Writing From Home

I am always looking for new opportunities to capitalize on working from home.  I try to share what I have found with as many people as possible.  Even if my findings are that an option does not work.  My latest venture had been to try my hand at writing on line content.  Writing is something I have always enjoyed doing so I figured why not give it a try and see if I can earn some extra cash while working from home.

The first step was to submit a sample of my work to the on line sites that I was interested in becoming a contributor.  I wrote two types of articles for submittal; one review article of a cell phone and one about working from home ventures.  After a couple of days of waiting, I was accepted to the sites so I could begin working.  How exciting.

I have actually made some money doing this; but, not enough to make this a full time income.  There are sites that will pay you a set amount for writing an article.  These sites generally pay low, but you get the cash.  The other types of sites that are available generate residual income.  This means you get paid for each person who visits your article.  The more you write and promote your writing, the more money you make.  The catch is that it will take some time to get enough articles to make any kind of money.  These sites also take up to a week and sometimes longer to review your articles.  The waiting can be difficult.

My goal is to try both types of sites.  I write for the cash as well as submit my articles for approval to the residual income sites.  I hope that by next year I can generate a decent income utilizing both types of sites so I can continue to work from home.  I still won’t be able to quit my day job, but I will be able to supplement my income quite nicely.

For more ideas on working from the home, check out my articles .

Utilize Your Cell Phone For Work

In today's high tech cell phone market, it is easy to pick a cell phone that can help you integrate personal use with work usage.  Why not let your cell phone become one more tool in your work from home endeavor?  Cell phones can be used for much more than just sending and receiving emails.  You can use your smart phone to download, store, view and create documents.  This creates a huge advantage for those who work from home.  You can access the Internet to perform research.  Create a WIFI hot spot with your cell to tether your laptop.  Or even utilize video chat to get your job done on the go.  Now you can work from the store or the kids' ballgames without dragging your laptop with you.  See my article Picking the Perfect Cell Phone for You for help with deciding which phone will best suit your needs.  Working from home has never been easier.

Driving Traffic to Your Blog

So you decided to take the leap into blogging to earn income while working from home and you have monetized your site, now how do you get the people to come and look at the blog?

This is where you will spend most of your time and requires the most patience.  You have to build your reputation and that takes time.  You also have to get your site seen over the thousands of other blogs you are competing with for attention.  No matter what you see on line, there is no magic way to get rich quick and make thousands of dollars doing this.  While we all want to work from home, blogging will probably not allow you this freedom.  With that said, you can supplement your work from home income.  So how do you accomplish this task?  Here are the methods that I have used or that I am currently using.

Write Informative Articles

Write about something that people want to learn.  Share your knowledge and experience with the reader.  Be honest and up front about your experiences even if it is not what your reader wants to hear.  I have read articles that did not agree with my preconceived ideas about what I wanted to hear and dismissed them only to realize that the author was correct.  It solidified my trust in that author over the others who were just saying what I wanted to hear.  (Like blogging can make you rich.) 

Be Heard

Get your name out there by joining groups and forums that hold similar interests as your blog(s).  Do your research on each group before joining.  Again, err on the side of caution.  Our human nature is to want to join every discussion, chat and forum available, but avoid that temptation.  The key to this approach is to become a valued member who provides quality feedback.  Don’t join an organization and then spam your blog address at every chance you get.  Choose carefully and participate responsibly in the forums.  Include your web URL or link on your signature so that others can visit your blog if they want to do so.  

Link Backs

Make sure you link back to your articles any chance you can.  Writing articles for other blogs and websites helps you gain exposure with new audiences and linking the articles back to your blog will let the new audience find you.  This will help you direct traffic from an article you have posted on another source back to your blog.  This is a great way to increase your awareness. 

Remain Persistent

Persistence is the key to being successful in anything you do, and it is no different with your blogging efforts.  Stay on focused on your goal and stay committed to doing the work needed to help your blog succeed.  For more tips, see my articles Beginning Blogging and Can You Make Money Blogging?

Gigs on Craigslist

If you have surfed around on Craigslist, you are sure to have noticed the Gigs sections.  This is a great place for those who are self employed or those just looking for some extra spending money to check out.  The idea is that Gigs is separated into categories and each category contains potential jobs or gigs that you can apply to perform.  Some of them just involve manual labor or are for a special one time event.  Other gigs can lead to a full time job such as those in the freelance writing area. 
If you have a skilled trade, are good with computers or can write you might want to check out the Gigs on Craigslist.  As always use caution when utilizing this service.  Let me know if you actually get any paying jobs!

Happy Hunting!
Kristie
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