Interview With Web Writer James Chartrand

As the temperature this week in not-so-sunny Raleigh, North Carolina has been somewhere in the range of “negative DAMN!,” I decided to venture up north to Canada where it was warmer. And by venture north, I mean I sent an email. And James Chartrand of Web Content Writer Tips replied. I’m glad he did, because before I could thank him for his reply, he went and got on the front page of Copyblogger. Now he’s too busy to answer my emails (and by too busy, I mean he still answers them just fine). Snarkyness aside, here’s the details of the drive-by interview …

Dave: James, introduce yourself. (Isn’t that always the first question?)

James: Let’s see… an introduction, eh? Well, I’m a thirty-something single Dad of two girls and I’m a Cancer. I live in the backwoods of Quebec in Canada, where life is snow for about 8 months of the year. As for hobbies (can’t forget those), I enjoy equestrian sports (in the saddle, not on the soil), playing acoustic guitar, skating laps at the local rink, and reading (fantasy/sci-fi). Just a regular guy, I guess.

I’ve been an online entrepreneur for about two years now, but I’ve been writing since I can remember. (I think that’s the standard writer’s reply, isn’t it?)

Now, if you and I went out schmoozing at a party together, and you were introducing me, the perfect introduction would be, “This is James Chartrand from Quebec. Have you met him yet? You should. He’s a great online entrepreneur with a web content writing business. Crack writer. Hadn’t you mentioned you needed someone to help you with some writing you need done?”

Dave: Why do you do what you do?

James: If there is one thing in all the world I can’t resist, it’s a challenge. I love learning and figuring things out. Online business lets me get right down into the most challenging career I’ve ever had. The writing comes easy; building the business is the real fun stuff. I also get a huge kick out of negotiating contracts and landing the gigs. It’s fulfilling to know that I can use everything in me – skills, talent, social communication – and not only earn a living but help others earn a living, too.

Oh, yeah, I get to be a little bit famous. That’s cool, too.

Dave: Tell me about one of the “A-ha!” moments that led to solid success for you.

James: The “a-ha” moment … Wow, I’ve had a few of those. But the most important one was this:

I was reorganized out of a corporate job and decided to get out of the office and choose a job that I loved, not one that just made me a hot-shot. So, I shoveled horse manure for five years (how’s that for humbling?).

Seriously, though, I worked at a couple of stables for five or six years, moving between groom, manager, coach, trainer, camp instructor and trail guide. That was the best. Teaching people who were scared shitless to ride an unpredictable 1,500 pound horse in an hour was one of the coolest jobs I ever had. They trusted me to bring them back home safe and sound, and I got smiles from them every time.

Teaching other people to ride was awesome, too. I loved it. But when the stable started putting little kids on dangerous, unpredictable horses, I decided that I’d rather walk away before seeing someone leave in an ambulance.

I faced a long, hard, Canadian winter with no income, no hope of a job in a low-economy rural area, and an empty bank account. I had two kids to feed, rent to pay, and I stared a long time at the welfare application I’d just filled out, wondering how I’d make it.

Then Harry [the other half of JCM Enterprises] said, “I wonder if there are writing jobs on the Internet you could apply for. You’re a good writer.”

A-ha.

That’s all it took – a shift in perspective that I didn’t have to work for someone else. I had plenty of experience, skills, talent and the drive to try something new. I had no fear, because the worst that could happen was that I’d apply for welfare.

That’s all that holds many people back – fear. All it takes is a glimmer of confidence to say, “Yeah, I can do this. I’m going to give it a shot.”

Dave: How do you manage a work-life balance?

James: Work-life balance is one of my biggest challenges. People have a hard time understanding that a home office does not mean “drop in any time or call unexpectedly whenever you want; I’m always available to entertain you.” Interruptions like that wreck a day’s schedule faster than a derailing train and have me burning the candle at both ends.

I retrained myself to break the night owl habit. You’d be amazed at how much more productive people are in the morning. I learned to use a schedule this year, and that really helps me get more out of my day. I try to remember that this is a job like any other, and that the office closes around 5pm.

Here, I’m grateful to have Harry to remind me that I don’t have to get it all done in a day. He helps keep me balanced and lets me know when I’m just burning rubber instead of getting my work done. Then I stop and take a break.

Harry and I declare screw-off days, too. We just say, “F**k it,” and announce a spontaneous holiday. It helps to recharge the batteries and stay sane.

But I’ve learned one thing: If there is no work-life balance, you can’t be happy. Something has to give. Too much of one is just as bad as too much of the other. I’ve quit my job about three times this year alone. (Alright, I didn’t quit, but there are times when I sure would’ve liked to.) When you get to a point that you say to yourself, “I didn’t sign up for this,” then you know it’s time to work on getting that balance back.

Dave: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started out?

James: Wow, that’s a tough one. No, wait, it’s not. I wish I’d known how hard it would be to get other people to understand a virtual world job. Working online is still relatively new, and most people can’t grasp the concept of a virtual-world business. I wish I’d known that, because I would’ve taken more time to explain to others about my business, and how it’s a job like any other, with regular hours. Drawing that life/work boundary from the start would’ve helped immensely.So do it. Set regular hours. Put your office in a room with a door. Treat your business like a business. Don’t run around in pajamas. Make sure people understand that you don’t go drop in at their construction site or their office building, so they really should respect your work zone, too. Most of all, make sure that everyone – and you most of all – understand that freelancing doesn’t mean free of responsibilities.

Dave: What leverage do you plan to use to grow your business over the coming year?

James: Leverage plan. Hmm … Big words, Dave. In November, we started plotting out where we’re going in 2008. The whole business and blog had taken on a life of its own – we never expected to be where we are now. We sat down and talked about what we wanted (and what we didn’t) and how to achieve those goals.

But we want to do it slowly. We started out casting our net wide and getting back all sorts of fish. That was great, but we spread out too thin and lost our focus, just rolling with the flow and often scrambling to keep up. Now it’s time to work on developing our methods and business to achieve the harvest we want.

Since then, we’ve been carefully taking things one step at a time. Every move we make is thought over, tossed around, and debated. If we’re going to invest, it’s going to be in an action that has a clear ROI – or at least a low calculated risk. We’re spending our energy into building our reputation stronger and seeing just how far we can take this business.

But we’re making sure we’re building well, on a strong, solid foundation, and we’re making sure we’re building our business to last.

Dave: What blog posts are you most proud of?

James: I have three posts I’m pretty proud of.

One was 11 Tips Brian Gardner can Teach you to Attract New Clients, because I found it well written and very solid advice. It also did well in the blogosphere. Another I liked was Teens that Can’t Type, because it ends on a little bit of a wistful tone and gives a bit of insight into my life. It’s a personal favorite.

My biggest moment of pride, though, was having my guest post, One Simple Way to Generate More Comments For Your Blog, featured on Brian Clark’s Copyblogger. It was a true honor. I think I’m supposed to be humble about the situation or pretend it was nothing, really. The truth is that the moment was a big deal for me and a personal reward for all my hard work.

I think that makes my next personal goal achieving the point of having Brian guest post for my blog!

Dave: What blogs do you read to get the edge in your business?

James: IttyBiz, because I need my daily Itty fix. After that comes Copyblogger, Dosh Dosh, Freelance Switch, Skelliwag, Chris Garrett’s New Media and Freelance Writing Gigs. Those are my current big favorites that provide me with the most value and who are where I want my blog to be. Freelance Folder’s a good one, too, and Remarkablogger caught my attention recently.But I read a lot more blogs than that. If it has “freelance” or “blog” or “write” in the title, I probably read it. They don’t give me an edge, but they do help me keep an eye on the competition, the little guys that are up and coming, and other bloggers in the same niche as our own blog.

I think getting an edge doesn’t mean modeling ourselves on what the A-listers do. I think getting an edge means finding what works, and then making it work for you in a unique way. Subscribe to our feed and keep tabs on how we’re doing!

Give A Shout Out To James For Giving Us His Time
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