Despite the radio silence here on SFW of the past few months, I've been busily working on new writing gigs and projects.  The reason I've been cranking up the output is that as the economy slows (and according to the "experts" I'm listening to, that's a given) I believe freelancers are possibly in the best position to make something of the situation.

How?  By doing what we do as freelancers: Get creative.

My projects right now include some writing for other folks - blogs, articles - but also writing a lot of web content for my own web sites and publications.  In other words, I don't just think of myself as a writer, but as the owner of publishing business.  Blogs, websites, ebooks, and also providing writing "services" for clients; these and many other products are my company's business. (If you haven't seen the interviews and resoruces on my Freebies page, check out the Tiffany Dow interview to see how someone can take action to build a business as a writer.)

Writers who think of themselves only as "writers", who look for freelance "jobs" and "clients" all day, and work primarily on stuff other people will own, could be missing out big opportunities.  As a publisher, I write all I want, on anything I want, whenever I want - but I also hire other writers and designers, to build my own assets including Web "real estate" and other intellectual property.  Writers who work as publishers controlling their own content stand to weather the storm over the next few years, by opening up their options to sell not just to clients, but also directly to readers and consumers.

To light your creative fire, here are posts with ideas you can use to leverage your biggest asset - your creativity - in a financially-tightening marketplace.  One of my favorites is Pamela Slim's post in June about what to do if the economy's got your down.

Here's another post from Seth Godin's blog, about how to maintain your competitive advantage.  If you don't read his blog on a regular basis, start now, if you want to not only keep your head above water, but thrive, no matter the economy.

What are you doing now to grow and build your business?

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