This past week, I completed my first ever freelance photography job, shooting the interiors of a small chain of local coffee shops. I had a blast and it paid reasonably well, though part of my income got eaten away when I had to replace a lens that broke on the first day of the job. Murphy’s Law right! I’m hoping this will lead to more freelance opportunities – while I was shooting one of the stores, a customer came up to me to ask about my rates. Apparently, he is looking for someone to shoot some portraits of him for his online dating profile. I gave him my contact info but haven’t heard anything from him. I learned a major lesson about freelancing from this one gig – freelance jobs don’t grow on trees. Getting freelance jobs is 10% skill on the job and 90% marketing yourself. I didn’t have any business cards with me or really any sense about how I wanted to sell myself to potential future clients. In fact, I was totally caught off guard by the entire situation. It actually didn’t even occur to me that someone might see me working on this job and inquire about my services. So for now, I’m hoping my 10% skill might get me another future job with this same customer, and in the meantime, I’m going to start working on the other 90%.

One of last week’s posts, Stop Shopping for Groceries Now! was featured in several blog carnivals this week, including:

• Top Personal Finance Posts of the Week, hosted by Personal Finance Whiz
• Yakezie Carnival, hosted by Watson Inc.
• Financial Carnival for Young Adults, hosted by 20′s Finances
• Carnival of Money Pros, hosted by Beating Broke

Finally, here’s a look at what I’ve been reading in the blogosphere this week:

• On the timely topic of freelancing, Invest It Wisely compares the numbers between working for a corporation and working for one’s self and then compares the intangible benefits of both scenarios in a follow up post. Two very well thought out posts!
• Canadian Finance Blog reviewed UFile’s online tax software, which happens to be what I used for my taxes (its free for students!). But if you’re in Ontario, be careful when you claim the Ontario Trillium Benefit – UFile has not implemented this in a straightforward manner.
• Prairie Eco-Thrifter highlights the issues surrounding cotton production and the benefits of buying organic cotton.
• Modest Money recalls his first exposures to gambling as a child. He included collecting sports trading cards as one such exposure. Though I was a rabid card collector as a child, I never thought of it in that light.
• Frugal Fries claims that dollar stores are evil. Though the wording is strong, I’d have to agree with her and as always, its a well illustrated argument!