How I get access to information

I had an email exchange with one of our Jobs At Home readers the other day. Lissette asked, “I was wondering what business you were in and how you have access to all this great information?”

Since I get this question often enough, and the answer changes all the time, I thought I would post my response:

That’s a question I get a lot, actually, and the answer is that I’m in MANY businesses.

I’m a licensed real estate agent, a beginner real estate investor, tax preparer (seasonal, of course), mystery shopper, paid survey taker (made $8 this morning!), field inspector, freelance customer service rep, writer, audiobook publisher, insurance inspector, Internet marketing guy, online travel rep, certified disaster housing inspector, and occasional contract-basis administrative assistant, sales rep, and probably a few other things I can’t think of off the top of my head because I don’t do them as regularly.

Basically, when I got out of the Navy in 2001, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do for a living, because I can’t stand repetition and doing the same type of work day in, day out, plus I really like being independent.

So, all the information I pass on comes from stuff I’ve learned and stuff I find. I’m constantly learning about new industries that I never knew existed. For example, did you know that there are people that live in there RVs full time and travel up and down the oil pipelines between the US and Canada, inspecting every section of pipe they come across, looking for leaks and other damage? The pay isn’t much more than minimum wage, but they’re mostly retired folks with pensions or Social Security, so it’s a great job for them.

I also network with a lot of people locally and online, so I’m always coming across people that have new programs or need people.