At the beginning of May, I shared my goals as I always do. I also mentioned an exciting upcoming change. Well, the time has come to reveal what’s been going on the last few weeks.
A Career Change
After almost 3 great years of working for Jason–owner of Cynexis Media, Legal EFX, and MCV Live, plus a good friend to me–it’s time for me to take a leap of faith in my career.
This is my last week freelancing full-time for Jason and all his companies, but mostly Cynexis Media. I will continue to do some copywriting for Legal EFX, but I will no longer be a post-production project manager, or a social media specialist, or a copyeditor.
It has been an amazing journey, and I’m grateful for how much I learned with this job. I’ve started writing freelance in the last few months, and I’ve hit my capacity for essentially working two full-time jobs.
I actually have a chance to own my own business and write full-time. My job history over the last six years has been nothing if unexpected and adventurous. Starting my own business and pursuing my dream career is a surprisingly logical next step for me.
I would be remiss without mentioning my supportive husband, Dan. He was actually the first one to suggest I do something like this. He has always believed in my writing. We needed my salary while Dan was unemployed, but now we can afford to take a few months for me to transition to a new and more-fulfilling career.
I am also incredibly grateful to Jason and to Ashish (co-owner of Cynexis) for how supportive they have been of my decision. Cynexis will build my new business website and optimize it for search engines as a thank-you present for my awesome work these last few years. I also appreciate how much I learned while working for Cynexis.
I credit this knowledge and experience, plus the support of my friends and family, with the moderate success I have achieved as a blogger in less than a year. I launched Belle Brita in July 2014. Through my work with Cynexis, I already knew quite a bit about content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, web design, and more, all of which have helped me grow my blog.
Now I want to take that knowledge and help YOU!
I have literally read hundreds of posts on blogging 101, blogging for beginners, how to get started blogging, etc. There is a wealth of truly excellent information out there. The trick is figuring out:
- Where to find the best advice
- Which advice works for your situation
- When to spend money and when to use free options (this is true for both blogging tools and for blogging advice)
How will my blogging advice be different?
- If I agree with someone else’s advice, instead of just rewriting it and pretending I came up with something new, I’ll put together links to the best posts giving their perspectives on a blogging topic.
- I will never suggest a paid blogging tool unless I have paid full-price to use it and found it worthy of the cost.
- I will teach sensible SEO for lifestyle bloggers, who need to use SEO in a different way than most online marketers.
- I will let my readers guide me. What do YOU want to learn?
- I will actually admit that luck and chance play a factor in success. I can’t be the only person tired of hearing, “Just write great content, and you too can earn six figures from blogging!”
When will Blogging 101 launch?
I hope to start this series in July, when I celebrate my one-year “blogiversary.”
I’m not the only one announcing exciting career changes. The talented designer who gave my blog its makeover has opened her web design store!
Celebrate the opening of The Lady Errant Design Shop!
I’m excited to announce that my friend Kelly has opened The Lady Errant Design Shop! She’s spent the last few months with coding, figuring out small business legalities, and taxes, and now it’s all coming together. Plus we’re kind of each others business cheerleaders!
A bunch of Kelly’s blog friends (like me!) have been kind enough to support her and help out with a few giveaways to celebrate the opening. We have several prizes for one lucky winner today – and stay tuned for the next giveaway in June!
Interested in a new design for your self-hosted WordPress site? Then check out the design site and the Etsy shop, or explore the demo of the most popular theme.
Don’t forget to sign up for Kelly’s mailing list to get a 20% off coupon code – the next newsletter goes out in mid-June!
The Prizes
1. 1 free customized theme for self-hosted WP sites from the shop (up to $80 value). Includes favicon, pin it button, custom fonts/colors/formatting, and 1 coding add-on (such as a custom page template).
2. A custom blog button designed by Lix Hewett ($25 value)
3. 1 large ad space on The So-Called Homemaker ($10 value)
4. 1 large ad space on Belle Brita ($10 value)
5. 1 hand-embroidered bag from The Hemborg Wife (priceless!)
TLE Giveaway brought to you by:
Kelly – The Lady Errant | Amanda – Rhyme & Ribbons |Rachael – The Rachael Way | Christine – The So-Called Homemaker | Daisy – Simplicity Relished | Bailie – The Hemborg Wife | Jaime – Ink + Adventure | Amanda – musicalpoem | Brita – Belle Brita | Kiersten – She Is Fierce | Lix – A Classic Notion | Anna – Slightly Astray
Enter the Giveaway
Yes, I know there have been a lot of giveaways this week. Have you entered the Sephora gift card giveaway or the Wear Your Label giveaway? It’s not too late for either of them!
Ask all your burning blogging questions below. I can’t wait to starting my Blogging 101 series!
