So, you may have already seen Tamara’s post letting you all know that we are saying “goodbye” to Freelance Parent. It’s been an incredible two years here at Sparkplugging, and we really do credit this blog with much of our business success. I remember the early days when we had to go out and learn stuff just so we’d have something to write about! Freelance Parent and its readers really kept us motivated to learn and grow as entrepreneurs.

Of course it is hard to let our baby blog go. We’ve found ourselves looking at it as a friend, a support network, a source of talented writers to hire, and—to some degree—as one of the things that most defined us as a team. It is sad to say goodbye to that.

On the other hand, this means good things, too. Tamara and I don’t need a public forum to tell each other how much we appreciate one another, as we can do it quite easily in our office or during one of our business meetings. Heck, sometimes I walk Baby Brewer up to Tamara’s house in the stroller.

It also means that our business has really grown. Where we used to have so much time to research and write the informative posts that got us on the Top Ten Blogs for Writers list (twice!), we now have far less time to take a deep breath, let alone get down to the nitty-gritty. The fact of the matter is that we’re now so busy living our freelance business that we have far less time to talk about it.

We really want to thank those of you who have helped to make this blog a community. You have offered us great advice, wonderful encouragement, and the occasional wake-up call. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that we would not be where we are today without you. So, thanks, and we’ll be working with many of you in the future, I suspect.

I know that Tamara told you about her latest exciting news (and I am SO proud of her), but I also have some fun stuff to share. First of all, I will still be blogging. I was flabbergasted to discover that I beat out more than 500 other applicants for a blogging job on Freelance Writing Jobs. I’ll be starting on the Other Stuff blog later this week, and I plan for it to be a fun place for freelance writers to hang out, get a chuckle, and feel less guilty about wasting their time online. My other big project is still in its early stages, but you’re welcome to check out the skeleton of www.buncobunco.com. Again, it’ll be focusing on the fun!

I can’t believe that two years after we started our little freelance agency, we’re at this point. I hope that the fact that we documented the beginning of our business will be helpful to others who stumble upon these words on the Internet. I imagine we’ll look back on them fondly ourselves. Thanks again to all who have read, subscribed, commented, and emailed. We’re always looking to hire quality writers at the Berry|Brewer Freelance Agency, and we’d sure love to see you hanging around our new online homes!

The End.

“First step in clawing my way to the top in the freelance world.”

The winning entry came from Stacey Colinger.  We’ll be getting ahold of her posthaste so we can send her the awesome prize!

Thanks to everyone who participated.  I’m hoping to do more contests in the future, although I’ll have to work hard to find as cool of a prize as this one had.

I think it’s only fair to tattle on Tamara, as well. She’s totally been cheating on you with Twitter. Don’t even bother to confront her about it, as she’s completely unremorseful. I, on the other hand, just don’t see what’s so great about Twitter. You’re so much more comfortable, and you make me feel much better about myself than that snobby creature ever could.

What else? There’s been some panicking on our part, as it seems that the recession may finally be catching up with us. We have clients who just don’t want as much (or any) work, and there are a lot of new freelancers out there who feel that it’s appropriate to charge a lot less than we do. So, we spent the early part of April freaking the hell out. Things seem to be working themselves out so far, with a new big monthly client helping to replace the creep.

Also, Tamara and I have been able to pursue a couple of our personal interests, which has been nice. I won’t give anything away about what Tamara’s been doing, as she might want to share it herself (or not). I’m actually in the process of buidling a new website all about Bunco. (No, really.) I’m sure I’ll be looking for feedback once it’s up and running.

And, my mom has come to visit for a couple of weeks. She hasn’t seen her grandbaby in a long time, and they’ve been having a blast getting reaquainted. So, that’s cool, but it has been time consuming. Oh, and Tamara’s going to Disney World with her hubby and Baby Berry this week.

So, I guess you’re all caught up now, Blog. I know we’ve got some things to take care of for you, too. We just sort of left everyone hanging on that lolcat contest, for example, so we’ll need to take care of that so we can announce the winner and get the prize shipped off.

Also, also, I thought this was funny: http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com/2009/04/ten-things-only-writers-understand.html