Work-From-Home Job Spotlight: Online Survey Taker

Each Thursday, I’m highlighting a work-from-home job or business.


Job Description: An online survey taker fills out surveys from a variety of companies.

Education: None necessary.

Skills: The ability to fill out surveys online and to clearly state your opinions.

Job outlook: Compensation for taking surveys can include free products, gift cards and cash. This is more a hobby than a business, but if you are looking for a small time commitment, this could be the answer.

Possible employers: There are many survey sites out there, but remember you should never pay to take a survey. Some good survey sites include ZoomPanel, PineCone Research, Greenfield Online, Ipsos North America and Viewpoint Forum.

Preparation: Carefully read all the fine print before signing up to take a survey. Never give your Social Security number or other personal banking information on a survey.

Get your foot in the door: Start out with just a few surveys a month to get a feel for whether this would work for you.

Testimony: Andrea in Mesa, Arizona, enjoys sharing her opinion in online surveys. “I get a variety of things for filling out the surveys, such as cash, gift cards, and points redeemable for merchandise, such as hummingbird feeders,” she says. “Through filing out these surveys, I have received hundreds of dollars in gift cards.”

Until next time,

Sarah

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When You Over-Commit

Sometimes, we simply say “yes” to too many things. Whether it’s volunteering at your child’s school, as snack mom for the soccer team, or that extra work project or house project, we find ourselves with too many tasks and not enough time, even if we cut back on sleep.


Here are some tips on what to do when you find yourself over-committed.

Learning to say “no.” This can be hard for women especially, as we tend to have hearts willing to help those who ask for it. But to keep a healthy balance between work, home, children, husband, church, volunteer opportunities, family and friends, w need to say “no” to things.

Part of saying “no” is remembering that “no” doesn’t mean you don’t care about the person asking or the task to be done. We have to say “no” in order to say “yes” at another time.

Scaling back. Weeding things out of your schedule can be a difficult but necessary part of your life. Start by making a list of all your commitments for work, family and children. Print off a monthly calendar from Google Calendar or something similar and fill in each task for one month. See what overlaps and what tasks involve too much time.

Drop things one at a time. Pick the one thing that seems to the biggest stresser and step out of your commitment. Wait a week or two to see if your schedule eases enough that you can keep the other tasks. If not, drop another one and wait another week or so. Instead of dropping everything at once, slowly disentangling yourself from commitments will help you see what you can comfortable carry.

Add things back one at a time. If you need to go cold turkey for a season, get back into the swing of things one commitment at a time. If you know you tend to over-commit, start by adding one task or involvement each semester (like fall, spring and summer) and wait a full semester to see how you handle the additional task.

By keeping a closer eye on your time and commitments, by carefully managing our yeses, we can keep the delicate balance between work, home and family from reaching the tipping point.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Work-From-Home Job Spotlight: Internet Bookseller

Each Thursday, I’m highlighting a work-from-home job or business.


Job Description: An Internet bookseller sells new and used books online through sites like eBay and Amazon.com.

Education: None necessary.

Skills: The ability to organize, list, photograph covers and post books for sale online.

Job outlook: Selling books online will likely not be really lucrative unless you find the right niche.

Possible employers: Places to post your books include Amazon.com, eBay, AbeBooks.com and Powell’s.

Preparation: Browse online bookstores to get a feel for what’s selling and what’s not. Carefully select your inventory and inspect each book to ensure its quality. Read books or reputable websites relating to rare or costly books if you will be handling that type of merchandise. If possible, talk with a few people who sell books regularly online to see what are the pitfalls of this business.

Get your foot in the door: Start out small to ensure you won’t be stuck with too much inventory that takes too long to move.

Testimony: “Sometimes it is a temptation to sell a high-priced book that is very contrary to our beliefs,” says Jennifer, who has been selling children’s, Christian and scholarly books online from Xenia, Ohio, for more than a decade. “This doesn’t mean I don’t sell books counter to my beliefs, but I try to make sure they would be useful for scholarship.” She enjoys the flexible schedule of having her own business, but finds it hard to keep her house clean with books “always gathering in pile where they shouldn’t.”

Until next time,

Sarah

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Independence

Another Independence Day has come and gone, and with it the celebrations, parades and fireworks for another year. We love our city's Fourth of July parade with its bands, veterans and clowns. Waving flags and cheering for our nation's independence is part of our family's tradition.

Independence has another meaning for those of us who work from home. We treasure our independence from commuting, from lunches out, from extensive work wardrobes and from overbearing or overinvolved bosses. We celebrate combining work and home and children.

So enjoy your independence, and remember that you may work by yourself, but you're not alone.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Work-From-Home Job Spotlight: Email Marketer

Each Thursday, I’m highlighting a work-from-home job or business.


Job Description: An email marketer helps clients use email as a marketing and promotion tool.

Education: None necessary, but a background in public relations or communications is a plus.

Skills: The ability to write and design marketing copy for emails and e-newsletters is needed for this job. Knowledge of how to send out bulk emails and how to manage email address lists is a plus.

Job outlook: More companies are turning to email marketing as an effective—and inexpensive—tool to promote their products and services.

Possible employers: Associations, businesses and companies all need email marketing assistance. If you don’t want to set up your own email marketing company, check out some of the companies listed on www.topseos.com/rankings-of-best-email-marketing-service and www.email-marketing-options.com/email-marketing-companies.

Preparation: Take a class or two from your local college or from your county’s adult education courses on email marketing techniques. Make sure you’re familiar with the software needed to design and send out bulk emails.

Get your foot in the door: Work up a presentation on how email marketing can benefit companies and see if you can give a free seminar to local associations or groups. Offer discounts to attendees for your services.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Six-Month Check-up

June is nearly over and if you haven't done so, now might be a good time to give your business its six-month check-up. Are you meeting your 2011 goals? Is your revenue on track? Have you implemented your marketing plan?

By taking some time to answer these and other questions, you will be able to make any corrections before the year slips away. For example, I've had to adjust my quarterly taxes because of changes in my revenue, thus saving me money now and still keeping me current with my taxes.

Don't let June end without scheduling your business's semi-annual check-up.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Work-From-Home Job Spotlight: Educational Placement Manager

Each Thursday, I’m highlighting a work-from-home job or business.


Job Description: An educational placement manager works with college and private high schools to contract with international students for the school programs.

Education: Bachelor’s degree pertaining to education a plus. English as a second language training also important.

Skills: The ability to work with students online and by phone to ensure a good fit between student and school.

Job outlook: With more schools seeking international students, this is a promising field.

Possible employers: Kaplan is one educational company that hires at-home employees. Other resources include collegeboard.com, guardian.com, privateboardingschool.com and privateschool.com.

Preparation: Brush up your resume and check out the above-mentioned resources for possible employers.

Get your foot in the door: Contact a company and see if you could shadow a work-from-home employee to see if you’ll be a good fit for this type of position.

Testimony: “I love working with schools on the student’s behalf to negotiate rates and terms, etc. I also enjoy working for Kaplan as they have allowed me to work from home and around my schedule,” says Rebekah, a mother of three from Tujunga, Calif., who has worked for the company at home for four years. “I’ve been to the office twice in the past four years.”

Until next time,

Sarah

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