Tag Archives: wifi

Freelance Opportunities…at Starbucks

starbucks coffee

Wired reports on an interesting development that means more freelance opportunities at Starbucks. And possibly WITH Starbucks.

In the last few years, unless you have an AT&T account or purchase and use a Starbucks gift card, there was no such thing as a publicly available wi-fi signal at the famous coffee shop chain. iPhone users could happily freelance away thanks to their AT&T mobile login, but the rest of the freelancers had to make do some other way.

But Starbucks has finally realized what all those people typing away furiously at their Macs and Windows laptops REALLY want from Starbucks aside from those high-calorie pastries and pricey lattes. A place to get stuff done–an office away from home. One that has music that won’t make you run screaming for the earplugs (except when they play that Paul McCartney album AGAIN for the millionth time.)

According to Wired, “Starting July 1, Starbucks will let anyone connect to its WiFi network for free. This fall, the company will add a content network called Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo and other sites, which will include local content you won’t be able to read anywhere else. Both offerings will be free.”

Now that in itself is very good news, but did you see the hidden freelance opportunity possibly lurking in that sentence? Starbucks Digital is offering unique content on their free wi-fi network.
That means jobs for writers. Possibly permanent gigs combined with contract gigs. The free wi-fi wakeup call has finally come and that means VERY good things for anyone living within range of a Starbucks who doesn’t have a good indie coffee shop nearby. Hey, our sympathies are definitely with the indies…what can we say?
But if you’re in need of a steady gig and drooling over the notion of working for a company that could as a perk of employment or contract possibly set you up with free java? You’re probably already looking in the Careers section of Starbucks Inc trying to find those Writer Wanted listings.