Persistence Pays Off

I knew the world of freelance was competitive, but I never fully understood to what extent until this past year. That's when I started realizing I could make a living doing this if I put my mind to it. I pestered my husband to let me convert our formal living room into a home office (I'll post pictures in a future post) and got some new computer equipment when a crash threatened to destroy hundreds of dollars of work in one day.

This past month, I started aggressively searching all the freelance job boards and applying to various positions. I kept track of my submissions on my assignments spreadsheet. For the month of October, I've applied for eleven different jobs on top of my existing clients. I got the job at 451 Press within twenty-four hours, made the finals (but wasn't hired) for another blogging job, had my application put on hold for possible hiring in early 2008 for a different blog, and today . . . landed an assignment with Greater Charlotte Biz magazine. So I guess persistence does pay off.

I need to keep up the persistence even more now because we finally got the family SUV of our dreams this past weekend. Every time I get behind the wheel, I tell myself the following: "Must make enough to pay for this. Must make enough to pay for this."

I'm tired. It's been a long and busy month. Take care!

Thanks for Stopping By!

Recently, I've had an epiphany. I *heart* blogging. I know it's a medium that's been around for awhile, but I never thought I was technically savvy enough to participate.

I guess I was wrong. A few months ago I worked out a deal to blog for CharlotteParent.com, and last week I was hired to blog about Tori Amos at 451 Press. Learning the software has been surprisingly easy. Fun times!

With this blog, I decided to focus on my writing business, Finished Pages. My husband Daniel and I built up my website last fall and my business took off! But I kind of slacked on updating my website (because I don't get paid for it) and focused on my paying clients. I thought if I had a blog linked with Finished Pages, I would be sure to update friends, family and colleagues on my latest projects.

Here's what I'm working on currently:

• I write the "On the Menu" column for the Lake Norman Neighbors section of The Charlotte Observer. Yum!
  

• While the regular columnist is on maternity leave, I'm also writing the "Bumper to Bumper" traffic column every other week for LKN Neighbors.

• Regular parenting and pregnancy articles for iParenting Media

• Occasional articles for Charlotte Parent

• Public relations consulting for a local communications agency

• Three blogs: Renee's Pages, Tori Amos, and Round the Clock

Occasionally I'll be posting a call for sources. Want to be featured in an online or print article? You can just e-mail me if you see a topic you have an opinion on. Gotta run now, I've got to prepare for a phone interview in thirty minutes. Please check back often!