From ghost writing to Freelancing

Since I’ll be posting regularly to freelancing and more, I thought a quick introduction might be in order.

Currently, I write for Helium and a few contract clients. I also publish articles on Triond every now and then, and have accounts with various other online writing sites that I’ve never quite gelled with, as yet. I have a blog (paying-hobby.blogspot.com) which I’ll get onto it’s own domain at some point, and a website www.fresh-weightloss-approach.com that’s in it’s fledgling state and looks set to stay that way until I get a quiet hour or two at least.

But much like Doreen, and if you haven’t read Doreen’s inspiring story, you really should, I came late to the freelancing game, and never had any intention of freelancing at all. I didn’t even want to be a writer.

In fact, if you’d asked me as a child what I wanted to do, you would have gotten the same answer every time: either a sculptor or an archaeologist. I loved history, and loved making things with my hands. It was only in my late teens I discovered a love of words, and a small talent for writing. But back then I wrote poetry.

Throughout my somewhat erratic career, I amassed some great material for small talk. I managed to become a published poet, an award winning website designer, (neither as grand or exciting as they sound) the only Librarian in the UK with a certificate to change abrasive wheels, and the only florist in the country trained as a Hostage Negotiator. Oh, I also did quite a bit of public speaking, and even “appeared” on the local radio.

What can I say? I’m an Aquarius.

The strange thing was, in amongst all this, I somehow became a ghostwriter. Mostly for clients of the web design company whose sites I’d designed, but not exclusively.  Eventually I found myself writing web copy for catalogues, sales letters, recruitment materials for Network Marketers, and from that came the first exposure to article writing online.

Even then I didn’t jump at the opportunity to become a freelance writer. I wrote a few articles for directories like ezinearticles.com and that was about it.

My freelancing career proper, like Doreen’s started as a result of a lack of work and after the end of a long term relationship. having closed my own Florist shop and moved 100 miles to a new city with a new partner, I discovered mine was not the only shop to close as a result of the sudden and deep recession in 2008/2009. After months of fruitless searching for a job, I told my mother one day if I couldn’t find a job, I would make my own.

Not wanting to return to web design, I turned to writing instead, and quickly built up a respectable income from promoting articles on various web sites, and finding regular clients. Of course, when I say respectable, it’s not earth shatteringly impressive, but it covers my basic bills, and that’s what matters. Fortunately my bills are very, very basic

So my posts for you come from the perspective of a long time Internet ghostwriter who’s come out from the shadows. Hope you find useful information in them, and I’ll speak to you all next Monday.

About Gail Seymour

Starting out my working life in a plant hire centre, then moving on to a career in a prison library, I used to joke that I was the only librarian in the country (UK, that is) with a certificate to change abrasive wheels. Years later, when I trained as a florist, the joke became that I was the only florist in the country trained as a hostage negotiator. Some of the other entries on my CV include a small amount of published poetry and awards won for web site designs. Oh, and regular public speaking as a Kleeneze distributor. The biggest audience I ever addressed was around 2000. That's if you don't count speaking on the local radio chat show. I've been writing web site content for clients ranging from a carpet retailer to a power tool wholesaler to network marketers for almost a decade now, and decided it's time to go freelance. So now I'm an ex-librarian, ex-website designer, ex-network marketer, ex-florist cum freelance writer with a passion for getting the message across that attitude is more important than 'dieting' if you want to lose weight.

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Tags: @gailseymour, freelance writer, Gail Seymour, ghostwriting, Internet writing