ON BLOGGING ~ Loyalty Pays YOU...

Image courtesy bgottsab via Flickr

I have worked for the same employer for 17 years.  I had a brief stint after college working for a large insurance company while I tried to figure out how to put my teaching degree to use.  And then I realized that wasn't going to happen.  So I moved and got a job working for a sales rep of the large insurance company I had been temping for.  We've been together ever since.

I started off at a lower salary than I wanted, with the agreement that after a trial period it would be increased to the level I expected.  This was to show loyalty, commitment and that we both liked working with each other.  I took a chance because I had moved without a job and had run out of rent money.  My gamble paid off.  I work for an incredible person who has rewarded me financially and with benefits every year.  He appreciates my loyalty.  I appreciate his appreciation.  After all of this time we are as good as family - supporting each other with no questions asked.

When I decided to reach out and ask the travel search engine UpTake if I could write for them, I was willing to take fairly meager pay in exchange for an opportunity to see if I could survive in the world of freelance writing.  To see if we liked each other.  They took a chance on me.  Just like my full-time employer did way back when.  And once again my loyalty has paid off.

After providing blog posts for UpTake's Attractions Blog for a year and a half, I was just hired to be the Editor for their Restaurants Blog.  I was hired in large part for my support of their company, my commitment to their developing projects and my ability to deliver.  I have been loyal to them and have been rewarded for it.

I was lucky to get my pinky toe in the door of both opportunities to begin with.  But it was all of my hard work and focus that led to advancement and improvement internally with each employer.

My boss, although he has been in the business for longer than I have been alive, never turns away a client.  Even those who don't have lots to invest just might, someday.  And they may appreciate his support during the lighter years.  Which leads to referrals.  Which leads to greater opportunities.  Loyalty is not always appreciated or rewarded, but it can give you that extra edge over someone else in line.

I have the ability to open a door for you now.  An opportunity to start your own journey in paid writing.  I make it available to you first because of loyalty.  You have been a loyal reader, follower, visitor or commenter.  If you would like to provide restaurant reviews twice a week for compensation to UpTake's Restaurant Blog, let me know.  It is a serious commitment with the same meager pay I began with.  But you never know where a chance will lead you.