Where To Find Work – Quick Resource List
Every now and then I feel like it’s my duty to remind people that they should begin their new career of starting an online business from home – while they are currently working in one of those “real” jobs that forces you to get up every day, get dressed, get in your car, and drive to some place else. It’s much better to work on your own business part time, when there’s less stress about making money NOW, because you are already drawing a regular paycheck from elsewhere. It’s much better to build your new business up slowly, over time, so that one day you wake up and realize that you’ve gotten to the point where you can safely quit that “real” job and go full time with your own business.
(Side note: Please note that whenever I refer to one of those kinds of jobs as a “real job”, I do so only because that’s what people who always criticized my decision to work from home would call them. “Why don’t you get a real job?”, they always asked. So I use that term in a sarcastic manner mainly as a jab at them).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that we have the luxury of building up our new business on a part-time basis. Sometimes, people just haven’t gotten around to starting their business while they had a “real job” and now they are faced with the fact that they no longer have that “real job” because they were laid off in the current downsizing trend. Now is the time that each of you – faced with looming bills that you can’t pay – desperately needs to find work!
At this point, you probably need steady income that you can depend upon – even if it’s a cut in pay from your previous job. Of course, you’ll do all the normal things any jobhunter does – scour the Help Wanted ads in your local paper and search the big job boards like Monster.com. When looking for a traditional “real job”, I’d also recommend searching Indeed which enables traditional job board searches across multiple boards. Indeed gives access to millions of job opportunities from thousands of web sites. It includes all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages.
While you are searching for one of those “real jobs”, however, you can also be making side money right now. Now is the perfect time to start doing some freelance work from home. This freelance work probably won’t pay all your bills right away, but when you’re desperate, ANY income is a good thing. In addition, by doing freelance work, you’ll begin to gain confidence and experience as you learn how to make money all on your own, using your own skills, initiative, talents, and perseverance. That will make for a very nice transition to having your own full-time business later on.
If you haven’t been laid off yet, yay! In that case, use these references just to dip your toe in the water, or make some side money. Side money can be great for buying those “extras” you don’t normally get a chance to purchase, but side money can be even better as a savings fund – a “just in case” fund…Just in case you ever DO get laid off.
In any case, whether you desperately need cash now or not, the following resources are a great way to get started earning some extra cash, honing some new business skills, and leading the way towards an independent future for yourself. This list is not exhaustive, but it’s a good representative cross-section of resources. Frankly a long list is simply overwhelming. I’d prefer a short list to begin with. You can always search for more if you need to.
Blogger Job Boards
ProBlogger Job Board – Jobs for Bloggers
Blogger Jobs
Freelance Jobs
Elance
FreelanceMom
FreelanceSwitch
GetAFreelancer
Guru
iFreelance
oDesk
RentACoder
Craigslist
Personally, I prefer to work on my own web sites now, rather than freelance my time out to others, but freelancing was the perfect entry into the world of working from home for me. By freelancing, I was able to secure income that I needed badly after I’d been laid off a few years ago. In addition, I learned what types of work I liked, and what types I didn’t. We all have more than one talent. You can try different types of freelance work, based on your own variety of skills. You’ll find some more rewarding than others, both monetarily and emotionally.
Some people love freelancing and continue with it full-time as their new business. If you discover that you love it too, then great! If so, then I’d recommend visiting Freelanceswitch.com. It’s a great resource for folks who want to be full-time freelancers. But even if you decide that freelancing isn’t what you really want to base your business on, it is still a good idea to dip your toes in the freelancing waters so that you can earn some side income and flex your independence muscles. I encourage you to try it. It could make a difference in your life.
Tags: freelance, Job Boards, online, ProBlogger Job Board
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An ebusiness coach, web developer, Internet Marketer, SEO, and all around web geek who makes her living from home doing all of the above.
Good post.
I’ve been freelancing for a while now and love it. I agree, it is good to have a ‘real job’ whilst also building up your business, but there’s nothing like the buzz you get from just plunging yourself in the world of working for youself!
The sites you list are great for finding freelance gigs, and I have a few more that I’ve listed on my blog here: http://www.flexibleworkinglife.....ance-work/ Hope they may help anyone who is looking to break into the freelancing world.
Thanks Zoe! Good link there, and nice site overall. I’ll be sure to drop in on it more often now.
Thanks for the list Donna. A friend of mine was asking me how to get started in this type of thing. I am going to show him your page.
Great post, Donna! Thanks for the resources…and the reminder to keep the day job!
Nice list Donna. I usually recommend staying away from elance and guru. It seems that they are filled with oversees staff who will accept very low pay.