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 »
Last week I woke up to find that my partner had rearranged my home office. She spent the better part of the morning turning it into our home office.
I shouldn’t have been surprised — I’d told her earlier in the week that we might become more productive if we work near each other. At that time it was merely a suggestion. I didn’t think that one day I would just wake up and find it a reality. Read the rest of this entry »
Being a web worker can mean learning to handle many facets of running a small business, including dealing with difficult clients, which can often be one of the biggest frustrations that come with the territory.
But how do you know if your clients are abusing you? Here are a few telltale signs and tips for how to fix and avoid these situations. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a strange thing, but in times like these, when prospective clients have fewer dollars to spend and when there’s more competition in the marketplace due to higher unemployment rates, instinctive responses have a tendency to take over our business decisions.
Recently, it’s been much easier to work from a place of desperation, taking every opportunity that comes our way and doing every marketing tactic imaginable to maintain a contracting sales pipeline. Suddenly, the “fight or flight” reaction becomes almost routine, an up and down roller coaster ride that started as an attempt to keep our businesses afloat during these tough times. Read the rest of this entry »
nim·ble : quick and light in motion; marked by quick, alert, clever conception, comprehension, or resourcefulness.
Being a web worker has its advantages, and one of the biggest is that you can build a very adaptable and nimble business. Here are a few of the ways we stay flexible.
Web workers hear about developments and opportunities immediately.
The good thing about working online all day is that you have access to information as soon as it becomes available, making it easy to keep a finger on your competitors’ and customers’ pulses and adjust your services and business offerings accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Starting a business can be a huge undertaking, but fortunately for the aspiring web worker, it doesn’t have to be. The really great thing about starting a web working business is that getting set up can be easy and low cost.
You don’t need a fancy set-up. You can get by with a few basic necessities (in most cases, a computer, an Internet connection, a web site and maybe some business cards).
You don’t need to quit your day job. You can keep working at your current job until your web work picks up enough to support you. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, I was commiserating with a friend looking for a new job about the unpleasantness of that task. I remembered the hours of fruitless toiling, sending countless resumes off into the void, along with unique, individually tailored cover letters for hundreds of positions. Days that first seem like a pleasant extended vacation eventually become a drawn-out reminder of just how little money you’re making, and just how unproductive your waking hours actually are.
Thing is, I realized that was what it was like before I became a web worker, when my ideal job was still a cozy 9-to-5 in an office somewhere, with a salary, benefits and a paid lunch hour. Once I gave up that ideal in favor of pursuing freelance opportunities online, the dreaded Job Hunting Process, which I thought was written in stone, largely ceased to exist. Sure, what replaced it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, either, but for all its faults, it definitely beats the cold dread of Workopolis and Monster.com. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not a big fan of moving, but I tend to do it a lot. Once a year is a rare treat, and generally it’s much more frequent than that. And I’m not dashing off in the middle of the night, in case that’s what you think of me. I just grow restless, require a change, and move on. Usually, I’m lucky if I stay in the same city, but Toronto seems so have a little more lasting appeal. Now, I don’t want to claim that this is symptomatic of web working, but it has gotten worse since I started working from home.
Since I’m preparing for a move once again, and I’ve actually become much more aware of what it is I do and do not like about the places I’ve called my home office in the past, I thought I’d share a few tips for what to look for if you’re searching for a better space to work. 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.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
