Sick of working for other people!

RSK

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I like The Money Shed and I have been a member here for quite a while. There is a lot of great (truthful) advice here and so I'm hoping for some advice. I am simply sick of working as a boring 'paper pusher' in government offices for not very much money.

Been trying to get this 'work for yourself online' thing off the ground for years, without much luck. The main problem is that I have to make at least £1,200/month to replace my salary and I could never see myself making that online.

But...I have decided that you are only beaten if you give up - so I'm looking at 'online entrepreneurship' again.

I am working on a plan - instead of doing one thing online to make £1.2k per month I would do a variety of things [see below] (my guess about what I might earn is in brackets. I would be open to your comments/ suggestions etc (no matched betting, though)....

Surveys (£50 - £100/month)
Freelance proof-reading (£50 - £100/month)
Freelance article writing (TextBroker, People Per Hour etc) (£100 - £200/month) (I have sold articles on PPH in the past)
Sell my spare stuff on Amazon/eBay (£25-£50/month)
Mystery Shopping (in Manchester) (£75 - £125/month)
Microtasks /Clickworker etc (£10 - £25/month)
User Testing (£10 - £25/month)

But that still makes a £600/month shortfall.

One of the things I like about this idea is the variety of tasks I can do - this variety is missing in any other line of work I would be able to do. Another thing I like is that these ideas could be generating an income within a month.

So one question is, do these figures look realistic. Another is can you suggest how I might make up the shortfall. Lionbridge have turned me down but I am on Appen's mailing list. (But isn't that just working for someone else???)

Thanks.
 
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Jon

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I like The Money Shed and I have been a member here for quite a while. There is a lot of great (truthful) advice here and so I'm hoping for some advice. I am simply sick of working as a boring 'paper pusher' in government offices for not very much money.

Been trying to get this 'work for yourself online' thing off the ground for years, without much luck. The main problem is that I have to make at least £1,200/month to replace my salary and I could never see myself making that online.

But...I have decided that you are only beaten if you give up - so I'm looking at 'online entrepreneurship' again.

I am working on a plan - instead of doing one thing online to make £1.2k per month I would do a variety of things [see below] (my guess about what I might earn is in brackets. I would be open to your comments/ suggestions etc (no matched betting, though)....

Surveys (£50 - £100/month)
Freelance proof-reading (£50 - £100/month)
Freelance article writing (TextBroker, People Per Hour etc) (£100 - £200/month) (I have sold articles on PPH in the past)
Sell my spare stuff on Amazon/eBay (£25-£50/month)
Mystery Shopping (in Manchester) (£75 - £125/month)
Microtasks /Clickworker etc (£10 - £25/month)
User Testing (£10 - £25/month)

But that still makes a £600/month shortfall.

One of the things I like about this idea is the variety of tasks I can do - this variety is missing in any other line of work I would be able to do. Another thing I like is that these ideas could be generating an income within a month.

So one question is, do these figures look realistic. Another is can you suggest how I might make up the shortfall. Lionbridge have turned me down but I am on Appen's mailing list. (But isn't that just working for someone else???)

Thanks.

Hey @RSK

Hope you're well!

As someone who left their full time job in local government in January to 'go it alone' I understand how it can feel working in that sector!!

You'll have to remind me but is there a reason you're not doing Matched Betting in that list? that's an easy £500+ a month right there once you build your bankroll up high enough

You've missed off smartphone task apps as well so the likes of BeMyEye and Roamler etc.

uTest tends to also pay quite well and a lot of people make a LOT of money from them each month!
 
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Jon

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I also just wanted to add that it's fine replacing the money as that's just a practical thing to do but it's quite something to hand your notice in with the mental barrier of being 100% all on you!

Not that i'm saying you don't have the confidence for that but I worked in local government for 11 years and the first few months after January were a bit of a 'learning' curve for me.

I'm actually talked about it in this thread

So I quit my job last week....
 

Karonher

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You seem to have covered most things that you could do. Just a couple of things that stand out. There is no matched betting. I make about £100- £120 a month. Others make more but I am not up on accumulators and horse refunds.

With regards to working for other people - you will be with most things. I assume you mystery shop through companies so may be freelance but someone is providing the jobs. Doesn't the proof reading and writing require someone to provide the jobs?
 
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Jon

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You seem to have covered most things that you could do. Just a couple of things that stand out. There is no matched betting. I make about £100- £120 a month. Others make more but I am not up on accumulators and horse refunds.

With regards to working for other people - you will be with most things. I assume you mystery shop through companies so may be freelance but someone is providing the jobs. Doesn't the proof reading and writing require someone to provide the jobs?

Yeah good point

There is a difference between

I want to quit my job to do my own thing

and

I want to quit my job and only do work I can fully control and choose to do if i want to (ie, something like blogging or running some other kind of monetized website)

saying that both offer WAY more autonomy than working a 9-5 and having direct line management!
 
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ted

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Respect to anyone trying this.

I quit a job I'd grown to hate to go self employed in Jan 2017. Career wise it maybe wasn't a wise choice but it needed to happen for my own sanity!

I'm in a better financial position now than before and I'm mostly very happy in what I'm doing.
I personally found the money wasn't coming in fast enough initially and found it easier to take a PT job while putting my self employed stuff first. That way, I could at least guarantee rent/bills were being paid. I'm hoping that doesn't put you off but definitely a need to have some savings you can use while waiting on the money coming in.
 
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Karonher

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A lot of the time it depends on what you can do. Some people will run their own blogs, set up selling sites, offer consultancy services and others may manage to make enough money online in other ways. For others they will not have the ability or interest in doing that.

I am happy with my mixture at the moment - working for a teaching agency as a TA. I can turn down work when I want and not go to schools when I don't like them. Occasionally there is the need to go somewhere you don't really want to to help out but it is not often.

At the moment my writing has dried up - I am not sure if the person I wrote for will start up again after having a child. At some stage I will look for someone else to write for but don't want the hassle of looking to provide work for others as well.
 
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An-na

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Part time is the way to go. Or at least to start off with. The bills need to be paid and they just keep coming around each month!!

I work part time, all be it on a Zero Hours contract. I take what I can when I can. What I work in now is nothing like what I started out in and I love the freedom and no great responsibility that I have. I am looking around for one or two more jobs that I can do when things get quite so that I have that lovely freedom to do what I want. Even if it is nothing but sit on my backside and read the Money Shed all day long

I have worked quite a lot in May and June so this gives me a breathing space in July. I have five days of work lined up and I am going to spend most of July consolidating what I do with my money making Shed stuff and the rest of the time I am going to be soooooo lazy

Look around and try and find something you have never thought of before. Don’t discount anything or let your ego get in the way of something that may seem menial. There is much enjoyment to be had from not having to think too much.

To sum up, a part time job to pay the bills and Shed stuff for fun and freedom.

ps. I'm not working today
:D:D:D
 

Jon

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Yeah maybe going part-time might be a good way to do this instead of jumping into full time SE work.
 
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RSK

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Thanks for your help.

Will definitely see if I can join BeMyEye, Roamler and uTest.

Was also looking at sites like The Mod Squad - anyone got any experience of them?
 

Jon

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Thanks for your help.

Will definitely see if I can join BeMyEye, Roamler and uTest.

Was also looking at sites like The Mod Squad - anyone got any experience of them?
You mean this guys


Have to be honest, never even heard of them!
 
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Jon

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Yes, thats them, they recruit online moderators.....
Well go for it if it pays well ;)

Taking all the information you've been given above do you have any more of an 'exit plan' for handing in your notice at work?
 
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RSK

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Well, my current contract will come to an end in 4 - 6 weeks so I think I need to get my act together pretty quick.

It looks like I wont be able to reach my target of £1.2 K / month without matched betting and/or web search evaluation - two areas I don't very much about. :(
 

Karonher

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Well, my current contract will come to an end in 4 - 6 weeks so I think I need to get my act together pretty quick.

It looks like I wont be able to reach my target of £1.2 K / month without matched betting and/or web search evaluation - two areas I don't very much about. :(

the basics of MB is easy enough once you sit down and follow the instructions. If you are inclined to carry on it will be worth learning about accumulators and going for horse refunds. I've avoided them a lot as often the QL is too much when there is only the chance of a refund.
 
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Jon

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Well, my current contract will come to an end in 4 - 6 weeks so I think I need to get my act together pretty quick.

It looks like I wont be able to reach my target of £1.2 K / month without matched betting and/or web search evaluation - two areas I don't very much about. :(
What's stopping you doing matched betting and learning as you go? That's how the majority of people do it. With services like Profit Accumulator and OddsMonkey your hand is held throughout!
 
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Littlemissraining

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I feel trapped too and really don't think I'm making the best use of my skills. As a professional I know something like consultancy could be very lucrative, but scares me to quit a job that gives me an ok standard of living! Part time plus self employed definitely sounds the less risky way to go!
 
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Jon

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I feel trapped too and really don't think I'm making the best use of my skills. As a professional I know something like consultancy could be very lucrative, but scares me to quit a job that gives me an ok standard of living! Part time plus self employed definitely sounds the less risky way to go!
Consultancy sure does pay a lot!
What’s your background in?
 

Littlemissraining

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Finance and business management. A mid manager level, rather than a senior manager though! However, even so when I look what agencies pay a day compared to what I get paid...if only I was more risk seeking...
 

RSK

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If you have specialist high demand skills there are lots of different ways you may be able to sell those skills online and still keep your day job. That way you may not feel so trapped because you would be using lots of different skills to build your own business. Suddely, you will find that you have choices and that you can decide whether you wish to stay in your day job or work on your own projects full time in the same way that Jon the Administrator here, has done - blogging (to position yourself as an authority), writing ebooks and developing online training courses are just 3 ways that spring to mind.
 
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