50 LEGITIMATE WAYS TO MAKE MONEY FROM HOME IN 2016

Whether you are a busy mother, a stay at home father, a college student, or just want to earn some extra money – doing some extra work can help you make money from home.

A quick internet search can reveal many work from home scams. They charge you upfront fees and lure you to work with them. But actually they are just cheating you out of your hard-earned money.

I know you want to find some legitimate work from home jobs that are not rip-offs. So, I have scoured through hundreds of ways to work at home, and came up with the 50 legitimate ways to make money from home.

Some will just make you a few bucks a month, but others can become powerful moneymakers depending on the time you have to invest in them.

Read on to find out about some of the exciting ways to make money from home. You may even find something you’ve never heard of before.

Good luck!

Show your not-so-crafty side

Don’t have any hidden talents? Don’t worry! We’ve got something for you as well.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. – Albert Einstein

My wife Katie is not crafty so instead planned a local 5K run.

We bought our chickens from a woman who raises chicks to sell for $25/each (read on if you don’t want to raise and sell chickens).

1. Take part in surveys

Simply answer online surveys or product tests and make money from home. Take a look at some paid survey websites listed below. At all of these websites you not only earn some extra cash, but also get rewarded through gift vouchers, prize draws, free products, etc. Heads up: Don’t pay. If they ask you to pay, they are probably scams.

2. Rate pizzas

Many companies pay you for rating local pizza shops. You just have to rate the place on the quality of their pizza and note their delivery time. For this, you can get a free pizza, plus $5. Just register on Trendsource and get started.

3. Download apps

A lot of companies pay you for installing their apps. Moreover, you get paid for each month the apps are installed in your phone. 

4. Watch television

Now, this is a cool way of making money! RewardTV pays you for watching television and answering simple trivia questions about previous night’s shows.

With RewardTV, you can earn an extra $15 to $20 per month.

5. Review stuff

Write a review and earn anything between $1 and $50 per review according to the requirement. Yelp can give you some special invites.

6. Pet sitting

Do you adore pets? Go for pet sitting at your place. Make sure your house can accommodate numerous pets.

Websites like Care brings together pet sitters and people looking for pet care. Remember to quote your rates wisely.

7. Change your search engine

Do you use Google or Yahoo to search for something on the net? Now, leave them behind and opt for the Bing search engine.

Conduct your regular searches on Bing, make it your default search engine, and earn credits that can be redeemed for gift cards. You can earn as much as $5 to $10 per month. Tip: Just stay signed-in, when you perform a search.

8. Watch YouTube and like videos

Do you like watching videos in your free time? Now, you can get paid for watching videos on YouTube.

Sites like Swagbucks ask you to watch certain advertisements and like them. In turn, they will give you Swagbucks (points that can be redeemed for gift cards or Paypal).

9. Test websites

Just open a website, click around, and get paid. New or updated website owners compensate you to test their sites.

Check out Fiverr and User Testing and earn almost $30 for an hour.

10. Data entry

Use your accurate and quick typing skills to enter information. Go through Craigslist or Upwork and find data entry and administrative jobs for yourself. These jobs can be easily done through telecommuting.

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11. Work for Amazon

Pick micro tasks from Amazon Mechanical Turk. These are services that require human interaction. You can work from home, flexible hours and get paid by one of the world’s largest retailers.

Here are some examples of tasks workers have completed:

• Select the correct spelling for these search terms
• Is this website suitable for a general audience?
• Find the item number for the product in this image
• Rate the search results for these keywords
• Are these two products the same?
• Choose the appropriate category for products
• Categorize the tone of this article
• Translate a paragraph from English to French

12. Become a virtual assistant

Work for someone from home. Virtual assistances (VAs) can do everything from checking emails and making travel plans to handling internet research or working for their small business.

Show your crafty side

Is your talent getting wasted? Use it for some better things!

What have I got? No looks, no money, no education. Just talent. – Sammy Davis, Jr.

13. At-home daycare

If you are home with your children, why not start an at home daycare.

They are highly sought out in our area of Dallas because people like that they are close and that there are much fewer children involved that a more corporate daycare.

You will need to get a certification from your state, but you can make big bucks caring for children while getting to spend the day with your children as well.

14. Freelancing

Doing freelance work can greatly increase your income. Are you a stay at home mom with an English degree or a guy who naturally can find mistakes in written text?

Huge and trustworthy sites like Upwork have thousands of employers who want to hire for all kinds of tasks where you can write or edit about anything from technology to business articles. Get paid for every single article. Get a great reputation and you can turn this into a full-time job.

15. Technical freelancing

Freelancing isn’t all about writing. You can do everything from design, graphics, marketing, and web programming jobs from sites like:

Pick your payment on per project basis.

16. Transcriptionist

Even if you don’t like your writing skills or have a programming talent, you can still do freelance transcription. Transcribing is detailed work, but luckily you can do it any time of night or day. Check the same sites listed above.

17. Cook

A college friend makes the most beautiful cookies and finds events to sell them all year long – birthdays, holidays, football parties, the list is endless.

Some people love to cook and bake. If this is you, consider running a catering business from your kitchen. Bake cakes or cookies for birthday parties, dinners, or other events.

Make sure to abide by the food safety laws and have fun.

There are many moms who don’t have time to make homemade food for bake sales and parties and families who want a holiday feast without the trouble.

18. Online travel agent

Do you explore travel websites like Expedia in your free time? Then, do it for a commission by offering your services as an alternative to travel agencies. Start at Wikihow for tips to get started.

19. Tutoring

Give private tuition classes at your home and use your SAT knowledge. Choose your schedule, if you have some imperative routine tasks.

Or rather, go for online tutoring and earn $20 per hour on Chegg Tutors.

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20. Associate marketing

If you already have a blog on something that interests you, turn it into a money maker.

Join an associate network like Amazon Affiliate or Google AdSense, chose products to promote, and advertise them on your content site. Whenever someone reads your blog or article, you get paid.

21. Calligraphy

Do hand lettering for invitation cards, wedding cards, and other stationery. Use your favorite font combinations and start off with your calligraphy adventure. Look at the Etsy Calligraphy section.

22. Sell lesson plans

Have a soft corner for academic study? Sell your lesson plans, especially to new teachers or first-year teachers.

Teachers Pay Teachers is a market of educators, where you can sell and share your teaching resources.

23. Start a blog

You can start a blog for less than $5 a month. Bloggers can earn over $150,000 per year. Create a blog and leverage it into affiliate sales or product endorsement deals. Consider topics like:

– Travel
– Cooking
– Health
– Technology
– Personal finance
– Just about anything else

24. Play online games

Are you an arcade or a poker champion? Play some of your favorite puzzle or card games at InboxDollars. It is fun, plus you can play for free as well as compete for rewards.

25. Take part in an online focus group

Participate in an online focus group like ProOpinion and get paid through a check, gift card, or PayPal deposit.

26. Examine search engines

At Leapforce, you can evaluate search engines by conducting researches on predefined queries, analyzing them, and providing feedback for search engine results by their usage and relevance.

27. Maintain fan pages

Fan pages on Twitter or Facebook require people to connect with them. Log on to Fiverr and get jobs for maintaining social pages.

28. Fix Google’s mistakes

Sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. pay you for fixing their search results. You just have to mend the errors of the search engine results and make them qualitative, relevant, and useful. Doing this you can earn around $12 per hour.

29. Online juror

Do you love Law and Order? Ever wanted to sit in a courtroom and decide if someone is innocent or guilty?

eJury provides an attorney the opportunity to “pre-try” the case before it goes to trial in front of an actual jury at the courthouse.

eJurors review facts and answer the questions, and click a “Submit Verdict” button upon completion.

For each verdict rendered, eJurors are paid $5 – $10 depending on the length of the case. You certainly won’t get rich serving as an eJuror, but just one case a week would probably pay for your Internet access.

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30. Rent your parking space

If you don’t use your parking spot during your working hours, consider renting it out on Craigslist.

31. Start a side business

Become an online personal stylist or the many other options to start something on the side. It will take effort, but there are many different routes you can go.

You can work with an existing company, like Avon, Jamberry, and Stitch Fix, which will help you get started. Or find a need in your community that might need addressing. Do local companies need your accounting skills?

32. Rent your automobile

Not using your car while on a trip or weekend? Rent it out. RelayRides and GetAround will assist you in this while paying you on a per hour basis.

Is your car sitting idle at the airport parking? Then you can make use of FlightCar and help an arriving tourist.

33. Rent your clothes online

If you have a closet full of clothes that you haven’t worn in a long time, rent them out. Sites like RentNotBuy and Loanables make this possible.

If they don’t fit anymore or not fitting your current lifestyle include them in the garage sale or selling online mentioned above.

34. Rent your bike, cycle, snowsports, or any other gear

When not in use, rent out your favorite equipment. You can use Spinlister to rent your sports gear.

35. Rent out your studio space, music instruments

Is your guitar lying in the corner of your room, without any daily usage? Make money by renting it on Sparkplug. You can do this for other your music instruments also, like amps, mics, harps, or your rehearsal room or studio.

36. Share your views

Share your honest opinions for everyday services and products you use with focus group companies. These organizations can improve their products on your feedback, and you get to make $50, $100, or more. Check out 2020 Panel.

A friend does this at his local mall. He only makes a little side money doing the focus groups, but it pays for a babysitter and a night out occasionally.

Make money from your money

Making money is a hobby that will complement any other hobbies you have, beautifully. – Scott Alexander

37. Tidy up

You probably have much more stuff than you realize. According to The National Association of Homebuilders, the average house size in 1973 was 1,644 square feet. That grew to 2,624 square feet in 2014. Clean the dust, sort out your storage closet, and put up a garage sale.

If you are overwhelmed with “stuff” in your house, check out a great book called, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The book is about changing your perceptions of your things so you can keep what is really important and get rid of what is not.

38. Sell your antiques

Did you collect things when you were younger or have items that fit your last home but don’t fit your new one? Get out all your collectibles and sell them off. If some are antiques or collectibles, make sure to get them appraised. Otherwise, you may sell some rare items at low prices.

Sadly my long kept collection of Star Wars and X-Files trading cards were only selling for a few cents on eBay, so I decided just to keep them for the memories.

39. Flea market tossing or flipping

If you have a crafty side, put it to good use. Visit the nearest flea market, Craigslist, or Freecycle and buy some interesting items, restore them, add your special touch, and resell them for a profit.

Think about refinishing tables or converting old plates into art. Turn trash into treasure.

If you need ideas, check out Pinterest. It has a world of ideas, and you’d be surprised how much people will pay for a custom baby nursery lamp or a re-stained bar from the 70s.

If you enjoy this type of work, consider starting an Etsy store. One of my wife’s friends felt staying home with her two boys was great, but she missed having an artistic outlet. She researched what was popular on Etsy and started making artistic versions of people’s photos. It only took a few months for her shop to become as busy.

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40. Sell your cell phone

Whether a new model or an old one, you can sell your cell phone. You can go for Amazon that gives gift cards for working iPhones, or websites like Swappa and Gazelle that give you cash for that old phone.

41. Return printer cartridges

Hand in your empty printer cartridges to office supply stores like Office Depot, Staples, etc. for free credits.

42. Sell your old snapshots

Do you have some random pictures lying somewhere or taking computer space? Sell them on stock photo sites like iStockPhoto.

Such websites purchase photos from anyone. Even if you feel that the images are not worth selling, just give it a try. Very often, the most neglected pictures of everyday objects do the trick, like a simple pen and paper.

43. Bed and breakfast or AirBnB

You already have a place to live. If you live near a college campus with visiting parents or near music or sports venues, consider starting a little bed and breakfast.

If that seems too hard, check out sites like AirBnB, which help you rent safely and ensure you get paid. I used this service when traveling in Switzerland with a friend and can confirm it is a great service.

44. Sell online

A garage sale might not be your style, or maybe you only have a few really nice things you want to sell. Consider selling on Ebay, Craigslist, and Facebook groups.

My wife sold some Kate Spade purses that she no longer used and made much more by using Ebay than trying to sell locally. She started by asking a very low price for the purses and the bidding drove the price up much higher than she expected.

45. Open a bank account

A simple Google search for banks giving bonuses for opening accounts returns a list of current offers. Be careful to read the requirements, but if you have time, you can make a few hundred dollars.

46. Sell your books

Check out this recent story from frugal living expert Lauren Greutman:

My 10-year-old son brought home a book from our park’s free library box. It was a biology textbook – teachers edition. He said it looked interesting and hey, it was free (having no idea you could sell it). I scanned it in my Amazon seller app and realized it was worth around $150. He was so excited. We listed it for sale for $130 and it sold! Going to tell him, he just made $130!

My father-in-law did this with his old seminary books. I couldn’t believe that books 30 years old were still worth so much!

Even regular books can earn you money. Stores like Half Priced Books and others will give you cents to dollars for each of your current books. It saves space on your shelves for something new, and you earn a few bucks.

47. Shop online and earn cash back

Sites like Fat Wallet pay you back when you shop at their store. This can mean discounts for you or simple cash back deals.

48. Buy groceries and get rebates

Many rebate apps like Ibotta and Checkout51 offer cash rebates on grocery store purchases. You just have to take a picture of your grocery receipt with your phone, and you can even buy groceries from your regular grocery store.

49. Share what’s in your fridge

The Nielsen Consumer Panel offers gift points to look what’s in your fridge. You just have to scan barcodes of your fridge products and send it to them. Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, you scan all of your purchases and transmit the data. You may also be contacted from time to time about your opinions and to answer questions.
2. Being a panelist takes about an hour a week.
3. You accumulate points with each interaction and earn more points the longer you’re on the panel.
4. When you’re ready, you cash these points in to get rewards.

50. Sell your junk mail

Do you love getting junk mail? If you’re like me, you probably don’t – that’s why we call it junk! Other than recycle, trash, or burn it in the winter what can you do with it?

The Small Business Knowledge Center is a market research company that will take your junk mail and email and give you a Visa prepaid card.

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Making Money From Home Now

For many of our forebears, home wasn't just a place to live—it was a center of commerce. Whether by running a cottage industry or a family farm, our ancestors earned a living not far from where they ate and slept. Work began moving away from home during the industrial revolution. Now, in the information age, work-at-home jobs are gaining new ground. In this article, we examine several options for how to make money from home—and alert you to common work-at-home scams.

Every morning, I roll out of bed about 6:30, take a shower, eat breakfast, read from the Word, and head to work. In my case, work is about five steps from the kitchen. I am among the estimated 20-30 million of Americans who work from home.

Some of us work at home full-time. Others do it part-time to supplement the family income. Some work for specific employers. Others work as freelancers. Still others operate their own home-based business.

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Working from home isn't new, of course. Family farms have been around as long as the human race has existed. More recently, European merchants of the Middle Ages often had their shops on the first floor of their houses, and their living quarters upstairs. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women often were engaged in cottage industries involving sewing and spinning.

But most of us grew up in situations in which "work" was some place other than at home. Work was at the office across town or at the factory several miles away.

Even so, work-at-home businesses have never gone away completely, and with the advent of inexpensive computers and high-speed Internet connections, many tasks that used to be done in "traditional office" space can now be done in "virtual" space. The Web also has simplified the product-ordering process for people involved in home-based direct sales, and has lowered the "cost of entry" for budding entrepreneurs who can now create businesses with a worldwide reach on a shoestring budget.

While making money from home is enjoying a new heyday, don't get the idea that home-based work is for everybody. Frankly, some people simply aren't cut out for it. Working from home, especially on a full-time basis, demands that one be an organized, self-starting, goal-oriented perfectionist with limited need for social contact! Knowing your way around a computer helps too.

But the big catch is the job itself. What can you do from home and earn enough money to make a living? "Aye, there's the rub," as writer Will Shakespeare once penned. In this article, we'll offer an overview of some popular work-at-home opportunities, as well as a few you would be wise to stay away from.

Work a little, earn a lot? - How to avoid scams.

A Google search on "make money from home" yields about 1.8 million results, some touting intriguing pitch lines such as "Earn $500-$1000 per day" and "Mom Makes $5K/Month at Home." Guess what? Most such ads are simply scams dressed up in work-at-home clothing. Christine Durst, cofounder of Staffcentrix, a virtual-careers training company, estimates that more than 98 percent of advertised work-at-home ideas are either "outright scams or downright suspicious."

As the old saying goes, "Forewarned is forearmed," so here is a rundown of just a few of the work-at-home scams you're likely to run across if you're searching for a way to make money from home:

Rebate processing. This one seems plausible (scams often do). After all, someone has to process all those UPC codes and other paperwork that people send in to get rebates.

But this is often a bait-and-switch scam. After you send in your $200 to get started in the rebate-processing business, you'll probably find out that what you've actually done is sign up to be an "affiliate marketer" for whatever product the company wants you to sell. If you sell something, then you get to process the rebate forms that your buyers send back in.So, yes, you will be processing rebates, but not quite in the way you envisioned. (By the way, the rebate money will come out of what you earned on your sales, so every time you process a rebate, you lose part of your earnings. Ouch.)

Mystery shopping. 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.

But the mystery-shopping scam is a bit different. In the scam version, the unsuspecting shopper is told to provide feedback on a Western Union or MoneyGram outlet. The scammer sends the newly hired mystery shopper a check, along with instructions to deposit it in the shopper's personal bank account. Then the shopper is instructed to go to a Western Union or MoneyGram outlet and wire a portion of that money (drawn from the shopper's bank account) to a particular location.

The scam: The initial check turns out to be fraudulent, so the shopper has just wired his or her own money to the scammer (who is never heard from again).

Google cash. This one, promoted on hundreds of web sites, goes by many names: Google Money Tree, Google Profits, Google Money System, Fast Cash with Google, Google Home Business Kit—you get the idea. It’s not Google itself trying to scam users—it’s companies that use tools provided by the search engine to try and sell kits and services that teach you how to make money on it.

The pitch varies from site to site, but is often something like this: "Hi! My name is Cindy Ward, and I'm a stay-at-home Christian mom in Greenville, South Carolina. I've discovered how to make a great part-time income using my computer from home! I work about 15 hours a week and bring in an extra $1,300/week on average. I can stay home with my three wonderful kids and still make money, and anybody can do it!" (One site with the "I'm-a-stay-at-home-Christian-mom" pitch advertises heavily on conservative blogs, targeting conservative Christians who are ripe for taking the bait.)

Other "Google cash"-type sites target workers who've been laid off: "A few months back, I lost my job as a boring account rep for a manufacturing company. But now I make $5,000+ a month on Google. You can do the same."

Still others target people who've been burned by scams: "I got so frustrated with all the work-at-home scams that I was ready to throw in the towel. Then I discovered how to make money with my own Google business." Scam sites routinely acknowledge that scams are rampant. It's one way they try to gain your confidence ("I got scammed four times before I finally found a legitimate way to make money online.")

These "Google Cash" sites often seem disarming, with family photos and chatty copy. Usually there are comments posted from folks (smiling photos attached) who signed-up and now have found out "just how easy it is to make money online." One site notes that "BusinessWeek recently published a story about all the people making money with Google" (while failing to note it was about people earning big returns on Google stock).

Somehow it all seems too good to be true. And it is. Poke around a bit and you're likely to find the fine print. This is from an actual site promoting a make-money-on-Google scam: "All persons mentioned on this blog are fictional examples … for demonstration purposes only." What? Cindy, the stay-at-home Christian mom with three wonderful kids, isn't real? "The statements contained herein come from many different people and are not necessarily being made about the specific products discussed." All those endorsements from folks thanking Cindy aren't really about Cindy and her money-making program?

Well, at least the fine print is honest. Unfortunately, many people don't read the fine print. They take the bait and sign up. After all, Cindy seems so nice and the sign-up fee is cheap—only about $3—so what do I have to lose?

The "honest" fine print addresses that, too. "After 14 days, you will be charged amonthly fee of $47.50 for … membership. After the 30-day trial [you] will be charged $99 for the program … You may stop payment on any pre-authorized charge by notifying [us] at least three business days prior to the scheduled charge date." Unfortunately, there is no clear contact information listed on the site, so finding a person to contact about stopping your monthly payment of $47.50 (and your $99 fee) may be a bit difficult.

By the way, a lack of contact information on a "make-money-from-home" site is a red flag. When there's no clear way to contact whomever is running the site, that is usually a pretty good indicator you're dealing with a scammer. Even if there is contact info, don't assume everything is okay. Check it out. If an address is listed, look it up on Mapquest or Google Maps. See if it really exists. If there's a phone number, call and find out who answers.

More scams. According to the Federal Trade Commission, other common work-at-home scams are related to medical billing ("There's a severe shortage of people processing medical claims!"), envelope stuffing ("For a small fee, we'll tell you how you can earn money stuffing envelopes at home!"), and assembly and craft work ("You can assemble products at home in your spare time!"). In each case, the only one making any money on these deals is likely to be the scammer, who happily accepts your sign-up fee and the money you send in for a "start-up kit"—and then disappears.

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Legitimate ways to make money from home

So much for scams. Are there any legitimate home-based work opportunities out there? Yes.

For example, home-based call-center agents now account for nearly one-fourth of all call center agents in the U.S. and Canada. According to the 2009 book Undress for Success (playing off the idea that you can work from home in your PJs), "all of the more than 200 people who answer the phones for JetBlue Airlines work from home in locations all over the country … [And] LiveOps's 16,000 call center agents field everything from restaurant takeout orders to insurance questions, all from the comfort of their homes."

Call-center jobs typically involve order taking, ticketing, general customer service for banks and insurance companies, and even tech support. Some companies also are using work-at-home agents to support customers via e-mail and live chat.

But getting a call-center job isn't easy. "[T]he number of job applicants for home-based positions far exceeds the number of jobs available," note authors Kate Lister and Tom Harnish in Undress for Success. LiveOps, for example, receives more than 150,000 job applications a year. From that number, only about 4,500 people are hired. To make the grade you must be computer savvy, demonstrate a professional-sounding telephone manner, and have a quiet workspace (no barking dogs or noisy children). And, of course, you need your own computer, a high-speed connection, and perhaps a dedicated phone line. 

Another legitimate work-at-home job is the "virtual assistant" (VA)—the telecommuting version of a secretary or administrative assistant. The job of a virtual assistant, like that of the VA's office-based counterpart, is "making the boss look good" by taking care of details. On any given day, a virtual assistant's duties might include proofreading, data entry, building a PowerPoint presentation, scheduling appointments, and sending out thank-you notes.

According to Undress for Success, many VAs work for real estate agents, doing tasks such as preparing listings, arranging inspections, maintaining a web site, and even helping agents build a presence on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Some VAs work for multiple clients. As you might imagine, this can create quite a time-management issue, so VAs must be excellent organizers. 

Another home-based field that is growing is the "personal concierge" business. This type of enterprise focuses on taking care of tasks and errands people don't want to do (or don't have time to do) for themselves. These range from gift buying (either online or in person) to event planning. If you're organized and resourceful—and can land some well-moneyed clients—this kind of work can be quite lucrative.

Are you academically inclined? You might consider becoming a virtual teacher or tutor. This is a rapidly expanding field, as schools (even at the elementary, middle, and high school level) increase the number of online classes being offered.

Of course, a big roadblock to getting a job as an online K-12 teacher is state certification. Almost all states require their virtual teachers to have the same teaching certifications as traditional in-class instructors. At the college level, online instructors typically are required to have a graduate degree and prior experience in teaching.

So if you think you'd make a good teacher but don't have the prerequisites (or even if you do), you may want to look into online tutoring, providing one-on-one help to students struggling with specific subject areas. 

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Direct Sales

Even before the Web revolution expanded work-at-home opportunities, millions of people were earning money from home-based businesses affiliated with direct-sales giants such as Avon, Mary Kay, and Amway (the Amway brand returned to the scene a year ago after being rebranded as "Quixtar" for several years).

According to the Direct Selling Association (DSA), such businesses are as popular as ever. In 2007, the DSA estimated that about 15 million Americans were working in direct sales, almost 90 percent of them women. (Worldwide, the sales force tops 60 million people, working as representatives of more than 200 direct-sales companies.)

In addition to the companies mentioned above, other firms that partner with home-based entrepreneurs (this is only a small sampling) include The Pampered Chef (cookware/kitchenware), Usborne (books), Tupperware (food containers), The Longaberger Company (baskets/kitchenware), Melaleuca (nutritional products), and Shure Pets (pet care products).

Many direct sales businesses are built on a model known as multi-level (sometimes called "network" or "matrix") marketing. The business owner (i.e. the home-based businessperson) earns money from direct sales to customers, as well as claiming a percentage of the revenue earned by "downline" sellers that the owner has recruited to become part of the company's sales force. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this model, there are a couple of common pitfalls with these types of businesses. Consider the following two examples.

Andy Willoughby's 3-Step Plan recruits its sales force by advertising heavily on Christian and conservative-talk radio (Willoughby's folksy ads always include the line, "How in the world are you anyway?"). Although the 3-Step Plan does market a product (Xango juice), the product is clearly secondary to the idea of "owning a business" and "earning additional income." In fact, Willoughby's radio ads don't even mention the product.

The purpose of the radio ads is to generate a steady stream of "prospects" that can be turned over to existing distributors for telephone follow-up, thus helping distributors grow their "downline" organizations ("Hi, Fred! I'm calling because you responded to one of Andy Willoughby's ads on the radio. That was you, right? Terrific! So you're looking for a way to make money from home?"…)

A second business opportunity advertised heavily on radio — this one by self-proclaimed "beach bum" Ty Coughlin — is something called The Inner Circle. There are variations operated by other people, but all are based on a marketing approach known as the Reverse Funnel System. The "system" requires potential recruits to pay $50 just to get information about what the business does, thereby winnowing out all but the most interested people right from the start. (A funnel turned upside down — with the small hole at the top—would limit what could pass through. That's what Coughlin's system does; thus the name, reverse funnel.)

Prospects willing to pay the $50 upfront free are then given a hard sell about how they can generate a $1,000 commission on each product sale, not only on sales made directly but also on sales made by each person in one's "downline." (In this case, the product being sold is a time-share-like resort-vacation package.) But, of course, you can't start earning those $1,000 commissions unless you sign up—which costs about $3,000.

While you have to be careful when evaluating direct-selling business opportunities, that's not to say there aren't good ones out there. Just keep in mind that whether it's cosmetics, containers, or some other product, the operative word in any direct sales business is "sales." For such a business to be successful, products must be sold. (Indeed, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the sale of actual products is a key aspect that distinguishes multi-level marketing from illegal pyramid schemes.)

Success in direct sales, therefore, requires sales talent, product-line knowledge, and the ability to keep track of the administrative side of the selling process. Those most apt to do well are detailed-oriented people with outgoing personalities. Further, in amulti-level business, becoming highly successful requires knowing how to recruit, mentor, and motivate other salespeople.

Of course, many people who enter direct-sales businesses aren't really looking to earn a full-time living. They simply want to generate a certain level of supplemental income. If that's your goal, and you're able to build up a small but loyal clientele, a direct-sales business could be just the thing to add several hundred dollars to your income every year .

Keep in mind, however, that there is a "cost of doing business." In direct sales, that cost is likely to include the purchase of kits, catalogs, and product samples. You might even be required to maintain an inventory of products. So be sure you understand the cost commitment, not just the profit potential, before you sign on the dotted line.

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The write stuff

"Few occupations are better suited to working anywhere than writing," write the authors of Undress for Success (who, as you might guess, wrote their book from home). "Even before the advent of the Internet, a writer equipped with a typewriter and a mailbox or a courier service could click out a living from home."

Perhaps the best arrangement for a work-at-home writer is to be employed full-time by a specific publication, such as a magazine, newsletter, or website. But that kind of arrangement is likely to come about only if you have a previous connection with the employer.

Another option for a home-based writer is to work as a freelancer. "The problem with freelance writing for a living—and, for that matter, any freelance income—is that as soon as you finish a project, you're unemployed again," note Kate Lister and Tom Harnish in Undress for Success. "Good writers will spend at least as much time chasing work as they do words." So if you're going to be a freelancer, you'll need to be a good self-promoter as well. 

Another niche for home-based writers is launching a blog (short for "weblog"). The best bloggers have a deep knowledge base about a niche topic and can develop an audience of readers who visit their blog regularly. While anyone can start a blog, only about 2 percent of bloggers actually earn a living by blogging. It's tough work (1) becoming an expert in an area that (2) people want to read about regularly and (3) writing about it well enough that they come back often, but it can be done 

Finding word-at-homes jobs

In addition to checking the websites previously mentioned, here are a few more sites that may help as you search for a work-at-home job: Indeed aggregates job listings from newspaper classifieds and other sources; craigslist features jobs posted directly by employers; MomCorps focuses on jobs that offer flexible working conditions; and TJobs lists telecommuting jobs (the site charges a one-time $15 to gain access to complete listings).

Conclusion

Working from home has its share of rewards—many of them nonfinancial. For example, a five-second commute is great. But get rid of the mistaken idea that money will roll in while you're relaxing in your easy chair, eating popcorn and watching reruns. A work-at-home job requires real ... work! You're simply not likely to earn $1,300 a week while working just 15 hours. And for most people, a work-at-home job is going to involve some type of selling. So if you decide to pursue a work-at-home job, be realistic about the effort required, as well as the costs that will be incurred and the potential profit that can be made.

The good news is that it is possible to make money from home if you have the right set of skills and are willing to make a genuine effort. You might not get rich, but you may be able to earn a decent living or supplement your other income.

And perhaps you will better be able to appreciate the lifestyle of those far-away forebears whose workplace and homeplace were the same place.

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