Have Skype, will work anywhere for anyone
I was discussing the internet today with a friend in the UK. That friend will remain nameless but let’s just say that she thinks the total sum of the internet is “e-mail, chatrooms and instant messaging”. According to her, everything else is “irrelevant”.
Irrelevant? Excuse me! I beg to differ and I have personal experience to back me up here. When I moved permanently to Germany 6 years ago, I came here to be with my girlfriend. I left a fairly good job with the Scottish civil service and came here with very basic German language skills and very little money. Amazing the things someone will do for love!
Anyway, over the past 6 years, I estimate I have made around $20,000 working through the internet. Now I am not talking about get-rich-quick schemes or affiliate marketing. I am talking about real work by real business contacts that I have built up all over the world due to the limitless reach of the net. I firmly believe that without the internet, I would have been forced to go back to the UK years ago to look for work as it would have been extremely difficult to look for work here while I was still learning how to speak German. But thanks to the net, I have been able to build a good life here in Germany and enjoy my lifestyle as a self-employed person. The internet even helped to alleviate the initial homesickness that everyone goes through when they move away as I was able to access British newspapers on the net, as well as watch the BBC news and keep in touch with family and friends.
The internet has allowed everyone to set up “virtual offices” and be employed by anyone, anywhere in the entire world. In 6 years, I have become an English teacher with clients in various countries, a consultant with an eBay-connected company in the US, a website columnist, an editor and proofreader with clients in the US and Russia, and I am now blogging for Make Use Of. None of that would have been remotely possible without the internet.
But what are the specific tools that allow us to work with whoever we want, wherever we want?
First, of course, there is e-mail which allows us to communicate instantly with people all over the world.
Secondly, there’s instant messaging which I actually consider more of a hindrance than a help due to its potential to ruin your concentration when the message window suddenly goes “ping!”. But nevertheless, it does come in useful sometimes for quick queries.
Then there is Paypal which allows people from all over the world to pay me for my services.
But the real asset in my quest to find international clients is Skype. Skype allows me to call and IM people anywhere at either free or very cheap rates. If both parties have a webcam, we can also have video conferencing calls. Skype also has a very active forum where I can advertise my services for free. It also helps that I am good friends with the lovely lady that runs the Skype forums.
Most of the internet is irrelevant? I think not! 
Related posts:
