The Freelance Writing Trenches: The Joys of a Professional Website

I've been punching at random buttons on websites and verification links in emails for the last hour and a half. I'm in the process of renewing my "professional" website's domain. Last January, when I set up the website, I assumed renewing my website's domain would be a walk in the park, something I could do in a semi-conscious state.   

Au contraire!

Why do I even have this &@#%! website, I grumbled to myself as I searched for yet another authorization code. And why do I bother with a "professional" website when I already have this kick-ass blog, you may wonder.

I have a few reasons for wanting a professional website for my freelance writing business:

1) It looks fancy. I believe the whole "dress to impress" business applies to the web as well. If I want to be viewed as a professional freelance writer than I bloody well ought to act like one. Having that website in my email signature just makes me feel more legit. And by feeling more legit, maybe you become more legit? (I don't know.)

2) It's good organization. This blog is lovely, but this blog is also all over the place. While I'm sure editors are dying get my wild rice venison sausage recipe or know that the Christmas tree finally went up, unfortunately, most editors probably don't have time to read through the Of Woods and Words archives to figure out who I am and whether or not I'm able to handle the writing gig they're thinking about giving me. My website provides a terse presentation of who I am and what I'm about. I can organize clips and link to my published works on a portfolio page which makes my professional website an easy place to send editors. And yes, I have referred editors to my website and have ended up getting a contract out it. Bam!

3) I own my domain. Granted, the domain I own for my professional website probably wasn't going to get snapped up anytime soon. But if I put off buying my domain, it might have gotten taken for some flukey reason before I could get to it. That would have made me tres unhappy. So I own my own dot com; no one can take it from me.

As you've probably guessed, it's point 3 in that little argument that's causing the problems. Since I built the website last year (through wix.com), I've been getting a slew of increasingly urgent sounding emails from Network Solutions about renewing my domain until it was going, going, gone.  When I actually got around to logging in to see how much they wanted for renewing my domain, I nearly spit out my morning Earl Grey.

You know that game where you take a number and you hold it in your mind?

Let's just say, I was holding a number under $10 in my mind for the annual renewal and Network Solutions was holding a number between $30 - $50 in their mind. (More too, if they could get you on various "extras.")

Time to transfer my domain. Enter GoDaddy.

This afternoon, I transfer my domain to GoDaddy to the tune of $8.17 for the year. Why was I with Network Solutions in the first place? When I signed up for wix last year, I qualified for a free domain for year. And hey, free bets $8.17 any day.


Is a professional website integral to my success? Probably not. But it's nice to have and it's generally headache free. Normal maintenance is an occasional "freshening up" of copy and updating the portfolio portion with new links and clips. On average, I probably spent about an hour a month on it. I used wix because a friend recommended it and because it seemed easy to use. You could also easily fashion yourself a website through wordpress or a variety of other website builders.

Let me know if you have questions.

Don't worry; I'm a professional.

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In the Technology Free Zone

On a daily basis, the low-tech cord phone gets used more frequently

I have a friend who gets a little nervous whenever she drives through a national forest and loses cell phone reception. She worries about if something happened and she wasn't able to call for help.

When I start the drive out of town and towards the cabin, cell phone service peters out after about five miles. For the next 50 miles, I can depend only on me and commonsense (and lots of helpful neighbors) to get me home safe and sound. And the thing is . . . most of us like it this way.

Whenever cell service is purposed for up here, usually about half the residents get all up in arms about it. The general attitude about cell phone service in the area seems to be that a great host of cell phones will descend from the heavens . . . and ruin everything! I think it's probably only a matter of time (like a decade or so) before cell phones are part of daily life up here, but for now, the general argument residents give against having cell phones is that, as a region driven by tourist industry, people come here "to get away from it all" and cell phones defeat that purpose. The vast majority of rental cabins up here don't offer televisions either. We kind of like to impose our lifestyle on others. 

While the majority of my phone calls are made on an old touchtone from 1970 with a cord that allows me to move in three foot circle while on it, I do have a cell phone. I use the phone when I'm in town or when traveling. It's on the cheapest plan you can get when you sweet-talk Verizon.  (They're pretty reasonable about it when they realize you only use your phone for eight minutes every month.)

I often forget how ubiquitous cell phones are. Several times last summer I would give someone a telephone number, expecting them to use it when they got back to their cabin, only to have them whip out their cell phones and start doing the "do I have service here" interpretative dance.  "Oh no, I'm sorry," I'd have to say. "That's not going to work here." Actually that's not completely true. You can often pick up a cell signal from Canada, but let me tell you, international cell phone rates are expensive! And how many times did I have to tell people heading out into the Boundary Waters that their phone probably wasn't going to work out there. So how about not twisting your ankle on that portage, eh?

I wonder if we've turned something meant as a convenient tool into a bit of crutch. I certainly don't view cell phones are harbingers of the apocalypse, but I do think there are benefits to living your life as though help isn't just a phone call away.

The news earlier this week that Verizon and iPhone have partnered, kind of went over my head. I have slowest thumbs in the west. I probably couldn't figure out how to answer your phone if you asked me to. All that flipping and sliding and shaking and you can take pictures on this thing too, oh boy! What a complicated world of teeny, tiny screens we've crafted for ourselves!

Life without cell phones suits me fine, but the thought of not having our satellite internet (which has wonky bandwidth requires and will soon be replaced by high speed fiber optic option, oh please, oh please, oh please make that replacement come soon) makes me shudder. Technology is everywhere. What we can and can't do without depends upon how we structure our days and our lives. 

How would you feel without a cell phone?

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