I Want To Have Some Fun

November 6, 2008 6:30 PM

Beyond being a freelance writer and a professional practitioner of public affairs, my base nature, I realize, is that of a data researcher, collector and organizer.

I love rooms of disorganized files. I love digging for obscure information. I love sorting and organizing data into usable rows, columns and graphs that other people can benefit from. For me, it's pleasure because it's power. These kinds of things I enjoy; sorting, collecting and finding, would drive other people, screaming, into beehives. The problem is, I'm at a point in my life where I want to pursue a business that combines my passion for words and my passion for information - not exactly the same. Considering the current economic times, is there anything I can promote myself as that will actually attract a market? Or should I continue to putter along doing each of them, but unconnected and in their own contexts?

posted by CollectiveMind to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Response by poster: One other thing ... I've tended to collect document creation hardware. Printers, large and small format scanners, data imaging and processing software, etc. So, obviously, it's something to do with stuff on documents. I just don't know what.
posted by CollectiveMind at 6:32 PM on November 6, 2008

Have you ever heard of ARMA? Archives, records management, that sort of thing sounds like it would be right up your alley.
posted by mogget at 8:16 PM on November 6, 2008

You want to be employed as an analyst, or a researcher, something like that. You could be a research consultant. You collect and organize data, then you write up the results into reports. Hopefully you also like project management because that's the third component (what exactly are we going to try to do, how long will it take, how much will that cost, who will do what by when so someone else can do that other thing). For the freelance thing to work, you should probably develop expertise in a particular field and a network of professional contacts.

For example, maybe you want to work for groups like this compiling and interpreting data like this.
posted by salvia at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

You can begin or join a business such as this: , or provide a somewhat related but not yet created service.
posted by Nixie Pixel at 9:22 PM on November 6, 2008

(sorry, newbie to links here)
http://www.imagingservices.com/
posted by Nixie Pixel at 9:22 PM on November 6, 2008

Librarian?

I'm thinking that you'd be a godsend for research students or faculty.
posted by divabat at 2:55 AM on November 7, 2008

If you also enjoy analyzing the information, you could move into all sorts of analytical roles. Being able to synthesize, interpret and apply information is a vital skill. I started out as a freelance writer, but moved into marcom and market research and then into general marketing and business strategy. I now run a business and marketing consulting company (as well as a website on becoming a consultant, since I am so passionate about it). People hire me and my team to develop business plans, financial projects based on market data, launch plans and so on. You might find that you could parlay your experience into something similar.
posted by acoutu at 9:05 AM on November 7, 2008

Response by poster: Wow, all of these suggestions are good. Thank you all.
posted by CollectiveMind at 4:36 PM on November 7, 2008