It has been
sometime since we had something to read on this platform, hasn’t it? Here is
the message then. Richie is still online.
There are
several factors that contributed to this silence but the single most important
one of them was that I have been struggling to manage my big transition. In
case some of you may not know, I am currently two months into my postgraduate
studies. Having to navigate through the logistics of moving from Malawi while
taking online classes and trying to cover costs of critical things to do with
the movement proved to be a bit too much. While I may not have fully recovered
from the ordeal, life is better now and I am in the right headspace for writing
yet another article. Greetings!
On the 23rd
of July I wrote one interesting article on singleness. On the broadcast list,
the link was accompanied by an announcement of my editing firm called RK Edits,
which some of you have shamelessly blamed for killing Richie Online. I have
been running the thing for about four months now and it has been an enriching experience
from which I thought I could share some real life lessons.
Some of you
may wonder as to how the idea of RK Edits came about. To keep a long story
short, since I joined the academic world I have had to write a lot of
applications for things. Some of you may not know this but I have applied for a
lot of programs and scholarships and I have about 7 rejections on my resume. When
I had had enough of the rejections, I consulted others and asked for their
opinion on what they thought I could different to land a prestigious admission
to a UK university and a scholarship to cover the costs. The response? Have
someone to review whatever you write before submission. When I applied the
advice, I did not only use it to perfect my applications. Along the way, I picked
up the patterns of the editing and with time my supervisors who had invested
time in working on my stuff started referring my peers who needed to have application
documents reviewed. With time I started to offer the same services to friends,
some of whom suggested that commercialize the same.
When I
shared my intentions of opening RK Edits with some of my friends, I got
interesting reactions. Some wondered if I ever would have the time for it.
Others cautioned of people who access services but are not willing to pay, and
issue I have been facing in my short commercial editing career. Others wondered
why I was limiting my services to scholarships and job applications when the
money was in writing essays and dissertations for peoples. Being an essay mill
is where the money is at, in this business, I am told. The most interesting
one, however, came from one of my recurring clients who cautioned me on the
balance between passionately doing my work and just being a money hunter. I one
the other hand was wondering what the reception would be like and little did I
realize that this was a much needed service. There you are with lesson one,
then. Never underrate your own talents and skills. Whatever hard and soft
skills, when put to good use, can help someone. I have had people give me
testimonies on how the CVs and applications I edited for them got them shortlisted
and another share a story of how the motivation I fixed on the last minute
landed them a Chinese Government scholarship. These stories are the ones that
keep me from closing shop.
The second
lesson I learnt along this way is that of the need for focus in everything you
do. So… The thing is called RK Edits, right? RK Edits means that whatever goes on
here is all about editing and perfecting documents and that is different from
writing documents from scratch. But what if someone dangles a lot of money for
you to write them a 30-page document on a topic that you could easily nail? The
mistake I made at one point was to accept one of those jobs. Did I do it well?
Reasonably. The problem came when the client received feedback and wanted me to
keep on fixing until it got accepted as without flaw wherever they were going
to submit it before I could get paid. In the end, I ended up giving up along
the way and sleepless nights and a half-baked document later I went away empty
handed. There you are then. Do not be like RK on this one. If you edit, stick
to editing and don’t start anything else. Most of us who get into ventures get
overwhelmed by good feedback, progress and prospects of expansion to the extent
that we lose focus on the initial goal. I have learnt my tough lessons and I
will adopt this to other areas of my life. Ukayendera
nzengo usati asakhwi afumbula. Focus! One could also think about the same
thing along the lines of expansions. It is not always that you have to expand
your reach when doing something. Sometimes you need to keep your ministry to a
small audience for maximum results.
For the
longest time I have wondered as to what is the most appropriate thing to reward
between effort and results. Think about this. When you are hiring someone to do
some work for you, what you are looking and paying for is the actual result.
The person doing the work may however have little to no interest in whatever
you are doing together. All they need is the compensation for their time,
effort and expertise. Time and again I have been approached by people who bring
work, offering no immediate fixed payment but a share of money upon the success
of their grant applications. Here is one deal from which you could demand a
percentage of the money and walk away with some Daihatsu Mira money if
successful. On the other hand, if it doesn’t work your mental sweat goes
uncompensated. When I thought about this, I realized one thing. Sometimes we
tend to have too much focus on the results and we in turn forget to appreciate
the effort that goes into things. I write nice articles here and all Chikondi
Sato and the Venomous Hope see are the typos and gross assassinations of the
Queen’s language. Men are pushing and trying to keep their ladies happy and all
the ladies can see is that he is not able to afford to take them to 21 Grill
and sticks to places like KFC. I will not talk about you men, because you know
how ungrateful you are and these women can bear testimony. This is not just
about others. Personally, you need to learn to appreciate your effort when you
give it everything even when things do not work out. There you are then. Lesson
three. Learn to reward effort.
There is an
interesting thing about the value of work. As I mentioned earlier, RK Edits
started with pro bono work friends. At the time, I did not mind doing it for
free for two reasons. Firstly, putting red ink on people’s documents is my
favorite pastime as it is the only work in which I am able to put my fault-finding
superpowers to some good. The second was that these were my friends who I knew
and as such editing their CVs and application documents was easy. When the news
of RK Edits went out, the people I started dealing with were knew. I had no
prior interaction with them and some of them came from fields I was an alien
to. Sorting out their documents was an uphill task and needed adequate
compensation that some were not willing to give. Interestingly, on the other
end of the spectrum are some clients who have added extra money to the fee I
charged them after appreciating the work and others who have gone on to accuse
me of undercharging for the services. I am yet to find the application of this
lesson to RK Edits but an upward adjustment of the services is imminent. After
all, the price of crude oil per barrel has gone up, hasn’t it? All I am saying
here is that there is a value attached to your talents and time. You need to
know the worth of your talents and time and reap the fruits thereof.
Reading
this article, one may think that I have figured it all out and I am running RK
Edits with ease but that is far from the truth. There is something interesting
about the way I operate. If you come to RK Edits and ask for a review of your
CV, the first question you will get is that of whether you want a general edit
or you are targeting a specific application. If your answer is the latter, the
next recommendation is that you should share the vacancy and the draft of your
application letter for editing. Two reasons for that. The first is that I would
like to have two application documents of matching (not marching) quality and
the second one is that the extra document means extra money. The trouble with
this is that sometimes you find yourself looking at documents from people who
have slim to no chances of being shortlisted for jobs and you may end up finding
yourself wondering whether to do the editing, get your money and walk away or
to tell them the truth that they should leave the whole thing alone. In the
end, I apply the philosophy I use when I have slim chances myself. Wonder what
I do? I go on to apply and ask myself one question. “What’s the worst thing
that could happen?” In this case, an edited application letter and a CV is
still a win for them even if they do not get in. And then there are people who
do not pay for services. Still not sure of what to do with those ones.
I almost
forgot one important lesson from RK Edits. If there is another important thing
I have learnt through this whole thing, then it is that Julius Malema made an
important point when he reminded all of us that we should not expect everyone
to love us because we are not money. You would just be there editing documents
and sharing tips about writing but people will somehow throw subliminal verbal
shots at you for doing it. It will happen to you if it is not already
happening. Ignore.
There we
are then. Richie Online is still alive and well and operating from some cold
corner of the planet. The articles will keep coming albeit with less
consistency and frequency. I will not be closing shop at RK Edits but I have
for sure stopped aggressive promotion of the work. More importantly, I have
learnt some important lessons from doing this work. I hope you have too.
