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This website has grown quite a bit since it first began, more than 4 years ago. I wasn’t working at the time and at the beginning of a 3 year sabbatical. Volunteering in the Philippines I found blogging was a great way to raise money for the people affected by Typhoon Yolanda.
And with the blogging I started taking more photos, poetry emerged, and then a little boy. Writing stories helped release the stress of poverty, the sudden death of friends (more than friends), and the challenges I faced becoming a mother for the first time (to a 7 year old)!
Fast forward 2018 I’m now working as a full-time professional copywriter and my website has become a hub to showcase my services to clients as much as an outlet for my creative works.
I’d like to thank all my readers for your loyalty and support over the past 4 years. I can remember vividly my first blog post, my astonishment when people I’d never met began liking and commenting on the stories, and my delight when one of my poems was featured on WordPress Discover.
Transitioning the Blog
And as much as I enjoyed my time off blogging, playing guitar and writing poetry, I am loving the challenge of working again and building a writing business. So the blog is evolving again too, now into a commercial site.
What this means is I’m still blogging my poems and stories of the people here in the Philippines. I’m still running my aid programs for disadvantaged kids, and I’m still sharing photos of those too. But I need to make a living now to support Jerry and the projects, and my website is a big part of that.
So from today I’ll be including affiliate links in some of the posts as well as the odd advertising banner. Like if I review a book I’ve read and liked, I’ll include a link to the Amazon store. If you buy that book within a certain timeframe I may receive a small commission payment.
Supporting my projects for disadvantaged children
All proceeds from affiliate commissions will be used to continue my projects for disadvantaged children in the Philippines.
And any affiliate links on my website are only for products and services I have used personally and believe would be helpful to my readers. I’ll clearly mark posts or pages that contains affiliate links.
Something else I’m excited about is Masterclass. I’ve been a Masterclass subscriber now for about a year and recently joined their affiliate program. So I’m thrilled about sharing out the great courses I’ve completed too. But I certainly won’t be plastering ads on every page.
I feel confident these commercial inclusions won’t detract from the asethetics of the website and (if anything) make it more useful and enjoyable for my readers.
Learning to Start a Writing Business
The other change will be the addition of a new blog topic: making money from your writing. I’ve made so many mistakes starting my own writing business and felt completely bewildered 18 months ago when I realised I needed to find a way to live in the Philippines with Jerry and legally earn a full-time income.
Now I want to share my experiences to help my readers with their own writing journey. I’ll be combining those experiences with my years as a venue manager, HR consultant and online retailer. I hope my unique background will bring fresh insight to the topic and create real value for my readers.
So that’s about it, I’d love to hear your comments and any suggestions. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy my content and l look forward to finding new and interesting stuff to write about and share.
Mel xx
© 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
- Daily Post: Bewildered
- I’m part of Post A Day 2018
- Background Images: sourced from Unsplash
- Affiliate Links: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission payment if you make a purchase after clicking on the Amazon link in this post. Click here for more information.