Flexible Working Life

Photo by Art es Anna

When I was working in an office job (thankfully, many moons ago) I knew I had to get out.  I longed to do something different but I had no idea what.  I spent nearly two years in this state - knowing in my soul that something was wrong, that each day spent in a position that was unfulfilling was a wasted day, but I couldn’t seem to do anything about it.
I was stuck and it was only when I decided to take time out and concentrate on finding something different that things began to change.

I think the problem I had, and from talking to others it seems like this is a common thing, is that I was waiting for the BIG idea.  Y’know like an idea for a new invention that I could take on Dragons Den, [Read more]

I came across this today and it looks like a great opportunity for the right person.  (And although it’s called ‘First Mums,’ I don’t think it matters if you aren’t a mum, from what I can see,  you just need to have the ability to network and sell.)

First News is a weekly newspaper aimed at 7-14 year olds.  It promotes literacy and helps children learn about the world around them.  The team behind the paper are now looking for mums to sell the papers to other families and schools.  For each subscription, you earn commission - from £6 up to £96 depending on the type of subscription.

It has no start up costs, an easy to distribute form and from what I can see, you are selling a viable product.  I can see the benefits of schools subscribing to this, and families who have older kids, so I don’t think it would be that hard a sell.  Their website says, ‘We are looking for a First Mum (or pair of First Mums if you fancy teaming up with a friend!) for every school in the UK, of which there are close to 30,000. As the representative/s your role will be to promote subscriptions of First News to your school and parents within it as well as any other parents you come across through clubs, associations and your local community.’

So if that sounds like you and you already have a natter round the school gates, it might be worth a peek.

The other day I was asked the best way to start making a bit of extra money through freelance writing.
There are lots of answers to that question, but I think that for anyone who wants a quick and fast way to make a few pennies, blogging jobs can be a good way to go.  But before you start to think of Blogging as a whole career change, read this article over at Blog Herald.

Yep, you can make money from blogging, but, as this article shows, it’s not the greatest paid job in the world.  However, if you are blogging about something you love, or care passionately about and you’re have fun writing, then surely that has to come into the argument, no?

Blogging is also a good way to build up a portfolio of clippings and quickly see your work in print.    If you have no writing experience whatsoever, and you’re [Read more]

Photo byShereen84

I was recently on a work from home forum and noticed a cry for help.
Someone had just started working from home and was finding it really difficult.  The job itself was cold calling customers and I think this is one of the hardest jobs to do from home.  Unlike the office, you can’t get support from your fellow workers when you cold call a complete idiot, or have a run of bad calls where no one wants to talk to you.  There’s just you.  And the phone.

So how do you get motivation when you do this kind of job?  One suggestion is to [Read more]

Photo by Artieha

For some of us out there,  I guess a good way to make money would be as a side line to being famous.  One of the perks to having the celebrity lifestyle would be the money.  And the free stuff.  And all the brilliant places you got invited to.
I can see why wanting to be famous has it’s attraction, and it seems loads of people are lusting after fame.  You only have to look at the sites around devoted to making people well known.  Star Now has a pile of casting calls and jobs [Read more]

A freind of mine has just told me about this site and it looks like fun, and also it might be a good way to earn a few extra pennies.

Yudu.com is a site where you can upload a variety of stuff - from entire books (audio and visual) to artwork, to music, to photographs… basically a whole heap of stuff.

This has two advantages:  you get to reach a wide variety of people with your stuff, quickly.  So for example, [Read more]

I just love this blog post from the brilliant Carrie and Danielle blog.

I read it and thought, yep, that’s so what I need to do.  I love all my writing work and there is nothing better than writing just for pleasure, but yes, it does need to make me money, it does need to be productive.

The tips that are in the blog post show how it can still be art whilst also being money making.  It is excellent advice to follow - especially the bit about how to ‘approach everything as a creative opportunity.’  Recently, I’ve been delving more into short story writing and I’ve suddenly realised that ideas are absolutely everywhere.  And this has kind of opened my eyes, that ideas are all over the place - not just for plot lines and characters, but for articles too.
I have since got a small notepad to carry round with me as well as my ‘inspiration box’ so I will never, (hopefully) dry out of ideas.

Must just remember to write down the ideas now.

Just seen this and thought it was worth a mention.

For the month of August, BView are offering a £10 Amazon voucher for writing 20 reviews about business. It must be the first review to qualify and it has to be 100 words in length and of quality.

They say:

To earn your £10 voucher, write 20 reviews that meet these criteria:

• Tell a story about your experience - how did this business thrill or disappoint you?
• Add a meaningful amount of text describing both the “pros” and “cons” of the establishment — the longer the better but it must be at least 100 words to qualify! [Read more]

This is something that I hadn’t heard about before today but I think it’s a brilliant idea.

It seems that lawyers deciding whether or not to accept a case, or looking for feedback on cases that they are currently dealing with are using various websites for focus groups and research.

They pay fees for people to be e-jurors, for e-trails.  This company is currently looking jurors but you do have to be a US Citzen over the age of 18. Here is another one to try as well.

I’ve not seen anything like this before, but if you live in the US it might be a great way to earn some extra cash.

Photo by DDFic

My home office consists of a desk, chair and PC.
I have a bookcase stuffed with books, files and numerous bits of paper that I can’t seem to throw away and an overflowing waste basket.  As I look about my desk I have various post it notes with stuff written on, pens with no lids, paperclips and three cups, all with half-drunk tea in.

I was talking about this subject with my friend the other day, who has just started to write fiction. She wanted to create her own writing space, much like a home office and somewhere that she could just go away and get stuff done. Some place to call her own. I asked her what she’d have in there other than the usual desk, chair, PC combo and we came up with some good ideas.

A door sign was a good one.
Now I really need this, especially in the summer holidays when my kid keeps coming in every two minutes.

An inspiring picture above the PC was also another suggestion. Something really good to look at while you have a think. I liked the idea of having a bowl of sweets on the desk, also so you could eat something while you work/think, oh and we both agreed that an open fire (like the one in the above picture) is a nice addition. And I’d love room enough for a comfy chair by the window that you could take time out to have a little nap in if the work got too much.

Then I got looking at other peoples home offices, this one is cute and reminds me of when I started home working when my son was tiny, and I LOVE this one. In fact, I think I need to renovate my small space into somewhere I love to be, which I have to say, I kind of do already, but I mean really love to be.

I’m off to buy the picture and bowl of sweeties now.  The comfy napping chair will have to wait until we move house.