Freelance/bit of this bit of that... does it really pay?

[Roui]

I currently work in mental health and I am exhausted and burnt out with it all. Have been for some time now. I feel stressed with the state of MH services and the lack of resources, and how that then trickles down to the role I work in. I feel like I am working with people who want me to fix them and won't take any responsibility or accountability for their own recovery. So basically I am now off sick to catch my breath and decide what to do.

I currently work part-time and am well supported at home but want to bring in at least £1000 a month to the family. Would it be realistic to do this doing things like data entry, home working customer service jobs, virtual assistant, sales or even professional listening etc?

I am happy to work at home on a freelance, self-employed basis, and learn new skills where needed. I would love to be working on my on terms, and have more freedom.

I see things online but I don't know what is a scam and what is genuine! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions about what will pay etc but I came on here to post a similar about being totally burnt out. I work for a charity who supports people and like you due to lack of resources I find myself looking for a magic wand to make people's situations better.
Sorry that's of no help whatsoever but I hope things work out for you and well done for taking that time off sick and putting you first! 💐

Thank you, and I feel your pain! It's only going to get worse I fear. I definitely need to get out.

I think earning £1000 as a freelancer is totally doable.

BUT... it's not as easy as just saying, "right I'm a freelancer now". You have to build up a clientele, market yourself, set up processes etc. The only way to go straight into earning properly is if you start with a proper client/part time job from day 1.

I have a virtual PA. I pay her between £30 and £300 a month depending on what she is doing the month. She would need quite a few clients to therefore guarantee an income of £1000. She does, because she's excellent, but I also know that I was recommended to her by someone else and have subsequently recommended her to someone else. It doesn't happen in a vacuum.

I have no idea either but feel the same as you both. Spend time daily fighting with social services and the like to get support for people, spend lots of time doing stuff for people who can just want a PA in a company where no one takes ownership of anything. More work than I can cope with and poor leadership. I think sometimes it's not the hours, it's just the job. You have my sympathies.

Yes, £1000/month is doable as that is a low annual income.

What is 'professional listening'??

I left a job and became a freelance consultant, specialising in the field I previously worked in. Someone gave me some good advice, which was to be aware that, like a burning coal which jumps out of the fire, you burn bright for a while, but then can quickly go out, if you're not careful. I would say it would be hard to earn enough from the sort of low level ad-hoc contracts you list, not least because so many of those are now done really cheaply by overseas workers who are willing to work for much less per hour! People I know who have left jobs with dreams of setting up as virtual PAs, personal coaches etc have all struggled to get a regular income stream out of it.

Your best best would probably be to try to get a less stressful, part time contract?

And also, as a PP says, it requires an investment of time and networking to get set up. It's no use trying to be a jack of all trades, as it would be hard to explain on your website or LinkedIn profile exactly what it is you do!

There are certainly plenty of people doing freelancer/self employed work like virtual assistants, telesales, book-keeping, admin, etc., but, like any business, they can be hard work and costly to set up, and you really do need skills, qualifications, experience etc for the decently paid work.

The clients I've got who are virtual PAs, book-keepers, etc did that for a living before going freelance/self employed, so were pretty much "experts" in their profession with skills/experience which is what they marketed to get clients.

Not too sure that, say, a small "one-man" graphic designer needing book-keeping and admin help would be too keen on engaging someone who's never done it before, who they'd have to teach. The whole point about freelancing is to be able to take over seemlessly and hit the ground running, hence the higher rates etc.

The low level data entry and basic admin work (addressing envelopes etc), is notoriously under-paid because no skills are needed, hence workers being exploited, often not even earning NMW, zero hours contracts, etc.

I'd say to the OP to think carefully about what transferrable skills they have, i.e. what "common" software they've lots of experience with, what tasks they do in their current job are similar to tasks that may be needed by a business owner looking to outsource some of their repetitive/time consuming admin work, etc.

Professional Listening offers a service where people pay to have someone who listens to them and lets them offload. It's a bit like coaching, but more about just letting people get things off their chest in a safe non-judgmental space. I have the skills for that and I would probably charge around £20-25 an hour.

I saw someone advertise on our local fb page last week offering a befriending service for elderly people - to visit and take them out/have lunch with them/do some light housework etc but no personal care. No idea what they charge but I thought what a great idea it was and it got a lot of interest. Would something like that appeal?

OP I worked in my field for 20 years and my main client is a firm for whom I worked for 6 years. Prior to that, I spent a similar amount of time with a linked firm, so lots of contacts as well as experience.

I'm not sure how it works without that kind of background.

However.....I think professional listening sounds amazing! I have never heard of it. Do you know how I would find such a person? Can I pay you?!

I've found one website but no prices listed. My main concern would be privacy but for you, guessing there's no regulation so you would be free to work as you wished.

@EmmaEmerald Thanks for the reply and the advice.

To be honest I have been toying with the idea of setting up professional listening for years. I know most people pay £25+ for a beauty treatment or takeaway would pay £25 for an hour a couple of times a month to rant and get things off their chest or just talk about things that nobody else wants to listen to anymore, like babies, wedding plans, work issues etc.

Many moons ago I was a nurse, and I have been working in mental health for the past 9 years so I have tons of experience in listening to people and their problems. Many people are just lonely and isolated now in one shape or another, and I know how much talking and being listened to makes a difference.

I think I am going to give this some serious consideration over the coming weeks, happy to let you know if I am taking on clients! haha!

@Roui I think it's a great idea
I have only found the one service for person to person, though I can .i see some individuals advertising to companies

I have practically been talking to myself today so I'd love it! I don't need to trauma dump, but just bouncing ideas and chat off someone sounds valuable.

I know that with therapy it's the sort of thing which people cut back on when times are tough. Would COL affect your business model?

So like Samaritans but profit-making? They're a listening service.

Is your value add that people could build a working relationship with you rather than speaking to a stranger each time?

I'm obviously seeing this from my POV but it's also a vibe I pick up...
I think for a lot of us, activities transferring to online has been problematic, if the social element was important.

So for me, creative writing classes online don't allow for chatting before or after

My sister is another county and always had a class on the go eg language, history, but they've gone online

If you don't want therapy - which I think is at least £60 an hour here? - and you don't want any kind of coaching, which is pricier, there's a big gap in the market.

I did think about coaching but I actually want to meander more. I don't want to say "this week my aims are..." and the have to explain myself because work or caring changed things. I don't want to set goals.

I feel a bit pathetic but I'm thinking a person on a phone who can form a picture of "this is Emma, she likes to chat about what she watched or read this week and will probably waffle on about script structure and character and maybe have a little moan about housework" and with whom I can have a weekly chat, would be nice.

I'm in a situation where I can do that once a fortnight with real life friends, if I'm lucky, and it's really not enough. I like to have some random chat.

We have a neighbours Whatsapp group and I realise that people are busy. But sometimes I genuinely wonder "why are we all chatting here, we could go to the pub", on the nights we can have back and forth laughs on there. Obviously I suggested it - no one keen.

But I'm starting to realise I'm not the problem 😂 Local pubs have pretty much closed, community centre have no activity and I know from experience, if you set it up, people won't come along.

In short, I think a service like this would help with the apparent loneliness epidemic, and that isn't just about me. I'm on MN a lot because I know I'm not bothering a busy person who doesn't have time to chat. So I'd literally pay a chatting service!

Most freelancers are very specialised. Some do a range of things but I think building up a reputation is key so it’s much easier to do this in one area. It’s also not stress free running your own business, but it is different stress and you do have autonomy. I have been freelance in a specialised niche for over 12 years now and I listen regularly to the “being freelance” podcast and I know the guy who dies it has an online course which I would be pretty confident would be good.

https://www.beingfreelance.com/

@EmmaEmerald I totally get what you are saying. In all the years I have worked in mental health I have always said that just talking and having someone listen who you connect with week on week, but who isn’t going to get emotionally involved, just let’s you rant or just share the thoughts in your head or ideas is so valuable!

Yes there is Samaritans but you have a different person. There is a market, but I think it needs to be at a reasonable price. I wouldn’t deal with trauma or anyone who was feeling suicidal, I would have clear rules and boundaries, like no contact outside the appointment no social media contact etc, and also would make sure there were no risks and complete confidence was given with the only exception being things like admitting to a serious crime!

It’s got potential and like life coaching it’s niche to the type of people who would benefit from it.

How would you deal with endings? Eg if someone became too attached to you or had more severe difficulties than you could manage? That's a trickier scenario as a private practitioner rather than someone operating within the enforced rules/boundaries of the NHS.

What if someone with acute loneliness or other difficulties you didn't know about becomes very distressed at the sessions with you ending? What if despite your ground rules they start to feel you're their friend?

You would effectively be standing in the role of a friend, albeit paid, without the goals and objectives of therapy or coaching which make those settings more boundaried. Your selling point is the relationship and people will get attached to you - ending the working relationship will then become like a bereavement for some (especially as this type of service is likely to attract people who have been hurt in previous relationships). How do you manage that ethically and safely?

How would you manage your safety if you're meeting 1-1 with people as a sole practitioner rather than a partnership in shared premises? The Samaritans get people calling them just to abuse them, it's not impossible that the odd person may try the same with you.

Insurance? Regulation? Safeguarding if someone discloses something? Duty of care? Support structures for you if it gets heavy?

Business continuity plan if something happens to you and you're suddenly incapacitated/ dead, who takes on your clients or tells them what's happened? (Duty of care...)

Supervision for yourself so you can offload in turn and keep your own boundaries in check?

I don't expect you to post answers. I understand there is a need (which is sad) and you have professional skills, I'm just thinking about where you might run into stumbling blocks so you can plan to avoid them.