Gameful Scripting: Living a Life of Passion and Purpose

Posted on August 27, 2013 by RonMamita — Leave a comment

I apologize for a long report to read (multiple weblinks), however the creativity and experiences shared are helpful to all who are and have unburdened themselves from Debt-bondage to exercise personal sovereignty and Freedom. Many thanks to the Baker family and may you, dear readers, find and share your joy! ~Ron

3 Great Things About Working From Home

(Do what you LOVE!)

From: http://manvsdebt.com/working-from-home/

As of July 1, ALL of my income will come from self-employment. Many of you who’ve read previous posts know that I’ve juggled full-time and part-time jobs and side hustles for several years, but now, the “job” piece will become another contracted project, and I’ll officially be freelancing everything.

Thinking about that made me look back on the past two years of my life, when I’ve transitioned from a 55-hour-a-week office job to working almost entirely from home. Even my “job work” has been done primarily at home, and while some of my contract work still needs to be done on-site for various clients, mostly, my home is my workplace! (As evidenced by the photo above, which is really me, really working, really in my pajamas – you know I love you guys, to let you see me that way!)

As I was thinking about this transition, it’s become clear to me that even on the “worst” days, I love being at home.

1. Lower costs

2. Increased flexibility and comfort

3. Being interrupted

That’s not a joke.
I like that my family and friends interrupt me while I’m working. Especially since we homeschool, but even separately from that, it’s important to me that my family knows they can talk to me and come get me if something semi-urgent comes up.

My definition of “semi-urgent” isn’t high, either. Often, it’s, “Hey, Mom, come look at this praying mantis in the garden!” Sometimes I might have to say, “Hey, I’m writing something that I need to finish. I’ll be there in a few minutes if I can.” But more often, I’m blessed to be able to say, “Whoa! Let me save this draft and I’ll come see!”

I’ve said in other places that the reason I work from home is that I believe being with my daughter is important. I don’t schedule “office hours” like many work-at-home parents do, not because I think they’re a bad idea, but because I could have stayed in my office, making more money and keeping a more consistent schedule, if that was what I wanted.

Instead, I’m able to show Sarah through my actions that I’m always available for her. And when I do go back to work after an “interruption” like that, it’s almost always with a positive, rejuvenated attitude.

Working From Home: What Can You Do?

This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager

What kinds of work can you do from home?

Let me preface this by saying that while I work mostly literally at my home, I’m really talking about any work you can do in a location-independent way, and as your own boss.

As an example, consider pet-sitting. You could be in York, Pennsylvania or New York City or Caracas, Venezuela, and if you have the skills, you can do that work. It might not be done at your home, but it’s done independent of a major company’s location.

There are thousands of types of location-independent jobs, but they break down into a few main categories. I’m not listing them here to be all-inclusive. In fact, your challenge is to brainstorm new ideas that aren’t listed here! But I want to get you thinking about types of work that can be done at home.

Technology work

Graphic design
Writing, editing or proofreading
Social-media consulting
Email management
Website design and management
Working a helpdesk or otherwise providing customer service
Web or app development
Transcription

Even here, there are tons and tons of subcategories…

Service work

Pet care (grooming, sitting, companionship, training)
Cleaning homes or businesses
Consulting and coaching in a particular area (fitness, finance, faith, you name it!)
Photography
Cooking or baking
Handyman/laborer
Farm worker
Welding, plumbing, carpentry, blacksmithing
Lawn care
Babysitter
Hairdresser
Teaching a class
Tutoring
Massage therapy
Giving music lessons

These jobs are ones in which you provide your time to perform a service for someone else. These can overlap with technology jobs…

Physical product work

Making clothing to sell at craft fairs or via Etsy
Creating art to sell in a local shop
Direct sales/multi-level marketing/home party businesses
Selling baked goods or candy at a farmers’ market
Writing a book
Creating furniture or wooden crafts to sell

These are, in a way, also “sales jobs.” The idea, though, is that there’s a physical product involved that you’ve traded for income, not a skill or service.
There are many more opportunities – these are just the tip of the iceberg. I encourage you to brainstorm additional options…
Read more: http://manvsdebt.com/what-work-can-you-do-from-home/

Working From Home: How Do You Find Clients?

How do you find freelance clients?

This is the biggest question I am asked when people hear that I freelance full-time.

How do I find clients?
Through my network.
This is not exciting advice. I’m pretty sure everyone ever who talks about entrepreneurship and freelancing says this.

Sorry. That’s the short answer, the long answer, and everything in between. I’m not sure I’ve ever found a client “outside” my normal day-to-day life.

I started working with the Bakers here at Man Vs. Debt because I was a regular reader of the site. While I wasn’t “working” with them, we were connected via comments, interactions in You Vs. Debt and so on.
When I needed leave my full-time job as a newspaper editor, I was able to first work part-time and then freelance for approximately the same number of hours. The job has changed somewhat, but because I’m in the company’s network, I’m a “known quantity” for new work as it arrives.
Another steady piece of work I have, providing helpdesk support for a WordPress plugin, came because the plugin’s developer and I were both contractors together for another client and developed a good working relationship.
The websites I’ve designed and managed are all via people I know in other areas – a side project for my tae kwon do instructor, a site for one boss’s wife’s business, a site for the church another boss attends, work for other homeschool moms in my online network.

… and through all these, I’ve added new people to my network, and just last night, I received an email from someone who said, “Hey, I’m looking for a virtual assistant for two products, and [mutual friend] mentioned you’re the best at that. Can we chat about your rates?” ABSOLUTELY!

These all can be summed up by a story I told in a previous post about doing a good job when no one is watching. In the span of a month earlier this year, I netted about $1,000 to go toward our debt tsunami by being available and active in my communities (physical and virtual). And that’s the kind of networking I’m talking about.

I’m not telling you to be skeevy and hand your business card to everyone you meet during your first conversation. Sometimes that works – and there are people who make it work for a whle. But it’s not going to work over the long haul. You’ll get burned out, your network will get burned out, and people will stop introducing you to other people.

Be yourself. Even if work isn’t magically falling into your lap or your inbox – and it doesn’t always – try leveraging your network. Something like, “Hey, I’m hoping to expand my pet-sitting business to [neighboring community]. If anyone knows someone who could use help, feel free to pass on my name!” – when it’s authentic – is a lot easier and has a much greater conversion rate than hanging flyers and so on.

Definitely be willing to beat the streets, too, but don’t ignore the biggest resource you have – your network.

How do you manage irregular income?

This really gets at another question: How often do I need to find new clients?

I (and hopefully you) enjoyed reading the experiences shared by the Man Vs. Debt Community!

You do not have to mimic them, the real reward is to be inspired that you are creative and valuable as a living soul. You are AWESOME!
Now have fun sharing some of your AWESOMENESS.
Remember, you are the value and a priceless treasure. ~ Ron

About RonMamita

Want Worldwide PEACE and Prosperity. We are the solution we have been searching for... Free People on Earth will solve our crisis and create an era of Creativity. Be Aware; Be Creative; Be Active; Be Free; and then Share it. LOVE & Wholeness AMOR y Paz