Need help identifying my niche, international edition.

March 31, 2012 8:06 AM

Please help me brainstorm creative ways to leverage my professional experience and expat status.

I'm a US expat (with dual US-Irish citizenship) living in the west of Ireland. As you may have heard, the economy is not so great here, so I'm hoping to find or create a niche market for my skill set and situation. I'd be especially interested in doing work for US- (or maybe even UK-) based companies while living here.

A bit about my professional background:

• My most recent gigs have been in the field of marketing communications, and have involved both online and traditional media (print ad copywriting, blogging/social media, web content writing/strategizing/production, drafting press releases, etc.). Early in my career, I spent a couple of years writing feature articles for newspapers and magazines, and served as editor of a community newspaper.
• The companies I've worked for range from small businesses to multinationals, in industries that include pro audio manufacturing, software, gaming, real estate, hospitality and the arts.
• On the technical side, I'm fairly comfortable with HTML/CSS, know my way around PHP/mySQL, and can create custom web sites (either from scratch or using WordPress). I'm decent enough at graphic design and using the tools involved (though wouldn't go so far as to call myself a graphic designer). I'm quite handy when it comes to audio engineering and production.
• Other random qualifications/abilities: I'm a certified TESOL instructor, though I haven't tutored/taught a class in about 8 years. I have intermediate Spanish language skills. I'm a decent singer/musician/songwriter. I've worked in animal care, including wildlife rehabilitation and veterinary nursing.

How can I leverage my experience, and my expat status, to create a cool niche gig for myself? I've considered the travel/tourism industry, but how would I go about sourcing opportunities that would best fit my skills and situation? What other possibilities should I consider? Some sort of correspondent/liaison gig? Is there something in the nonprofit sector, or maybe government, that would be suitable?

Please share your ideas, and bonus points for tips on how I might get a foot in the door! I'm not necessarily looking for a permanent, full-time job; freelance/consulting ideas welcome.

Thanks in advance, MeFites!

posted by lovermont to Work & Money (4 answers total)

It sounds like you should make websites.
posted by limeonaire at 9:48 AM on March 31, 2012

Genealogy or ancestry related work? Lots of Irish Americans hunger to know where they came from, what the place was like, etc. You could offer custom tailored websites or photo essays from people who can't go search out Great-Granny's birthplace themselves.
posted by Ideefixe at 1:01 PM on March 31, 2012

Response by poster: Ideefixe, I like the idea of doing something with genealogy. That's the line of thinking I'm after, too – something that kind of ties everything together. Thanks for the suggestion!
posted by lovermont at 3:31 AM on April 1, 2012

Set up and run community education centre.
posted by gonzo_ID at 5:00 AM on April 6, 2012