Working from home has many financial benefits. It is also true that the benefits are not merely financial. For example, a home business allows you to strike a balance between your career and family. But instead of focusing on the emotional and personal benefits, I want to keep it business related – so I am only going to discuss the financial side of working from home and earning your income online.
1. You make the money
This is what both motivates and scares people that decide that they want to work from home – your income is directly proportional to your performance. If you work for someone on commission, you have a small incentive to work harder and bring in new clients, however if you go to work from 9 to 5 every day and would not make any extra whether you brought in 5 or 25 clients, you might soon lose motivation. Working from home, what you earn is yours.
2. It requires little to no investment
When it comes to being successful online, you need very little. You will need a computer, a desk, your own little home office, and an Internet connection. You could create your own website to generate more exposure, but even that is optional. When it comes to the initial investments of starting your own business, chances are that you already meet most of the requirements.
3. Stay competitive
When you are earning a legitimate income online, you have a number of advantages to those providers that still have brick and mortar stores. You do not have to pay for overhead. When you are working from home you are already paying rent or your mortgage, so there is no extra expense when it comes to ‘office space’.
4. You can find clients throughout the world
Thanks to the many video conferencing applications we have available (Skype is available free of charge) the only thing you need is the Internet and you can connect with clients throughout the world. Due to the time difference, you may be up weird hours of the day, but you could have face-to-face discussions with clients in Brazil, China, and Germany in a single day without having to get out of your chair. Business has gone global, why limit yourself? Mark Sanborn said it best when he stated, “Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business.” This only further exemplifies the need to stay ahead of your competitors.
Stay away from empty promises
One thing you have to be careful with when you start working online is those that would promise you riches. You have probably seen the small ads before where someone is holding up a phony check, claiming that they can earn 300 dollars an hour online. Guess what, those are ads and unlike television ads, Internet ads can lie through their teeth. It is important that you stay away from the “get rich quick” crowd and start building up clients and relationships online.
Where to start
The Internet is a massive space, where do you start looking for clients? The best place to sign up is Elance – a website that connects freelancers and their clients. Elance allows you to market yourself by uploading a portfolio, it can connect you with new clients, and you can even have Elance take care of the financial transactions online. Especially when you are first working with a new client, it can be beneficial to know that the money is being held in escrow so you know that the client is good for it. These are just a few examples of services you can offer on Elance.
- Helping people with their resume and cover letter, do you have a knack for writing that really demands attention? Help other people in their professional career.
- Search engine optimization work, search engines are the backbone of the Internet, without them few people would know where to find their favorite websites anymore.
- Lead generation, if you have a knack for finding the right type of business that your client is looking to target, why not provide them with that information?
- Accounting, if you are good with numbers, you might be surprised there are others that are not. Helping others keep their numbers balanced is not only rewarding, but can easily be done from the comfort of your own home.
About the author
David Crawford has been around since the early days of the Internet (back when AOL took forever to sign in) and has moved his entire career online. Because of his experience and dedication to education, he understands what skills are required when it comes to creating a successful online business. David knows that one is never done learning, especially online, that is why he regularly checks websites such as http://officedeskreviews.com to stay current with news and any potential ways he can improve his productivity.
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