Years ago when I found out I was pregnant with Mary, I knew I wanted to homeschool her and stay at home. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be able to work at home too. At that point, my husband worked out of the house and I stayed home. And it stayed like this until Mary got to be two years ago but then I had to go to work. We had just moved to a new town and we needed the extra money until my husband could find a better job. So I went to work at a car dealership but everyday when I went to work, I would hear Mary screaming and crying from our apartment after I left. I only lasted for three months at that job and then I quit. I wanted to be close to my little girl so I decided to completely quit my job and work from home.
When I first started working from home, I pretty much took everything available to me. And believe it or not, there are a lot of legitimate ways to work from home too. Not everything is a scam. I've been working from home since 2012 and now my husband does as well.
So where can you work from home if you're just starting? Here are a few places that you can check out:
Upwork
My husband and I both work on Upwork and it's a wonderful site. Basically you sign up as a freelancer and bid on jobs. Your account is free unless you decide to upgrade it but you get a lot of credits to bid on jobs even with a free account. You make your profile on Upwork, bid on jobs and get hired by the client. When the client hires you, they fund your money in escrow through Upwork. So you don't have to worry about doing work and then not getting paid. Once the work is done, Upwork releases the money to you since they're holding it. It's a great way to start working from home.
Secret Shopping
I have done a few secret shopping projects and even though the pay is not very high, you can get free meals from the deal and some extra cash. You won't be able to completely pay all your bills from secret shopping but you'll have some extra money. And I've gotten free meals from doing them. Sometimes you'll get a shop where you have to have lunch in a restaurant and then they reimburse you for it. If you keep a separate account for your secret shops, then when they reimbursements come through, it will be like having free meals everyday if you sign up for that many!
Make sure to check out this site for the legitimate secret shopper companies. Remember, if they want to charge you a fee, it's a scam.
Start a Blog
I know this one will take some time, but it's really worth it! How I started this blog was basically reviewing things I had around the house. New items I bought, things I was given, etc. Eventually I had enough people interested and reading my site that I started asking companies for samples of products for reviews. I would always ask companies for things I needed so that always helped us out when we couldn't afford something. And you don't have to be a top SEO expert to start a blog either.
I stayed a product reviewer for years until I built up even more of an audience that I could start asking for payment for my time as well. Once I started receiving payment for posts, I also started being asked to be a brand ambassador for companies.
Blogs are a great way for companies to help advertise. They aren't as expensive as traditional advertising and they're run by real people. Real people like to read what other real people have to say. So a lot of companies are willing to work with you for that publicity. The larger your reader database is, the better your chances are to work with companies. Everyone starts small but if you keep working at it, you'll be happy you didn't quit.
Over the years of blogging, I have been blessed by many different companies with things like test driving brand new cars for a week, vacations, free products, sponsorships, and monetary payments. Blogging can really be a full time income if you work at it.
Share A Sale
Once you have a blog, sign up for Share a Sale. Write blog posts about topics you enjoy and insert your affiliate links into the post. If a reader buys something, you will earn a commission. Companies also offer paid posts and paid referrals on Share a Sale too. I wrote a post about that about a year ago so make sure to join those companies. They will send out email blasts when they need a paid post done which doesn't even need a customer to buy something. You write the post and submit it for payment!
Drive with Uber
Ok, so you technically have to leave the house for this one but you do get to make your own hours. Uber is a cool app that lets you sign up as a driver. Say someone in your city needs a ride. If you're an Uber driver, you put that you're available to pickups and it will tell you where to go. They pay mileage and even help give your benefits.
Currently Uber is only in major cities so you'll have a better chance of getting work if you're close to a city. I also wrote a post about working for Uber since my husband had signed up as a driver.
There are so many different possibilities on how to work from home. Make sure to do your research and sign up for more than just one thing. If you sign up for multiple ways to make money, you'll bring home a steady income every month.
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