more convenient for me if I could just handle that side of things through email instead. I also use my fax machine for courier-related documents from time to time.

Fax Machines Go Virtual, Online

An interesting service that I came across recently was eFax Plus. In a nutshell, eFax Plus provides you with a virtual fax machine. There’s no need for a physical phone line or fax machine, because all faxes can be sent and received via email. From the customer’s point of view, it’s as if you have a regular fax machine, because you can associate your eFax Plus account with a local phone number. It seems pretty seamless and easy to use. Best of all, there’s no maintenance.

To get things started, they offer a 30-day free trial. After that, the monthly fee (for Canadians) is $12.95. That’s cheaper than a regular phone line. If I didn’t already have a physical fax machine and if I had more fax volume (I’ve only sent two faxes in the last six months), I would seriously have to consider signing up for this virtual fax machine service.

Yay or Nay to Freelancer Fax Machines?

Do freelancers still need a fax machine? I’d say that it depends on the nature of your freelance writing business. If the majority of your clients operate online, then you may not need one. On the other hand, if you have clients who need forms faxed and they prefer to deal with you on an offline basis, then a fax machine may prove useful. A virtual fax machine could be even better.

Earlier this month, I did a freelance Q&A session for an edition of What’s Up Wednesdays. Readers could send me any questions that they had about the freelance writing business and I tried to answer them to the best of my ability. Naturally, I don’t write in a vacuum and I draw inspiration from other freelancers. Here are a few posts from others in the ‘biz that may prove interesting to you.

Bob Younce has a rather major freelancing confession to make. As it turns out, he was once a work-at-home mom. Writing for parenting and pregnancy websites as a Jewish woman from Atlanta is a little easier than, well, writing as anyone from the male gender. Have you branded yourself into a corner?

Chris Bibey realizes that there is a lot to track when you run a freelance business and that’s why organization is essential. Chris keeps track of invoices and other matters both electronically and on paper, just in case. What do you do to stay organized?

Sharon Hurley Hall has managed to make quite the name for herself both in the blogosphere and in the world of freelance writing. Part of this success can be attributed to her dedication to self-promotion. Who is going to toot your own horn quite as loud as you?

James Chartrand sees that freelancers are still trading hours for dollars, so he’s working to achieve freedom from freelancing. How can you separate yourself from your brand? What about passive income?

Daily Writing Tips wonders how short can you go when it comes to writing a short story. Strictly speaking, a short story is anything shorter than a novel. DWT challenges its readers to write a complete story in under 100 words. Can you create a compelling narrative under such a restriction?