Who Else Needs Another 12 Hours in Their Day?

Wow. Wowee wow wow.

How is it possible that I've let two whole months go by without updating?

The time has flown by, and my unforgivable lack of blog maintenance is due to something that makes me very happy: I've been busy. Busy with a capital "B."

I currently have two regular clients. Ideally, I would have more than that, but these two lovely companies are piling so much work on my plate that I don't think I could handle anything more right now. Especially considering that I'm still putting in 40 hours (plus 5+ hours a week commuting) at my "regular" job.

I feel like I'm striking a solid balance at the moment. Because I still have the full-time job, my freelance income is gravy. It's allowing me to pay off a ton of debt and build my savings account for the day I take the scary scary leap into full-time freelancing. It's also funding a new computer and furniture for my home office.

My goals for the year are coming along. I had a slow month in February, but I came back with a vengeance in March. In mid-March, a client that I've been working with since the beginning of the year moved me to a new project. In addition, a client I've had since last year kept me super-busy with several well-paying assignments. As a result, I exceeded the income from my previous best freelancing month by almost $200.

I haven't been able to break into copywriting yet, mostly because I've been so busy with my other projects. I did pick up a copy of Bob Bly's The Copywriter's Handbook, and it's already providing me with lots of great ideas. Getting my first business-writing sample is a huge goal for me going into the second quarter of 2009.

Full-time freelancing, my ultimate goal, is still on the distant horizon. I'm getting there. Slowly but surely. As much as I complain to my husband and friends that I don't have time for anything but work lately, combining the full-time job with the part-time writing business is still the best of both worlds. As much as I'm anxious to start freelancing on a full-time basis, I want to have all my debt paid off and a reasonable amount of cash set aside before I cut the cord from full-time employment. So my current 60-hour work weeks are a means to an end.

I just hope that end is in sight soon. ::grin::

I'll end this post with a question for any other freelancers who read this blog: When you were first starting out, did you moonlight while holding down a full-time job? How long did you lead the double life before going full-time with your writing business?