Work at Home and Get Paid
Posted 20th June 2014 at 12:29 PM by imarkedy
In this article, we’ll discuss best practices on how to work at home and get paid. From Mary Kaye Cosmetics to Apple Computers (naming just a few) many Fortune 500 companies have launched multi-billion dollar businesses from the comfort of home. In an age defined by fancy (and expensive) corporate offices, too often, emphasis is put on securing away from home work space while the most obvious option (home based) is forgotten or written off as ‘non-professional’. With public Internet access, never before has it been easier to start a profitable business and best of all, without quitting your day job!
There are many at home work types, a few of which are;
1. Telecommute; this is a work at home arrangement, with an employer, allowing job assignments to be completed (electronically) from home. Unfortunately, these opportunities are often ignored because either human resource departments fail to see the value or employees don’t know they exist. One industry this option is widely popular in is skilled medical care. Nurses and doctors, as well as home health aides, are employed by agencies to visit the home of the sick, recovering and elderly while completing management processes in a home office. This a bit different than remote location work because requirements exist to visit corporate headquarters for meetings or other job related functions.
2. Entrepreneur; this category consists of those who work from home and own their own businesses. It would take much more space than is available here to outline these numerous opportunities however anyone currently earning a part-time or full-time income by offering personal services is included.
3. Remote location work; this work type is performed, 100%, from a location other than corporate offices and may require, in lieu of visiting corporate offices, electronic exchange of information between workers and management. These opportunities can be found on popular job websites such as Career Builder and Monster.com.
Getting paid, whatever work type chosen, can take on several different forms. We urge setting up an electronic invoicing systems as well as using websites such as PayPal to receive compensation. If working for a company and transitioning to a telecommute arrangement, direct deposit of your paycheck is strongly advised.
More than at any other time in history, entrepreneurs and employees are attracted to what has become known as the ’60 second commute’. This is the length of time it takes to pour a cup of coffee (or whatever your morning beverage is), sit down in front of a computer and begin work. Who wouldn’t want to forego a daily commute, office politics and enjoy time at home with family?
Further – technologies for setting up a home office have never been as cost effective and easily accessible as is true now. Although many people associate working from home with starting a home based business, nothing is further from true. To see if your organization has a telecommute policy; speak with the human resources department. As our students and current readers well understand, we encourage at home workers, even those in a telecommute arrangement, to begin planting the seeds of their own home based business, free from employer demands.
This isn’t as difficult as one would imagine. First, figure out what your skills are actually worth. Pretty much any function performed for an employer is worth money on the open market and becomes a simple matter of pricing and marketing those skills publicly as an independent contractor. We invite you to go to Google and search the term ‘freelance websites’. You will be faced with many more independent contracting options than can be imagined.
The top site which, in our opinion, offers the most opportunities is located at elance.com. Once you become familiar with elance, begin conducting competitive research to learn how to price ‘like’ services. Word of warning; don’t position yourself as the ‘low cost’ provider because in the long term, it will harm more than help.
Here is a list of freelance websites to check out;
1. Elance.com
2. Odesk.com
3. Craigslist.org
4. Freelancer.com
5. Peopleperhour.com
6. Guru.com
7. Ifreelance.com
8. Demandstudios.com
9. Freelanceswitchjobs.com
There are also lessor known websites which, although the earnings are hardly enough to live on, allow you to ‘get your feet wet’ with freelance work such as Fiverr.com. Feedback, whatever platform you chose to offer services on, is important for receiving work. Building trust may take a while (with customers) but above every other launch task, start to generate feedback.
Here are ways to begin increasing your feedback scores and build a full-time income;
1. Offer free services to family and friends in exchange for positive feedback. Although no one wants to work free of charge, beginning your empire with ‘bait’ tactics, such as freebies, will quickly build a solid foundation to charge those who come after. This is a long term business building process so don’t be short-sighted.
2. Sign up with online tutoring websites. The best known of these are located at Udemy.com, Skillshare.com as well as Curious.com. Whatever your area of expertise, there is probably a market for it as an online instructor.
3. Offer free advice in online forums. Trust is built through expertise and very few tools do this as well as sharing your knowledge with others. Once positive forum feedback is received, build backlinks to your freelance service offers and invite people to take advantage of them.
Working from Home Online and getting paid isn’t as complicated as many would assume. The most difficult part, for most, seems to be finding time to begin. Now is as good of a time as any!
B.D. Dale
Wordpress Sales Coach
There are many at home work types, a few of which are;
1. Telecommute; this is a work at home arrangement, with an employer, allowing job assignments to be completed (electronically) from home. Unfortunately, these opportunities are often ignored because either human resource departments fail to see the value or employees don’t know they exist. One industry this option is widely popular in is skilled medical care. Nurses and doctors, as well as home health aides, are employed by agencies to visit the home of the sick, recovering and elderly while completing management processes in a home office. This a bit different than remote location work because requirements exist to visit corporate headquarters for meetings or other job related functions.
2. Entrepreneur; this category consists of those who work from home and own their own businesses. It would take much more space than is available here to outline these numerous opportunities however anyone currently earning a part-time or full-time income by offering personal services is included.
3. Remote location work; this work type is performed, 100%, from a location other than corporate offices and may require, in lieu of visiting corporate offices, electronic exchange of information between workers and management. These opportunities can be found on popular job websites such as Career Builder and Monster.com.
Getting paid, whatever work type chosen, can take on several different forms. We urge setting up an electronic invoicing systems as well as using websites such as PayPal to receive compensation. If working for a company and transitioning to a telecommute arrangement, direct deposit of your paycheck is strongly advised.
More than at any other time in history, entrepreneurs and employees are attracted to what has become known as the ’60 second commute’. This is the length of time it takes to pour a cup of coffee (or whatever your morning beverage is), sit down in front of a computer and begin work. Who wouldn’t want to forego a daily commute, office politics and enjoy time at home with family?
Further – technologies for setting up a home office have never been as cost effective and easily accessible as is true now. Although many people associate working from home with starting a home based business, nothing is further from true. To see if your organization has a telecommute policy; speak with the human resources department. As our students and current readers well understand, we encourage at home workers, even those in a telecommute arrangement, to begin planting the seeds of their own home based business, free from employer demands.
This isn’t as difficult as one would imagine. First, figure out what your skills are actually worth. Pretty much any function performed for an employer is worth money on the open market and becomes a simple matter of pricing and marketing those skills publicly as an independent contractor. We invite you to go to Google and search the term ‘freelance websites’. You will be faced with many more independent contracting options than can be imagined.
The top site which, in our opinion, offers the most opportunities is located at elance.com. Once you become familiar with elance, begin conducting competitive research to learn how to price ‘like’ services. Word of warning; don’t position yourself as the ‘low cost’ provider because in the long term, it will harm more than help.
Here is a list of freelance websites to check out;
1. Elance.com
2. Odesk.com
3. Craigslist.org
4. Freelancer.com
5. Peopleperhour.com
6. Guru.com
7. Ifreelance.com
8. Demandstudios.com
9. Freelanceswitchjobs.com
There are also lessor known websites which, although the earnings are hardly enough to live on, allow you to ‘get your feet wet’ with freelance work such as Fiverr.com. Feedback, whatever platform you chose to offer services on, is important for receiving work. Building trust may take a while (with customers) but above every other launch task, start to generate feedback.
Here are ways to begin increasing your feedback scores and build a full-time income;
1. Offer free services to family and friends in exchange for positive feedback. Although no one wants to work free of charge, beginning your empire with ‘bait’ tactics, such as freebies, will quickly build a solid foundation to charge those who come after. This is a long term business building process so don’t be short-sighted.
2. Sign up with online tutoring websites. The best known of these are located at Udemy.com, Skillshare.com as well as Curious.com. Whatever your area of expertise, there is probably a market for it as an online instructor.
3. Offer free advice in online forums. Trust is built through expertise and very few tools do this as well as sharing your knowledge with others. Once positive forum feedback is received, build backlinks to your freelance service offers and invite people to take advantage of them.
Working from Home Online and getting paid isn’t as complicated as many would assume. The most difficult part, for most, seems to be finding time to begin. Now is as good of a time as any!
B.D. Dale
Wordpress Sales Coach
