Do you remember your first time? (No, not what you are thinking.  Much, much better than that.  I’m talking about your first job as a freelance!)

I’ll never forget mine!  It was the 19th April 2010.

That day I sent through my first batch of work to my client.  I was elated and on cloud nine.  I was enveloped in the most amazing feelings of freedom, independence, immense hope and fulfilment – all at the same time.  I was filled with immense pride and self-worth.

Those feelings lasted more than 2 weeks as I completed the whole project.  (See? It lasted more than 2 weeks. Not 2 minutes.  It’s way better than that.)

As a freelance translation editor, this was my first work at home gig!  I’m over the moon!

Although money hasn’t changed hands, I’ll forever be grateful for this job.

Lately, I’ve been thinking over the experience and reliving it to reflect on the important lessons from that first freelance job.  And, also because I’ve had two more queries since then!  And, here, are the 3 vital lessons learned from my first time.

You’ll Never be Ready

It has been almost a year since I started this blog.  In terms of content and design, this blog is not anywhere near ready. Forget being ready, it’s still incomplete – without a services page or something similar.  But, the fact that I still get prospects and a client already, is testimony to that fact that it’s ok to be imperfect.  Everybody starts off somewhere.

Prospects and clients are human too.   They understand that. The fact that I don’t have the money for a design or copy does not bother my client.  The result she gets, matters most to her. The important thing is to establish your presence on the web – start a blog already – and start making connections. Let go of your excuses.  Writing does not come naturally to you?  Well, start writing everyday and follow blogs like WritetoDone, Copyblogger, ViperChill, SmartPassiveIncome, etc.  One area I’m struggling with is the business side of things. I know it will take months to figure out somethings, but I’m willing to do my time and sweat it out. Who ever said making money is easy, right?

Stop Waiting for the Elusive Big Break

After writing blogs for more than 4 years now, one thing is mightily clear to me – there is no such thing as a Big Break in making money online world.    My monthly income from these blogs? $40 – $50 in a good month!  So, why continue?  Because there has always been little breaks in between long spells of drought.  These may be in the form of a post going viral, an affiliate sales or a chat with one of my favorite bloggers, a comment from a reader, etc.  You do get my drift, right?  So, I’m being a realist, while hopeful and focussed on my goals of making real money online and generating passive income.

It’s the little breaks that will make a difference.  It’s the little breaks that perhaps will make it possible for you to break away from the 9-to-5 existence. Dave Navarro, who just quit his job yesterday, wrote a guest post on Ittibiz where he says “No magical single event is going to take you from obscurity to celebrity (well, not in a healthy, sustainable way that lets you sleep at night).”  And, that’s the naked, honest truth.

Your Journey will be Unique, so will your Story be

My first brush with making money from blogs is what Darren from ProBlogger calls an indirect method of making money from blogs.  My father’s book, Zo Chronicles, was published posthumously in 2008.  I announced the release on my then personal blog, quickly highlighting how I got it published, how I undertook the task of proofreading, without prior experience, the manuscript and how friends and family helped to make the publication possible, where and when it was being released and a discount for the release day.  On release day, all copies we got from the publisher were sold!

I know how I make money is unique, very different from how most A-List bloggers make theirs. My story is unique, so is my journey. Eventually my destiny.  We are like a bunch of school kids – today playing football together; 20 years later, we’ll be lucky to even play a game. Forget about being together in the same playground.

This blog is where I primarily want to help video or podcast bloggers by providing them transcripts for their audios and videos.  But somehow, the first job I got is for translations!  But, I’m not complaining.  It’s surprises like this that makes blogging worthwhile.  Do not ever overlook or ignore your prospects where you can help them with your unique set of talents (ever if you do not offer the help they ask for).  Always remember, at the end of the day, you are trying to help people.  Help them wherever, whenever and which ever way you can.  You are the diversifying your income stream, establishing your brand and your credibility in the process.  Be unique.  Stay unique.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Please feel free to leave your comments and observations.  Do you remember your first time?  Please do share your first time stories.  Subscribe and stay connected.

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It’s even more confusing and depressing when you fail, even after trying out their advices and tips on your blogs – whether you are trying to create digg-worthy posts, trying to involve your audience through polls, gifts for comments, free downloads for subscription, guest posting on a couple of blogs in your niche, submitting your blogs to blog directories, hosting blog carnivals, etc…well, you get the picture. Believe me it’s depressing, I have been there.

The Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film which tells the story of an English teacher (John Keating played by Robin Williams) at the prestigious Welton prep school, which is based on four principles – tradition, honor, discipline and excellence. Mr Keating inspires his students to change their lives of conformity. The movie is all about the awakening of the individual and that authority must always be just a guide in the process.

How To Break Free From The Bond Of Conformity And Be Different

Carpe diem (Latin for seize the day):

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.”

On the first day of the English class Mr Keating imparts the importance of the present to his students. Think about men before us, men who lived and died. Their only legacy seems to be one advice – carpe diem. Make the most of your life today, for you and I are just foods for worms tomorrow, he says. Like it or not we all die. Our days are numbered.

If blogging is where your heart is, then make the most of your present in blogging. Don’t waste your time in reading and following what the authorities in blogging are saying or writing. The only thing you will gain by that exercise is mediocrity or at best the curse of being common, for hundreds of equally misguided bloggers like you will be learning from the same blogging authority and practicing the same blogging techniques. And, that brings us to our second point.

Find your own Voice:

“Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Don’t be resigned to that. Break out!”

We must constantly look at things in a different way. Just when you think you know something, get something, deliberately try to see it in a different light. We must constantly try to improve and push the boundaries. Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try! Now, when you read, don’t just consider what the author thinks. Consider what you think.

The problem is, the moment you imitate someone else you just gave away your creative self to being a duplicate. Successful people do not become successful by conforming. They consciously try to be different. They rebel against the accepted social norms. They create their own paths to glory. They try new things or ways to achieve their goals. In short, they take creative and challenging approaches to their goals. They chose to take the unbeaten path.

You cannot be the successful Problogger or Copyblogger. You can only be the successful you. You have to find your own success.

Immerse yourself in what you do, to find your self:

Todd out of self-consciousness fails to complete a creative writing assignment and is taken through an uncharacteristic self-expression realizing the creative potential he truly possesses.

Mr Keating is aware that Todd has it in him a creative but timid mind. He is always shy and scared to express himself and be the ridicule of his classmates. So, he forced Todd to express himself and confirms what he always suspects, that Todd indeed has the potential but was always too shy and self-conscious to even try.

Have you locked yourself in your own mind’s closet, afraid people will not take your seriously enough or scared you might become a joke. Let go of this low self-esteem. Immerse yourself in your blogging. Blog, blog and blog more. You will eventually “get it”. Practice makes one perfect, right?

In conclusion, the common theme running through these points above is this – define your own individual success. In the blogging world (especially in the make money online world), success is more often than not , wrongly defined by how much money the blogger earns. Blogging is more, as Mr Keating said, like a powerful play and it will go on that you may contribute a verse.

What will your verse be?

Related posts:

1. One Blogging Tip Probloggers Did Not Tell You
2. 6 Reasons Why Bloggers Need Perfect Grammar for Success
3. Why Successful Bloggers Have Blogging Buddies (and So Should You)