We just spent the weekend rearranging our office space. Not my favourite way to spend a weekend, but in the last couple of weeks we’ve both found that we’ve been really unproductive: we’ve been working in a mess of coffee cups and scrap paper, and with the weather getting colder, it’s not conducive to getting anything useful done.

Sure, we could have just cleaned up the office. But with the state it was in, it was just as easy to take out almost all the furniture and start again. And it means:
- The scanner and the printer aren’t a dumping ground for notes and papers I plan to deal with later: my filing boxes are right next to me
- We no longer have to point the stereo remote under the desk to get at the other table it was on
- We have wall space for a whiteboard
- If I need to scoot round to look at something on Matt’s monitor, I can get my chair round without it getting stuck
- I’m tucked away in a nice little corner, which I love
- The floor is no longer littered with receipts and general detritus
- I don’t have to sweep stuff out of the way to put my coffee cup down
- I don’t get the glare of the window behind me because I’ve moved over half a metre
- Thanks to the glorious invention that is the cable tidy, I don’t have cables covering my workspace
- The room itself feels bigger and less cramped.

The upshot of this is that this week I’ve come back to work with a bit more motivation. It’s like having had a break and coming back with renewed vigour, and having made more efficient use of our space means that I feel more able and inclined to make more efficient use of my time.

The best part: we managed to keep our cat’s favourite sleeping spot intact. So it’s win-win for everyone – though he’s still looking askance at the new space and I don’t think he agrees.

This has to be one of the best no-nonsense titles I’ve ever seen. A reader picks it up and thinks, what do I want to do? Write copy and make (more) money. Maybe this will help?

It will.

I’ve been wanting to check this book out for a while now; Write to Sell was the first book about copywriting I read, and I’ve subsequently bought The Copywriting Sourcebook as well, which I’ll probably review next time I’m short of a topic for a blog post. I like Maslen as a writer: he’s accessible and easy to read, without coming across as condescending. There are even a few chuckles. That can be hard to pull off in these types of books.

As you’ll read elsewhere, this isn’t a book about the art/science of copywriting. It assumes you’re already a copywriter, either with your own business or looking to go it alone. This is a book about how to make money from doing it.

As in any of these books, some parts are more useful than others. It’s very much aimed at the real beginner business owners, and some parts, such as the section on sole trading versus limited liability companies, I was able to skim having made my choice more than two years ago. That said, I side with Maslen on which is better, so I’d say it’s sound advice.

Perhaps the thing I like most about this book is that it doesn’t pretend that the freelance copywriting biz is an easy road. I’m seriously sick of hearing tales about people who quit their job to go freelance, and just a few months later were not only earning more than ever before, they were only working three hours a day.  (Usually they’re just a bit vague on the details of how they got there.) I was also pleased to see him impressing on the reader the importance of time off – I also get a bit sick of these freelance writing zealots who claim that they work from 4am to 10pm and that’s the only way you’ll get ahead. (You certainly won’t get much else in life done.)

The chapter on winning your first copywriting job is one of the best, and one I wish I’d had when I started. Would it have changed my approach? Possibly not. Would it have helped my confidence? Probably. The section on pricing is also a good one to read: the number one question I see online, and occasionally get asked, is whether charging by the hour or by the project is better, and here you’ll find nice, reasoned arguments with actual ballpark figures to think about.

It does have its weak points. The section at the end that includes interviews with other copywriters was one I found myself skimming. That said, when I did make more of an effort to read it, I realised that there are so many ways to go about the business of copywriting, and that one person’s word is never necessarily gospel. Conversely, there are some things that are a pretty common experience to us all. And I think that was probably the point Maslen was trying to make.

Write Copy, Make Money: a good read for the seasoned pro and the beginner. Just don’t expect all the answers without having to do some thinking for yourself. (And if you don’t want to think for yourself, what are you doing in business?)

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Unlike many self-employed people, I like networking events. I see it as being a bit like something else I enjoy: vintage clothes shopping. Yeah, it’s girly, but hear me out.

Image: Flickr user Rex Roof

Picture this: you’re in a shop that’s a mess of muddled clothes racks, shoes, hats and bags scattered around. Where do you start? You pick a likely-looking rack and start picking through it. Nothing for you. You pick another rack, flick through it. Nothing. Undeterred, because there’s always something interesting (hey, wow, a garish tie-dyed leather jacket! A fuchsia 1980s bridesmaid’s dress!), you keep picking through rack after rack, and you hit paydirt. Maybe it’s something you’ve always hoped to find. Or maybe it’s something you immediately fall in love with and know you’ll have a long happy life together.

Now picture this: you’re in a conference hall, groups of people milling everywhere. Where do you start? You pick a circle of friendly-looking chatting people, say hello, and butt in. They’re talking about the session on jQuery, which you didn’t attend and know nothing about, but you politely stay for a few minutes. Maybe you quietly move on then, picking your way through more groups, maybe you stay when the topic changes to something you know about, maybe you strike up a one-on-one conversation with someone there that leads to the exchange of business cards.

See some similarities? If you try to just relax and go with the flow, networking can be fun. Don’t put pressure on yourself; that’s how you go all shy and become the wallflower who neither gets nor gives business cards. Don’t go in there with the expectation that you’ve GOT to get new clients there; you’ll come off as being desperate. I’ve chatted with people at events about all kinds of things, from copywriting to travelling to dog training. Almost all of them have been extremely nice, and it’s a good buzz when they seem genuinely interested in what you do and ask for a business card.

Okay, there’s an element of luck – just happening to start talking to someone who’s interested in working with you – that a lot of people don’t like, and I get that; but I’d argue that many things in life are a question of right place, right time. And in this age of words on a screen, what’s not to like about a little face-to-face contact?