Legitimate Work From Home Opportunities

Well, between the kids being out of school for the summer and me trying to get 2 other businesses off the ground, still working on one, it has been jammed packed with action around here.  Thus the reason I’ve had to ignore my today.com blog.  I feel badly too because I know a number of you were following my blog.  I have so much more to say and will definitely be back once I have a few moments of peace.  I’m not one to leave something unfinished, I just can’t promise when that will be.In the meantime, I felt that I needed to post a list of those work from home opportunities that I know to be legitimate.  Rather than listing them all here, please checkout the following website, it’s got a great list of companies.  I’ve found this list to be very reliable.

WORK AT HOME DIRECTORY - A LIST OF COMPANIES THAT HIRE PEOPLE TO WORK FROM HOME

Good luck!

When you really start to think about it, working in an office is expensive especially in today’s times.  Some examples of employment expenses related to working in an office, some obvious, are the gas or the cost for transportation (bus, train, etc.) to get to your job each day.  With gas prices what they are today, this could be eating up a serious portion of your income.  If you have children, especially children who are too young to go to school, there are daycare expenses unless you have a family member who helps out.  Daycare can be really costly, especially if your child is in daycare for a full day.  Then there are the less obvious expenses like uniforms (in some cases), panty hose, work clothes you wouldn’t otherwise own, dry cleaning, etc.  Add it all up and compare it to your net income and in some cases you’d be surprised to realize how little you’re making.

This was the #1 reason I quit my professional career that required me to work in an office.  I was missing out on my children’s childhood and I knew before long that I’d be looking back and asking myself where the time went and why I didn’t have a closer relationship to my children.  For those of you who work diligently in an office, this is by no means a slam at what you choose to do in a career.  The decision to work in an office versus working from home is completely a personal decision and in some cases a job in an office just works better all around for some families.

For stay at home moms, the ability to earn an income while being with your children far more than you would in a traditional office job.  Many Moms regret not being home when their kids are sent off to school, or when they arrive home.  If you’re working 8 hours per day at your office job, have to commute, and especially when you have young children, that leaves you very little time to spend with them in the morning and before they’re off to bed at night.  If you’re still working a stressful job that requires a long commute and/or long hours, it may be time to reevaluate your options.  When I choose to reevaluate, it was long overdue.

With that said in my prior post, many of the work at home jobs I write about seem to have an average pay range between $8 to $15 per hour.  Based on research I’ve done, I find that this pay range seems to be consistent with little variance just based on the job descriptions for most work from home jobs.  Most of you who have searched or will search for a home-based job have plenty of motivation, reasons for wanting to work from home, and skills to get the job done.  When you think about all the expenses you’ll save by not working in an office, this pay rate may be great or not so bad depending on your professional experience.  Due to those additional expenses you’ll save as a result of working at home versus an office, I’d have to guess and say that the savings on these expenses is worth an additional 20 - 25% to the pay rate, and that’s your actual pay rate if you were to do the same job an office setting.  Not bad considering the employment expense savings and just as important, all the other benefits that come with a work at home job.  See my future posts that outline the many benefits to working at home, as well as the very few disadvantages that come with it.

The average pay rates I quote in my future posts, when I talk about typical work from home positions, are national averages.  Actual pay range, assuming you land a work at home job, often varies based on the part of the U.S. you live in, especially if you’re working for a local company / individual.  Additionally, just as with a traditional office job, pay is often affected by the amount of relevant experience you have.  Also, those jobs that are more technical in nature often have a higher pay rates.  A few examples of technically oriented work at home jobs would be a Web Designer or a Web Researcher.

The number of work at home jobs has increased over the past years, as have the number of businesses who have implemented formal work at home employment.  The real challenge in to finding a work at home job is just that, finding those companies that offer work at home jobs.  You really have to know where to look or how to best search the internet since the internet is deluged with mostly work at home scams (see previous posts on how to avoid work at home scams).  A more recent challenge in finding a work at home job is the current unemployment rate.  A high percentage of the American population has been out of work for a while now or has recently been laid off from their traditional job.  That leaves far more people at home looking for a job, and while researching traditional jobs they often come across work at home jobs.  Therefore, the number of applicants for work at home jobs has doubled.  You’ll often find that legitimate work at home companies are not hiring and not even accepting applications.  Even considering that, I highly encourage you to bookmark those company websites and check back often.

9)  Be thorough and read everything on their website very carefully.  If they’re unclear about exactly what you will receive or would be expected to do, that’s a sign that they’re trying to hide something. Be on the look out for disclaimers and the “fine print.”

10)  You’ve seen them before, those Google Adsense ads (sometimes just text ads or banner ads) that advertise a link which promotes work at home jobs.  They’re everywhere.  I’m betting there are a few right next to this blog post that you’re reading, right?  Know that just because something is advertised in an Adsense type ad (or Bidvertiser or any other type program), don’t assume it’s legitimate.  In my opinion, if a company was truly legitimate and looking for employees, they’re extremely unlikely to do so using pay per click advertising.  They’d probably use something like Craig’s List or CareerBuilder.com if they were looking for free advertising of a job opportunity.

11)  Bottom line?  Just use your common sense!

6)      If the company does list an e-mail address, is it an e-mail address from their domain name or is it a free e-mail account like yahoo or gmail?  If it’s a free email account, then more than likely they’re a scam as a legitimate company has their own domain name e-mail addresses, although that’s not always a sure sign that they’re legit as anyone can set this up with a little effort.

7)      Be careful of sites that mention an affiliation with large nationwide publications like the LA Times, or the USA Today, eluding to the possibility that these publications did an article on them.  If they truly have been written about in a publication, they’ll provide you with the link as they’ll obviously be proud of it.

8)  Beware of .org domains, anyone can get one of these with no more effort than a .com domain.  This does not necessarily mean that a company is not for profit and in the business of  helping people for free.  Search their site for proof that they’re non-profit like mentioning that they are non-profit and / or have an IRS 501(c)(3) status (indicating they’re non-profit in the eyes of the IRS.)

3)      When you find an opportunity for working at home through an email, a website, print publication, TV, postal mail or even a friend, check it out. Do your research before you even consider sending a company money.  I highly recommend Googling the company name, checking them out at www.scam.com , or at the online Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org .

4)      Usually if they’re advertising themselves as being a “legitimate work at home job,” they’re anything but that.  Legitimate work at home jobs don’t have to state this in order to get qualified employees.

5)      Does the company webpage provide contact information, like an e-mail address, address and / or phone number at the bottom?  If it’s a scam site / scan company, the most they give you in the way of contacting them is a support form that you enter your request to avoid them having to give out their contact information.