I recently shared, as a Favorite Friday, my multiple income streams. Then, I wrote about job seekers having creating multiple income streams. M. Shane Smith, a friend and job seeker advocate in the Twin Cities, sent me an email about it and I asked him if he would share his thoughts with you. Here ya go!
Looking for a job in today’s economic conditions will be a challenge. But, IF you’re willing to learn and put in the time and effort, you will be successful. Before you start looking at multiple revenue streams, I always encourage people to get their head on square with a positive attitude.
(1) Learn: how to sell yourself with resumes, social media, business cards, your 30 second commercial, reading books and even keeping track of your job search and contacts. Three books I recommend are: I’m LinkedIn-Now What???, Jason Alba, Resume Magic, Susan Whitcomb, 101 Smart Questions, Ron Fry. Of course, take advantage of JibberJobber.
(2) Time & effort: Spend at least 30 hours per week researching key companies, people, participation in career seminars (online or in person), networking groups and networking with others. Your personal brand will be much stronger if you help others (making more deposits) rather than just taking (the withdrawals) contact names. This is not a time to relax and “take time off.”
OK, you’re doing the work; you know what you want and where you’re going. Now let’s look at multiple revenue options, knowing everyone is in a different situation:
- Unemployment benefits. While not much, it helps.
- Find a Part time job #1. Some may think of this as a survival job. (20-30 hours per week) Holidays are a great time to land these jobs. Temp job services should not be overlooked.
- Find a part time job #2. One that maybe is nights or weekends. (10-20 hours per week) This could be cleaning houses, yardwork, house sitting and more.
- Volunteer. Sure, you may not make money, but the contacts you make could be worth much more than money.
- Consult. Do you have talents that you can charge $20- $100+ per hour? Think about it. If so, get business cards and go get some projects.
- Selling personal property. Need cash? Sell personal property before you go under water. This could be a car, house or other items that can bring in some cash during this difficult time.
- Move. Yes, move to another state where there is LOW unemployment. No one is asking you to live there forever, but sometimes we have to do what we can and things change.
During this same time period, keeping looking for job like you just had or better yet, your dream job!
Things change and sometimes we have to make adjustments in our lives to pay bills.
Stay positive, learn, share and grow during this time of adversity.
What do you think?
Great post, but one word of advice based on painful experience. Be very, very careful about how you do that part-time job or consulting. I was denied unemployment benefits because I incorporated to protect my assets. I saw the consulting projects as an “audition strategy,” where I could demonstrate my value to prospective employers and supplement the meager unemployment benefits. Instead, I’m fighting with the state of Delaware over the definition of employed in the midst of two very slow months of consulting. Just make sure you know the rules and decide how you want to handle it.
Peter
Excellent, excellent point Peter!