Good morning all!

This is my first official post as a ProBlogger. If the term “ProBlogger” makes your eyes glaze over, or you think of teenagers on MySpace talking about their flaky relationships, then instead I’ll call myself a freelance writer.

Some have called me a journalist… we’ll have that debate another time.

Despite the picture of the coffee beans (courtesy of my colleagues at the British Heart Foundation, thanks guys) I am feeling very much awake and ready to go this morning.

It’s a great day here in the south-western suburbs of London. It’s going to be another scorcher, but that’s OK – the laptop is charged up and I can move into the garden and work wirelessly as and when I need to. Oh, not to be stuck in a central London office…

For any new visitors (particularly old work colleagues) who wonder what on earth this is all about, and if I really have gone just a little crazy, I’ll quickly summarise what I’m doing and how I intend to survive. If you’re really interested, stick around, join my email newsletter, add me to your feed reader (you what?), and come along on the journey.

Heh, maybe you’ll decide to go freelance yourself – but that’s a whole new conversation.

Here’s a potted history:

• I’m nearly 32, so have 14 years of employment history behind me.
• I’ve wanted to earn a living using the Internet as a primary tool for at least 10 years.
• I’ve a wide experience of Internet technology, programming, and design (though it’s not always been put to best use)
• I’ve been pestering the guys over at Shiny Media for some freelancing experience, and a couple of months ago I landed an editorial role at HDTVUK.tv.
• Since then, I’ve been able to juggle finances (with help from my wife) and budget to be able to afford to give up full-time employment and take on more work with Shiny Media.
• I will be working a combination of roles, including two or three blogs at Shiny, two of my existing sites, owning and overseeing the Blue Fish Network (my fledgling online network), and generally trying to be entrepreneurial and develop new ideas, partnerships, and money.

So there you go. Only time will tell whether my determination and hard work will pay off – both financially and for job satisfaction. I’m expecting it to. You can watch and see if it does.