Work at Home Successfully

Like many of us, you probably would love to work from home. What is not to love? Save on gas, save on wardrobe, set your own hours. Do what you want to do. These are the dreams that we all share.

The big question, of course, is how to make that possible. Fish around the internet under "Work from Home" and you will find more searches than you could possibly ever screen through. I don't need to tell you that most of them probably won't work, or won't work for you. They key is finding one that does.

This is a life changing event, so you want to do it right. Think about it. Are you willing to do the research? How long did it take you to find your last job? A little extra effort will be the difference between success and sitting in a cube. Others are doing it; see where it works for you.

The first thing you should ask is what kind of work from home opportunity you are looking for. Are you looking for part time work or full time? Would you prefer to work in conventional opportunities such as home based sales, freelance writing, editing, or tutoring? Would you like to advantage of the opportunities that are available using the internet to start your own business? Many companies are outsourcing their customer service to people who are willing to work from home. Is this an opportunity that interests you. Whatever you chose, the tools on your computer and over the web can make it happen.

Exactly what are your financial goals for home opportunities? Is your goal to earn extra spending cash? Are you a student trying to cover tuition or expenses? Is your goal total financial independence. Do you need to find a full time income that will cover salary and benefits? Once you have established your skills and your goals, you can chose your opportunity.

"Conventional Opportunities"
What I call conventional opportunities are opportunities that have always been there, but can be updated for the web. Home based sales are a great way to make money and set hours around family. Reputable, tried and true companies such as Avon have updated their marketing for the internet age.

Other opportunities such as tutoring are also available. You can market these opportunities on local classified sites in a much more effective and inexpensive manner than in the past. You can also market your skills to local businesses. These businesses don't want to take on extra overhead. If they can outsource something at a good rate, they will.

"Corporate Opportunities"
Corporations are offering several different types of opportunities to work from home. For those who need to stay close to home or who need to set your own hours, these opportunities mostly consist of outside sales or customer service. These may be harder to find, but they offer solid and stable opportunities. You will need to provide a phone line and computer in most cases. You can find these opportunities by checking the career opportunities of corporate websites or checking the career websites such as monster.com, careerbuilder.com, jobs.com.

"Internet Opportunities"
Internet opportunities can offer some of the most lucrative opportunities for those who want to work from home. It also can allow you to unleash your creative ideas. At the same time, it can be the highest risk reward area. You must do your homework to find out what works. Some opportunities require capital upfront, but, there are others that require little or no money to get started.

The internet opportunities include affiliate marketing, Ebay Marketing, website marketing, etc. See those ads on Google and Yahoo? These are created by work at home entrepreneurs. These opportunities allow you to sell your own products or (even better) sell other peoples products and collect commissions.

Whatever opportunity you chose, there are plenty of ways to take advantage of stay at home work. You can set your own hours, spend more time with family, save on gas. Chose what you think works for you and get going.