In life, stuff happens, and about a year ago some big stuff happened in mine. I'd been happily working as a web developer for a small company for about 8 years, and without warning, the business ran out of money. I'm sure it wasn't "just like that", however, finances weren't my department and I wasn't forewarned.
Functionally jobless in a rapidly tanking economy with unemployment rising at lightning speed, I knew it wasn't going to take long for us to get in financial trouble. It was time to reinvent myself.
My choices were to look for a traditional job, a proposal that had a number of issues, not the least of which was wardrobe - since I have been working from home for years, if I can't sleep in it, I don't own it - or finding a way to make money online. There are a lot of scammy, bogus offers out there and the competition is fierce for legit online jobs. One blogging job offered on craiglist asked for my credit card and social security number so they could "do a background check". What? I also found out pretty quickly that there are people in other countries who will work for 13 cents an hour, and some of them claim to have more skills than I have. I maintain that you get what you pay for, and the number of amateurish websites loaded with horrific grammar and poor word usage pretty much bears that out.
Two inches from desperation, I got a suggestion from a friend whom I've known and loved for about ten years, Christina Gleason. Christina was the head editor for an SEO content business and needed a writer. The pay was only so-so, but there was a LOT of work. Writing has been my passion since childhood, I just didn't have any idea that I could get paid to write outside traditional avenues. My 25 year old college education and work history largely unrelated to writing did not exactly lead me to believe that becoming a writer was in the cards.
Today, most of my income is from writing. Christina started her own business, PhenomenalContent.com and I freelance for her and write articles and such to help build her business. Recently, the Phenomenal staff had a little fun blogging sex week. Traffic really picked up ;) A lot of other freelance work comes my way as well, this guest blogging post about finding a romantic vacation hotel, for example.
I've recently been looking into affiliate marketing, which I blogged about at GrowingBolder.com. I'm still learning about making money online, and wrote about what I've learned so far. I love the site, and some good friends run it. I think it was their influence and attitude that inspired me to take my fate in my own hands and jump off the freelance cliff.
So that's how I got to this point, and the next step is a personal blog (this one) designed to build my personal brand. I plan to write about whatever interests me...making a living online, politics, diabetes concerns, healthy living, humor, why TV pisses me off on a regular basis, and anything else that might occur to me. I might even indulge in a little creative fiction...I've been known to do that from time to time.
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Sherry Gray is a professional writer. Contact me directly for projects or check out PhenomenalContent.com for large-scale content creation.
Just so you know that someone has taken the time to read your first post on your blog! Think it's great that you are able to pursue your dream of freelance writing. Sometimes I get quite frustrated with lack of acknowledgment on some of the posts that I've written on my blog so hope you don't ever get discouraged. Write from your heart and the audience will follow.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb :) you're right, when I don't get comments, I feel like I'm writing in a vacuum!
ReplyDeleteYou got your blog! It's about time. ;-)
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