Today on The Consumerist I read this post about work-from-home scams and I thought it was a good opportunity to share my thoughts on this topic with you.
You see, I DO work from home. And yes, I actually make some money from it, too. But let me tell you, it’s not as easy as you’d like to think. It takes serious work and dedication!
Here are the things you should watch for when looking for legitimate opportunities to make money from home:
Google Scams. You’ve probably seen these sort of ads. Buy a special “kit” and you’ll start raking in thousands from Google, starting that day! Guess what. I make money from Google and so can anyone with a valid website. I can attest I do not make thousands “posting links.” You can apply for Google AdSense without having to spend a dime. Please note that many of the sites where you have to buy a kit actually set your credit card up for recurring payments of some odd amount, like $83.69. (Edited to add: these scams are NOT affiliated with Google AdSense in any way!!)
No Company Information. This should be red flag #1! If any advertisement for making money from home does not advertise a company? Steer clear. Some of these companies are very shady, if they are operating as companies at all.
Credit Card Required. Be VERY leary of any work-from-home opportunity that requires you to buy anything up front. My recommendation? Run away! I personally am leary about companies that require you to buy large amounts of inventory to sell and ship. Please get the details and weigh the risks.
Survey Scams. You might have noticed I don’t share how to make money by doing surveys on my blog. Some bloggers will advocate this is a good way to make a few bucks. I whole-heartedly disagree. Whatever you do, do NOT pay to “join” a survey company! This is a complete scam. While it is possible to earn a few bucks doing surveys, plan on wasting hours of time for a very small payout. In my opinion, you are losing big time. Not only are you wasting your time, you’re also giving away very personal information to marketers. I think there are many better ways of making a few extra bucks – selling items on eBay or Craigslist or good, old fashioned couponing seem to be a better use of your time. (And for the record, I have personally wasted hours on survey sites. Don’t make the same mistake I did!!)
So how exactly do I make money working from home? Primarily I work as a freelance writer. I write everything from webcontent, brochures, and ads to resumes. I make a few hundred a month from this, give or take. I spent about $200 out of pocket to get my licenses set up and running and all my clients have come word of mouth. I also make a bit of money by running this blog, but it took MONTHS before I saw even my first check of about $100 (more on that in my Disclosure Policy).
I have never replied to a work-from-home ad or paid money to become some sort of representative. I opened my businesses and hired myself. It is possible to take this route!
Do you work from home? If so, what do you do? Have you been taken by a work-from-home scam? I would love to hear any advice you’d have for readers considering making an income from home.Photo credit Louis Hall
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you control what Google ads appear on your page? Because I see 5 work at home ads on this very page.
Now this is just funny to me! No, I do not control it. Google Ads are contextually based. I do believe I can control what ads to NOT display. Going to figure that out now…
Figured it out.
I just kinda had a feeling
Yeah…I read your comment and was like…NO!!!!
Looks like it’ll be awhile before changes go into effect. Oh well…thanks for the heads-up.
Good Job Angela! Someone told me if you have to pay for it in order to make money then it is most likely a scam. I do participate in the Pine Cone surveys and get $3 a survey. But I may have to rethink this after reading your post. I enjoyed it for the fact that it will support my once in awhile Starbucks run.
Things I do from home: I grow dahlias in my yards and sell them at a local butcher shop in the summer. Don’t make much doing this, but it supports my love for Garage Sales and my water bill.
And like you I am slaving away at the blog in hopes that one day it will turn a profit
But thankfully it is something I enjoy.
And I have done Pampered Chef. Didn’t like that one very much. I honestly don’t like anything that makes people buy anything they don’t really need. Or having to spend your little commission check on buying more of their items. I have a passion to pay off my debt and feel weird trying to sell people on unnecessary items. (BUT I DO LOVE THE STUFF) don’t get me wrong.
I’m glad to hear that you are signed to a legitimate survey company like Pine Cone. While they don’t offer many surveys per month ( I average 1-3 per month) they are a consistent source or revenue.
I read that you are working to pay off debt and that is exactly what I use my survey earnings to do. The extra $100-$200 a month I earn has really helped me put the budge back in my budget and kick start my debt reduction plan.
While I encourage you to continue to build your blog to a point where it can generate a substantial income, I’d also encourage you to invest in learning how to earn more taking surveys.
I have some great information on my site if your interested. Please don’t take this as a shameless plug for my site. Just trying to help. I hate debt and surveys help me get rid of it faster every month.
I haven’t tried Pinecone, but have seen many mention it. If it’s working for you and you like it, don’t stop just because I said so.
I wanted to share my thoughts on surveys though because I sincerely believe you could make more in an hour couponing.
I would be curious to hear from others that have done stuff like Pampered Chef. Some seem to do well…others not so much.
While I love you and your site I’d like to shed some light on making money with ‘legitimate’ survey sites.
I post weekly what I make from surveys and on average I make about $100-$200 a month. (http://aproverbswife.com/2010/06/67-613-survey-reward-earnings.html)
The earnings are a combination of taking surveys and generating points from referrals. The referral points account for less than 40% of what I earn. While taking surveys alone won’t pay the bills it will generate a beneficial stream of income. I devote about an hour per day (on average) taking surveys. I only take surveys that are worth my time.
Some surveys will pay a few dollars while others more. My daughter did a market study yesterday for an hour and a half that earned her $30 and she’s only 16 years old. She takes way more surveys that I do, and loves earning money with them.
In regards to giving personal information, most sites do ask for demographics such as age, race, income, # household members, gender, etc. These are the same questions that are asked when we register for coupons and other online promotions. None of the sites I recommend ask for social security numbers, bank information or credit card info during surveys.
Surveys are a legitimate way to earn money from home but like with anything else there are some companies that are not on the up and up.
If you need a little more information, I wrote a post “Can I Really Make Money Taking Surveys?” that you can find here –> http://aproverbswife.com/2010/2010/02/can-i-really-make-money-taking-surveys.html
Forgive me for writing a whole post in your comment section and please feel free to delete this if you find it offensive, argumentative or confrontational. I meant it to be informational and helpful for those interested in taking surveys.
You are welcome to share your thoughts on surveys here, even if you don’t agree with me! I enjoy sharing of all opinions over here, glad you dropped by. So long as everyone plays fair, I’m not delete-happy over here.
That being said, can I do a little math?
Based on what you’ve stated, you spend about an hour per day doing this. That is roughly 30 hours per month for $100-200. To be fair, let’s say $150. That means you are earning $5 an hour. That is not worth my time for something I don’t find enjoyable.
I also have to disagree about the level of personal information requested. Surveys I’ve taken in the past wanted to know the make and model of my car, what kind of insurance I had, if I rented or owned a home, the size of the home, what kind of toothpaste I like to buy and how often I buy it, personal medical history, etc etc etc. Some of these surveys go on for pages. A LOT more information than you’d normally give to request a printable coupon in my experience. The final straw was when I received a solicitation phone call from a car insurance company shortly after filling out a survey about car insurance. That was it.
What I do care about? Investing my time into work-at-home activities that I’m passionate about. I won’t disclose what I earn as a freelance writer, but suffice it to say, I charge considerably more than $5 an hour. AND it’s something I love to do! Do I make a lot of money blogging? Um…no. I do make more than $100-200 a month though and I feel good knowing I’m helping other people in the process, too. There is value in that.
For me, working at home is about making money AND doing what I love.
Forgive me for my lack of clarity. When I said, “I devote an hour per day” — I should have said that I only devote 1 hour to taking surveys on the days that I do take surveys.
I take surveys 2-3 days a weeks not 7, so the hourly earning would be closer to $18.75 an hour at 2 days a week or (2 hours a week) and $12.50 and hour at 3 days a week or (3 hours a week).
There’s no way that I could home school my children, manage a blog, care for my home and run my husbands business while taking surveys 7 days a week.
Surveys is just a source of income available in addition to other avenues such as blogging, etsy, babysitting etc.
I love your closing statement “For me, working at home is about making money AND doing what I love”.
While I don’t have to work I do enjoy giving my opinion about and testing products and services my family uses, therefore surveys work for me.
While I am fortunate to not have and obligation to work or earn a living not everyone is in that position. Surveys can be a valuable resource in which to bring in extra money if needed.
Thanks for not being offended. Sometimes comments don’t come across the same as if we were talking face to face
Thanks for coming back to clarify where I mis-read.
No offense taken. I welcome differing viewpoints – I think this blog becomes a better place when everyone feels welcome to share what they think. I know I can be opinionated and gasp! Sometimes not everyone shares my opinions.
Your comments got me thinking about opening a post soon about online surveys – so I might just have to do that! I should also mention – I am aware there are studies, mystery shopping, etc. that help folks earn money. Some of these may be 100% legitimate, but I wasn’t referring to these in my post above.
‘Work at home scams’ is a great topic area to tackle in depth. Many SAHM’s and others, in search of a way to help bring in income have fallen prey to scams. In an effort to help their families, they invest in something with doing diligent research and end up costing the family money and time.
Thanks for making your comment section a place to civilly discuss relevant points of view and experience. That’s #savvyblogging
I absolutely think this could be opened up more! I’m half toying with the idea of sharing what I’ve done to legitimately make money from home. We’ll see.
Some get soooo nervous when anything comes up that causes debate. I feel I learn and grow when others challenge my thinking. Your comments today opened my post up in a way that wouldn’t have otherwise. I appreciate it.
Oh, and nice #savvyblogging shout out!
I posted the incorrect link above for Can I Really Make Money Taking Surveys. Sorry if you were trying to find the post and received a 404 error.
http://aproverbswife.com/2010/02/can-i-really-make-money-taking-surveys.html
Congrats to you both for disagreeing/discussing with some humility and grace. Just got done reading another blog where that didn’t happen
Angela’s a real sweetheart and a awesomely professional blogger. Thanks for your comment Elise.
Very interesting discussion. I have never done these surveys as it just doesn’t seem like something I would be interested in doing but thanks so much for bringing me so much information from both voices.
On the subject of SAH working scams I completely agree with you. It saddens me to think how many women fall victim to these scams. In running our own blog we have put the breaks on so many affiliate programs that require so much from us much information they make me leery. Why do they need my social security number? I just don’t like it. . .
Thanks for the discussion on surveys as part of your work-from-home post. I am curious about that & mystery shopping. When my son was first born, I tried one mystery shop and had a terrible experience. I’ve since decided it might be nice to try mystery shopping for restaurants or nearby businesses. Any info on that would be appreciated.
I do work from home 10-20 hours a week. I am thankful to have a great, well-paying job that allows me to be home with my children. My bosses are wonderful people. The hardest part for me is staying on top of my regular tasks at home and finding enough time to work. I am learning how to be extra-organized. I would love to hear how you and other women balance their work and home lives. I’ve been doing this for a year and still have a lot to learn.
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