Work From Home

What options do we have, and how can we avoid the scams? Working from home is becoming more and more popular these days. It has many benefits like allowing parents to be with their children, and keeping families together. Additionally, working from home is environmentally friendly as it helps cut back on daily commuter traffic. There are many options for working from home, as well as many scams.

Below, is a list of a few popular legitimate options that are not scams.

Micro Tasks

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A new trend these days is something called “Micro Tasks”, aka “Micro Jobs” or “Micro Gigs”.

The idea is that you get paid for performing a posted task. These tasks may take a few hours or just a few minutes. It’s not a bad way to add a little extra income to your regular job. Just a quick way to pick up a little extra money without having to go through application processes, interviews, wait times, etc., or make a major commitment.

Some example of sites where users can post and take up tasks.

• Fiverr.com
• microWorkers.com

Freelancing

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If you have a skill that you are good with, freelancing is a great option. You showcase what you can do, and what you have done on a job board. Prospective clients who need your skills can review your offerings and hire you if your are a good match. Typically multiple freelancers may bid on a posted job.

Example of some resources where you can look for freelance work.

• Upwork.com (Odesk and eLance are now part of Upwork)
• Freelancer.com
• Guru.com
• TopTal.com
• iFreelance.com (These guys, unlike others, don’t charge a commission on your earnings!)
• SimplyHired.com
• Monster.com

Telecommuting

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Now that we have virtual offices on our own laptop computers, it has become possible to perform many types of work from just about anywhere there is an internet connection. Many employers are offering telecommuting as an option.

FlexJobs.com – FlexJobs is a paid subscription service that notifies you of freshly listed, hand screened telecommute jobs based on criteria you specify. I have used FlexJobs in the past and they deliver quality content.

Some of the major temporary employment agencies are listing more jobs that have a remote work from home option.

Online Marketing

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Have a website or blog that gets a lot of visitors? There are ways to earn income from your website or blog without turning it into an ugly carpet of ads. You can write reviews of products or service you like that offer a commission to you as an affiliate. Post them to a blog with your affiliate link to the product website where it can be purchased. Lots of people do this, and you can, too.

Affiliate marketing is one example of how you can monetize your own online presence. Affiliate marketing does require a lot of patience, and needs to be done right.

My Own Preference

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I have chosen online/affiliate marketing as my personal preference for working from home, or wherever I may be. I enjoy building websites and blogs, writing about subjects I enjoy (as you’re reading right now), researching how to make them attractive, and of course monetize them without turning my website or blog into an unattractive mess of ads. What makes this even more attractive is that there are thousands of tools, training resources, and groups out there on this subject. I recently found a wonderful resource that offers a one-stop platform known as Wealthy Affiliate that has virtually everything I need to make my business adventure a success. I have written a detailed review of Wealthy Affiliate, for aspiring or experienced online marketers. I am using this resource with great results! WA has been in the business of helping others build businesses since 2005. I wish I had known of WA back then – It would have saved me from “the school of hard knocks”.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this and find it useful. Feel free to leave a comment below.

All of the best,