Finally I can announce to the world that I have reached my target of earning a full time monthly income as a freelance writer and pro-blogger. This journey has taken me all but 7 month, from the first month of working for a paying client back in June 2007 to the end of January 2008.
The journey has been exciting and rather fun. My initial target for this was actually July 2008, so I can safely say I’m way ahead of target.
As some of you probably know, my online journey has been marked by many events that have shaped the way I think and act these days.
I don’t regret one single thing that has brought me to were I am today and I also know that this is only the beginning in terms of financial potential.
The investment
I knew early on in my business (back when I was still in network marketing) that I had to invest to see results. Which I did!
… only to loose thousands of dollars in the process.
After the frustration of failing miserably as a network marketer I finally understood that we often need many failures in order to become successful. I truly believe that mind power plays a huge part in this. Unfortunately I lacked the long term passion to become successful with network marketing.
So when it came to give my new business a real go, it was easy, since I already had the most important ingredient for success in my eyes:
Real and raw Passion!
Time investment
Getting to this stage in my life didn’t happen by accident. I put in a lot of time, effort and some money to get to where I’m at. Here is what I did:
- I went self hosted in order to have a better chance to be noticed (mind you, free blogger blogs canbe a great tool for niche marketers, but this blog isn’t a niche blog, so I had to do it differently)
- I spent many hours making connections with other bloggers via commenting, social networking and email contacts
- I also spent a lot of time getting my blog to a stage where it is unique and recognizable in the blogosphere
- I spent time branding my name as an entity and now as a direct result, many well known bloggers know me personally and not just as a name. This could be interesting for future projects and should never be under estimated.
The baby steps
My first baby steps as a freelance writer were taken as a writer for MPAM, where I got paid $5 per article. Then I heard about Scriptlance and figured it couldn’t hurt to bid for some freelance writing jobs. I got work instantly and all though they were only paying $5 an article, I knew that I had to start small in order to get big.
My big break actually came when I visited Gobala Krishnana’s blog and saw that he had advertised for a blogger to write for his MLM related blog. The ad was 1.5 month old when I came across it and despite this I felt it was worth an application.
Guess what…. I got the gig and haven’t looked back since. That was in July 2007 and in October Gobala offered me additional work as an editor/pro-blogger for his PR4 blog Easy WordPress. Since then I have been the editor and part of his staff on both blogs.
Thanks to Gobala I got a unique chance to prove myself to the blogging world and spread my name even further. As a bonus I have managed to pick up several new clients that saw me writing on his blogs.
As you can see, opportunities arise when we least expect them!
The teenage month
After the initial baby steps I felt comfortable enough to raise my prices step by step. At some stage I even worked for $5/hour for a niche marketer doing market research and designing web pages. Despite the ridiculous low amount (Mind you, in Australia an hours wage is worth around $15-20+) I persisted with this for some 2 month until I got enough other work to quit.
From there it was growth bit by bit. Every time I got a new client I was able to subtly raise my wages until they were suitable enough for my country and the amount of work I put into writing. In the last 3 month I can happily say that I earned a minimum of $20/hour for every client work I did. This was my initial target and considering it took me 18 years as a chef to earn this figure, earning it as a freelance writer in 4 month is fantastic.
The future
I’m excited about my future because I know that my potential as a freelance writer and pro-blogger can earn me a lot more money for even less effort. Currently I’m doing a course with a well known Internet marketer to learn the absolute basics of niche marketing. My target is to earn $30-50/day with a niche site in 3 month time and I’m confident that I can achieve this with the help of my able teacher.
My passion for writing has in no way diminished, even though I’ve been posting less here in the last couple of month. This was barely a necessity because of time constraints and I also figured that I rather write less, but keep the overall value high.
Success tools
The tools that helped me to get to where I’m at right now are:
- designing a blog on my self branded domain with customer feedback
- creating a hire me page on this blog (this page has brought me many jobs already)
- my passion: having the right frame of mind understanding that it takes time
- networking with other bloggers
- taking a drop in pay only to get ahead further in the future
- investment of a lot of time to build my brand
- writing every day to become better at my craft
In conclusion
In the end I can proudly say that I got where I’m at because of my very own effort. I didn’t receive a helping hand from anybody, especially not big A-list bloggers and all that I am now is purely because of my hard work, my belief into myself and my ability as a writer.
If I can do this, then so can you - if you only want to
Monika
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I’m really glad to hear things are all coming together for you Monika - couldn’t happen to a better person. Congrats!
Hey Griz: maybe I should become evil since I’m being seen as the sweetheart of the blogging world. Not exactly true though, even I can be nasty, you just haven’t found out. LOL Thanks for your nice comment, it is very much appreciated since you are one of the bloggers who has always managed to motivate me with your online presence.
Congratulations on all of your successes, Monika, that’s really amazing! You’re definitely an inspiration.
[…] finally, Monica Mundell from the writers manifesto explains how she has reached her targeted full time monthly income as a freelance writer, in a matter of 7 […]
Monika,
I seldom comment here cos’ i read your blog via my feeds, but today, I have to come and say,
“CONGRATULATIONS!”
You are an inspiration to all bloggers.
Wow, congratulations Monika, you must be feeling really good at the moment
Tay, Costa & Jylan: thank you all for your heartfelt words. Like I said before and always will, it is bloggers like you guys and ladies that make my blogging all worth wile.
Even though time doesn’t permit me to visit your blogs as often as I want to, I’m subscribed to all of you and keep updated on your views of the world.
Keep up all your own great work and before you know it (if not already) you will be self employed with a full time income.
Hi Monika
Congratulations!
Nice to read your inspirational story. Me and my friend Abhishek are also on the lines of making a good blog. Your story is a motivation!
Thanks
Rohit
Hey congrats! Must be feeling great ey?
Anyway, keep up the good work! With your attitude, I’m sure you’re gonna surpass your expectations in this coming july 
Jasa
Hi Monika,
CONGRATULATIONS! What a tremendously inspirational story
Congrats Monika! You really deserved it.
Congrats Monika! It must be satisfying to see your hard work paid off.
Hey Monika,
Congrats on making your goals ahead of schedule!! Its also great to hear of other subscribers to a positive mental attitude. Keep up the great work!
-Thom
Congratulations, Monika, I’m so happy for you. I’m a subscriber with Gobala’s Easy Wordpress, and I can say that you are doing a great work there. Your articles helped me many times.
congratulations!
Thank you all so very much for your support.;-) I feel humbled by all the great wishes I have received via this comment section and through email since I posted this.
Seeing that I can help to motivate some of you makes me very happy indeed. I appreciate everyone of your comments but have to say that right now I’m a little overwhelmed to reply to each of you single handed.
Please don’t take it against me, you are all in my heart and appreciated very much.
[…] Self Employed in 7 Month - My Journey - A great read about Monica’s journey to self sufficiency. […]
Hey M, Congrats! Great work!
Congrats that is great news!
Congrats Monika!
[…] Self Employed in 7 Month - My Journey - Monika explains how she became a full-time freelance writer and problogger in 7 months. […]
It’s always so exciting to hear of people following their dreams and passions. Congrats! I’ve passionate about entrepreneurship also and have been on my own now for 4 years in several ventures however I’m very new to the blogging world so it’s neat to hear you achieved such ‘quick’ success. Again, congrats on your accomplishments. I’ll be sure to follow your blog for more updates.
@ Jonathan: thank you for your support
@ George: hey,thanks, I’ll have to hop over and write another post soon.
@ Steven: cheers for that, I appreciate your support and hopefully one day I can be as successful as all of you blog stars.
@ Luke: sounds like you are a true winner yourself and I look forward to getting to know you better. Once I rake in the big fat checks I might need your accounting services.
You are welcome, look forward to it. I have been under the weather this week, but I plan on emailing you soon about a few things once I am feeling better.
@ George: hope you feel better soon. It sucks being ill, just look after yourself and I’ll keepo an eye out for your email.
Congratulations on a job well done, Monika.
@ RT: hey, thanks for that. When are you off to the States. Hope all goes well for Josie.
[…] many of us blogger aspire to be. In a short time of 7 months, Monika has reached her target of earning a full time monthly income as a freelance writer and pro-blogger! Through sheer hard work, gumption and her talent for writing, she managed to achieve Pro-Blogger […]
Congratulations on the results you are getting from hard work, focus and following your dream.
@ Able: thank you, it was and is all worth it and I think working really hard makes it all the more enjoyable.
Monika,
Congratulations! And thanks for sharing your journey with us. Would you like to be interviewed on Money Making Blogs?
Hey Hock,
Me interviewed, wow, I feel like somebody now.
Yes, I would be honored to be interviewed by you, give me a bell please on info [at] thewritersmanifesto.com
Hi Monika,
Congratulations on your success. I’ve been to a couple of your blogs … and I’ve enjoyed/learned things from all of them.
Thanks,
Todd
Thanks Todd,
Likewise I have to say
Just wanted to stop by and say CONGRATS!
@ Mike: hey, nice to see you stop by. How is it all going for you over at the “machine”? Hope you are making lots of money.
It’s really nice for you to stop by and say congrats, I appreciate this very much.
Hi Moni ! WOW I am SO happy for you - I can see you are absolutely living your passions and have found your mark. Congratulations & well done
@ Val: Wohooo…look who’s here.
Great to see you visiting my blog and I’m so enjoying your well wishes. I’ve heard you are onto exciting new things and am excited with you. Nice to hear from you and I hope you didn’t get too much rain up there.
Hey Monika, I’m a bit late but congratulations on your success - gud on ya! Now I know what it’s like to be mega busy I appreciate what you’ve achieved in this fairly short time.
Now you’re on the right track to start getting some niche sites onto autopilot so you can have an income stream coming to you in the background, which is where all marketers aspire to be, I’m sure.
Take care,
Terry
Monika, Congrats on your success (better late than never I guess!)
You are doing a GREAT JOB! I must admit that I am a little green with envy for I have been at this for almost 3 years and have made way to many mistakes. I am still struggling a lot but now some light bulbs are finally going off thanks to some really great people I have met in the past couple of months. You included I hope!
Your success gives me hope. Thanks for keeping that hope alive!
@ Terry: thanks buddy. I’m really happy for you too and those niches are coming along just fine which will only add to my growing income streams.
@ Denise: Thanks Denise. I’m honored to be counted as an inspiration for you and am happy to help you out whenever you need me (I know that damn skype is never connecting us at the right time, but it’s ought to happen sometime).
Just keep at it and follow the lead of those great people you’ve met and it will come together for you.
Hey Monika, I hope I’m not too late to congratulate you on this amazing feat! Well done…
Cheers,
Ellesse
@ Ellesse: hey, it’s never too late to congratulate others and I’m happy for your nice words. Hope life is treating you well too. Been a while since I’ve seen you.
Hey Monika, thanks for the response. I may not post often here, but I am reading your posts. We’ll connect someday
Hi Monika,
Congradulations!!! You are truly an inspiration. The minute I came across your blog, I knew I had to subscribe.
I’m on the same trek as you. I agree with you that time investment is essential. This is what I’m struggling with now. Time.
I wish you continued success.
Eric
@ Eric: thank you very much. I hope all is going well with you. If you are ever stuck don’t be afraid to ask for help.
…and what a journey you’ve made, dear.
Here’s to your continued success.
take care…
@ ebele: thanks very mucho to you. I’ve had a browse through your website and was very impressed! Love the way you show your creativity.
Awesome!
Ya welcome!
And thanks for passing thru my site.
all the best…
[…] Posted by Monika in Freelance Writing Ar… | 03.04.2008 - 2:02 pm This letter was inspired from Christine at Self Made Chick after a comment I made about my parents and how they are “obnoxious and self centered people”. Christine has successfully managed to leave the cubicle of work and carve her own life in the freelancing industry. Something I have personally managed to achieve not so long ago. You can read this in my post Self Employed in 7 Month. […]
[…] As you might know, my business success didn’t come overnight. I worked hard for this for many months and continue to do so. It took me 7 months from my first writing job with MPAM to become full time as a freelance writer. […]