How Can YOU Work From Home?
Entrepreneurs who want to work from home are very creative at finding ways to do it. To get you started, here are four broad options to start thinking about and customizing to suit your needs and talents.
Monetize a Skill or Talent
Do you have a flair for planning great events? Do your friends beg you to come help them organize their closets?
Can you read a dog's mind? Are you a marvel at graphic design?
Even if you can't do any of those things, chances are that you have a skill or talent that other people would pay you to do for them. Sometimes these skills and talents are second nature to us and we don't recognize their worth. You can try sitting down and making a list of things you do really well. Pay particular attention to things other people ask you to do for them or things you are repeated complimented for. If you come up with zilch, it could be that you are too close to the subject to see clearly. Enlist the help of some people who know you well and ask them to make the list for you.
Once you have a list, the next step is to do some market research and see how large the market is for people who provide that. If yours is a service or product that can only be delivered in person or to a certain area, focus your research on that particular area. Don't forget the option of being a freelancer for some businesses that need your specialty. One happy self-bosser I know is a freelance waitress. She is amazing at what she does, customers love her and she loves the work, but she has an active family life that prevents her from being tied to a particular schedule. She created a nice brochure and offered to be "on-call" for the restaurant owners she knows and likes. She stays as busy as she wants, she gets to work in a variety of places and the business owners love having someone who is proficient to call on when they find themselves short-handed. She also makes A LOT more money than the staff servers because her clients have no overhead for her.
If your skill or talent can be delivered over the internet, you may have a bright future with sites like Elance, Odesk and Guru.
With that in mind, again, how could you monetize a skill or talent you already have?
Find a Need and Fill It
Many years ago, I was a single, working mother of six children (Wow! Was that ever a hectic time!). I had a traditional job and was the only source of income for my family. One day my youngest child woke up covered in spots...Chicken Pox! That meant no daycare for him and I was forced to "call in" to work that day. The next day my daughter had them. I had already lost two previous jobs because of similar circumstances so I was in a panic. That's when a friend told me about a service in town called Chicken Soup Plus. Chicken Soup Plus would send a home health provider to my home to stay with my children while they were unable to go to daycare and school.
That's an example of finding a need and filling it.
What unmet need have you noticed as you go through your day? This one requires a good deal of research. There may not be anyone filling the need because the people who have it are unable or unwilling to pay for a solution or there may be some enormous regulatory hurdle. BUT, if you can uncover a need that isn't being met currently and the people who have that need are willing and able to have it filled AND you can do it well...you may have just found a goldmine!
Work from Home Jobs
The "work from home stuffing envelopes" ads have been fleecing would-be home business owners for years and have given legitimate work from home jobs a black eye. However, they do exist and many people find the hybrid model of working from home and collecting a paycheck a good option. Be very careful though, the "envelope stuffing" scum-buzzards are still at work and eager to take your money. Stick with reputable companies. At the time of this writing,
1-800 Flowers and Hilton are both hiring at-home workers to fill phone positions. Legitimate companies who want to hire home-based workers will never charge you a fee. They will list very specific skills and technology that you must already possess and clear job descriptions and expectations.
If a work from home job sounds good to you, you can start your search using the search engine: LinkUp. LinkUp only returns results from company websites, so you won't run into (as many) bogus jobs. You can also visit The Work at Home Jobs Company Directory.
Multi-level Marketing
Love it or hate it, no discussion of work from home options would be complete without including MLM home based businesses. In theory, the "mini-frachise" model of MLM businesses is wonderful. It puts business ownership in reach of many people who don't have the ability to shell out the big bucks a traditional frachise would cost and eliminates the downside of frachising, like geographic limitations and enormous royalties paid to the parent company. MLM really has created more millionaires than any other industry. However, these are shark-infested waters and plunging into the first "opportunity" that comes your way is naive at best, and potentially disasterous...not ony financially, but to your most valued relationships as well.
This is another area where research really pays off. There ARE legitimate MLM companies out there (and they're not necessarily the largest and oldest ones in the industry). Be choosy, make sure first of all that a real product or service is being sold to real customers (who are simply using the product or service because they love it...not building a business). Secondly, make sure the product or service is something that you use and love yourself. If the business side of it went away tomorrow, would you continue to use this product or service as a customer (and pay full retail price for it?). Next, please please please make sure it isn't something that can be easily found at the local health food store or home center for a far lower price. From a marketing perspective (and you'll be doing A LOT of that), it is very difficult to convince people to pay two or three times as much for a bottle of something they can get downtown...I don't care HOW special your special ingredients are. If they can find it cheaper someplace else and it looks pretty much the same to them, they are going to pick the cheaper one. Whatever product or service you choose must be reasonably priced. The next must is this: you must be able to make a decent income if you only retail the product or service. This means there is enough room between the wholesale and reasonable retail price that if you only had retail customers you could make a decent income after deducting your time and expenses.
Up to this point, if a company meets the above criteria, I am a fan. Where the water gets murky and the "pyramid" word starts getting used is when the compensation plan discussion begins. At this point, I'm going to turn you over to an expert in the subject and let him explain what is wrong with the "opportunity" most companies are offering:
Monetize a Skill or Talent
Do you have a flair for planning great events? Do your friends beg you to come help them organize their closets?
Can you read a dog's mind? Are you a marvel at graphic design?
Even if you can't do any of those things, chances are that you have a skill or talent that other people would pay you to do for them. Sometimes these skills and talents are second nature to us and we don't recognize their worth. You can try sitting down and making a list of things you do really well. Pay particular attention to things other people ask you to do for them or things you are repeated complimented for. If you come up with zilch, it could be that you are too close to the subject to see clearly. Enlist the help of some people who know you well and ask them to make the list for you.
Once you have a list, the next step is to do some market research and see how large the market is for people who provide that. If yours is a service or product that can only be delivered in person or to a certain area, focus your research on that particular area. Don't forget the option of being a freelancer for some businesses that need your specialty. One happy self-bosser I know is a freelance waitress. She is amazing at what she does, customers love her and she loves the work, but she has an active family life that prevents her from being tied to a particular schedule. She created a nice brochure and offered to be "on-call" for the restaurant owners she knows and likes. She stays as busy as she wants, she gets to work in a variety of places and the business owners love having someone who is proficient to call on when they find themselves short-handed. She also makes A LOT more money than the staff servers because her clients have no overhead for her.
If your skill or talent can be delivered over the internet, you may have a bright future with sites like Elance, Odesk and Guru.
With that in mind, again, how could you monetize a skill or talent you already have?
Find a Need and Fill It
Many years ago, I was a single, working mother of six children (Wow! Was that ever a hectic time!). I had a traditional job and was the only source of income for my family. One day my youngest child woke up covered in spots...Chicken Pox! That meant no daycare for him and I was forced to "call in" to work that day. The next day my daughter had them. I had already lost two previous jobs because of similar circumstances so I was in a panic. That's when a friend told me about a service in town called Chicken Soup Plus. Chicken Soup Plus would send a home health provider to my home to stay with my children while they were unable to go to daycare and school.
That's an example of finding a need and filling it.
What unmet need have you noticed as you go through your day? This one requires a good deal of research. There may not be anyone filling the need because the people who have it are unable or unwilling to pay for a solution or there may be some enormous regulatory hurdle. BUT, if you can uncover a need that isn't being met currently and the people who have that need are willing and able to have it filled AND you can do it well...you may have just found a goldmine!
Work from Home Jobs
The "work from home stuffing envelopes" ads have been fleecing would-be home business owners for years and have given legitimate work from home jobs a black eye. However, they do exist and many people find the hybrid model of working from home and collecting a paycheck a good option. Be very careful though, the "envelope stuffing" scum-buzzards are still at work and eager to take your money. Stick with reputable companies. At the time of this writing,
1-800 Flowers and Hilton are both hiring at-home workers to fill phone positions. Legitimate companies who want to hire home-based workers will never charge you a fee. They will list very specific skills and technology that you must already possess and clear job descriptions and expectations.
If a work from home job sounds good to you, you can start your search using the search engine: LinkUp. LinkUp only returns results from company websites, so you won't run into (as many) bogus jobs. You can also visit The Work at Home Jobs Company Directory.
Multi-level Marketing
Love it or hate it, no discussion of work from home options would be complete without including MLM home based businesses. In theory, the "mini-frachise" model of MLM businesses is wonderful. It puts business ownership in reach of many people who don't have the ability to shell out the big bucks a traditional frachise would cost and eliminates the downside of frachising, like geographic limitations and enormous royalties paid to the parent company. MLM really has created more millionaires than any other industry. However, these are shark-infested waters and plunging into the first "opportunity" that comes your way is naive at best, and potentially disasterous...not ony financially, but to your most valued relationships as well.
This is another area where research really pays off. There ARE legitimate MLM companies out there (and they're not necessarily the largest and oldest ones in the industry). Be choosy, make sure first of all that a real product or service is being sold to real customers (who are simply using the product or service because they love it...not building a business). Secondly, make sure the product or service is something that you use and love yourself. If the business side of it went away tomorrow, would you continue to use this product or service as a customer (and pay full retail price for it?). Next, please please please make sure it isn't something that can be easily found at the local health food store or home center for a far lower price. From a marketing perspective (and you'll be doing A LOT of that), it is very difficult to convince people to pay two or three times as much for a bottle of something they can get downtown...I don't care HOW special your special ingredients are. If they can find it cheaper someplace else and it looks pretty much the same to them, they are going to pick the cheaper one. Whatever product or service you choose must be reasonably priced. The next must is this: you must be able to make a decent income if you only retail the product or service. This means there is enough room between the wholesale and reasonable retail price that if you only had retail customers you could make a decent income after deducting your time and expenses.
Up to this point, if a company meets the above criteria, I am a fan. Where the water gets murky and the "pyramid" word starts getting used is when the compensation plan discussion begins. At this point, I'm going to turn you over to an expert in the subject and let him explain what is wrong with the "opportunity" most companies are offering:
"This basic formula holds true no matter how much further the chain extends.
Approximately 99% of all participants are always at the bottom of the chain where profit
is not possible. Profit depends on position. " (What About This One? Pyramid Scheme Alert www.pyramidschemealert.org)
I've been accused of being an MLM hater and that simply isn't true. What I hate is the selling of the American Dream by greedy companies who have cost millions of Americans not only their hard-earned money, but damaged their relationships as well. I also hate the "anyone can do it" promise. It's a skills-based business and without those skills, succeeding in MLM is about as easy as pushing a boulder uphill with a rope.
Back to the compensation plan, after reading the above quote, even if you "got in on the ground floor" and were in one of the top positions in the compensation plan, could you sleep at night if you brought your friends and family members in who weren't? Think long and hard before involving the people you want to spend the rest of your life with in something that may damage your relationship. The NFL (No Friends Left) Club is a lonely place.
So the bottom line on MLM's? They can be great if you choose wisely and make business decisions with your head, not your heart. I've been around the work at home industry a long time, so if you have a company you are seriously considering getting involved with, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to tell you what I know about it.
Back to the compensation plan, after reading the above quote, even if you "got in on the ground floor" and were in one of the top positions in the compensation plan, could you sleep at night if you brought your friends and family members in who weren't? Think long and hard before involving the people you want to spend the rest of your life with in something that may damage your relationship. The NFL (No Friends Left) Club is a lonely place.
So the bottom line on MLM's? They can be great if you choose wisely and make business decisions with your head, not your heart. I've been around the work at home industry a long time, so if you have a company you are seriously considering getting involved with, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to tell you what I know about it.
Who Wants to be a Celebrity?
I'm adding one more option for creating a work from home business, Personal Branding. You can think of personal branding as creating You,Inc. You are the product. This is something that works exceptionally well for people with a message who want to become the trusted authority in a particular niche. Personal branding can be a very long and expensive process. The time involved can be greatly reduced with professional help. If celebrity positioning and being the Go-To person in your area will help your business grow, this site will help you get started
