Don't they ever advertise the kinds of jobs I want?
July 14, 2010 12:32 PM Subscribe
You know those jobs that people can do from home, that aren't telemarketing, spamming, MLM, or outright scams? The creative ones? I'm tired of wanting one and ready to find one for myself! But how? Please read the More Inside before answering.
I already have a full-time job that I don't need to replace. Just looking for some residual income I can bring in from working online, after hours. The problem is, I can never find want ads for these that don't seriously rub me the wrong way. Is landing legitimate ones simply dumb luck or is there a strategy I can use to find them?
I'm looking for something more substantial than Mechanical Turk or those text message answering services. I need more than a couple bucks in return for a few hours of work. I'm looking for something creative, like freelance writing/blogging/reviewing. I'd be fine with managing Twitter or Facebook pages for a company, as long as it wasn't spammy. I've heard that some people will pay for a creative muse, which would be a dream job but I can't find any info on getting into that. Anything else outside-of-the box is something I'd love to hear about. Preferably ongoing employment, not one-time contracts that expire after the job's done.
What I'm also not looking for is a research or technical writing gig. Something more fun or fiction-oriented is definitely in order here.
So again, the question: Where can I possibly start looking for this kind of thing? The usual channels (Craigslist, et al.) are bone dry and I don't know where else to turn. What are some steps I can take to be proactive about finding something? Anonymous because I'd rather not take the risk of my employer finding out I'm looking for work outside of the company.
I already have a full-time job that I don't need to replace. Just looking for some residual income I can bring in from working online, after hours. The problem is, I can never find want ads for these that don't seriously rub me the wrong way. Is landing legitimate ones simply dumb luck or is there a strategy I can use to find them?
I'm looking for something more substantial than Mechanical Turk or those text message answering services. I need more than a couple bucks in return for a few hours of work. I'm looking for something creative, like freelance writing/blogging/reviewing. I'd be fine with managing Twitter or Facebook pages for a company, as long as it wasn't spammy. I've heard that some people will pay for a creative muse, which would be a dream job but I can't find any info on getting into that. Anything else outside-of-the box is something I'd love to hear about. Preferably ongoing employment, not one-time contracts that expire after the job's done.
What I'm also not looking for is a research or technical writing gig. Something more fun or fiction-oriented is definitely in order here.
So again, the question: Where can I possibly start looking for this kind of thing? The usual channels (Craigslist, et al.) are bone dry and I don't know where else to turn. What are some steps I can take to be proactive about finding something? Anonymous because I'd rather not take the risk of my employer finding out I'm looking for work outside of the company.
If you have something to say that people really want to read, start a website with a blog, and include non-annoying advertisements that are of real interest to your readers. I made a little less than a thousand dollars last month doing this. However, I started the website over a decade ago, as a hobby/obsession that I never expected to make money from, and I've been working hard on it ever since. It's a huge commitment.
posted by Ery at 12:59 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by Ery at 12:59 PM on July 14, 2010
Managing Twitter or Facebook pages is called Social Media strategy, not writing. Let's leave out whether or not you think it's bogus, but it is more and more something that people charge lots of money for, provided they actually know how to do it.
Honestly, what I want to say is, if I could find this, I'd be doing it, and I wouldn't be telling anyone else how to do it. Seriously, you want a fantasy job, no work and good renumeration. Don't we all want that? No really.
How can you find it? What makes YOU the right person to hire? What do you read? What do you like to do? What are you expert in? No one's going to hand this kind of opportunity to you, you'd have to go out and find it or create it and SELL YOURSELF. It's not going to be sitting there in a Craiglist ad waiting for you.
You want out of the box? Think out of the box. You want to sell yourself as creative? this post is not creative, nor does it show innovation or initiative, which are the kinds of things where you make money for (seemingly) nothing (I say 'seemingly' because the blog that 'takes off overnight' has hours and hours and hours of work and experience behind it).
posted by micawber at 1:47 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Honestly, what I want to say is, if I could find this, I'd be doing it, and I wouldn't be telling anyone else how to do it. Seriously, you want a fantasy job, no work and good renumeration. Don't we all want that? No really.
How can you find it? What makes YOU the right person to hire? What do you read? What do you like to do? What are you expert in? No one's going to hand this kind of opportunity to you, you'd have to go out and find it or create it and SELL YOURSELF. It's not going to be sitting there in a Craiglist ad waiting for you.
You want out of the box? Think out of the box. You want to sell yourself as creative? this post is not creative, nor does it show innovation or initiative, which are the kinds of things where you make money for (seemingly) nothing (I say 'seemingly' because the blog that 'takes off overnight' has hours and hours and hours of work and experience behind it).
posted by micawber at 1:47 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
I sort of do what you're looking for (along with other work like translation and research), as a freelancer via a PR firm. If you have any contacts who work in public relations, I'd start there; otherwise, Craigslist or other job boards can be helpful. Some smaller PR firms might be interested if you send in your resumé and some writing samples.
(I manage two Facebook pages and write three blogs, all for money)
posted by OLechat at 3:03 PM on July 14, 2010
(I manage two Facebook pages and write three blogs, all for money)
posted by OLechat at 3:03 PM on July 14, 2010
Like micawber I have to say that what you seem to be describing sounds like mostly fantasy. Not that nothing like this exists, but 1) it won't advertise (it won't need to and would be swamped with applications if it did: getting swamped with applications is work 2) it will be hugely competitive and 3) it will be recruited for by someone who knows tons of creative freelancer types who actually know the territory and lingo of the sort of work you're describing. Like, will know them personally by name. Will have had drinks with them at a related industry conference.
Do you know this territory? Do you know people in these sorts of businesses, content strategy and the like? If you don't your chance of getting a "fun or fiction oriented" job are nil. How do you make such connections? How do you make any connections? Read and comment on blogs, favorite and friend, have a pretty social media presence, ask questions, find your way into conferences, pick the brains of the contacts you do have for connections into the kind of thing you're interested in.
If you decide to investigate duller but more realistic part time from home options out there you could peruse a variety of related threads 1 2 3 4.
posted by nanojath at 7:57 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Do you know this territory? Do you know people in these sorts of businesses, content strategy and the like? If you don't your chance of getting a "fun or fiction oriented" job are nil. How do you make such connections? How do you make any connections? Read and comment on blogs, favorite and friend, have a pretty social media presence, ask questions, find your way into conferences, pick the brains of the contacts you do have for connections into the kind of thing you're interested in.
If you decide to investigate duller but more realistic part time from home options out there you could peruse a variety of related threads 1 2 3 4.
posted by nanojath at 7:57 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Chairboy at 12:34 PM on July 14, 2010