How I Got Started
I never imagined myself as a work at home mom before I decided to get pregnant with my son. Before that I had anticipated owning a web-based business, but that's about as far as it went. I left my job as a reporter in June 2004 to launch an online company. My husband and I worked on the company for about three months before we launched a site.
The sites did not go well for reasons I am sure I will tell you about later. I landed my first job writing web content in October 2004. Until that time, I had worked a little on writing fiction and a bit of non-fiction here and there, but I had never been serious about it. I didn’t have a plan for my writing.
I trudged through 2005, after giving birth to my son in January, and worked at any and all web content jobs I could find. We needed the money, so I didn’t have the luxury of turning anything down. Instead I took every job I could get. I worked through bid sites and by answering ads posted on free job boards. Sometimes I got in contact with people from message boards who hired me. I posted my information everywhere I could and got a fair number of jobs out of it.
I learned two important lessons, however, that would change the way I look at writing. First, I got stiffed by two people who just never paid for their work. One guy pretended that he thought he’d paid and never did. The other one just said he didn’t have to pay (what was I going to do?), so he didn't.
The second lesson came when I began preparing my information for my taxes from 2005. I realized that I had worked hour upon hour with little to show for my effort. I was devastated when I saw how little I really made, and I knew that it would mean getting serious about my career in 2006.
The sites did not go well for reasons I am sure I will tell you about later. I landed my first job writing web content in October 2004. Until that time, I had worked a little on writing fiction and a bit of non-fiction here and there, but I had never been serious about it. I didn’t have a plan for my writing.
I trudged through 2005, after giving birth to my son in January, and worked at any and all web content jobs I could find. We needed the money, so I didn’t have the luxury of turning anything down. Instead I took every job I could get. I worked through bid sites and by answering ads posted on free job boards. Sometimes I got in contact with people from message boards who hired me. I posted my information everywhere I could and got a fair number of jobs out of it.
I learned two important lessons, however, that would change the way I look at writing. First, I got stiffed by two people who just never paid for their work. One guy pretended that he thought he’d paid and never did. The other one just said he didn’t have to pay (what was I going to do?), so he didn't.
The second lesson came when I began preparing my information for my taxes from 2005. I realized that I had worked hour upon hour with little to show for my effort. I was devastated when I saw how little I really made, and I knew that it would mean getting serious about my career in 2006.
posted by Brandi Brown @ 3:48 AM
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