How Real Pioneers Support Themselves

This is Manuel.  Lives in southern USA and works as a window cleaner.  Very busy ministerial servant and regular pioneer.  He works part time cleaning windows of commercial buildings in a large city. He supports himself and his wife who also pioneers. His wife does all the accounting and he does all the cleaning. Why it works for pioneers Manuel gets to pretty much chose his own hours, though he makes it a point of doing the cleaning when the customer sees him. Over the years he has gotten very fast and good at his job.  This has made his hourly rate very high and allows him to cut back on his hours.  The high earning potential and flexible schedule make this an ideal pioneer job. Earnings potential Manuel didn't tell me how much he makes per hour, but I talked to another window cleaner that does pretty much the same thing as Manuel does and he makes about $50 USD / hour. Not bad. How to get started Manuel got started by just pounding the pav...

Meet Brent and Angelika. Both serve as regular pioneers.  They support themselves part time in Canada from vending machines.  You know the type - soft drinks and snacks. They have these machines strategically placed at various businesses and they keep them stocked. Why it works for pioneers These two work as a team.  They buy the snacks and soft drinks at Costco, fill the machines and collect the money.  As long as they do all things things during business hours, they can pretty much chose their own hours.  It's the flexibility that makes this work. How they got started Brent tagged along with a brother one day whose job it was to find locations for the machines.  He worked for Pepsi.  The process was simple - go to the manager of a large factory/store and ask if you can place a machine there.  If there was one already there, ask if you can replace it with a newer, nicer one.  If he agreed, sign a contract.  And so it went...

Yes, that's me.  I've had numerous jobs over the years to support my wife and I in pioneering, but none are as good as what I have been doing for the past 3 years.  I sell on Amazon FBA.  The letters FBA stand for Fulfilled By Amazon.  It basically means that you send your products to Amazon.com and they sell, package and ship your products for you.  They take about 30% to do this, but it's worth it as I do not have to be in North America to make it work. How much time does it demand? I think it averages about 1 hour a day.  For example, I have two products I sell on Amazon.  I order them once every six months.  I receve them in Washington State and then ship them to the Amazon warehouses. That can take a 40 hour work week to receive and re-ship to Amazon.  But the following 6 months require about 15 minutes per day to manage.  Therefore though I live in eastern Europe, I need to travel back to USA twice per year. Flexibility ...

Meet Karen, a regular pioneer in USA.  Karen has been writing a blog for about 7 years.  It is a collection of her travels which contains helpful information and tips for wannabe travellers. On her blog she allows google to put advertising and she makes her money this way. Demands on Time Karen makes a flurry of entries when she is travelling.  So the demands on her time come in waves.  When she is at home, she can focus on the ministry. But when on the road, she makes sure she schedules enough time to write about the things she sees. Karen asked that her blog link not be included. But I can tell you it is a very professional looking website, which no doubt took time to develop. This is the biggest drawing card for her. She loves the flexibility in her schedule. Earning potential Karen says that she averages about $30 per month for every 150 entries.  You can now do the math. She supports herself solely with this blog so you can get an idea of ho...

Meet Max who has been serving in a foreign territory for about 3 years.  He speaks Russian and uses this to teach Russians how to speak English. He posts short video clips that teach about selected English expressions. As time has goes by, he gets more and more people subscribing. Demands on Time The amount of time it takes to make and edit a video really depends on the quality you want.  You first have to conceive and plan the video.  Then shoot and edit it.  A poor quality video can take literally minutes to post. A good quality video may take a couple of hours for every minute of the final cut. You will notice that Max's videos were mediocre quality to start and now they are top notch.  That's because it draws more views. He actually has partners that he works with.  They take care of the editing and run an english school on the back end. So the demands on his time are much more minimal when you consider the fact that he can almost complete...

We are all looking for it. The perfect job to pioneer.  I outline the criteria below for how I evaluate each job discussed in this journal.  I like to focus on ones that allow working overseas. Here are my evaluation criteria. How much time does it demand? We all know some people, even some cultures, that pioneer and work full time. But let's face it, most of us are not made of that.  So three days per week, or maybe 2 or less is ideal. Also, how flexible are the hours. Flexibility Can the work days be moved around? Do you need to be on call constantly, carrying a mobile phone with you, even in the ministry?  Important questions. Earning potential Lets face it, most part time jobs do not pay enough to support yourself. Pioneers need a little more.  The most valuable commodity anyone posesses is time.  And from that perspective we need the most bang for our buck. Overseas potential Any job that gives the flexibility to work overseas is a real fi...

I've come across so many interesting pioneers over the years as one of Jehovah's Wintesses.  And I've found that they come up with the most innovative ways to support themselves. Of course, it's Jehovah taking care of them, but I find myself sharing with others these ideas.  That's where this blog enters the picture. I've decided to record these ideas in the hope that they may help others see the possibilities.  All the examples I relate in this blog are REAL pioneers that I have met personally.  I reveal the good and bad of each job.  Let's face it, there's no perfect job out there... until the new world anyways. When I can, I will try and post a picture of the pioneer.  But of course I'm sure you will understand that not all would want their personal name and photo.  So at their request, I may alter the name or put no picture at all.  But I can assure you, everything about the job is real.  And I will always reveal the country ...