Is it possible to make money remotely?

Checking into LetsRun via NY via somewhere else.

It would be considerably hard to yield sustainable income as blogger. Equally, it requires a certain level of command to be remote-worthy as a web developer. "Looking at online options" is where you should pause for a moment. It sounds like you are looking for a "free handout" which is not what remote is.

Enhance your skills and take one step at a time. Build locally first with small entry-level projects in the direction you wish to go, set up a crisply organized online presence and portray yourself as a polished self-starter because that's what employers want out of their remote candidates.

There are people who lease single office Corporate Headquarters on the main tech strips in Silicon Valley or Palo Alto and employ an entire virtual team of 30 or more. So it is very possible.

joeblow wrote:

I've looked at online options like:

- Copywriting

- Web Development

- Blogging (affiliate $, advertising etc)

Those are common skills with an oversupply of online workers. You would ideally need to acquire a highly technical skill. Good luck.

You think web development has an "oversupply"? It seems to be one of the most in demand/undersupplied jobs where I live (don't know about remote but definitely in my city)

Good advice. "Polished self-starter" = "Go Getter" and you need people / sales skills (sell yourself). I am an IT manager for a large tech company. Much of my job could be done remotely (I would probably be more productive but that is a different story). I like to be in the office so that I can get the pulse of the site and put my soft skills to work with people. Occasionally, a few of the guys in my department realize that they could be remote 100% of the time. My response is basically, if you can be remote 100% of the time, someone, somewhere else can be remote 100% of the time and can likely do an equal job for less money (India, China, Pakistan, etc.) This is something that the OP needs to keep in mind. "Remote" jobs in a global economy means that you are competing with cheap labor for the same skill set.

remote wrote:

Checking into LetsRun via NY via somewhere else.

It would be considerably hard to yield sustainable income as blogger. Equally, it requires a certain level of command to be remote-worthy as a web developer. "Looking at online options" is where you should pause for a moment. It sounds like you are looking for a "free handout" which is not what remote is.

Enhance your skills and take one step at a time. Build locally first with small entry-level projects in the direction you wish to go, set up a crisply organized online presence and portray yourself as a polished self-starter because that's what employers want out of their remote candidates.

There are people who lease single office Corporate Headquarters on the main tech strips in Silicon Valley or Palo Alto and employ an entire virtual team of 30 or more. So it is very possible.

joeblow wrote:

You think web development has an "oversupply"? It seems to be one of the most in demand/undersupplied jobs where I live (don't know about remote but definitely in my city)

I'm starting a small business. I need a website. I only wanted to work with somebody local so we could meet once or twice face to face.

So I posted onto Craigslist in the appropriate section. I put "local applicants only" in the heading and explained in the main ad I only would hire somebody local.

Within two hours, I had a few hundred emails in my inbox. Many were willing to work for extremely cheap or free just to build a portfolio. I ended up hiring a friend of a friend after I was so overwhelmed by all of the emails.

From that, I suspected there must be an oversupply. But there were a very few (3 or 4) who responded who had very high , but they had a very extensive portfolio with large succesful companies as ongoing clients.

So maybe it is like the music business. It is great once you are "in," but there are hundreds of people trying to make it into a space for only one. Many won't make it into a liveable job, even though they may be plenty talented.

joeblow wrote:

You think web development has an "oversupply"? It seems to be one of the most in demand/undersupplied jobs where I live (don't know about remote but definitely in my city)

Yeah, but you have to be good at it. And I don't mean html and some JavaScript.

Churning out themes for web frameworks is a way to get started.

Well yes that is a worry but I would still have the advantage of:

- Phone calls w/ clients etc.

- Writing skills that likely trump (no pun intended) those of remote workers from India, China etc.

- Ability to meet once or twice a week in the "city" (assuming I build local clients)

Well the fact that they are replying to Craigslist ads in the first place probably shows a lack of even basic business/ freelance sense. The reputability of employers looking for freelancers (ie. people looking for cheap/free labour for their "startups") is horrible and the competition is saturating (ie. "marketing" diploma grads who are teens that think twitter posting is a job)

I wouldn't use this as a case study of real freelance work to dissuade me.

joeblow wrote:

Well the fact that they are replying to Craigslist ads in the first place probably shows a lack of even basic business/ freelance sense. The reputability of employers looking for freelancers (ie. people looking for cheap/free labour for their "startups") is horrible and the competition is saturating (ie. "marketing" diploma grads who are teens that think twitter posting is a job)

I wouldn't use this as a case study of real freelance work to dissuade me.

Too late for me now that I found a friend of a friend (who I'm paying his asking price), but where would you have posted instead?

ssdfsdfssfsdfsdf wrote:

joeblow wrote:

Well the fact that they are replying to Craigslist ads in the first place probably shows a lack of even basic business/ freelance sense. The reputability of employers looking for freelancers (ie. people looking for cheap/free labour for their "startups") is horrible and the competition is saturating (ie. "marketing" diploma grads who are teens that think twitter posting is a job)

I wouldn't use this as a case study of real freelance work to dissuade me.

Too late for me now that I found a friend of a friend (who I'm paying his asking price), but where would you have posted instead?

There are a number of freelance websites including:

I would have looked up local companies that actually have a web presence.

exp. I would definitely leverage a "soft skill" set (as a contractor) to get clients. And I think your best bet for sourcing talent would be to search for an actual company/ sole proprietorship.

Someone who has developed their own business or personal brand and has a well designed, well marketed site that they have committed some resources and time to is surely a better bet than 1 of a thousand people pitching "web design" on Craigslist. Why would you want to sift through so many crap replies? Like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In fact you ignored all that to go for a "friend of a friend". As a remote worker I would start with inner circle and work out. Major boots on the ground effort to accumulate clients rather than shot in the dark CL replies.

That's just my intuition but I've never worked remotely before.

Yeah but that seems like the worst way to go remotely. That's the job hunter equal of applying to a posting and sitting back hoping you get the job. I would never do that - it totally takes away your competitive advantage of personality etc. I would network, join clubs, host webinars, walk around to businesses etc.

There are a number of freelance websites including:

http://www.guru.com

Is it possible to make money with blogging?

I am living overseas for my wife's work. I work as a consulting engineer. We've been out of country nearly two years, and I've been working remotely the whole time. So, in short, yes it can be done. However, you need an understanding company and boss and co-workers / colleagues and clients. And it helps to have specialized skill/knowledge in good demand.

Good luck!

Those ideas are so common. It's like selling t-shirts. It's nearly impossible to make a decent living. However, you could do it so differently that you make it work. Like create a blogging platform for lots of other hopefuls. Again, near impossible.

What you need is to provide a service that is fairly specialized. Your "assets" are your brain capital. For example, you learn about importing a certain class of products, all the rules and regulations. Then you have valuable expertise that companies will pay you for.

Something along those lines is definitely and infinitely easier than blogging or web development.

Virtual Vocations website has a ton of work from home professional jobs, many in the six figure range.

This is not a bad option, but it must be difficult to find many vacancies now, right?