Finding Side Gigs on Craigslist

In episode 94, I share with you why I love finding side gigs on Craigslist. And I tell you about a new one. I just landed. 

You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options.  

I believe the remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode.... 

Hello, and thank you for joining me today. It's always a pleasure to have you back. Or, if it's your first time, thank you so much for listening. Today, I'm going to do something a little bit different. I want to share with you a personal story because I think it would be interesting and maybe a little bit instructive. Now the story specifically will be about how I found a side gig on Craigslist. 

It's not the only time I've done this. So, I'll tell you about the first time I did it. And I'll also tell you about how I did this again just a few weeks ago. But before I do that, I want to share another story with you not totally related to today's episode. But it's really part of a broader philosophy related to things that I talk about a lot on this show, and that is to always remember that everything you do, most everything you do has a value. Meaning you might be doing something as simple as cleaning your house. 

For me, that's not simple at all. So, who knows, maybe for you, you love it. I know some people listening hate doing it. But that task has value inside of that task. There are skills that you would need to possess to do it. And so, the reason I'm telling you this is I was on a walk this morning. I'm trying to get out more for walks, trying to do the healthy thing. 

Right. And on my walk today, I saw a gentleman. He appears to be retired. I don't know, but this wasn't a Monday at around 10 30, so I don't know. Maybe someone could think I'm retired. Because I took a walk at 10 30, which is not true. I'm just a remote worker and I can set my own schedule. So I shouldn't make assumptions. 

However, this man as planting flowers and putting in some plants in his lawn outside of his house. And it looked so beautiful. I loved what he was choosing. He had some succulents; he had some flowers. Names of which I couldn't tell you. I saw him with his soil, and he was patting it all down. And I, you know, as I walked by him, I said, wow, that is just so beautiful. To which he replied: oh yeah. I just have a lot of time on my hands. I should probably get better hobbies.  

And I just can't even with a comment like that. If you've been listening to the show or me for any length of time, you know, that I'm a huge advocate for people to see their own talent, to really recognize, respect and honor their own skills. 

And so, when that man responded to me like that, maybe he was being funny., maybe he was being humble. But I heard something else. I heard self-judgment.  And I stopped and I turned around and I looked at him. And I said, no, you don't need better hobbies. This is exactly what you're meant to do, and you're obviously really good at it. 
And then he protested even more …..

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Transcript

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In episode 94, I share with you why I love finding side gigs on Craigslist. And I tell you about a new one. I just landed. You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options. I believe the remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work, how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode.... Hello, and thank you for joining me today. It's always a pleasure to have you back, or if it's your first time. Thank you so much for listening. Today, I'm going to do something a little bit different. And I want to share with you a personal story because I think it would be interesting and also maybe a little bit instructive. Now the story specifically, it will be about how I found a side gig on Craigslist. It's not the only time I've done this. So I'll tell you about the first time I did it. And I'll also tell you about how I did this just a few weeks ago. But before I do that, I wanted to share another story with you. Not totally related to today's episode. But it's really part of a broader philosophy. Related to things that I talk about a lot on this show, and that is to always remember that everything you do. Most everything you do has a value. Meaning. You might be doing something as simple as. Cleaning your house. I don't know for me, that's not simple at all. So who knows for maybe for you, you love it. I know some people listening hate doing it. But that actually has value that task has value inside of that task. There are skills that you would need to possess to do it. And so the reason I'm telling you this is I was on a walk this morning. I'm trying to get out more for walks, trying to do the healthy thing. Right. And on my walk today, I saw a gentleman. He appears to be retired. I don't know, but this wasn't a Monday at around 10 30, so I don't know. Maybe someone could think I'm retired. Because I took a walk at 10 30, which is not true. I'm just a remote worker and I can set my own schedule. So I shouldn't make assumptions. However, this man. Was planting flowers and putting in some plants. Uh, in his lawn, outside of his, his house. And it looked so beautiful. I loved what he was choosing. He had some succulents, he had some flowers. Names of which I couldn't tell you. I saw him with his soil and he was patting it all down. And I, you know, as I walked by him, I said, wow, that is just so beautiful. To which he replied. Oh yeah. I just have a lot of time on my hands. I should probably get better hobbies. And I just can't even with a comment like that, if you've been listening to the show or me for any length of time, you know, that I'm a huge advocate for people to see their own talent, to really recognize. Uh, respect and honor their own skills. And so when that man responded to me like that, maybe he was being funny. Maybe he was being humble. But I heard something else. I heard self judgment. And I stopped and I turned around and I looked at him. And I said, no, you don't need better hobbies. This is exactly what you're meant to do, and you're obviously really good at it. And then he protested even more. You know, he talked about how he, you know, he really could find better things to do with his time and he probably shouldn't be out in the garden and I'm like, my goodness. What is this guy dealing with that he has that much head noise going on with an activity that not only he enjoys, but it's also a healthy activity. And is beautiful and is a great way to spend time. So, you know, I started thinking about this. I think I said something else to him, like, well, you're very talented. And then I moved on with my day because, you know, what am I going to do? Argue with him for his limitations. No. So I started thinking about it and I was reflecting on how often we do this to ourselves, including me. And we take tasks that we do every day. We, you know, things we take for granted. Um, things we don't think about. The things that we do around the house or in our lives where we just think either they have no value, we don't have talent. You know, Maybe the skills we have aren't that valuable or no one else would need those skills or want those skills. And we've just got to stop doing it. There's it adds no benefit to you to tell yourself stories like this, man. And listen, I do it too. I'm guilty of it too, but it was such a good reminder because I guarantee you. I could not build a garden as beautiful as he was building that garden. So his skill set to me had a lot of value. If I wanted someone to come build a garden, if he were willing, I might hire him, but he doesn't think so. And that's a shame. So if you relate to this at all, this is just a really good time to remind you that as you go about your day, As you're doing things that seem really easy to you and natural and maybe seemingly don't have value. I want you to think about how they actually do have value. I want you to tell yourself a different story, no matter what it is. You know, Hey, today I logged onto the computer and I did online banking. Why is that a valuable skill? Right. So I just, I just want you to think about that. And I want you to challenge yourself to think about the things you do in a new way. Okay. I'm going to get off my soap box and now I'm going to tell you my Craigslist story. That's why we're here today. So let's talk about Craigslist. Craigslist is one of those. I don't know what to call it. Websites, I guess, platforms it's been around for what seems like a hundred years. Obviously it hasn't because the internet hasn't been around that long, but it's been around. I feel like almost as long as the internet and it's been something that I've used for ages for all kinds of things. Back in the day in the, like maybe early two thousands. I used to use Craigslist to do at home. Almost like garage sales, but in my house, which, you know, in hindsight, probably wasn't very safe, but I was, oh, maybe a little naive and trusting, but I would open up my home and anytime I needed to purge things from my closet or my office or whatever, I would go around the house and I would. I don't know, decorate is a strong word I would display. How about that? I would display things around the house. I would let people come in, you know, I'd put an ad on Craigslist or post on Craigslist. I'd let people come in. And, you know, these. It was like, not a lot of money, obviously, but it was nice. I got to purge and make a few bucks. So that's how I started using Craigslist on top of, you know, looking for things to buy and sell from other people. But I also started using Craigslist back in 2017 to look for jobs. And I think that that is surprising for some people, because most people don't think of Craigslist as a job board or a place to find jobs. Maybe you're different. Maybe you have done this, but most people I'd say seven out of 10, probably haven't. Or those who have feel like it's risky because there are a lot of scams on Craigslist. So they really steer clear of it. And that's true. So I want to address that first that if you go searching for jobs on Craigslist, heck if you go searching for anything on Craigslist. That there are a lot of scams. And the reason for that is, is it's free. You're not paying to access that site because it's free. You're going to find a lot of trash. On their digital trash, right. Scams and weird people and people who maybe never call you back or people who you don't really want to have call you back. But I have been fairly successful with finding jobs and by jobs. I mean like side gigs, I've never really looked for a full-time job on Craigslist. I'm always looking for what I'll call filler jobs. And the first time I did this was back in 2017. Or was it earlier? It might've been even 2016. Now that I think about it. When my husband Bryce and I got on the road. And got into our RV and started RV in full time. Now, if you don't know that story here is the high level summary. In 2016, we walked away from everything. Our good paying jobs are home. Everything we knew in our, in our lives, like our friends, our family, I mean, we didn't abandon them, but we basically said we're not going to play this suburban game anymore. And we want to do something else with our lives. And so we got into an RV and we started traveling full time. And I lasted about. Three months before I started to panic about money, we had some money saved. So in the initial months we were using some of our savings. But listen, I have been working since I was 13 years old. And using my own money or saving my own money. And I've been very independent for so long. The idea that I would live off of savings. Even though I had it. For that period of time made me very uncomfortable. But at that point, I didn't know where to find remote jobs. I didn't know that remote work was a thing and let's be honest. It was barely a thing in 2016. It certainly wasn't as mainstream as it is now. So I was on Craigslist. I went to the job section. I had actually, well, my husband and I had actually been I'll call it marooned in our RV. I know that's not the right word because, you know, I don't think you can get marooned on land. I don't know. Anyway, we were stuck in the back of a dealer's garage because our RV had broken down and we couldn't take it anywhere. So we were really living in the back of this garage. For four days in Oregon in the pouring rain. when I think about it now, it's actually kind of charming. And fun. And I think about it with fondness at the time, I remember feeling very cold and angry. About the whole thing and anxious. And so I started looking on Craigslist. Just for something to do, because I'm like, I just can't take it anymore. So I went to the job section and I found all these random jobs. I mean, everything from get this scooping alpaca poop on a farm, which I wasn't going to do in the rain, but I would do at any other point. Uh, to the job I actually did find, which was my husband and I playing the part of parents who are going to be adopting. Or I think we had already adopted, I can't remember. Let me put it this way. We were doing like a public service video for parents who were considering adoption as an option. And so we played these parents and this was going to be turned into a commercial. My husband has zero acting experience. I have a little bit of community theater. Uh, I can tell a decent joke. So I'm like, I got this. So we did this little acting stint. We were there for a couple of hours. And we didn't make a lot of money, but it was a hundred dollars. And for me, I felt like I won the lottery because it was the first time I felt like I knew. That this was possible that that remote work was a possibility. Now it wasn't truly remote because we had to go to the studio and, you know, it was on site, but it was remote in the way that it was something I found on the road. It was flexible and part time, it was just not even a whole days worth of work. A couple hours. And I got a hundred bucks and it was like, I don't know, there was something that felt really empowering about it. So from that point on, I was a big fan of using Craigslist to find. Little sidekicks. Which pairings brings me to a couple of weeks ago. Now every now and again, I get just the tiniest, a tiniest bit of board. I don't even know if I'm saying that. Right. I get bored a little bit tiny now, and that's not because I'm not busy. I'm super, super busy. All the time, especially with this business. And sure I do. You know, I have some hobbies, although right now the business, can I take some, most of my time? You know, I'm trying to play guitar here and there. I'm going to see live music. I just saw Tommy Emmanuel. If you know who that is, he's a fantastic guitar player. And so I'm into a number of things, but every now and again, I need to do something different with my brain that isn't related to work, but also doesn't tax my brain. Um, like creativity does like learning guitar because I'm still using my brain when I'm learning guitar. So sometimes I just scroll through Craigslist and I just look up the jobs just to see like, well, what is out there? Is there anything I could do for a day or a weekend or a couple of days, something different, everything from, I could be a birthday clown cause you know, why not I don't know. It doesn't matter. And for me, I don't need it to be remote because I'm already working remotely in some ways I'd prefer that my side gig be on site just for a change of pace and to give my brain just a little bit of a rest. So I found this job. That is, it feels like a perfect fit for me. And what it is is it's a booking agent. For a new local band. That is a tribute band for a band from the nineties called the stone temple pilots. If you know that band. This is like a hard rock grunge sound. And I don't want to tell you the name of the, um, The tribute band yet, because I don't know how long this is going to last. And I don't even know if they'll keep their name. Because I don't love it. Be honest with you. Anyway, they had this post on Craigslist. They were looking for a booking agent, someone to just get them gigs, local bars and restaurants. It's a work at your own pace type of job. And here's the thing about this. There is no actual salary or hourly rate. I get paid by the bookings. And that's okay. I don't mind that because I am motivated. And the way that they're going to pay is there are four band members. And if I get them a booking, they would just split it five ways. I would be like a fifth band member. And so whatever the booking pays, I would get a fifth of it. Think about this now I am motivated to find the best bookings in town. Am I going to work hard for the booking that's$250, or am I going to work harder for the booking? That's$1,500. I'm pretty sure. You know, the answer to that. Now, obviously in the beginning, I'm going to look for any bookings at all, because I think what this band needs is traction. They're very new. They've been rehearsing for six months and they have played two gigs. I went to their second gig or live show, I guess not really a gig. I went to their live show. So I could check them out first to make sure I thought they were going to be reasonable enough.'cause I don't know. I found this band on Craigslist. Who are these people? Are they for real? Is this a real job? You know, I wanted to know that these folks were legit. So my husband and I went and saw this band a couple of weeks ago and I was actually very impressed. They were really good musicians or are very good musicians. They put on a great show. I really liked it. I thought they were tight. I thought their sound was good. I think they have a lot of potential. There are some things I'd like them to change, but of course I'm not their manager. I'm just their booking agent, you know, I just want to manage, I want to like get in there and be like, okay. You basis, you need to do it this way. And how about if you guys wear these clothes and, oh, by the way, can you change the name of your band? Because I don't like it. Well, that's not going to work. So I have to. You know, bite my tongue and I have to be humble. And I have to just do the job they've hired me to do, which is to get them the bookings. So I've started on it and I will report back to you on how this goes and if I'm getting the bookings and, and what kind of revenue this brings in now, this is not something I'm going to be doing to bring in, you know, loads and loads of revenue. It's not for that. This is a hobby job for me. This is perfect because it gets me out. To go see music. That's the other perk for me. I get to make all of these relationships with these venues and I'll probably be able to get in for free with the band so I can see their show for free, and I can see other bands they play with for free. And maybe if I make relationships with these venues, I can go see other shows for free. I feel like this fuses the best of my skills, which is marketing and relationships and communication. With my passions, which is music and, you know, seeing live shows and getting out, meeting people. So, this is perfect for me. Oh, it does happen to be remote by the way, which is fine. Like, I don't mind, I make phone calls and send emails and then if I want to go to the shows, I can go in person. So, you know, that's just a little bit more about this recent job that I found. And, you know, it's not for everyone. I get that, that type of work may not work for you, but it could. And so I want to leave you with the, I guess, idea. I don't want to call it inspiration because this may not be inspiring for everyone. But I want to leave you with the idea or the concept that you can find things like this on Craigslist. And what you would do is you would go into the jobs section on Craigslist. And you could use some keywords if you want. I didn't. I just started searching around and seeing., or you can use words like remote. If you really do want remote jobs, you could use keywords like hybrid if you want hybrid jobs, but here's the trick with Craigslist. It is very much local. So if you're searching in your own local area, You're going to be pretty limited on what you find. So you may need to go to a different Craigslist. That's connected to a different city. If you want to find remote jobs in other cities. So think about big cities, where there are remote jobs. You know, I think of places like Austin, Texas, Los Angeles. Um, maybe Chicago. Uh, New York, you know, you want to think about where are the jobs concentrated? And where would I find remote jobs? And then you may have to change your location of Craigslist. To search in those areas so that you find remote jobs in those areas, because if it's remote, it doesn't matter where you live most of the time. Obviously, well, not obviously, but if it's a hybrid job, Then you probably do have to find something close to you because you'd have to go in some of the time. But it's worth checking out. One other thing I'll mention is you don't only have to stay in the jobs category because you can search on some of the other categories. And just poke around and see if people are looking for help with something, you can go into the music category, you can go into the administrative category, you could go into the art category. It just depends on your interests. And you can search around and you can use different keywords. I've talked about keywords on this show. Uh, before, so you can maybe search the show on, you know, using keywords for a job search. And the last thing I'll mention is you do have to be aware of scams I've. I've mentioned that before in this episode, but the very last episode. That, um, I recorded is episode 93 and that's called slam the scam. I encourage you to listen to that episode. If you want to learn how to protect yourself from the scams that are out there. But in short, don't give away any money. Don't give away any personal information or credit card information. Um, That is the problem with Craigslist. It is free. You can use it. There's a lot of cool stuff out there. But there are scams too, and you do have to be protected. Remind yourself that if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't true. All right. I hope you enjoyed this fun episode. And, uh, if you do have any questions about looking for jobs on Craigslist or anywhere else, Be sure to reach out to me on Instagram is the best place. It's Camille Attell. All right. Thanks so much for listening. If you're looking to get back into the workforce, change jobs, work remotely, or learn artificial intelligence, check out my free remote work training so you can get ahead of the trends and stay ahead of the pack. Click the link in the show notes, or go to www.camilahealth.com and press the free training button.