Work You Can Do Without Getting Hired

Work at Home Mom by traci_designs
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A couple of days ago, I made a post asking “are you a producer or a consumer?” These days, there are some people who would like to be doing something but just can’t seem to find a job. I do know how hard that can be; I had a difficult time getting a job out of high school (so I joined the military). If things are bad on the job front, you don’t need to sit around and wait for things to get better. While you are looking for a more permanent job, you can be working, earning a little money, and gaining experience right now! You may decide that you don’t want to return to the regular workforce, or you might use your experience to get another job. Here are some ideas that you might want to try.

I started working from home as a way to earn money while still homeschooling my kids. I’ve tried many of these ideas. Some of them worked for me, others were miserable failures. Since your skills are different than mine, you may succeed in areas that I had trouble in.

Ebay: My aunt makes pretty good money selling things on eBay, although I never had much luck myself. The good thing is, nobody has to hire you for you to make money on eBay. You just have to have an eye for a bargain and know how much something is worth. My aunt goes to the Goodwill Outlet store to get most of the things she sells on eBay, but other people find things other places.

Home Party Sales: This is another area that I have tried (and failed) at, but I know a few people that actually do well with this kind of business. You can find a home party business in almost any category that you’re passionate about, from candles to scrapbooking supplies to cookware. If you’re not very outgoing or can’t sell ice cubes to a thirsty guy in the desert, this may not be your cup of tea (that is why I don’t succeed here). Almost every one of these businesses require a small investment; if you are good at sales though, it might be worth a try.

Content Production: This was the opportunity that I was looking for. I can write, at least well enough that some people want to read my stuff. I got my start writing for Associated Content, but I also write for places like Squidoo, List My 5, and Hubpages. If you like to write, this kind of work can provide you with a steady stream of income, and can give you experience that might get you hired by someone else (that did happen to me, although I no longer work for that company). The pay can be low, especially at first.

Designing Stuff: If you are an artist, then you might want to open up an Etsy shop and sell your original pieces. You might also want to consider opening up an account at Zazzle. I know a very talented artist; I suggested that he open up a Zazzle account. He hasn’t done much with it, and doesn’t make much money. I am not a talented artist, but I know how to do some things, and I do make some money at Zazzle. There are other companies that you can design for, but I don’t know much about them, so I can’t recommend them.

Amazon mTurk: My main way of earning money is by producing content and designing for Zazzle, but when you earn money there, you are dependent upon people reading your stuff, buying from you, and clicking on your links. After a while, the income is fairly predictable, but it takes a while to really grow your business. If you’re looking for a bit of extra income but can’t wait to grow your business, you can sign up for an Amazon mTurk account. At mTurk, there are thousands of small little jobs to do, like rewriting sentences, categorizing products, or answering surveys. Most don’t pay much, but they don’t take a long time to do either.

I recently wanted to earn enough money to get a Roku box to watch Glenn Beck Television on, but the money I earn from designing generally pays for my daughter’s gymnastics. To earn extra money, I worked for Amazon mTurk. Between the mTurk assignments and the Swagbucks Amazon gift cards I earned while conducting web searches to complete these assignments, it took me about three weeks, in my spare time and while watching GBTV, to earn enough for a Roku box (I bought the more expensive version). I plan to continue to do some of these assignments in order to afford some other things that I would like. It’s not great money, but I work when I want, and for how long I want.

Host a Radio Show: I haven’t done this one, although I’m thinking about maybe doing an occasional radio program. You may have listened to podcasts from BlogTalkRadio. Anybody can host a program, and the only equipment you need is a computer and a phone. There is a way to earn a share of the advertising revenue from your listeners, along with the opportunity to get your name known in order to help support any other business ventures that you have. If this is all that you are doing, I don’t think that it would earn a great deal of money at first, but it can be a great way for you to get your name out and get people to visit your other web sites.

Those are some ways that you can earn a little spare cash, even if nobody out there is willing to hire you. Of course, you’re not limited to just this kind of work. If you’re creative, then you can probably think of something else. There’s no reason to cry and say that there’s no work out there. It may not pay what you would like, but if you’re between jobs, what else do you have to do? Working independently does give you experience that you can put on your resume and perhaps land you a job at another company, if that’s what you are looking for.