Work-from-Home Opportunities

More and more people are now turning to home-based jobs to earn a living while staying with their families at home. This is an attractive opportunity for plenty of moms looking for a career from home or to supplement their husband’s earnings. However, an increasing number of people who are just plain tired of daily work commute and office dramas are now also turning their computers on to make money online. If you are amongst these people, then this article is for you.

This article aims to provide you with a list of job opportunities that you can work on while home in your pajamas. Each has been described briefly to help set your expectations on them. Further research is encouraged for those who seriously want to build a work-from-home career on any of the following fields;



Blogging

It all started with online journals. Soon enough, big companies adapted the trend in order to better communicate to its customers, and corporate blogging is born. This change has given rise to new work opportunities from home that only required one to have a computer, internet connection and the ability to write. A problogger’s earning potentials are limitless. High trafficked blogs earn six figures in a matter of months for blog owners. Success however is never guaranteed. It is purely matter of skill and some luck.

Freelance Writing

After blogging is freelance writing. Freelance writers today are no longer those people who go on hunger strike for days because the market is not-so-good. These days, freelance writers go online to find markets looking for them! Projects involve article, blog, eBook, Newsletter and Web content writing. This opportunity is for anyone with a knack for words and is passionate about writing.

Data Entry

Data entry jobs also abound the online market. These jobs can be as simple as typing data from a source to an excel file, data extraction from Web sites and/or inputting content from source to a Web based platform or CMS like Wordpress. These jobs are not very high paying, but considering the amount of work needed done, fast and efficient service providers can still make a good living out of it.

Virtual Assisting

Are you a former secretary to an executive? Are you familiar with most administrative tasks? If you’ve answered YES to these questions, then Virtual Assisting is for you! A Virtual Assistant works like a secretary (from home) and handles various tasks for her client such as scheduling appointments, writing business correspondences, handling calls, etc. These jobs are usually paid on an hourly basis.


Customer Service

Have you heard of Customer Service jobs being outsourced to other countries? Well, that’s not yet the big news about this industry: Customer Service jobs are now also outsourced to qualified work-from-home professionals who are experienced in this field. This is done through the use of a Web-based dialer or a VOIP service like Skype. If you have a strong customer service orientation and you speak English well, then this home-based job might just be the right one for you.

These five job opportunities from home shall complete our list for now. There are a lot more fields of service that we’re once done within the office only, but have now been outsourced online. These jobs however are requiring better qualifications in terms of education and work experiences. These include Web programming and Web design. If you aren’t skilled on these fields yet, then you may want to consider working on the above given jobs for now. With working from home, you have all the options that you can ever wish for.

Work-from-Home Guide for Students

Working from home has opened doors of earning opportunities to almost anyone who’s got valuable skills to market online. In fact, it has opened doors for both professionals and not-yet-professionals alike. Students who are still beginning to learn the ropes of earning a living through their skills are now in for some great ‘practice work’ opportunities prior to joining the corporate workforce. The best thing about it is that they no longer need to increase their student debt to meet their needs in school because practice work offers an attractive compensation. Read on.

How to get started

Really, there’s no secret formula to perfectly get started as a work from home student. The process of finding online work is pretty much similar to finding a part-time job in a coffee shop or within the university. You have to do some research and browse through job ads, too. The only difference is that you do all these online. To help you start, check out the hundreds of marketplaces offering work-from-home jobs like Odesk, Elance, vWroker or even better try Donanza a work-from-home Search Engine exposing you to all available jobs out there.

What to prepare

Preparations to become a work-from-home student involve mastering a valuable skill that you can offer online. This can be writing or designing— whichever you are proficient with! Online jobs offer opportunities for entry level skills like Web research and data entry. You just have to be honest to yourself and know what you can do. This would be the best start.
Now, after you have determined your marketable skills, the next thing to do is to market it. By market, we mean to offer it! Prepare your resume and cover letter so you have them ready when you need them. Bank on your skills. Develop a portfolio of samples. For student writers, you can build a free blog on Wordpress.
Finally, brave yourself and try out applying for online jobs. Freelance bidding sites like oDesk, Guru, Elance and vWorker offers a good marketplace to where you can start your search. You can sign up for accounts with them free of charge.

Now, for tips;

• Be confident. If you are confident that your skills match that of the required skills in the job posting, then don’t hesitate to apply. You are as good as your skills, with or without a diploma to show.
• Learn to save. Working from home is a rewarding part time job financially especially if taken seriously, but it can’t give you the guarantee of constant work and income. Save yourself from money woes, should your career experience a sudden downturn, by saving.
• Remember: School before work. Keep your goals in mind. Why have you considered working from home in the first place? It is because you would like to support your studies. Therefore, don’t let academics suffer because of work. Set your priorities right.
How about you? Are you a work-from-home student too? Any tips for your fellow work-from-home students? Leave your comments below.

Top 3 Traits of a Successful Work-from-Home Graphic Designer

Working from home is already becoming a trend these days. With the advent of the internet, many businesses opted to just outsource some of their needs to professionals from around the globe who are able to achieve their desired end product sans the complexities of full time employment. One of the jobs that are commonly outsourced today is graphic design, hence an increase on the number of graphic designers working from home has also been observed in the recent years.

Now, if you have intentions of joining this bandwagon of graphic designers who chose to work from home, then you must develop the following traits in order to succeed.

Hard work

Hard work is on the top of our list primarily because it is the most important skill that a graphic designer should learn in order to succeed. When starting out, hard work can help graphic designer find clients because he’d persevere to find work despite rejections that he might encounter along the way. Hard work can also help him finish projects on time and with excellent quality despite the time sensitivity of most design projects. Hard work can help a graphic designer stay in business for a long period of time.

Professionalism

Working from home is tough because it seems to infuse your personal life with that of your professional life. Working from home oftentimes meant working in your pajamas, on the kitchen table or watching TV while you work. These things may get in the way of your productivity in the long run. Sure, working from home may free you up with your 9AM-5PM burdens like status reports to a boss, but this does not mean that you no longer have responsibilities. You have a client waiting, and you are responsible to deliver the work that is expected from you promptly. In addition, working in a messy desk doesn’t also give you the privilege to talk trash to anyone, most especially to clients. Be professional and you can be guaranteed new and repeat business.

Eagerness to improve

Working from home may lead to too much convenience that you may already forget to study and improve. As a graphic designer, you owe it to your profession, to your clients and to yourself to continually seek improvement. With technology changing almost every day, you must make sure to keep yourself up-to-date with trends, new applications to help you do your work better and new skills that are required to produce better designs. After all, your profession is technically inclined.

The key to succeed in graphic design is no sky-rocket science. It is only a matter of valuing good work ethics. Try to be your best self at all times, with or without a boss to impress, and you should be fine.

How to Get Started as a Work-from-Home Programmer

Believe it or not, different work-from-home opportunities require slightly different approaches to get started. Working from home as a writer, for one, requires the person practicing it to build writing samples on her chosen niche and also learn a bit about SEO. Data entry, on the other hand, requires a provider’s proficiency on various MS Office and Web-based application to get started. Today, we are to talk about how to get started as a work-from-home programmer.

List down your skills and find your specialization

This is a tough step because you can’t normally tell your specialization unless you are already out and offering your services and learning the things that you enjoy about your job. However, the best way to get it right the first time in working from home as a programmer is to assess your skills and determine what and what you can’t offer to your clients. The work-from-home programming industry is already literally crowded with programmers from various parts of the world. Competition is stiff and the only way to be able to make it through is to present your best self—that means offering services that you are most proficient at.

Prepare a portfolio of work samples

Your lack of work experience is no excuse to not be able to present work samples. Programming is a learned skill, and so you are expected to show proof that you’ve indeed learned it. At the beginning of your career, you can accept free work from friends or organizations within your locality. If they ever need a programmer for Web development needs, give them a helping hand, and ask for a testimonial in return for the work done for them.

Begin seeking work in the Web

Finally, you’ll need to start job hunting now. Competition in work-from-home programming may be stiff, but there’s also lots of work waiting for you in the marketplace. Find jobs on freelance bidding sites or on job boards. Be willing to start small so you can build a client base. Once settled, you are free to work on your own and offer your services through your own professional Web site.

Finally, don’t limit your knowledge on this guide. Research! Nothing prepares you for the real thing other than your self-initiated groundwork.