Have I Mentioned My Day Job?

I don’t talk about my job much because, well, it’s boring and not at all what I’m passionate about. It pays the bills, it’s not stressful, it doesn’t use all of my mental bandwidth, I have plenty of vacation days, and my boss is a fantastic guy who encourages my writing and self-development. I am an administrative assistant to a financial advisor who specializes in retirement planning. He does the planning and meetings; I do the paperwork, marketing, and database management. I’ll probably never mention this again. That said, I recently (back in March) had the opportunity to attend a regional conference with my company.

It wasn’t a horrible distance from home and my boss wanted me to go, if only to see what conferences are like and to meet other assistants face to face. I decided to make two sets of notes - industry specific things that will impact my job, and skills that could transcend my industry and be applied to self-publishing, author services, merchandising, and other areas.

Here are some fun moments, as well as takeaways that I feel will be useful in my journey as an indie author.

Guest Speaker: Cam Marston

Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.

This really stuck out because writing is hard. It’s one thing to complain about it being hard. It’s something else to buckle down and learn skills that will make it easier.

I feel like I’m looking at a room full of owls. Lots of eyes. Not much movement. You okay out there?

I appreciated the humor of the moment and instantly thought of the Parliament of Owls from CS Lewis’s Silver Chair.

Guest Speaker: Sam Richter

It’s no longer enough to be interesting. You have to be interested in them.

This hit home because I’m still undecided on how public I want my personal life to be, as an author.

Use Boolean expressions for better internet search results. Google is a vacuum cleaner. It sucks up stuff from the internet. A Boolean search tells it what to suck up and from where, as well as what not to suck up.

I haven’t tried it yet, but the concept sounds life-changing for when I’m trying to scour the internet for specific research.

Guest Speaker: Dennis Moseley-Williams

This next thing is absolutely fascinating. At least, I think it’s fascinating and I’m wearing the mic.

This is exactly the sort of thing that crosses my mind in the instant before I drown someone with information I think is fascinating.

I have a laser and I’m gonna use it. Safety goggles on.

It was an off-handed remark that most people didn’t find funny, but I did.

People are people, and if you scratch the paint a little, they are all suffering underneath.

How very true that statement it! We like to forget that others have their own problems and that we should be patient with them as well as with ourselves.

People love to be seen, to be acknowledged.

Isn’t that the truth? I’m learning that it’s okay to accept praise and be proud of my skills and talents.

Money buys you out of trouble and inconveniences.

My desire for a grand salary is for this very reason - I want to be comfortable and still have plenty of money to be a benefactor to others.

Be an advocate!

I spent ten years working in private healthcare and can say this is absolutely necessary. Speak up, not only for others but for yourself.

70% of people who reach a big milestone will feel depressed that they lost or gave up too much to get there.

I find that last one very interesting because I see so much self-loathing and insecurity within the writing community. I’ve been there. A few years ago, I decided what success looks like to me, what my goals are for writing and publishing, and it has made the world of difference in how I approach my craft and brand.

Peer to Peer Conversations

• Branding and marketing are different.

• What is your marketing? Define what marketing is to you. Start slow, pick one thing, and give it 110%.

• Know whose social media posts you want to comment on. Plan to comment on at least five other posts, in addition to posting your own content.

• Give back to charities and to your community. People love to see involvement.

• People want to know YOU

• QR codes seem to be the rage these days. You can link to your website, to an appointment scheduling site, to your books, to whatever you want.

Application of Skills

Some of the sessions touched on the importance of websites and online visibility, how to talk to clients, and the fact that different generations have different approaches to life and you need to approach them with those differences in mind. What makes a Baby Boomer (born 1946-1964) interested in something is very different from what interests a Millenial (born 1980-2000). Each generation is also influenced by the generation of the people who raised them - their mindsets, worldviews, beliefs, and ethics are often comingled across age ranges. This session, of course, is talking about financial concerns, but I can see that principle being applied to readers. C

onsider genre readers, or popular books according to reader age. Their worldviews and morals come into play when they are picking a book to read. Some generations see anything related to fantasy as being evil or demonic. Others have no issue with fantasy, but are hyper-vigilant toward tropes and making sure the content has been approved by sensitivity readers. Neither are inherently wrong or bad, but are sometimes byproducts (through no fault of their own) of the changing tides of culture, morals, popular opinion, genre expectations, and more.

There is value in conferences and gauging the opinions of others. We authors can be a sensitive bunch and often compare ourselves to those around us. A person with grand ideas but no experience often provides encouraging but worthless advice. That is unfair to us, and to others.

We must sharpen our minds, hone our craft, strengthen our morals, and refrain from placing ourselves on a pedestal. Get out there. Learn from people who are successful, people who have achieved what you are striving for. 

Determine what success is to you. Be prepared for it to take longer than you want, be harder than you think it ought to be, and not be as sweet of a reward as you expect.

You are not your successes or your failures. Pick yourself up and keep going. Writing and publishing is a journey. That journey should ultimately bring about growth, and make you a better person because of it.

Financial Planning Tips No One Asked For (But I Wish People Knew)

It’s a whole messy topic that I absolutely will not speak to. However, I can give some broad life tips. Since I work with a financial professional, some of my tips will be skewed towards working with an advisor, but they remain applicable across any service that uses databases and marketing.

• Unclaimed or abandoned property (money). Go to https://unclaimed.org/ and scroll down to the map of the US. Click on any state you have lived in. That will take you to that state’s unclaimed property database. Search for any name, or variation of name, that you have ever had. Look for family members too. Unclaimed property amounts are often small but it’s money that is rightfully yours. Each state will have steps listed on how to claim discovered property.

• Start saving for retirement now.

• A person is considered an adult at age 21 (state laws may vary) and at that age can open retirement accounts under their own name.

• Anyone younger than 21 is limited to specific types of accounts.

• People approaching retirement age have the ability to contribute more per year than those younger.

• There are a lot of options for retirement accounts. You can do them on your own, or work with a financial adviser.

• If you have a job with any kind of retirement contributions, sign up for it; if your company matches a percentage, contribute at least enough to get the match.

• Money Mindset

  • Retirement accounts are for the future and should not be touched (if at all possible) until you are at retirement age, or else you can incur penalties depending on the type of account. There are provisions built in for specific types of needs, so when you want to take money out and are asked what it’s for, it helps the firm/adviser know the intended use so they can determine if there is a better method for getting you the funds. The longer you have a retirement account, the less that stock market swings will affect your end goal (ex. don’t panic, wait it out)

• For any financial account, make sure your personal information is current. Notify banks, agencies, advisers, etc, as soon as possible with any changes (name, address, phone number, email, marriage/divorce, birth or death of children/grandchildren, change in job or large changes in salary, large purchases like homes or vehicles). Yes, it gives the account provider a reason to pitch their products, but it also makes sure that you are getting the services you need, as well as important and/or educational information. Keeping your information current also helps prevent your accounts from being classified as “unclaimed or abandoned property” due to no contact, and turned over to the state after the allotted time is up.

• You can always decline service offers. Most advisers can handle the rejection. Be polite, and if possible, don’t waste yours or their time by acting interested and then ghosting them.

• Beneficiaries. This is VITAL information for financial accounts to have. Should something happen to you or a loved one, firms/advisers need to know who they are allowed to talk to and who will be inheriting the accounts to make the transition as smooth as possible. They want to reach out to family and make sure there isn’t anything they can do during the difficult time. Yes, their goal is to keep the funds under their management but the good advisers will do what is right for you and will help you transfer funds if that’s what you request. They deal with transfer paperwork all the time. Some advisers may even contact companies and and get information on your behalf.

• If you end up on a mailing list that you don’t want to be on, unsubscribe. If you don’t want to be continually invited to events, tell them. Yes, it will get your contact information on their books but a hard “no” goes further than ignoring them. You’ll likely be moved to a “drip list” with much less frequent contact.

• If you’re looking for a financial adviser, make sure you’re a good fit with them and their business. If you have $1.98 in royalties this year, don’t look at advisors who work with clients in the six-figure net worth range. They may take you on as a client, but don’t expect to have their full attention.

And there you have it. Now back to my irregularly scheduled posts about life, writing, and the weird things I enjoy.