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Working at home
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Working at home |
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Skyfyre Senior Member
since 1999-08-15
Posts 1906Sitting in Michael's Lap 
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Here is my situation: I live in a small town, population about 5000. Due to its location in the mountains of central California, my hometown has pretty slim pickings in the way of business; the biggest employer in town is the local state prison (yikes!) since Enron (the previous to employer) went under. Pretty much since I graduated high school, in and out of college, I have been working in the restaurant business since it is a ready source of daily cash. Since 9/11, though, the restaurant business has taken a pretty hard hit (at least where I live) and that coupled with some recent and recurrent car troubles has landed me pretty much taking two steps back for every step forward in my current job. Added to that, for some reason my boss has hired more employees, reducing hours all around, and the dismal nature of things begins to be revealed ... To top it all off, I'm just getting too old for this business. I dread going to work every day, and that just isn't good. So, given the lack of any meaningful or adequately paid jobs in the area, I have started searching for things I can do at home. I have always been leery of "work at home" programs, since many of them are basically scams wherein you just market the work at home scheme to someone else and tell them to market it to make money and so on ... and ripping people off is NOT what I want to do for a living. Other schemes want you to market products as a sort of middleman. I'm not much of a saleswoman -- in fact I'm not a saleswoman at all -- so any investment I put into that sort of thing might as well be thrown to the fireplace as kindling for all the good it will do. What I am wondering is, do you know anyone who runs a legitimate, moderately paid business from home? I'm not asking to be a multimillionaire; my current job *used* to net me about 300-350 a week which was more than adequate for my needs. I don't mind hard work, long hours, late nights, etc -- as long as the time that I put into whatever I am working on pays off in the end. I suppose I could buy one of those directories that claims to have reams upon reams of companies that employ work-at-home subcontacts, but at $40 that would be pretty disappointing if it turned out to be a scam or a listing of scams. MLMs and the like are not for me ... I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have. Linda |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
The book I would suggest will cost you about half that much. Writer's Market. Free-lance. Non-fiction. Anyone with diverse interests and the ability to string words together can make a "decent" living. |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Don't sell your writing talent short Linda. You are a wonderful writer. Both poetry and prose. Contact the local paper for some freelance stuff. And if Enron was in the area, there are probably lots of people you could interview for an article that would sell quickly! |
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doreen peri Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812Virginia |
I worked from home for 8 or 9 years... i still work from home now..... fridays are my work-from-home days and i'm trying to get it back to be at least 3 days from home.... that's just me... but.. here is what i want to share with you most "work from home" ads are schemes to get you to enroll in a program that will never work..... most require you to pay a fee to get their "book" or "business plan" or something like that and once you enroll in this, you never get your money back and you cannot fulfill what they are asking you to do THIS is what will WORK for you..... because..... it works!!!!!.... hehe (it's what i did and it worked for me) first, choose a skill you already have.... what work have you done before that you enjoy doing? what skills do you have? can you write resumes for jobs? can you bake brownies for parties? do you enjoy organizing papers? do you like flower arranging? do you have experience with a hobby or craft that you love doing? take whatever that experience and passion you have and turn it into a business First, write down your skills and build a resume for yourself ...... then, let's say it's flower arranging, take photos of your flower arranging and create a portfolio... let's say it's resume writing... write some fictitious resumes and assemble them to show what you can do... let's say it's catering... take some of your recipes and present them professionally... anyway... you get my point... find something you LOVE to do that you already have experience with (even if only in your personal life, not as your "work") and create a business from it as a one person business, all you really need is one or two steady clients..... the rest is gravy.... you can do many things to market your idea once you create it, but the first thing to do is to have a firm plan of what you want to do every day in your business it's all up to you.... with the internet and email and cyber connections and faxes... etc.... you can do whatever you want to do and the world is open for you to sell your skills and connect to many different markets i do graphic design, creating brochures and flyers and logos and stuff... and i write ad copy.... that's what i do... but.... some of my clients who have worked from their homes have done the following types of jobs -- - real estate agents - gift baskets (flowers, candy, etc) - carpentry/ home improvement - travel agents - secretarial skills/data entry, etc - consultants of all sorts - public speakers/seminar arrangers - etc etc..... god, there's so many people who work from home on their own and NEED to connect to others so that they can build their business with reliable, professional, reasonably priced services.. anyway.... my point is.... no mattter what... you HAVE skills find the skill you WANT to do and LOVE to do and turn it into a business..... if you want my help with more advice on how to do this, email me.....i'd love to offer more information and be of any help i can geography shouldn't make a difference any more.... we have computers and skills and connections.... you CAN build a business no matter where you are.. quite successfully just don't buy into ANY "work from home" ad.... don't send anybody money.... what they are selling is either a SCAM to take your money for something that will never work.... OR it is a booklet or flyer telling you what i'm telling you right here and i'm telling it to you for free  [This message has been edited by doreen peri (03-23-2002 01:35 AM).] |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
quote: Just in case Christopher stops by to read this, we should probably add one more caveat, Doreen. It should also be legal.  |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
and i was starting to get excited too... *sigh* back to the drawing board. |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
LOL@how well Ron knows the workings of Chris's mind. Doreen said a lot of what came to my mind..but said it much better than I will, must be why people pay her to say it for them, huh? Due to my daughters health problems and her being home schooled I have been finding ways to make money from home for years. Some work better than others...and some require at least a few hours each week away from home. Just to add to Doreens good advice...one has to keep in mind when offering a service to the public, and when being "self employed" to make sure you cover your risk, always have small business liability insurance. I had a friend who did lunch catering and was in a mess when tainted tuna made an office party sick and she had no insurance. Contractors insurance packages are very affordable and worth it. And remember that there is a pretty hefty self employment tax(at least in my state) so you have to make sure your profit balances that. And if you are going to grow and need employees..there will be a whole nother set of tax regualtions and liability. Just something to think about...lessons Ive learned the hard way. Good Luck. |
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