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Get stories from an adventurous writer, fly fisher, and content marketer. After 25 years of writing I've learned a thing or two, join me as I share that knowledge, offer up insight in surviving as a writer, and talk about fishing (and nature and marketing and whatever else is on my mind that day).

Featured Post

The power of slowing down

Hi Reader, When was the last time you actually slowed down? Not just for a day, but for long enough to start noticing what’s going on in your business. It’s probably been a while, hasn’t it? Hustle culture kind of demands that we go, go, go all the time, leaving us little room to slow down, stop, or even pause for any real length of time. However, if you don’t slow down, you can’t hear your business speak to you. I know it sounds a bit woo, but the reality is when you're going fast all the...

Hi Reader, Sorry for the double send. It was brought to my attention that something went wrong with my first attempt. ***** In my last email, I talked about how important having a solid network is. It’s one of the most important parts of your business that isn’t actually working. But, what happens when you’re not the best at connecting with people? It’s harder, for one, to grow your network. This is something that always held me back. I’m not really a people person. I mean, I’m friendly...

Hi Reader, In my last email, I talked about how important having a solid network is. It’s one of the most important parts of your business that isn’t actually working. But, what happens when you’re not the best at connecting with people? It’s harder, for one, to grow your network. This is something that always held me back. I’m not really a people person. I mean, I’m friendly enough and I get along well with most people, but getting out there and meeting new people? That’s definitely not my...

Hi Reader, The other day I posted a reminder to myself on LinkedIn about a task I wanted to finally complete. I’d been putting it off for a while and was sick of looking at it on my to-do list. After I posted, about half a dozen friends and well-wishers responded with words of encouragement and one person said they’d check in. Sure enough, 12 hours later I crossed the item off my list and let everyone know who commented on my post that it was done. It was a good reminder that even though I...

Hi Reader, One of the hardest aspects of being a creative business owner can be getting started. Well, maybe not quite getting started. That’s often pretty easy. The challenge comes with keeping it at. Momentum is a tricky thing to build. Even now, 13 years into freelancing full-time (and 25 years into my career) I struggle with it. In fact, it’s the reason why I started off strong with this newsletter and then seemingly stopped (that and jetlag). Sometimes the shiny wears off a new idea and...

When I first started thinking about this newsletter, one of the important themes that emerged was freedom. The idea that I was free to do as I pleased with my career, time, and efforts was ultimately a huge part of why I started freelancing in the first place. I wasn’t tied to one company. I wasn’t answering to people I didn’t respect. I wasn’t forced to work when I didn’t want to. I was free to structure my life as I pleased. The longer I stayed in business, the more this became a central...

Hi Reader, I’m not going to lie. The hardest thing about starting a newsletter, at least for me, has always been thinking about what I’m going to write. I have the same issue with social media a lot of the time. I have things to say, I just never feel confident saying them. Rather than let another year pass without at least trying an email list, I asked my network what people would like to hear about. This turned out to be the best idea because the wonderful Natalie Smithson asked me a great...