The Freelance Journey

[ang2906]

Hi guys. I joined the site last week, and thought it was time I started a diary to document my journey.

A little about me. I have worked for the same employer for almost 14 years, and am due to leave in just under a couple of months. The time has come for me to push on with what I want to do in my life before I look back and regret not doing anything because I was too scared to make the leap.

I have been blogging for around 18 months on my current blog and am starting to make a very small income from it. I have another blog that I have just started that I need to get working on to earn from. I'm also an Independent Phoenix Trader, but currently don't do a lot with the business so I need to spend some time focusing on that over the next few months.

I'm excited for the next phase in my life, and am lucky enough that if I don't earn straight away, we will be OK financially for a little while. I am going to give myself the remainder of the year to get sorted, push things forward and see what the journey will bring.

 

[Jon]

Good luck on your journey

Which blogs are these then? Got any links so we can take a look?

 

[ang2906]

My personal blog is http://thelifeofspicers.com and the other I'll add into my signature when I have it up and running.

 

[Jon]

Wow! - Now that is a BLOG!!

Sooooooooooooo much content.

Does it earn you a decent amount each month?

 

[ang2906]

No not at the moment. I've never really pushed it for earning income. Just as a record of our family up until now. I am aiming to start pushing the ads a little bit and see where it goes.

 

[ang2906]

I've been doing some research this weekend on adsense ad positioning and seeing if the placement of ads will affect my revenue.

Also this weekend I've installed Qmee - nothing earned so far. I've applied to Pure content but not sure the application went through so will try again later.

I've been entering competitions in the hope I win something nice. Treats are always good, and money would be a bonus.

Also keeping my eye on 6336 in the hope they open applications for UK soon.

 

[FreeSwagSites]

I love your blog.
I can certainly see that ad-income is the way to go for your site - there is bound to be some research about ad placement and conversion rates etc - I don't have any experience with it so can't offer any opinions. However, I am not keen on the ads being just under your site header - it does rather detract from the visual appeal of the landing page in my eyes. I would prefer to see them in sidebars, at bottom of page, or between the end of 1 post and the start of the next.

I really like the LinkWithin widget that you have - I was thinking about adding something like this to my kid safety site and have been looking at a few wordpress plugins. Do you have to specify the related posts that it adds to the bottom of the posts, or does it calculate the best ones for itself?

I suppose I should also add one of those Facebook widgets to my sidebar now that Chammy has created a Facebook page for me.

 

[ang2906]

Yes you say how many posts you would like to see in the linkwithin widget.

ALWAYS advertise your social media sites / accounts from your blog and make it easy for people to be able to contact you.

I'm still playing with the ad placement, but that combination of having it below the header is working better than the sidebar at the moment, so will leave it for a little while before I tweak the placement again.

Doing some prep work for the Phoenix Trading business this evening, if my printer will decide to work.

 

[Jon]

How do you get on with Phoenix just out of interest?

What made you choose them over say juice+ and the like?

 

[FreeSwagSites]

Yes you say how many posts you would like to see in the linkwithin widget.

ALWAYS advertise your social media sites / accounts from your blog and make it easy for people to be able to contact you.

I'm still playing with the ad placement, but that combination of having it below the header is working better than the sidebar at the moment, so will leave it for a little while before I tweak the placement again.

Doing some prep work for the Phoenix Trading business this evening, if my printer will decide to work.

I have added the Facebook "like box" to KSF - it is a little wider than other items in my sidebar, so trying to find out if I can reduce this. I can only find an option to alter the height at the moment, but will keep looking.

 

[ang2906]

How do you get on with Phoenix just out of interest?

What made you choose them over say juice+ and the like?

I chose Phoenix because I love the products and the flexibility on earning was good as is the commission. I have only recently joined so it's just been friends and family, but as there is no minumum order per month I can push it when I want to and not when I don't. Attempting to build a customer base at the mo.


[/quote]

I have added the Facebook "like box" to KSF - it is a little wider than other items in my sidebar, so trying to find out if I can reduce this. I can only find an option to alter the height at the moment, but will keep looking.
[/quote]

I'm pretty sure I tweaked my width through the widget code when I placed it in my sidebar.

 

[FreeSwagSites]

I'm pretty sure I tweaked my width through the widget code when I placed it in my sidebar.

thanks - I will look into that.

 

[Jon]

I see you have been adding more and more content to you blog, I really do think it is a fantastic read!

Have you got anywhere with deciding how to put Ads on it yet and earn an income?

 

[ang2906]

Thanks Jon.

I add to my blog on a daily basis. I really do love it. I haven't checked Adsense this morning, but think I am going to tweak the ads at the weekend. Still learning as to which placement may be the best.

I collected some Phoenix catalogues this morning from a door drop - no orders

Starting to have a clear out so hopefully will generate some cash as well as creating some space.

 

[Jon]

Have you had to pay anything upfront to be part of that phoenix thing?

 

[ang2906]

Yes it was a £30 investment (which I have made back). Door drops are not well known for being very successful with Phoenix among traders but it's always worth a go to attempt to collect new customers.
The better ways of selling are through coffee and cards, leaving baskets of cards with businesses, fayres etc.

 

[Jon]

Would it not just be easier to be 100% online and try and get all your customers that way?

Mums facebook groups for various cities, i dunno.

The less 'out and about' stuff you can do maybe the better

 

[ang2906]

I have been toying with pushing it online so yes that will be my next push.

 

[rebeccajlsk]

*waves* Hi Ang! Fancy seeing you here! Nice to see some other bloggers I know on here

 

[ang2906]

Hi Rebecca it's a small world isn't it.