Today was the first day of my self-improvement journey. I decided to spend it investigating some work-at-home opportunities. Working at home would be ideal for me right now as I really have no way to get to a regular job. It’s hard enough for me to get a ride to the grocery store. I don’t live close to a bus line either. It would be great if I did. I used to love to take the bus downtown when I was younger. Downtown is also where the good jobs are. If I could learn to drive, this wouldn’t be a problem. There is also the matter of my creepy skin condition. This may make employers less likely to hire me because they’ll think I have something contagious. My panic disorder and anxiety don’t help either. Okay, so for a lot of reasons, I really should try to find a way to work at home.
What kind of skills do I have? I’m a good writer. I have good grammar skills. I’m good at spelling. I get good grades at college. I can type really fast, about 90 wpm. I know how to use many computer programs such as Microsoft Office Suite. I even took a class to learn Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel. That’s all I can really think of at the moment.
First, I visited Warrior Forums. This is a big and busy forum where internet marketers hang out and brainstorm money-making ideas. There was so much information on this site that I thought my brain would explode. I found a thread where they were discussing the best free software programs. I am not organized at all (to say the least) so I thought I should try a few of the personal productivity software programs they mentioned. I downloaded XMind and Evernote.
Xmind is a mind mapping program. I thought mind mapping may help me organize my goals and thoughts. I was very pleased with Xmind and spent over an hour playing with it. I made a mind map and it really did seem to help bring out some repressed creativity. I like how I could have it open on the bottom of my computer screen and click up the map in an instant. If I saw a good idea online, I could quickly add it to my map instead of forgetting it or having to grab a notebook.
Evernote is a program that helps you organize your notes, recipes, lists etc. I have a real paper clutter problem. I am always losing important paperwork because I have too much of it. I’ll jot a recipe on a piece of paper and never find it again. Slips of paper with phone numbers and addresses on them just disappear into my abyss of disorganization. I haven’t tried Evernote yet, but it’s downloaded on my computer and ready to go for future use.
Next, I stumbled across an amazing website called Fiverr. The basic premise of the site is that you buy or sell a job for 5 bucks. The job is called a “Gig.” I’ll admit that I wasted almost 2 hours reading the entertaining gigs that people were proposing. People were offering everything from $5 articles to witchcraft spells! Hmmm, maybe I can buy a spell to turn Mr. B into a toad! Some of the gigs were very funny. I signed up, but I’m not sure what kind of a gig I’ll post. I’ll have to think about this for a little while. You actually only get paid $4.00 per gig because Fiverr takes a 20% cut. Many people really offered unique and useful services. It looks like a fun place to make some money, but you’d have to have a steady stream of gigs to make a decent wage. Some members of the forum mentioned that they’ve had gigs up for 6 months and haven’t sold one. I guess the competition is pretty tough. I’m planning on trying it though. You could easily spend all day there; I had to force myself to stop browsing the gigs!
I felt a little better after reading the forums. It was nice seeing that so many people are making a nice income working at home. It gives me some hope that I’ll be able to do it too.
From what I’ve researched so far, it appears that internet marketers are making money from writing ebooks and putting up websites with affiliate links. I added some Adsense links to my blog. You have to have tons of traffic to make any money with affiliate links and I don’t have any traffic yet. Other people on the forums sell their writing talent to marketers who need content for their website. I may try doing that; the pay isn’t too great, but it adds up.
So, I’ve got some ideas to contemplate and some new software to work with. I’ll go to sleep dreaming of gigs and mind mapping. I’m going to spend some more time reading the forums tomorrow and see if I can come up with a list of achievable ways for me to make money.
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