So, in trying not to abandon my initial intention for my website, I wanted to give a brief description of how this all started.
Hopefully, it will encourage anyone that reads this who has the work-from-home bug. You know working at home is a possibility. Maybe you just don't know how people get started. As a new client of mine so brilliantly put itâEUR¦ "You don't know until you know." Even then, it's just life that we don't always keep everything we know in mind while in the moment, and even then, skepticism and self-doubt too often get in the way.
I have always had idea of being an at-home mom in the back of my mind.
When I was little and thought of how my days would go when I grew up and became a mother, I imagined being home when they got home from school, snacks waiting, with talks around the kitchen table about how their day was. That wasn't my childhood by any means, but I watched a lot of Full House.
My vision of motherhood didn't exactly start out that way (insert sarcasm).
I started my first full-time job in an office at 17, two weeks after giving birth to my daughter. It was out of necessity, but I considered myself lucky and LOVED MY JOB. I loved getting up, dressing up, and going to work every day. I loved that I was really good at my job, was the youngest one there, and was promoted really quickly. I loved working in general and wanted to transfer that to working from home, but just didn't know how. I researched, read the articles and the books, and approached my boss with the idea at 19, then married and pregnant with my 2nd child, but that was a "no-go", and I didn't press the issue. Other avenues of working from home were elusive. Every time I read about one, I remembered an envelope stuffing work-at-home scam and a coupon cutting work-at-home scam I had seen a family member go through.
Fast forward to now. Even though I worked at home prior to this venture, those cases just fell in my lap, so I don't want to focus on those situations.
I started my search for work-at-home gigs once again earlier this year. We thought preschool would be good for our youngest son, who freaked out anytime I left the house. It wasn't a necessity, so I started looking for ways to pay for it.
That's when I found oDesk. I read the success stories first. I do my best to ignore negativity, but I'm not completely unrealistic. I signed up. I obsessed over the wording in my first few proposals (job applications). Then I read on oDesk's blog that "they" say (not sure who that refers to) that contractors have to go through 60 rejected applications before being awarded their first project.
I relaxed, and obsessed a little less. My first application was declined. Ouch.
I got a message from the second one requesting an interview. WaitâEUR¦ What?! I'm not ready.
One of the questions was, "Do you have Skype and what is your username?"
PanicâEUR¦click... clickâEUR¦ typeâEUR¦ typeâEUR¦ YouTube how-to. Done.
Now I have Skype. Ta-Da!
Interviewed and hired within a couple of days.
Not enough to pay for preschool by any means, but a victory nonetheless.
And the story continues, but not here. I do want to say that I don't really use oDesk that much anymore to find work. I have one client on there that I love, so I stay. There are rules about how long you have to wait before you can work with your clients off of the platform. Nothing against oDesk. I was just ready to expand.
Where are you at in your work from home journey? What's holding you back?
I would love to hear from other moms or assist in any way that I can. I have nothing to sell you. I'm just truly interested. I sure don't have it all figured out, but I'm learning something new every day. E-mail me at elizabethnixon@silverlininglegacy.com or fill out the form on my website. http://www.silverlininglegacy.com
Hopefully, it will encourage anyone that reads this who has the work-from-home bug. You know working at home is a possibility. Maybe you just don't know how people get started. As a new client of mine so brilliantly put itâEUR¦ "You don't know until you know." Even then, it's just life that we don't always keep everything we know in mind while in the moment, and even then, skepticism and self-doubt too often get in the way.
I have always had idea of being an at-home mom in the back of my mind.
When I was little and thought of how my days would go when I grew up and became a mother, I imagined being home when they got home from school, snacks waiting, with talks around the kitchen table about how their day was. That wasn't my childhood by any means, but I watched a lot of Full House.
My vision of motherhood didn't exactly start out that way (insert sarcasm).
I started my first full-time job in an office at 17, two weeks after giving birth to my daughter. It was out of necessity, but I considered myself lucky and LOVED MY JOB. I loved getting up, dressing up, and going to work every day. I loved that I was really good at my job, was the youngest one there, and was promoted really quickly. I loved working in general and wanted to transfer that to working from home, but just didn't know how. I researched, read the articles and the books, and approached my boss with the idea at 19, then married and pregnant with my 2nd child, but that was a "no-go", and I didn't press the issue. Other avenues of working from home were elusive. Every time I read about one, I remembered an envelope stuffing work-at-home scam and a coupon cutting work-at-home scam I had seen a family member go through.
Fast forward to now. Even though I worked at home prior to this venture, those cases just fell in my lap, so I don't want to focus on those situations.
I started my search for work-at-home gigs once again earlier this year. We thought preschool would be good for our youngest son, who freaked out anytime I left the house. It wasn't a necessity, so I started looking for ways to pay for it.
That's when I found oDesk. I read the success stories first. I do my best to ignore negativity, but I'm not completely unrealistic. I signed up. I obsessed over the wording in my first few proposals (job applications). Then I read on oDesk's blog that "they" say (not sure who that refers to) that contractors have to go through 60 rejected applications before being awarded their first project.
I relaxed, and obsessed a little less. My first application was declined. Ouch.
I got a message from the second one requesting an interview. WaitâEUR¦ What?! I'm not ready.
One of the questions was, "Do you have Skype and what is your username?"
PanicâEUR¦click... clickâEUR¦ typeâEUR¦ typeâEUR¦ YouTube how-to. Done.
Now I have Skype. Ta-Da!
Interviewed and hired within a couple of days.
Not enough to pay for preschool by any means, but a victory nonetheless.
And the story continues, but not here. I do want to say that I don't really use oDesk that much anymore to find work. I have one client on there that I love, so I stay. There are rules about how long you have to wait before you can work with your clients off of the platform. Nothing against oDesk. I was just ready to expand.
Where are you at in your work from home journey? What's holding you back?
I would love to hear from other moms or assist in any way that I can. I have nothing to sell you. I'm just truly interested. I sure don't have it all figured out, but I'm learning something new every day. E-mail me at elizabethnixon@silverlininglegacy.com or fill out the form on my website. http://www.silverlininglegacy.com