When facing the birth of a child, some parents decide that one will stay home while the other will continue to work. Usually, if it is just one child, maternity leave is usually enough to cover the transitional period between having a baby and going back to work. However, when faced with multiples, one parent will more likely than not become a Stay At Home Parent (SAHP). As everyone knows, multiple births bring on many more expenses than just one infant. How is a family with more than one infant at home supposed to survive on just one income? The cost of diapers in a week alone could knock out half of a paycheck.
Working from home is not as impossible as it seems. Of course, we have all received those SPAM email messages, encouraging work-at-home-wannabes to head to a website to register to “make thousands while working at home,” only to find that it costs upwards of $50 to join in the first place. If we are looking to make money from home, why do these companies think that we have the initial money to lay out? It is ridiculous, really, and completely unfair. Yet, thousands of people do this every day, only making the companies that promise the jobs richer, and not making what they think they were promised. (Read the disclaimer, people.)
Still, there are many ways – especially on the internet – that people can actually work from home and legitimately earn the income that they need. And, you don’t need money to get started. All you need is the drive and determination to put yourself out there and take advantage of any opportunities that come your way. It isn’t difficult. It may be tedious and time-consuming, but it certainly isn’t difficult.
Some ways to earn money at home aren’t time-consuming at all. You can pencil it in when the twins are napping, or have your spouse take care of them for an hour while you accomplish what you need to do. You can seriously earn thousands a week, but only if you put your mind to it. These resources are available to you; it is completely in your hands to take advantage of them.
FOR WRITERS
Writing comes naturally to many people. And, let’s face it: We have all had to write at least one term paper in our lives. Before you start writing for money on the Internet, there are a few things that you need to know. First of all, you aren’t being graded on what you write. Most times, people won’t even know who you are. For example, if your name is Tara Smith and you write something, it could appear under “Tara S.”, “Tara”, “T.S.” or even a screen name that you come up with yourself. Many sites on the Internet do not require that you publicly expose yourself and your personal information. However, if you are working on a website to earn money, chances are that you are going to have to give all sorts of information, including your Social Security Number if you make over $600 in one year. (This is solely for tax purposes.) If you aren’t comfortable doing this, then you shouldn’t be writing for money.
Secondly, in order to earn money by writing on the Internet, make certain that you follow the guidelines set forth by the various websites that you are going to write for. If they need at least 500 words per submission, you will not be able to get away with 150 words. If they say that you cannot submit your work anywhere else, then you need to make sure that you do not. Most times, a website will offer a higher pay rate for articles not posted anywhere else on the Internet. Do yourself a favor and read their guidelines before submitting your work.
Third, get yourself a PayPal account. It is free to sign up for one, which you can do at www.paypal.com. For those of you that don’t know what PayPal is, take a tour of their site for the details. PayPal is the best way to send and receive money online. Most companies send you money through PayPal rather than a paper check. This is a great thing, as you can program PayPal to directly deposit into your bank account. Talk about convenient.
Even if you aren’t a natural when it comes to writing, you should give it a shot anyway. What is the worst that can happen? You just end up not making as much money as you would like in this category. Most websites are looking for reviews from real consumers, not professional writers. Give it a shot – you never know. The following websites are great ways to get started.
Epinions (www.epinions.com)
Owned by Shopping.com, the parent company of EBay, PayPal and Half, Epinions is a website dedicated to educating consumers about products, services and other goods directly through the voices of other consumers. While they have a “Writers Corner” where members can write non-reviews, Epinions only pays for reviews of products, services, places and other goods. Unfortunately, Epinions doesn’t pay all that well for reviews. However, they do have contests and promotions throughout the year, usually every month. For example, during the month of December 2007, users can write 10 reviews for $10. If you write 100 reviews, that is an additional $100 in your pocket. The reviews are rated by other users: Off Topic, Not Helpful, Somewhat Helpful, Helpful and Very Helpful. The higher the rating, the more money you will make because it will appear higher in the listings of the product that you have reviewed. Epinions pays through paper checks, which takes about two to four weeks to arrive. If you live in the United States, you can cash out when your account reaches a minimum of $10. Unfortunately, if you live outside of the USA, you have to wait for your account to reach $100 before you cash out.
Associated Content (www.associatedcontent.com)
Associated Content is a wonderful site where members can really make a lot of money. Associated Content does not require members to specifically write reviews. Instead, members can write on a variety of topics, including events, news, personal stories, prose and more. Payment ranges per article from $0 all the way up to $25, depending on the quality of the article that you submit. While some articles aren’t paid, they still have the opportunity to earn royalties, known as “Performance Payments”. You see, each article you publish remains on the Associated Content website for others to read. The more people that read your content, the more you earn in Performance Payments. Even though these payments might be just pennies, they really add up with the more articles that you write. If you don’t know what to write about, check out the Call for Content feature, which lets you know what topics they need stories for. They often have bonuses, such as a $10 guaranteed payment, for articles on these topics. Payments per article come within a week of acceptance, and Performance Payments come once per month. You absolutely must have a PayPal account in order to be paid for writing on this site.
WCities (www.wcities.com)
WCities is a city guide written by people living locally in the cities that are reviewed. Please note that you must be accepted as a writer to this website before being able to write for them and earn money. Reviews on this site include various attractions in your city, such as restaurants, wineries and so forth. Each review must be 100 words long and written based on experience. There is a flat rate of $10 per review written, which is paid once per month via PayPal.
FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
Finding websites that pay for photography is pretty difficult. Furthermore, many of the websites that do pay for photography have incredibly high standards, usually just so that professional photographers can earn an income. The websites here may give you some pocket change, which is better than nothing at all. Again, just like the writing section, make sure that you thoroughly read the guidelines before submitting your work.
Gather (www.gather.com)
Gather is a website for both writers and photographers. Instead of being paid in cash, however, members earn points that they can exchange for a variety of things, including merchandise, gift certificates and even money. It does take a while to accumulate, but it is really fast to upload your photos and write a quick caption about them. You can start redeeming at 625 points, which will get you one of a variety of $10 gift certificates. The more points you earn, the better the reward. If you earn at least 3,000 points per month (the equivalent of $50), you can cash out as often as you like.
Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com)
Do you have a ton of photos on your computer, but don’t know what to do with them? Upload them on Shutterstock, and you can earn a quarter each time one of the photos is downloaded. Considering you can upload 750 photos in 30 days, you can make a whole lot of money just by uploading the photos once. Once you reach $500 in earnings, your commission jumps to 30 cents per download. Be forewarned, however, that you must upload a government-issued photo ID or allow a credit card to be charged one penny so that your identity can be confirmed. There is a minimum $75 payout rate per 30-day accounting period. If you do not meet the $75, your royalties will be carried into the next period until you make the minimum.
FOR TALKERS
There are many websites that connect people to people for sales-related calls and chats, personal calls and chats, and even advice calls and chats. If you are personable and like talking or chatting online with strangers, then this is certainly a category for you. Of course, if you take phone calls, you will have to worry about interruptions such as the baby crying, toddlers demanding your attention, dog barking and so on. Chatting might be a bit easier, even if you have a couple of infants in the room. Granted, you may not be able to focus on the task at hand with the distractions around you, but that is the case for all of these categories. The only problem here is that there is another person waiting on the other line.
Keen (www.keen.com)
Acquired by AT&T; in November 2007, Keen has been around since the late 90s. It originally started as a website where people could connect with other people for advice about virtually anything: taxes, finances, legal issues, personal advice, and even psychic readings. Now the site has been whittled down to eight categories: Personal Advice, Love and Relationship Readings, Psychic Readings, Tarot Readings, Spiritual Readings, Astrology and Horoscope Readings, Other Psychic Readings and En Espanol Readings. Whether you are psychic or not, read tarot cards or not, you can always join to give personal advice. This works great for the person that all of their friends turn to for advice. The best part of Keen is that you set your per minute rate. Granted, Keen gets a portion of your rate, but you can still make some serious dough. Plus, you can get paid daily via direct deposit into your bank account, if you want to. You can also opt for monthly direct deposit or monthly checks.
Kasamba (www.kasamba.com)
Much like Keen, Kasamba is a site where people turn to for advice. Unlike Keen, Kasamba offers a chat and live phone advice in a plethora of topics. Whether you want to give accounting advice or offer writing services, you will find an area that you can work on with Kasamba. You have to make at least $50 in order to cash out, and will receive your payments via PayPal.
Alpine Access (www.alpineaccess.com)
We have all heard about the people that work from home as Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), but how do they do it? Well, with companies such as Alpine Access. In order to work for Alpine Access, however, you must fill out a very tedious and long application. Unfortunately, you will not find out if they are hiring in your area until after you go through this process, which can be extremely frustrating. However, if you do get into their program, you will be earning at least a part-time job salary almost immediately. That chance in and of itself is worth going through the process.
FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE
While many parents that are looking to work from home don’t really want to leave the house, there are others that would like to venture out, even if it is for just a couple of hours. Mystery shopping and movie audit companies offer a way to earn money while doing things you would normally do. For example, if you go to the mall and need to buy something, you might learn of a mystery shop in the same mall where you can earn a quick $10. Perhaps you and your spouse plan on going to the movies one night. If you do a trailer check or other movie audit, you can earn some quick cash and potentially see the movie for free.
Never, ever, EVER pay to join a mystery shopping company. There are many legitimate companies out there that allow people to join and earn money for free. Each company has its own set of rules and guidelines, so make sure to read the fine print before signing up. Most of these companies will pay via mailed check within a month of the completed assignment.
Theatrical Entertainment Services (www.rapidchek.com)
Do you like movies? If so, then Theatrical Entertainment Services (known as TES) is the company for you. Assignments range from trailer checks (writing down all of the trailers and ads before a movie) to lobby checks (writing down all of the materials displayed in a theatre) and even sneak preview audits (watching a sneak preview and writing the audience’s response to it), not including the various other assignments they have. Payments range from $8.40 for a visit to over $300 for an entire weekend of open checks. All of your assignments will come via email or phone. You will enter your responses either through their website or via fax.
Certified Reports (www.criny.com)
If you are looking for a company where you get to go to the movies, shopping, and out to restaurants while making a little extra money, then Certified Reports is the company for you. Certified Reports is broken into three different divisions: CMS (for in-store marketing services), CRI (for theatrical services) and CRMS (for mystery shopping, audits and surveys). You can sign up for all three in one fell swoop, and make money doing things that you would normally do anyway.
ChannelForce (www.channelforce.com)
If you are into sales and marketing, then ChannelForce is a terrific company for you to work with. There are a variety of different projects that you can work on, such as in-store training, customer exit surveys, and even sales calls. The pay is excellent, but you must go through an application and interview process to be hired.
FOR THOSE THAT THINK THEY HAVE NO TALENT
Let’s face it: Many people think that they don’t have any talent at all. Virtually all of these people believe that they have absolutely no chance whatsoever of making money from home. Guess what? They are completely and totally wrong.
Of course, in order for people in this category to make money, they must think outside the box. Oh, there are ways to earn money… It’s just a matter of whether or not you have the patience and drive to do it, even if it isn’t writing, taking photos, mystery shopping or merchandising. And all of these ways are perfectly legitimate.
EBay (www.ebay.com)
You have watched the commercials. You have seen the advertisements online. You have even heard someone talking about what they bought on eBay at such a great price. Well, in order for people to buy, there must be people to sell. Have you ever heard the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? EBay is the true testament to that cliché. You can sell virtually anything you want on eBay, and make money from it. People have successfully sold old clothes, unused baby gifts, jewelry, even cars on this amazing auction site. Think of it as the world’s largest yard sale. You can find a huge variety of items on eBay, not to mention a plethora of categories in which you can sell your items. Even if there isn’t a specific category, you can list your item in “Everything Else”. If someone wants it, they will find it. Of course, eBay has listing fees and final value fees, which are paid once per month through check, PayPal or credit card. By using PayPal, sellers can accept money immediately. Of course, you have the option of accepting payments through the mail as well. It is completely up to you as to how much you want to sell an item for and how you will accept payment for it.
Half (www.half.com)
Do you still have textbooks from college? Are those old romance novels just collecting dust on your shelves? Did you have a large DVD collection that you just don’t bother watching anymore? Turn your media into moolah on Half. Think of it as owning your own bookstore. Sellers list their inventory basked on the SKU numbers of the books, DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes or whatever media they are listing. They give a short description of the item’s condition, then choose how much they want to sell it for. Then, you wait for your customers. Once you make a sale, you are notified via email, and must ship your item within a set amount of time. Half includes shipping costs, but takes a small commission on what you do sell. You never have to pay Half, though. They take their cut directly out of yours before sending your payment twice a month. Listing an item on Half.com can take between 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on how well you get to know the system. Once you are done, you never have to worry about it again until you make a sale. Then, just wait for the money to roll in!
My Survey (www.mysurvey.com)
If you enjoy taking surveys, then you will really enjoy My Survey. This websites offers users a variety of different surveys, for which they take to earn points. Once these points are accumulated, they can be redeemed for cash, gift certificates or other merchandise. The checks take about a month to arrive, and some gift certificates and merchandise may take a little longer. Plus, you might not qualify for every survey available, so it may take some time to accumulate enough points to redeem something.
These fourteen sites are just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, the legitimate websites are hidden by the scam ones when doing a search for “Work from Home” on the Internet. Do not be deterred by the sites that require money; they aren’t all like that. And, as mentioned before, do not waste your money signing up with a website that requires you to pay before they pay you. In the long run, it just isn’t worth it. Feel free to sign up with more than one website to increase your income. The only person you are responsible to is yourself, unless you accept specific assignments that must be completed by a certain date.
There are real “Work From Home” websites out there within your reach. It is just a matter of finding the right ones in order to bring home the income that you need. There is nothing better than working from home and being able to spend time with your kids. Fortunately, there are many legitimate ways for you to do so.
