We All Start Somewhere

When I lost my corporate job back in the Spring, freelance jobs came my way out of a sense of pity – at first. One friend who is an author was working on a book, and needed some research done. She called me – my background as a legal assistant gave me a leg up, and she was able to pay me and tide me over for a while. In return she got well researched information for her book, which was non-fiction and relied on facts.

Another friend owns a small eco-business and wanted her website punched up with better copy. Wendy to the rescue! She has given me 3-4 jobs since May. In addition, she is starting to get the word out to other small business owners that I provide quality copy service with professional followup. I now have another gig that I landed through her. That’s networking.

Other small freelance jobs I scored along the way: Writing porn reviews for a website, doing a one-off SEO article, providing two white papers to another website that deals in technical analytics. Oh, and a television appearance as a political pundit, due to my original blog.

Here’s the thing, though: Had I been too proud to take the pity jobs, I wouldn’t have those clips in my portfolio now. And I wouldn’t be gaining business through the leads they generated.