For many people the idea of a flexible working from home job is a wonderful concept, but it isn't for everyone. Whether it's suitable for you will depend on your individual circumstances, and what you enjoy. The possibilities for earning money through flexible home work are infinite, it's just a case of finding what you like to do, and getting the right information and tools - which can be quicker and easier than you might think.
Before you start:
1. Make a list of topics you enjoy and are interested in. You'll be more successful if you enjoy what you're doing.
2. Decide if you want to work from home for someone else, or if you'd like to be your own boss.
Working for someone else:
There are companies who will outsource certain tasks and jobs to individuals working from home. If you want to do this, it's best to go through an established website like RemoteEmployment.com to make sure you don't fall prey to scams.
Another major remote employment site is ODesk.com - where you can find flexible working from home jobs in a wide variety of categories including customer service, administrative support, translation and writing, design and multimedia, as well as business services such as accounting and bookkeeping, along with web design, software development and more.
Working for your self:
Working for yourself means you're not just earning money for each task you do or each hour you work. It means you can build an ongoing income which, if you set it up correctly, should exceed the amount of time and effort you put into it.
One of the most popular, and successful flexible working from home jobs is building an online business - which is much quicker and simpler than it sounds, and is usually much easier and speedier than starting an offline business.
Here are some ideas for working from home online as your own boss:
1. Affiliate marketing - this requires no website, no product, and no investment. You do however need good information on how to make a success of it. With the right training and tools many people are making a fortune each month through affiliate marketing without any overheads.
2. Merchant website - for this option you'll need a website and a product. Again, there's definitely money to be made, but you do need to know what you're doing. It's wise to get good training and advice from those who are already making money from their own merchant websites.
3. Service website - this would be your own website through which you offer a service such as a training course, counseling, tarot readings... or any number of other possibilities you can imagine.
To succeed with these last two businesses, you'll need to make sure you know how to make your website search-engine-optimized, and how to market it so that you get enough visitors to your site. No matter how brilliant your service or product, if people don't know about it, of course they won't be able to buy it.;)