Telecommuting Jobs Tips

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What are some ideas for home based business services I can provide?

Home business idea: Create your own raffle

If you are looking for a quick way to generate customers for any local service you provide, consider the possibility of holding a raffle for your service. Any kind of service that people want or need will be a good candidate for this type of marketing method, and you will make a lot of money doing it. Are you a babysitter? Do you offer secretarial services for home based businesses? Are you a massage therapist? Do you teach piano lessons? Any of these services (and so many more) are likely possibilities. What you'll do is print off raffle tickets and agree to split part of the proceeds with the charity of your choice. Visit your neighborhood homes, door to door, and ask them to purchase a raffle ticket for your services. For example, if you offer hairdressing services, ask them "Would you like the chance to have your hair done for free for an entire year (9 sessions) for just $5?” Explain that you are offering your services and part of the proceeds is going to the charity you chose. You will be amazed at how many tickets will be sold. Sell only 400 tickets and you will be making $2,000 just for doing 9 haircuts in a year. Can you imagine how much money you can make if you cover your entire city with these tickets? Plus, you will be gaining valuable advertising, because each and every one of those who bought your tickets is a potential customer. Use those addresses and send them coupons once the raffle is drawn. If you send each of those buyers a coupon for a discount on future services, as a “Consolation prize", you will instantly increase your business and gain valuable new contacts.

   
How do I market myself to prospective employers?

Marketing yourself to prospective employers

In order to market yourself to potential employers, you're going to have to make sure you shine! Create a professional-looking website and post your portfolio on the site. List the services you provide and point out the benefits to prospective clients. Provide your contact information and have your resume on the site. Market your site using search engines, discussion boards, reciprocal link exchanges, and articles in newsletters. Don't be afraid to take the time to network with local businesses at networking events in your area, and don't overlook placing ads in the business section of your local classifieds.

   
What are some ideas for home based business services I can provide?

Home business idea: Offer multi-restaurant home delivery services

Restaurants that offer delivery services are usually able to generate more business than those who only offer take out services. You can capitalize on this trend by contacting local restaurants that aren't currently offering a delivery service and offering to home deliver their orders at no extra cost to them. All they need to do is print "We now offer home delivery" on their next batch of takeout menus. Make sure it is stated clearly on the menu that the delivery fee is between $2 - $5 (depending on how much you want to charge). They will see an increase in business at no extra cost to them, and you will have an instant market for your services. Keep in mind that you will not only earn the fee for the delivery, you will also be collecting all the tips!

   
What are some ideas for home based business services I can provide?

Home business idea: Make money with a local school convenience supply pack

Each year, your local elementary school teachers supply lists of "what parents need to buy" for their children at the beginning of the school year. You can help busy parents save time and money, while helping your school raise some much needed funds for the classroom, by offering to create pre-filled supply packs for the students. You will be able to buy the supplies in bulk and on sale when it is off-season, and prepare the packages ahead of time for distribution to the classrooms. On the first day of school, when the teachers usually send home the list of supplies, ask the teacher to add a note that if the parents prefer to purchase a "Supply Pack", they are welcome to send the money in with the child the next day and the pack will be available for their child at school. You can easily fill a "Supply Pack" with everything the child will need for the year at a cost of around $10 per pack, and sell them at around $20 each. The pack itself will be easily worth about $40 to the parent if they had to buy all the supplies at retail price, so your packs will save them a lot of money and the hassle of the annual trip to buy school supplies. A really handy tip is to have the school send out notices to the parents a month before school starts, and ask them to reply with a confirmation of their willingness to purchase the supply pack when the school year begins. That way, you will know ahead of time how many orders you need to plan to fill. Give the school a 30% split on all the profits, and you can easily make around $4,000 per school each year. In fact, you can probably get your supplies a lot cheaper by cutting a deal with the local office supply store to include their coupons and flyers in each pack. If you approach one of the smaller stores, instead of the big chains, they will be grateful for the low cost advertising and exposure to all the local parents and businesspeople that send their children to school.

   

Home business idea: Host a group babysitting event

Parents need a night out, or at least a quiet night in without the kids, but are often reluctant to hire young babysitters. Hiring an overnight babysitter can be very expensive and it is difficult to trust that everything will be fine for an entire overnight period. So, why not create a "once a month" sleepover event? Make arrangements with the local community center to rent space for an overnight event. Cost should be around $200 for the night. Distribute flyers to all the local homes that there is an upcoming sleepover event for children between the ages of four and fourteen. You will arrange games, supply pizza and soda, and tell fun ghost stories, then tuck the kids into their sleeping bags for the night. You can even tell the parents to send their kids with their morning snack and have them picked up by 9 a.m. You can easily charge $25 per child for the event, and the parents will feel safe knowing their children are being cared for by an adult they know and trust. You can easily host a party for fifty to one hundred kids and earn anywhere between $1,000 and $2,000 per event (after expenses, of course).

   
How do I create my own work at home job?

Using the phone to contact new customers

It never hurts to pick up the phone and set up appointments to show your service offerings. Too many home-based workers are afraid of marketing, and this is the biggest hurdle you'll need to cross to make it as a telecommuter. Use your local phone book and look for customers that fit with the service you provide. When you do any kind of "cold calling", create a spreadsheet and enter each contact you are going to call that day. Organize it so that you can keep track of all your calls, what happened during the call, and whether or not you need to follow up with a letter or have made an appointment.

Choose your target market carefully, and simply look in your local Yellow Pages for every company that is in that target market. Call each of them, one by one, and make notes on each call as you go.

Normally, you shouldn't have to make very many calls before you are able to set an appointment, if you have done your research first and are calling the right person.

The main thing to remember is that you are offering a service, but more importantly, you are introducing yourself to fellow businesspeople. You don't have to sell anything on your first call. Your goal is not to sell your services today. Your goal should be to introduce yourself, set an appointment, or get permission to send them your materials. This does not have to be a hard sell technique.

There is nothing to be afraid of when picking up the phone! It is perfectly natural to be nervous, but don't let your nervousness prevent you from making that essential contact. Even those that say "No thanks" are one step closer to the one who would say "Yes, I'd like an appointment with you next week".

Here's an idea. Call your prospects and set up appointments for a free consultation. Free consultations have worked well for many businesses, for eons, so why not give it a try for yours?

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

Review of TJobs

Site URL: http://www.tjobs.com

Cost: $10/year

Comments: Tjobs was one of the first sites online to offer free telecommuting jobs listings. They have recently changed their policies so that people who want access to apply to many of the positions listed will need to post an "InSiteOffice". What this means is that you will now have to pay $10 a year to view and apply for jobs found at TJobs. It's unfortunate that TJobs changed their business model, because there was so much opportunity for them to grow and change in a different direction. However, as far as "pay to view listings" sites go, this one has a lower price than most, and does have legitimate listings.

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

Use newspaper articles as a source for hidden job markets

Your most effective tool in finding a great work at home job is to spend your time wisely, seeking out all the hidden job markets and finding jobs that others are missing. One of the best sources of current jobs is right in your local newspaper, and I don't mean the job ads. Look in the articles and business profiles to find the names of company owners, then call them up and explain what you do. Make sure you mention that you read about them in the local paper and you enjoyed what the article said about them. This is a great "door opener"!

   
How do I get started looking for a work at home job?

Cutting down on your job search time

Make sure you have your resume, cover letter templates, and portfolio samples ready to go before you start searching. This will cut down your time dramatically and allow you to simply apply for positions and contracts instantly, without having to spend a lot of time fiddling with your materials. By carefully planning how you are going to customize your cover letters, and having a number of "copy and paste" snippets ready to go, you can zoom in on exactly the kinds of ads you want to apply to and zip off your materials, beating out the competition who aren't as prepared as you are.

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

Review of NoAgenciesPlease.com

Site URL: http://www.noagenciesplease.com

Cost: Free

Comments: This is a very nice site that lists both telecommuting and freelance positions. They don't have a huge list of jobs, but the ones that are there are valid, legitimate and entirely focused on the freelancer and independent contractor. This is definitely a favorite.

   
What are some ideas for home based business services I can provide?

Home business idea: Teach music to preschoolers part time

Preschools and daycares aren't always able to budget for a full time music teacher, but may be willing to pay someone to come in once or twice a week to provide this additional activity. By offering a serice such as this, you are providing the preschool or daycare with an enriched spectrum of activities, without breaking their budget. By freelancing this service to many daycares and preschools, you can establish yourself with a full time income in your community. You do not have to be a qualified teacher to do this, provided you have experience in the field and the patience to put together a program that appeals to small children.

   
How do I find out more about work at home jobs sites?

Review of Workaholics4Hire

Site URL: http://www.workaholics4hire.com

Cost: Free

Comments: This site offers real work at home jobs, real telecommuting positions, 100% free! New and current listings are updated daily. The staff researchers scout the web for legitimate work at home jobs so you don't have to. There are also a number of free resources for jobseekers to learn how to telecommute effectively.

   
What are some ideas for home based business services I can provide?

Home business idea: Make your neighborhood mosquito free

With the advent of the West Nile virus, it has never been more important to have a yard area that is free of mosquitoes. You can create a niche market in your area by purchasing bulk quantities of environmentally friendly insecticide and a small sprayer. During mosquito season, grab your sprayer and start going door to door, offering to do a free mosquito inspection. Look for standing water and damp pools where mosquitoes like to breed, and when you find evidence of a mosquito population, offer your services to rid the yard of these dangerous insects. Homeowners, particularly homeowners with small children, will be glad to pay you $25 - $30 to cleanse their yards of these pesky creatures.

   
How do I create my own work at home job?

Create a niche service offering

To create your own work at home job with no competition, start thinking about what you enjoy doing, and imagine a specific service that can be offered to companies in need of that service. Using your own skills, create your own service packages, price them according to market value, and directly contact companies you think will benefit from your service.

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

Review of BetweenMoms.com

Site URL: http://www.betweenmoms.com

Cost: Free

Comments: BetweenMoms is a Work At Home Resource Site made especially for Moms! They have many telecommuting jobs listed, as well as business opportunities, and helpful resources for homeworkers. The telecommuting jobs are updated daily so you will want to check back often. We claim to be "dedicated to helping Moms find legitimate work from home jobs". You will also find affordable advertising, weekly recipes and articles, Mom Stuff, and even a kid´s area full of fun activities.

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

How to use search terms effectively

To successfully search for work at home jobs, it is important to check work at home and freelance job boards regularly. Do not forget to use standard job boards and search on words like "telecommute", "freelance", "home office", "offsite", etc. When searching on major search engines like Google and AOL, search on phrases like "freelance job", "freelancers wanted", "contract work", "home office", etc. Online newspapers can also be a wonderful search tool: Use search terms such as "offsite", "freelancer", "homebased", etc. As always, if there are any fees involved with the job - stay away!

   
Where do I find the best work at home jobs?

Legitimate list of telecommute friendly companies

Site URL: http://telecommuting.about.com/bljoblist.htm

Cost: Free

Comments: About.com has a complete list of legitimate telecommute friendly companies. Never pay for lists like this. Most sites that get you to pay for these lists copied them from the About.com site.

   
How do I create my own work at home job?

Plan your service offerings

The key to your success as a telecommuter is that you need to understand how very easy it can be to become full-time employed from home, if you come to the employer with a pre-packaged set of applied skills to offer. Instead of waiting for jobs to pop up on the internet, where you'll have to compete with thousands of other jobseekers just to get the job, you should create a set of service offerings, decide how you will package the service, and approach prospective customers with a pre-planned and organized package of services they are likely interested in. You can create your own jobs if you know what to say to employers and how to offer your defined services to answer their needs effectively.

   

Best Telecommuting Job Sites

From my expereince the best job sites out there have to be www.liveops.com, www.workingsol.com (Working Solutions), and www.west.com, and www.willowcsn.com, now known as Arise.
LiveOps is a great company that does inbound csr. They work with a variety of clients. You do have to pay a $30 background fee.
Working Solutions performs a variety of work for its clients from data entry to csr to research. The pay is great and the hours are flexible. Once you have applied, expect a wait before you are accepted.
West is inbound customer service with pay per minute rates. They work with a variety of very well-known clients and the hours are also flexible. Once you have applied and gone through the interview, you may also expect a wait to be contacted.
Willow or Arise is the ultimate is customer service. In order to work with this great company that gives you an unbelievable client list, you have to become incorporated, which can run $100 + Basically, you become your own business.

   
What can I expect when I apply for work at home jobs?

What to expect from the employer when you apply for a work at home job

Whenever an employer places any position listing online, the employer receives literally thousands of resumes within a few days, and worse than that, keeps on receiving them for months or years after the position has already been filled. Why? Because there are so very many sites that grab job listings from other sites and post them in their database, without the employer's permission! Worse yet is when you've paid a fee to access those listings that are entirely outdated.

It is no surprise that so few people ever hear back from an employer after they've submitted a resume and cover letter. It seems that the majority of the responses people see will be from the scammers. Aren't they eager to respond with "Please insert $$ here to get this job" emails?

Most good employers will not respond, unless they plan to interview you. Sending follow up letters is pretty pointless, but if you really feel like sending a follow up letter, send a brief and professional follow up letter, two to three weeks after your first application, and not a minute sooner.

   
How can I tell if a job offer is a scam?

Don't waste time on scams

It's sad, but true - there are plenty of people out there who can't wait to part you from your money and give you nothing in return. Remember, a legitimate company will never ask you for money. Some of the most common scams include Envelope Stuffing, processing orders from Home, home typists with no experience, craft and product assembly, and email processors. The best clue to whether or not an ad is a scam is if it asks you for any money to work for them. Never pay for a job and you will always stay scam-free!

   
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