Let Me Introduce Myself, or, How do you say what you do?

It's holiday time again. That frenetic season of festive lunches, cocktail parties and various and sundry get-togethers with clients and co-workers. For freelancers, it is a wonderful time to meet people you often only work with in the virtual realm, and it is a great opportunity to network (tactfully, please though. No one wants to juggle drinks and portfolios).

You also have a unique chance to present yourself as the professional that you are. This goes back to my previous post where I discussed our responsibility as self-employed writers to change the collective thought pattern of what it really means to be a freelancer.

Regardless of whether you've been at it for a decade, or got laid off during this last wave of downsizing, you are meeting some folks who don't know you. Say a significant other (with a significant business) or someone else who happened to sidle up to the punch bowl at the same time you reached for the ladle. The conversation goes something like this:

Them: Great party!
You: Have you tried the punch?
You both clink glasses and exchange cheers. After appropriate introductions, a few more sips, they smack their lips and continue the conversation.
Them: So what do you do?
You: I'm a writer.
Them: Oh really, like you write novels?

This is where I personally, take a deep breath (and perhaps another bracing drink) and a minute to compose my answer. Why? Because so often when I say, "No I am a freelance features writer," eyebrows have been raised. People usually don't get to the "features writer" part, they stumble on that pesky F-word.

I've asked other writers what they say when asked the same. Kathy Sena a freelance journalist, editor and parenting blogger bemoans the fact that she doesn't have a more concise answer. "A freelance writer for magazines, newspapers and the web who writes about parenting, health and women’s issues? Not exactly snappy!" No Kathy, it is a mouthful to be sure.

But necessary. It is only when I launch into a monologue about where I am published regularly do people start to get the idea that I am not just sitting around thinking about writing. (Well I am thinking, a lot, about whichever assignments I have at the time, so maybe it is better to say, I'm-not-just- sitting-around-dreaming-about-possibly-making-a-query.)

It helps when you regularly contribute to a well-known publication. Tim Beyers says, "I've been,variously, a freelance writer, a contributing editor, a contributor, and a contributing writer/analyst." I suspect that when he trots out the fact that he is a regular contributor to the Motley Fool, everyone grasps exactly what he does to earn his daily bread.

For those of you just dipping your toe into the freelance writing pool, you may want to discuss what you did in a previous job and briefly segue into why those skills translate well to working independently. For example, "I used to have the city hall beat at the local paper but I've always wanted to cover environmental issues. Now I have the opportunity to do more in-depth pieces on what the city is doing to promote green-initiatives and how we stack up against other metro areas in the country." Or something like that.

The larger issue here is that whatever terms you use to define your work, be clear, concise (as possible), and confident when you state them. People tend to take you seriously as a professional when you can look them in the eye and say with some measure of pride that you've tackled this assignment or that project for your client.

In my years of experience, saying it thusly often leads to the next question, "So are you looking for another assignment?" Music to my ears.

How do you introduce yourself?