work from home

[jessicacook]

Are there any credible websites that allow you to work from home? I am pretty good on the computer, and I can learn easily. I know there are a lot of scams, so that's why I wanted to ask you guys if you know of any GOOD ones.

Thanks.

[Paully_44]

I am sure there are, I don't know of any. But, be very careful. I saw on our local news the other night that our state atty general has listed this topic as one of many consumer fraud reports.

[Pastor Bill]

I don't know that I'd trust most of the stuff out there, but some do well with home-based sales things like Pampered Chef, Avon, Tupperware, etc.

My wife sells Pampered Chef (although she really isn't into it to make money, more just as something on the side, and has basically just done enough to pay for the items she wants) she could help you get into something like that, but most of the advertisements you see on the web I'd be very leery of.

[ToJJB]

www.mycmsite.com/michaeliablack

This is my wife's website for her Creative Memories business. I think she breaks even with what she buys =) The lady above her makes several thousand $ a month, but with our three boys and my travel schedule Michaelia doesn't always have the time to sell.

[rjc]

Jessica, if you are really considering working from home may I suggest that you contact your local community college and see if they offer a medical transcription course or medical billing course. Both of these work well as home based. I had my own transcription company, I had 2 women (1 was a mom to 2 small children and one had a severely handicapped husband that she could not leave alone) working part-time for me and I still made as much money as I did when I worked full-time as a Medical Office Manager. Some national transcription companies will come in and set up their equipment and hook up your computer so that you never need to leave the house (dictation comes in by phone lines and you transmit transcribed reports back to them by the internet). The only problem I had with them is they didn't pay as much as I could make on my own. I just took the yellow pages and starting calling and going to small doctor's offices looking for accounts. I charged them by the line, they provided the paper. Today you wouldn't even have to print it on paper, you could just submit over the net. Large medical offices and hospital based offices usually want you to come in to their facilities to work, but small sole practitioners and physicians in rural areas might need this service.

The community college can also give you good reliable information about a lot of other internet home based opportunities. I hope you follow up, this is a great way for you to be able to stay home with your son and still make some money and keep your skills.

[Billy n NC]

This is a popular question from people to Clark Howard Radio show..

He says if they ask you money from you Its more than likely a scam..

On this subject. >>

Aug 21, 2007 -- Be a home-based call center operator
Many people want to do part-time work at home, especially when they have a newborn. But a lot of work-at-home offers are scams. One stat has it that for every legitimate offer you may see, you're going to come across 42 scams. So Clark wants you to be careful if you're looking to work at home. Be sure to avoid the ads in the back of women's magazines about envelope stuffing, doing medical office paperwork and the like. There is, however, one area that's proven legitimate over time: becoming a call center worker from your home. Employers like this option because they don't have to rent office space for you, so it costs them less than setting up a call center. Typical costs for a call-center employee could be $31, while it only costs a company $21 to set you up to do the same work at home. Bear in mind that these figures are not what you'll be earning; they represent what the company pays out of pocket to set you up as an independent contractor. Fortune magazine reports that there are now about 100,000 people involved in such work-at-home businesses. That number is expected to triple in the next 30 months. Be sure to check out Clark's list of legitimate vendors in this field. Not many people know it, but JetBlue was one of the pioneers in the home-based call center industry. Now companies like 1-800-Flowers and J. Crew are also getting in on the action.


But he does have a list of possible sites. But he does not guarantee any of them..

http://clarkhoward.com/topics/workathome_help.html

[Pianoman]

Fortune magazine reports that there are now about 100,000 people involved in such work-at-home businesses. That number is expected to triple in the next 30 months.

I'd say that number is conservative. There are lots of call centers that outsource now (and lots that outsource to Carribean countries, India, etc.).

I called the national number for Staples to return some items from a web order & after hearing a few unusual background noise asked the rep. if she was by chance working from home & turned out she was. Especially for folks with long commutes, etc. - I think this is a fantastic idea - not to mention for those folks that had to have a "professional" wardrobe - they save all that money & bum around the house all day in their sweats & t-shirts.

My sister works for Anthem / Blue Cross - and she works from home as well. She originally did call center work - but now does claims processing. It's nice for her because for the most part she can set her own hours. If kids have a game in the evening, etc. - she can log in earlier in the day.

[dolfan]

If you're working as an independent contractor, that means you're self employed. Use a room dedicated ONLY to this work, and you can qualify for the home office deduction on your income taxes. Key: No personal use allowed of that room -- none. But, the kicker is that if it takes up, say, 10-15% of the square footage of your home, or more if you use the "net square footage" calculation (i.e., hallways and bathrooms not counted), you can deduct that much of your mortgage payment, electricity, etc., as a business expense. In your situation, with a lower income expectation early on, you may even show enough expenses in the first year or two (maybe longer) to owe no income taxes on the money earned; if you show losses, you can carry those forward for up to 22 years to offset gains that you have when you actually start making a little money at it.

[jessicacook]

Thanks for your replies. I will look into some of these options.

[pitts47150]

Can you type. If you could learn typing transcription. They make real good money. You can type from home doing that to.