Freelancing: $5 to write 60 words with Brijit

So here's a new place to make a little money and to learn the fine art of abstracting: http://www.brijit.com

Brijit is a catch-all for online news, and they hire writers to write 60-100 word abstracts of various articles (from New Yorker, The American Prospect, Business Week, etc.). When you log in to their system you find a queue of works (so far anywhere from 70 to 150 assignments available at any given time). 3 writers can "claim" a job: only ONE will be selected and paid, so be warned.

I've written 4 abstracts. All 4 have been selected for payment. Editors do edit your work. PayPal comes at the end of the month.

It's worth a try. I chose articles that I would enjoy reading anyhow, so the pay is a nice bonus.

There is no limit to the number you can write, but you can only claim one abstract at a time, and you have strict deadlines.

Freelancing: Telecraig, or, finding telecommuting jobs on Craigslist

Craigslist is one of the best social networking/new media/natural media sites on the web today.

Telecraig, or http://www.telecraig.com is a search engine that searches ALL of Craigslist--every single city, every single job section--to find any job or contract with the word "telecommuting" in it.

The down side to this is twofold: any mention of "no telecommuting" pops up on the search results, and all of those ridiculous "Make $4,000 working 6 hours a week from home" ads appear.

However, if you're looking for specific work--as an editor, a Ruby on Rails programmer, or data entry, for instance--you can enter your search topics and see what comes up.

So far, I've been interviewed for two positions I found on Telecraig, one in a city I would never have visited on my own. Because telecommuting is not area-specific, Craigslist might consider having a "telework" page that is global and appears in all markets. For now, though Telecraig.com has to fill that role, clunky as it may be.