Flexible Working Life

Photo by ul Marga 

I hate bidding sites. 

I hate bidding for work, which is usually offered with minimal information and at extremely low pay.  When I started out as a freelancer, these bidding sites were where I got some initial work.  After two jobs of dealing with ambiguous briefs and fussy clients and being extremely low paid for my skills and time, I decided that bidding sites were not for me. 
I know that some people love the bidding sites and get a lot of work from those places; if you’re one of those hard working souls then I salute you. 
But for those of us who like to secure a gig without the bad taste in our mouths, here are the places that I think are the best on the Internet to find new clients.  [Read more]

It’s half term next week.
Which means I’ll be working around the child as he won’t be occupied in school. Which means I’m typing this on a Saturday night, half working and half watching the Eurovision Song Contest.  And even though that does sound like some kind of crazy torture, it also means that if I work now, I get to spend a few days with my little boy next week doing fun things.  I have no room for complaints.
Anyway, I got to thinking about all the other kindred spirits who are too, working when they can for the free-time payoff, those who play hide and seek only to hide in the office and check emails, those who will try oh so hard to be enthusiastic about making play-doh animals when all they really want to do is well…anything else really…
Then I read this post, and now I’m going to shut this thing off and have a beer.  I have a week of emotions to look forward to, swinging from parental satisfaction to resentment to guilt, I figure need the alcohol.

Photo by Randy

National Work from Home Day is fast approaching.
Millions of UK workers will enjoy a two second commute, starting work without the smell of car fumes, and some will work in their PJ’s.  Will you be one of them? [Read more]

Oh, I like this site.

I just came across it the other day and thought it was such a good idea.  I’ve seen loads of ‘bidding’ sites like this for freelance writing, but none for such a wide collective of felxible jobs that they have here. Basically anyone can post up any kind of job that they need doing, from typing up a document to cleaning out rooms

You place your bid and if you win, you get paid.  Simple.

Dropshipping
Once you’ve decided what niche you’d like to concentrate on eBay, the next thing to look at is where to source stock.
This firstly means that you have to take a second to consider some things, firstly, if you haven’t done so already, you need to look at registering your business and getting some tax advice.
Secondly you need to do your research.
Before buying any kind of stock to sell, you want to make sure that you are getting at the right price.  [Read more]

Using eBay as an income stream is a great way to create some money online.
Most people use eBay as a way to de-clutter their house and get rid of unwanted Christmas presents, but when it comes to buying stock to re-sell, it can be a tricky business. The last thing you want is stock selling at a loss, or even worse, stock that you can’t get rid of.

So how to you choose what to sell?

[Read more]

One thing I constantly mull over as a freelancer, is how I can increase my turnover.
I love my job and I’m lucky to have a steady stream of ideas and work coming in, but when I look back over my week, there seems to be a lot of time that I can’t account for.

I want to produce articles more quickly, get more efficient with my research, get commissions quicker and generally stop messing about. I think it must be the same with any freelancing position, there is always the question about increasing your turnover.

[Read more]

A few weeks ago, I posted up an opportunity about working as a web based text researcher. As I’ve never actually done the job, the information I had on it was pretty limited. But now, thanks to Paul, who works full time from home as a web based researcher, here is a little more about what the job is really like.

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Last week Flexible Working Life posted an article on working as a web based researcher. As I work full time as a Texpert for Texperts I’d like to give a little more information about what the job entails.

The service revolves around customers texting a question from their mobile phones to 66000 and getting an answer in minutes, charged at £1. The charge means that customers can get an accurate answer from a real human, and some of that money is used to pay researchers a decent wage. It isn’t a way to get rich quick, but it pays a realistic wage unlike dabbing with online surveys, and it is zero risk which can’t be said for buying stock to sell on Ebay. [Read more]

This company are recruiting in the UK at the moment and it’s something that you can do from home.

They are a company that offer ‘innovative ways to improve business results while enhancing the value of its brands.’ Basically, they pay you by the hour to receive calls and provide back-office services. The company work with over 200 businesses, so the type of calls you receive and the type of work you do, will vary.

From my understanding you can log in anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and it seems like a genuine work from home opportunity.

You need to go to the website to apply then complete an application and assessment. All interviews are done over the phone and they do seem to promise ‘rapid career advancement,’ so if you do enjoy this type of work it may turn out to be ideal for you. Pay and hours vary from what I can gather, but you should be able to earn £6 an hour at the minimum.

You’ll obviously need a PC to do this job and a high speed internet connection as well as a land line phone. And as it is call work, you’ll need to think about where you will do this job – having a blaring TV in the background or a crying baby might not be the best option!

Take a look at the FAQ on the website for more info and good luck!

Thanks to Lisa for this one.

Lionbridge are a company who are currently recruiting home-based workers. You can work from anywhere at anytime assessing Internet pages.

So if you’re familiar with browsing the Internet, (and who isn’t?) can read and write fluent English and have a high speed access to the t’internet then this could be a good opportunity. They pay around £8 per hour and you can work up to 10 hours a week, but not more than 20.

I’m not sure of the exact details having not worked for them myself, but looking at the application page it seems like it might be a good way to earn some extra money.

Good luck!

Internet Assessors Program