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Freelance work for live-aboards


rivershine

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Hi there.

I feel certain this question has probably been asked before, perhaps more than once, but entering terms such as "working from home" or "working from the boat" or even "freelance" and "freelancing" don't give much by way of result. Possibly this is the search engine, I don't know. Anyway, here goes.

I am contemplating boat life but to make this realistic would need to make a change to some kind of freelancing or remote work done from the internet. This is not something I have done before in my life, and I would very much like to see if I can make it viable BEFORE I commit to a watery future. I have been a teacher for some years, and this seems to give the possibility of online tutoring. However, this is a rather over-subscribed area, and I don't want to be limited to this. So here comes my question as I really want to phrase it:

For those continuous cruisers here or even permanently moored who do NOT have  a conventional (go to an office or physical site) job, but are working from the web, what sort of things is it that you are doing? I am looking for something that I might learn or gain some kind of certification in that doesn't involve years of study, and preferably not more than a year, but is also actually DOABLE and realistic, and doesn't pay in survey-level sweetie money. I know only too well that I cannot sustain continuous cruising on smoke and mirrors. There are so many scam subjects in "internet working" that it seems a minefield.

I realize this question is not highly specific to boating life, but I am asking it precisely for the purpose of funding boating life, and therefore I will also add the rider of asking if there are some special aspects of the reality of that life that would automatically or semi-automatically rule out certain kinds of "internet work."

I am perfectly prepared to put in effort or work to become viable at something new. That isn't the problem. At the moment I can only claim to be an "expert" at teaching English, but I have never done that online and I don't know if that will be sufficient to do the job, or even IF it can do the job alone.  The truth is that I've never been particularly good at identifying possibilities unfamiliar to me that may be available "out there," so I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be things I just haven't thought of, yet that people are making work for them.

So just one more time to be clear, I am specifically talking about remote work using the internet while continuously cruising. I am not talking about plying a trade with physical product from a boat (sandwiches, mobile electronic repair etc). All power to that, but I'm no use at any of that. I suppose that giving some kind of service (lessons / advice etc) on the boat is another kind of possibility, but again I'm not sure what that would be, and (ideally) I don't want to be limited to high traffic areas of the network.

So CCers and other liveaboards who are working via the internet and using that to partly or wholly fund your lifestyle, I am asking *you* specifically...how precisely are you doing this, what are you doing, and what might be recommended in my circumstances? I welcome realism, but please do be constructive (i.e. not "haha, good luck with that mate!" and such). It's a serious question.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by rivershine
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2 hours ago, rivershine said:

It's a serious question.

 

Once you have identified your ’job’,  the next biggest (and crucially important) fact  is to actually get  internet onto the boat.

You will need a mobile connection with sufficient data allowance to allow you to consistently work,

Not all providers cover all of the canal/River network.

Not all of the River / canal network has coverage – there are total black spots with no phone signal.

Remember that the canals/rivers tend to be in cuttings and are below the ‘tree-line’ and even in reputably ’strong signal’ areas you may find only a very weak or intermittent signal.

It is generally suggested that “3” offer the best coverage, but we, like many others, have a 2nd provider (in our case EE) to ensure we can, 99.9% of the time get a signal.

Your proposal can be done, and is being done by a number of folks.

There is a very recent thread on here with a lady asking the same questions as yourself – she is a music teacher and looking to see if she can move onto a boat and teach via Skype.

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As an English teacher, proof-reading might be an option.  And going by the appalling grammar and spelling seen on the websites of even quite big and well-known companies, there should be a market.   And magazines;  Waterways World would be a good place to start!

When I considered doing something on-line, I looked seriously at website search engine optimisation and doing Google advertising and analysis.

Edited by dor
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The hardest part is finding customers. Could you go freelance now whilst living in a house? Then once you are established you could move onto a boat.

If you can't contemplate a freelance lifestyle in a house then its probably going to be even harder when you are on a boat!

Be harsh and realistic with yourself, lots of people move onto boats with a dream of finding lucrative canal related work, or making a good living as roving traders, only a few manage to make it work.

...............Dave

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I know quite a few boaters who make a living from the comfort of their own boats. They all work in fields where they can digitise their work. They are writers, technical authors, eBay sellers and IT wizards and programmers. They do well, but they are the happy few. I'm afraid that there isn't a simple solution to earning a crust from the comfort of your own boat. Those who have found a lucrative online niche tend to keep the details to themselves.

Your expertise is in English. Yes, there are many people offering the service online, but the fact that there are so many of them doing it is an indication that there is a market for you to tap into. As with any business, finding and keeping customers is the hardest part. 

Explore the avenues open to you before you even think about moving afloat, especially if your floating lifestyle is dependant on your boating income. Identify anyone who is already successful in their field and look at their business model. Email them and ask for advice. Some may not want to give advice for fear of competition, but you'll be surprised how many will be willing to help.

You'll have to work very hard to make your dream a reality. Many live aboard boaters are confined to particular geographic areas because of work commitments. Because of that, they have to consider their mooring options and the likelihood of trying to find a decent residential mooring. If you crack the difficult work from boat nut, you will be free to explore the network at leisure. That, to me, is worth burning the candle at both ends for a while.

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Hello folks. Thank you for the replies thus far, of whatever kind, though most especially to those who offered specific suggestions on the work front (which was my real question). I notice that everyone who is replying so far is referring in the third person to "others" who are somehow doing this. I guess I was/am hoping that some of those "others" would actually chime in here. Of course, I know it's only been a few hours. I'm not looking to steal anyone's work. I'm looking to identify what *kinds of work* may be practical here that I have not yet considered.

Are there any such CCers actually reading these threads?

Yes, I read the thread with the music teacher comments. This is just about the only thing that came up under the search function. Again, interesting, but not really useful in my case, as people around me in boats would start killing themselves if I tried to give music lessons. I did mention the possibility of tutoring (English or another subject) in the flesh in the original post, but again, has anyone ever heard of this on the waterways? People would need to come to the boat or the boat would need to go to those people. I wouldn't want to hang in big cities, which is why the online version interests me much more. I doubt there is much of a market for music (or English) lessons on a canal boat out in the rurals?

I am aware that there are issues with internet connection, but to be honest I am less concerned with that ("will cross that bridge when I come to it") than identifying viable possibilities to begin with and preferably talking to people who are doing that. There's no real point in worrying too much about the extra hoops to jump through for connection until I have something that's truly worth connecting for. Unfortunately, I don't personally know anyone who is doing this, especially on a boat, so I am hoping to strike up just such a conversation (this would be the ideal). On the webs, people who state that they are knowledgeable about these things tend to be offering ebooks and courses, and my experience with such conversations so far, or trying to start them up, is that they soon end up in the territory of advising me to read their book or take their course. When I have actually done that, however, the kind of advice given seems to me too general and nondescript.

I guess one of my aims here is to determine whether this is *actually happening* for more than about one in a million people. The rumour of people funding their travel lifestyle by some kind of internet business or e-working seems to be a persistent one, yet I am puzzled that when I do ask the question, the response always seems to be "I know a guy who was doing that..." kind of thing, rather than "yeah, hey, *I've* been doing that for years, let's talk!" It's a puzzle. Maybe people are coy about it. I don't know. Again, I'm not seeking to steal anyone's turf.

 

Edited by rivershine
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53 minutes ago, rivershine said:

Hello folks. Thank you for the replies thus far, of whatever kind, though most especially to those who offered specific suggestions on the work front (which was my real question). I notice that everyone who is replying so far is referring in the third person to "others" who are somehow doing this. I guess I was/am hoping that some of those "others" would actually chime in here. Of course, I know it's only been a few hours. I'm not looking to steal anyone's work. I'm looking to identify what *kinds of work* may be practical here that I have not yet considered.

Are there any such CCers actually reading these threads?

Yes, I read the thread with the music teacher comments. This is just about the only thing that came up under the search function. Again, interesting, but not really useful in my case, as people around me in boats would start killing themselves if I tried to give music lessons. I did mention the possibility of tutoring (English or another subject) in the flesh in the original post, but again, has anyone ever heard of this on the waterways? People would need to come to the boat or the boat would need to go to those people. I wouldn't want to hang in big cities, which is why the online version interests me much more. I doubt there is much of a market for music (or English) lessons on a canal boat out in the rurals?

I am aware that there are issues with internet connection, but to be honest I am less concerned with that ("will cross that bridge when I come to it") than identifying viable possibilities to begin with and preferably talking to people who are doing that. There's no real point in worrying too much about the extra hoops to jump through for connection until I have something that's truly worth connecting for. Unfortunately, I don't personally know anyone who is doing this, especially on a boat, so I am hoping to strike up just such a conversation (this would be the ideal). On the webs, people who state that they are knowledgeable about these things tend to be offering ebooks and courses, and my experience with such conversations so far, or trying to start them up, is that they soon end up in the territory of advising me to read their book or take their course. When I have actually done that, however, the kind of advice given seems to me too general and nondescript.

I guess one of my aims here is to determine whether this is *actually happening* for more than about one in a million people. The rumour of people funding their travel lifestyle by some kind of internet business or e-working seems to be a persistent one, yet I am puzzled that when I do ask the question, the response always seems to be "I know a guy who was doing that..." kind of thing, rather than "yeah, hey, *I've* been doing that for years, let's talk!" It's a puzzle. Maybe people are coy about it. I don't know. Again, I'm not seeking to steal anyone's turf.

 

OK, yes, I am doing it and have been for 10 years now. Its software based stuff and I am lucky because I had a small group of "captive customers" before we moved onto the boat.

Internet mostly works ok but uploading really big files can be an issue if we are in an area with poor 3G. If I was starting from scratch I don't think any of my customers would have given work to "a bloke who lives on a boat". I try to do everything via email etc, going to meetings is a real pain, after ten years of boat living my idea of "smart clothes" is a bit different to those of the typical big company. When I really have to do meetings then Enterprise are good for car hire and are used by many boaters.  

We also work as roving traders selling stuff that my wife makes. This is great fun, especially at floating markets and festivals, but is not going to make us rich.

.........Dave 

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Hi dmr. Thanks for the reply. Yes, it doesn't have to be lucrative for me, but it would have to be sustainable with a bit of wiggle room. In other words, sustainable for the life of remaining on the cut, not necessarily what society in general views as sustainable.

Could you possibly elaborate a little on "software stuff" if you are willing? We could also use PMs if you'd prefer.

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Just now, originalsmoothie said:

I know quite a few boaters who make a living from the comfort of their own boats. They all work in fields where they can digitise their work. They are writers, technical authors, eBay sellers and IT wizards and programmers. They do well, but they are the happy few. I'm afraid that there isn't a simple solution to earning a crust from the comfort of your own boat. Those who have found a lucrative online niche tend to keep the details to themselves.

 

Hi originalsmoothie thanks for your reply. For the writers, do you happen to know what categories of writing are involved, as that is a vast area from proofreading to medical transcription to writing articles for magazines to blogging with affiliate links (can't imagine that would ever generate enough, unless you were a blogging superstar), etc. For the ebay sellers, are they selling physical products or virtual products? If physical, how on earth do they handle continuous cruising while dealing with constantly receiving and sending packages? Or are they moored in one area? I do have a degree in computer science too, though it is a fair while since I did any programming.

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I have worked in software for the last 30 odd years, for the last 18 years I have worked from home.  When needed this has allowed me to work from the boat, when I was actually writing code and these days when all I do is attend meetings and respond on email and IM.  With employees distributed around the world there is little need these days to be based in an office in many cases.

Edited by john6767
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7 hours ago, rivershine said:

Hi dmr. Thanks for the reply. Yes, it doesn't have to be lucrative for me, but it would have to be sustainable with a bit of wiggle room. In other words, sustainable for the life of remaining on the cut, not necessarily what society in general views as sustainable.

Could you possibly elaborate a little on "software stuff" if you are willing? We could also use PMs if you'd prefer.

PM sent, I don't want the rabble on this forum to know what I do for a living :D

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10 hours ago, rivershine said:

Hi originalsmoothie thanks for your reply. For the writers, do you happen to know what categories of writing are involved, as that is a vast area from proofreading to medical transcription to writing articles for magazines to blogging with affiliate links (can't imagine that would ever generate enough, unless you were a blogging superstar), etc. For the ebay sellers, are they selling physical products or virtual products? If physical, how on earth do they handle continuous cruising while dealing with constantly receiving and sending packages? Or are they moored in one area? I do have a degree in computer science too, though it is a fair while since I did any programming.

I know one lady who does technical writing. She's South African and works for a company in Johannesburg. They don't care where she is in the world as long as she gets the work done. 

The eBay sellers use fulfilment companies so they don't have to handle products at all. They pick products which are popular and which can be drop shipped. They aren't keen to talk about the actual products for fear of competition.

I'm not on the English inland waterways network at the moment. I sold my narrowboat last October due to problems importing my American wife. We're on the Dutch waterways network now. While I was on the English canals, I made a pretty good living via the internet. I wrote and sold several boating guides and, on the back of those, I had plenty of customers for experience and helmsmanship training days I offered on my boat. I was free to cruise for six or seven week blocks and then returned to my base to run a dozen back to back training days.

Getting the business started was hard work. In addition to my forty five hour a week day job at a marina, I spent thirty to forty hours a week for several years building a subscriber list and adding content to my site. Eventually, I earned enough from my site and from my experience days to leave my marina job and cruise full time. The hard work and long hours were worth it.

As you are only exploring possibilities at the moment, if you're serious about making a lifestyle change, you could set up something online around your English teaching. Getting to a level of income which will support you may take a number of years, but what have you got to lose?

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8 hours ago, rivershine said:

Thanks for the reply John. Are you programming, or website development?

I don't think it really matter exactly what, it is just that software is an area where you don't tend to have a lot of direct contact with others given the global nature, and therefore it you have decent internet access you can work from anywhere.

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Thank you for the replies. Many category ideas so far, which is what I was after. There's no danger of me doing anything that any of you are doing, as I don't have those skills, and couldn't acquire them without an extensive prep stage of at least a couple of years.

Part of me is a bit nervous that this lifestyle, or at least the "perception" of it, is becoming increasingly popular (I guess the very fact that someone like me is even here, talking to you all, is a symptom) and therefore the price of canal boats might skyrocket in the next few years if I delay too long.

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4 minutes ago, rivershine said:

Thank you for the replies. Many category ideas so far, which is what I was after. There's no danger of me doing anything that any of you are doing, as I don't have those skills, and couldn't acquire them without an extensive prep stage of at least a couple of years.

Part of me is a bit nervous that this lifestyle, or at least the "perception" of it, is becoming increasingly popular (I guess the very fact that someone like me is even here, talking to you all, is a symptom) and therefore the price of canal boats might skyrocket in the next few years if I delay too long.

Canal boats go up and down in price over the years. At present they are on a high but they will go down, always have always will do. You are right in thinking the price is being adversely effected at present by people thinking they are buying property so no one wins. Hopefuly there will be a property and hence boat price crash someday but I wouldn't hold your breath.

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1 minute ago, rivershine said:

and therefore the price of canal boats might skyrocket in the next few years if I delay too long.

It is already happening - prices have escalated tremendously in the last 12 months (I'd  guess by probably 20%-25%), this is however not the main problem.

Decent boats are selling within days (or even hours) of being listed, and the remaining 'scrap' boats are now attracting interest as 'projects' for folks who are looking for cheap living.

There has been stories of 'low priced' boats purchased and sinking en-route to their new moorings in London.

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Some people increase their earnings by filming and publishing videos on YouTube to include all sorts of things like DIY, showing the canal network, cooking aboard to general vlog (video blog) content.  They earn commission from Youtube advertising revenue but how much they actually earn, I don't know. If it's something you wanted to consider, you could potentially combine that with your teaching ability. You would likely need to gain a lot of subscribers however to see any real return from it, though it's not something I have done myself. We did feature a few "tubers" on our homepage for a short time.

Narrowboats are certainly more expensive to purchase than what they were only a couple years ago as boats seem to be selling for more than what they did then. Living aboard may cost less than renting an apartment but you'd need to be prepared for the expected and unexpected maintenance bills. - something many underestimate. 
 

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I watch every youtube vlog about NBs and some good sailing vlogs, and to be honest, the best ones [UK] have media experience [BBC or other], the standard is really high nowadays.  Cooking on the Corsican is one I watch, he has about 160 subscribers, compared to zillions on US sites featuring scantily clad ladies sunbathing and swimming in the Caribbean. If you already have been on TV then fine, but otherwise you may struggle, imho these are light entertainment rather than instructional videos..

The Narrowboat Experience sell paintings, they both work full time.

It will take a long time to build up a big audience, some of whom will send $$$ via Patreon..

Edited by LadyG
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9 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I watch every youtube vlog about NBs and some good sailing vlogs, and to be honest, the best ones [UK] have media experience [BBC or other], the standard is really high nowadays.  Cooking on the Corsican is one I watch, he has about 160 subscribers, compared to zillions on US sites featuring scantily clad ladies sunbathing and swimming in the Caribbean. If you already have been on TV then fine, but otherwise you will struggle.

The Narrowboat Experience sell paintings, but they both work full time.

I have to say that scantily clad  ladies swimming in the Carribean gets my vote over watching scenes of narrowboats on the cut.

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