The Journey So Far… part 3

Previously in this series: The Journey So Far… Part 1,
The Journey So Far… Part 2

2006 – Present

Hard Decisions

My husband and I now had two children, and it soon became clear that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought, having children and working long hours for the advertising agency. There were going to be some hard decisions to make, the agency were unable to make my hours more flexible. So I made the hard decision to give up working full time and try to find a way to work from home, which was the ideal solution. I wanted to actually see my children sometimes! Nobody said parenthood was going to be easy.

So What Did I Do?

But working from home isn’t as easy as it sounds, how and what could I do? It was now or never, could I start and run a business from home and be there for the kids? Being self employed and running a business had been a long time ambition of mine. But I had always pushed it to the back of my mind and never committed to it. But now I was being presented with the chance to actually put my dream into action as a solution to a my problem. It’s like it was hitting me in the face and saying here’s your chance. But by now I was not that naive and I knew it wasn’t that simple. Working from home and starting a business is one thing, but doing it with 2 small children in tow and trying to work around them was a totally different proposition.

So How Did I Get Here Writing This Blog?

So with that in mind I started to look at what I could do. Could I make money through using what I had learned over the past 15 years plus. At first I looked at my experiences and what I was qualified in, like proofreading which I had done while at the advertising agency. But that didn’t really get anywhere because I didn’t love it. I only chose it because I had experience, but I should have known that doing a job you don’t love will get you nowhere fast. It was then that I realized if self employment was going to work for me, I would have to let my guard down and go for what I loved to do (and actually listen to my own advice).

The scariest part about this was failure and the fear of. The reason I had never attempted it before, was the thought of failing at working from home doing something creative that I really wanted to do. Like photography that was a hobby that is close to my heart, and this was my biggest stumbling block.

Taking The Leap

But I realized that if I didn’t give it a go (even if I failed) then I would regret it, you don’t get anywhere without trying. Writing was something new that I had got into and enjoyed, and I knew a lot about publications from working at the advertising agency. So I started looking into making money through writing and photography. I heard through a newsletter about making money on the internet. And seeing as there were not many doors opening for me I looked into it. So that’s how I started trying to make money on the internet, I kind of fell into it. The first thing I noticed was that it was a lot harder than it was made out to be, by other internet marketers. And after a few failed attempts I felt I wanted to be a bit more creative with my online activities, so I started looking at what else I could do on the internet to make a living.

What is blogging?

It was then that I first heard about blogs, and I was really intrigued because I could incorporate my writing into blogs as well as my photos and photography. They have huge potential and are ideal for what I wanted to do, so I started trying out blogs and writing them. I really enjoyed writing blogs and I found them exciting and fulfilling from the creative point of view. Blogs or Weblogs as they are sometimes known suited me well as a communication method for sharing my ideas and thoughts, which is what they were originally used for. Build a Blog is my 4th blog about my experiences of blogs and blogging, and the culmination of trial and error and experience that I gained from producing and writing my first 3 blogs. My blogging is still in its infancy and growing slowly, but it has given me the chance to explore photography and more. I am really enjoying it and it’s exciting to see where it goes.

So my next project was launching the photography side of my blogging by starting this blog, The Photographer Blog. Which I am very excited about because as you know this is the part that has been close to my heart for a long time, and I am eager to see how it turns out – stay tuned!

So far with blogging I have mainly wrote about blogs and what I have learned about them. So I am looking forward to enjoying blogging in a new way through this photographer blog, writing about something I have a passion for. I am also excited to learn more about photography and talking to other photographers about their experiences, likes and dislikes. I think blogs are great communication channels and I have got some goals that I would like this blog to achieve, and I am looking forward to seeing how they go. But most of all I want to enjoy this blog, writing it, learning from it and last but not least sharing my photographs on it.

Here’s to the future!

Thanks

Mandy

Did you like this article? Then please subscribe to my RSS Feed!