Lost In The Words

I finally scrounged up the courage and made myself a professional website. While it might not have all the bells and whistles just yet, I think it will serve my purpose well enough for the time being.

If you would like to take a look and let me know if I have broken any cardinal freelance writer website rules or if you think you might be interested in hiring me to write for you, stop by Powell Creative Services and see what I have to offer.

I'd love any feedback that you might have on the site, just don't tell me it sucks - I might cry!

I will be the first to admit that I am one of those people. You know the ones - must check my traffic stats forty-seven times a day. Most of my traffic doesn't surprise me. But every now and then, I end up scratching my head.

I haven't had any time to blog or check stats in the past couple of weeks. We have been passing a bad cold around our house and then I had to play a big game of catch up to get all of my work caught up.  I finally reached a point today where I feel like I can take a break.

Tonight, I went digging through my most recent stats to see who had been around. I saw the usual clicks from BlogCatalog, Twitter, Entrecard, and other networking sites, which were no real shocker. Then there were the Google search clicks. Now that is where things got interesting.

I have seen plenty of hits from Google for various work at home and freelance writing searches. I get people searching for my name, which is not so common. That always makes me wonder who it is and why they are looking for me. Tonight though, I had a couple of interesting search clicks that made me laugh out loud.

I am proud to say that this blog post is ranked fourth in Google Canada for the search phrase "good cliche." How's that for SEO! Another unusual search click was "Words To Do With Eggs," which again, I ranked fourth with this post, this time from Google UK. I must say, I am quite proud of my optimization skills!

So how is your blog's SEO working for you? LOL

Over the past week or so, I have decided to try a couple new approaches to finding clients. I have a solid client base at the moment, so branching out and trying some new tactics is something I have room for. When things are tight, I usually go with the tried and true client searches, afraid of losing opportunities that will keep my head above water, but right now I feel as if I can take chances and not lose out on anything.

I have signed up for Entrecard, which so far has increased traffic a bit, but they are in the middle of updates and changes, so I'll reserve commenting on its effectiveness for awhile. I haven't yet posted on their network offering my services, but I plan to in the future. For now, I'm finding new writing blogs to read, as well as dropping cards on blogs in other markets that may have the need of a writer.

I've also jumped on Twitter, though I haven't quite figured out how that is going to get me business. Quite a few freelancers are testing these waters and if nothing else, it is a lot of fun for the camaraderie and banter between us. Laura, at Writing Thoughts, is journaling her Twitter experience on her blog, so follow along to see what influences it has for her.

Should things continue to go well, I plan on working on my own professional website within the next month or so. If anyone has recommendations on hosting services that have easy to use design templates, I'm all ears!

I'll keep you all posted on my new experiments in stepping outside my daily routines!

I think I may have finally found my rhythm. I have reached a place as a freelancer where I feel as if I belong. I know what I am doing (sometimes), know what I want, and am heading in the direction that will get me there.

For the first time in my freelance life, I am able to take the weekend off. I am not stressed over deadlines and can enjoy my family fully, until Monday morning. I have cleared my plate and am comfortable with the week's income. This is the feeling that I have been waiting for.

Granted, I have a fairly full plate ready and waiting for the coming week, that I may pick at if I get bored enough, but it is nice to know that I don't have to.

Maybe this will last, maybe it won't, but I am certainly going to do what I can to keep things this way!

Ok, so it's been eight months since I set foot in this joint. One baby and a few life lessons later, I'm back in the freelance world. I would have been back to blogging a bit sooner, but needed a bit of Google help to change my email, retrieve my password and all that other fun stuff. If anyone is still out there, I'm back and ready to find a new direction to take this blog and hopefully start a new one or two!

It sure is good to be home...just gotta kick out the dust bunnies and cobwebs now! If anyone runs across any dead or changed links, please let me know!