I began working toward becoming a freelance writer nearly three years ago. When I started my journey, I had no idea the potential the internet would offer. In fact, I had intended to pursue writing for print media such as magazines, journals and trade publications. I'm happy to say that today I'm earning money as a writer. However, I've never written anything for print. Everything I've been paid to write has been online, and my writing career truly started with blogging.

I began this blog shortly after the birth of my third child, and the loss of my steady job, as a way of simply practicing my writing and creating a platform with which to show editors my abilities. I had no idea the path blogging as a profession and movement would take, nor did I ever imagine the opportunities it would provide. Blogging has given me:

• Practice to hone my writing skills
• The opportunity to network with potential employers and friends
• Knowledge and proficiency in using social media
• Business sense and excitement about entrepreneurship
• Confidence in my abilities and worth as a writer and a marketer.

I've spoken and written countless times about putting yourself out there and knowing your worth. But then I seemed to forget my own advice, and I got lost for awhile. Lost in the day to day of just getting by, rather than making a plan and setting goals. Somehow, recently, I've managed to snap out of it. I've been more assertive about making my own opportunities and reaching out for the kinds of writing I want to do. And it seems to be working!

At the beginning of the year, I reached out through a letter of introduction to the owner of a website I was interested in writing for, and that bold move paid off. I now have a regular gig writing on topics related to education and career. The icing on the cake is that the job pays pretty darn well! I've also started to be more assertive about getting involved in affiliate marketing and in selling advertising on my blogs. In fact, I recently pitched my ad services on GigCoin as a means of promoting what I have to offer. I'm tired of sitting around waiting for good things to happen for me!

It takes a lot of work and a lot of courage to put yourself out there and step out of your comfort zone. I can see already that it's worth the effort. I'm even getting excited about building up some of my other long set aside projects and hope to give you an update on them soon. It all really comes down to confidence. For me, getting past the fear and moving forward has led to small successes. These small accomplishments have increased my confidence and will likely lead to even greater successes. The year's off to a really good start.

What about you? What kind of changes are you making to take steps toward achieving your goals? I really want to hear about them. Let's encourage each other!

* Sponsored post, but every word is true.

Youv'e gotta see this video. It's a parody of the iconic Christmas song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, geared toward moms. Watch as Meredith of Hoo-Dee-Hoo and a host of other beautiful, talented and funny women bloggers tell you what moms REALLY want for Christmas!

* video originally posted at YouTube on Marjie326's Channel

I've been back from Blissdom for a few days now, and I've been recovering. It was a jam packed few days, to say the least. Rather than writing up a recap post, I thought I'd show you a bit of my experience in Nashville.

This is my favorite picture from the event. It's me and my dear, amazing friend, Angela. If you really want a detailed summary of Blissdom, visit her blog to read her live blogging posts.

The beautiful and amazing community builder, Liz Strauss. What a pleasure it was to meet her.

Lovely friends, Heather Solos and Lucretia Pruitt

The wonderfully adorable Casey who deserves to have HER photo taken!.

Effervescent Robin in her amazing "prom girl" dress.

Me with wonderful Jenn, whose frugality I admire.

The hotel was incredible, the sponsors were fabulous, the workshops were so informative. But I hope it's apparent through my pictures that what impressed upon me most at Blissdom were the people. Blogging started out for me as a way of practicing my writing. It quickly evolved into connecting with others. It was the connections that I was  searching for at Blissdom. I am thankful for those that were made.

What about you? Did you attend Blissdom or another conference or event recently? What was your big take away? Do tell.

So remember when I told you I was featured at The BlogRollers? Do you remember the awesome contest I told you about that they're sponsoring for a ticket to BlogHer '09? Did you enter? Well, I did, and I want to show you my video entry. I want to go to BlogHer so bad that I even sang for my shot at a ticket and a chance to be the BlogRollers' fourth wheel! Here's my entry and my explanation of why I really want to win this contest. I hope you enjoy my video, but mostly, I hope you learn from me not to sell yourself short and to not let fear stop you from taking a chance on going for something that's important to you.

Thanks so much, BlogRollers, for sponsoring this contest and for allowing me to have a second chance at reaching for my dreams!

Recently, I took a break from Twitter. Yes.  Really.  On purpose.  I did.  It was a little experiment, and I learned a lot. Although I love Twitter and enjoy all of the amazing interactions I'm able to have through this application, I began to feel like I was missing out on other things by focusing exclusively on Twitter for my social networking.

As a mom of three, my time is very limited. I realize the importance of utilizing social media as a means of staying in touch with others of similar interests, reaching out to potential readers, and locating a number of resources and opportunities.  For this reason, I felt good in the fact that I was spending time each morning with my Twitter friends.  Then it hit me - my reach had become vastly smaller by interacting in only one medium, during one time of day.

I realized I was missing out on so many other online activities I enjoy.  So I made the decision to quit Twitter cold turkey. For a week and a half. And I learned alot about the way I want to structure my time in the future.  I spent time with my Google reader, Facebook, and on the phone with my real-life friends, and I enjoyed myself immensely.

Boy, was I glad to catch up with some of my favorite blogs. It felt like I was finding out what was happening in the lives of old friends.  I was really pleased to be able to read the blogs of some of my best online friends.  I can't believe how far behind I had gotten.  But that happens in life; I know that.  I've had conversations with bloggers recently regarding hurt feelings surrounding lack of comments or people not visiting their blogs. I hate to hear that.  I know we all try, but we have to focus on all aspects of our lives, and there are only so many hours in the day.

Facebook was fun for me because I got to connect to aspects of my life I hadn't considered in years! I found college buddies, sorority sisters, and pals from high school and childhood.  How great it was to see pictures of them and their families.  I was able to catch up through Facebook's chat feature and connect with some people I hadn't thought about in ages.  I even found out my ex-husband has a Facebook account.  Maybe this will be a new way for us to coordinate our schedules! I wonder if anyone else uses Facebook in quite this manner?

Catching up with my real-life girlfriends was awesome. My friends are all scattered in different directions now, and it's hard to keep track sometimes.  But they've all got some amazing things happening in their lives, and it was so good to feel connected to them again.  It's so easy for me to get caught up in what's going on immediately around me.  I know I've neglected certain things.  As a matter of fact, through connecting with one of my girlfriends, something beyond words happened - something that caused my online world and my offline world to internsect in a totally unexpected way. I promise I'll clue you in on this development soon.  Keep your eyes open for that.

The moral of this story is that it's important not to put all your social networking eggs in one basket.  Take a look at your online habits and assess what's working for you and what may need some tweaking. Please let me know if you've found yourself in a similar situation - I'd love to hear your story!

You know how I'm always advocating that we step out of our comfort zone?  Ever since I started this blog, I try to focus each week on doing something different, reaching out to someone new, or taking a risk of some kind.  And it's almost always paid off.  I've received numerous opportunities and have made such great connections with people each time I step out of my comfort zone. I'd like to share my latest exciting news with you.

Do you see the Working Mother logo in my side bar, listed under Where I Write?  No, I haven't gotten anything published in Working Mother magazine.  Yet.  But I am blogging at WorkingMother.com! They have a great Momblog.  I saw that they were accepting applications for bloggers, so I decided to go for it.  I was accepted, and you can read my first blog here.

What do you think?  I'm hoping this new avenue will be fun and will help me in my freelance pursuits.  By the way, I can't believe I forgot to tell you all about my new blog!  It's called Adventures in Freelancing, and I'm hoping it will be a place for other newbie freelancers like me to learn together and share experiences.  Wanna contribute?  Just let me know.  I'd love to have guest bloggers share their knowledge.  Also, don't forget to enter to win one of 8 great prizes for writers. I'll be listing something new each week.  Please drop by and let me know what you think!  And comment here with any good news you've got happening in your life or tell us about ways you've stepped out of your comfort zone recently. Inquiring minds want to know!

I've been thinking lately about how my life has changed since having Brady and really getting down to the business of writing.  What if I hadn't started my blog?  Writing here every nearly every day for the past few months has really been a blessing in my life.

Starting my blog has given me the push I need to get back in the swing of things.  For a long while after leaving my job, I felt hopeless and lost, like I would never feel motivated or stimulated ever again.  Pregnancy does not treat me well, and I was feeling sick, sore, and miserable most of the time.  Then my beautiful boy was born, and while I was happy, I was also overwhelmed with the fatigue of new motherhood, caring for my older children, and the everyday tasks of running a household.

Blogging gave me that creative outlet that's so often sought after, but never really understood until you've found it.  I was able to use my mind in ways that didn't involve the routine of caring for others.  Best of all, I began to make connections that made me feel a part of the outside world again.

Through blogging, I've "met" people from all over.  Not just the U.S., but from all over the world!  This is exciting for me because I live in a rather homogenous area with little diversity and little change; it's so easy to get stuck in a rut here.  My blog's even made it to Pakistan - thanks, Nadia!

I've been introduced to lots of wonderful "mom bloggers" at Mom Bloggers Club.  It's been so wonderful to connect with other moms.  Moms are in a sort of club of their own - no matter where we're from or what our background, we understand each other.

Through these connections, I've found resources for my writing.  I've already begun publishing as a contributing editor at Mommy Matter, which has given me the clips and experience all freelance writers need.  And the new friends I've made have led me to other writing opportunities. 

And I can't forget Twitter!  If you haven't joined, you should consider it.  It's a great way to network and meet people, get fun tips, and see what great projects others are doing.  Don't worry if you don't know anyone there, you can follow me!

Blogging has been an amazing experience for me.  It's been the catalyst I needed to move onto other what if's.  There's a whole world out there for me to explore!  Thanks for joining me for the ride.