Calling all Self-Employed members or WAHM!

amother

Navy

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 10:15 am

Please share what you do and whether there's a demand for your services.

Posting is a real chessed as it will help those of us looking to start a business/service brainstorm and come up with an idea of our own. You may just be the catalyst that helps a poster put bread on the table and earn a respectable living. Please mention whether training was required.

Feel free to post as amother. If you have an idea or can share what a friend or family member does that's also appreciated.

ETA: I just saw my 'color' - no, I'm not looking to work in the Navy! LOL

Tel Tzion Ima

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 11:06 am

If you mention where you live, that might help in appropriate suggestions, but I know a lot of WAHMs in a variety of jobs in Israel.
I work in transcription, but I'm not self-employed. I do work from home and chose my own hours and work load. It did require basic training, and there is a learning curve. The longer you're at it, the better/faster you get, which means you can earn more in less time.
Other WAHMs in my neighborhood:
1.) Seamstress
2.) Virtual Secretary, business coach, and speech writer
3.) Babysitter
4.) English tutor
5.) Wholesale baking products
6.) English gan
7.) Translation
8.) Virtual English teacher to Adults in Europe (she's not self-employed but she does work from home)
9.) Data entry
10.) Graphic design

amother

Slategray

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 11:24 am

I'm a freelance writer, specializing in marketing writing.
Freelance work is like a roller coaster - some months you're bombarded, some months are slower, but B"H I have plenty of work overall.

seeker

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 12:07 pm

freelance writing - decent demand, I'm about as busy as I want to be B"H but that's not so busy right now because it's not my main job, I'm only optimistically assuming I could get more when I want. The pay for Jewish publications is pretty low compared to the work, but there is better potential in more specific niche work.

editing - I think the same though I haven't actually done any yet. Demand probably depends on the timing, if you get in somewhere when they're looking for someone then you'll likely keep getting work from that client if they like you, but if it's a time when fewer people are looking then you might not get in that fast.

tutoring - I get many requests for after-school P3/SETSS. I don't take them because after school is my family time and the pay is not enough to start sacrificing that.
for non-subsidized tutoring, there are always people who need it but demand in NY is less now that many get P3. but not everyone qualifies for that so there are still clients. It helps if you specialize in a specific subject, e.g. regents math, kriah, etc. And the hours are usually the same non-family-friendly, though if you do high school age you might be able to have kids come to your house after your kids are sleeping.

TwinsMommy

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 12:16 pm

direct sales and also social media work. Definite demand for both.

For direct sales, I've had constant training for 15 years, but it's easy to make money the first week---- you just make more as you build your team. For a while I wanted to make it my fulltime income, but then I had preemie twins who later had lots of special needs and I decided to make direct sales part time again and diversify my income.

For social media, I didn't start doing it until I had specialized knowledge of hootsuite and fb boosting/promoting and knowing how to break past the 2000 barrier on twitter, etc etc. I got all that knowledge for my own use and then was asked to help others, and then raised my rates and raised my rates and turned it into a side biz.

amother

Maroon

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 3:15 pm

I work from home in the evenings for a taxi service. I'm a call handler and book cars for people. It's a great job because I work once kiddies are sleeping, and could go on break if I need to. There isn't much in terms of developing your career here, aside from being promoted slightly to handle queries. But the pay is good enough and it's easy work. Plus I work as much as I need.
I'm doing this until my kids are at school and I could work during the day (I have a degree btw)

twogees

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 6:06 pm

I am a babysitter in my home. (tho looking to tutor as well so if anyone knows of ppl needing a tutor in the fr/5t area, let me know)

Last edited by twogees on Sun, Nov 29 2015, 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 6:12 pm

I sell hairbows at home. It's not a full time job. I earn basically pocket money but I barely put any work into it and my girls always have nice bows to wear!

If anyone wants links to cheap bow wholesalers in China then message me

Zehava

Sun, Nov 29 2015, 9:08 pm

Another freelance marketing writer here. I'm just starting out and don't really need the money, but I'm loving it so far. I like that the jobs vary, and that its flexible, And that I can do it from home. Right now I'm charging lower rates since I'm still learning, but will up the price once I feel that my work merits it.

amother

Coffee

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 12:34 am

I'm a freelance Graphic designer, With an established album design business. Doing design for a bit over 5 years. Like PP said, freelance can be slow at times, and then you can be so busy that theres no time to breathe!

In regards to working from home, sometimes its the best thing, and sometimes its the worst thing. Everything has its pros and cons.

amother

Navy

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 5:14 am

Zehava wrote:

How did you get into the field? What sort of training does it require?
Just in case you're wondering, I don't live in the US so wouldn't be impinging on your turf. Smile

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Nov 30 2015, 6:57 am

I do hair and wigs. I don't have a salon I pick up and drop off wash and sets and I do haircuts and hairdos at the clients house. Like most things the work load changes. But I love being my own boss and not having to sit in a salon waiting for work. I did quite a lot of training.

Zehava

Tue, Dec 01 2015, 2:57 pm

amother wrote:

How did you get into the field? What sort of training does it require?
Just in case you're wondering, I don't live in the US so wouldn't be impinging on your turf. Smile

My husband has contacts in the marketing business, and one of them was looking for writers. No training required though writing courses and workshops are a definite plus. There is a great Google group called soferet where job opportunities come up all the time. Most of them are jeruslalem based.

yogabird

Tue, Dec 01 2015, 3:14 pm

Zehava wrote:

How do you join the group?

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Dec 01 2015, 9:44 pm

With the internet, now its possible to provide therapy services from the comfort of your own bedroom, to clients I'm a different part of the country or even world. Speech, OT, some PT, counseling, and special Ed can all be done remotely now via a Skype like platform.