(Read the first part of George’s 2 part series on internet marketing jobs here.)
In my previous post, I discussed two internet-marketing jobs that are currently in very high demand: content writing and search engine optimization. In this post I will explain where you might find these types of jobs as well as what you can expect while working these jobs from home.
When searching for this type of work, one common place to start is Craigslist. Under the jobs heading of Craigslist, you will find various writing and search/internet marketing jobs within the writing/editing,web/info design, and marketing/PR/ad sections. If you are not looking for a regular commitment and are instead looking for extra cash here and there, look in the writing section underneath the ‘gigs’ heading. Keep in mind that certain cities attract more tech jobs than others. If you don’t find a lot of job offerings in your own city, check the CL listings in cities such as NYC and SanFrancisco.
Another great place to find writing and internet-marketing jobs is on LinkedIn. For those unfamiliar with the site, LinkedIn is a social network for professionals of all types. In addition to keeping in contact with former colleagues, LinkedIn is great place to job hunt for several reasons.First, LinkedIn allows users to attach a resume to their profile, eliminating the time that is typically spent sending and receiving them. In addition to having a personal profile that is searchable by employers, LinkedIn also has a‘jobs’ section where users can see open positions posted by other LinkedIn members.
If you are looking specifically for writing work, TextBroker and Amazon Mechanical Turks are wonderful services that all writers should be aware of. Creating accounts on these sites is simple, and workers are given the opportunity to work as freely as they wish. With Mechanical Turks, users can browse through a ‘marketplace’ of tasks posted by those offering work. Job posters request various qualifications for their task, and workers who meet those qualifications can choose to do as many of a single job-poster’s tasks as they wish. Text Broker, similarly to Mechanical Turks, is another online community provides workers with a marketplace of writing assignments. Unlike Mechanical Turks, though, Text Broker allows job posters to select dedicated workers for their projects, providing an opportunity to become a full-time employee through the online service.
Now that we’ve identified where to find these types of jobs,it’s time to discuss what someone might expect from the work-from-home work culture of an internet-marketing job. When starting a new job, you might wonder things like “when and where do I eat lunch?” or “Who do I talk to if I have a question about my work?” While these are common concerns with any new job,those working from home should be aware of a few slightly different aspects of work culture.
To begin, SEOs and, especially, writers should be aware that many employers of this type of work pay per task, as opposed to paying an hourly wage. This raises the obvious question, “how many hours do I work each week?” Often times, workers should expect to work as much as they want (assuming there is enough work), and are really only required to meet a certain minimum number of tasks each day. Related to the concept of hours worked per week, work-from-home employees should expect that, although the amount of work done is largely a matter of choice, many employers will require that the majority of your work is done during regular business hours so that employees can talk and collaborate with each other. Because of the common requirement that telecommuters be in contact throughout the day, many employers will require you to use an instant messaging client. Another thing to consider, even if not required, is to keep track of the time spent on all the different tasks worked on throughout the day. Keeping track of time helps you to understand your own efficiency, and provides you with a very clear response if your employer asks what all you’ve done.
This wraps up our discussion of what types of jobs can be done from home, where these jobs can be found, and a little bit of what you can expect from these types of jobs. If you don’t yet have the skills required to do this type of work, begin by reading through the large amounts of free resources available online. For aspiring writers, begin by publishing your content on a personal blog.
George Fox is the marketing manager for www.superheroden.com , an online retailer focused on selling licensed apparel and merchandise.
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