Author: Liran

13 Aug

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The Rewards of Being a Freelancer

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Happy FreelancingA lot has already been said about how cool it is to earn without having to deal with a boss or a fixed work schedule; these are the commonly mentioned rewards of being a freelancer. These two are very true for most freelancers. Freelance jobs, after all, are not as demanding and redundant as those of the paper works you handle in the office. Indeed, these two reasons (and the attractive freelance income) are the motivation of most freelancers. The catch, however, comes in after a couple of months and years of an almost complete isolation which might lead any freelancer to decide to go back to their traditional work and leave their freelance jobs— If you are one of these people who is already feeling a bit of burnt out on the home based job that you do, try to look at the lighter side. After all, freelancing is not just about a no-fixed-work-schedule and not having a boss to please. Below are the other rewards that you get to reap as a freelancer.

You are able to practice better financial management. A traditional work will usually take care of most of your financial accounts and responsibilities for you— a freelance job will require you to handle these matters on your own. Additionally, it is also a known fact that there are times when you will encounter dry days (read: no work, no pay) in freelancing. Therefore, freelance jobs do not only teach you how to effectively distribute your income, but also help (or force) you to stock on your savings.

You are able to practice resourcefulness. Diversify. This is one of the major rules that you will need to follow if you wish to make it big in freelancing. A single website can’t provide you all the freelance jobs there is to take advantage of— you need to think out of the box in order to work your way to penetrate other sites. Visiting www.donanza.com will allow you to see all the freelance job opportunities that abound the web.

Freelancing makes you learn continuously. It is frustrating to not be able to qualify for a freelance job just because you lack one of its requirements. In most freelance writers’ case, a lack of knowledge in WordPress, SEO and article directory submission might hit their incomes big time. Therefore, most freelance jobs will require you to continuously learn and specialize on your craft thus promoting self development in the long run.

You learn to balance of work and play. A non-fixed work schedule is no guarantee that you will not be required to stay in front of your computer for hours. Most often than not, freelance jobs can be demanding and might require you to spend an entire day in your home office. Isolation is one of the burnt out triggers in freelancing. Therefore, if you are really into staying in the freelance world for long; you will be required to come up with your very own coping mechanism. This will allow you to keep a balance between work and play, and will keep your sanity in the long run.
Finally, you should never forget that a total positive experience in any kind of work is only possible with a good mind set. Try to always look at things in a lighter perspective. After all, no work is all play at all. You are equipped with everything you need to keep any kind of work fun though.

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06 Aug

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LaidOffCamp

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LaidOffCamp What happens when tech nerds experience our slippery economic downward slope and sky-rocketing unemployment rates? LaidOffCamp of course!

Recent lay-offee, Chris Hutchins, founded LaidOffCamp with the initial goal to provide an opportunity for out-of-work programmers, consultants, IT pros and web designers to give advice to one another, network and maybe find a new project or start a new company.
Chris Hutchins has a refreshing viewpoint on unemployment. Instead of grumbling and feeling sorry for himself, he saw it as an opportunity to find out what he was passionate about and leverage that passion to sustain himself. He expects that at a time like this, everyone should view it as such.
Creating LaidOffCamp enabled Hutchins to discover his own passion, which is organizing community events and spreading them around the world.

So what is LaidOffCamp exactly? Their official wiki page describes it as an ad-hoc gathering of unemployed and self-employed people (including entrepreneurs and startups) who want to share ideas and learn from each other. They also state that you do not have to be unemployed to attend.

The first ever LaidOffCamp was assembled in San Francisco on Tuesday, March 3 which presented a fun, free, day-long conference for the recent victims of the embittered economy: the unemployed, the self-employed and the freelancers eager to entertain their newly freed schedules.

Several LaidOffCamps have been and are still being planned in other cities, such as Dallas’ March 6 event and New York’s two-day affair back in May.
If you’re interested in creating your own LaidOffCamp, visit LaidOffCamp.com

By the way, Hutchins didn’t make any money off of LaidOffCamp, but the experience has energized him to follow this new path.

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