I almost sent this comment on Thursday, when you were talking about low-/no-paying freelance assignments, but chickened out for fear of raising the ire of the full-time freelancers, among whom I do not rank. But now I feel comfortable sharing my success story with you–for which I’ve been meaning to send a ginormous thank-you!

Back in March, I responded to a listing on your freelance job-post from a startup online lingerie shop. At the time, I was slaving away as an agency copywriter, spending my entire days writing about life insurance. The gig I found on your listing was unpaid, but offered me a utopian opportunity to write about beauty and fashion. They liked me, I liked them, so I signed on.

Just last month, the site owners offered to start paying me in exchange for a 5-6 post per week commitment. It’s not a ton of cash, but enough for a nice pair of shoes once a month, and I’m still thoroughly enjoying my posting duties.

Plus, I get to tease my husband: “Well, whaddya know? I get paid to write about lingerie …”

My point is, blogging is still such a new phenomenon that there still isn’t a set of norms or even much of a cache of experience to tap into. My advice: If something interests you and it’s low-paid or even unpaid (and you can afford the time), give it a chance.

There might just be a sweet pair of shoes in it for you.