Hello Moms!
Numerous times I have been asked by women to share some home business ideas and also to give them pointers on how to recognize and avoid work at home scams.
The idea for FreelanceMom came to me when I was myself searching for work from home. I can recall the frustration of coming upon website after website with either a clearly bogus opportunity, or a website filled with advertisements for other work at home websites and no real content, or a website that did claim to have the answers but you had to purchase them.
Let's face it, women looking for work from home often times don't have the money to take a chance on memberships, or purchase materials for start up business opportunities, etc.
FreelanceMom.com will always be free to the work at home Mom community. I post as much information as I can here to help you find your niche' and I even have jobs posted from time to time. For home business ideas you can visit the bizop pages, and for work at home opportunities you can visit the freelance gigs page.
Now to answer the questions...
Q. What are some legitimate home business ideas?
A. I encourage women to start their own businesses whenever possible.
If you have computer skills or writing skills it makes sense to market yourself rather then buy into businesses that are being marketed to you. That isn't always true, but for myself I have found it to be lucrative and rewarding.
There are so many companies that are strictly virtual these days. They don't have an office building, but their online presence requires an office staff. That is a niche that is growing and will continue to grow.
I have a lot of information on becoming a Virtual Assistant throughout FreelanceMom's website. I am a VA myself, but also do website design and build my own websites - FreelanceMom is one example. I encourage all VA's to put together a business plan, and build a website for promotion. For an example you can look at my Virtual Assistant Website.
Recently I answered a post on my forum that you might find helpful also addressing home business ideas that are not scams.
But if you don't have computer skills, there must be something else that you are really passionate about. I genuinely feel that women are more successful in a home business that they dream up themselves and make happen. I've known women who do bookkeeping successfully from home, women who run daycare's, dog grooming or pet sitting, hair salons , errand businesses, scrapbooking, database design...
One day I took a look in the newspaper and realized that there are a lot of people out there who are running their own businesses. I really was astounded to see all of their advertisements and realize that although they were somewhat different from what I'm doing in my home office every day -- they were small businesses owned by people just like you and I.
Q. How can I recognize a work at home scam?
A. There are a few rules of thumb that I go by to determine if a work opportunity is legitimate.
1. Does it seem to good to be true? If someone is promising a lot of money, for little work - or it seems flavored to be a 'get rich quick' scheme, count me out.
2. Do they require money for more 'information' about the opportunity. Or do they require a down payment for materials (such as the envelope stuffing schemes, and other build craft at home schemes.)
3. Do thorough research on any business opportunity you consider joining. There are some legitimate ones. Avon and Tupperware for example. But it takes a certain type of person to make these types of biz ops work.
P. S. If you give me a little background on what your skills are I would be happy to give you some home business ideas suited to you, email me. I wish you tremendous success!
HOME BUSINESS IDEAS AND TIPS
If you are looking for some Home Business Ideas and Opportunities I highly recommend elance. There IS a fee to be a part of the elance community.
I have always found that it is worth it's weight in gold however. Especially for someone who is just building their client base as a Virtual Assistant or Website Designer.
Here are some current listings to wet your whistle:
Design a Power Point presentation
Have an active web site selling memberships for a service and need someone to put together a Powerful Power Point Presentation with graphics. Presentation should be 15-20 minutes in length. Text and information can be obtained from my web site and I will provide any additional text and information..
Data Entry
We are looking to compile a list, created in Excel, which includes the following information:
University Name, Career Center Main phone number, and
Career Center general email address
A list of 500 university names and web addresses will be provided initially in an Excel spreadsheet. It will also include the specific fields that need to be aggregated.
Required Skills: proficient in Excel; proficient researching via the internet; detail-oriented
This project needs to be completed within one (1) week. An initial sample of work, based on the spreadsheet of schools provided, will be requested.
Internet Customer Support Rep & Virtual Assistant
Provide customer service by e-mail for 100% internet based health & fitness publishing company. Other work includes link partner development, misc. Administrative work, and data base management.
E-mail volume is minimal and will not require much time, but must be done daily to provide 24 hour turnaround to all customer service emails. Remaining time each day spent on development of reciprocal link partners.
*** This is just a small sampling of the types of jobs that come up at elance all the time. Click Here to Learn More.
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For more Freelance Jobs and Home Business Ideas visit FreelanceMom's Freelance Gigs Page
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Alexa Toolbar - The Alexa toolbar gives you an idea of the amount of traffic potential link partners have and also lets you submit your website as a related site. Read more about promoting with Alexa. |
What is an affiliate program and how can it make me money?
By Lori Redfield
You may have heard the buzz terms, ‘affiliate programs’ or ‘associate programs’. Chances are you think of them in one of two ways, either – it’s got to be another one of those Internet ‘work at home’ scams. Or, “That’s just out of my league.”
Promoting affiliate programs is in fact an attractive and viable way to initiate multiple residual income streams. It’s not a get rich quick scheme. In fact, to be successful it takes a great deal of work and persistence. It also requires flexibility and an inquisitive nature that embraces trying new ways of marketing until you find something that works for your target audience.
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Cereal Mom
By Sharon Davis
I recently heard a woman say that being called a "work at home mom" was professionally demeaning. Being one myself, my initial reaction was to agree with her. "That’s right, I’m a professional, I’m not just a bored housewife dabbling with a hobby here," I said to myself.
Upon reflection however, I came to realize that I disagree. Deeply.
Working out of your home while caring for children makes for some unique (and comical) situations. If you can’t have a sense of humor about these things, then maybe a field job is more your style.
But let’s face it, just how professional can you be when much of your work is done with a toddler on your lap? And that is, after all, one of the great benefits of working at home; you can consult with clients wearing bunny slippers if you like. Who’s to know? Sometimes we just need to keep things in perspective. I know that the work that I do is top quality, and I don’t sweat what others think of my work environment.
But I do wonder how that woman deals with some of those little challenges that come with being a work-at-home parent.
For example, maybe she feels that going out of the house with soggy Cheerios stuck to her behind would be professionally demeaning. She must have found a way to avoid this. I should call her...
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OUR FORUM IS 373 MEMBERS STRONG!
Join us to talk about your home business ideas. Poll our members for their opinions, share your successes or just stop off for a cup of tea!
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT BECOMING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
We have a forum set up for VA's to network together. You can get your Virtual Assistant Questions answered here.
ARE YOU LOOKING HOME BUSINESS IDEAS?
Join the club! There is nothing more beneficial than networking with women of like mind. FreelanceMom.com strives to have forums with meaningful home business conversations. Please add your two cents!
Join now! |
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