Catch Up and some news

So here is a quick catch up on whats been happening in my little world..

1. E started Grade 1. Prep school is a completely different ball game filled with extra-mural activities and homework. He is thriving and loving the challenge. He still adores swimming and currently swims twice a week at school and twice a week with a private coach. I am not sure if this is really a sport that he will compete in but I will support him as long as he enjoys it. This term he chose to do tennis twice a week as his school extra-mural. It has meant coming home at 4 on a Monday, so I hope that next term will be a bit less chaotic. He has made some really good friends at school including a sweet little girl, A who often gets a lift home with us.

2. Z started playgroup at the same school. She nearly ran into school on the first day. She was so excited to finally be able to go to the same school as big brother. I knew she was ready as she had started to cry every time we dropped at E at school. She wanted to be part of the fun. We have had one or two teary days, including one where she actually said Waahh. The rest of the time she loves school and adores her teacher. Her vocab has improved in leaps and bounds. She is in a really sweet class and they all hug each other in the morning. They will have 16 years of school together and I am sure some of these little friendships will last. All of her food issues have vanished and she loves sitting at table to eat with her friends. They get porridge in the morning, a fruit snack and a cooked lunch. Her favourite food is the Mac and cheese. Apparently she always eats two bowls of that.

3. A has still not been able to move to Ballito. A year later and I am still in the single parent world during the week. It still sucks and the kids find it really hard. Hold thumbs that everything works out this year.

So now for the news.... I am launching a parenting/travel/ organising Youtube channel. The first video will upload on Monday. Schedule for now is:
Monday- organisation
Thursday - fun video : this may be parenting, cooking or travel related depending on whats happening in our lives.

I think we need more South African Youtube channels. I love the US parenting channels but I battle to find any of the items they mention here.

I will eventually link it to my blog. Still undecided if I am going to continue with East Coast Life or move everything to Katinafrica. What do you think?

Anyway, so that's what I have been doing... expanding my freelance career and learning how to edit videos. I will put the link here once the first video uploads.

Cheers

Freelancing 101

I have had lots of requests for this post...so here goes.

How I started
I worked as a contract employee from home for many years and when that job ended, I couldn't face returning to the work place. I started searching the web for Freelance writing jobs. I have tried every site out there and had varying levels of success. Over the past seven years I have learnt a few things and now I will share them with you.

Things to remember
1. This is a job... you can't sit around all day and expect to be paid.
2. You will spend hours searching for work and nobody pays you for that time.
3. Its a great idea to have some back up funds or a full-time employed partner when you first start. You will not make a lot of money at first. It can take years to find your stride. I am only in a really happy place with lots of work now.
4. People will try to scam you. This is the internet and it can be very hard to trace people. I spent weeks on a job only for the client to vanish without payment. Learn to judge clients.
5. A friend told me that you need balls of steel in this job and that's true. Editors and clients can make you feel worthless and as a freelancer it is very personal.
6. Be prepared to work through the night to meet deadlines
7. People will treat you like you don't work.
8. Finally you will never have another true holiday again. Vacation time does not exist in the freelance world. When you don't work, you don't get paid.

So on the positive side

Your time is your own. You are able to work odd hours so that you can be there for your children.You can work anywhere in the world. Most work will be in US$.

What should you do

If you want to give freelancing a try, it's actually pretty easy. Some sites you sign up and they send you work, others you browse through job listings.

Only ever sign up on free sites. Run away from any site that requests money. The majority are scams.Don't ever give out your card details.

So here are the steps:
1. Go to PayPal and sign up for an account. The majority of sites and clients will want to pay through PayPal.
2. Get an online FNB account if you don't bank with them. This is currently the only way to get PayPal payments in SA. FNB are very helpful in setting this up. Money takes 5 - 8 business days to clear in your account.
3. Now start signing up on websites. Spend time on your profiles and use a great picture. This is what a client uses to chose you to do the work. Here are the names of a few sites to try:
Upwork.com
Guru.com
Fiverr.com
Peopleperhour.com

I don't personally use any of these sites anymore but they can be a great starting point. Be aware of clients with new profiles when you first start as these can be a scam. Stick with experienced clients and they will help you to build a decent portfolio.

If you would like to write articles try:
iWriter
Custom Content
Pure Content
Freedom with writing
ProBlogger job board

Some of these sites have fairly stringent application processes, so be aware of that.

The other way to get jobs is to ask around on your FB page or other social media. You may be able to get clients through your contacts and these can be high paying clients.

I realized that I have lots more to say on this topic and a massive deadline looming... so this will be a series of posts. Feel free to ask question. Type the site name into Google. Sorry no time for Hyperlinks today:)