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Where to Find Freelance Jobs
While there are a limited number of companies that will pay you as an employee to work at home, if you are willing to work as a freelancer there are many more opportunities.
As a freelancer you are in charge of how much work you take on, what your pay rate it, and when and how you will go about doing the work. You are also responsible for reporting your income and paying your own taxes. In the US, if any one person pays you over$600, they are required to send you (and the IRS) a form 1099 reporting your income. Even if you don’t receive a 1099, you should report all your income.
There are many different types of careers that work well for freelancing. Freelance writing is obviously very popular, as well as graphic design and web development. I started my work from home career as a freelance bookkeeper. Almost any service you can provide can become a freelance business.
Before you start looking for work, you should create a website or a blog for yourself that will showcase your talents and advertise your services. Make sure to have an about page and a contact form so potential clients can get ahold of you.
Now you are ready to look for work. If you are just starting out, and willing to work for cheap to build up your portfolio there are a few forums where you can find work quickly. The good part about using forums to find jobs, is that you can often find a job and get paid for it on the same day. The bad part about forum jobs is that you have no idea who you are working for. It is possible that you will not be paid. Proceed with caution. That said, I personally have always been paid for the work that I have done. Two good forums to get you started.
Digital Point Forums.
Site Point
Job boards are another place to look for freelance work. There can be a lot of competition, but as you get a reputation it will be easier for you to win the jobs.
elance is a well known job board.
Problogger has a job board with lots of writing and blogging jobs.
RentACoder is a great board if you are looking for programing and coding jobs.
And there is always craigslist. If you are looking for telecommuting jobs don’t limit your search to cities near you. You may have more luck finding telecommuting jobs in the larger cities. I always check San Francisco and New York. Then run a search in jobs for telecommuting and work from home. I have found a number of freelance jobs this way.
Finally, look to your local area for freelance work. When I first started out as a Work at home bookkeeper, I got my first jobs through a classified ad in the local paper. Sending a letter to businesses that might be able to use your services can also result in work.
Where have you found good work from home jobs?
Business Phone Systems
For the most part, working from home does not require any specialized telephone equipment. But for some people, their small home based business will grow to the point that their regular home phone system will no longer do the job. That it might be time to look at Business Phone Systems by Comtech.
Comtech offers telephone systems and business phone repair services for both home based, and office based businesses. They will help you choose the right phone system for your business and work with you to get it installed and working. They sell both new and used phone systems, and will even buy your old phones from you.
Comtech Phones has been in business since 1982 and offers a 2 year warranty on both phone sales and repair services.
Work From Home Writing
With thousands of new websites coming online every day there is a huge need for quality writing. But of course, for every legitimate write from home job there are at least 3 scams. Here are some writing jobs that I know are legit. And with a little work, even beginning writers can find sites that will pay them to write.
Right now my favorite get paid to write site is Today.com. At today you start your own blog, and for the first 30 days you are paid at least $1 per post, up to one post per day. After 30 days the amount you are paid per post can go up or down. You are also paid a small amount based on the traffic your blog receives. Bonuses of up to $250 are paid to top bloggers. Today claims that their top blogger made $700 in November. I am getting paid for writing Review Me Today. In less than a month I have earned $38. I should get paid next month!
What I like about Today.com: Write 100 original words and get paid. Everyone is accepted. Just register and start writing.
What I don’t like about Today.com: Minimum payout is $50. After the first 30 days you could be paid less than $1 per post. Only advertising and affiliates placed by Today are allowed.
Hub Pages is a network where you can write web pages, called hubs. Here you are not responsible for a whole blog, just one page. You can write as many hubs as you like, and, unlike a single blog, they can be on as many different topics as you like. Payment is based on a revenue share plan, using advertising networks such as Google, Amazon, and Kontera.
What I Like About Hub Pages: You can write one page at a time, as opposed to needing to keep up a whole blog. Because each page is separate, you can write on a variety of topics.
What I don’t like about Hub Pages: There is no guarantee of payment. You will need to work on building traffic, and not just any traffic. To get paid you need people to click on ads.
Squidoo Lenses: Just about the same as Hub Pages. You create a webpage, Squidoo calls them lenses, and you get paid a share of the revenue generated. Same pros and cons as hub pages.
About.com will pay $725 per month for you to maintain a blog on a certain topic. Not everyone is accepted. When you apply to become a “guide” you pick a topic from the list About provides. Fill in your application and include a writing sample on the topic you are applying for. Wait. Wait some more. After a few weeks you should hear if you have been accepted to the training level. During training you will write blog posts and articles under the direction of an editor. Usually 5 writers are accepted into training for each topic. Training typically lasts 1 month, and after training only 1 person will be hired as an About.com guide and paid a $250 hire on bonus. About.com says that begining writers usually earn around $1,000 per month, established writers average $2,000 with top authors earning $100,000 per year.
These are just a few of the opportunities for writers that I have found. Later I will post about paid forum posting, and writing paid posts on your own blog.
Happy Writing!