work from home (ctoc.co.uk/homeworking_work_from_home.htm)

Member Name: janef

Product:	ctoc.co.uk/homeworking_work_from_home.htm
Date:	14/12/03 (270 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: you are your own boss

Disadvantages: lack of company

I am writing this in hope that it will help anyone looking for work from home or just a way to earn a few extra pounds every month.

I've worked from home for the past five years and i'm well aware of all of the pitfalls and scams. I first started looking for work to do from home due to illness, nothing serious but enough to stop me working full time and the thought of living on a part time income wasn't appealing.

I got caught up in a few scams myself when I first got started. It's not difficult to do, a lot of these companies are very plausible and they do attract the kind of people who are desperate for work and maybe willing to pay out an admin fee in hopes of getting some genuine work. This rarely happens, if you're going to find work from home you're more likely to find it local to you, although this isn't always the case as i'll explain later. No genuine company will ever ask for a penny from you in return for work, Business opportunities are different, you can expect to pay some kind of fees for these and there are a lot of genuine ones about. I'd advise anyone looking for genuine work or to start a home business to get some copies of the many home business magazines which will point you in the right direction and help you steer clear of scams.

After three years of searching, yes, it did take that long I found myself some genuine work from home. I worked for Tellex Monitors, later to be TNS media intelligence, part of the Press Association. I got to monitor all of the local news and current affairs shows, type up the details and send it on to the head office. Companies like to know if they are in the news and what people are saying about them, this was the purpose of the monitoring. I got a free computer although it was only set for work and not personal use, a free fax machine and a free phone number to make all of the calls required on their behalf, it sounds almost unbelievable but it

is true. I was paid monthly, only at minimum wage but it paid the bills. I;m based in Cheltenham and the office I worked for were based in Bristol and it was great whilst it lasted.

Last year they decided to let half of the monitors go after a takeover and I was one of them. I was in a sheer panic at first wondering what I was going to be doing for money. I was lucky in that I had savings and I was paid a lump sum so I was okay for a bit.

I'd heard of Ebay so I decided to get myself a computer and have a look at making some money on auctions. So far I can hardly believe some of the prices i've got for items, £24 for a book, several cds going for £26 a time, I could go on, just clearing out items I didn't want paid for my computer and now I know what sells on Ebay and what doesn't i'm looking for wholesalers.

Besides Ebay there are several ways of earning money from the internet - none of which require start up fees.

From what i've seen so far there's a lot of good writers on this site so if it's feelance writing work you're looking for try www.freelancewriting.com, they advertise new writing vacancies daily so it's worth checking regularly for work. Typing in 'freelance work' on a search engine - I used Google and MSN will bring up a number of sites. Some are free to register with and some require a fee. I'm always cautious about sites which ask for money because no one can guarantee you work. I've registered with a few of them free of charge and i'm recieving regular offers of work, nothing suitable has come up yet which is why I wouldn't pay a fee until i'm happy with the quality of the site but if you can design websites or have expertise in any one area you are more likely to find work.

Another good one is www.ubiqus.co.uk, they require transcriptionists for business and legal work. They are a US company but with access to the intern
et di
stance isn't a problem. Click on the work for ubiqus link and it will bring up the current vacancies. The equipment you need is downloadable free of charge from the internet. You'll recieve details of this once you've been accepted for a trial. I've recently been sent an employment contract so they seem like a good company to work for and pay is£55 per hour of audio.

Another site i'd recommend is the TCA. There's a subscription fee for joining them but it costs nothing to look at the current vacancies advetised on the site. I could go on all day listing the various companies offering you ways of earning money. If anyone would like details please leave me a message and i'll forward details of all of the sies that have helped me find work. It would be a shame to have all of this information and not share it.

Before I finish, one last site www.cinecheck.com, they want people to do trailer checks at the cinema, most of the work is available in the summer when the big releases are out but it's worh registering now and there's plenty of areas which require checkers.

I hope this has been of some help to someone.

I'm just putting together a website with some of the best ways i've found of making money from home, It will be updated every week with new opportunities as I find them and would welcome any suggestions for the site. It's at http://freelancework.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

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