Be careful what you wish for....
I have always been an avid writer. Some of the work is okay, some of the work is terrible, and a few pieces I have written I truly fell in love with as if they were my child. With the downslide of the economy I have been bouncing from job to worse job to make ends meet. I love working from home, but there doesn't seem to be a huge arena in my area for that.
Craigslist in my local community isn't usually the place to find a good opportunity, but I still check it out most of the time just for a laugh. We have one local family run newspaper ( did I mention that is where I was laid off from after 7 years?) , and that is one of the only places where there are legit job postings. The paper has partnered with some big name job search engines, which if you ask me only makes it harder to find TRUE postings. I still check every day though to find as many listings as I can, and hope for the best. Last weekend I came across a posting for someone to do some data entry from home. I applied for the position immediately, I knew it was legit because the email was with one of our big name local real estate agencies. The realtor called me within the next hour to go over some of what he was looking for. Sure I can make you some spreadsheets, I can help you design your virtual tours, and edit some images, but I was truly blown away when the gentleman started telling me about the book he wants to write, or has already begun to write in some sense of the word.
As the phone interview went on the focus went more from data entry to bigger and better things, which I would love to help someone with, but I am not sure if ghost writing a real estate book is anywhere in my list of capabilities. He explained to me that he is the main source of knowledge, and how long he has been doing this. He would provide me charts, and writings he already has mused up, and wants me to set up the pages for him as a basic layout to his thoughts. I am slightly overwhelmed. I love the idea of undertaking such a massive project on something I know nothing about, but I also fear disappointing myself and the realtor if I can't bring this to life.
The pay is fair, the first few steps are fair, and I know I am going to give this my best shot. It is a great resume builder, and at the end of the day I may have really accomplished something. If worst comes to worse then I can always keep busy with the string of endless data he wants to be able to have access to. I would say right now, he has access to one of the most affordable writers there is, just because I am looking for experience.
When walking down a new path, with a new partner you never know where the end may take you, and if you are willing to grow together and be the extra set of arms for someone that can carry you up to the next level, by all means take it.
This is another journey I have earned the "write" to.