My blog has been a bit empty lately, except for book reviews, for one reason. I started writing a column (now 2) at Examiner.com. I'm now the "St. Petersburg Frugal Family Examiner" and the "St. Petersburg Frugal Living Examiner."I have no plans to get rich doing this. The pay is roughly $1 per article, if the article has a local focus (not too difficult to do). Examiner is a little vague about how all the page usage translates into payment, but it appears that it's roughly a penny a page view (assuming the viewer lingers on the page long enough to read part of it, and isn't just passing through).
I'm enjoying the writing aspect of this: figuring out the best way to communicate to a web audience, crafting headlines that are search engine friendly, planning what stories to cover and when. It keeps me in the discipline of writing, which has made writing articles for submission to other publications easier. I love the research aspect: finding press releases, clipping items from the newspaper, rediscovering all the places where information is posted on the web. I feel like I'm back at the reference desk.
But the most rewarding aspect has been saving my family money--which is why I picked the "frugal" topics over the others. I've discovered new ways to stretch our budget. I've visited some new resale shops in our town. I've enjoyed talking with local shop owners, bankers, clerks, and other moms. I'm doing what we moms do anyway--figure out how to get the best deal on anything. Only now I'm sharing it with the world. Well, my little Internet corner of the world.
How's it going? So far so good.
1 comment:
I've always wondered how much a person got paid for doing it. I'm glad you are enjoying it and that it is making you submit more places:)
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