How to Make Money from Home

The other day, I got a phone call from Ron – a friend of mine – who just got laid off from work due to “economic contingencies”. Knowing I’m into that making money on Internet stuff, as he calls it, he asked me what was the best way how to make money from home.
With a mortgage on the way and two kids to feed, he can’t afford to stay unemployed for long. And considering he’s just completely disgusted with working in a cubicle, with an ever-present boss and two-faced colleagues, he’s looking for some alternatives.

I asked him what he wanted to do exactly, if he was more into making websites or writing or advertising or selling… “As long as I don’t have to step into an office, ever again, anything will do”, he replied. Yes, that’s what a day job can do to you! So I thought for a little while, and I told him I had found the perfect solution for him. One that would give him both responsibilities and freedom; one he could execute from the comfort of his home (in his pajamas if he wanted to).

How to Make Money from Home – Introducing VA’s

 What I told him was that, if he wanted to know how to make money from home without ever having to deal with office politics again, and that he still didn’t mind working for someone else, maybe he could look into becoming a VA or Virtual Assistant.

In short, a virtual assistant is a work-at-home independent who’ll use technology to deliver services to clients internationally. Most conversations between employer and employee take place via Skype or email, and they’re usually quite brief, as people who tend to use VA’s are – most of the time – busy entrepreneurs who don’t have time to waste (unlike office bosses).

Pros and Cons of Becoming a VA

What’s really great about being a VA, when looking how to make money from home, is that you can make good money with minimal startup costs. You only need a computer, an Internet connection, and a couple of software/applications like Skype, Word, Dropbox and the like.

Working full time, you can expect to earn around $40K a year. Not bad for being able to choose WHEN you work, for WHOM and WHERE, right? Yes, being a VA is the perfect solution for family men/women or for people who just like to define their own work schedule. Moreover, it’s the chance for you to start working in a field that you might be really passionate about.

On the other hand, this freedom of working whenever you’re feeling like it is also the biggest con against becoming a VA. You have to make sure to have both discipline and self-motivation if you’re to have the slightest chance at making it. There will be no one to look over your shoulder to see if you’re not being productive or if you just procrastinate over and over again. The risk is that your client will simply drop you and you’ll be left with no project to work on (= zero chance at getting that “how to make money from home” plan to work).

What Service to Offer?

Here’s a couple questions to ask yourself when trying to find what service(s) to offer as a VA:

• What’s your background?
• What qualifications do you bring to the table?
• What do you enjoy doing?
• Are you ready to learn new skills in order to become more efficient?

It’s a question of deciding how many services you will offer. And whether you will go for what you already know and are the best at, or what you’d like to do the most and are ready/committed to learn.

If you’re great with numbers, you can try your hand at financial services; there’s a lot of demand in that industry. Same for accounting and legal services. If you like administrative work (answering emails, making phone calls…), you can offer to manage the agenda of people and get them organized. Translation, writing, IT support, graphic design, they’re all possible earners.

More and more Internet entrepreneurs are also looking for VA’s to help them set up niche sites or do SEO work. So that might be another venue to explore. It doesn’t take much time to learn how to do it (for a start, you can check out my articles dealing with that subject HERE), and it can really pay off as a good VA in that field is invaluable!

Where to Advertise your Services?

OK, so you’ve chosen the service that will help you in your “how to make money from home” quest? Good. Now you want to find clients to get the business started, right?

The first place where to look would be locally. Do you know any company in your area that might be interested in what you have to offer? Are your services in high demand in your city? If that’s not the case, don’t worry, the whole world is opened to you. Think global!

Advertising Online

Most probably, you will be doing all your advertising online. So what you’ll be looking for is if there’s any forum related to your niche. More often than not, that’s where you’ll find the bulk of your clients as that’s a place where professionals usually gather to “talk shop”. Just take part in the discussions and let it be known, in a subtle manner, that your services are for hire. The key word here is “subtlety” as the last thing you want is being labeled a spammer. That would just ruin any chances of business you might have.

The second place where you want to advertise online, if you’re looking how to make money from home, is on social networks like Facebook. Send a message to your friends, asking them to drop a little word about your services to people they know. It might snowball and spread to thousands of people and –you never know – an acquaintance of an acquaintance might be looking for just that at the moment.
You might also be thinking about placing an ad in the Yellow Pages. That’s not my favorite way to go, but if it gets the job done, more power to you.

Now, if I had to advertise my being a VA to hire, I would – without a doubt – create a profile on Elance, Guru and oDesk. As that’s the first places I visit when I need a job done. Pay attention to how the top earners in your field have designed their profile and use that as the basis for yours. And just start answering job propositions.

The first thing I would do, though, before anything else, would be to create my “online business card”. If you’re good with computers, I suggest you build a website where you will promote your services (that’s what will act as your business card in this digital world.) Use WordPress with a clean theme. And add any job you’ve had for references.

Final Words on How to Make Money from Home

So, that’s what I told Ron when he asked me the best way how to make money from home. Last I heard, he had bagged his first project on Elance. Now, if you too got laid off or are just looking for an extra stream of income, this might be something to think about, no?
What if YOU became a VA?