Recently, I challenged myself: I decided I wouldn’t leave the house until I could make a buck off the Internet. And the most astonishing part – I didn’t go out all day. I ended up bored and extremely frustrated – what good was I, if I couldn’t even make a single dollar off the Internet in a day?

My Process

Firstly, I decided to try pulling a quick StumbleUpon campaign; hopefully, this would get my ad revenues up (I’m using Smowtion Media at the moment, which pays per impression). No luck.

Then, I decided to take two steps back and try to hit myLot for some revenue; unfortunately, myLot doesn’t update its earnings that often. To serve as a record, my account had $0.27 in it and I posted twice. When I check back tomorrow, hopefully I’ll get an idea of how much (or little) I can make with myLot.

A benefit of browsing myLot was finding Bukisa.com; a site similar to Helium and Squidoo, it pays for information and pageviews per article. After writing a (half-assed) article about laptops and students, I signed off and watched some TV. When I came back to check statistics, I was disappointed to find that I had no views at all.

Enraged

As you can imagine, I was pretty upset. Pent-up inside my own house because of some stupid challenge (I never go back on my word, even if it’s to myself)! I felt worthless, because I couldn’t make a dime off the Internet even when I put my heart and soul into it. This despair turned into rage, and I got more and more angry.

Patience

It was only after I recovered from my temporary rage and disappointment that I realized – again – that the Internet was not a get-rich-quick scheme. I know I’d been preaching that for a while, but I never listened to myself (I mean, just look at how I challenged myself – fine, a buck isn’t a lot, but it’s still difficult to make quickly).

I felt like I had wasted time. Browsing through random programs, and stuff. And now, I’ll tell you what I’d really learned and now believe with my whole heart; that the real dollars lie in blogging and freelancing. In stuff that I can control and rely on skill, and not just mindless work.

I wasn’t in the mood to go out, so I decided to brainstorm through a bunch of ideas and write posts on them. I’m not sure if this was such a great idea (I feel kind of burned out), and my writing might have suffered a bit, but I ended up getting quite a few articles to work with now.

Disappointed?

If you ever feel disappointed in your progress, know that we’ve all been there. The key to making money (anywhere!) is persistence – so if you’re disappointed, sit back and call it a day. Go out! Enjoy life. But at the same time, you have to wake up the next morning, and go hard at making money again – otherwise, you’ll end up stuck in a plateau, and might even journey into a valley.

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35022021@N07/3769970445/

August 1, 2009

It’s absolutely shocking how fast time flies by in the summer; I’d realized (with a lot of surprise) last night that it would be the beginning of August today! Wow. And, true to my word, I’d decided on taking the first step to my journey as a freelance writer. I do hope to continue to keep posting regularly on JoblessJoes.com while freelance writing; who says I can’t do both, right? After all, summer can be a very fruitful time.

Day 1

Decide on the one service you will offer. I emphasize picking only one specific service because without freelance experience, you are probably not already highly skilled in the area you want to freelance in. Even if you have been practicing it as a hobby for a long time, providing that skill as a service is a different challenge.

If you are wanting to freelance in web design, don’t offer everything and the kitchen sink to begin with (complete design + front-end code). Provide PSD mockups only. If you’re more on the dev side of things, start with some code slicing jobs. If you want to write, start with one specific kind of writing.

This approach will help you become skilled in the service you provide very quickly. Since you want to be taking on your first client in 30 days, it’s crucial that you develop your skills to an adequate level. Once you become comfortable with providing that one service, you will naturally expand what you offer.

Source: http://www.skelliewag.org/30-days-to-become-a-freelancer-961.htm

I’ve decided to become a freelance writer; great, but what should I write about? I’ve decided to expand into the field of articles and reviews; I feel that my background in blogging and reviewing will allow for a natural development in this field. There’s also a constant demand for this kind of stuff – articles that explore products (which I consider reviews) or explore other aspects of life will always have a demand.

I plan to write for blogs and websites, but eventually want to work my way up towards magazines and other sorts of print and media, even. Now, with that said, this part wasn’t too difficult for me to complete and I had several days to figure it out already, so I decided to move on to Day 2. No use in wasting time.

August 1, 2009

Day 2

Gather learning materials to help you practice your service before taking on a client. As I mentioned in the introduction to this list, you should spend at least 1 hour per day just developing your skill. While this should be mainly direct practice (doing rather than reading about), you will need to gather materials to guide you here. This includes articles, interviews and tutorials. Focus mainly on developing techniques you could actually see yourself using in client work.

I kind of skipped Day 2 and proceeded ahead to Day 3 really quickly. My website, www.jotcomstudios.com is up and running; however, I found it too easy to make a new website with that little resolution (post idea?). I love the name Jotcom Studios because it’s a play on “dot-com”, as I have to do much of my business over the Internet, while retaining some sense of writing with the word “jot”.

August 1, 2009

Day 3

Decide on a business name – are you a studio or individual? Then, buy the domain name and hosting. You can freelance under your real name, a pseudonym, or a business name. Here are some example business names I generated with this cool little thing:

• Flying Dog Design
• Green Ant Productions
• Scarlet Zebra Interactive
• Blue Cat Labs
• Chestnut Rabbit Solutions
• Golden Lemur Studios
• Friendly Kangaroo Ltd
• Evil Pencil Media

Of course, some of these are really absurd, but they do give you an idea of some common naming conventions.

Once you’ve picked a name, it’s time to buy the domain for that name. If there’s no domain available for that name, pick another one. Your domain branding is really important.

Buy a domain name that comes with web hosting, as the next branding step is to create your portfolio.

Further reading: Naming Your Freelance Business – To Personalize or Not (With a Poll!)

I was initially going to go with Crazy Leopard Studios (believe it or not), but I decided on Jotcom Studios (as for the aforementioned reason). I kind of switched Day 2 and Day 3 around. You might be thinking I’m going a bit fast for myself, but I’d actually had a couple of days to work out Day 1 and Day 3. I got my domain and Wordpress installation up and running, and even e-mailed a website about guest blogging. As you may have noticed, I didn’t go through with my promise to work on Day 2 yet; I’m doing that as I write this article up (I find that writing in solitude helps get my brain juices flowing).

The most important part here is to find a sort of article or set of guidelines that I can go by when writing reviews and articles. I plan to analyze how Wired, Ars Technica, and PC World write their respective reviews and try to dissect what makes them so popular; however, in the meantime, I’m trying to scour around for tutorials with insight and instruction.

I’ve been writing reviews for almost two years now, but I’ve found myself to still lack many fundamentals in reviewing. Here’s where I started:

• http://www.possi.org/extended_attributes/2000/11/bitstream

Holy crap. It’s a bit overwhelming, but I think it really hit the nail on the hammer for me – the article is very exhaustive, and comments on not only instructions and criteria (such as the three essential questions), but also mentality of the reviewer and the importance of the reader, and how to go about examining products. I believe that this was the right place to start, and indeed I will have to print this article out for future reference.

• http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=606

This second article actually helped organize reviews, which I could always use some assistance on. It offers guidelines on time (use your product for a month to get to know it best), and structure. And even though it was written with mainly an ‘astronomical context’, I found that many of its principles could easily be applied to writing reviews in general.

I felt quite exhausted after this studying, so I decided to take the dive and try “truly” reviewing my 16GB iPod Nano. Given that I’d already had it for a week and am very familiar with the iPod interface, I’m quite certain that I’d be prepared to write the iPod Nano review within a week. Of course, I still have to read the instructions. And decide who my reader is.

August 2, 2009

Day 4

Design your products. This is different from the service you are going to offer – here you decide how it is going to be packaged. Are you going to sell blocks of time? Completed projects? What will your rates be?

Your goals should be modest as you are only starting out, both in terms of how much you will work and how much you will charge. For your first job, I would suggest an hourly rate between $20 – $30. Keep in mind that you don’t publish these rates online and can therefore change them from client to client. Just because you do one job at $20 an hour as you’re starting out doesn’t mean you can’t be charging $50 an hour a few months later.

Per-project rates are a great option down the track as they decouple the direct exchange of time for money. I don’t recommend them to a beginning freelancer, though. It will be extremely difficult to come up with an accurate price estimate before you have the experience you’d need to look at a project and quickly have a reasonable idea of how long it is going to take. That’s something that will only come with time and experience. (Note that this advice doesn’t necessarily apply to smaller jobs like article writing.)

An hourly rate of $20 – $30 sounds awfully reasonable. However, I’ll definitely have to “ease” this transition of work into my life; I can’t afford to take on that many clients due to my pursuit of other priorities (education) and still hope to complete my work with the same amount of quality. Thus, I think I’ll be taking on two clients at a time for now; this will help me focus on the projects at hand while having enough time to get my schoolwork done.

And $50 an article would be a pretty valid per-project amount, wouldn’t it?

Now, in terms of services/products, I think I will be writing strictly essays/articles/tutorials/reviews. No poetry, no stories, no fiction. I feel as though I’m most familiar with these types of writing, and so I’ll probably have more success with them. At the moment, I’m pretty strict on taking on purely those types of work because I believe that I excel in these kinds of writing, but also because I feel as though there isn’t much market demand for the rest of them; however, I think I might be looking to expand into the more “creative” side of writing soon (after all, what do I have to lose?).

Also, should I find an editor?

August 5, 2009

Day 5

Set up a business email address and PayPal account. While your friends and family might not mind receiving email from ronny69@hotmail.com, prospective clients might! Create an email address linked to your new domain name. Forward it to a free Gmail account, then under your Gmail settings, put your domain email address as your default ‘Send Email As’ address. This will allow you to manage your domain email through Gmail, rather than the dubious email UIs provided by most webhosts.

A good format is @yourdomain.com. This will make it easy to give new people email addresses at your domain if your freelance business expands in the future.

Next up you should create a PayPal account if PayPal is available in your country. If not, try Moneybookers. Most online freelancing is paid via PayPal and I consider it a must-have. If you dislike the fees, you can build them into your rates.

If you already have a PayPal account, it might be a good idea to think about changing your address to something linked to your business, i.e. ‘accounts@yourdomain.com’ or ‘paypal@yourdomain.com’.

My new account: email[at]jotcomstudios.com is up and running on Gmail. I’m not sure if I’m going to go through the trouble of adding another account for Paypal though, I figure my current one is quite professional and should be fine.

Boy, I’ve been slacking. So here goes Day 6.

August 5, 2009

Day 6

Set up Wordpress under your freelance business domain. Every freelancer should have an online portfolio, even if it’s very simple. If you’re a designer with time to spare you can probably take control of this step. If you want a quick solution that is quite effective, download Wordpress and install it under your domain name.

Been done! But I’m using a temporary theme to hold the domain. I’ll apply a more “appropriate” theme tomorrow, I suppose. But here’s a problem; what do I put on my site? I was initially thinking about just work from my previous websites and other third-party work, but I think I’m going to write-up a review solely for Jotcom Studios and try to lay it out nicely and all. Oh, boy.

August 6, 2009

Day 7

Select and install a portfolio Wordpress theme. This platform will give prospective clients the means to learn more about you and your services, view your work, and contact you. You can browse some great Premium options under $30 at ThemeForest.

I actually chose to use a free Wordpress theme (http://wpesp.com/) and load it up with my portfolio work. Unfortunately, I stumbled into a roadblock very early on; what do I put in my portfolio (as I’d mentioned earlier)? I decided to firstly highlight my Adobe Photoshop Elements review (Adobe’s name is a head-turner), and my somewhat-established technology blog CutEdge.org.

I’ve also decided to do some minor Photoshop work and replace the default header as well as attach some pictures to my work. Time to practise some cool graphic and typography fusion work, haha.

In Retrospect

photo credit: TheSeafarer

Boy, what a week it has been. I think the most challenging part of this process is to consistently build up a habit of following these steps; as you might have noticed, I fluctuated between doing a lot of work and doing very little. I’d prefer to build up a more regular schedule and follow that. Other than that, things have gone relatively well and quickly, though.

…oh, and practising an hour a day? Oh, boy. Haha.

Header Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23965383@N05/3797427824/

Hiya folks. Today, I wrote a post on Mike’s Life that discusses making money off your blog by offering services, such as freelancing or consulting. I think that it would be one of my more “polished” articles, so head over to Mike’s Life and have a read! Enjoy.

http://mikeslife.org/content/generate-income-your-blog-offering-service

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/somegeekintn/3709203268/

Classifieds are an excellent resource when it comes to finding jobs – for this reason alone: employers that post in the classifieds are sure to be looking. However, it is also because of this fact and the wide availability of most classifieds (including online and newspapers) that there is bound to be a lot of competition when it comes to applying for jobs advertised in classifieds.

This goes double for any town that the Craigslist service works for; generally, Craigslist is pretty well-known and it’s a widely-visited site, and so there is a ton of traffic going towards Craigslist. And with this traffic comes a lot of applicants. And with a lot of applicants comes the difficulty of making oneself stand out from the rest of the applicants. What’s worse – Craigslist is done online, meaning that one will not be given the opportunity to appear in-person and make a statement to the manager (what’s the percentage of communication that’s done in body language?). This can be a benefit or a setback, depending on your people skills – but either way, it’s irrelevant in the “Expansion” phase of job-hunting.

So how does one set themselves apart from the rest of the herd?

1. Follow Instructions

photo credit: sillygwailo

This one seems obvious, but it’s surprising how many applicants carelessly break requirements (or try to sneak past them). If the employer requests that the resume be in the body of the e-mail, then don’t send it as an attachment. If the employer requests certain experience, don’t bother applying if it’s not there. Get the drift? This saves trouble and time for both the applicant and the employer. Undoubtedly, not following a requirement will likely disqualify the applicant from the position.

2. With the E-Mail…

photo credit: quinn.anya

Highlight pieces of the resume! Don’t be afraid to mention previous experience in the industry, or any relevant volunteering experiences. Because the e-mail is the first thing the Craigslist employers generally read (unless they request phoning in, which will be addressed in later points), hit ‘em hard with qualifications and past experiences.

For example, if it’s a bartending or restaurant job, mention the SmartServe qualification (for Canadian residents). (If one hasn’t completed it yet, please Google Smartserve and complete it; it opens up many possibilities).

If there’s no response within an hour, don’t panic. There have been times when responses took even a week or two to process and for the employer to reply; in this case, the key to getting more responses is simply to apply to more jobs (makes sense, right?)! Chances are one will receive more replies the more opportunities that he/she applies towards.

However, here’s an idea: consistency is appreciated mainly more towards walk-in methods of application – on the Internet, this method is called “spam”. One’s dedication towards applying for a job can easily be misinterpreted as an annoyance; this will further disqualify the applicant from the job. Don’t get desperate. E-mail once and move on.

To Whom it may Concern:

My name is Herbert Lui, and I’m interested in the ABC position in XYZ company. I believe that my experience with DEF company bolstered my communication skills, used to address customer inquiries and interact with co-workers. The details of my experience can be found in my resume, which you will find attached to this e-mail.

I hope to hear from you soon.

From,

Herbert

Granted, it’s a bit crude and not perfect (far from it, actually), but it’ll work. Do not copy this e-mail word for word (what’s the point? In fact, if a prospective employer gets ahold of this article and sees that the e-mail was copied and pasted, how would he feel?), but please try to take away the general picture. In fact, the whole “To Whom it may Concern:” part seems a bit formal, and can be simply replaced with “Hi there:”.

Secondly, don’t hesitate to create a framework for e-mails. Because of the numerous e-mails one will be sending throughout the distribution of his/her resumes, it will be very beneficial to simply copy and paste his/her OWN layout and adjust company names and personal qualities to suit the prospective employer. Don’t copy this one.

…and yeah, it’s the layout I like using.

3. With the Telephone…

photo credit: Daquella manera

It’s usually not common to see Craigslist employers request a telephone call (this is more common towards dedicated employment sites, such as Monster or Workopolis), but if the opportunity ever comes up, then by all means capitalize.

There will be people who are more comfortable speaking to a real person than communicating via e-mail; and with telephones, these people will naturally shine and stand out. They will have the voice, tone, and wit to carry a conversation with the employer. For everyone else (possibly the majority of people), telephone conversations will pose more of a challenge than an e-mail because text can be edited and revised, whereas spoken words can’t.

One possible solution would be to try emulating the conversation before it actually takes place; anticipate the questions (both common sense ones – like “What part of this job interests you?” and “What qualities do you feel can serve us best?”, but also more untraditional questions relating to your job, which can be usually expertise-related).

Secondly, try to breathe consistently. Breathing is key to voice control; try not to gasp, but breathe through the nose. A slow, relaxed, breath will set the tone for a more relaxed conversation, which can give off the sound-image of your confidence towards people.

With voice, try to show enthusiasm; don’t be afraid to inquire about the job (in fact, this can be recommended) – don’t discuss touchier subjects like Vacation Times or Wages, but talk about the developmental possibilities that this job entails.

Timing

photo credit: MarvinSiefke

One last thing about Craigslist is the importance of timing; weekends are usually when employers rest, so my recommendation would be to take a break on the weekend and switch gears on weekdays. A good time to check would be at 1PM, when the morning posts are up; and at around 5PM – I say 5PM because afternoon posts would be up, while there will still be people at the workplace to check responses (assuming that the employer stays behind to look into the job applications and doesn’t just leave work at 5PM).

Best of luck. Stay hungry.

At my University’s orientation, I mentioned to a professor counselling me on my course selection that I wanted to be a freelance writer. Taken aback, he mentioned that he had been a freelance writer for a couple of years, writing for a local paper where he made a less-than-luxurious amount of money (I’d prefer to leave it undisclosed, but you probably get the idea).

Naturally, this was a bit disheartening, and I began reconsidering a lot of my options. At the peak of my disappointment with freelancing, I’d even considered switching to major in Business and out of the Media Information Technoculture course that I’m currently enrolled in. In fact, I took the month of July to study Calculus and Vectors to prepare me for a possible switch to Business.

Here was my rationale: although money wasn’t the most important factor in a line of work, it was definitely a major consideration for me. The side of me that loves money is a realist — it knew that the chances of me making money (I’m talking big money) on writing alone were slim to none. And it was convincing me that the feast-or-famine cycle was the least appealing quality of the job.

But lately, I’d been doing a lot of reading — I’d actually stumbled the majority of it accidentally. Through a lot of clickthroughs from various websites and blogs, I ended up at this article: http://www.skelliewag.org/30-days-to-become-a-freelancer-961.htm

I was deeply impressed. Although this wasn’t my first time reading Skellie’s work, I had never seen freelancing being broken down like that before. And the thing is, freelancing could be given a try while I was a full-time student (it was either on this article or another that mentioned freelancing should be started at 1-2 hours a night while maintaing a full-time job — my full-time job is studying). With my love for writing rekindled by this hope, I’d decided to go all-out in August and try to become a freelancer by the beginning of September.

No doubt, this part is a lot easier, because I’m on Summer break and have the whole day to work on freelancing. I’m aspiring to be a freelance writer, but I do want to try and get some other knowledge in; finances and employment opportunites, as well as online income, are piquing my interest right now.

Why am I saying all this? This is just an introduction into the world of freelancing, which I consider to be a source of making some money; secondly, I plan to study and personally undergo this 30 days towards being a freelancer, and keeping myself accountable with this blog. Hopefully, my documented journey will be able to help future aspiring freelancers.