Work from Home tips - get organized, productive, and relax

In the last 5 or so years I have been 'working' from home, only the last year or so has it made a financial impact for us. I can finally say legitimately that I work from home, granted, I do about 5 different things from home, but at least two of those would also be positions in the 'outside world'. The first 4 years were spent researching, experimenting, failing, and ultimately, learning. There are a lot of companies out there to work with from home, that really will pay you, and not for clicking links or reading emails (yes, I tried those too) You just have to sort through all the data to find the right company for you.

To find the right work at home job for you, you need to ask yourself a few questions:

* How much time do I have to work every day?
* Am I good at selling, talking on the phone, writing, etc.?
* and are you disciplined?

There are more things of course to consider, but those are the basics. By Disciplined, I mean can you make your self get up every day and do what needs to be done if you don't have a set schedule? I know it sounds bad, but I am not disciplined, with one of the companies I work for 'West' you set your own hours, and that could vary by day, I had a hard time keeping up with such a loose schedule. That's when my newest position took over, I HAVE to work 9-5 Monday through Friday, regardless of if I actually leave the house or not. Having a set schedule helps me, but to some it may be why they are leaving the 'outside' work force so that would not work for them.

When looking for work from home jobs you will need to research, look at some message boards, blogs, etc. Once you have a position you are interested in, do more research, look for the company on Google, ripoffreport.com, message boards, technorati, everywhere. You want to find as much information as possible on the company. Never pay to get a job. Now there are some exceptions, but very few, some companies require a background check, and they may have you pay for that, or if it is a direct sales company, they may require a start up kit. But even with those scenarios, you have to be careful, see what others are saying about the company, and if it is legitimate.

When researching a company, be sure to balance the negatives with the positives, if you find just a few negative posts on the company it may not mean anything other than a disgruntled employee, do not let one or two bad reports sway you. If there are more than just a few, and they are all complaining about the same thing, then you may have a legitimate problem in the company.

Be sure to pay attention to the dates of comments as well, this goes for both bad and good reviews, if all of the bad reviews were written a year ago but everything current is positive, the company may have been having something happen that would cause problems; new owners, new technology, start up, etc. That also goes the other way, if all the great reviews are a year old but the newest are current, stay away, they are having problems now. (If it still seems like a good opportunity, you can always keep researching it over time, wait for them to hopefully ride out their problems and then apply.) Another problem you might come across when researching is a lack of information. That could mean a number of things, either they are very new, a scam, or strict on confidentiality. In this day and age we should not have a problem finding something on a company, so always try more research, check more message boards, post on the boards asking for information, different search engines, etc. You should also check whois.com for their domain name, if the company says they are in NY, but the search on whois comes up in another country, then that could be a sign. (Usually a different state in the same country is not a bad thing, alot of companies have a main office in a different location) Just in case you have not heard the following, I will let you know now: NEVER take a job, no matter how much money it promises that involves the passing of money. These jobs can be disguised very well, and take many forms. Some times they ask you to 'collect' payments and send them toy another account, you are the billing contact, etc. You should never take these jobs, you can end up in jail. If you have any doubts on the position always visit a message board or a blog and ask questions, most people are more than happy to let you know about the offer or the company.

Working from home is a challenge, trying to find the perfect job, the legitimate way to make a living can be a daunting task. It is completely possible; it just takes trial and error. I read somewhere a long time ago - "You can not truly start making money at home until you have been scammed at least once." If that is true than I am on my way, I have had my share of scams, tried my share of 'get paid to complete offers' and '.10 cents an email' things, and even though 3 out of the 30 companies I toyed with ended up paying me, it was a waste, there was too much time and energy involved in making 100 bucks. Hindsight is 20-20, once you know what to look for and how to recognize a scam you can better see the jewels.