Home » Blog » Archived Articles (2009-2013)

Category: Archived Articles (2009-2013)

Our library of articles from the early days of the work at home mom center.

Work at Home Attorney Jobs

Attorney job leads weren’t at the top of our list when we first started posting work at home jobs for moms on this site. Admittedly, there was an assumption that attorneys either weren’t interested in work from home lawyer jobs or that they weren’t having a problem finding work and didn’t need our help. Instead, we focused our efforts more on freelance writing, social media, call center and transcription work at home jobs for moms. While we’d post work at home attorney jobs here and there, they were sort of an afterthought. We admit our mistake and we humbly apologize.

See, we now realize that attorney jobs are just as difficult to find in this scarce job market as other jobs– work from home or otherwise. New law school graduates are having a particularly difficult time finding work as inexperienced attorneys. Unfortunately, student loan debt, living expenses and other financial obligations still must be met and without a huge amount of lawyer jobs to choose from (and with stiff competition, in general) many are having to take jobs outside of the legal realm just to make ends meet. In this USA Today article, economist Richard Vedder warns that “we’re entering the age of the overeducated American”. In other words, more and more Americans with college degrees are being forced to take lower paying positions outside of their training realm just to get by.

Here at the Work at Home Mom Center, we feel your pain. If you are a lawyer, jobs may be a little scarce right now, but please consider some of the work at home opportunities posted in our job leads section, as well as across the web. Granted, for a lawyer, jobs that allow you to work from home aren’t as readily available as some of the others we share here, but as we do come across them, we will gladly do our best to bring them to your attention.

If you’d like to work at home as an attorney, jobs are available, so don’t give up! Keep checking our daily job leads and keep an open mind to the possibility that you can earn an income working from home. Aside from our job leads section, consider also searching on LinkedIn, Indeed and CareerBuilder.

Enter to Win a $25 Amazon Giftcard From the Work at Home Mom Center!

What would you buy with a free $25 Amazon giftcard from the Work at Home Mom Center?

Well, here’s your chance to find out. We thought it would be fun for the Work at Home Mom Center to do more than offer you job leads and advice on work at home jobs for moms. So for our October drawing, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon giftcard!

Be Sure to Thoroughly Read the Following Instructions:

Entries are free! All you have to do is comment below and include the phrase: work at home jobs for moms somewhere in your comment (this will, hopefully, throw spammers for a little loop).

Aside from your original comment containing the work at home jobs for moms phrase, you may earn additional entries by doing the following:

1. Blog about the contest on your personal blog
2. Tweet about the contest from your Twitter account (tweets must include a link to the contest)
3. Post a link to the contest on your Facebook page (This option is only open to public Facebook pages. Sorry, but we cannot verify posts on pages with private settings).

After each additional entry, please return to this page  and comment again…this time with a link to where we can find your additional entry (sample additional entry comment: “I just tweeted about your contest on my Twitter account at http://Twitter.com/WAHMCtr“).And, don’t worry, your additional entries do not have to include work at home jobs for moms. Just tell us where we can find your comment and you’re good!

(All comments are moderated, so please be patient and your entry will post as soon as it is reviewed.)

The contest will run from October 1, 2010 through midnight October 31, 2010. All entries will be verified by human eyes and a winner will be chosen through Random.org , contacted by email and announced on our website on Monday, November 8, 2010. So, before you head off to check out today’s work at home jobs for moms, be sure to comment below for your chance to win a $25 Amazon giftcard!

Assembly and Seamstress Gigs Are NOT Legitimate Work at Home Jobs!

If you’re looking for legitimate work at home jobs, please bypass assembly and seamstress jobs. They are among the oldest work from home opportunities advertised, but you can do a lot better. And, while each and every one of them may not be a scam, most of them are.

For decades, I’ve heard of people losing time and money with these types of gigs. Pretty much, people work for hours on end assembling products or sewing different pieces only to be told that their work is sub-par and that they won’t be paid for their efforts. Trust me, you’re better than this.

Instead, take the time to assess your skills and find work that’s more suitable for you, personally. This quiz on working from home may help. Legitimate work at home jobs abound and we list plenty of them for you here. There’s really no need for you to fall for one of the oldest work at home scams in the book!

If you’ve been suckered by one of these, or similar, scams in the past, don’t beat yourself up too badly about it. Instead, learn from your mistake and join the crusade to warn others about the dangers of working from home. Continue your search for legitimate work at home jobs and continue to believe that you can find one. We’re here to help you as much as we can, so we hope you’ll listen to our advice and visit often.

In case you’re wondering what kinds of legitimate work at home jobs are available, take a look at a couple of our posts on the subject:

Work From Home Opportunities and Ideas

Legitimate Work From Home Jobs DO Exist

Finding a Work at Home Job

And don’t forget to check out our latest job leads!

Work From Home Opportunities and Ideas

Looking for legitimate work from home opportunities, but you really aren’t sure what types of work at home jobs for moms are available? Well, first check out our job leads and see if there’s anything there for you. Also, take a brief quiz for ideas about which work from home opportunities you may be perfectly suited for.

Work From Home Opportunities: What Are My Choices?

If you’re just beginning to investigate work at home jobs for moms, you’re probably unsure as to what to expect. Well, expect a lot, sister, because, thanks to technology, work from home opportunities have come a long way in recent years. No longer are telemarketing jobs and forum postings the only work from home opportunities you have to choose from.

The following are a just a few of the telecommuting jobs you may want to consider:

Grant Writer

Transcriptionist

Blogger

Freelance Writer

Loan Processor

Web Developer

Virtual Assistant

Online Tutor

Telephone Triage Nurse

Work From Home Pharmacist

Professional Juror

Recruiter

Medical Billing

While these are just a few of the work from home opportunities routinely advertised in our job leads and elsewhere on the web, you can see that you have plenty of options to choose from. Depending upon your experience and expertise, it’s likely that you will find yourself to be eligible for several different types of jobs, so don’t limit yourself to only looking for a certain one. Assess your skills and keep your mind open while job searching, and you never know what path you may discover.

Work at Home Jobs for Moms Are Real, So Don’t Stop Searching!

Legitimate work from home opportunities do exist. They are advertised here and elsewhere daily. Although finding the right job can take time…don’t give up! Moms who are willing to diligently search for and research work from home job leads find the time and energy invested in doing such to be one of the best investments they’ve ever made.

Can You Become a Virtual PBX Receptionist?

A virtual PBX receptionist is one who works remotely receiving incoming calls and routes them elsewhere. And, yes, these positions are available as work at home jobs for moms! Such are frequently advertised as call center positions or as virtual receptionist jobs. From time to time, you’ll find them in our job leads section, as well as advertised elsewhere on the web.

Virtual PBX Companies Are Changing the Game

Gone are the days of old-fashioned, costly call centers. Of course, some of these dinosaurs are still in operation, but the industry is definitely changing. Using special software, virtual PBX centers can now be established almost anywhere in the world. While traditionally the hardware used in PBX systems required workers to all be stationed in one location, virtual PBX software has now created more options for business owners who can save money and broaden their virtual PBX recruitment efforts by allowing receptionists to work virtually from home!

Things You Should Know About Virtual PBX Jobs

Be aware that many virtual PBX jobs hire virtual receptionists as independent contractors instead of as employees. As such, a virtual receptionist is expected to have her own equipment, such as a compatible computer system and a special quality headset. There are also no benefits offered if hired as an independent contractor.

Also, it should be noted that some virtual PBX companies and call centers even require workers to pay for their own training. We’ve shared our thoughts about this practice in a previous post, so we won’t repeat ourselves here, but it’s up to you whether or not you choose to go this route. One agency in particular, Arise, requires workers to pay for training. The request to pay for training or training materials is usually a red flag when searching for work at home jobs for moms, as most of these ads are work at home scams. Yet, Arise isn’t a scam and, in fact, they remain one of the most popular sources for work at home jobs for moms despite the fact that they charge for training.

Virtual PBX jobs also require a quiet environment and, often, rigid work hours. It’s not unusual for these hours to include evenings and weekends. Moms with small children may not find this too easy to juggle, but, for others, working at home as a virtual PBX receptionist can be a pretty steady, solid gig.

Do You Have Virtual PBX Experience?

Have you done virtual PBX work before? How would you rate this work against other types of work at home jobs for moms? If you are now or have ever been a virtual receptionist, we’d love to hear from you!

Learn More About Call Center Jobs

Guest Post: Misconceptions of Working From Home by Miranda Grimm

Working at home may not be what you expect. Although it may be an ideal fit for some, it takes a particular type of people to succeed at home.

It is very important work-at-home wannabes completely understand what it really means to work at home. Sometimes I get the impression the idea of a WAH career is clouded with glitter and music. While working at home has its many advantages, it is not always, what many expect. The following guide will help anyone thinking of turning down this path of home based work knows if it is genuinely for them.

Working from home means WORK

There have been a number of people approach me to help them get started working from home. As we go through the many options they have, I begin to realize they are becoming more and more dissatisfied by the fact they will actually have to work! Working at home often requires you to work harder than you would in a brick and mortar building! You will read more about this as you continue.

There is no job in cyberspace that will pay you a substantial amount of money while you turn on your computer, in your pajamas and play Farmville. Generally, the more money you expect to make, the more work you will have to do. If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme…please exit this page now…you will not find one here! And once you find this scheme and are required to have 100 people signed up by the end of the month…DO NOT come to me with your business ‘opportunity’. I am not interested and anyone looking for legitimate work should not be interested in any marketing schemes either. Expect to work!

Your Attention is Needed

While there are the random small jobs that allow you to do mindless work, if you are looking for substantial income, please realize your attention will be needed. You may sometimes need a babysitter, a spouse to watch the children or may have to use every minute of time you have while kids are sleeping to work. Even non-phone jobs that do not require background noise generally require you to be able to have some sort of concentration and focus to the task at hand. So either expect the rate at which you work to slow down substantially or choose to work when you are alone. The flexibility of working at home is the best part for most of us! However, it usually means the work I could have completed at a job-site in 8 hours, will now take a complete day in between caring for my children, house and husband.

You MUST Have Motivation

I think any WAHmer can agree with me here. The hardest thing about creating your own schedule is sticking to it! When you have no one to answer to but yourself, it is easy to let work sit or give up the shift you signed up for. Then when bills come due or those shoes you have been wanting go on sale, you feel like an idiot. We all have to work out our own ways of keeping up our motivation.

You Are Accountable For Yourself

Many work at home jobs hire agents as Independent Contractors versus Employees. This means you are responsible for your equipment (computer, phone, headset…), your quality of work, the amount of time spent and most importantly your TAXES. As an Independent Contractor, you may find yourself owing taxes come April! So be sure to get in touch with a professional accountant who can help you plan for the year and hold back a portion of each check.

Of course, there are many upsides to working at home, from the flexibility to not having a boss breathing down your neck. Some people simply need the structure of an on-site job. There is nothing wrong with that. I just hope before making any life changing choices you can look at yourself and decide if you have what it takes to depend solely on yourself!

More About Today’s Guest Blogger:

Miranda Grimm is the author of the Work at Home Adventures blog, a work at home mother of two and Full time college student. After spending many hours researching the multiple home based jobs available online, she now shares her compounded information freely through her blog.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like to contribute a guest post, please contact us for details.

How to Make Money Blogging

Curious moms often wonder how to make money blogging. See, work at home jobs for moms are not limited to the ones you find posted in our job leads. In fact, many of the best work at home jobs are those that moms are creating for themselves. One such job is blogging, which is an excellent way of making money online.

Blog is short for “web log” and entails writing about a particular subject and publishing these writings on the web. For some people, a blog is like an online journal and for others, it’s an online business. In fact, many businesses use blogs to talk about their products and services, and some businesses just hire bloggers (people who write blogs) to write about their businesses for them. Still, some simply advertise their business on other people’s blogs through banner ads or with a couple of lines of text featured on a blog’s sidelines, which, by the way, happens to be one of the best ways that moms make money blogging.

If you’re interested in becoming a mom blogger, know that no experience is necessary and that you can even start a blog today with no out of pocket cost to you. There is, however, a lot to learn if you intend to make money blogging and the following websites can help you learn the ropes:

Problogger

The Smart Passive Income Blog

Copyblogger

…and if you’re on Facebook, check out the Top Five Facebook Pages for Bloggers.

While there are other very prolific blogs and articles on the subject of how to make money blogging, these top sites about blogging are all you really need to get started. Each is authored by a professional blogger who is earning a full-time income online.

We also offer a series of business guides, which will help you learn how to profit from blogging. Our advice to you is to read, read, READ before attempting to make money blogging on your own. There is a lot to learn and do before you start making money online. You’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time and frustration if you study and do your homework first.

Do you have a blog? Do you make money blogging? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share your tips on how to get started blogging in the comments section below.

Need a Little Mad Money? We Can Help!

When I was a little girl, my grandma always told me to be sure I had a little mad money in my purse. To be certain I wasn’t without, she’d give me a few pennies to hold onto and she’d always include a dime just in case of emergency (yes, payphones really did exist once upon a time AND calls could be made for a thin dime!). As I grew into my teen years, Grandma’s mad money donations increased to $5 bills just in case I needed emergency cab fare or in case I wanted to “buy a pop”.

Later, I learned that the concept of mad money wasn’t just grandma’s excuse for  doling out cash, but it was her way of teaching me that a girl should always have a little spending money in her pocket.

Wiktionary.org sums it up pretty nicely:

A sum of money, often relatively small in amount, kept in reserve to use for impulsive, frivolous purposes; A sum of money kept in reserve or to insulate oneself financially in the event of the sudden breakdown of a relationship in which one is economically dependent.

Work at home jobs for moms can surely net you a comfortable salary, but if you find that your earnings are spread pretty thinly between bills, every day essentials and savings (you are saving, right?), then check out these ways of earning a little mad money on the side:

Fiverr, Zeerk and Fora20.com ~ All 3 sites are built around the same concept: trade favors for cash. You can post a task that you’ll perform or pick up a request for a task someone requests. Similar sites are popping up all over the web as people find them to be convenient ways of making mad money and getting things done! (Also, try Clickworker)

Sell an item on Craigslist ~ Craigslist is a good place for job leads, especially for work at home jobs for moms, but don’t forget that it’s also a mad money treasure trove. There, you can not only sell your own stuff for fast cash, but you can also pick up free stuff to resell there. Just look in the For Sale section of your local Craigslist site and you’ll notice a special sub-section marked Free. You have to move quickly when free items come up, because others are hawking that section too, but you can pick up some really cool items to relist for profit if you’re fast enough to be first in line for a good freebie.

Bidding Sites ~ We don’t advertise them in our job leads section, primarily because we prefer to bring you actual jobs, BUT this doesn’t mean that there isn’t real money (including mad money) to be made on these sites. If you’re between work at home jobs for moms, searching for a side-gig or even if you just want to earn a extra mad money, check out a few bidding sites like oDesk and Freelancer.com.

Do you make sure you keep a little mad money in your pocket at all times? What are some of the ways in which you separate it from your other income and do you have any favorite ways of earning mad money? If so, we’d love to hear your ideas in the comment section below.

The Best Work From Home Jobs

Want our opinion on the best work from home jobs? Good, because we’re all set to give it to you. Work at home jobs for moms are surging in popularity and while there are a lot to choose from in our job leads section and elsewhere, here’s our list of the best work from home jobs:

Freelance Writing ~ We believe this to be at the top of the list of the best work from home jobs. Why? Well, where else can you find unlimited earning potential without need of a college degree, without start-up costs and where you can work your own hours? Of course, you must have writing skills and learning how to write for the web is a definite plus, but freelance writing is truly one of the best and most profitable work at home jobs for moms. (Interested in ghostwriting for Internet? Try this helpful guide to getting started.)

Virtual Assistant ~ Virtual assistants are in popular demand and we believe this to be one of the best work from home jobs ever. For one, businesses owners have realized the savings involved in outsourcing work and are clamoring to find quality virtual assistants to do things like schedule meetings, coordinate travel plans, correspond with customers, answer phones and other office tasks. This is also one of the best work from home jobs because virtual assistants can often work for more than one client at a time– meaning they can double or triple their income! (Get your FREE copy of 103 virtual assistant service ideas here!)

Social Media Jobs ~ Who would have thought that tweeting and posting messages on Facebook would actually qualify as one of the best work from home jobs around? Well, it’s true and hardcore social media mavens are learning how to turn their skills into profit in one of the most fun and rewarding work at home jobs for moms around.

Call Center Jobs ~  Work at home jobs for moms really took off with the advent of call center jobs. No longer are moms tethered to a cubicle or a switchboard while fielding customer service calls, because these tasks are now easily performed from home. Companies large and small are hiring moms to take customer orders, provide support and handle a variety of tasks completely by phone…at home! Call center opportunities are not only one of the best work from home jobs, but they’re also some of the most steady jobs one can find.

Transcription and Home Typing ~ These are considered one of the best work from home jobs as they pay well and offer pretty steady work. Some are medical transcription jobs, which require specialized training and others are regular transcription jobs that don’t require any special training. Most do require special equipment (that workers are expected to buy), but most are contract work and moms can work for more than one client at a time. (Interested in becoming a transcriptionist? Check this transcription starter pack out.)

So, there you have it…our short list of the best work from home jobs. Of course, other work at home jobs for moms, like work at home pharmacy jobs or work from home attorney jobs are also great (and are often featured in our job leads), but these top our list because mostly anyone can do them and they’re almost all entry-level positions.

So, now it’s your turn. What’s your list of the best work from home jobs and why?

Using Google RSS to Find Work at Home Jobs for Moms

Do you use Google RSS (or any other RSS reader, for that matter)? If so, have you added us to your news RSS feeds yet? If you already have, then we thank you and you already know what a time-saver this can be when searching for new work from home articles and  job leads. And if you haven’t, then what are you waiting for?

Perhaps you have no idea what news RSS feeds are or you’ve never been introduced to Google RSS. You’re missing out, for sure, but after reading this post, you won’t have to anymore. Here’s a brief rundown on what news RSS feeds are and how they can make your search for work at home jobs for moms a whole lot easier.

What’s RSS?

Google RSS is among the most popular news RSS feeds, but there are others. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. This is a fancy phrase that simply means you can have links for updated content from your most frequently visited sites delivered directly to you. Doing so, eliminates the need to constantly visit a site to find out if a site has updated (as in, posted new articles or job leads). With Google RSS or other news RSS feeds, links to new content are delivered directly to you.

First, Select a Reader

We’ve mentioned Google RSS, as it is among the most popular readers, but, really, there are multiple readers for news RSS feeds to choose from. If you don’t use one already and you’d like to find one, simply Google: “RSS news reader” and select one that you like.

Add Us to Your RSS Feed

After doing so, come back to our site and click on the tiny orange box in your address bar above (the one with the little white lines on it). From there, follow the easy instructions on how to add us to your feed. Then, each time we publish a new article, add new resources or add job leads, you’ll receive a link to this content in your reader. Have fun with it and add some of your other favorite sites for work at home jobs for moms and you’ll find that you’ll save time and be among the first to know when new opportunities are broadcast on the web.

So whether you use Google RSS to find work at home jobs for moms or whether you choose one of the many other news RSS feeds, definitely add us to your reader and make your work at home job search infinitely easier!