Monday, March 31, 2008

What this Blog is About

I got interrupted in the middle of my last post and then got so busy I didn't get back to this blog for a week. My intention is to post every day. But I'm still learning how to do all of this.

I felt pretty good, when I wrote the last post (until the interruption, which involved some strange problem with Blogger, all of my text turned into a different font and spaced way o  u  t    l  i  k  e
t  h  i  s. Very strange, the only cure was to end the post and go back later. I editted it and now it's fixed.

So, my first week was a wake-up call. I had all sorts of intentions that didn't get done (like posting on this blog every day, and cleaning out the pile of stuff that's been stashed in the messy corner of my living room). I wrote 6 articles and all of them got sent back by my editor. Well, let me amend that. I wrote 8 articles, 6 for one site and 2 for public requests at Constant Content. All of them got sent back except one of the CC articles, but that one doesn't seem to have been purchased, either.

I hadn't re-read the rules for CC and I wrote an article that was mainly a list of websites -- seems to be what the requester wanted, actually -- and that's not allowed, no links at all or website names, so I didn't even resubmit it because I don't see how it would be very helpful without the website names.

And my only actual paying job so far, I had more to learn than I thought. I think I've got it mostly figured out now, thought it's still taking me too long to write these articles for what I'll be paid. The positive is that I'm guaranteed money if I write them, unlike submitting to a request at CC when I have no idea if it will be purchased. And I'm going to be able to list this as experience, and I am learning things.

I want to learn more, so I'm considering buying an eBook. But today I found out I'm going to have an extra teenage boy living here for 13 days starting Thursday. A friend of my son's from out of town. So I have cleaning and shopping to do, as well as menu planning, not to mention writing at least some of the 5 articles I've promised for this week. So I think the ebook will have to wait.

That's what this blog is going to be about -- the story of me building some sort of online business that makes money. You see all of these great websites -- I saw one just the other day, a single mom who makes a good six-figure income by doing stuff online. Right now I'll be happy for a monthly income that has 3 digits in it (3 digits before the decimal place, I mean!). I want to share my story of how I'm trying to do that, so others can learn from what I do, both my mistakes and my successes.

And I'll probably also post articles here, samples of my writing, though I might make another blog for that and link the two together. I'm still not sure yet. You'll get to see what I decide if you keep reading.

Monday, March 24, 2008

My New Work-at-Home Business -- The First Day

Well, it's really not the first day. I've been trying to figure out how to do this for years, but various things have gotten in the way. But that's another blog post.

This post is about my first day. Or maybe my first week. I have finally earned actual money doing this, so I thought it was the right time to start blogging about it. The money won't get here for 60 days, but I've done the work that earned it, so I'm on my way.

I have a loose strategy on how this is going to work. There are 3 main parts to this work-at-home strategy of mine:
  • Freelance writing
  • Blogging
  • Helping to build my husband's business
The money I earned was through Freelance writing. I answered an ad on Craig's list and got signed up with a company. It only pays $10 an article, but I'm required to do at least 5 a week, so that's $200 a month (though the first check doesn't come for 60 days). And I'm getting actual freelance SEO writing experience that I can put on my resume.

I'm also spending lots of time reading up on how to make money doing freelance writing.

I keep running into blogs and websites saying you can make money blogging. So I'm going to try that. This blog is now started, though I desperately need to work on the decor. And I have another website that I've been working on for several months now and I need to work on that a bit, too, and start a blog over there.

My husband's business is already making money, so I'm trying to help him market himself. He sells and installs window treatments. I've already made him a website and some brochures. I'm working on another brochure, a better website and items for a display in a local home improvement showcase that he's going to be part of.

The hardest part of all of this is figuring out how to get all of it done. I'm hoping blogging about it will help. I've made the list above, and already realized I really should have my other website as a separate item on the list. And then there's my other list, my stay-at-home Mom list. And I have a third list, my things-I-do-as-a-volunteer list. Most of that is for church, though some of it is for the school where my son attends.