Testing the Waters of Freelancing

Hello, friends. As many of you know, I have been a stay-at-home mom for the last three years, and my husband and I have faced our fair share of financial problems due to being a single income household, and we’ve always been pretty vocal about our struggles. I’ve gotten my fair share of, “Well, why don’t YOU go to work then?” from people, and I’ve had to explain over and over that is isn’t really that simple for our specific situation.

I’m not going to get into all of that here, because that’s not the point of this post, but just know that if you ever see me, or anyone for that matter, who occasionally venting about financial struggles, just let them vent. Don’t jump down their throat with unwarranted advice, or tell them that other people have it worse, or to get a job/a different job, blah blah blah. Don’t tell them that their frustration is annoying. Don’t tell them that they are making up excuses. There’s about a 98% chance that whatever you are going to suggest I do, I have already thought about, considered at great length, or attempted, with little to no success. If you don’t know all the facts, and what is happening behind-the-scenes, then keep your shitty opinions and animosity to yourself.

Okay? Okay.

For the record, I don’t enjoy our situation. I don’t enjoy being stuck inside my apartment 24/7, with only a 3 year old to talk to. I don’t enjoy never seeing my husband, because he works his ass off at a job that doesn’t appreciate him. I don’t enjoy that both my husband and I are wearing clothing that don’t fit us, or have holes and various types of stains, because all of our money goes toward clothing for our rapidly growing toddler. I don’t enjoy having to occasionally rely on government assistance to feed my family.

So, before you chime in with the whole, “Why don’t YOU work then?” or assume that I am lazy for being a stay-at-home parent, maybe take a second to understand that both my husband and myself have had to make sacrifices in order to make things work the only way that we could.

Thanks, fam.

Whew, that was a bit of a rant. Anyway! I didn’t intend to go off about the struggles of living the life of a hermit, but it leads me into what this post is actually about: Working from home.

Now, I’m not one of those people who buys into the “Multi-Level Marketing” pyramid scheme of running your own business from home, like Mary Kay, Younique, Scentsy, etc. Don’t fight with me on this, because I already know they’re just snake oil salesmen, selling ridiculously overpriced products, that are far worse than anything you buy in a drug store. I don’t need to hear about how your friend Susan sells $5 jewelry to pay for her son’s soccer cleats, and how I should be supporting small businesses, because these aren’t small businesses, folks. If you really think they are, then I just might have some beach front property to sell you…

Moving on.

Freelancing. That’s what this is about. I have been wanting to get into freelancing for a long time, even before I had my son. At first, I thought I wanted to find work as a narrator/voice actor, specifically in the gaming industry. Well, let me tell you, it’s not exactly an easy business to get into. A few years ago, I made accounts on several freelancing websites, such as Upwork, which is my ultimate go-to for finding freelance job postings of all kinds, and started trying to sell myself and my talents to potential employers.

Well, it didn’t work out, mostly because shortly after my search began, I lost the only microphone that I owned, and haven’t been able to replace it since. So, even though the invitations eventually started coming in for someone with my particular skill sets, I had to turn them all down, because you can’t exactly do voice acting without a microphone. Duh.

Eventually, I decided that maybe writing was more my thing, since I had always wanted to be a writer, and had written guest blogs for other people in the past, as well as dabbled in copywriting and marketing type jobs. So I adjusted my profile slightly to reflect my new interests, and boy oh boy, did I start getting invitations for work.

And when I say “work”, I mean that it was mostly sketchy, borderline illegal work, that I wanted nothing to do with. That, and people looking for someone to copy other people’s work, change a few words, and post it on their own website. Gross. You suck, dude.

I have also been submitting applications and proposals left and right, usually two to four a day, but haven’t heard anything back. I currently have eight proposals for potential employers that are awaiting review.

I’ve been mostly looking for entry level work, because that’s where my skills are at currently. I have very little experience. While I have been blogging for years and years, I would hardly call anything that I’ve done professional, or of value to anyone. I’ve been searching for mostly copywriting jobs for small websites, which all lead to the same spammy, gross dead ends, as well as a few marketing and emailing gigs for both small and large companies. I even applied to write trivia questions for a company that was developing a trivia app (I really wanted that job, y’all). I’m also thinking about looking into becoming a real estate copywriter, because from what I’ve seen, they are in high demand, and the pay is good!

I currently have my fingers crossed for three jobs that I would love to snag. The first is with a tour agency that is looking for someone to help write itineraries, and help with proofreading on their website. The second is a job with a veterinary teaching website, that is looking for someone to help with emails and marketing. The third is with a gaming company, who is looking for both article writers, and people to test games. I applied for everything available.

It’s hard, man. From what I’ve seen, the world of freelancing is super competitive, and there are a lot of people trying to get these jobs. Sometimes, a job posting will have only been up for an hour, and there are already anywhere between 20 and 50 proposals on it. With my limited experience, I feel like I don’t stand much of a chance. But, I keep checking in, and searching, and submitting.

Something’s gotta give eventually, right?

So… anyone out there looking for a freelancer for writing jobs? Copywriting, proofreading, etc.? How about someone to handle emails and marketing? Social media manager? Anything?

Thanks for reading, friends.

Jan

P.S. If you’re going to suggest I start a daycare, or babysitting, or something else… just stop. Stop. Stop stop stop.

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Struggling

Hello, friends. It’s been a little while since I last sat down to write here, and I don’t have much of an excuse for that, other than laziness, and the ever present thought in my head that begs the question, “Does anyone even care?”

Don’t Kick Me When I’m Down

Hello, friends! Liam and I are feeling much better as of yesterday, as we finally slept (mostly) through the night! He did wake up 4 times, all before 1:30 in the morning, but he slept until 7:30. His cough is gone, and he is much less fussy, and much more energetic, than he has been in over a week. I’m glad the antibiotics kicked in quickly! We seem to be in the middle of a developmental leap, as he has been increasingly clingy the last few days, add this to his teething, and it has been a bit frustrating not being able to do anything during the day. My apartment is a mess, and now that I’m feeling better, all I want to do is clean, but he just won’t let me.

Kyle still hasn’t been able to find a new job, and our funds are starting to run low. His department at his one remaining job decided to cut his department’s hours, and he has only been working 2-3 days a week, which is nowhere near enough to pay our rent, let alone the rest of our bills. I am trying to stay positive, but things are starting to get tight, and I am starting to panic a little. He’s been filling out applications every day, but hasn’t heard anything back from anyone. I filed an application for EBT yesterday, and tomorrow I will go to the WIC office and get back on that. We had both up until Kyle got his job at the Walmart DC, but we lost them when he was hired. We more than qualify for assistance now that they have (wrongfully) fired him.

Things have been frustrating here. Very frustrating. I am exhausted, and I have been getting migraines again, most likely triggered by my blood pressure, which I am willing to bet is higher than normal. And stress.

Also, my phone is missing. Liam was playing with it this morning, as he normally does, and now it is gone. I made the mistake of allowing him to play with it, since he no longer puts electronics in his mouth. I have been looking for it all day, but really started tearing the apartment apart an hour ago, while he was eating dinner, to try and find it. I’ve looked in all his usual hiding places (under my desk, under the kitchen table, in the shoes, etc.), but I can’t find it anywhere. Oh, and of course, it is on silent. Grr.

In other news, I have been playing the game Stardew Valley quite a bit lately in my free time. Kyle bought it for me for our anniversary last month, and I am completely addicted to it. I’ll write up a longer review later when I have time. I also have 4 dream journal entries, and 3 blog ideas, that I need to write out. I just never have a second to get on the computer anymore, unless Liam is sleeping, in which case, I am either bathing myself, or cleaning the apartment. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., have all taken a backseat to life. I feel like I’ve missed out on so much of everything. It has been nice, in a way, having Kyle home, as it has freed me up a bit… but it comes at a cost, obviously.

That’s it for now. Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes and kind words. I’ve missed you guys, and I’m sorry I haven’t been active lately. I have SO many posts to read and catch up on! I hope to be back soon.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Jan

Another Quick Update

Ugh.

Liam is still sick. I haven’t slept in over a week, and I am miserable. I was finally able to bring him to the clinic today, and found out that he has a double ear infection and a post-nasal drip. Fantastic. Got some antibiotics.

Kyle has been applying to a dozen jobs a day since getting fired, but they are all dead ends, and are going nowhere. He has his second job still, but his department’s hours got cut, and we can’t live off of his 12 hours a week.

Family drama. Kyle’s mom was just diagnosed with clinical depression, which she has been struggling with, and has openly talked to us all about. We all love and support her, and she knows that. After getting on medication, Kyle’s grandmother (yep, same one I’ve written about before) took it upon herself to group message myself, and both of Kyle’s sisters, on Facebook, telling us that we need to “behave”, and lecturing us about this disease. We are all grown adults, who have each struggled with our own demons and darkness, and she really struck a nerve with all of us. But that’s just what she does.

So, yeah. That’s my life at the moment. I’m sorry that I have been absent. I have been having a hard time with… everything. How are you all? Did you have a nice Easter? We don’t really celebrate, but we went to Kyle’s mom’s and Liam had an indoor Easter egg hunt (it was raining). Fun times.

Jan