Work at Home Opportunities for Real People

I woke up this morning, shuffled into the kitchen and poured myself a steaming hot cup of coffee. Then I made the 30-second commute to my home office where I spent the day in my pajamas answering phone calls, sending emails, working on the project that's due at the end of the week.

Then the alarm went off. Damn it . . . dream over, back to my real life.

Who hasn't dreamed of the work-at-home life? We've all heard about the Millionaire Moms who made their fortunes working from home while doing laundry and changing diapers. Why not me? Why not you?

I've spent the last twenty years working for the feds. Driving a desk, shuffling papers and stretching the red tape as far as it will go. Truth is, I like my job. No matter what job I do, I do it to the best of my ability. I believe in the mission of the agency I work for and I like to think of myself as a steward of the taxpayer's dollars.

But, you know, I've been doing the same thing for twenty years and some days I really would like to work from home and answer only to myself. I'd like to work at something that feeds my soul AND pays the bills. I'd like to have more control of when, where and how I work. I'd like to stop struggling with the work/life balancing act.

You, too?

There are many opportunities to work from home, but there are a lot of scams out there, too. A little research uncovered the following legitimate work at home options:

Call Center Operator: In recent years, many companies have outsourced their customer service call centers to foreign countries. The results have not been real positive and now many companies are moving their call center operations back to the homeland and outsourcing to home-based American workers. LiveOps is the world's largest virtual call center with over 20,000 independent at-home workers handling customer service calls for companies like eBay, Coca-Cola, LifeLock, Pizza Hut and Ronco. West at Home is another reputable call center that hires home-based agents. All you need to get started is a high-speed internet connection, dedicated land line, and a quiet, uninterrupted work space. Your work schedule is up to you. You can apply online and training is provided.

Virtual Assistant: If you have strong clerical and/or administrative skills, a work at home career as a virtual assistant may be just what the doctor ordered. You can operate as an independent contractor or join an already established group like Virtual Office Temps. You can choose to be a jack-of-all-trades or specialize in an area like word processing, data entry, transcription, payroll or bookkeeping. To get a better idea of the kinds of services people are looking for check, go to eLance.com, click on the "Find Work" tab, and then click on the "Admin Support" link. The opportunities for virtual assistants are endless and continually growing. You determine when you work and how many assignments you want to take on. For more information about the burgeoning virtual assistant industry, visit the website for the International Virtual Assistant Association or network with other VAs at VANetworking.com.

Freelance Anything and Everything: The internet has opened up unlimited options for freelancers - whether you're a freelance writer, photographer, artist, administrative assistant, web designer, graphics designer, accountant, management consultant, engineer, architect, computer programmer, lawyer, telemarketer, transcriptionist, construction estimator or CAD technician. The possibilities are absolutely endless. The most well known resource for freelance jobs is eLance.com but don't overlook sites like HireMyMom.com, ifreelance.com, and guru.com.

Blogging for Dollars: If you like to write and have some computer skills, you may be able to make some money as a professional blogger. Most bloggers make money through advertising programs (like Google Adsense, Chitika, and Text Link Ads) and affiliate programs like Amazon and Commission Junction. Others sell their own digital content like ebooks, music, podcasts, videos, etc. Common sense tells me that you need to be web savvy and a prolific writer to make money with your own blog. Another option is to blog on a pay-per-post basis. At sites like PayPerPost and ReviewMe, you can get paid to write a blog post about a particular topic or product.

Writing for Associated Content: If you like to write but don't want the responsibility of running your own blog, try writing for Associated Content (AC). You won't get rich but you can make some extra spending money. Write about what you know and what interests you. AC usually pays $3 - $20 per article and you earn a little money every time your articles are viewed by others. If you give AC exclusive rights to your article, they may resell the rights to your content and you get paid for that also. It's fun to see your byline on the screen and gives your self-esteem a little boost.

I'm sure if you do your own research you'll find many more opportunities but be sure to look before you leap. Avoid being scammed by checking first with the Better Business Bureau and ScamBusters.

Good luck!