Feb 24 2009
What to Watch Out for When Searching for Work
Freelancing is a very exciting field. More and more people are depending on the freelance market to earn a living. However, there are some dangers to freelancing that you need to watch out for.
1. Fake Jobs - you are excited about starting your new venture. But, there are hundreds of jobs out there that simply are not real. Unless you are specifically looking for MLM for instance, you will be inundated with requests to join MLM groups.
A MLM isn’t really a job unless you love to sell. Selling product and more importantly selling the ‘idea’ to others will take up more of your time than you might want to spend. My apologies to anyone who does MLM but frankly, I’ve tried them. It takes far more time than I want to spend!
2. Money up Front - There are thousands of ‘job seekers’ sites that are going to ask you to pay a fee up front to ‘find’ you work. The fact of the matter is that 99.9% of them will not find you work. What they’re going to do instead is provide you with a list of websites that offer jobs. Skip the middleman - you can find them yourself!
3. Payment Methods - Payment methods vary for all freelancers. Some are comfortable getting checks, others want to be paid through PayPal. Check out any job that is offering payment methods you are not comfortable with. Be sure you understand up front how you will get paid for your work.
4. Lofty Guarantees - Forget about the emails that tell you that you can make 725 a day reading emails! You might make something but you’re likely NOT going to make a ton of money!
When you start freelancing it’s easy to get caught up in the nuances of making money fast. Freelancing is not an overnight (or guaranteed) success business. Use common sense and patience.
Our next segment: Comparing Job Sites
