Work! Study! Party!

By Haley Osborne15 September 2014

Work! Study! Party!

This article is all about opening up your mind to the possibility that you can work, study and party all on your own from the comfort of your home, frat house or dilapidated dorm room. In fact, all you really need to take care of the working part is a PC and an internet connection!

Just imagine it. You make the money you need for partying and taking care of yourself while building your professional resume all on your own independently! No working in the cafeteria or slaving away as a teacher’s aide so all you can afford is the cheapest beer known to humankind!

Welcome to the Future of Work

In early August of 2013 oDesk announced that their online workplace reached the 1 billion dollar landmark. Yep, millions of people (not much unlike yourself) working from their own lives and at the speed of their own lifestyles from around the world helped oDesk earn 1 billion smackaroos! That’s nothing. Right now as you read this the estimated online workforce is worth 1 TRILLION. It’s so big and the marketplace has grown so fast it’s hard to really get any concrete numbers on just yet…

Here’s a pretty serious nugget though: “By 2018 online work is projected to be a $5B market.”

Think about it. If you owned a big or small corporation right now and saw workforces on the local level shrinking and reeling under the rise of 21st century technology, wouldn’t you turn to hiring people online?

1. Global access to skilled workers
2. 24 hour productivity
3. Super-fast and efficient hiring process

Need we go on? Within the year prior to releasing this information 2,389 different marketable skills were added to oDesk workplace. That’s just oDesk. Then there’s Elance and many other startups catering to YOU! Giving you a way to work with a PC from anywhere, at any time, and at any price. Here’s the three steps to getting started.

Set up Your Website!

Yes, you need a website. It’s no different than needing a toothbrush, smartphone or a car or any other modern technology. A website has become part and parcel to affluent life. Even if you don’t own (host) your own right now, you already probably have websites set up in your name on social media profiles: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

Don’t take it too seriously, like what to name it. The point is to just get it started and think professionally. Your website will evolve as you do though. Just because you can post links on your Twitter profile doesn’t mean you’re tech-savvy. Once you set up your own web platform and begin growing it you learn a master’s worth of web-skills inside the first year or two even when you only use it passively.

Establish a Service Provider Profile & Optimize It

What service can you provide via your computer? Name it. Create something new. There are thousands of current skill sets to choose from. There are hundreds upon hundreds of ways to make active and passive income online today. Many more will be created in the next few months from now as you read this.

Here’s the trick though: you need to pick just one to three things and focus on them. Don’t try to make money 10 different ways while also chasing down a degree and a social life. It won’t work. It might work for a little while but eventually you’ll crash and burn. Try to pick one skill, for example if you’re an English Major you could write or edit things. If you study math you could offer to balance people’s books for them. Whatever.

So, you’ve got your website on the side building and then you set up a service provider profile on oDesk-eLance or any other online work platform where people can hire you directly and you can begin collecting stats: jobs completed, logged hours (virtually), reviews, feedback and testimonials, a portfolio, etc. Optimize around your skills so that the people looking to hire you can find you and do so.

Start Building Your Digital Name

Right now, everything you do in life is building your name in both the real and virtual worlds. Simply Google your name to see what kind of presence you currently command. After you realize how powerful your online behavior is, you can steer it like a ship and create any virtual persona around your name that you like. It’s going to happen either way, so why not control it?

You can begin making money within a few days to a few weeks. That’s the reality. It’s being done on by students on campuses all over the world right now. In fact, there are probably some students around you who are already doing it. They set their own rates, work for who they want, do what they want and work when they want. Get started. Begin actively building your brand, choose a small set of skills or ideally just one to focus on and begin growing in digital value. And, always keep your eye on the future!