The Unjob

The Path Less Traveled (or Choosing Freelancing)

2009-02-10T08:02:10Z

Photo by Atconc

So you’ve decided that you want to be a writer. More than that, you’ve decided that you want to become a freelance writer. You’ve read the blogs, the articles, checked your financial situation, realistically look at the time you can do your writing in, dotted all the “I’s” and crossed your “T’s”, you know you have the discipline that it takes to make this work for you, and now in the recession ridden global economy decided that writing freelance would be the most ideal setup for you and your bank account. You, after all, just need that extra income to cover your day to day expenses, and/or add on to the savings. The day job isn’t cutting it, but you can’t leave it because of the health insurance and the access to the wonderful canteen downstairs with free rice every meal.

What do you do? Well you’ve already taken the first step by making the decision. The next step is to actually do something about that decision. That being said, how does one START, and where?

For online and/or offline writing jobs, one of the best and cost efficient ways to look for writing jobs is to scour the Internet. Type in “freelance writing”, “part time”, “work” or whatever other keywords you think would help you, and click “enter”. There are a number of sites there (aside from this marvelous one) that will lead you to a job or gig that you can write for.

Another way, which is also on the Internet, is utilizing all the social networks. You don’t have an account yet? Make one. The best website as of now would be Facebook just because it is fast, it’s easy to understand, and it seems that everyone and their brother is on it. Make your status a shout out for those who are looking for writers, such as “Juan is now looking for a writing gig in any industry…” If you’re looking for something specific, don’t be afraid to say so. Play to your strengths especially when starting out. When you feel more comfortable in your style and way of writing, branch out because in this business variety is good.

An added bonus to these sites is that they usually have a blogging feature. By all means run wild with it! Complain, write poetry, write open letters to the government, or even discuss a controversial topic. What better place to showcase your talent than on the Net? The people you’re advertising to can just click onto a sample work that you’ve posted. These should be as varied as you can possibly make it, just so that the prospective client can see the “range” of your talents.

One of the best places to advertise your services is really online, at 88db.com. They are specifically geared towards helping freelancers (of any kind) be connected to the right people offering the jobs that are needed, and vice versa. It is easy to sign up, and more importantly, unlike some places where information (phone numbers, addresses and the like) aren’t up to date, 88DB makes it a point to make sure their database IS.

Another tip would be doing it the old fashion way, which is to say, word of mouth. Start talking to your friends and family members that you’re looking. Ask who they think you can talk to, or what direction they suggest you go towards. You never know how helpful your lawyer cousin is until you’ve talked to them!! You never know who’s out there that needs a writer. Some have even put out ads in the Classified Ads.

The more work, the better really, so it follows that if you’re offered a job you REALLY don’t want, scrutinize it first and then decide. For example, your forte is writing about online games, but someone has come to you for a write up on plumbing services, specifically for office buildings. Regardless of the money, you should try and weigh out what you might get from it as a writer. Will it in the long run help you exercise your grasp on technical terms which you’re not too keen on? Will it help you look into editing the details of your article or write up? If yes is the answer to these questions, then the plumbing gig should warrant another look. Always look for projects that you not only like (there are unfortunately fewer of those than you’d think), but will actually learn from and improve your writing. That after all, is the skill you’re trying to advertise, so the better you are at it, and the more variety you’ve got in your work, the more clients will come rolling in!

The Unjob Shoppe

2009-02-10T08:03:18Z

photo by ralphbijker
The internet’s a great place to buy stuff, period. If you’ve tried online shopping back in the 90’s, you’d know just how apprehensive people were to give away their credit numbers online to shady dealers and ‘retailers’ that sometimes don’t end up even sending you the items you ordered. Nowadays, however, with the numerous options for online purchasing such as Paypal and highly advanced secure connections to shopping sites that require you to enter your card number, shopping online has become much, much easier and more accessible to a larger group of people, some of which even get credit cards just so they can shop online!

With such radical developments in e-commerce over the last few years, we at The Unjob have decided to partner up with amazon.com to bring you The Unjob Shoppe, which is your one stop for all your freelance-writing, freelance-related books and guides (the link is also available at our header). We understand that our readers come from all over the world, which is why we decided to go with the world’s largest online store for books (among other things) to ensure that all of you can check out our recommendations through international shipping regardless of where you live. No longer do you have to scour online shopping sites for the best freelance writing and freelance business books available: they’re in The Unjob Shoppe, just waiting for you to pick them up! Isn’t technology grand?

Here’s a book by Jason Deign that we recommend those who’d like to start running their own freelance writing business. It’s got all the basics covered, as well as some topics that’ll help you as you build your career as a freelance writer. Good luck, and don’t forget to check out the other titles we have at The Unjob Shoppe! What freelance writing business books have you been reading as of late? You might want to share it with our other readers by leaving a comment below!

Happy writing!

A Happy New You from a Happy New Us

2009-02-10T08:05:03Z

photo credit: qrtzcntrl

While everyone’s still hot off from working on their New Year’s Resolutions, we at The Unjob have been up and about from a laid back December (goodbye 2008!) to get on with the year’s new workload. We’ve done quite a bit in our few months of operation, from 500 word articles on debt and credit to massive thousand worders on surgical practices (we’re quite wide readers, aren’t we?), and I must say that I’ve learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know I would come across. There have been fanatically exciting projects and excruciatingly boring ones, but that’s exactly what makes being a freelance writer so fun: it’s a matter of using your command of your chosen language to write about anything and everything under the sun, depending on what your client wants.

With a New Year comes a new workload and new ways of working, and we’re really excited as to how 2009 will shape up to be for us and freelance writers in general. Now that we can look back on 2008 (fondly/menacingly), how has the year been for you as a freelance writer?

Picking up the pieces after an Epic Fail

2009-02-10T08:05:15Z

photo credit: donut

If you’ve been freelance writing for quite sometime now (meaning you’ve had your fair share of hair-pulling and teeth grinding moments), you’ve no doubt come across some nitemarish projects that vow to keep you up all night as you struggle to finish meeting an agreed upon a fair deadline. You already partitioned your work and probably even delegated it to a colleage or two (very good!), but the problem is that you just finished downloading the latest episode of your favorite TV shows from the iTunes store (whose funding comes courtesy of your recently completed projects) and simply couldn’t wait to watch all of them. You load them up and go through them one by one, only to realize that you now only have a handful of minutes before your client needs a final, non-revisable version of your work. You try to squeeze in as much as you could before your clock’s hands march upon that fateful position on its face. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you could do to cut its legs off.

Welcome to the grim reality we all have to face as freelance writers! It’s not so much that your client grips you with an iron fist: it’s more about failure on your part to discipline yourself enough to get stuff done. We all indulge in a little bit of human error once in a while, but how do you pick up the pieces as a freelance writer in the event of an epic fail on your part?

Apologize - you aren’t exactly winning a client back by blaming him for your missed deadline due to his “outrageous time requirement.” Suck it up, swallow your pride and just say sorry. Admitting your fault when it really is yours shows you don’t have a habit of lying and making up fabricated excuses behind your computer screen, which aids in repairing the trust between both parties. When you’re working with people halfway around the world, trust becomes a scarce commodity and could very well be your most valuable asset.
Analyze – once you’ve owned up to your failure, learn from it by analyzing what exactly went wrong. Both budding and veteran freelance writers should never lose the desire to learn from their mistakes simply because the lessons you”ll be gleaning from them will be the only silver lining you’ll ever allow yourself in such situations. Once you’ve gotten to the root, weed it out of your writing system by establishing methods and procedures to avoid the same thing from happening (in our aforementioned case, watch your downloads AFTER your projects are done).
Discipline – now that you know where you went wrong, vow never to go there again. EVER. Have enough decency to discipline yourself for the sake of your client and colleagues, as well as for all the freelancers the world over. No one ever said freelance writing would be easy, much less being your own boss (lots of power + no control = crazy writing business). Get a hold of yourself to get a hold of more valuable repeat business!
Add Value - you’ve missed your deadline and created a stir halfway around the world. After you’ve sorted things out with your client, offer to sweeten the deal between the two of you by throwing in some added value their way (within your capacity, of course). They’ve got a handful of articles they’re having trouble assigning to other people? Take them in and offer to do a fraction of them free of charge. It may seem like more work for no pay on your part, but getting on your client’s good side is already an uphill battle to begin with. Fight for their trust and take no prisoners!

Unjob No. 3 – Graphic Designer

2009-01-21T03:02:46Z

I was recently alerted by a friend about this year’s Uniqlo Grand Prix where fans of the Japanese clothing brand get to upload their own designs much like community driven shirt sites like Threadless.com. Users and visitors get to vote for their favorite designs and the winners get their designs printed on shirts that the rest of the world can drool over aside from a cool 3,000,000yen (approx $30,000).

Coincidentally, our graphic design friend Apol Sta. Maria, who currently resides in Vietnam, happens to be a part of said contest! The photos on this page is his shirt design entry (click on the Uniqlo link above to check out his page on the site and vote for him). I asked him if he could take time out to answer our Unjob questionnaire.

NAME: Apol Sta. Maria

Unjob: Graphic Designer

1.Â Â Â What is it exactly that you do?

Drawing and thinking of what to draw

2.Â Â Â Does your profession require any professional training of any sort or university degree?
no

3.Â Â Â What course did you take up in college and how are you applying it to your profession?

Visual communication, college of fine arts. In my profession,Â my job is to communicate visually, so there. Very relevant

4.Â Â Â Did you previously have a desk job? When and Where?
I have a desk job back in manila, publicis manila june 2004-dec 2006. I have a desk job now here in Vietnam â€“ tbwa\vietnam for one year and four months now.
5.Â Â Â Why did you decide to leave it to do what youâ€™re doing now?
Im still doing what im doing but my plan is to be a full time freelance art art person. Fulltime freelance hehe
6.Â Â Â What are the benefits of being in the position that you are in right now?
Desk job=steady income / freelance=time
7.Â Â Â Whatâ€™s your typical day like? (A walkthrough would be nice!)
Wake up. Eat oatmeal and banana. Take a bath. Work. Eat dinner. Watch tv shows in computer. Sleep.
8.Â Â Â Whatâ€™s the single worst thing about being in the situation that youâ€™re in right now? Ever tried getting things done from home?
When Iâ€™m at work I want to resign
9.Â Â Â Do you have any other income streams aside from this one (i.e. freelance work)? Please specify.
I do freelance art work like album covers, posters, shirts and shoes design, etc.

10.Â Â Â Do you have to deal with sitting in an office on a daily basis?

Yes

11.Â Â Â If youâ€™ve switched from a regular 9-5 job, how has your new profession changed your lifestyle?
I hope for the better. like America.
12.Â Â Â Is it detrimental to the quality of your work if you wake up with a weekday hangover? Elaborate.
I donâ€™t drink. â˜º (he has high blood pressure -Ed.)
13.Â Â Â What sets your own work apart from all the others?
My drawingsâ€™ prices costs less than all of my favorite artistsâ€™.

14.Â Â Â Whatâ€™s the best thing about being a graphic designer?
My work sometimes doesnâ€™t feel like work. And It feeds me and I earn money from it to travel.
15.Â Â Â Do you get to keep your own work hours?

Not yet.

16.Â Â Â Do you have enough time to slack off? What activities do you indulge in during your free time?
I draw comics and play guitar.

Feel free to vote for his shirt design and send this handsome fellow well on his way to cold hard yen! Click here

We’re Moving in!

2008-11-26T02:39:27Z

After working from different places for a while now (and realizing the benefits of being able to actually talk to each other instead of instang messaging), we’re finally moving The Unjob to a small office in our side of town. We’re sharing office space with the guys at 622design, and since we really love their design work there’s a bigger chance that we’ll like each other in an office setting, too!

My original idea for The Unjob group of writers would be to have our base of operations at my place. We used to have this spare room in our second floor that I was thinking of converting into a home office, but that was before the other people at home decided to turn it into their own home offices, as well (i.e. gaming hub cum secret base). Luckily, 622design offered to share their well located space with us, and we’re just ironing icky things out like chipping in to pay the rent and stuff like that.

We’ll keep you posted on how things turn out! For the meantime, check out these interesting read from CNN.com about how the current economic crisis could affect your Small Business’ credit.

Freelance Writing and Article Investment part 2: Maximum Exposure

2009-01-05T02:50:52Z

In my previous post regarding Helium and Associated Content, I discussed how both article repository sites can help you earn some residual income in the long-term. By uploading your non-exclusive articles to these sites, you’re actually making your words work for you instead of residing silently in your massive hard drive.Â Of course, the first thing you’d begin to think of is “Why should I write articles that benefit me in the long run instead of hunting for work that would get me paid as soon as possible?”

It’s a valid question about article investment, and one that would certainly lead to a lot of valid arguments. As freelance writers whether full-time or part-time, receiving appropriate compensation for services rendered is a prioritized concern. The ‘problem’ with Helium and Associated Content is that unless your work wins in the Marketplace (for Helium) or gets up-front payments (from Associated Content), we’re looking at literally a penny a day for all the hard-work you put into your article, and maybe even none! This is where proper article promotion comes into play: by maximizing the opportunities for your articles to be viewed, you minimize the chances of dry-spell days that net you absolutely nothing.

Helium and Associated Content certainly aren’t for everyone. Some freelance writers might think of it as too much work and effort over a generally long period of time for too little returns, which is true. However just like with any low-risk financial investment, it really does take a lot of time, strategizing and upkeep to maintain the health of your portfolio. Your investments also aren’t the main source of your regular income (at least not yet), but rather they augment what you are already actively earning by working passively for you. Perhaps viewing both sites as article investment portfolios is the first step to setting future goals for your earnings. Here are some tips to getting maximum exposure for your articles and netting you your highest possible returns:

1. Write quality, relevant content – whichever topic you choose, make sure that your article accurately represents your style of writing. If it doesn’t reflect your command of the given topic, you’re just wasting your time by creating content that people would glean nothing from.

2. Write about high interest topics – if you’re looking for topics that you would like to specifically write for Helium or Associated Content, do a search on the ones that get the most traffic. Better written articles have a better chance of being viewed because of the peer ranking system (in the case of Helium), but this also means that your best work may not make it to the top of a subject that has hundreds of articles already, which brings us to the next tip

3. Write special interest/niche content – if you’ve got 500 words of ace work about nanotechnology, put them up on Helium or Associated Content. If you’ve got a handful of articles about Russian Philately that you did in your spare time, upload them! The internet gives everyone the chance to find even the most obscure information available, and if you happen to be an expert then you’ve found yourself an audience on these sites as well as web crawlers.

4. Maintain a blog/facebook account/lifestream/twitter/social-media-whatever thing – every time you write about something on Helium or Associated Content, write about it on your blog. Post an update on your facebook account for people to read, post a tweet or make sure that it gets mentioned on your lifestream. The best way for people to know about your content first-hand is to let them know yourself! Make use of your social networking skills.

5. Don’t give up – article investment is about keeping at it for a long period of time. Don’t get discouraged just yet if you haven’t reached your first dollar. The more articles you have on these sites for a longer period of time, the better.

Perhaps posting to Helium and Associated Content shouldn’t be a top priority for busy writers at the moment, but the earning potential for both of these sites over time and the ability to actually make your non-exclusive articles gain money passively is hard to overlook. Years down the line, those penny earning articles could actually sum up to form a bulk of your monthly income (let’s say you’ve got hundreds of articles on both sites already) without you doing virtually nothing! As both sites are relatively new, maybe a few more years of operation and a handful of success stories from freelance writers would make them a more convincing force to be reckoned with.

The art (and science) of procrastination

2008-11-26T02:38:37Z

photo credit: DannyBen

Having all the time in my life can be problematic. A freelancer and self-confessed procrastinator such as myself runs amok without a manager or boss to render discipline on tardiness and 3-hour lunch breaks. Still, I donâ€™t want to go back to the office for a more organized life. I love my chaotic schedule and abstract sense of time.

A new concept of time

In Alvin Tofflerâ€™s The Third Wave, he said that the value of punctuality and our linear concept of time were actually brought about to fit the way we worked in the industrial age. Being on time was essential because one personâ€™s inefficiency affected the whole system (such as in a factory where things operated like clock-work). In a digital workplace where businesses and freelancers are electronically connected and live in different parts of the world and have different time zones, and where technologies and trends change at an increasingly fast rate and everything is dynamic, the concept of time becomes more relative (which, interestingly, can be linked to Einsteinâ€™s theory on the relativity of time). This means that in the digital age, what Toffler calls the third wave, what is more valuable is flexibility rather than punctuality.

Drinking with friends as the highest form of art

This flexibility in my schedule gives me more time to drink with friends since I donâ€™t have to worry about my hangover the next day and can simply adjust my work schedule to a later time. And itâ€™s not just about the drinking and socializing and partying. Contrary to popular belief, drinking with friends can be productive and be considered an art form provided that youâ€™re in good company (i.e. your friends are interesting). Take it from Tom Marioniâ€™s Beer, Art and Philosophy: The Art of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art. When Iâ€™m drinking with friends, I could actually say that Iâ€™m working because I get a lot of ideas and insights that I can use in my writing.

Voluntary simplicity for better imagination

Even though there are days (a lot of days) when I have to survive on cheese and tomato sandwiches and have to think of more innovative ways to prepare tuna or sardines, Iâ€™m not going to trade my freelance lifestyle for a regular paycheck. I know, as what J.K. Rowling said in her Harvard commencement speech, you canâ€™t really romanticize poverty. But sometimes, I do find, that not having the money to buy me some good food (which I have an absolute weakness for) and cool clothes and hip gadgets allows me to concentrate on loftier thoughts. Without the temporary highs and easy temptations, Iâ€™m forced to use my brain and imagination. For instance, when I worked in the office, I didnâ€™t have the luxury to think about grand things like the theory of everything or the origin of the universe, it seemed irrelevant and impractical, even out-of-this-world (something that only dopeheads had the luxury to think about, it seemed to me at that time). But now that I have all this free time, I can read Quantum Mechanics for Dummies and take my sweet time reading one sentence five times, explore comparative mythology and question religious truths, listen and try to comprehend sound art while sipping coffee and contemplating what to do next, cook, play the guitar, read a good book, read a difficult book, philosophize, conceptualize, imagineâ€”the things Iâ€™ve been dreaming of doing when I get to retire, now I can actually do them! Well, minus the glass house and good wine.

Looking at opportunity costs

But the randomness and freedom of it all can also get confusing and saturating. Looking at the opportunity cost on one level, reading Stephen Hawking for an hour is a much more valuable investment for my mind than, say, finishing an article on payday loans for an hour, which I get paid for $5 or less. Then again, finishing the article will meet an immediate needâ€”money, which we all know, takes precedence in the game of survival. Conflict, however, as we also know, makes life all the more interesting and rewarding. The challenge for me now is to reconcile my time to explore, learn and imagine and my time to get assignments doneâ€”an abstract or relative time management scheme, maybe (whatever that means).

Welcome to the future of work

â€œImagine organizations where bosses give employees huge freedom to decide what to do and when to do it. Imagine electing your own bosses and voting directly on important company decisions. Imagine organizations where most workers arenâ€™t employees at all, but electronically connected freelancers living wherever they want to. And imagine that all this freedom in business lets people get more of whatever they really want in lifeâ€”money, interesting work, helping other people, or time with their families.â€ (From The Future of Work, by renowned organizational theorist Thomas W. Malone, co-director of MITâ€™s landmark initiative â€œInventing the Organizations of the 21st Centuryâ€)

Yeah, these are no longer the stuff of science fiction or some futuristic utopian ideal. Today, at this point in time, weâ€™re getting there.

Freelance Writing and Article Investment

2008-10-08T02:59:07Z

You’ve probably come across these familiar sites, but what exactly are they? Helium and Associated Content are writing communities that pay writers for the content that they’ve uploaded. Basically, you upload your article content (exclusive or non-exclusive, depending on its publishing status) and get paid by the traffic that it generates. What a great way for freelance writers and bloggers to earn some cash! Sounds too good to be true? Err…yes and no.

Too Good to be True

Uploading your articles to Helium and Associated Content is a fairly straightfoward process: you type in or paste your article in the field provided, fill in the appropriate information, hit submit, and off you go (AC has an approval period for fresh providers, though). The articles you’ve uploaded earn money for you indefinitely as long as the website doesn’t close, which makes for a great long term earning vehicle which I’ve personally dubbed article investment.

Once on the site, your articles are reviewed by the community and are ranked (in the case of Helium) or simply rated on a scale of 1-5 stars (in the case of Associated Content). Your ranking on Helium determines how far up the ladder your article stays at, and the top articles at the site generally get more views.

Not Too Good to be True

Although Helium and Associated Content really do pay you for your traffic, don’t expect to make a load of cash in an instant. Both sites are examples of venues for passive income (perhaps even a low-risk/low-return long term investment?), and you’ll only really see positive results a bit later down the line. Since freelance writers and bloggers might need immediate remuneration following a service rendered, generating earnings and a sizeable profit solely from these sites through article investment may not be a viable option. This is mainly because both Helium and Associated Content pay you very low amounts for a given number of clicks to your article/profile (check out the sites to find out their payment schemes).

The peer ranking system of Helium isn’t a yardstick by which your articles are truly measured as regards quality simply because the “panel of judges” are writers such as ourselves. Although your well-written and concise article may be worthy of editorial acclaim in glossies and broadsheets, you may find your work ranked lower than a clumsily verbose article simply because the community liked it better. In other words, don’t expect the ladder system of Helium to be a professional opinion of your writing style and technique.

How this relates to you as a freelance writer

Given the pay dynamics of both sites, the budding freelance writer and career blogger should use both sites in a manner that is advantageous to his or her freelance career. Instead of using these sites as a primary means of earning, Helium and Associated Content should be used as freelance writer/blogger’s tools for making their exclusive and non-exclusively written articles work for them ad infinitum, which is the main concept of article investment.

Suppose that your freelance writing schedule involves you working on client related projects for the first half of your day, and the latter half getting some social networking and creative/initiative writing done. Your non-exclusive projects could be uploaded to Helium and Associated Content, allowing these to earn you some dollars in the distant future (if you’re unsure about licensing and other legal matters, it’s always a good idea to consult with your client first before posting to these sites!).

For your creative exercises or initiative freelance writing work that haven’t been commissioned, you may put these up on both Helium and Associated Content (under a non-exclusive license) to get them to earn for you instead of sleeping quietly in your hard drive. If you’ve got older articles that were rejected by clients or were offered as samples (provided you own the content 100%), put them up as well! The best way to earn money from passive income is to let your past works do the earning for you! Article investment is all about consistently building your article portfolio every chance you get to allow you to reap some distant future benefit.

Freelance writing and career blogging has its ups and downs financially, and the only surefire way you could protect yourself against a dry spell is to have some cold, hard cash on hand to get you through it. Your earnings from Helium and Associated Content, though admittedly not as much instantaneously as your freelance writing or blogging work, may one day prove to be sizeable, especially if you’ve got a collection of articles in the hundreds (or even thousands!). Imagine if these articles each earn a penny a month!

I’ll be writing about ways to promote your Helium and Associated Content articles in my next post and how to maximize your article investment earnings for both sites. For the meantime, don’t hesitate to check out our own Associated Content and Helium pages!

Setting up the freelance writing pool

2008-10-03T08:13:57Z

photo credit: Peter Hellberg
Sorry we haven’t been posting as frequently as before (from 3-5 a week down to 1-2), it’s just that we’ve been so busy working behind the scenes to get The Unjob writing service up and running. As you may know, the idea for The Unjob isn’t limited to a freelance writing website: The Unjob is a freelance writing consortium, as well! Maria and I have been working on various projects throughout the past few months since we decided to partner up, and we’re satisfied with our early results.

As our list of clients continue to grow, it’s time to start with a small expansion idea we’ve been toying around with for quite a while now. Since we do freelance writing work from different locations, we were thinking of having a single “workspace” where we could brainstorm ideas together, but our lack of other key personnel barely justifies this increase in monthly expenses. However, with the increase in the work that’s been coming in lately, we thought it was time to get another permanent individual to help us out. Luckily for us, he decided to jump ship and join our group!

So now that there’s three of us working on our freelance writing projects, I’ve been busy rigging our server with some open source project management software as well as whipping the details of our synergy into shape. Consequently, the thought of a nice workspace where the three of us can think together is now very feasible, and we’re currently looking for a nice space that’s equidistant from the three of us.

I’ll keep you posted on this, and will soon introduce the third permanent member of our freelance writing consortium. As such, I’m also creating a new blog category that chronicles our foray into becoming a freelance writing entity.