What can YOU do working from home?

We'll take it you've already tried the various work from home ads, considered envelope stuffing, telephone answering services etc., and have had your baptism of fire sending off cheques for £15, or £50, to some millionaire who's promised to share his secrets with you.

And you've figured that none of that works. Well, you've come to the one place on the net that won't ask you for a penny to explain how you can make a million. 

If you belong to the generation that does not believe that the world owes you a living, and you're willing to work for your daily bread, why work for somebody else? Here's a collection of ideas of what you can do at home working for YOU - start your own business!

1. Running a website or a web based business. No! You do not need to be an expert in anything web related. You don't even need to know a lot about computers or how to build/manage websites. The trick is to identify what exactly you are good at, what you like doing, and open your mind to ways you can make money out of it. Or find someone who's already done it and buy him out. Buying a website.

2. Writing articles for other websites. Again, no special skills required. You don't need to be a published author, you don't even need to be good at writing! You can be stumped by spelling, perplexed by punctuations, and absolutely grim at Grammar but you can still make a living by writing (Yes, it's not all articles. There's demand for things like putting together useful resources, browsing through various websites in a particular niche and compiling a list of the best ones, collecting phone numbers off various sites in a particular industry and building a directory, and various other opportunities that don't require a PhD in English Lit). 

3. Buying and selling products you are familiar with on auction websites like eBay and QXL - from doll houses to motorcycle spares.  
 

4. Converting your hobbies or skills into a business from home (which may or may not use the internet). Some examples: 

- Genealogy 

- Pet Grooming/Minding

- Pottery/Painting/Other Craft Work/Teaching Craft Classes

- Knitting, Needlework, Alteration Services

- Baking/Cooking/Teaching Cooking

- Recording/Editing/Archiving of Photos/Music/Video

- Child Care, Teaching/Tutoring

- Reading (proofreading)

- Languages (translating)

Put your hobby/skill to work for you....

5. Other local opportunities: Apart from hobbies and skills there may be openings in your local area for a particular type of service that is not currently being met. And, the laws of supply and demand dictate that if there's no competition people are likely to be willing to pay you a high price for your services. Some ideas: 

- House/Office Cleaning

- House Minding

- Door to door leaflet/local paper/coupon distribution

- Window Cleaning

6. Virtual Assistant opportunities: A VA is described as an independent entrepreneur providing administrative,
creative and/or technical services from the comfort of their own homes/home-offices. There are several organisations on the web catering for and advising VAs. 

How To Make Money With Blogs !!!

How To Make Money With Blogs !!!

Webopedia defines a blog as “a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.” 

Blogs have become a popular tool for both businesses and individuals to share their voice, thoughts and musings to the world. Some blogs are created to give a more “humane” face to a business, allow interaction with customers, even as a tool to generate traffic. Others write blogs to share their passions and attract like-minded individuals. 

Whatever the reason for creating a blog, the next question is: What can you do to make money from your blog? 

Here are steps to starting a blog and earning money from your writings: 

1. Set up your blog. You can have the option of using their URL (e.g. widgetsblog.blogger.com) or use the blog software in your own domain name (www.widgetsblog.com). Some of these are free, while some has monthly/annual subscription 

Here are some places that will allow you to create your own blog 
Blogger www.blogger.com 
Typepad www.typepad.com/ 
Moveable Type www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ 
Wordpress www.wordpress.org/ 

However, if you are thinking of using your blog to earn money, you need to check first with the blog platform whether they allow ads to be put on the blogs. Some blog platforms have strict policies and will delete your blog if you put ads on them. Blogger.com, being owned by Google which also runs the contextual advertising program Adsense, is one of the ads-friendly blog platforms around. 

2. Create great content. Everything starts with content. With great content, you can attract more traffic and more engaged visitors, which gives you higher likelihood of monetizing your blog. 

Why will they want to read your blog? Why will they want to spend their time in your blog? Provide value, useful information and other benefits to the readers. Your blog can contain up-to-the-minute news and analysis; or it could be a witty and amusing look at pop culture. Give a reason why visitors will frequent your blog. 

3. Get traffic to your blog. 

You can't earn from your blog if the blog does not have traffic. Many make the mistake of believing that once they create a blog, people will immediately flock to it. There are millions out there so why would they visit your blog? 

Getting traffic is going to be your biggest challenge. Here is a comprehensive list of places where you can list your blogs and syndicate its content - Resources for Marketing Your Blogs and RSS Feeds 

One useful technique for getting traffic to your blog is to use carnivals. Carnivals are a technique for showcasing your blog. Carnivals occur once a week to once a month, and you need to submit your blog post to the carnival moderator. Find blog carnivals that fit your topic at BlogCarnival.com blogcarnival.com/bc/ 

4. Think of how to monetize your blog. One of the most common ways of earning money from blogs is through advertising and donations. Here are some ways you can earn money from your blog: 

Contextual advertising programs 
Google Adsense = Adsense is one of the easiest to join and best way to make money from blogs, and Google’s ownership of Blogger.com makes it easy to start earning from blogs 
Yahoo Publisher Network = in addition to their contextual advertising program, also offers RSS advertising 
Chitika eMinimalls = contextual advertising that pays per click and focuses on product-based advertisers 
WidgetBucks = pay-per-click shopping widgets 

Blog-specific ad networks 
Federated Media Publishing = ad network that represents high traffic and most influential blogs offering mostly through CPM and flat rate advertising 
Blogads.com = ad network for influential blogs 
CrispAds = offers keyword targeted text ads (not contextual) 
AdGridwork = an advertising network offering text ads; as well as a traffic exchange network 

RSS Advertising 
Feedburner = text link ads in RSS feeds are offered by CPM basis 
Moreover’s Feed Direct = advertising program which inserts contextual ads in the RSS feeds (in partnership with Kanoodle) 
Pheedo = RSS ads are both CPM and CPC basis, and appear at the end of each post 
BidVertiser Ads For Feed = the contextual ad agency now offers an advertising program for RSS feeds 
Feedvertising = run text link ads in RSS feeds via flat rate pricing (not CPM or CPC)
OrangeFeed 

Other sources of income 
Text link ads - you can sell for fixed price for a fixed period of time 
Donations (yes, you can beg) 
Affiliate programs such as Commission Junction www.cj.com and the Amazon Associates program