Making Money Freelancing with Craiglist

Now I know you are thinking, "Why Craiglist?" Craiglist is one of the best resources online to connect with others, get information, or 'make freelance money'. The great thing about how the Craiglist database is set up, it is easily accessible to anyone with internet connections. The downside is that if you do not read the fine print you could be wasting your time as freelancer. As I help guide you through the resources of what a person can do by freelancing and making a little dough, can be very beneficial if you are very careful about which ads you respond to, and how to make sure you are successfully submitting your resumes and applying for the best positions that you fit.

Before we can even discuss hitting the top three sections of Craiglist that will contain part time, freelance and promotional jobs, you must review your strength areas and skills. If your strength area is customer service, working with people, or working as a bartender late a night, those are specific things you need to take in consideration when applying for ads. Instead of wasting an employers time, make sure you apply for jobs that you can fully commit to schedule wise, as well as the job environment. If you know you do not want to work early in the morning (day shift), then do not apply for an early shift. If you know you do not want to work outside for a promotional event, then do not apply for that type of job opportunity.

Once you know for sure which schedule you'd like to work, what your availability is, and what type of compensation you want to receive, then go to the Jobs section on Craiglist and begin to do your online search.

Under the job sections, the major section that has postings for freelancers is on the EVENT section. Click on the word "event" and you will see many jobs relating to part-time promotional events that need part-time or freelance workers to assist with customer service related jobs. These jobs are no brain jobs that many people don't want to do. For example, greeters, at an trade show. This greeter position is just a person (looking professional) at a trade show, saying "hello" to participants of a trade show and passing some material to them and or doing crowd control at the event. This person, however, would have to be professional and stand on their feet for long periods of time. Many of the positions are generally between $8-20/hr depending on the promotional company, the promotional event, and the client.

Under the ETC job section, many opportunities for focus groups, research and other opportunities will be highlighted. Depending on what you want to do, and what you qualify for, this is a great section to check out and apply for jobs. Many of the focus groups are very specific so take your time to read thoroughly the focus group, what they are seeking, and if you feel you qualify, reply by sending the specific responses to the link that is included (generally an anonymous Craiglist email for the employer). It's best that you send them an email from a professional account (if you can). Meaning, sending them an job inquiry from yourfirstnamelastname@gmail.com looks better than cutegirl2007@gmail.com. You get my drift here.

Many of the positions in this section compensate on a project by project basis and some do not pay traditionally. Please take this in mind as you apply for and complete these projects. Do not assume that you will get paid in two weeks, ask your employer what the pay schedule will be and make sure you follow up with them to get your paycheck if you haven't received it by a certain time. Many focus groups will pay cash, however, if they do not pay you in cash, check is the preferred method. Also, many focus groups, after you participate in the focus group, will ask you to possibly sign a waiver (to keep whatever the session contained) confidently. Keep it confidential and you should not have a problem. General payment for focus groups can be $75, $80 or more in cash. Read the ad to make sure you know what the compensation is and what the time commitment for you to participate will be. Make sure you can commit to the schedule and be apart of the session.

The PART-TIME job section contains part job opportunities; including various compensations, and industries. Commonly you will find a lot of trade show, promotional events, or part-time opportunities that are non-traditional in this section. Read the ad fully, print it out, and apply for the position.

Now we've covered the three main sections that you should check out (EVENT, ETC. and PART-TIME), you should figure out how to apply. Applying for the freelance positions are very easy. On Craiglist when you read the ad at the top of the ad is a hyper link that includes the employers job number and email address. Make sure you click on the link and send them a response email so you can go ahead and get in touch with the employer. Include an appropriate resume, headshot, and or references if the ad has called for that. Always include contact information. They will call you quickly if you are applying for a focus group. With focus group positions, a screener will contact you to qualify you for the focus group session. They will ask a series of questions. If you qualify for the focus group, they will tell you the location of the session, and after you participate in the session, you will be paid for the session (generally in cash) on site after you help them with the focus group.

Job seekers need to be aware that on some of the sections, are bogus or scamming type of jobs. If you don't want to lose your money, just make sure when you apply for jobs, you aren't dishing out any money to get the job. There's a difference between working for someone else legitimately, funding your own business, or getting scammed. Do not allow yourself to be used in that way. Be smart when dealing with the online jobs at Craiglist by researching the company (most employers have online presence) and or the industry in which you plan to work. Many of the freelance positions are very good. 80% of them come from legitimate sources. There are other positions that probably are not that good and once you get the hang of researching jobs, applying for job, you will see the difference between the legitimate and non legitimate ones.

Now, go on Craiglist and do your job search. Isn't it time you made money using your skills, working a job schedule you love, and still being able to get paid?

(c) by Pam Osbey