Difficult not to get depressed when looking for a job or new clients in SA

It sucks not being able to find a job - one gets so depressed,
and that just makes it worse, trying to get the energy to try do
something about earning an income. We've had a really bad month, and
are not even sure we can pay our rent (living at my parents and we pay
rent) or our adsl/telephone account - which we have to have to be able to
carry on work online. Or if we do, there's no money over for anything else(petrol to get the kids to school and back, food, our web hosting account, still paying the lawyer divorce fees, art fees for the kids etc etc)

But, somehow, we get through. We work hard, and when there's no work,
we work hard at marketing ourselves. Over 2 years ago we started out selling plants on the pavement in front of my parents' home, and took it from there.

One just has to have the will to take control of one's own income -
and this seems to happen more easily when one is pretty desperate -
and learn and discover, that "hey, I can earn a little income for
myself, and, perhaps, it may even grow into something bigger." But
you have to start somewhere, and more important than that, is to
actually just start (doing something.)

We managed to turn around a bad situation, over two years ago, even though it took some time, and although some months are still pretty tough, our good reputation and our portfolio are growing.

We are seeing a new client tomorrow, and are hoping we get the job
(freelance job) to design a site for them. We are also seeing an old
client next week sometime, hopefully, who wants some small changes and
additions to his site we designed a while ago already.

If these clients don't come through for us, then we would:

Sell some plants from home, on the pavement;

Find some old books lying around the house, borrow R30 to pay for a
"stand" at the beachfront fleamarket on Sunday morning, and hope to
sell a little even if we make only R30 plus cover petrol - it's R30
more than we had before.

We have a lot of info on our sites to help people think about what they can do from home, and there is also tons of info on the Internet. And
it's all free. We use this same info when we get stuck for a bit of income, to see us through. It inspires us to think instead of just sit around and get depressed, and do nothing. We wish that people struggling to find work can also realise that they too can work from home. It's not easy, and may take a long time to earn a decent income, but it could grow into a healthy income, and you won't know if you don't try.

Read. Learn. Earn.

We don't have money to give to people who are struggling. We can't
employ anybody who needs work. We're trying to keep our own heads
above water ourselves, but we do like to help people.

Our mission is just to let people know, that if one has the right
attitude, one can work for themselves, but without the will to do it,
it won't happen.

We saw a woman walking in the streets the other day, going to offices
or anywhere really with a basket of koeksisters she had made, we drove
past her in the street, stopped and bought a packet for R10 - we
didn't feel like koeksisters and gave them to my dad, but we admired
that she was making the effort to work.

It's tough. It's not easy. BUT YOU CAN DO IT.

To people struggling:
Go through some articles on our sites, slowly, and carefully, and use the information, or inspiration they give you, and you'll be fine.

Believe that you will be fine. Just do something!

Here are some articles we think are the more important ones on our sites, but, of course, just browse the Internet and learn all you can about what you can do from home:

OVER 250 WORK FROM HOME IDEAS

YOU'RE SO DESPERATE FOR MONEY THAT YOU'RE READING THIS ON SOMEBODY ELSE'S COMPUTER

DON'T SPEND FOREVER TRYING TO FIND WORK. JUST WORK.

USING YOUR KITCHEN TO WORK FROM HOME

USING A FLEA MARKET TO SELL A PRODUCT OR PROMOTE A SERVICE

WE HAVE MONEY TO LAST ABOUT 4 DAYS

© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010

We have money to last about 4 days

and then no more unless some work comes in - this is how it goes with our freelance work from home business - we were kinda relying on a little article appearing in a local free weekly delivered to homes today to give us a bit of exposure, but no article yet. Perhaps next week.

It's depressing, but not the end of the world. It just means we should have spent less time (mostly me - Tony is working on a new SA Auction site for a client) trying to improve our sites in case a few locals popped onto them to take a look (after reading the article), and should have spent more time on looking for more work. We've had a few okay months since starting to work from home in February 2008, but quite a few pretty bad months too - this month is one of the not so hot ones. Even our next Adsense cheque is not quite yet due, and even then, it takes about 7 weeks before it arrives in the post.

Back to oDesk, I guess, for now. oDesk is a freelance site where all sorts of work can be done, or people (Internationally) looking for freelance workers can hire them. I've been a member there for about a year now - take a look at my profile there - and have picked up some fun and interesting little freelance jobs - some not so little - we did work for a Florida US personal injury lawyer, recently, that lasted over 4 months and paid well.

So, how do we survive at times like this (it's happened before) - while waiting for, or trying to get the next client?

As a divorced mom of two boys, the children get a maintenance at the end of each month (about half of what their living expenses are when they're with me, their primary custodian - they're with me 18 nights in a 28 day period) This amount pretty much immediately goes on our telephone and ADSL account, and our rent at my parents, where we live. Those are two biggies that need taken care of immediately each month. There's a little already set aside, in a fixed savings, for the boys' future, which is "off limits" and doesn't even exist in my mind. That's not being touched. It's for the boys - and actually still needs to be so badly added to.

Another biggie is petrol. It's a 22 minute drive to school, but at least it's not all one big monthly cost, and we take it as it comes.

Back to oDesk - if we pick up a little job there, that we can manage, say, today, and hope the "oDesk buyer" pays today too, we can only access our earnings 6 days later. So, if we have money for only 4 days, what do we do for the inbetween 2 or 3 days, before accessing oDesk earnings?

We make a plan, and this is what all people struggling for an income should do. Make a plan.

We can:
market ourselves silly and sleep just 4 hours a night, to get a local client before the 4 days are up;
if 4 days go by and no local client, then we skimp and save and cut all we can, to get through the next 2 or 3 days while waiting for an oDesk payment;
although we don't like to borrow money from friends in case we struggle to pay it back, there is a friend or two who could and would help us out for a day or two - the boys even have a little birthday money over they wouldn't mind helping us out with for a day or two - but this is pretty much a last resort (they will tease they want interest when we pay them back, lol!);
other options are to hang a sign on the front wall to sell something we no longer need, or sell a few plants - we pretty much started out selling plants;
pray

And we get by. We make a plan, and get by.

Our reputation of good service is growing, and so is our portfolio.

This article is probably putting people off thinking of quitting their regular job and trying to work from home, and, in a way, that's good. Working from home does not suit everyone, but, at the same time, one should also realise: where there's a will, there's a way.

Other articles on our sites that may be of interest to you:

How Difficult is it to Find a Decent Job in East London, South Africa?

Don’t spend forever trying to find work. Just work.

© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010