It’s easier to admit something to your computer screen than to a person’s face. The anonymous world out there behind the monitor can lead us to reveal much more about ourselves than we should. But how much is too much? As you might have guessed, the answer is “It depends.”
Look at Penelope Trunk. She talks about abortion, sex, divorce, bulimia, mental wards and dating on her blog, even though its primary focus is careers. She also says her blog is about her. “But each of you has a list of things in your life similar to that, it’s just a list you don’t want to talk about. I’m not special — I don’t have more stuff that is difficult to talk about. I just have more difficulty not talking about difficult stuff,” she says.
But she is special. She succeeds in revealing everything about herself because she has a solid brand and career that works for her. For most of us, being open and revealing such stories might not go as well. They could affect future jobs, gigs and relationships. Read the rest of this entry »
The down economy is making many workers realize that it is no longer safe to have just one source of income. On the flip side, employers are also making smaller jobs available to outside contractors, opening up more opportunities for people to have side projects outside of their regular day jobs.
Managed correctly from both sides, such working arrangements can be good for both parties. However, part-time web workers often need to do an even better job of managing client expectations and communications than full-time freelancers. Here are five tips for those considering web working outside of their day job for the first time: Read the rest of this entry »
Editor’s note: With this post, we welcome Karen Leland, our new Productivity Superstar columnist, to the WebWorkerDaily team. Karen is the bestselling author of six books, including the recent “Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day,” and is the co-founder of Sterling Marketing Group. To find out more about Karen go to www.karenleland.com.
Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my professional life have been personal ones. There have been times when I’ve jumped the gun and made an incorrect assumption about a person or situation, sent the occasional indelicate email written in haste, or gone into a meeting in a grumpy mood. It’s not a pretty story, but one that needs to be told.
“When we are upset, we’re stupid,” says Randy Martin, a long-time executive coach. “So as a general rule, it’s never a good idea to communicate by phone, email or in person when angry or frustrated.” No kidding.
But despite my occasional bad behavior (and let’s tell the truth — who among us has not fallen off the courteous co-worker wagon from time to time?), I’ve had enough training and practice to know how to recover when I slip and fall on the road to interpersonal excellence. Read the rest of this entry »
So you’re a web worker, but you still meet people in meatspace that you want to network with, and making them type an email into their phone or handing them a plain jane business card either feels awkward or isn’t getting results.
There are other things you can do, things that are far more representative of your trade than a lifeless rectangular slip of paper with some contact information printed upon it. That’s not to say that all rectangular slips of paper are without merit, just that most traditional ones just aren’t getting the job done like they used to, following the demise of the Rolodex. Here are some alternatives you may want to consider. Read the rest of this entry »
Even in the best of times, a freelance web worker’s income can be spotty and irregular at times. Unlike salaried employees, contractors are subject to sudden and frequent variations in the amount of revenue they can generate at any given time. Those variances can be mitigated, however, by buttressing your revenue through a few out of the ordinary sources. Read the rest of this entry »
The digital world is changing rapidly. The explosion of social networking and the emergence of the real-time web are bringing many new challenges for businesses. With those challenges come new opportunities. The shifting landscape means that companies will need people with unique skills — whole new careers are being created. In “Career Opportunities in the NewNet,” my latest post for GigaOM Pro, our subscription research service, I take a look at five careers that could benefit from the growth of the NewNet (data analysts, community managers, social media marketers, sensor engineers and infrastructure experts), explaining why people in those fields should expect to see an increase in demand for their skills.
What career opportunities do you think will be driven by the real-time web?
You may come to web work through no choice of your own, either because you’ve been moved into a remote working position at your current job, or because your current gig is ending and finding a replacement full-time salaried job isn’t the easiest thing to do in this economic climate. If it is your choice, though, there are steps you can take well in advance to make your chosen path that much easier to follow.
It wasn’t that long ago that I was working full-time at a consulting firm, dressing in a suit and going in to a physical office five or six days a week. I knew about two months in advance that I would be leaving for sure to pursue working remotely from home as a freelancer. Unlike when you make the transition from one regular job to another, leaving to work for yourself actually requires a lot of preparation. Read the rest of this entry »
Distance learning has gone mainstream. The U.S. Department of Education report “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning” states that “on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” Consider the following:
Would you believe I have a B.A. in education? Though not a teacher by profession, I’m passionate about education. Perhaps, that’s why I’m a writer — to educate people. Being deaf, I knew I never wanted to teach in a classroom, but I’ve worked with online classes at a major university’s M.S. program. Distance education opens doors for many of us. You can develop expertise in any subject you want.
Online education might make teaching a possible career for those who wouldn’t consider working in a classroom. Is teaching the career for you, or perhaps something you can do on the side? Read the rest of this entry »
It’s easier to admit something to your computer screen than to a person’s face. The anonymous world out there behind the monitor can lead us to reveal much more about ourselves than we should. But how much is too much? As you might have guessed, the answer is “It depends.”
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
