Blogs can move mountains. A simple blog post can create a path to success. It was one such blog post that paved the way to a very unique freelance writing gig and my success story.

As a veteran homeschool teacher, I had a wealth of knowledge just waiting to be published. I figured I’d write about what I know to coin the old cliche. Unfortunately, there is little, if any, money in the homeschool magazine market. So, while I worked on putting my ideas into a book, I looked into other outlets.

I was astounded when a very particular and peculiar online ad caught my attention. Someone actually posted an ad looking for a writer to write about, wait for it-CHICKENS! That’s egg-actly how it was phrased. Well, oh wonder of wonders, I was also a new backyard chicken keeper.

Everything about my young flock simply amazed me. Every day was an egg-straordinary experience. And, what better way to capture those flap-happy moments in time, than to immortalize them on my blog. Enter Mamabirdy’s Country Chat, my personal blog. In my post, On Chickens, Clucking and Eggs, I shared my experiences as a first time chicken keeper. At the time, it was all about fun for me. After all, personal blogs are passionate! I had no success story agenda in mind. I was simply sharing my joy for my new found passion.

Now, even though I hadn’t written about chickens professionally before, I had learned so much that I now had a wealth of new knowledge waiting in the wings, so to speak.

So, I took a flap of faith and applied to the ad, attaching a link to that post. The client replied with a “Great job!” and asked how much I charge. I was elated! Well, to make a long story short, he hired a writer with a Master’s Degree. A month later, I received an e-mail from that same client asking simply, “Still interested?” Apparently, the previous writer, didn’t have the style or feel that my writing had-the fun style of a simple personal blog post. That was two years ago and the rest as they say is history!

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Karen Doll is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about homeschooling and chicken keeping. She is a contributing writer for Home School Enrichment Magazine where she also writes a column entitled, Creative Homeschooling. Karen has also been writing chicken keeping articles for Backyard Chicken Coops, since October 2013. Her work can also be found on the Guild of Shepherds and Collies and Petful. Please, stop by and visit her on her personal blog, Mamabirdy’s Country Chat.