How the Military Prepared Me for a Career in Freelance Writing

In early 2006 I hadn't been out of the military for more than a few months when I saw an online ad for Associated Content. AC was still relatively new and it was a great time to be involved on the ground floor of a growing organization. The whole concept of "write content and get paid" had not yet flooded the market. The process was really quite simple - I wrote an article and got paid. In fact it was so seamless it didn't even dawn on me what had occurred. At the time it was just another gig and quickly forgotten.

The Work Just Keeps on Coming

I was doing some other writing as well, but after a few months I came back to Associated Content with a new dedication - writing 3 to 5 articles a day and sometimes more. As my article-archive grew so did my earnings but the biggest benefit was that I had an active portfolio that quickly became the highlight of my resume. It's one thing to say you have a dozen or so articles published and quite another to say you have over a thousand or whatever the number may be. I soon developed a list of clients in addition to Associated Content and that has continued to this day. There are other content-writing agencies on the net and I write a staggering amount of copy for many of them. Technical writing, translation work and market research rounds out my itinerary, but I credit Associated Content with helping me get my foot in the door early on.

Military Discipline Helps

To what extent my military experience or status has helped is tangible at best: I think most companies want results no matter what your background is. You can be a go-getter or a slug in the military just like you can be in any other field. But I can tell you the discipline and work ethic I developed in my military career allows me to get up in the morning and write come rain or shine. I know at the end of the day I have to have earned xx amount of dollars with my writing: whether it's SEO content, a translation or a deciphering data and presenting it in a form that makes sense demands that it be treated as work and I will reach that objective.

It's all About Goals

The military teaches you the importance of having and reaching goals. That same strategy comes in handy in civilian life. The great thing is I'm working for me. The goals I've set reflect what I want and need now that I'm no longer in uniform.