In my last post, I talked about really wanting to prove myself in my field, and needing to move on with my career if I were to ever accomplish that goal. For most of this week, I was concentrating heavily on a lot of upcoming media events my company is taking part in, as well as keeping an eye on what was happening on Craigslist and CareerBuilder. Nothing really big was popping up, nor did I really expect anything to present itself. However, one must remain vigilant, right? Well, yesterday it paid off.

I found an ad on Craigslist in search of freelance copy writers who could put together a lot of short articles in quick succession. I knew I could do it, but I don’t have formal experience other than my last six years of sales and marketing writing for two separate companies. Luckily, this ad only asked for educational background (which I have in spades) and contact info, so I took a chance and wrote in. Within an hour I received a call from the business owner, and as we chatted it turned out that he had his MSc from Full Sail University, as well, and was willing to take a chance on me. I got the job!

It’s not a huge amount of money, but if I work hard, I can make a nice little bit of extra change each month. Best of all, after we got off of the phone, I did some more research on my new employer, and found his photograph online. Right away, I realized that I KNEW this guy in the past. After wracking my brain for a minute or two, I remembered where we had met before. In 2004, we both worked as servers at the a well-known New Orleans restaurant. At the time, he was getting ready to move to California, and I was just starting to move up at the restaurant. We were friends with the same group of people, and even went out drinking together a couple of times before he moved. I remember having great conversations with him, and thinking that he was going to end up doing well at whatever it was he chose to do with his career. After realizing that we had known each other before, I wrote him back and he remembered me, too. The restaurant that we worked at had a very professional vibe, no drugs and not a lot of partying going on, and the members of our service team were very hard workers. With both of us knowing that each other have this quality, it only makes it easier to work together, and for him to trust me to be up to par with his expectations.

I’m so excited about this opportunity, because not only am I going to be a little more financially secure, I know that I have the chance to learn even more about SEO and see what’s happening in the New Orleans SEO market. Perhaps one day there might even be a chance to help expand this company’s service menu – who knows?

At the moment, though, I need to get off of the computer for just a bit. Mardi Gras is in a month and I’m only now starting to build my costume. The Man is busy installing LED lighting in a purple suit, and he’s already more than 50% done with putting together his crazy-awesome costume. Meanwhile, I have an idea and a few pieces, but nothing constructed. I’m going to be the Tabsinthe Fairy, a mash-up of the Absinthe Fairy and a tabby cat. In my mind, I’m a green tabby cat also dressed as a fairy, and I’d like to sew up a bunch of sparkly green catnip mice to hand out to cat-lovers. We’ll see if that part happens, but I know I’ll be able to get the costume done if I just get off of the couch. I’ll be posting pictures of my progress, unlike when I promised to post Halloween photos and failed miserably.