So you want to work at home

Gary Hughes So you want to work at home........

You've fantasized about working from home, starting your own
business, and spending more time with your kids and family. You are
not alone, millions of people just like you want to and do.

There are several ways to work from home. Some of the more popular
ways are affiliate programs, direct marketing and starting your own
business. However it is also possible to find employers who hire
people to work at home in various postions such as telemarketing,
sales, teaching, freelance writing, etc. I have spent countless hours
online searching for work at home jobs and even started a community
to list the job leads I have found. (http://www.real-home-employment.com)

You may wish you could start tomorrow, but honestly it could take six
months to a year until you open for business or find a job. I wish I
could offer you some time kind of timeline to success but it just
isn't possible. I know we all see alot of ads that offer overnight
success or thousands of dollars per hour earned, but the honest truth
is most home businesses take 5 years of hard work before you may even
see these types of returns and the higher percentage of work at home
jobs you find are on a per need basis or start out part time.

So,as you can see, actually finding the work at home opportunity or
postion that is right for you can be
1) Confusing
2) Time consuming
3) Not an overnight or immediate success
4) Takes lots of planning, research, time, and patience

The most important thing you should know before you start to look for
a postion or business is just that.....Are you looking for a work at
home job or are you looking for a home based business. Knowing what
it is your looking for before you start will help you find the
perfect work at home match easier, faster, and may even help you from
being or feeling scammed.

You may be asking yourself what are the differences between a work at
home job and a home based business?

The major differences between a work at home job and a work at home
opportunity (home businesses) are:
1) Work at home jobs are just that "jobs", where you have an
employer, requirements, and maybe even schedules.
2) Most work at home opportunities (home businesses) require a fee or
a set amount of money upfront to get you started.

By knowing these differences, you can significantly reduce your
chances of being scammed and narrow down your search terms
(keywords), thus making your time better spent.

Now I know that maybe I am making this sound like finding work from
home is overwhelming, and it can be, but it really doesnt have to be.
Once you have figured out whether you are looking for a job or
business the rest just takes time, patience, and knowing where to go.

Here are a few steps I used.......

1) Have A Goal....
Even if you haven't decided whether to pursue a job or business,
you should still go ahead and set a plan for how you intend to get
there. Besides being a great source of motivation, knowing where it
is you want to be lets you create a plan for reaching it.

2) Find Support....
Enthusiasm is contagious. Avoid those who say you can't. Try to
find others who are doing what you want to do. Message boards and
online communities are a great way to meet with others to find ideas,
information, and to help you stay on track. (Real-Home-Employment.com)

3) Be Informed....
When you have either inadequate or inaccurate information your
chances for failure are much higher. Talk to people who have started
similar businesses or are working from home. Subscribe to ezines. Ask
questions. Visit discussion boards. The more informed you are, the
less the risk becomes.

4) Get started.....
To keep from feeling overwhelmed, make your larger goal into a few
manageable steps. Plan to take at least one action a day. As you
start to do the smaller steps, phone calls, jotting down ideas,
contacting employers, sending out resumes, you may actually feel like
something is being finished, and it may be hard to stop after you get
going.

If you’re already in the workforce find out if your position can
be performed from home. If not you’ll need to search for a position
that can. Narrow your search down by your skills and experience, for
example, data entry, telemarketing, customer service, transcription,
etc.

Should you choose a home business, test the waters. If you're already
working, stay there and run your business part-time. There is no need
to create more stress when you can ease your way in to it.

Most importantly never ever give up, if you fall down, pick yourself
up and start over, persistence and determination will pay off.

About the Author

Gary Hughes is the owner/founder of the successful work at home community Real-home-employment.com which has articles, resources, a message board, chat rooms, home based businesses, work at home job leads, free job lead alerts, and much much more.