Mother’s Got A Dot Com

Hubby could do it, I’m sure. Unless it was his own sand, of course, in which case he’d give it away. (We once sold a horse. The price was set and agreed upon, the contract was signed, and Hubby suddenly took $500 off the price because… well, because. The buyer hadn’t haggled at all… Nice fella, my Hubby!) Selling sand for other people - no problem. It would fly like cupcakes.

Me - that’s a different matter. I couldn’t sell water in said desert. I’ve tried. Not literally (now there’s a picture, little old fair(red)-skinned me, sitting behind a mirage of a water stand in the middle of the Sahara desert, with 6 brats in tow), but I have tried.
MLM is one example of me trying. Speaking of mirages… Selling household and beauty products to my friends and acquaintances? Dream on. CLA could be the latest, greatest miracle drug for anything from athlete’s foot to cobwebs in the attic, and I couldn’t peddle a single box of the stuff. I’d buy it, though, and use it, and talk about it to said friends, but sell it? No way.

I’ve done Aloe Vera. I mean - Aloe Vera is the greatest miracle drug for anything under the sun. I’ve still got 2 jugs of juice somewhere, and I use all the creams, ointments and stuff I bought for myself. I’m just sooo bad at getting the point across.

Homeparties. Dare I say it? Yes, Tupperware. Done that. For about 10 minutes. Going into people’s homes, professing the divine qualities of overpriced plastic to a bunch of giggling housewives who’re just dying for you to get out so they can tuck into the refreshments while they slag you… Not for me. I felt like an intruder and a village idiot - all in one. I’ve got a lot of overpriced plastic though, and believe me - it does last a lifetime.

Next step - affiliate marketing. Great - just put a banner up on your lame little website, sit back, and watch the money flood in. Yup.
OK. I’m sitting here, all laid back like - where’s my money???

Right. So it’s me. I’m not cut out for it. I couldn’t have people working for me either - I feel desperately sorry for all those royals and celebs who have people in attendance all the time. The lack of privacy would kill me within a fortnight. Seriously!

So - life in the fast lane isn’t for me. Until the big prize comes in, I’ll just have to do what I do, and enjoy life as it comes.
Say again?
Enjoy life?
Wonderful idea.

My new WAH job sure keeps me on my toes…

On Friday, we were going away, and I had plenty of time, we were leaving at 5 in the afternoon. Checked my email in the morning, and there were 11 proof-reading jobs waiting for me!

Luckily, the big Brats were on Autumn break and could look after the little ones - this is still new to me, and the attention one has to pay to detail is excruciating, so it takes me a while. At 3.30, I was done. Shower, throw a few things in a bag, try to remember to bring some food and some new bedding and the camera (uncheck) - oh, and Hubby, too (check).

When I came back Sunday night, I had 6 jobs waiting, 2 of which I left till yesterday morning. Bad move. By 9.30, there were 10 new ones in my mailbox, and by lunchtime the count was 15. Needless to say, I’ve got a few left over from yesterday, the deadline for most of them is 9.30 and the site I send them to is now down for maintenance.

I’m not used to this!!!!

Still, I will learn quickly this way, which means I’ll be a fully fledged proof reader before long, which in turn means I’ll be entitled to a small bonus for each reading. It’s not well paid, and it certainly won’t keep me in Caribbean cruises, but if this keeps up, the sheer volume will make me an acceptable paycheck.

I may have to pay someone to come and operate a washcloth and vacuum cleaner while I go square-eyed by the computer (possibly also to feed Miracle Boy on a regular basis), but one has to make some concessions.

No - I think I’ll get the hang of it and not spend so much time on each one within a very short while. Until then, I’ll just have to find time to keep MB happy in between deadlines. As for the vacuum cleaner - it’s getting distinctly dusty.

By the way - we had a wonderfully relaxed, Brat-free weekend!

It’s not all that exciting - I’m going to be a proof reader for an international Mystery Shopping company. They have “shoppers” all over the world, all sending in reports in their various languages, all with varying skills in grammar and spelling. Thus the need for proof reading before the reports are sent on to the company’s customers.
I’ll be doing it in Norwegian and English first and foremost, and if the need arises, I’ll do some French ones too.
My scheduled training session has had to be postponed a couple of times due to my recent Internet troubles, but I’ll be officially trained for the job this Thursday (via Skype), and then I’ll be a fledgling proofreader for a month or so. After that, I’m on my own.
What I’ll be making? $1000 per month maximum. Realistically, somewhere around half of that. Not exactly enough to start planning Vegas vacations or any other extravagant outings, but this job’ll be paying our phone and electricity bills, and that’s all right with me!
The only downside is that I’ll be on a strict 24-hour deadline for most of these assignments. They’ll probably be coming in at an erratic pace too, which means I’ll have to start planning my life… I guess that’s what comes with having a job, even a freelance one.
I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out - it’ll be interesting to see how much work they’ll be sending my way.