I Love My Job at TypePad

I don't talk about my different freelance projects that often. But one of them is co-writing the TypePad Featured Blogs with Harold Check. I met Harold via Weblogs Inc. when we launched PPlayer (now CardSquad) in 2005. Harold is an editor at Six Apart and one of my few friends that satisfies the part of my brain that is in a constant state of web-lust. The part of me that wants to be Jenopolis rather than Jen Leo, or the eager kid that wants to be a part of every great blog in the blogosphere.

TypePad Featured Blogs fuels this inner blog slut like nothing else. I actually get paid to pour through blogs, then discover and report what's great about them. If you love blogging like I do, it's a dream job. A constant source of inspiration and education.

Yesterday, I hit the nail on the head. I was assigned to write up Beauty Dish. The blogs that we review are often filled with one (or many) good reasons for us to spotlight them. But Birdie really impressed me. She's an amazing woman, and a fantastic blogger. An absolute shining example of someone who is doing it right. I've already written my review, and you can visit the blog we're talking about here. She's expressing her passion, sharing wisdom and providing a service, working for a reason, keeping it personal, and being honest—key elements to a successful blog. I was dying to know if Avon was paying her to write. It's clear she is an evangelist of her own accord, but I sure hope she's getting a little something something from the higher ups.

Anyway, since one of the main reasons I write JenLeoLIVE! is to connect with my family, I thought I'd post about this. Not only can you see one of the things that I do, but you get to see one of the ones that got an A. Read the comments, apparently my writing is getting better. I don't always nail the reviews or get the bloggers with such accuracy, but this time I did.

CURRENT: PASADENA
NEXT: ANYWHERE, PLEASE!

Comments

[Birdie]

Hi Jen!

Thank you so much for featuring me at Typepad! I had a lot of lovely emails from new readers thanks to your review of Beauty Dish. I was blown away by the kind things you wrote.

To answer your question, Avon does not pay me at all! I wish they did! In fact, in nearly three years of blogging and sharing my Avon Lady experiences and sales advice, I have yet to be recognized by Avon in any way, shape, or form. I think that they are a bit afraid of me because I do write honest (to a fault - ha!) reviews and tell it like it is. The only revenue I derive from my blog is the teeny tiny bit I earn from displaying those Google adsense ads.

As long as people enjoy my little adventures, I'll keep writing! I have found through blogging that I enjoy writing as much as anything else I've found in this life, so in some way Avon has given me a greater gift than any hill of coins.

[Jen Leo]

Thanks for stopping by, Birdie! They're fools not to give you extra coin and promote Beauty Dish on Avon.com. Or, to have you as a speaker at different training sessions - another way to make more megabucks.

It's great to hear that you love writing. I didn't put it in the review, but my favorite thing I saw was your Polar Bear swim. Good work, and keep it up!