Dien Rice
May 21, 2009, 06:17 PM
Hi Ivan,
I'd start out by considering what are your strengths, compared to others? What skills do you have where you have more "expertise" than other people do?
After that, consider what is the "market" for those skills?
For example, if you are great at repairing things - there is a great market right now, in this economy, for people who can repair things. While in the past people would often throw out broken items, now they're more interested in getting it repaired, if it will be cheaper than buying a new item. Some examples are appliance repairs, furniture repairs, shoe repairs, etc. If you can repair things, you can also take the "junk" that people throw out for free (or buy it for peanuts), repair it, and then sell it on Craigslist or eBay.
On the other hand, if you're "above average" at acting, for example... Well, a few actors make millions, while 99.9% of actors struggle, and can't make a living from it. There is not enough demand for all the people in the world who want to be actors. So it's a skill with a very low chance of success, when you take a hard-nosed look at it.
The other thing I'd look at is to build up your marketing and sales knowledge and skills. Those are skills which will help you in life, over and over...
That's advice that Gordon Alexander once gave me, and he's right! With sales and marketing knowhow, you can more easily find "buyers" for your skills and products. These skills can also help you get jobs - since a job application is really "selling yourself".
Found this on CNN. Go to Living section then scroll down and on the right hand side there's an article under the Career Builder logo, about l0 ways to make money quickly (approximate wording). HTH
Here's the article Sandy is referring to...
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/05/18/cb.earn.extra.money/index.html
Thanks Sandy!
Best wishes,
Dien
I'd start out by considering what are your strengths, compared to others? What skills do you have where you have more "expertise" than other people do?
After that, consider what is the "market" for those skills?
For example, if you are great at repairing things - there is a great market right now, in this economy, for people who can repair things. While in the past people would often throw out broken items, now they're more interested in getting it repaired, if it will be cheaper than buying a new item. Some examples are appliance repairs, furniture repairs, shoe repairs, etc. If you can repair things, you can also take the "junk" that people throw out for free (or buy it for peanuts), repair it, and then sell it on Craigslist or eBay.
On the other hand, if you're "above average" at acting, for example... Well, a few actors make millions, while 99.9% of actors struggle, and can't make a living from it. There is not enough demand for all the people in the world who want to be actors. So it's a skill with a very low chance of success, when you take a hard-nosed look at it.
The other thing I'd look at is to build up your marketing and sales knowledge and skills. Those are skills which will help you in life, over and over...
That's advice that Gordon Alexander once gave me, and he's right! With sales and marketing knowhow, you can more easily find "buyers" for your skills and products. These skills can also help you get jobs - since a job application is really "selling yourself".
Found this on CNN. Go to Living section then scroll down and on the right hand side there's an article under the Career Builder logo, about l0 ways to make money quickly (approximate wording). HTH
Here's the article Sandy is referring to...
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/05/18/cb.earn.extra.money/index.html
Thanks Sandy!
Best wishes,
Dien
