From Concept to Reality - the Cathean Ltd Medical Writers' Retreat

Note: This article was previously published in Medical Writing 2013; 22(3): 233.

Our group of solopreneurs with Kathryn White and Elaine Bailey

It was while riding my horse, Wilbur, through the autumnal woods close to home that the idea came to me. Why not organise a medical writer’s retreat to provide a support network for freelancers based in the UK?

I am a member of a similar and regional network of freelance clinical researchers who meet once a year to discuss topics relevant to their role. I have found these meetings invaluable and a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded people. I am also actively involved in the EMWA Freelance Business Forum and have been involved in the Institute of Clinical Research Freelance Forum, so I have experienced, first-hand, how useful these meetings can be.

The task seemed daunting at first but I enlisted the help of business coach Elaine Bailey who acted as a sounding board for my ideas, adding suggestions from her own experience of setting up workshops and training retreats. I knew the idea was good, but I was still uncertain of how to move forward. Why would anyone want to come along to something I had organised and was there a need for such a forum in the UK? Elaine laid down the gauntlet - if I organised one for 2012 she would come along to provide group coaching to the attendees. It was a deal. This would provide the perfect launch and provide participants an opportunity to receive sound business advice, whilst networking with their peers. My objective was to offer my fellow freelancers a day away from the office in comfortable, informal surroundings where everyone could concentrate, without the distractions of work or home-life, on developing themselves and their businesses alongside others in a similar situation. I wanted to bring everyone together to swap ideas, thoughts and concerns.

I am fortunate to have a fantastic network of freelancers and colleagues, many of whom have been mentors to me since beginning my freelance career, while others are considering a move into freelancing, and I have been happy to answer any queries they have about that. The first step was to contact everyone I knew within that network and ask them whether they would attend such a retreat. The response I received was overwhelmingly positive. It seemed my intuition was correct – freelancers do value support from their peers and an opportunity to network with like-minded people.  

I kept the venue for the meeting local to my home to aid the organisational logistics. The Greyhound is a pub in the village where I live and the proprietors very kindly agreed to let me have the use of a room to conduct the retreat. A questionnaire was sent out to the participants beforehand to establish their needs so that, with Elaine’s help, we could tailor the training to meet their requests. The day of the retreat dawned and all my concerns melted away. People travelled from all over the UK to be there. The energy and enthusiasm in the room was palpable. We mixed group discussion with smaller break-out sessions and covered a wide range of topics in relation to managing a business, dealing with client demands and understanding our own value as medical writers. Everyone went away feeling positive and enthused and this was evident from their feedback. On that note, I will hand over to attendee, Alysia,

to give you her perspective.

I have value, do you want some?

Throughout the day, the atmosphere in the room was buzzing. As soon as I sat down I was drawn into conversation with the other freelancers around me. The range of freelance experience in our group was varied and so were our client portfolios. The honest revelations and often humorous contributions from the floor, combined with Elaine’s clever guidance using descriptive keywords and quotes helped us to collate a fantastic bundle of ideas and tools with which to improve our careers as freelancers.

When asked what issues we wanted to tackle in our freelancing lives, most of our concerns fell into two categories: how to become better freelancers and how to optimise client relationships. Some of us wanted to improve our time management and be more effective at our jobs, others wanted to learn how to best deal with criticism without feeling devalued. Some of us felt that we had taken on too much work, while others wanted to attract more clients through better marketing. All of us felt uncomfortable in talking about money with our clients.

After putting our heads together, a number of valuable strategies emerged on how a freelancer can grow and improve including how to master self-leadership and how to believe in our own self-worth. Our discussions also covered the practical sides of running a freelance business, including the value of online visibility in the form of freelance registries, a business website and social media sites. 

With all that brain storming we were ready for a late lunch at the pub! After good food and drink we all returned home. For some this was just a short walk, for others it was as far as North West England and Wales. Had it been worth the long drive over? Definitely and I am looking forward to the next one.

The next one was held on 20 Sept 2013 and was another great success! Thank you to everyone for their continued support of this initiative.

 

Home or away?

Bridgewater Monument, Ashridge Park (photo courtesy of Linda Pottinger)

This is my new writing haven - Ashridge Park. It is a beautiful location, where I can enjoy an al fresco coffee at the cafe whilst working. There are some days when I just need to get out of the office to think about my business or to work on a client project. This place is where my creativity seems to flow.

 In a recent ezine, Christine Kane (internationally renowned life-coach and founder of Uplevel You) quoted a colleague who said, 'the environment you set up for yourself to work in is cruical to the output you create.' I totally agree with this. Some of my best work has come whilst sat in a cafe, away from my normal home-office envrionment. An article in the recent Writing Magazine (Aug 2013) describes how 'write-away days' can help to re-set the boundaries between work and creativity, when they begin to blur after spending too much time 'sitting at the same desk in front of the same computer'. Sometimes, working as a freelance writer from home can be lonely so working at a local cafe means that I'm amongst people without necessarily having to interact with them. This seems to be when I'm at my most focused, and it's well worth the investment in a cup of coffee or two!

Freelancing and life-coaching - an update three years on

In 2011 I described how life-coaching helped me to make the transition from employed medical writer to self-employed freelancer.¹ Three years after making the leap, I am thoroughly enjoying life as a freelance medical writer. I have continued my investment in coaching which has enabled me to further develop my business and maintain a work-life balance. It is good to feel that you’re not alone, to have someone to bounce ideas off and to challenge your way of thinking in order to try something new. Here is an update on how I’m getting on, with some thoughts and advice based on what I’ve learned along the way through coaching and on-the-job experience.

Cash-flow:

One of the biggest concerns I had during the early months of being freelance was cash-flow. Going from a guaranteed monthly income to being paid on a relatively ad-hoc basis was a scary concept to grasp. Firstly, I set myself a target for my yearly turnover, wrote it down in my business plan, thereby “announcing it to the Universe”. Some people may question my reference to the Universe and possibly my sanity, but I strongly believe that you make your own fortune in life and often get what you wish for! Coaching, and reading a book called “Money and the Law of Attraction” has helped me to change my overall approach to money.²  Simply by changing my language from repeatedly saying, “I can’t afford it” to “I can afford it” and understanding that by spending money I’m investing in my future and the life I want has been a leap of faith, but that change in attitude has paid dividends.

Flexibility:

One of the main attractions for me to become freelance was to have more flexibility with respect to my time, and the work I took on. However, in the early months I panicked if I had a quiet period. I have learned that workload flows in peaks and troughs, and this is normal!  Coaching has taught me how to utilise my time more effectively. If I have a quiet period then I concentrate on business development, exploring potential marketing and networking opportunities, updating my website, writing blogs, and investing in my own professional development. I also adapt my working day, when possible, to schedule time for interests outside of medical writing, such as riding my horse, or meeting friends for coffee. I know that I have the freedom to work weekends or evenings, in order to meet my clients’ deadlines.

Valuing your time:

Let’s face it; no-one else will make this a priority other than you. There is a general myth that the more hours you work the more successful you’ll be. How many of us remember the raised eyebrows, and pointed glances at watches when we walked out of the office on time? In the beginning, this mindset spilled over into my freelance life too - if I wasn’t working 8-hour days then my business would surely fail. Now, I understand it’s smart working that’s the key to success. In Timothy Ferriss’ book “The 4-hour Work Week”, he states: “Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions”.³ Facebook and emails can soak up an awful lot of time! Therefore, it’s important to identify and prioritise your highest value work, and if possible, delegate other work (see Delegation). By effectively scheduling your time you can work pro-actively rather than reactively to client and business demands.

Freetime:

Do not underestimate the power of relaxation. Ideas often pop into your head when you’re in the bath or taking a walk in the countryside! Having some free time, away from the desk and client demands, gives us the opportunity to re-charge our batteries and consider new ideas, keeping ourselves and our business fresh. The 90-minute rule suggests that we can’t focus for longer than this period of time without renewal; so frequent breaks will result in enhanced focus that compensates for the free time you’ve had.⁴ Whereas I used to feel as if I had to be at my desk all day (again, a spill-over from being employed), but life is about learning to balance work and play.

Delegation:

I struggled with this initially until my business coach turned it around and said that by contracting someone to perform tasks for me; I was investing in their skills and business. This resonated with me and I now delegate non-business tasks to free up more time for me to work on my business. Employing a cleaner or a gardener can free up hours of your time and reduce stress. Part of the appeal of freelancing was being able to do the job I love, without the stress of people-management. So, by hiring help - such as a cleaner, gardener, accountant, book-keeper, etc., you are getting the work done without having employees.  

Variety of work:

I love the fact that I have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects with a variety of clients. Over time I’ve become more aware of the kind of projects I really enjoy doing. As my self-confidence has grown I’ve taken on projects that I may have turned down initially due to a perceived lack of knowledge on my part. I will always remember a freelance colleague telling me, “The first rule of contracting is never turn down work because you don’t think you’re good enough to do it – smile sweetly to yourself, agree with the client that you’ll do it, put down the phone, and then scream!”. If I’m too busy to take on a project then I may consider sub-contracting work to fellow freelance colleagues. This way I don’t lose clients, and I think it’s a great learning opportunity to work with fellow freelancers and peers.

Identify your ideal client:

If you know the work you love to do, and therefore you’re able to identify your ideal client then this will help you to go out and find more of it. I’ve learned not to be afraid of turning down work if it doesn’t fit in with my business goals or work ethic. So far, other work has always filled the void. Through business-coaching I’ve been able to build a fantastic client-base, and increase the number of projects that really play to my strengths. Recently, I was thrilled when one of my clients, who knew I was an equestrian journalist, asked me to write articles for a company newsletter. This allowed me to combine my journalism skills with my knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry.  I loved it and even got more articles to write as a consequence as my passion fuelled my success.

Conclusions

I cannot deny that there are some days when I wake up feeling worried or stressed about the day ahead. Most of my worries are about the running of my business rather than the work itself, and largely due to my tendencies to be a perfectionist. But that’s a whole article in itself! Being a freelancer demands a lot of courage but the rewards can be fantastic, and with regular coaching, I have reached goals I never knew were possible.

1. White K. A leap of faith – the power of life-coaching. The Write Stuff 2011; 20(4):251-252 (also available on this Frog Blog)

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank business and life-coaches Elaine Bailey (www.elainebaileyinternational.com) and Kevin Watson (www.myown-coach.co.uk) for their continued guidance and inspiration.

Note: this article was published in Medical Writing 2013; 22(2):158

Getting the best out of your website

Many freelancers now have their own websites. Designed correctly, websites are a great marketing tool for your business, attracting new clients and keeping in touch with your current client base. Based on my experience, here are some tips for maximising your website’s potential.

Content

1. Search engine optimisation is the term given to improving your website’s visibility on the internet. Think of the key words that people might use when looking for a medical writer, and include these in your website text, including text relating to images on your site.


2. Websites are a form of advertising so consider your target audience with regards to your choice of images, visuals and text. Ensure the text is accurate with respect to spelling and grammar, and take time to align text and images so the overall picture is pleasing to the eye. If you can’t get these simple things right, potential clients may wonder what else you may get wrong.


3. Whilst you want to get information across, don’t make your website too “wordy”. Use pictures to create interest and white space to rest the eyes – reading from a screen, particularly on phones, can be tiring.


4. Make it easy to navigate around your site. Use clearly marked tabs and internal links to other pages on your website.


5. Don’t bombard your reader with highly detailed information all at once – enable them to “drill down” or navigate to the detail as required.


6. To increase traffic to your website, see if you can persuade other related businesses to put a link to your site on their website, and return the favour.


7. Writing a blog can also increase traffic and your visibility through search engines because it gives you the opportunity to regularly update your site’s content. It’s also a fantastic way of keeping in touch with your clients.

This article was published in Medical Writing 2012; 21 (4): 332.

Making the leap

In 2009, Kathryn White embarked on a journey that would take her from the “safety” of a salaried job to the rollercoaster world of freelancing. 
Kathryn describes how the power of life-coaching helped her to make the
transition.

My journey began in late summer 2009. I was enjoying my role as a medical writer with a large pharmaceutical company, where I had worked for over 8 years. I had
considered going freelance a few years ago, but the business aspect hadn’t
appealed at the time. After 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, being my
own boss and being able to work at home became too appealing to ignore.  I relished the challenge of developing my business acumen. When I look at the path I have taken through life, it is not really surprising that writing has become my way of living because it has always played a significant role since I was a child. In recent years I have gained immense satisfaction from equestrian journalism, which I originally pursued as a hobby.

Although it felt the right thing to do, making the leap from regular salary to the “feast or famine” world of freelancing was too big a decision to make alone.  I felt I would benefit from support from someone who was neither colleague, friend nor family; someone who was independent.  I had just finished reading an inspirational
book called "The Blue Skies of Autumn", by Elizabeth Turner who was widowed following the 9/11 attacks. She had been pregnant with her first child at the time and the book described how she had raised her son and got back on her feet following the tragic loss of her husband. Her journey took her from being a corporate human resources (HR) executive to life-coach and she set up her own life-coaching consultancy. Having been widowed myself, the book and Elizabeth’s story immediately struck a chord.  If anyone knew how to help me realise my dreams, then Elizabeth would. I contacted her company and was put in touch with her associate and life-coach, Kevin Watson who now owns and directs his own life-coaching consultancy(http://myown-coach.co.uk/).

Over the subsequent coaching sessions, Kevin and I built a good rapport –despite the fact that our sessions were over the phone. It was fantastic to have someone to
whom I could pour my heart out about the past and describe my hopes and dreams
for the future. He listened – I mean, really listened - and took on board what
I had said without judgement.  At this point, I will handover to Kevin to let him tell you what his thoughts were as a coach and how he feels that coaching has helped.

“As I listened to Kathryn at our first session, I began to be curious as to what was getting in the way of her achieving the life she wanted. Together we explored what her passions were, what she valued most in her life and what limitations she was placing on herself. It emerged that Kathryn was an ultimate planner and, despite everything that had happened in her life, she still felt a need to control her future. It was almost as if this strength was closing down her imagination, the ability to dream of what could be...without limits! So, recognising her love of writing, I invited her to dream of her ultimate future, the life she would love to live, and write it down anytime the urge took hold: the sights, the sounds, the feelings and even the smells.

At the heart of life-coaching is the belief that the coachee has the answer - but may just be stuck right now! So the coach helps to provide an understanding of what the answers are by asking questions – non-leading, non-judgemental open questions. By asking these, listening deeply to the response and offering insights as appropriate, a coach is able to provide different perspectives, revealing the coachee's answers to themselves.”

To say I was “bouncing off the walls” following that first session would have been an
understatement. The confidence that life-coaching gave me to move forward with my life and plans was quite incredible. I went to bed the night of the first session and couldn’t sleep. Words were tumbling from my head and I had to capture them on paper - to describe the life I wanted to lead as if I was actually there. Despite the lack of sleep, I awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than I had felt for a long time.

Through my continuing sessions with Kevin I learned to trust my gut instinct and to “go with the flow”. I absolutely knew that starting my own business as a freelance
writer was what I wanted to do. Not only did it enable me to pursue something I
was passionate about for a living, it opened up the possibilities of me working
from home, re-locating to Norfolk to be with my partner Henry, and to realise a
long-held ambition of having my horses at home. I even had a mug printed with “What Plan?” emblazoned on the side alongside a poignant photograph of my horse.

My dream began in July 2012 when I left employment to become a freelancer. I haven’t looked back since, although it has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride.
Life-coaching continues to play an important part in my personal development.
Indeed, only a few weeks into my life as a freelancer, I suffered a really low
point - I started to doubt my ability to make it work. I rang Kevin, and as
always, the life-coaching session rejuvenated my enthusiasm, motivation and
optimism. It reminded me to listen to and trust my instinct; to realise that I
was investing rather than spending my savings to give me the life I wanted and
to recognise that the positive feedback and repeat business was confirmation
that I was good at what I did!  Since then, business has continued to grow. Not only that, but I’ve expanded my equestrian journalism to include top national, equestrian publications. My advice is not to under-estimate the power of life-coaching.  It can be a very effective tool to help you realise your potential and is something I would highly recommend as part of your continuing personal and professional development. A version of this article was published in The Write Stuff, journal of the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) in 2011 (Vol 20 (no 4)).

Efficient Business Travel

[caption id="attachment_542" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Check the car boot for stowaways!"][/caption]

Travelling on business? Here are some top tips and guidance, based on my own experiences, to help you achieve more effective business travel.


Contact details and directions – know where you are going and have phone numbers in case you’re held up in traffic or at the airport. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security if your client arranges your travel - they may have to cancel their attendance at the meeting at the last minute!


Finances –take sufficient cash (including foreign currency if travelling abroad) to cover expenses such as taxi/airport transfers and refreshments. Even if your client has arranged cars, etc, make sure you are self-sufficient, just in case. Notify your business credit card company if you’re leaving the country so that you don’t have the embarrassment of your card being refused. Take an envelope or plastic wallet with you in which you can safely store your receipts.


Travel in comfort – when possible, travel in comfortable clothing with sensible shoes. There’s nothing worse than having to conduct a business meeting with a smile if you have blisters on your feet!


IT Support – whether you have a desktop computer or laptop in the office, consider having a laptop designated for travel only. Not only can this be a back-up to your main computer system, it means you only store the files you need for your time away. Take a USB stick containing your meeting information so you have back-up in case your laptop fails; use the same USB to download any materials you’re given during your time away. Don't forget a power cable, travel adaptor (if required) and web stick so you can keep in touch with your business and clients back home. Back-up your computer before you go away.


Recording devices - When writing meeting reports or attending conferences take photographs of presentations and posters to refer to later. A dictaphone will enable you to record meetings and ensure you don’t miss any essential detail.


Relaxation – take a book or your iPod, iPad or DVDs to play on your laptop for any freetime you may have e.g. in the evenings in a hotel. Take some comfortable clothes that you can change into to fully relax and switch off.


Networking - take a handful of business cards with you for potential networking opportunities, but do respect your client’s wishes if you’re  working on behalf of an agency for a third party client.

Note: this article has been published in Medical Writing 2013; 22(2):158

Going on holiday

[caption id="attachment_521" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Spot the cat!"][/caption]

I am very fortunate to have just returned from a holiday in the sun and I survived – more importantly my business and animals survived without me! It took a lot of persuasion by my partner to leave them and the house for almost 2 weeks. However, it was a much needed break and we both feel refreshed and ready to face the rest of the year. Here are some top tips for leaving your business and clients behind this summer:

• Give clients as much notice as possible so you can discuss with them your work schedule leading up to and after your holiday; place a note as part of your email signature detailing the dates you’re away.


• You may wish to prepare an “out of office” notification to be sent automatically whilst you’re away. Personally, I’m in two minds about this because it notifies anyone who emails you that you’re out of the office (and home if you’re a freelancer).


• You may want to forward your emails to your phone so you can keep in touch with your business. Again, on a personal level, I prefer to go away and forget about the business. If I’ve worked with my clients to prepare them for my absence then this really shouldn’t be an issue.


• Back-up all your computer files and securely store your laptop and any back-up devices.


• On your last day, clear your desk so it’s organised and tidy when you get back and write a “To Do” list for when you return so you can hit the ground running. It’s amazing what you forget when you close the office door.


• Finally – relax and enjoy your time away. You will provide much better value to your clients if you’ve been able to switch off completely and re-charge your batteries. You never know, a great idea for your business or project may just pop into your head when you’re not consciously thinking about it.