Flexible Working Life

Photo by Gaetan Lee

Have you ever thought about it?

I do.  In fact, I do it quite often.  I think about where I expect to be financially next week, next month, next year and then I think about how I can make it happen.

I work as a freelance writer.  I love it.  It’s scary but I love it.
I love it because I get to be the boss of my own day, I get to decide what jobs to work on and what to turn down and I get to have the liberating and wonderful feeling of being in charge of my future.  But, and it’s a bit but (‘scuse the pun) it’s scary because if I’m ill or need to take time off, then there’s no money coming in.  Even worse there’s no networking or approaching potential new clients and that’s really frightening.  That’s the reason why I’m determined to diversify and put my eggs in a whole load of different baskets instead of just the one or two.

I was sat writing an article for Bukisa last night and realised that this was not going to make me any money, fast.  As I typed out the short and sweet little article, I reminded myself of how much I normally charge for my freelance writing and how much these few paragraphs were going to make me.  It’s not even comparable.  But then I remembered my vision, to have a passive income, and I kept typing.
These articles won’t make me much in the short term (although they might, and that would be very nice) but they will continue to make money for a long time to come, hopefully.  So, I’m keeping with the challenge and building up a bank of content that can continue to bring in the pennies.

I’m also going to start [Read more]

So after reading the great idea for the eHow Experiment over at the Life Uncommon, I thought I’d give it a go.  Writing small articles and then having them make you money, months after you’ve written them, is a great way to make some passive income.
I was reading the work at home mom blog and her passive residual income report was inspiring; she’s making over $2000 per month from things like this.
Working as a freelancer can often be a feast or famine situation, with some months bringing in more money than others, so to have an amount like that coming in every month from previous work is a brilliant way forward.

Anyhow, after signing up to eHow, I then realised that it’s only open to US residents.  Grrr.

But then I found Bukisa.

And that looks even better.

They are just starting up, so there’s plenty of topics to write about that are not yet covered.  And they have a three tiered earnings level and earnings are based on page views not how many people click on the ads,  so if you pick a popular topic, you’ll get paid regardless of how the ads perform.

If you want to sign up and join me on Bukisa then click here to join my growing network!

Photo byJason Pratt

Before I start this post about how to benefit from the  ‘work do’ I just thought I’d start by pointing out that ‘work do’ might not be the right phrase.  However, it’s what I’ve always heard office parties and such being called and when said in a really low, depressing voice it makes me giggle for some reason. 

The only thing worse than having to go to a work do, is having to organise a work do.
It’s around this time when the panic sets in for the person who has to prepare the dreaded, miserable Christmas work do.  Have pity for this poor soul who has to prepare an evening of festive fun for people who would never, ever,  see each other socially under normal circumstances.

Think kindly for this victim of office politics and party planning, who has to do work, and then, sort out the work do.
They are the one person who can’t get out of it, and they are the one person totally responsible for the success or failure of the work do.
Then have a smile, because as a freelancer know that:

1.  You don’t have to go to the ‘work do’

and

2. You could get some work from this sorry little state of ‘work do’ affairs.

‘How?’  I hear you ask, well, you get work from the sheer desperation of the poor soul sat at the desk, obsessively Googling ‘Great Ideas for Office Parties.’

Obviously this depends on what kind of freelance job you do.
You may be reading this thinking ‘I’m a web designer, what’s that got to do with office parties?’

Well lets say that the office party was for a  big company.
So big, that they where looking for really original ideas this year because every year the work do consisted of a ball-room, a ‘theme’ and a DJ.
And let’s say that the person organising the work do wanted to do a [Read more]

Photo byDownTown

Part of being a freelancer, in fact a large part of being a freelancer, is generating work and getting new clients.
Even if you have a bank of steady clients, you still need to be on the lookout for new business, because you never know when one of those regular gigs you have might just disappear.

There are a million ways to get new gigs, but these five tips that I’ve listed here have worked for me. [Read more]

TeleTech need customer service agents to work from home.

I blogged about this in Feb, but noticed that Teletech@home are currently hiring again so thought it was worth a mention.

They accept applications from anywhere in the UK, and the basic salary is £6.00 per hour, but you also get a performace-related bonuses.

If you visit the website it gives full details on how to apply and the opportunities in working for the company and how you can do it all from home and in your PJ’s 

Good luck!

A few days ago, I blogged about feeling overwhelmed and generally busy in all areas of my life.

Since posting that I’m glad to say that it’s mostly under control - I worked like a demon, installed some much needed shelves and storage units around the house and generally got on top of it.  It’s  funny, but just sorting out some of the stuff has really made a difference to my general well being. It’s not completely organised, but I can recognise that I’m half way there and that feels good.

But one thing that’s been bugging me is what to eat when you work from home.

Now, I appreciate that can sound like a silly question, but y’know, lately for some reason it’s been a big issue for me.  Having to break from work is important, [Read more]

This a guest post by the wonderful Nacie Carson.  If you haven’t already, I suggest you visit her fabulous site and learn about The Life Uncommon.

Authenticity and The Life Uncommon

Earlier this year I did something a little drastic: I quit my corporate job in finance to work full-time as a freelance writer.  My time in the rat race had taught me many things about myself and my life goals, the most important of which was that I did not want to spend a single second more denying my passion for writing because I was afraid I couldn’t support myself with it.  I had taken the corporate job for no other reason than the promise of financial and vocational security, and after only a few months of work those reasons weren’t enough to overcome the creeping, guilty feeling that I had sold out.

After months of pseudo-self-destructive attempts to mask this discontent with lots of eating, spending, and drinking red wine, I decided I needed to do something dramatic to turn myself around.  So I began squirreling away savings, freelancing part-time, and working on addressing the mindset that allowed me to veer so far off course.  I picked my last day in the rat race, known to me as my liberation day, [Read more]

This site based in the UK are looking for submissions of attractions to add to their directory.
Basically, you have to find a place that can be described as an ‘attraction’ for tourists.  Then take a photo and a quick description [Read more]

Photo by Pvera

I’ve recently been doing a lot in the  many different areas of my life, and this had left me feeling overwhelmed.
For instance, we moved office recently (from upstairs small spare bedroom, to downstairs big living room) and in the move from upstairs to downstairs, I seem to have not only moved into another room, but taken over small areas of the whole house.  The business seems to have left  debris in it’s wake and is now sprawling in the hallway, dining area and bedroom.  Which is NOT GOOD.  I can’t seem to shift any of it, as I don’t seem to have a sensible place for it.

As well as this, I thought started a craft project with my son as [Read more]

I’ve never done this, but it seems like a good way to earn some extra cash and possibly have a bit of fun at the same time.
From what I can gather, it’s quite a predictable job; the role seems to be that you stand at a exhibition, sports event, music concert or retail outlet whilst something or someone is ‘launched.’
The right type of personality obviously helps, I don’t think you’d get far [Read more]