How Freelance Work is Dominating the Job Market

I got a nice email from Elance today informing be that there are now over 53 million Americans doing freelance work! Granted, I believe the number includes people who may only do freelance on the side or a couple of times a year to earn some spare change, but still....okay?

With this huge shift in workforce setting, what does that mean for those of us who freelance for a living vs those of us who don't?

Companies are relying more and more on utilizing freelancers, they often only need them for projects or jobs that have a finite time frame, so it ends up being much cheaper to hire a freelancer rather than a full time employee with all those pesky benefits. 2% of the standard work force positions are being awarded to freelancers.

Blogging for money

As I said in some of my previous posts, this blog isn't really going to have any sort of expertise in it at all. Of any sort. On anything.

One of the things I've been researching is how to earn money from your blog, mostly out of curiosity. And, well, if I'm doing this anyways, I may as well find out if I could be earning money from it, right?

Okay, so I've put together a list of what I've found out so far and my opinions on each. I may start trying some of these soon just to see what the process is like. I've also included links to other, more knowledgeable sources, in case you want REAL information.

1. I think the most popular way of making money from your blog is by using ads.  From what I've learned, the most common way of doing this is Google AdSense. Before I actually did any research on this, I thought it would be pretty easy to earn money with this. BUT, it's not as simple as it seems.

Not only do people have to visit your blog (which is hard enough to get, trust me...) they have to actually click on the ad while they're there. NO ONE DOES THAT SHIT ANYMORE! We're all so nervous that we're going to get a virus or bombarded with ads that we basically stick to known links and pages.

Further more, you have to apply for the program (unless you use blogger), and they are very serious about not breaking their rules. For instance, they'll be able to tell if you are clicking on your own ads or urging readers to click on ads and they will ban you from it.

For a blogger with my following (which is the opposite of vast), I could maybe earn a dollar in a month. But probably not, because I wouldn't be getting ads for things like writer's digest or blogging seminar's. I'd probably get ads for things like the Snuggie (Remember how we all made fun of it...and yet we all ended up with one?)

So, I may sign up for this so I can report out on whether it's worth it or not. And to see what silly ads I earn.

2.  You can sell the content. This is true for a few different blog types. I do short fiction on mine, in the near future I'm going to test the waters and try and sell one or two of the stories. I think I am going to go the magazine route, I don't have enough to do a short book. I am considering putting together a collection of ten or so and testing the waters with e-books on Amazon. I'm considering this because I might try and publish my first novel using that route.

Then you have the informative bloggers who may be able to make a book out of their posts on the subject of their expertise.

And of course there is the blogger that many aspire to be. The blogger who has a very interesting story and others will pay to make a book or film out of it. Most of us are not near interesting enough for this. But, hey, if cooking yourself through Julia Child's cookbook will do the trick, then there is still hope for the rest of us...

3. Since a lot of bloggers ARE experts in their field, they turn their blog into a platform for them to leverage in order to further their careers. This could include doing a speaking circuit, holding coaching seminars (Penelope Trunk blogs a lot about career advice and has leveraged her blog to help market her services).

Basically my whole purpose for this blog is to use it as a platform. Right now I am documenting my journey of becoming a writer/blogger. Eventually though, I will want to publish my book and hopefully will be able to leverage my blog to do so.

That's all I've got so far, when I actually proceed with these I'll blog about what it actually takes. And I'm always open for tips on how to make the most of my blog, so feel free to let me know if I've left anything major out!

More ways to skimp w/o losing quality

 

It can get really expensive to treat yourself to the things you love. Below are some tips on how to save money, without having to give up treating yourself.

1. Like sushi? Me too, but that shit is expensive. Next time you go to a sushi place, go as close to closing as possible. They can't serve the same stuff the next day, so whatever they don't sell they have to throw out. A lot of places will offer it half off after a certain hour. You can also just ask, typically they will give you at least a deal.

2. Manicures/Pedicures/Hair Cuts/Waxing - so relaxing, but not so much when you check your bank statement. Go to a beauty school, you will get amazing deals, typically they can't accept tips, and most of them are actually really good! They won't usually let them near the customers if they haven't passed some sort of manikin test...

3. Do you like to buy nice things for your kitchen? Pampered Chef has some really cool gadgets that I would love to have in my kitchen...but I usually can't afford more than one or two items. BUT, you can get 15-25% off of Pampered Chef items when you host a pampered chef party. The host gets a discount because everyone else is expected to buy something. They are pretty fun, a pampered chef representative will come and help cook dinner using some of the cool gadgets, so you get a pretty good party out of it too.

4. I love to read. I have a nook and, yes, e-books are cheaper -- but they add up. A lot of libraries now offer e-books. They usually have pretty good selections too and you can typically keep them for as long as you want, some offer magazines too so you can cancel your subscriptions!

5. Are you in to technology? If you can't afford to spend $500 on the new phone or tablet, go to amazon and buy them refurbished. They're still not exactly cheap, but you can typically get them for $50-$200 less depending on if there are any scratches.

Every dollar counts!