How to find the right work at home position
| July 12th, 2007
In the last 5 or so years I have been ‘working’ from home, only the last year or so has it made a financial impact for us. I can finally say legitimately that I work from home, granted, I do about 5 different things from home, but at least two of those would also be positions in the ‘outside world’. The first 4 years were spent researching, experimenting, failing, and ultimately, learning. There are alot of companies out there to work with from home, that really will pay you, and not for clicking links or reading emails you just have to sort through all the data to find the right company for you.
To find the right work at home job for you, you need to ask yourself a few questions: * How much time do I have to work every day? * Am I good at selling, talking on the phone, writing, etc.? * and are you disciplined?
There are more things of course to consider, but those are the basics. By Disciplined, I mean can you make your self get up every day and do what needs to be done if you don’t have a set schedule? I am not disciplined, with one of the companies I work for you set your own hours, and that could vary by day. I had a hard time keeping up with such a loose schedule. That’s when my newest position took over; I HAVE to work 9-5 Monday through Friday. Having a set schedule helps me, but not all.
When looking for work from home jobs you will need to research, look at some message boards, blogs, etc. Once you have a position you are interested in, do more research, look for the company on Google, ripoffreport.com, message boards, technorati, everywhere. You want to find as much information as possible on the company. Never pay to get a job. Now there are some exceptions, but very few, some companies require a background check, and they may have you pay for that, or if it is a direct sales company, they may require a start up kit. But even with those scenarios, you have to be careful, see what others are saying about the company, and if it is legitimate.
When researching a company, be sure to balance the negatives with the positives, if you find just a few negative posts on the company it may not mean anything other than a disgruntled employee, do not let one or two bad reports sway you. If there are more than just a few, and they are all complaining about the same thing, then you may have a legitimate problem in the company.
Be sure to pay attention to the dates of comments as well, this goes for both bad and good reviews, if all of the bad reviews were written a year ago but everything current is positive, the company may have been having something happen that would cause problems; new owners, new technology, start up, etc. That also goes the other way, if all the great reviews are a year old but the newest are current, stay away, they are having problems now. (If it still seems like a good opportunity, you can always keep researching it over time, wait for them to hopefully ride out their problems and then apply.) Another problem you might come across when researching is a lack of information. That could mean a number of things, either they are very new, a scam, or strict on confidentiality. In this day and age we should not have a problem finding something on a company, so always try more research, check more message boards, post on the boards asking for information, different search engines, etc. You should also check whois.com for their domain name, if the company says they are in NY, but the search on whois comes up in another country, then that could be a sign. (Usually a different state in the same country is not a bad thing, alot of companies have a main office in a different location) Just in case you have not heard the following, I will let you know now: NEVER take a job, no matter how much money it promises that involves the passing of money. These jobs can be disguised very well, and take many forms. Some times they ask you to ‘collect’ payments and send them toy another account, you are the billing contact, etc. You should never take these jobs, you can end up in jail. If you have any doubts on the position always visit a message board or a blog and ask questions, most people are more than happy to let you know about the offer or the company.
Working from home is a challenge, trying to find the perfect job, the legitimate way to make a living can be a daunting task. It is completely possible; it just takes trial and error. I read somewhere a long time ago - “You can not truly start making money at home until you have been scammed at least once.” If that is true than I am on my way, I have had my share of scams, tried my share of ‘get paid to complete offers’ and ‘.10 cents an email’ things, and even though 3 out of the 30 companies I toyed with ended up paying me, it was a waste, there was too much time and energy involved in making 100 bucks. Hindsight is 20-20, once you know what to look for and how to recognize a scam you can better see the jewels.
It seems that you are already a veteran in working from home. I’ve just started last year, and I still cannot pay all my monthly bills. It is true that I’ve learnt a lot and I do hope to see some decent income in the next year or so. Meanwhile, I had to take a couple of clients in the offline world, because the online earnings are low. But I like working from home. As of discipline, I’m very disciplined, so it’s easy for me to work without a fixed schedule and still do all the things I need to.
Simonne, It does take time to start earning enough money to pay the bills online, some people are lucky and hit the good money right as they start, but most of us have to play the game some.
I have been scammed I dont know how many times while trying to work from home. It is just so diffucult to philter out the crap from the real! Im happy for you but i am still trying.
I’ve really lucked out. You know pretty much what I do to make money at home
and while it’s not a 9 - 5 job all the things I do certainly do pay the bills. That’s why I say I lucked out. I started working from home less than a year ago and I’ve already managed to build up my income enough to pay ALL of the household bills and more. It’s fantastic.
I think timing played a role in my success since a few new companies started businesses right around the time I started looking for stay at home work. I’ve also been on the net for a long long time so I didn’t end up falling for any scammy jobs that really don’t pay, or worse that could end up being illegal.
One thing that should be mentioned over and over again is the fact that it can be hard to get motivated to complete work when you are at home. You have to set hours and stick to a schedule. It’s quite a different working environment and you can easily get distracted by day to day things.
So are you prepared to say what actually works then???
I know a couple of people scraping an income from PPP etc, but I think its quite hard to earn good money from blogs and is very time consuming…
I also know people writing content on freelancing sites, but this doesn’t pay well either…
If you have suggestions I would be all ears!!
Jez
I have worked from home and in an online position for over 10 years. I’d name my company but I well I don’t want them to find my blog
anyways, you might want to search out Moderation Services, Chat Moderation, Chat Host, Boards Moderator and Social Networking companies just to give ya some ideas. I make good money and raise my 4 children so it’s is possible you just have to search long and hard!
I am always looking for ways to work from home, ideas please, thanks!
Thanks Kat,
I never thought of forum moderation, thats a good tip!!
Any more ;-) ;-)
Regards, Jez
I also never would have thought of forum moderation, but it is an interesting idea. I have also gotten caught up in few things that sound better than the really are. Right now, I work full time and work on my online business in my spare time and at this time that works for me.
I am glad you all liked it! I will be following this up with lots of ideas and places to work from home!
I agree with structure. Procrastination always sets in otherwise. Some call it the “Student Syndrome”. I wrote about it recently on my other blog. Having a set schedule and working hours makes you stick to it!
You have some good advice there. I have owned 7 businesses and 2 corporations. All but one were “work at home” jobs. You’ve got to be prepared to give, give, give before you get anything back. Otherwise, you put in a ton of hard work and just before you start to reap the benefits, you run out of $$ and go get a…. job (ugh, gross)
I see you were recently in my neighborhood (Orlando), I hope you had a good time!
I work a full time job 9-5 M-F, but am always searching for ways to make money in my off time too. I recently started over at PPP, and made about $100 the first month. But it’s not dependable income at all. Thanks for the info!! Any suggestions are welcome ;~)
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I have found, after falling into many a scam, that the best way to work from home is to come up with an idea that works for you and run with it. Work for yourself is the best way to work from home.
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I have worked from home since 1997. My business started as an administrative support role but I eventually moved into Internet marketing after finding my niche. You should consider becoming a Virtual Assistant if you are interested in working from home. VAs can provide general admin assistance or a specific niche that they may experience in such as legal secretarial, real estate support, database management, etc. www.IVAA.org is a great organization to look into. Additionally I do coaching at VAstartup.com for those who need the extra help starting their business. Too many people have been scammed by other businesses who claim to let you work from home, but most of those businesses want you to pay a fee. My philosophy is that when you go to a job interview, you don’t pay a fee so don’t pay one to businesses promising you work. Open your own business, figure out what you truly love to do and make a business doing it. For those that love to write - Blogs are a HUGE area to get into. Real estate agents, speakers and coaches are needing bloggers all the time. I encourage those of you who are interested in working from home to pursue your dreams. I started so I could stay home with my kids and while it can be trying to juggle kids and work - it’s worth every minute. Good luck to you all!