Working in an office sucks. Right? There's no way I'm the only one who's noticed that. It's not really the office part that gets me, though, since socializing with co-workers and getting out of the house is nice. It's that when you work in an office, you have to be in a certain place (i.e. an office) and, therefore, you can't be anywhere else. I don't know about you, but for me there's a lot more of the world left that I want to see, and two weeks of PTO every year just isn't going to cut it.
I'm not trying to sell you on some this-is-how-I-became-an-entrepreneurial-wall-street-consultant-model-that-makes-seven-figures-a-month-and-travels-the-world-with-all-my-many-hot-girlfriends-(or-boyfriends) seminar. Those things seem great, but are never realistic, so I'm going to level with you. Are you ready? Most people - and I don't mean to hurt your feelings, because maybe you can do it - but most people won't make millions as an entrepreneur. I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure I'm with you on this one. But just because you may never one day have the money to drop everything and travel doesn't mean you can't not drop everything and travel! Confused? Me too, so let me just get to the point. Get a job that you can do remotely and you'll be able to go wherever you want, whenever you want, and work while you're there!
In part 1 of "Work From Wherever" I dove into the process of negotiating with your current employer to make your job remote. Part 2 is for those who already tried part 1 unsuccessfully, or don't have a job that can be done remotely, or just don't have a job at all. Here are some tips on where to start looking:
1. Your Own Network. First off, don't underestimate the power of your own network. I know, I hate myself for even thinking the word "networking", let alone advocating it, but it really does help. Two of my three jobs I have right now I found through people I know. How do you network without coming across as insincere? I've literally done zero research on this, but here's a link I just barely Googled (and have not read), maybe it will help.
2. Flexjobs. Employees from this website manually search the web for flexible job postings, including telecommuting/remote work, freelance, and part-time jobs (which makes me wonder if those employees are telecommuting and, if so, how one applies ... ). You can browse the job postings for free, but you'll need to pay for a subscription to apply to any of them. It doesn't cost very much, and you can even find promo codes online to get a good deal. Flexjobs offers a wide range of job categories, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding something that will fit. It's a great resource because all of the prospective employers are already expecting you to be working remotely!
3. We Work Remotely. This resource is best for those looking for work in software development, marketing, or customer service. It doesn't offer quite the same quantity of listings as others, but it's still worth checking out.
4. Upwork. This is the one where I've had the most personal success. Upwork is a platform where companies seeking freelancers can list both long-term and short-term jobs. All of the interaction and financial transactions occur over the Upwork platform, so even if your client flakes out on the bill, Upwork guarantees you'll get paid. After creating your profile and taking some optional qualification tests, you can start bidding on jobs (which gets very addicting). *Tip: clients on Upwork typically like to see that the freelancer they are hiring has already accumulated hours on Upwork from others projects, so they might be hesitant to hire you as a brand new freelancer. It helps to bid really low on your first project to get the job and then, once you have a solid review from them and a couple of hours under your belt, you can start pricing higher.
If you aren't a software programmer or internet marketer, you may be thinking you don't have any skills that would allow you to get a remote job, but that isn't true. They may not pay glamorously, but there are lots of gigs doing data entry and clerical work that can be found through the resources I mentioned that anybody with a basic understanding of computers can do. The first job I got on Upwork was doing internet research (just look stuff up and fill out a spreadsheet) and paid $11/hour. Again, not very much money, but you are going to see throughout our blog posts that $11/hour is more than enough to be able to travel the copperhouse way.