Where to Start - More Information

Me

Welcome New Friend,

Thank you for taking the time out to read my blog. This should be an exciting journey and I am happy you are here. I know it is a tough time to be home and unemployed. I understand your frustration, as I am in the same position at this time. So I decided why not write about it and let others know what ideas to change the situation.


In 2010, my mom stumbled upon a website that she thought would be perfect for me. It was a virtual job site community that connected employers (clients) to prospective employees (contractors). I loved the concept, since you can only get out of it what you put into it. This saved me, helped me earn (legitimately) extra income while I was at home. No stuffing, no offers, no scams. I must admit that there is dedication required and you have to put the time initially. Though in the long run it pays off, trust me. I took on part-time as I had another job at the time, therefore it allowed me to dabble. All you need is reliable tools and attitude.


Of course I was skeptical at first however, I decided really nothing to lose especially since it was free to join. This is what my blog is about, offering advice, ideas and how I came to this point 2 years later and what I have learnt. I do enjoy working from home, learning new programs and learning how to handle employers. It actually helped me in my offline job search.

Please don't hesitate to comment or contact me with any questions that you may have. I just want to share my knowledge and hopeful help you get started.
Welcome Once again and Feel free to share!




Where to Start


As you may know or had to find out the hard way, working at home is short for SCAM! Skepticism has been built over the years and we all know that there is no such thing as becoming a millionaire working just from home. Therefore with that idea out of your head we can move forward. Granted you can definitely make good income by working for someone or building your own business. Both of course will involve HARD WORK. 


I started with an online job site which is seen on the top right of this page, where I was promised getting work for pay once I followed the guideline. Odesk is a mediation website which brings together Clients (Employers) who are persons or companies looking to get full-time, part-time or just one off project help with qualified Contractors (Employees). The website helps with ensuring that Contractors get paid and Clients make the payments. The monies are held in Escrow and transferred within the week to the Contractor after the work for the week has been done. They do this for a small of 10% of what you make, which is the responsibility of the Client to pay.


Getting Started


The first thing you need would be a computer, a good mic, typing skills and a bit faith in yourself. I know it might be a bit overwhelming at first, however once you get into it, there sets in the second nature. There are few other sites offer the same service (I should have others listed on here) which you can check out, however I find Odesk to be the simpler one to navigate and to find work easily. 


Register as a Contractor or as they say a Freelancer, which really is you working for yourself and building yourself as a brand. It is free register on Odesk, however for more premium jobs on other sites you may need to pay a fee.  The registration process is fairly simple. As simple as posting a resume on Craigslist. Therefore, if you already do have your resume up and prepared it should be a breeze.


What happens Next?


Once you are registered and you have specified your niche for work i.e HR, Accounting, Administration, Data Entry, Creative Writing etc. I know at this point the excitement must be building. You would now need to ensure that your PC is Odesk ready, which means that you have the essential to time tracking and guaranteed payment. This software takes snapshots of you working, which helps the building of trust between the Client and Contractor. The Client has to be confident that they are paying for services that are actually rendered fairly. Take note of the Policies and Procedures they explain further.


The next step is to test skills and show that you can actually do what you indicated in your resume that you could do. Only fair right. You can understand it is hard to believe anyone these days unless they can provide proof. Therefore I would suggest you look through the test, make a note of the ones you want to do and set aside a time to do them. They are mainly 40 minutes each test and if you fail any you can retake them after 30 days (only the Odesk Readiness test you can retake right away).




Almost There


Now that you have completed the registration process in full, you are now ready to jump in and start your new business. I have a few guidelines that work for me when I started based on reviews from other Contractors.

• Ensure you highlight your true self in your profile
• Don't start with a fairly high rate, however it would depend on your niche
• Take a look at other contractors profiles within your niche to curb yours after
• Only apply for jobs that you can do and have the availability to do since Clients are quick to give negative feedback
• Pay attention to jobs where Clients are inviting new contractors to be hired for positive feedback
• Your Feedback score is what will separate you from the competition
• Apply to as many jobs that interest you as you can increase your chances of getting hired
• Keep your profile public in the beginning and market yourself locally (do off jobs for friends etc)
• Try to do hourly jobs, however check Client's history for payment on fixed jobs
• Be open to learn new software new niches
• Remember you get out of it what you put in, so decide what you looking to dedicate. 

In Conclusion


I hope this section of my blog has helped in your process of finding work in the mean time. You decide where you want to take this as some Freelancer do this full time and make very reasonable income, have more time with their family and just knowing they can work remotely offers quite a bit of convenience. Lastly, please do not hesitate to share what you have learned, ask any questions that you may have, post anything that is enlightening, as we all have something that we can teach each other and I am all for the learning process. 


"Keep Moving Forward"