I sent you a personal message as well, but here is for everyone's benefit. I just started with LiveOps. $50 for your background check, but other than that it doesn't cost anything other than what you might need in equipment.
Virtual Customer-service Agent
A growing work-from-home opportunity is to answer the inbound customer calls for companies like J. Crew, 1-800-flowers, Virgin Atlanta or Walgreens. These major players and many others like them outsource their customer-service calls to companies that hire U.S.-based virtual agents.
Set your own hours and pick an account that's ideally suited to your knowledge and interests. In addition to having a pleasant voice and strong customer-service skills, you must have high-speed Internet access, a computer, a landline, and a quiet place to work — all of which you pay for on your own.
Expect to make an average of between $8 and $15 an hour depending on your experience, call volume and accounts. Be prepared to work a minimum of 20 hours per week, although some agents work 40 hours to 60 hours when their schedule permits.
Alpine Access hires virtual agents as employees. Other companies, including LiveOps, West and Willow CSN hire agents as independent contractors. All of these companies hire year-round, and they're all eager for talent as they prepare for a very busy holiday season.
Create Your Own Product Line
Ever dream of seeing your slogans and artwork on T-shirts, mugs or hats? You can turn that dream into reality — and into cash — without investing even a penny in expensive start-up costs like equipment and stock.
Submit your original ideas and art online to Web sites like zazzle.com, cafepress.com and others, and you'll receive commission on all sales generated with your designs.
Do this for T-shirts, mugs, kids' accessories, housewares, posters, stickers and so much more. In addition to securing orders from strangers who visit those sites, you can also make money by doing some proactive promotion of your own. Encourage your friends and family to place orders, and get them to e-mail all of their friends, too, by forwarding links to your products.
Channel Your Inner Judge Judy
Instead of spending time watching the courtroom programs on TV, make money while determining verdicts as an online juror. Lawyers deciding whether or not to accept a case or looking for preliminary feedback on cases they're currently handling use various Web sites as a cost-effective tool for research and focus groups before heading into a real courtroom.
Sites including eJury.com, OnlineVerdict.com, ZapJury.com, and TrialPractice.com pay nominal fees to home-based e-jurors, ranging from $10 to $60, depending on the length of the e-trial. Research all of the sites and read the requirements before signing on to serve.
Transcribe Audio to Text
Speeches, lectures, television and radio programs and interviews must be converted to text that's delivered in a timely and accurate way. If you possess exceptional English language and grammar skills and you're an experienced typist with a speed of at least 75 words per minute, you could transcribe audio to text. Some businesses may require you to take a transcription test before offering you opportunities to work. Most assignments are handled on a freelance basis. Sites to explore include ProductionTranscripts.com, ModernDayScribe.com, TigerFish.com and AliceDarling.com. Find others by searching online.
Talk Tech
If you're an experienced information technology professional and you enjoy problem-solving and quality customer service, you may be able to work from home providing tech support via phone, online and in person to customers nationwide.
As an independent contractor or employee (this varies per company), you'd work from your own home office, set your own hours, and service clients in your area. ComputerAssistant.com, GeeksOnTime.com, PlumChoice.com are some of the companies to explore.
Driving for Dollars
I'm not talking about becoming a taxi driver or chauffeur — you can make money by driving your normal route while allowing your car to feature advertisements.
Specially created decals are provided to drivers to affix to the back window. Depending on your location and the amount of driving you do — usually a minimum of 1,000 miles a month is required — you can earn $50 to $150 a month by "renting out" this space on your car. You can make even more money — up to $500 a month — by allowing your car to be fully wrapped with an advertiser's images and message.
Search online using keywords "car wrap advertising" to locate opportunities nationwide. Don't be shy about calling around to compare rates and advertising opportunities to find the best fit for you. Never settle on the first company you find since there could be a more lucrative option available to you.
Connect With Clients as a Concierge
Do you think you have what it takes to handle phone, e-mail and online customer inquiries for services that range from making dinner suggestions and reservations to planning a vacation for busy professionals?
What if the caller asked you to locate the dress Julia Roberts wore in "Ocean's Eleven," rent monkeys for a birthday party, or help write a speech for a best man?
Those are some of the common and quirky requests asked of home-based concierge agents at VIPdesk, one of the leading services. VIPdesk's clients are executives and employees of some of the top companies in the world, all of whom are willing to pay for such services of convenience.
VIPdesk hires home-based agents who are highly resourceful and have prior experience in high-end customer service, travel and/or hospitality. Apply online at vipdesk.com.
Because concierge services are growing in popularity as a benefit for businesses of all sizes, consider starting your own service. Contact employers in your area about offering services of convenience to their staffers.
For example, during the busy holiday season — and throughout the year — employees are often distracted by personal needs. You can help busy parents save time by researching day care, planning birthday parties, and scheduling doctor's appointments for their kids.
A doctor's office might require its staff to work long hours to accommodate patient needs. Employee absenteeism can cause a disruption or slow down in services.
It may be more beneficial for the medical practice to pay an outsider like you to handle errands and special chores for a nurse than to give that nurse a day off.
This same theory applies to companies where staffers work long hours or are required to travel regularly
Become a Virtual Publicist
Technology has made it possible for thousands of virtual public relations firms to exist nationwide, all of which are eager to identify experienced communications and marketing professionals who are diligent in their work habits but also crave the flexibility of a home base.
Among them: Perkett PR, Bisbee and Company, PartnerCentric, Orca Communications, and Wasabi Publicity, just to name a few. If you're a seasoned PR pro, contact them with your capabilities and availability.
You should also consider starting your own virtual PR firm. If you're experienced in promotions, event planning, writing, pitching, media contact management, crisis communications or strategic planning, there's a good chance your services are in demand.
Without expensive office overhead, you can offer competitive prices while making a hefty profit. Create a Web site that promotes your abilities, and start spreading the word. Since you're in PR, you no doubt know how to toot your own horn.
Guide Users Online
Use your subject-area expertise to make money assisting others who are in need of that knowledge.
Chacha.com is a new search engine that is similar to Yahoo or Google, but users have the ability to request the free help of a live guide. That live guide is sitting at home making money while he or she assists with the online search. Learn how you can make $5 to $10 per hour, which can be paid to you via debit card or direct deposit, at chacha.com.
About.com offers qualified applicants the opportunity to become guides if they have proven expertise in a topic area. As a guide, you're responsible for publishing a full-length article every 14 days and you must update your blog at least three times per week. Anyone can apply, but you must pass a 17-day self-guided online training program to familiarize yourself with About's tools and demonstrate your knowledge of the process.
Successful guides never make less than $500 per month, according to About.com, and some guides can earn upwards of $100,000 a year for popular, high-trafficked sections. Visit the getting started guide on About.com for details.
On JustAnswer.com, users agree to pay for experts to answer their questions. If you have an expertise — from gardening to genealogy — you can agree to answer questions for a price. The site then pays you based on accepted answers.
Become an Online Tutor
If you graduated from a college or university in this country or in Canada, or you're a current student at an accredited school, and you have expertise in English, math, science or social studies, you could make money as an online tutor.
You must be able to convey key information to students of all ages — generally fourth grade through college level — in an online environment. That means teaching mathematical formulas and chemistry equations to a kid through cyberspace, rather than face-to-face instruction.
Visit www.tutor.com to learn how you can make $10 an hour or more working five hours to 30 hours a week from home. To find other online tutoring opportunities, or to learn how to start your own online tutoring business, do a Google search using the keywords "online tutor" and research dozens of options based on your availability and subject-area expertise.
Get Paid to Write or Edit
A handful of Web sites pay for articles, but unless they're commissioning your original work, you won't make big bucks. Associatedcontent.com pays around $10 per approved/published piece. Helium.com is another option that rewards prolific writers, and both sites are a good way to build an online portfolio of published work while making some money at the same time.
Myessays.com allows essay writers to sell their original work starting at $10 for a short paper, and up to more than $100 for comprehensive work. Writerfind.com lists a range of freelance opportunities for experienced writers to pursue on their own. Apply for freelance work on sites such as Cyberedit.com, which hires professional writers for a range of projects including resume writing and document proofing. Editfast.com also hires experienced editors, writers and proofreaders.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Oftentimes small business owners and mid- to executive-level professionals need a personal assistant but cannot afford to hire one on a full-time basis or simply don't have the space in their offices. Therefore, they hire people from remote locations to do their administrative work for them.
Virtual assistants can handle bookkeeping, administrative duties, travel arrangements, transcription and correspondence, and other support services that can be done remotely via e-mail and phone.
A search on Google using keywords "virtual assistant" will generate results for many independent contractors. Some will outsource a share of their workload. Check out virtualassistantjobs.com and teamdoubleclick.com. The International Virtual Assistants Association may be a valuable resource.
You should also consider starting a similar business on your own. Be your own boss, set your own hours, and acquire clients through self-promotion and marketing. Networking and referrals are your best bets for landing clients. Create an e-mail about your services and send it to everyone you know — and ask them to forward it along to everyone they know.
