Over the last few years, I’ve had many people email or IM me asking just what my secret is to earning enough money online to be a homeowner and raise a family in a single parent household.

In order to explain to you how I do it, I must first explain where I’ve been.

Before I go any further, please know that I’m not disclosing this information for pity – because I’ve honestly never been happier. I’m doing this to let you see just how serious I am when I tell you, you can take ANY topic and make it successful, if you just put your heart into it.

Once upon a time I had very low self esteem, made some pretty pitiful choices in life and because I had such a poor self image, I can see today that I purposely sought out someone who would treat me as badly as I my self image would allow.

By the time I snapped out of whatever brain fog I was in and left that man, I found that I was pregnant with twins. If it had only been one baby, I would have likely stayed on my own. But something inside me told me there was no way I could raise twins alone — so I married my worst nightmare. The twins were born 6 weeks premature and weight just a wee bit over a half-a-bag of sugar. I stayed in that abusive and toxic marriage for 5 years. Once I allowed myself to stop living in denial, and admitted knowing he was stepping outside our marriage (for some reason, that was the reason I needed to leave). It’s not like I ever expected him to be faithful anyway. I knew full well what I’d gotten myself into.

It took me several months to save up the money and get up the courage to ask for a divorce — following his leaving, I went to the doctor and had complete blood work done just to know, ya know?

I was on cloud nine when I was told the tests were clear and inactive — I had somehow escaped that marriage with little more then a bruised ego and two babies in tow.

So I thought!

A year later, following several medical complications, months of worry over strange symptoms and endless hours of research on the net, I was faced with something so horrifying I began to make plans for my kids when I was no longer here — when I was dead. Every symptom I had and every search I did pointed to HIV seroconversion. Having found out that STD tests don’t really test for HIV, herpes or HPV, I just knew something terrible was wrong.

It took two weeks for the blood test results to come back, but when they did, something inside me ignited almost. I didn’t have HIV – I was going to live!

What I did have was a chronic form of mono (Ebstein Barr Virus).

Once I knew what was wrong, I knew how to treat it and within a few days, I was feeling very spry again and like the old me — or as close as I could be.

I got dressed up in some cute little pumps and skirt to match and started out the door to go to work. Two steps out the door, I slipped, fell and broke my ankle in two places.

For some reason, God had plans for me and because I wasn’t listening I found myself laying face up on our porch, broken ankle and alone.

While down with a broken ankle, the Masters plan became more obvious… I took an entire three day holiday weekend that year and emailed every single member of my states General Assembly. I wanted answers. I wanted to know WHY people are lead to believe those tests were complete when they weren’t. Why are people allowed to live life like there is nothing wrong?

I received ONE answer! Our states Governor at the time, Frank O’Bannon invited me to speak before an assembly to tell my story and why the laws surrounding testing should be changed.

Long story short… With the help of my wonderful, supportive doctor, my status and patient advocacy spun out of control. Next thing I knew, I was being called by magazines, television shows, news and even major pharmaceutical companies asking me to participate in launch meetings, training sessions and discussions where I’d be the ONLY person without several letters at the end of my name. Even Dr. Ruth knew who I was (I’m quoted a few times one of her books)!

My God had big plans for me and finally I was listening – Like I had a choice! Here I was an all American farm girl — one of those people who thought I’d never have to worry about things I was suddenly faced with! I quickly learned that the message I was supposed to share and put every ounce of faith I had in the efforts that followed!

Though I DO genuinely LOVE the support and advocacy work I still do, I found myself in a position where I was losing myself. I was growing depressed, worn out and the more worn out I became, the less help I was to anyone who needed me.

That’s why I have so many blogs. I need them all to balance out the times when I feel I’m drowning and need someone to lift me up for a change.

So you see, you can take any topic and make it successful, you just have to have the will, heart and true passion for the topic to follow through.

Most people know I lost my full-time job as channel editor in February this year. I have since taken time away to nurse a bruised ego, deal with feelings of detachment, sulk about not being part of a team and ultimately gather my thoughts enough to sense the new direction I need to take.

I have listened to the call of so many of my former writers and started something fresh and exciting. For those who might want to get in on the ground floor or at least be in contact with someone who might check out details below:

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We are a new network scheduled to launch in October. We are looking for experienced bloggers and social networkers to fill positions in the following topics:

Beauty & Fashion
- Fashion
- Makeup
- Skincare
Home & Food
- Cooking
- Decorating
- Entertaining
- Holidays
- Gardening
- Do-It-Yourself
- Green Living
Career & Finance
- Budgeting
- Education
- Retirement
- Career & Job
Entertainment
- Books
- Movies
- Music
- Television
- Celebrities
Parenting
- Behavior & Development
- Pregnancy
- Infants
- Toddlers
- Tweens
- Teens
- Adult Children
Relationships
- Dating
- Family
- Friendships
- Marriage
- Blended Family
- Divorce
- Weddings
Travel
- Family Travel
- Romantic Getaways
- Singles Travel
- Travel Advice

Health Topics

Autoimmune Diseases

Cancer

Caregiving
Heart Health
Diet & Fitness
Healthy Home
Mens Health
Sex & Relationships
Womens Health
Mental Health

Pregnancy and Nursing
Kids Health
Infectious Disease

* Health related topics are based on patient or firsthand experiences. We will be accepting suggestions for sub-categories that fall under the topics listed above. Please keep that in mind when submitting your applications for review.

We are looking for experienced bloggers who are familiar with Wordpress and who will share relevant stories and experiences in topics they are passionate about.

What kind of bloggers are we looking for?

- Credible, passionate and knowledgeable bloggers who write engaging content.
- Bloggers who have contacts and networks that provide reliable intelligence on category-specific topics
- Bloggers with the ability to detect the pulse of the internet and in the topic they’re covering.
- Bloggers who actively engage within their online communities and promote the content they write.

Requirements

- Passion for the topic! This is an absolute must.

- You are expected to engage with readers who share the same passion for the topic you’re covering.

- 15 – 20 posts per month of at least 70 words for each post – although 200 words is preferred

- Must have active social networking profiles in at least two of the following: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.

- Must know techniques to promote your content or that of the network on other sites

- Technically savvy (able to learn and utilize web/publishing tools such as Windows Live Writer, Mars Edit, Photoshop, etc

Payment:
We will negotiate with the blogger on the payment for the first couple of months. After that, we will switch to a mixed model of pay to be disclosed to bloggers after acceptance into the network.

How to apply

Please send a brief profile about yourself that includes:
- How long you’ve been blogging, your relevant work
- Links to online communities you belong to
- Links to sample posts on either past or current blogs
- Links to your social networking profiles
- Online publishing platforms that you have used (ie Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, etc)
- Let us know the topic you’re applying for and who your favorite personalities are within that niche
- We will only accept one topic selection per blogger. If you are drawn to more than one, please choose the one you like most to cover and apply with that topic in mind. ‘

jobs@gadaboutmedia.com

An acknowledgement will be sent in response to each application received. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please feel free to follow up in the email list above.

Watch the video and share your thoughts. I was completely amazed by some of the statistics!

Lucky for me – “social media is more than a fad – it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”

I’m adding Twitter Swag to my Christmas list RIGHT NOW!

Get your twitter mosaic here.