The big job boards like HotJobs.com, CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com are filled with thousands of work-from-home opportunities. SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com compile positions from a wide variety of sources. The key is to search all of these Web sites by using the words "virtual" or "home-based" when looking for opportunities advertised online.
TheLadders.com, which focuses on positions paying in more than $100,000 annually and requires a monthly fee to join, features a wide range of senior-level positions from home in sales, technology, finance and marketing. You can also promote your own skills and abilities on Web sites such as Guru.com to enable employers to find you. Craigslist.com and Backpage.com are two sites that post local listings for a wide range of freelance opportunities.
As with any advertised opportunity, you must do your homework to determine if something's right for you. That means talking to a live person and not just relying on an e-mail exchange to learn in-depth about the requirements, challenges and potential earning power. Don't be fooled by postings that promise big bucks for minimal effort. If it were that easy, we'd all be working in those jobs!
Use Your Language Skills as a Translator
If you are a native speaker of a foreign language, then becoming a freelance translator could be a great opportunity. Several companies need documentation translated for international partners and hire freelance translators through companies like Welocalize, Language Translation, Inc. , Accurapid.com, Telelanguage.com, Sdl.com.
Most companies require applicants to take a written test and sign a non-disclosure agreement. Precision and accuracy is a must. Companies who hire freelance translators prefer candidates who are native speakers of the target language, have experience with professional documents, software or multimedia translations, and are members of a professional translation association.
The most in-demand services include translation from English to Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Italian.
This is another business you can start on your own if you have the skills and are able to network effectively to land a client. A major corporate client can keep you busy full-time and smaller businesses would likely offer project work here and there.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Oftentimes small business owners and mid- to executive-level professionals need a personal assistant but cannot afford to hire one on a full-time basis or simply don't have the space in their offices. Therefore, they hire people from remote locations to do their administrative work for them.
Virtual assistants can handle bookkeeping, administrative duties, travel arrangements, transcription and correspondence, and other support services that can be done remotely via e-mail and phone.
A search on Google using keywords "virtual assistant" will generate results for many independent contractors. Some will outsource a share of their workload. Check out virtualassistantjobs.com and teamdoubleclick.com. The International Virtual Assistants Association may be a valuable resource.
You should also consider starting a similar business on your own. Be your own boss, set your own hours, and acquire clients through self-promotion and marketing. Networking and referrals are your best bets for landing clients. Create an e-mail about your services and send it to everyone you know -- and ask them to forward it along to everyone they know.
Find Freelance Gigs
From PR to Web design and so much in between, you can find freelance opportunities on a number of Web sites devoted to posting part-time and consulting gigs.
Web sites such as elance.com, sologig.com, guru.com, craigslist.com, clicknwork.com and ether.com have thousands of opportunities to respond. Some of them allow you to post a free profile about yourself and your skills and services.
If you're bidding on freelance projects, be sure to research going rates before indicating what you're willing to work for. This is especially important for work outside of your geographic area. If you live in Ohio, the going rates for graphic design might be much less there than in New York.
Yet, since this is home-based work, you can be located anywhere to do the job. While the client is looking for a good deal, you don't want to underprice -- or overprice -- your services or you're likely to be knocked out of the running.
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