This morning finds me filled with options and hopeful for the future. My job situation has changed and I’ll have a lot more time on my hands. My options are to: find another full time job, supplement my now part time job with freelance writing and consulting opportunities, or chill. I thought about only doing the part time work over the summer and taking time to relax, but with my husbands impending layoff, that’s not practical.
After working full time for one company for a year, I forgot what it’s like to have options…and freedom. I’m very hopeful for the future. At first I was a little upset, now I can’t believe my good luck. I plan on using my time to make lemonade.
What would you do?
Oh and don’t forget to check out our Blogging for a Living blog. Jennifer Chait begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting has been serving up some cool blogging gigs.
- Biz-News is looking for a correspondent to attend and report on conferences around the world.
- Luxury Handbags/Jewelry/Rings blogger -Low pay but each post is 100 words.
- Website Content and Administration – Part Time – Telecommute OK – $20/hour
- Content Partnership Director for New Blog Site
- Freelance Travel Writers – $400 – $600/article
- Local Historians and Writers Needed in the Midwest – Not sure about pay.
- Web Content - $10/page
- SAT Subjects Test Content Providers
- Website Copy Writer – Tampa Bay – $25/page
- Experienced Business Plan Writer - Cary, NC
- Financial Writer
- Consulting Firm Seeks Contract Writer -Portland
- Travel Writers - Northwest
- Environmental Website Writer
- Research and Write About Assigned Topics
- Write for Blerp.com – If you know pay details, please share them here.
- Business Plan/RFP for Clean Energy Project - $1200
- Freelance Advertising Copywriter - Austin
- Professional Writer Needed
- Entertainment Writer
- Independent Researcher - Chicago
- Virtual Assistance for Freelance Writing Business - $10/hour
- Freelance Copy Editor - Santa Monica
- Blogger Needed
- SEO Writer - $10/article
- Copywriter for Web - NYC
- Writer/Blogger
- Startup Seeks Candidates with Strong English Skills
- Write about almost anything - $15
Hope you have a great day!
Follow your heart Deb! When I was laid off at the end of March I launched my freelance business and less than 2 months later I have 3 clients that I have ongoing work from. I owe my quick success to my former employer being one of my clients and to using connections from my former industry.
Good luck and ENJOY!
lemonade sounds good to me!
Since you have the option of working part-time while either building your freelance business or applying for full-time jobs (or both), I’m sure you will make it work out OK.
wishing you the best …
Just so everyone knows – I’ve been freelancing for ten years. I’m not just starting from scratch again. So that’s the good news.
“Research and write about assigned topics” in Tulsa —-This clearly appears to be another site that sells papers to cheating students in high schools and colleges.
PLEASE do not support these sites by listing them on FreelanceWritingGigs.
Craigslist used to remove these sites immediately when we clicked “Flag: Prohibited,” but in recent months several of these creepy businesses have slipped under the radar and remained on Craigslist to advertise for writers.
Like many, I know what Deb’s going through. It’s a lot of sleepless nights while you figure out the route to take.
One thing I’ve learned is not to become too complacent. One of my full-time clients shut down in April. This was a Web design company that had been in business for 10 years and suddenly all writers were told that the work had run dry and that they were sorry that the week’s assignments were not going to be handed out. That was a $200 a week loss after eight months with that company.
There’s another story that comes to mind. An area reporter lost her job a couple months ago with the biggest newspaper in this area. The newspaper is struggling and laying off their writers regularly. She was on the news a couple days ago. Instead, she booked some shows in area bars, developed a bit of an audience and now is booking shows outside of Vermont and scheduled for a number of weddings in Vermont. She’s tossing her journalism degree aside to fulfill her dream of being paid to sing.
Re: Blerp.com
They posted a month or so ago somewhere and I did everything they asked. I never heard another word. I have my suspicions that they are just trying to build traffic.
Ayep. I was a third generation contractor prior to freelancing. Born and raised in the ceramic tile and natural stone industry in a family business that has done over 350 million dollars nationwide. I did great up until 2006 when illegal immigration started forcing me to work two to three times the hours for lesser pay in order to make the same amount of money from the previous year. By 2007 the recession had started to hit, the housing market was crumbling, and I barely cleared 35k after working my arse off four hours up the mountain, the only place I could find work. When I lost a 70 thousand dollar contract to a non-English speaking crew who bid the job out at 28k, I hung up my hat. Figured out the hours and the pay and figured I could have worked at UPS as a warehouse worker with full benefits for the same amount of money, plus have full benefits.
That’s when my wife and I moved overseas and I pursued the career I always wanted to in the first place…writing. I’m enjoying it. I have steady work from a UK company doing content generation, a job which–while many here would deem beneath them–earns me 20 bucks an hour and I’ve been making 1200-1500 a month just from them alone. I also do regular Demand Studios here and there, and starting next month I’m actually planning on increasing my work load to 6 hours a day up from the 4 hours a day I work now.
With a house that’s 100% paid for and very little in the way of living expenses, my wife is finishing up her business degree and about to take a second degree in landscaping to start a landscaping company in a couple of years with her friends. I’ll be doing consulting (based upon my 15 years of construction knowledge) and possibly some helping out. In the meantime I’m working on an e-cook-book, my freelance writing, a novel, I have 5 short stories in circulation, and my wife and I are planning on starting at least one magazine here in our part of Europe sometime later this summer, or this fall, depending on when she compiles the info she wants.
All in all, I stay busy. We have several trips planned for this year, and we are taking at least 2 weeks off for Rome next April, then we have a 4 week backpacking trip planned in China next September, and who knows what other trips with the family. We generally go on 5-6 trips per year all around Europe.
I love my job. It’s great pay, I’m busy, and I couldn’t be happier.
@ T.W. Thanks for your story. I have often struggled with how to parlay multiple interests into a job/career/occupation. Thus far, it has taken the shape of a variety of unrelated office jobs. Stories like yours are proof that having multiple interests is really a pre-requisite for freelancing! And maybe my decision to leave full-time desk jobs for freelancing did, in fact, make some sense. I’m still finding my way, but once again this site is so helpful to me. Thanks Deb and all for the dialogue.
@Anne G. Same. I sat and did all they wanted, and figured they were full on staff. Seems a bit sketchy there.
FYI
FYI
In lieu of financial compensation, Biz-
News will provide passes to the event, and byline and attribution to all work done.
Sorry, Deb, I should have said “re-building” your freelance business. I know you’ve been around for a long time (-:}
Sorry about last post. Must have unknowingly hit send.
FYI-BIZ NEWS gig (first listed)is a NO PAY job. You get a byline and free passes to biz conferences…how generous.
I was remiss for not thanking Deb for her work: Thank you, Deb!
Thanks again for the leads; haven’t been back here in a couple months; yes, the future is always golden when you are a fantastic writer; the sky is the limit; you should certainly consider writing a book manuscript or a few dozen great stories to keep the creative writing juices flowing; freelance writing is boring and only really worth it if you can make a few hundred dollars an hour; I’ve always found creative writing much more inspiring and rewarding; but these wonderful leads make freelance writing a viable alternative when you need some extra cash; and writing is always better than working a normal job.
Wow Deb, I didn’t realize you balanced a full-time job with writing/blogging. Kudos on a job well done. Sounds like you have some good options to consider.
@ Anne Thanks for the info on Blerp, I’ve been toying with the idea of applying, but really haven’t had time to go write “Blerps” to apply. I think I’ll be skipping that one as it did seem like they were looking for free content to build up their site.
A note on Trazzler (Travel Writers–Northwest) –that’s another one that seems like they’re just trying to build up their content. We had this discussion here a month or two ago and several people had the same experience–You have to sign up for an account, write a couple of sample tips and then wait to hear back. I never heard a thing, even after I contacted them to find out one way or the other. I don’t expect to hear back from every job lead, but when I have to go so far as set up an account and write specific samples, then I send a follow-up, I do expect to get the courtesy of a response. I tell you what I do get is a weekly newsletter and other junk mail that I don’t want. It seemed to me that they were more interested in building membership/reader base.
Re: Trazzler-
Yes that is another one. I did sign up and did a couple sample tips. I emailed and heard back from someone saying that it was exactly what they were looking for and to keep posting. I asked where the job offer in “keep posting” happened to be, and never got a response. Now I get emails from them two or three times a week, that I have sent right to my spam box, but that’s all I’ve gotten from them. I’ve even tried opting out of their newsletter to no avail.
What a great variety!!!! Thanks Deb.
@Anne and Chris – Count me in about Tazzler. I signed up months ago. Same story.
Now they sent a newletter stating for every 10 posts, you have a chance to win $250. Actually you can go back in on your account and delete your content.
I was/am in the same predicament. I lost a job that I loved in March. However, working full time and raising four children makes for a very stressed out mom. I decided to take a break, chill out and enjoy the summer with my children. Despite tight finances, I am much more relaxed now. I’ve begun to freelance — something I did on a small scale when my children were little — and hope to turn that into my regular gig.
I must add that I love this site and visit it daily.
Hey guys, don’t bother with the last posting in this string. They are a scam. I found out about this after emailing them and receiving a scam email. Figured I would spread the word.
@ Susan: NP at all. I think it’s important for people to understand that there are *many* different ways to succeed at freelancing. Some people are comfortable doing niche writing, while others like to spread themselves across a wider variety of projects.
I prefer to write about a great many different topics, and I like to explore, research, and learn about new things as often as I can. I specifically try to write on a different subject as often as I can because it’s what I enjoy doing.
But I also don’t *just* freelance write. I’ve always been an entrepreneurial sort, and my wife is the same type of person. We have a lot of different irons in the fire and a lot of different projects all going on at the same time, because it’s how we like to do things. Eventually you find something you enjoy more than the others and you spend some more time on it than the others, but you keep going.
I really enjoy fiction writing, as well. It’s something I’m just now getting started in as a side project while I finish my first manuscript. I wrote a half dozen short stories last fall, and two new ones this spring, and I’ve sold some and have others still circulating. There are literally thousands of markets around the world, so I keep plenty busy by keeping my horizons expanded as much as possible.
Deb, You get to make a decision, freedom. With freedom comes more responsibility.
I suggest, make the decision quick and never look back.
Re Trazzler
I have had the same experience as Veronica, Chris and Anne. I really dont know what the Madrid based editor is looking for. I have written for a number of travel sites and thought I could easily land a Trazzler gig when I was experiencing a low spell in March this year. Now I don’t even bother with their newsletters and tweets.! Wonder why they keep posting their ads all over the boards though?
You are all correct and I am doing some content creation and SEO of my own and pasting this on every forum I find complaining about Trazzler. Having recently been looking through free lance writing gigs on craigslist, I am proud to say I spotted Trazzler’s B.S. quickly. Blerp.com does the same thing. “Sign up and write content and we’ll let you know when you are selected to be one of our writers!” Three weeks of posting daily as requested. Nada! Worldfriends. Blogged for them for six weeks. Same thing. Trazzler may be different, but I doubt it.