A Fresh Start

Today is a wonderful day! For the first time, I made the commute to work from one room of my house to another. I am excited to announce that this Halloween marks the first day that I am no longer a part of the 9 to 5 workforce, but am instead a new member of the proudly self-employed!

The Transition

The transition from 9 to 5 to self-employed has been a long journey filled with long days spent in front of a computer screen. One day I will have to write about it in length, but in a nutshell it involved about three years of spending eight hours at the office, followed up by another four to five at home. I tried many forms of making money online, including advertising on my blog, AdSense sites, affiliate marketing, and maintaining a directory.

While those things bring in some passive income, they aren’t the things I am most excited about doing. I love writing. Hence, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that I started getting into freelance writing. So far, I have done mainly blog posts and a pinch of ghostwriting. But ultimately, writing is my passion, therefore freelance writing is what I enjoy doing the most. And there is nothing better than making a living doing what you love.

My New Tagline

For those who have paid attention to my profiles across social media, you might have already noticed some changes. Since I like variety (and diversified sources of income), I plan on combining my love of writing plus my experience in online marketing in what I offer which can be summed up in the following tagline.

I am an online marketing consultant, freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast who enjoys photography, tennis, and the outdoors. Let me know how I can help you with your website, blog, or business.

I vary it a little from network to network based on the number of characters I have to work with and the audience. But it summarizes exactly what I want to do and who I can do it for, plus gives a little insight into the things I love outside of work which is what the perfect tagline should convey.

What I Have to Offer

As for the specifics, here is a sampling of the services I will be offering bloggers and businesses. Please contact me if you’d like to learn more!

For Bloggers

• Blog Audits: If you feel there is more you could be doing with your blog in order to build your authority, grow your community, and make money online, I can help. I will analyze your blog by looking at several factors including your design, search & social media optimization, content, and calls-to-action. I will take that analysis and compare it to some other blogs in your niche to show you how your blog compares and what areas you need to focus on improving.
• Blog Posts: If you need a regular contributor for your blog, I can write articles and (depending on the topic) promote them to my network. My main area of experience is in online marketing, but I can also write about a wide range of topics suitable for your niche.

For Businesses

• Local Search Optimization: If you have a local business, then you want to have a strong presence in local search. Local search results take up prime real estate on the first page, so if you are not on it, then you are missing out on business. With some simple onsite optimization and creation of quality local directory listings, your business can get closer to the front page than ever!
• Social Media Setup: I always believe that the businesses that will succeed on social media are the ones that are doing it for themselves. The toughest part is just getting started. I can help your business setup social media accounts & profiles on the top networks, then give you specific ideas on how to grow and engage with your target audience.
• Online Reputation Management: There is nothing worse than searching for your name or business on Google and finding less than desirable results on the first page that include bad reviews or the word scam. I can help you develop website content and social profiles in additional to optimize existing online properties for your business in order to try to outrank the negative items that appear in search.
• Freelance Writing: If you need content developed for your website or blog, I can write it and (depending on the topic) promote it to my network. As mentioned earlier, my main area of experience is in online marketing, but I can also write about a wide range of topics suitable for your industry. If it’s out of my area of expertise, I can also help you develop content ideas and a plan for your content strategy.

In addition to my freelance writing and other services, I have a laundry list of eBooks to write as well as a great new project just for bloggers in the works, all of which I hope to have ready by the beginning of 2012.

Who I Have to Thank

I can’t say I would be where I am now without the support of my family and my wonderful husband who happens to be a talented photographer and blogger. He even got me this lovely card to celebrate!

I also have to thank my former employer Vertical Measures for all of the education and experience I gained in online marketing with some very smart and talented colleagues.

Last, but definitely not least, are the people who inspired me. I can’t list them all. I could, but I’ll save that for another post as it would be a book on its own. One person who comes to mind is Farnoosh Brock. I met her last year at Blog World and sensed she had great plans up her sleeve. Sure enough, while I was weighing the pros and cons of making it on my own, Farnoosh went out, did it, and told the tale of leaving her 6-figure career and why she left without a plan. She pointed me in the direction of a great eBook, You Don’t Need a Job, You Need Guts about combining your passion, self, and business through online entrepreneurship. She also wrote one of her own on Motivation: Going from Goals to Greatness. And, speaking of motivation, she sent me motivational messages via email, Twitter, and Facebook that helped me stay confident that I was doing the right thing. So for all of those things, I have to thank her!

Now I begin my first day of my new career in the comfort of my home office. Lots of preparation to do with only three days left to Blog World LA!

• How To Start a Blog in 7 Days
• 70+ Resources on How to Start a WordPress Blog
• Kick Start Your Blog by Embracing the Nobodies

This post brought to you by Kristi Hines Kristi is a blogger, freelance writer, online marketing consultant, and social media enthusiast. Connect with me on Twitter and Google+. Kristi has written 470 awesome article(s) for Kikolani.

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