We are still in the grips of a global economic recession, depression or downturn, whichever you want to call it. We are all thinking of ways to earn an extra bit of money. For some of us, it is simply something to think about. A way to get out of the grind of everyday business life. For others, it is a case of wanting something convenient, earning an income around childcare or other commitments. Unfortunately, searching for ways to make money from home part time will reveal thousands of results that are nothing but scams. Luckily, there are actually some very real ways in which you can earn money from home part time, or perhaps even full time. However, you must also be realistic enough to know you will never become a millionaire overnight without having to do anything for it. But, with some hard work and dedication, as you would offer to any other job, there are possibilities out there.
Clicking for Money
Clicking for money is basically about selling your expertise. This doesn’t mean you have to hold a Ph.D. in astrophysics or rocket science. There are things that make you unique and that you can offer to the rest of the world.
Monetizing your expertise — whether in social networking or transcribing — is one way to make money while sitting at your computer at home. But others also are popping up, such as taking online surveys or even predicting election results.
As always, you have to make sure that you are not signing up to a scam. The first rule is that it should never have to cost you any money to join up to any of the schemes. Other than that, it is about checking out reviews about the site that is offering the income. Check whether they are brand new or have been around for a while. See if you can find some of the people that have participated outside of the site itself, for instance via Facebook, so that you can check whether it is real.
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is great. In essence, you get paid to shop and you get to keep what you shop for as well. All you have to do in return is fill in your views on the product, the service or anything else as per the instructions of the company.
Not all mystery shopping jobs are scams. There are companies (particularly those with franchise operations) that pay people to shop at specific stores or eat at particular restaurants and then report back about their experience. This gives the companies helpful feedback about quality control.
However, many mystery shop opportunities are scams and you must watch out for those. More often than not, these will ask you to review a financial service, requiring you to send money. Always avoid these. The only issue with the legitimate options is that there are generally long lists of other people who want to join too, and the income may therefore not be very regular.
Freelance
Freelance work is a fantastic opportunity. You do, however, have to have a particular skill that is in demand. Some popular freelance skills include writing, translating and application development.
Freelancing isn’t just for writers. Designers, programmers, business professionals, engineers and even administrative assistants will find opportunities. Many small sites list freelance opportunities. Some let you bid on projects for free.
It is hard to get scammed with freelance work, although it can happen that you do some work and then don’t get paid. The bigger problem with freelance work is that your income may be very irregular. If you are lucky and have a skill that requires regular work, such as writing, you may end up with continuous work, but any job could end just as quickly as it started.
Selling Art
The arts are a good way to make money, but only if you are really artistic. Besides this, you have to make art that is in demand. Most of the world’s greatest painters barely sold any of their work, with Vincent Van Gogh, who painted one of the highest selling paintings known to the world, only selling a single piece in his life. Furthermore, fine arts don’t sell in a time of austerity. Hence, it is better to make unique pieces of something that people want.
There are plenty of sites to let your arty side shine and make some money in the process.
This means you have to create such things as jewellery, t-shirts, bags and other items. Naturally, you cannot be scammed with this type of work from home opportunity. However, actually earning an income can take a long time, quite a sizable investment and a huge amount of patience.
Blogging
Blogging is a great way to make money. People are quick to tell you that it requires no special skills, but that is not entirely true. Firstly, a blog has to be engaging, meaning you have to have something to tell the world. At the same time, this means you have to have some writing skills and you also need some knowledge of the internet and how it works.
You can use keyword research to pick a topic for your blog after analyzing your area of strength and advertising revenue potential. Use tools like Google Keyword Tool and SpyFu to see if there are a lot of people looking for information on the topic that you want to write about. You can use free services such as Blogger to create a without spending a penny, but it is advisable to buy your domain name and integrate it with your free Blogger blog. Better still, get your own WordPress blog with own domain name.
Again, it is very hard to get scammed with blogging. The biggest problem you may come across is that you spend a lot of time setting up a free blog, only to find out at the last possible moment it can’t do something you were hoping to do, meaning you will have to start all over again.
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