Work at home writers/webmasters get no respect,,,

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   Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

   I live in a nice apt. complex. I work at home full time as a webmaster, so I am always there. Sometimes I don't even leave the house for days since everything is here.
   
   I don't know my neighbors very well, and sometimes I see them outside when I go for walks or taking out the trash. I've seen them look at me and shake their heads.
   
   I'm sure they think I'm some kind of worthless bum with no job sponging off welfare, LOL! Little do they know I make more than them most likely and am just smart enough to work at home.
   
   Also friends think I can drop everything anytime and be right over since I don't "really work". Actually I work from the time I get up until I go to bed.
   
   I know I'm glad I'm working for myself through all this recession crap. I'm actually making more each month as I learn more and expand my websites.
   
   Anyone else work from home and feel like others don't respect you because you don't have a "real" job?

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Actually I am lucky that my offline family and friends take most of my online stuff pretty seriously, and have been impressed with some of content and knowledge. I found more of an issue with what I do from people that I have never met, online, on this forum.

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      Hauntyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You feel that way too, mate? The same old story then, I guess. I hate it when I go to work early in the morning and all these work-at-home writers in my neighborhood come out of their houses (most likely to collect their papers or to take out the trash) and they laugh at me out loud pointing their fingers. They talk among themselves about this poor chap who apparently has an 'old-fashioned'.

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         Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not saying they do it to my face. More like those little sideways glances and smiles at each other, with a bit of eye rolling thrown in.
         
         They don't know I work online, so they assume I'm a non working bum. At least that's the feeling I get from them. Then again maybe it's just because I think that they think that!

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            Hauntyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Well, it's like they think you're always at home, whereas in reality you're always at work. As long as you like doing it why care about what they think?  I have a few neighbours that are a nuisance myself.

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   RachelGBposted 13 years ago

   That's a big bummer to live around neighbors who are so judgmental of others....jeez.....I'm sorry to hear that they shoot you nasty looks. I can't imagine adults doing that to other adults for any reason or under any circumstances...

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   Mishaposted 13 years ago

   I too work from home Bill. I used to feel like you, too. Not anymore though. And this has nothing to do with my environment, it did not change much. This is due to the change of my own attitude towards what I am doing

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   SandyMcCollumposted 13 years ago

   Yeah, a certain one keeps asking if I'm making any 'real' money yet. LOL!!

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   Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

   Glad to see I'm not the only one. I love working from home and being able to make my own hours. But most others don't understand it. I've had people say they could not do that because they would miss the interaction with people. Ummmm, ok!

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   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   I certainly missed the interaction with people!
   
   
   I phased out as much graphic design work as possible so that I could work completely from a netbook, now I can work from just about anywhere and actually get to take advantage of the freedom of working online.
   
   and yes most people dont believe I have a real job, but at least now I have a LOT of friends in coffee shops..and get lots of free coffee

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7. 63

   Mishaposted 13 years ago

   LOL Lots of coffee are not beneficial to your health

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   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   well, i found this Harvard study while doing research for a hub
   
   
   
   http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/ … -prostate/

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   thisisoliposted 13 years ago

   Oh god tell me about it, the worst is from my family, who think that time spent at the computer is a waste of time.
   
   It's nice when I earn some larger amounts so I can rub it back in to their faces.  Fortunately it's all ocming together, and i am hoping to start eanring enough so that I can prove that a freelance lifestyle can be a more lucrative career than an office job.

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    emievilposted 13 years ago

    I can understand your feeling thisisoli. Actually, I am not yet in that stage because I still have my full-time work as an accountant. But then again, when I brought up this subject with my family, they could not understand why I'm doing this so this may very well be a preview of other people's reaction if I decide to do online writing full time.

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    kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

    I wish I had that problem
    I have 2 part time jobs at a local school that pay very low wages (have even been told to go get a real job ) but keep the food on the table. I have started to think of hub pages as a 3rd job and its the only one I am totally addicted to these days. If I can start seeing earnings of £300 a month I can quit one of the jobs with no loss of earnings (I told you they are poorly paid jobs). I don't mind to much tho cause I am constantly learning here and will eventually have enough profitable hubs to free my time up to try pro-blogging as well as building more profitable hubs! Yours is a problem that I think I will get to have at some point but for now the part time jobs give me the freedom to learn my way (trial and error) without going hungry. At least I don't have a full time job with a long commute and all that soul destroying shit

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    Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

    Yeah some people just think working on the computer at home is not "normal". But why does anyone work? It's only to make money to live and pay your bills.
    
    I swear if I got to making $100,000 a year working from home some would still say "yeah but it's not a REAL job", lol!
    
    To be honest I'm making more than I ever have at any job. You have to think of the time it takes you to get ready for a regular job, the time to drive to and from work, breaks you don't get paid for but still are at work.
    
    Then your cost of gas, work clothes, lunch meals and so on. It all adds up. Plus working on the net means you can live ANYWHERE you want!
    
    So you can move to a cheaper area and not rely on what jobs are around there. I pay someone to write articles for me for my own blogs. That's actually a good way to make money. I use to make $400.00 a week writing blog articles for others.
    
    Anyway I love it and I'll never go back to a normal job if I can help it.

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       kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Sounds like a great life to me! Don't worry about those neighbors they are just jealous that you are living a lifestyle that gives you loads of freedom, to be honest just now I am a bit jealous But my life is my responsibility not yours so my responsibility to make it what I want it to be

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    livewithrichardposted 13 years ago

    Funny, I never really considered myself a webmaster even though I own a dozen websites and about 20 more domains for future development.  My online revenue accounts for nearly a quarter of my personal income and though I would like it to eventually replace my offline income I know just how hard and time consuming it is to do what I have accomplished.  Every spare moment I get I use it to be productive online but the spare moments are getting fewer and further between, especially since I became engaged. 
    
    I've found that it is much more healthier for me to outsource some of my online duties and it really doesn't cut that much into my bottom line.

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    moanalisaposted 13 years ago

    As a mosaic artist, I work from home as well. The neighbors at my apartment complex are very respectful of my time, although very curious about what my latest projects are. When they hear me working in the garage, they often stop by and ask to see what I'm working on. I don't mind them stopping by at all to say hello, but I had to make it very clear to the kids to never enter my garage when I'm working unless I say it's ok, since I work with glass and I don't want them to get hurt.
    
    The only issue I've run into is from a neighbor down the street who thought it would be perfectly fine to send her kid over for me to babysit while she ran errands. She didn't ask me first, her kid would just show up on my doorstep. I tried to be nice about it at first, explaining to the mom, that I can't work and watch her child at the same time and that my work environment isn't very safe for young kids. If she gave me some notice, then perhaps we could arrange times when I could watch her kid, but with no notice, it's not feasible. When that didn't work, every time the kid would show up, I'd call the mom on her cell phone and tell her to come pick up her child as I was busy working. Just because I'm a mom, too, and at home, doesn't equate to free babysitting with no prior notice. Fortunately for us, the lady moved away not too long ago.

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