January 1, 2009 | Posted by admin
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!
Categories: WFH, Writing Jobs | 
Tags: get paid to blog, get paid to write, work from home writing, Writing Jobs | 
7 Comments »
December 3, 2008 | Posted by admin
I came upon this great work from home job today. An Internet Assessor reviews the results of web searches, to make sure the websites that come up are relevant to the search terms. If enjoy looking at all types of websites, (and from what I have heard, I mean ALL types of websites) this job might be for you.
To be an internet assessor you need to be able to read and write well in English. You must have access to a computer with a high speed internet connection, and you must be willing to commit 10 to 20 hours per week.
I could only find one company that hires internet assessors, that is Lionbridge. Unfortunately, for some of us, they are not looking for anyone from the United States. They have a fairly rigorous application process, which includes passing a test. They do provide study materials for the test, but do not pay for training.
The pay looks reasonable. I find one source that says they are paying over 11 Euros to UK assessors. You work as an independent contractor and are responsible for your own taxes.
For anyone outside of the US this looks like a very interesting job opportunity. I would love to hear from someone who is working as an internet assessor.
Categories: WFH | Tags: internet assessor, online jobs, work from home | 3 Comments »
October 16, 2008 | Posted by admin
If you have a talent for explaining academic subjects to children than you might enjoy working from home as an online tutor. As an online tutor you will work one on one with students, helping them in a particular subject. You need to be well versed in the subject you are teaching. You will need to be able to explain concepts to students, and help them to understand the subject. All the sites I looked at required you to be able to communicate well in English, and to have a high speed interent connection.
There are many different ways to find work as an online tutor. I think most people would prefer to work with an established company. These companies have tools to help you as an online tutor, such as online whiteboard programs. They also take care of all the billing and paperwork needed. Unfortunately, none of the companies I found stated how much they pay, but judging from what they are charging students, my guess is that pay is in the $8 to $12 an hour range. All the companies I looked at paid their tutors as independent contractors. That means there are no benefits and you are responsible for paying your taxes.
Tutor.com seems to be the leader in online tutoring. They require that you live and are legal to work in either the United States or Canada. You must also be a college graduate, or be currently enrolled in an accredited US or Canada college degree program. You must pass an education and criminal background check. You can work from 5 to 30 hours per week. Mostly during the hours of 4pm to 11pm Eastern time Sunday through Thursday.
Tutorvista.com does not have a country requirement. They are active in both the US and UK markets, so English is required. They offer 24/7 availability so there are more potential hours available for work. To work for tutorvista.com requires a masters degree in the subject you are teaching, plus some teaching experience. They also require that you work at least 4 hours per day.
AimforA offers tutoring to students in North America, Europe, and Australia, offering a large range of teaching opportunities. The require excellent verbal and writing skills in English and a bachelors degree and teaching experience in the subject you would like to teach.
If you prefer to work on your own, BuddySchool.com is an interesting alternative. They are more of a matching service. You register for a free account, set up your profile and availability, and then students will be able to sign up with you for a session. You set your prices and BuddySchool takes care of the invoicing. Right now it is completly free to use BuddySchool, both for students and tutors. They have a rating system for both students and tutors. Anyone can sign up as a tutor at BuddySchool, however, there is heavy competition in popular subjects. Some tutors are as low as $5 per hour, and in fact I saw some tutors who were free.
I did find a few services that offered online tutoring jobs, but charged a membership fee. I did not review them because there are plenty of options that do not require any fees at all. Many of these fee based job services just give you information you can find out on your own for free. In general, you should not need to pay to apply for a job.
Do you work as an online tutor? Do you work for a company or are you offering your own service? Please leave a comment and let us know about your experience!
Categories: WFH | Tags: online tutor, work from home | 7 Comments »
September 8, 2008 | Posted by admin
With the advances in technology many companies are moving away from large call centers, and outsourcing their call centers…to home. There are many legitimate opportunities to work from home as a call center rep. Most call center representatives answer calls from customers wanting to place an order. If you have technical skills you might be placed as a technical support person, where you will be helping customers with support issues. There are also opportunities for people with financial and insurance backgrounds.
Pros
Like all work from home positions you have the benefit of no commute costs. Because you will never need to meet with clients in person you will also not need to spend any money on special clothing or dry cleaning. With most call center companies you have the flexibility to choose when you want to work. Also, many call center companies will hire you as an employee, not an independent contractor, so you have a guaranteed hourly wage, no matter how many calls you take.
Cons
You must provide all your own equipment. Including a computer with high speed internet access, a dedicated corded phone, (No cell phones or portable phones)and a hands free headset with noise canceling microphone. This is not a good position for parents who need to take care of children, because you are required to have a work space that is quiet with no noise from children or pets. The companies don’t want their customers to know that you are working from home!
What to Look For
Before you are hired make sure you know whether you will be working as an employee, or as an independent contractor. As an employee, you will be guaranteed a minimum hourly wage, and taxes will be withheld from your paychecks. Some companies also offer benefits for their work from home employees.
As an independent contractor you will be paid based on the number of calls that you take. It is possible that you will commit to a shift and recieve very few calls. You will be responsible for paying your own taxes. However, as an independent contractor you have your own business, and it is easier to deduct the expenses of working from home. Depending on the number of hours you work you may be able to deduct some or all of your internet and computer costs. Please consult with a tax advisor about your particular situation.
Requirements
The companies I looked at all had the following requirements:
- You need to be a United States legal resident and speak English
- You need to be at least 18 years old
- You need to have a high school diploma or GED
- You will need a tax ID number
- You will need to pass a background check
Fees
The companies I looked at did not require any fees to apply for a position. However, all of them required you to pay for a background check after you were offered a position. The cost for the background check varied widely, anywhere from $35 to over $100, depending on the type of calls you will be taking.
How Much Can You Make as a Call Center Rep?
Working as an employee, it looked like the starting pay was anywhere from $8 to $12 per hour, with opportunities for bonuses for working during certain hours, or for exceptional performance. The companies that hired independent contractors reported around the same potential income.
Working from home as a call center representative looks like a opportunity for someone who can dedicate a block of time with no distractions. This may make it difficult for parents with small children, as you would need to arrange for childcare. The pay is actually pretty good for this type of work, and without the costs of working outside the home makes it a very attractive work at home opportunity.
Here are a few companies that I found.
With Convergys you are hired as an employee. They offer paid training and a full range of benefits.
Live Ops hires independent contractors. You are paid per minute of call time. They do not offer paid training.
Alpine Access hires reps as employees. They state their average rate of pay is $9 per hour. Certain jobs will pay more. They offer paid training and limited benefits after 3 months of working an average of at least 20 hours per week.
Categories: WFH | Tags: call center representative, work from home | 8 Comments »
September 5, 2008 | Posted by admin
This is the first in a series on how you can work from home blogging. There are many different ways to make money with your blog, and I will try to explore them all here! But, before you can start making money with blogging, you need to have a blog! So how do you start a blog?
1.Pick a topic or theme for your blog. Would you like to join the masses that blog about making money online? Or would you prefer to be one of the relatively few that blog about ancient Russian literature? Or maybe something in between! Whatever it is, make sure that it is a topic that you enjoy and that interests you. You will be spending a lot of time with it!
2. Select Hosting for Your Blog. You may be tempted to save money and go with free hosting from sites such as wordpress.com , or blogger.com. But don’t do it! You will soon find that free hosting sites may put limitations on your blog. Plus many paid posting sites do not accept blogs from free hosting sites.
Your own domain and hosting hosting aren’t really all that expensive. With a company like Hostgator you can get hosting for as little as $4.95 per month. Use the coupon code “green” and get another 20% off.
3. Select your domain name. For me, this is really the hardest part. Your domain name will set the tone for your whole blog. There is a lot of debate as to what makes the best domain name. Dot coms are the favorite, but getting a “good” name will be difficult.
If you want to get a domain really cheap, I suggest you go to the digital point forums. You can buy domains there on the aftermarket for as little as $1. You may not get the exact domain you want, but the price will be right!
If you would prefer a brand new domain, then I would suggest that you take advantage of the Go Daddy $6.95 .com Sale. I have all of my domains at GoDaddy and I love their customer service! They have plenty of online tutorials and if you need more help, support is just a quick phone call or email away. You can also buy hosting from GoDaddy and have your domains and hosting all in one place. Some people like it that way. Some people say it is best to have them separate. I like the convenience of having my domains and hosting all in one place.
4. Point your nameservers. If you buy your domain and hosting together than this may already be done for you. If not, all you are doing is telling your domain registrar where your blog is hosted. Your hosting company will tell you what to enter for your nameservers.
5. Install WordPress. There are other blogging platforms out there but I really like WordPress. I might even be considered a WordPress fanatic. Wordpress is easy to use, it is versatile, and because it is so popular, there are literally thousands of free plugins and themes you can use to customize your blog.
6. Start writing! You are going to need at least 10 posts before you can start marketing your blog. Make it a habit to write a post a day and in less than 2 weeks you will be ready for the next step, paid posting. I’ll cover that in the next part of this series on Working From Home Blogging. To make sure you don’t miss a post be sure to subscribe to the feed.
If you find all of this a little intimidating, and would like help in setting up your WordPress blog, then I have a deal for you. Just sign up for a hosting account at either Hostgator or Go Daddy using the links in this post. Then send me an email at maukat@gmail.com and I will get you all set up for FREE! Plus I”ll give you some consulting time via email or Google messenger and show you all the cool things you can do with your new WordPress Blog.
To get your free setup and consulting you must use my affiliate links when purchasing your hosting. It won’t cost you any more than if you went to the site directly. If you have any question feel free to send an email.
Categories: WFH, blog, blogging | Tags: blogging, domains, hosting, start a blog | 4 Comments »
August 10, 2008 | Posted by admin
Still wanting a change of pace I took my trusty computer to my local library today. The library was nice and quiet and even had a desk with power outlet where I could set up. The desk had privacy panels so I didn’t need to worry about anyone snooping. That was all very positive.
On the downside, no food or drink allowed, so while my desk wasn’t sticky, I also couldn’t enjoy an iced mocha while working. The location and privacy panels on the desk, plus the general nature of the public library made people watching out of the question.
However, with the quiet and lack of distractions I was very productive and got quite a bit done. I will probably go back to the library the next time I need a change of pace.
Categories: WFH | Tags: | 1 Comment »
July 31, 2008 | Posted by admin
After weeks of working out of my home office, I thought it would be nice to get out and work from an internet cafe. So I toted my computer to the local coffee shop, bought my iced mocha, and set myself up to write and work on some other projects.
I think I like my home office better!
The table my computer is sitting on rocks back and forth as I type. Plus it is just a little sticky. There are a lot of flies here, and they keep landing on me, which makes it hard to focus on my writing.
Sitting at a table across from me is an old guy. He has been sleeping ever since I got here, at least I hope he is just sleeping! I would hate to think that I was typing away across from someone who had passed on.
But the worst is the guy sitting behind me. He hasn’t bought anything and he doesn’t have a computer. He isn’t reading or doing anything like that. He is just sitting. It feels like he is watching me. I hope I am wrong.
I have read from many bloggers that they like to go to public places to write their blog posts. That it helps to have a change of scenery. They like people watching and the goings on around them inspires creative blog posts.
I think I may be just the opposite. Between the flies and creepy people, I think I am happier in my own private little room. Looking out the window at my trees, on a desk that doesn’t rock. What about you? Where do you like to write from?
Categories: WFH | Tags: | 3 Comments »
July 16, 2008 | Posted by admin
If you like watching courtroom TV, you might enjoy working from home as an eJuror. The United States is a country where anyone can sue anybody, anytime, for just about any reason. Attorneys will use mock juries to help them determine various issues that may come up in court. With a mock jury an attorney can test out their arguments before they get to court, they can determine a settlement amount, and they can get a feel for what the average person thinks about their case.
Working as an eJuror you will be asked to review cases from your local area. You will read a summary of the facts of the case, arguments from both perspectives, and then you will answer questions about the case and what went into the decisions you made.
There are a few sites where you can sign up to be an eJuror. All require that you be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen. You will be asked to provide demographic information about yourself, and agree to standard terms and conditions. According to the websites, cases will take around an hour to read the summaries and answer all the questions.
Trial Practices, Inc. says they pay $10 per hour to their eJurors. There site does not have much information for potential jurors, just a sign up page.
Online Verdict.com has an informative site that says they pay $20 – $60 per case, depending on the amount of time required. They pay monthly by check.
eJury.com pays $5 to $10 per case and pays by PayPal. They have a very informative site, and include sample cases. The sample cases are a nice way to preview what you will be doing.
Unless you were able to take on many cases per day, I don’t think you could make a living as an eJuror. But it is an online opportunity where you could make a decent amount of money per hour, working from home with a flexible schedule.
Categories: WFH, telecommuting | Tags: eJuror, online Jury, work from home | 8 Comments »
June 7, 2008 | Posted by admin
When you work from home it makes sense to have a space in your home dedicated to work. It makes even more sense when you realize how much you can save on your taxes by having a qualified home office.
I have heard many people, even other professional tax preparers say that the IRS requirements for a home office are too strict, that calculating the taxes is too complicated, (especially when you sell your home), and that claiming a home office is like waving a red flag in front of an auditor.
The truth is, the requirements are strict, but not difficult to follow. All tax forms are too complicated, and, if you claim your home office properly you don’t need to worry about being audited.
The tax savings can be substantial. Not only do you get to deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage interest, you also get a deduction for repairs and maintenance, utilities, and office furniture. A sole proprietor using just 10% of the home as a qualified home office can potentially have thousands of dollars worth of deductions saving hundreds in taxes each year. A home office also qualifies as a place of business and will make more of your auto miles business miles. As an example, $5,000 in home office expenses will save a sole proprietor at least $1,250 in taxes.
To be a qualified home office your office must be used regularly for your business. It must also be used exclusively for business. This is where most people trip up. You have to think of your home office the same as any business office. This means that any use that is not business use disqualifies the home office. So you can’t have guests sleep in your office, and the kids can’t use the computer to do homework. There are two exceptions to the exclusive rule. Space used as a daycare does not need to be exclusive, and the same is for true for the storage of inventory or product samples.
Home office deductions are not limited to the self-employed. If you work for someone else you may also be able to claim a home office deduction. The home office must be for the convenience of the employer, and your employer must not pay you rent for your home office.
For more information on home office visit the IRS website and refer to Tax Topic 509, Business Use of Home, or Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home (Including Use by Day-Care Providers).
And just as a side note, if your tax preparer ever tells you that a tax deduction is “too complicated” you need to find another tax preparer!
Categories: WFH | Tags: home office, taxes, work from home | 2 Comments »
May 12, 2008 | Posted by admin
Are you patient, analytical, well read, and you don’t mind working alone? Do you have an excellent grasp of language and pay good attention to detail? If so you might enjoy working as a Book Indexer.
To be honest, I had always assumed that the indexes in the backs of books were created by computer. I know that MS Word has an index function, although I have never used it. But it turns out, that computers are just not all that good at creating a useful index, and so that task falls to freelance indexers.
I first found out about freelance opportunities for book indexers while reading Freelance Sprout. From there I found even more information from the American Society for Indexing (ASI).
There is a low barrier of entry for indexing. No specific degrees or credentials are required to be an indexer. However, publishers will look to see if you have subject matter expertise for indexing a technical book or manual. You can learn indexing by taking courses offered by your local college, by taking a correspondence course offered by the US Department of Agriculture, or there are a number of self-paced course offered by ASI.
Once you gain clients and experience, you can earn decent money. This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme! Full time experienced indexers can earn up to $50,000 per year, working from home.
According to ASI, most indexers find work by sending letters and resumes to publishers. Experienced indexers find most of their work comes from networking and referrals from satisfied clients.
If you have good attention to detail, and can work with tight deadlines, indexing could be a good work from home opportunity. Learn more at Freelance Sprout and American Society for Indexing (ASI).
Categories: WFH, Writing Jobs | Tags: freelance work, indexing, work from home | 1 Comment »