Craigslist.com: One Writer's Journey

Several months ago, I finally took the "big plunge" as a writer and decided I was really going to get serious about pursuing writing as a "job." I needed to do some research, but didn't really know where or even how to begin. I got my first editing job through a friend of a friend. That was successful, so I got my confidence up. I was familiar with craigslist.com and had used it for job searches, and other purposes. So I started checking craigslist.com postings in Richmond, VA for writing jobs. I wasn't having much luck finding anything that I felt remotely qualified to do nor did I have a writing portfolio to offer any potential employers.

One day, I saw a craigslist.com posting for writers with the option to telecommute! The proverbial light bulb lit up over my head, "I can telecommute to anywhere, not just Richmond!" That was the beginning of one of the most enjoyable adventures I have ever had. I started on the right hand column of the craigslist.com home page-where the major U.S. cities are listed-and clicked on each of them to check writing/editing jobs and writing gigs categories. I actually found several promising opportunities and set about "selling myself" in cover letter/emails and by attaching my resume.

I immediately was hit with a couple of scams, and several "third party SEO providers" but that happens in every situation, not just on craigslist.com! After about a week, ignoring the advice I had been given by seasoned writers not to work on the cheap, I accepted a very nominal fee for copy writing some SEO content. I had decided I would hone my skills and get writing credits under my belt to make myself more marketable as a writer. I then had the good fortune to "meet" an on-line retailer through craigslist.com. He was seeking to upgrade his website, bra-shop.com. He was the nicest man, and literally walked me through the first couple of submissions. We ended up developing a long-term arrangement that lasted several months. I ultimately re-worked his entire website. Thanks to my experience with the bra-shop.com website, and some other smaller assignments through craigslist.com, I have become quite adept at writing key-word rich text.

I have had several other writing jobs for pay through craigslist.com and I'm so grateful for that! What I am most satisfied about though, is not the money or even the opportunity for writing-which is the main reason true writers even bother to get out of bed in the morning-it's that 99.9% of the people I have been in contact with through craigslist.com have been generous, nice, helpful and friendly. What an affirmation that the world really isn't in as bad shape as the media would have you believe!

Through craigslist.com I happened upon a site called Associated Content. The rest, as they say, is history. I'm pleased to report that I am now making some great extra cash and have continued to meet helpful and supportive fellow writers!