Goodbye For Now, Dear Readers
March 27, 2009 by Jenny Cromie
Filed under Jobs
Back in November when I was still freelancing full time, I couldn’t believe my luck when I landed this gig.
I had blogged about the business of freelancing on my own blog, The Productive Muse, for several months. But when the opportunity to write for b5media.com presented itself, I jumped at the chance.
Long before I launched my freelance business, I was reading ProBlogger, Darren Rowse’s blog about blogging (Darren also is cofounder of b5media—the company that owns this one). So my history with and admiration for Darren, b5media.com, and everyone on the b5media team goes back several years.
If you’ve followed my journey on b5media.com—on The Golden Pencil and most recently on the Freelancing channel on bizzia.com—you’ll recall that I accepted a full-time position as a communications and marketing manager at the beginning of last month and went part-time with my freelance business.
It soon became clear that juggling both was going to be quite a challenge. So I decided to invite my friend and longtime colleague, Shelley DeLuca, to blog here with me about the business of freelancing. This was a perfect arrangement—she was a full-time freelancer and I was a part-timer. And between the two of us, we had most aspects of the publishing and media industries and work experiences covered. Everything was humming along very nicely until about a week ago when simultaneously, demands on my time increased and Shelley was offered a full-time position.
If you’re reading this and wondering whether you should start writing your own blog, Shelley and I are both good examples of how blogging leads to new, exciting opportunities. Due in part to our blogging and social media experiences, we’re now traveling along new, exciting career paths.
Personally, I had not planned on switching gears and scaling back on my freelance business. But sometimes opportunities show up, and they’re simply too good to pass up. And that, dear readers, is how all this transpired for both of us.
Perhaps I will freelance part time at some point again. But with the new position, long hours, and increasing demands on my time in the family arena, I have to wind things down for now.
The decision to give up this gig was a very, very difficult one. I have loved writing this blog, helping other freelancers and independent contractors, and getting to know all of you. And I know Shelley has enjoyed it too.
But after today, we’ll no longer be able to join you here every day.
That said, you’ll still be able to find us on Twitter (@JennyCromie and @shelleydeluca). Some of you will still see us on the other social media networking sites and online communities we belong to. And at some point, I’ll begin blogging on The Productive Muse again (maybe sooner rather than later).
So we’re not going to say goodbye. We’ll just say “see you later” or “see you online.”
Take good care, and we’ll talk soon,
Jenny and Shelley
Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar (Flickr)
Jennie,
I am delighted for your transition and disappointed that your musings will not edify my soul as I would like. You are indeed a very good writer. As an image maker I always like to start with a story to ground my photos on. I think and talk in word pictures. Your writing is descriptive and grounded in good imagery. I will miss you.
Because I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with the various spinning plates of life, I’ve not had the ability to keep up my blog this month. When one doesn’t attend to each plate, it will fall. I understand your need to attend to matters of grave importance and not just let the blog limp along unattended.
Kind regards,
Charles
http://charlesgupton.wordpress.com/
This is an amazing story to hear, especially with all that has been happening in the economy! Good for both of you!
We’re going to miss you and Shelley very much, Jenny! I’m delighted we have had the chance to get to know you and work with you both in the Business channel and on Bizzia. Good luck with everything and please keep in touch!
Rachel
We’ll miss you Jenny! I hope things go well for you. :)
Good luck to you both in your new careers. I will miss your posts, but I’m glad that you both have found something that works for you now.
Jennie–
I will miss you, but I’m also happy for you. Good luck with your career! I hope to meet you at some point in real life. It’s been wonderful getting to know you here, on twitter, thru FLX etc.
I’m sad to see you go…hope you’ll come visit me as I start writing for the freelancing category! I definitely have huge shoes to fill!
Thank you all for the kind words. I’m going to miss blogging here and interacting with all of you every day. As I said above, though, we’ll be in touch through the other networks and online communities we belong to. And at some point, I most likely will resume my other blog, The Productive Muse.
Rachel, thank you so much for all your help and for the wonderful opportunity to write for b5media.com these last few months. I’ve really enjoyed it.
And ditto Alisa—I’m hoping that we can meet in real life sometime as well. Perhaps for the next FLX conference.
Alison, good luck with the blog. I know you will enjoy working for b5media.com and bizzia.com—it’s been a great experience for me. Best of all, you’ll meet a lot of wonderful people.
Good luck on your new journeys. I’ll keep an eye out for you on Twitter.
I’ve been plugging away at my own blog for eight months now, and I’m finally seeing some new doors open for me. Too many people I know make the transition between print and pursuing online opportunities unnecessarily traumatic.
For my part, I’m really looking forward to the next phase of my writing career!
Jenny,
I sincerely wish you and Shelley continued success in your freelancing careers! I will miss you both on bizzia.com.
Yvette