Working Not Working, Not Working

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I recently celebrated a milestone.

15 years as the CEO, CCO, Owner Operator, Chief Grand Poobah of Rich Siegel Worldwide, a wholly owned subsidiary of a refinanced mortgage, ongoing student loans and a recently discovered burst in the  upstairs shower drainage pipe that will require the opening of walls and the reconfiguration of the PVC network that snakes through my home.

But, it's all good. I'm working the rest of this week. And  next week I have a big presentation with a potential new client that involves scripts for TV commercials. Remember those?

In other words, I'm working.

I wish I could say the same for the very popular platform Working/Not Working. For me, it's not.

I was one of the very first freelancers to sign up for the site. I believe I'm member #1053. The membership rolls are now in the 5 or 6 digits. And colleagues of mine, new to the freelance world but awarded veterans of the industry, are having trouble getting in. I tell them not to sweat it.

In all the years I've been on WNW and all the time carefully maintaining my status and my availability, not one job, not even an inquiry, has come down this revenue stream. Not one. Moreover, since the fine folks at WNW  engineered a Jobs Board with quite a few listings for freelancers, not one inquiry has even merited a response.

And believe me, when a job listings says, "we're looking for a snarky, smart ass freelance copywriter who likes to work remotely, in shorts and flip flops, has no stomach for boundaries and relishes the opportunity to provoke a response", I more than fit the bill.

For me, Working Not Working is more like Worthless Yes Worthless.

The same can be said for other "networking resources" or online job boards.

Just as a goof, I signed on for Upwork. That was a real eye opener.

Mind you, it's not that I consider myself too good for some of the "writing" assignments.

I'm sure that if I rolled up my sleeves, put on some coffee and cemented myself to my Herman Miller chair, I'd have no problem "leveraging proven SEO expertise to craft irresistible product descriptions for BallCo., Northern New Jersey's finest manufacturer of high quality, angular contact and self-aligning ball bearings."

I'm not above that. Not above that at all. But they were literally paying $17.50 an hour.

I can get a gig as a Target Greeter for $19 an hour -- I hear. Not to mention a 10% employee discount on all store purchases.

So long Working Not Working.

Hello Greeting Not Greeting.