The Work At Home Link Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Work At Home’

When you’re searching for a telecommute job, don’t overlook http://www.craigslist.org This is probably one of the best places to look for a telecommute job, because Craigslist is so easy to navigate, and it’s one of the top sites on the internet. There are a few ways to approach a search on Craigslist.

• In the left-hand search box, type in “telecommute” or “telecommute is ok”, then click jobs from the drop down box just under the search box.
• Repeat this, but click on gigs.
• Or instead of using the search box, you can click on the heading “jobs” or “gigs” from the center of the page. When the next page appears, click in the box labeled “telecommute”. This will filter telecommute jobs for you.
• Repeat the search in major cities besides your own area. Read each posting carefully to make sure the employer doesn’t require you to report in person at least some of the time if it’s not a local company.
• You can limit your search to a particular type of job by clicking on that category.

If you’re serious about finding a telecommute job, Craigslist is a site you should visit daily.

Another way to approach finding this type of job is to visit sites such as http://www.careerbuilder.com and http://www.monster.com and putting “telecommute” in the keyword search.

When you answer an ad for a telecommute job, unfortunately a lot of them are scams. Keep in mind that anyone that asks for money does not have a job to offer you. You don’t have to pay for a job. Also remember that the desire for a telecommute job is very common and you will have a ton of competition. You may not even hear back from some of the places you apply, because the job posters are overwhelmed with the response they receive. Don’t get discouraged. A lot of competition doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. If you are persistent and keep looking, you will eventually find a telecommute job.

Technorati Tags: telecommute, telecommute job, Work At Home, work at home job

Information overload is one of the most crippling problems for people who work at home from their computer. There is so much to do and learn. Everywhere you turn, there are new ebooks to read, blogs to follow, forum discussions to participate in, audios and videos to listen to. You subscribe to the newsletters of a dozen gurus. The next thing you know, it seems like you’re running in place, putting forth a ton of energy but never really making progress.

One of the keys to successful self-employment is productive use of time. Working at home means no one is looking over your shoulder. You don’t have to punch a time clock, so no one notices if you work two hours a day or twelve. But if you’re putting in a full day, or even if you’re working two or three hours a day around a full-time job, what do you have to show for the time you are putting in?

If you clearly know what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s easier not to get sidetracked. Each night before you go to bed, make a clear plan of what you are going to accomplish the next day. Put 3-5 things on your to do list and make sure those things get done. They may be adding an entry to your blog, writing a chapter in an ebook, sending out a newsletter, doing keyword research, working on an adwords campaign or learning something that you don’t yet know how to do (read an ebook or watch a video on a specific topic). Set a time limit for how much time you will spend on each task.

To further bring things into focus, you need to decrease the ton of information that is coming at you. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you never get around to reading. Turn off the TV. Complete one or more items from your “to do” list before side-tracking yourself with reading emails. In fact, for most people, a time limit has to be set for reading emails than for any other area.

Do what you can with each day. The more you plan ahead to take charge of your own time, the less information overload will sidetrack you and distract you from where you’re trying to go.

Technorati Tags: information overload, Work At Home, work at home business

Why do so many new businesses fail? Many people start new businesses - particularly online businesses - with a lot of drive and hope, but only a small fraction of people who start online businesses actually succeed.

Here are some of the reasons so many online businesses fail. A lot of these reasons apply to any type of small business.

1. Failure to plan.  Business success is not something that just happens. It’s something you have to make happen. The way to make it happen is to make a plan with specific steps. Your plan has to include a strategy for making your business grow. For example, if you start your own website, you have to make a plan for getting traffic to your website. This may include free methods and paid methods or both. Above all, it must include paying attention to what’s working and what’s not working. Your plan needs to include getting a handle on what you’re doing with your time, because in business, time is money.
2. Lack of action. Many people talk about starting an internet business. They purchase ebooks, software and other products. They read ebooks, watch videos, listen to audios. But they never get started. They never set up a marketing campaign to promote a particular project, or they never get started writing their ebook, even though that’s what they mean to do. This ties in with #1:  what do you plan to accomplish today or this week or this month? What deadlines do you have for completing what you’re starting?
3. Going in too many directions. Internet marketing has a huge learning curve, and you can’t learn everything in a day or a week. You need to pick a direction and go in it. You can only learn one thing at a time. Slow down. Learn one thing thoroughly, then move on.

If you are new to internet marketing, there is a ton of information coming at you on a daily basis. How do you stay focused? Learn more about information overload in my next post.

Technorati Tags: Start Your Own Work at Home Business, Work At Home, work at home business

Keeping good business records is an important part of owning a home business. You need to be able to document how much money is coming in and how much is going out for several reasons:

• You need a clear sense of whether your business is actually making a profit. It’s only by clearly seeing your business trends that you can make decisions such as whether to invest more, spend less, or change your strategy.
• You need to be able to document your income for tax purposes.
• Good business records will be required if you seek outside financing. The larger your business grows, the more documentation will be required by outside auditors and investor.

For many business owners, record keeping is one of the less pleasant aspects of running a business. But if you develop good habits of organization early in the game, you won’t find yourself digging through mountains of paperwork at tax time.

Here are some basic tips for keeping good business records:

1. Open a separate checking account for your business and keep business transactions separate from personal transactions.
2. Keep receipts and invoices in a folder labeled “Expenses”. Also create clear documentation of any cash transactions. Expenses included advertising, bank fees, licenses and permits and inventory.
3. Document all income in a spreadsheet or a separate folder labeled “Income.” Track any cash or checks received as well as PayPal payments.

Spreadsheets are a great tool for documenting income versus expenses. Consult with a tax professional to find out what expenses should be tracked besides those listed above. Get in the habit of filing and recording transactions daily

Keeping good records is the only way you will know for sure whether your business is actually making a profit.  Good habits developed early will ensure that you are able to stay on top of your business decisions at all times.

Technorati Tags: business records, record keeping, Work At Home, work at home business

Do you have an entrepreneurial mind and spirit? The word itself “entrepreneur” sounds like someone larger than life. An entrepreneur is basically someone who takes on a business venture and all the risks and responsibilities that go with it.

What characteristics are needed to become an entrepreneur?

Determination. You must decide that failure is not an option. A very large percentage of small businesses fail, usually because of lack of capital or lack of experience. Your decision to start a home business will require all the determination you can muster.

Hard work. The funny thing is most people who want to work at home hope to work less than 40 hours a week, but in the early years, very likely you will work well over 40 hours a week. The phone will ring at all hours; there will be problem after problem that needs to be solved and all of them need to be solved by you. You have to be committed to getting the job done, even in the middle of the night at first.

Resourcefulness. All the answers you are looking for won’t be revealed immediately. You will have to find creative solutions from time to time. Chances are there won’t be anyone there to tell you what to do.

Ability to plan ahead. Your business isn’t going to just happen. You have to plan how it’s going to happen. You have to look at what might go wrong and what you’ll do if it does. You have to look at what your competitors are doing and consider what you should be doing to remain competitive.

Stay positive. There will definitely be bumps in the road. You can’t give up at the first sign of trouble – or at the second or third sign either.

Faith in yourself. The fact that you have the drive and the desire to start your own business is a very good sign that you believe in yourself enough to get started. Stay in your own corner no matter what. Don’t question yourself and your abilities whenever you make a mistake. You will make mistakes. You are doing something you never did before.

That’s what makes you an entrepreneur.

Technorati Tags: Start Your Own Work at Home Business, Work At Home, work at home business

Job boards such as http://www.elance.com, http://www.guru.com and http://www.rentacoder.com are sites where jobs for freelancers are posted. There are several marketable skills in demand on these sites including web programming and design, translation, administrative support and sales and marketing.

One of the most in-demand skills at these sites is writing. If you enjoy writing and need money, there is no need for you to be a starving artist. All over the web, there are website owners hungry for people to help them fill their websites and blogs with content. They are searching for writers to outsource this work to.

If you have no experience, spend some time browsing websites and become familiar with the type of content that is typically displayed on websites. Remember that people online are scanning the web pages, not reading them. Content needs to be brief and to the point. Subheadings are helpful to break up large blocks of text.

Practice writing articles modeling them against articles that appear online. Web content is typically 300-600 words an article. A good place to review sample articles is http://www.ezinearticles.com.

Put together a small portfolio of articles on various topics such as money, health, parenting, self-improvement, etc. Most of these freelance sites will allow you to upload sample articles to your portfolio on their site. Better yet is if you have your own website to showcase your work along with contact information.

Most freelance job sites allow you to browse available jobs before becoming a member. You may need to bid on the low side to get your first jobs, but if you deliver quality content in a timely manner, you will quickly have more work than you know what to do with.

Be sure to network with other writers. One good place to start is http://www.wahm.com/forum/ . Look for the forum titled “Wahms who write.” Another good place to get information is to do a google search on freelance writing blogs. One freelance writing blog that also posts writing jobs is http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/.

If you want to write for money, there is plenty of opportunity out there. Get started today.

Technorati Tags: Work At Home, writing at home, writing for money, writing for profit

How do you spot a work from home scam? Some people think that there is no such thing as a work at home job and that every job that claims it can be done as a telecommuter is a scam. Other people are less cautious and fall victim to one get rich quick scheme after another.

The first thing you need to keep in mind if you desperately want to work from home is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No one is going to pay you $5,000 a month to do surveys or to stuff envelopes. You won’t make six figures from your computer while you do nothing but sleep. Exaggerated claims such as this should put up a red flag and warn you to proceed with caution or look elsewhere.

Other red flags are:

Charging an upfront fee. You will never be charged an upfront fee for a legitimate telecommuter job. Home business opportunities may have a fee to get started, but if you are applying for a job that is advertised as a telecommuter position, there won’t be a fee.

The job description is vague. If you’re not sure what they’re looking for, it’s probably a scam.

The contact information is missing. This is a generalization that may be false, as some genuine companies will hide behind an anonymous P.O. Box on Craigslist to avoid being inundated with inquiries. But keep in mind that a company that represents itself only with a P.O. Box may be a scam.

So how can you protect yourself?

Protect yourself by doing plenty of research. Ask questions at the top forums such as http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/ or http://wahm.com/forum/ . You may not protect yourself from every scam this way, but you will hear a lot of genuine reviews, particularly of home business opportunities.

Another great resource is http://www.wahwatchdog.org/. By visiting this site, you can read reviews by people who have actually tried particular opportunities.

Visiting sites like this allows you to benefit from the mistakes of other people. It’s like getting free education!

But above all else, listen to your own instincts.

Technorati Tags: Scams, Work At Home

When you are dreaming of a home business, you dream of freedom – freedom from bosses and schedules. When you attain that dream, you see the reality that time is money and every minute counts.

Some days it may feel that you have worked all day and gotten nothing accomplished. When you work at home, everyone assumes you’re not busy. You may be constantly interrupted by relatives and friends who think you’re free. The phone and the doorbell interrupt constantly, and if you have small children, the last thing they want to do is leave you alone.

Here are some tips to help you get a handle on your time.

Plan ahead. Each night before you go to bed, plan ahead what your next day is going to look like. This means working with your own body clock: schedule your most challenging tasks for the time of day when you have the most energy.

Prioritize. Everything you do should be contributing to the ultimate goal of making money. It’s easy to fritter away your time opening email and surfing the web. Know what the most important things you need to accomplish each day are and do them before you ever look at your mail.

Learn from your mistakes. If you plan your day a certain way and it doesn’t work out, what went wrong? Did you try to schedule your most challenging tasks for the same time that your children are most likely to interrupt you? Do you need to turn the ringer off the phone? Whatever went wrong today can be corrected tomorrow.

Allow time for family. When you are just getting started, you may want to work on your business day and night. The more you neglect your family, the more they will interrupt you. Schedule time in your day for your family and don’t let work interrupt family time whenever possible.

Like any other aspect of running a home business, time management takes practice. The more your practice, the more you will improve.

Technorati Tags: Time Management, Work At Home

If you have any interest at all in internet marketing, spending time in forums is an important part of your business day. Although some people get carried away spending way too much time in forums, to avoid forums is to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Forums give you an opportunity to mingle with other marketers. You can learn honest opinions of opportunities you are considering by reading posts from other marketers, and you can often obtain valuable products free or at a significant discount. Every time you post a comment or ask a question, you can include a link back to your site or blog, which will help drive traffic. In fact many marketers say their primary source of free traffic is through posting in forums.

All potential internet marketers should begin spending time at The Warrior Forum (http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/). As a newcomer, you may be overwhelmed by all the activity. Get started in the section called The Best Warrior Threads List (http://www.bestwarriorthreads.com/). Or use the Search function to search for a particular topic.

Other top forums for people who work at home include

http://wahm.com/forum/

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/

Forums exist about every imaginable topic, so if you are moving into a very specialized area, do a google search to find a forum specific to that. An example would be to do a search for ebay+forum or freelance writing+forum.

Whatever direction you are going, be sure to make forums part of your business day.

Of course you don’t want to spend all your home business hours posting in forums. Some thoughts on time management for home business owners follow in my next post.

Technorati Tags: forums, Work At Home, work at home forums

Can you really make money blogging? For many people, a blog is just a place to share their thoughts and opinions. But if you approach a blog as a business, there are several ways to make money blogging.

Selling advertising is probably the most common way to make money blogging. The more traffic your blog receives and the more you establish yourself in a particular niche, the more advertising opportunities will present themselves. You can get started by placing ads on your blog using the Google Adsense program. These ads will be consistent with the theme of your blog. You will be paid for ads that your readers click on.

Selling goods and services from your blog is another way to make money blogging. The most common way to do this is through affiliate links. You can also set up feeds to www.amazon.com or to www.ebay.com. If you are just getting started, establish a blog at www.blogger.com. It is very user-friendly to newcomers and will show you exactly how to do this.

A blog can be used as a way to advertise services. For example, if you are trying to establish yourself as a resume writer, you could set up a blog offering tips for resume preparation, but also establish that you are available to do this service. A blog allows you to show your expertise in a given area.

Consistent blog posting also establishes you as a blogger, and once you have done this you can bid on jobs that are geared to professional bloggers. Visit http://jobs.problogger.net/ for examples.

Keep in mind having an income from this source won’t happen overnight. It will require frequent and consistent posting and actively promoting your blog. One of the best ways to promote a blog or any other website is through forum posting.

Learn more about forums in my next post.

Technorati Tags: Work At Home, work at home business