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Gig Your Way to Success

January 11, 2010 By

I was featured in a piece for ABC World News that discussed a rising trend of creating your own full time income from multiple jobs. While I have been gigging for six years, the economy has made it an attractive option for many workers who never planned on being entrepreneurs.

Gigging is all about creativity and hustle. Whether you remain employed or decide to gig those two traits will be the dominant themes in the months to come.

How, where and for whom we work is going through a dramatic shift. The economy will stabilize but our work culture will not return to business as usual. With many organizations employing a distributed or completely remote work force, being able to self-manage becomes an essential skill. The gigger and remote worker must be able to manage time, productivity and remain interested and connected.

The instability of the economy has also inspired people to create a hybrid model of gigging and traditional employment. While employed, people create side gigs to supplement or secure their income in the event that they are laid off.

In order to survive and thrive in the evolving work force, we must hold ourselves accountable for our income. You may receive a steady paycheck but it is likely that you too will have to gig your way to success on the job. With shrinking budgets and staffs, the survivors will be required to pick up the pieces. Those who are willing and able to innovate within an organization will rise to the top.

Wherever you are on the gig spectrum, your career and income is in your hands. In this economy the passive and/or negative will get trampled by those who take control and hustle to keep things going. Which route will you choose?

Are you seeing this trend in your work life? Are you prepared for the shift and if not what help do you need to gain control?

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Filed Under: Career, Job Search

  • Accountability. Yes. That’s the word I was looking for. Right along with creativity and ingenuity. Whether it’s in a traditional workplace or out of the home, all of us need to learn how to use these qualities in what we do. The times, they are a’changin’!

  • Karen Swim

    Hey Deb! Yes, accountability – good word isn’t it? 🙂 I agree that time are a’changin and we can roll with it or get rolled over!

  • Karen,

    Gigs are not only becoming an increasingly prevalent source of income diversification, as you say, they also represent a wonderful opportunity for networking.

    Personally, that’s one of the challenges which I will face over the coming months – identifying some useful avenues in Australia to network effectively (blogs, forums, etc) and making a positive contribution in those areas.

    At the moment, I don’t really know where to start, but this is certainly something which I must do in addition to simply responding to job advertisements.