You can make money while building your business. Look for other affiliate programs who offer
the same service.
Build your data base – via your website and social media
Sample of platform
that Finds Companies looking for certain skills. www.Indeed,com
Google the following
“
Find people looking
for companies “how to find people looking for assignments”
And you get an
education regarding this business.
Listed Below is your
competition;
Make your billing
easy to agree to – by just getting them together.
And being paid up
front.
For Employers
Projects
Is free to sign
up, post a project, receive bids from freelancers, review the freelancer's
portfolio and discuss the project requirements. If you choose to award the
project, and the freelancer accepts, we charge you a small project fee relative
to the value of the selected bid, as an introduction fee (as detailed in the
table below).
The
cost and how this fee is charged depends on the type of project and membership plan
ELANCE.COM is free
to join and there are no charges to post jobs, submit proposals or to
work! So, how does Elance make money?
We deduct an 8.75% service fee from all invoices submitted by Freelancers on the site. To
help Freelancers determine the final payment amount they will receive on their
invoices, the service fee will show to Freelancers as they calculate their bid.
For example, a Client will receive a bid of $547.95 ($500 + 8.75% fee of 47.95)
if the Freelancer is aiming to receive $500 for their work. When work is
completed and approved by the Client, Elance collects the $547.95 payment from
the Client and passes $500 on to the Freelancer.
20 Websites You Can’t Miss If
You Want To Make Money as a Freelancer
1) Chances are high
that you may just lose money, instead of earning
After a several bids, you are awarded a project from
an employer. Now you gladly accept the project. Freelancer will charge 10%, 5%,
or 3% of the full amount immediately, based on your subscription. Most of the
beginners start with a free account, and hence are charged 10% of the full
amount from Freelancer.com.
As a newbie, chances are high that the experienced
employers will not hire you. That means, you are getting your project from a
newbie employer. In other words, an employer without any reviews.
He may be a
fraud. He may just try to get the job done, and leave without paying a cent.
Freelancer suggest requesting a mile stone payment model for this, where you
request at least 20% (suggested is 50%) of the complete amount. You start work
only after getting the mile stone created.
Once the mile stone created, the money will transfer from
the employer's account to the Freelancer.com's bank account. So the chance of
the employer cheating will be minimal. Once you have completed the job, the
employer will inform Freelancer.com that the project is completed and hence the
payment can be released.
However, say, the employer decides to stop
communicating with you, as soon as you accept the project. As Freelancer.com
suggests, you will not start working till he creates the milestone. You may
avoid working without getting paid, in this manner. However, even if you decide
to abort the project, Freelancer will not refund its charges, in ANY case. This
is clearly
mentioned in its FAQ. That means, if you accept a project worth 500
USD, your credit card will be immediately charged 50 USD. Whether the employer
is genuine or not is not the question.
2 Possibilities:
Worst Case: You will not be completely paid the
500 USD, as you are new, and hence met with an evil employer. You will end up
with a loss of 50 USD, and with an incomplete project which will ruin your
freelancer.com profile for eternity.
Best Case: You got an awesome project and an
awesome employer, who promptly pays 500 USD. Note that your card was charged 50
USD in day-0, and say you complete the task in day-2. You will have to wait for
a month or even two, to get the first payment from Freelancer.com. Check the
next point (Point-2) given below to see why!
2) Getting your first payment out of Freelancer is a
nightmare.
Let's say, you have successfully completed your first
project and want to get paid. Now comes the troubles. For some unknown security
reasons, they have included a 3 week period of verification, before the first
payment. That means employer pays the complete amount, fully satisfied with
your job. This broker (i.e. Freelancer.com), decides to keep your amount in 3
weeks, in their bank accounts.
Let's think of a few cases.
Case 1:
You get paid for a project - 200 USD. You request
withdrawal via PayPal for 200 USD. Reducing 1 USD, they schedule 199 USD, to
pay in 3 weeks. Now, within that three weeks period, you are awarded another
project worth 100 USD, from the same or another employer. As you accept the
project, Freelancer will immediately charge you 10 USD (or according to your
subscription). Where will they charge from? Not from your credit card this
time. They will charge from your Freelacer.com balance instead. Now the balance
will be 200 USD - 10 USD = 190 USD in your account, where your previous request
for the transaction was 200 USD. With the below message, Freelancer.com will
cancel your payment request! "Not enough funds to complete your withdrawal
request!"
You may request for 190 USD again now. They will
schedule your payment now. But it will be scheduled again for a day after 3
weeks, again! Wait for 3 more weeks!
Case 2:
You have a basic subscription. You, as in case 1, have
asked a transfer. Since you know that accepting a project at this moment will
cancel your payment request, now you are cautious. You will try not to withdraw
the complete amount. Say, you request just 100 USD, to avoid facing the above
mentioned issue repeatedly, or you decide not to work with Freelancer.com till
you receive your first 200 USD withdrawal request. Now, assuming that you have
a subscription with a monthly fees (not a free account). Within 3 weeks, the
next month will come and Freelancer.com will charge the monthly fees from your
balance, and cancel the transaction request as in Case-1. Freelancer.com will
give an evil smile to you, as a big troll!
How to avoid these?
1) Once you have received your first payment from
Freelancer.com, the consequent payments are done twice a week, and hence will
not take much time. Just be cautious, if you are a new user. Once you received
the payment for the first job, do not try to withdraw the entire amount.
Chances are pretty high that the balance will go negative, and your payment
request will be cancelled, as we saw in previous cases. Request withdrawal for
just a part of it. Say, 150 USD (75%), instead of the entire 200 USD. Avoid
accepting any big scale project, till you receive your first payment. Once you
have received your first payment, you will become a master, and will not
require to read this blog post at all.
2) Avoid having multiple currencies in your account,
and try to keep USD as your default. Say you keep Euro as your primary
currency. When you are awarded 200 USD, you decide to change half of it (100
USD) to Euro. You will have to face additional hurdles by this.
* Freelancer.com money conversion facility is not
free. It will charge you.
* Say you have 100 USD and 60 Euro in your
Freelancer.com, as you have transferred a 100 USD to Euro, as above. Now you
have requested the withdrawal of 60 USD, and your primary currency is Euro. At
this moment, if a project is awarded, or if Freelancer.com decides to charge
you the monthly subscription fee, they will surely charge from the 70 Euro, as
it is your primary currency, and they will not touch the 100 USD. That means,
though you felt that you have balance in your account, so that your transaction
is safe, it is not safe, in real. Freelancer.com will get an additional chance
to delay your payment by further 3 weeks. It is better to keep the balance in a
single currency, which is also your primary currency, to avoid this. In other
words, better to stick to USD.
3) Avoid accepting suspicious projects.
A few cheats open jobs with very high amounts,
targeting the newbies to cheat. In these cases, the employers themselves too
will be new, or at least will have negative ratings. It is always better to
avoid the first project with a higher value to reduce the risk of immediate
money loss to Freelancer.com in the name of bidding charges. Within a few days
of testing, I just lost 50 USD to Freelance.com, just because I accepted a
project from a suspicious employer, who didn't bother to respond further, after
I accepted the project. Probably, he must have thought that I am clueless, and
would work without getting the milestone payment requests accepted (without
getting paid).
An update made on the 6th of August 2013: Always Google for the project title and the description. Some of the employers themselves are freelancers in freelancer.com or similar sites. I was contacted by an 'employer' in Freelancer.com to complete a task for 80 USD. He was sending me the information over personal email instead of using Freelancer.com, against the Freelancer policies. I asked him to create a project in Freelancer.com with milestone, and also let him know that my budget is 200 Euro. He rejected the offer, as it is beyond his budget. A quick Google revealed me that, he was hired by another employer to do the project for 200 USD, and now he is trying to subcontract me for 80 USD! Obviously 200 Euro is greater than 200 USD. So he didn't hire me.
In this case, the original genuine employer has offered him a reasonable amount to do the task. Now this freelancer himself has become an 'employer', and is trying to get an innocent freelancer to do the same task for peanuts! Now he will be able to finish the task and earn 120 USD without any effort, while securing good reviews on Freelancer.com for the quality job. Seems many of these 100 - 150 Words for 1 USD article deals are made this way. Some experienced freelancers prey on the novice/new freelancers, who are otherwise talented. It is a shortcoming of the freelancing sites that they focus only on the reputation on the site, and not the experience and qualification of the freelancer, outside the website or network.
By being extra careful, you will be able to receive
your first payment within a month, escaping the dirty tricks of the scam users
of freelancer.com, and once you have received your first payment, you will be
fine with the game! Hope this long blog post was useful for you. Wish you all
the best, and hope to see you soon with the critical analysis of yet another
service.
Internships
6 Legal Requirements for
Unpaid Internship Programs
According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is especially high among
college students and recent graduates. For those unable to find paid work, an
unpaid internship might seem like a useful method of gaining valuable
experience, recommendations and even future job placement. Likewise, for
cash-strapped startups, the idea of getting labor without having to trade
liquidity or valuable equity can be too appealing to ignore.
However, there are
some very serious legal considerations every for-profit company –including
startups — must be aware of before attempting to use unpaid interns.
Under federal law,
every employee in America
is entitled to a minimum wage, additional compensation for overtime and certain
other benefits. An employment relationship will also have consequences for the
employer relating to worker’s compensation, discrimination laws, employee
benefits, state labor laws and unemployment insurance coverage. For these
requirements not to apply, the employment relationship must fall under
applicable legal exemptions.
In the case of
Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., the United States Supreme Court held
that one such exemption to the federal requirements exists for people who work
for their personal advantage rather than that of their employer. Such person may be considered a trainee
instead of an employee for purposes of federal law. In this seminal court case,
the Supreme Court looked to six factors in deciding whether a work program was
for the intern’s own educational benefit or the advantage of their employer.
Here are the six
factors considered by the Court:
The internship, even
though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is
similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
The internship
experience is for the benefit of the intern.
The intern does not
displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing
staff.
The employer that
provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the
intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.
The intern is not
necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
The employer and the
intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent
in the internship.
The DOL has taken the
position that for the exemption to apply, all of the factors listed above must
be met. While some of the above requirements may be covered by an effective
agreement, those that are subjective create a substantial burden on a company
looking to hire interns to create a substantive program that meets these
criteria.
The key takeaways for
anyone looking to hire unpaid interns is to have an appreciation for the
nebulous area of the law they are entering, understanding the difficulty of
complying with the Department of Labor’s specifications, and finally, ensuring
they do all they can to be sure they are in compliance with the law.
.
1. Elance
Elance is one of the
best websites to look for freelance work of all types. Programmers, designers,
writers, IT professionals, translators, attorneys, financial advisers –
everyone is welcome and there is plenty of work to go around. You can set up a
profile fairly quickly and charge an hourly rate or have a set price for each
individual project and you get rated depending on how well you do.
Elance
2. Freelancer
It’s been around
since 2004 and it has a large following. It’s a place where services are
outsourced to freelancers in a number of fields including: web design, writing,
marketing and data entry among other things.
Freelancer
3. Guru
Guru.com is a fairly
large network that connects companies and freelancers. As stated on the website
they are interested in work on “technical, creative or business projects”, so
there is plenty of opportunity for all types of freelancers from programmers
and game developers to translators, engineers and attorneys.
4. iFreelance
iFreelance is a very
wide freelance network with categories that include photography, videography,
marketing, traditional art, writing, translation, architecture, engineering,
graphic design, accounting and administrative support. It’s easy to set up an
account and start looking for a project you can contribute to.
iFreelance
5. People per Hour
Create an appealing
profile, look for jobs, send proposals and make a short video promoting your
services. It’s all very straightforward with PeoplePerHour.com – you find a
client, provide a quality service and get rated.
peopleperhour
6. Tuts Plus Jobs
This is a great job
board for programmers, designers and developers, as well as copywriters and
editors. It has a user friendly interface and allows you to quickly find and
apply for jobs best suited to your particular skill set.
Tuts Plus Jobs
7. ProBlogger
An excellent job
board for talented writers, ProBlogger makes finding the right writing
opportunities incredibly simple. Just click on the job listings you want and
follow the instructions.
problogger article
8. Freelance Writing
Gigs
This is another great
website for all the writers out there. Posting an ad will cost you around $10,
but it will give you a chance to showcase your writing skills and provide
content to those willing to pay for your efforts. You can also contribute to
their blog and get some additional exposure by linking to your blog/website and
social media accounts.
freelance writing
jobs
9. SmashingJobs
This is a designer’s
and programmer’s heaven, offering plenty of full-time and freelance job
opportunities. The website has a very clean and crisp design which allows for
quick browsing and some efficient job hunting.
Smashing jobs
10. Odesk
Set up an account and
choose from 75 different job categories and plenty of offers within each
category. The thing with oDesk is that there is no invoicing involved – your
work is tracked automatically and you receive payments on a weekly basis
depending on how much time you spent on various projects. Some of the main
categories include writing and translation, software development, web
development, marketing and design.
oDesk
11. Fiverr
Sell your services
starting at $5, that’s the tagline and it is quite accurate. You can offer
basically anything you can think of – write and perform a poem, create DIY
projects or promotional videos, etc. Some basic categories are writing and
translation, online marketing, video and animation, music, programming and
graphic design.
Fiverr
12. Freelanced
This is a freelance
social network where a large number of people with different kinds of talents
and skills can come together, share their portfolios and look for some online
work. There are a huge number of job categories ranging from creative writers,
sculptors and music composers to accountants and programmers.
freelanced
13.
Freelance-Writing-Jobs-Online
A variety of fields
to write about, ranging from mathematics and physics to biology and medicine.
To sign up you need to fill out a form and wait for a confirmation email. Upon
receiving the email you may take a competency test and be on your way to
earning some money.
freelance-writing-jobs-online
14. Pitch me
A freelancer with
some experience in journalism will feel right at home on this website. Ideas
are pitched on various topics – fashion, science, culture, etc – and you can
pitch as many ideas as you like. If someone likes what you have to offer, they
can than pay you to write it, it’s as simple as that.
Pitch Me
15. Text Broker
This website provides
talented writers with a very effective way of getting paid for doing what they
do best. You start by creating a free account and completing a competency test
after which you will be rated. Then, if all goes well, you can complete your
author profile and start looking for writing assignments that suit you.
Text Broker
16. Art Wanted
Artwanted is the
perfect place for artists and photographers to create an online portfolio, get
feedback and sell their artwork online. Registration is free, but there is a $5
per month premium membership option that grants you access to some good bonus
features.
Art Wanted
17. 99designs
This is a website
where over 281,579 designers from 192 different countries can connect to
potential clients and showcase their work. A client gives information about his
business and a rough idea of the type of logo he wants. Then the designers send
in their work and the client can pick out the one he likes best. You look for
design contests, enter the ones you like and do your best to win. As you win
more contests your status will improve and you will get more opportunities.
99designs
18. Simply Hired
This is a big and
broad job hunting website with tons of options, but it is a great way to look
for some freelance work, particularly if you are a writer, graphic designer or
web designer. It’s very easy to navigate and you can quickly search through a
large number of recent job offerings in your field.
Simply Hired
19. Tutor
As the name suggests
you can become an online tutor for families with home-schooled children,
children in military families and even schools. There are a number of subjects
and different grade levels to choose from, so if you have a deeper
understanding of a subject such as math, English or science, than you can go
through a few simple steps. You have to fill out an application form, pass a
subject exam and deliver a writing sample, perform a mock session to test your
teaching skills and go through a background check before you can start working.
Tutor
20. Authentic Jobs
A well-designed and
straightforward job board, AuthenticJobs.com allows you to filter out
categories you are not interested in and apply for freelance jobs in different
fields. The main focus is on web development, web design, application
development, project management and UI design.
Authentic Jobs
Take it seriously.
Yes, you’re applying for an online job. Yes, you can do the work in your
underwear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a “real job”. You must treat it as
such or they aren’t going to treat you as a serious candidate. You aren’t the
only one who wants to work in their underwear. In fact, the competition online
is likely higher than it is in your local area.
Be professional. When
you submit a résumé, don’t type it in ALL CAPS and please don’t avoid the caps
lock like the plague. Know how to use it without looking incompetent. Write in
complete sentences with proper grammar. Of course, there will be exceptions,
but even with the exceptions, you must keep it professional.
You’re building their
view of you.
Give some, but not
all. Whether you’re providing writing
samples, a photography portfolio or links to your work, give them enough
examples to get the idea, but not so many that they don’t even know where to
start. And while we’re on the topic, give them some of your background
information, but don’t tell them your life story.
Double check
yourself, before you double wreck yourself. Make sure everything you send to a
company, whether a résumé, an email or a portfolio, is good to go. Double check
your grammar and wording, and for God’s sake use spell check! This is
especially important when it comes to the company’s name. Don’t spell their name
wrong and be sure to type it how they type it (e.g. Problogger, not Pro
Blogger).
1. Websites That Pay
Let’s go ahead and
get this out of the way. There are all kinds of websites that will pay you for
various things, such as shopping, taking surveys or testing products. No, I’m
not getting paid to promote any of these and no, these websites won’t make you
a millionaire, but they are great for earning some extra cash. I’ll leave out
the scams.
Here are some
legitimate websites that pay:
Swagbucks – Swagbucks
is great for earning some extra cash. You can do a variety of things to make
money, from taking surveys to using their search engine. You won’t get rich,
but you will earn a few bucks. If you have the time to kill, you can spend it
earning some extra cash, instead of surfing the web.
InboxDollars –
InboxDollars is similar to Swagbucks, since you’re going to be taking surveys,
shopping, etc., so if you want to maximize your return, sign up with both
websites. They also offer a search engine that pays you (like Swagbucks) and
you get $5 just for signing up. I won’t
continue to list survey sites one after another down the list, but if you want
to get paid to take surveys, also check out
GlobalTestMarket,
E-Poll Surveys and Survey Club.
Project Payday –
Project Payday is one of those sites that has testimonials of people who have
earned thousands of dollars by getting paid to get trial offers. I’m not saying
you’ll earn thousands, but it is legit and you can earn some extra cash. They
assume that by paying you to do a free trial, you’ll either like the product
and purchase it, or forget to cancel the trial and get charged for it. If you
can keep track and cancel before you get charged (if you don’t want the
product), then this is a great site for making some money.
User Testing – User
Testing pays $10 a pop for testing websites. A test usually takes about 15-20
minutes. The purpose is for a website owner to watch someone, who is new to
their site, try to navigate it. The value that the site owner gets by watching
an actual user experience is worth a ton, but $10 isn’t a bad pay-out.
Fiverr – Fiverr is a
great place to make a few bucks or spend a few bucks if you need some of the
services people offer. Basically, everything is $5. You either pay $5 or charge
$5. They call them “gigs.” You can offer your services however you choose. If
you sell art and you’re fine selling pieces for $5 each, that’s a gig. If
you’re a graphic designer and you want to offer your services for $10/hour,
simply offer a 30 minute gig. If they need two hours of graphic design, they
pay you $20 or $10/hour by buying four gigs.
I
ZEA – IZEA works in
addition to a blog or on its own. You get paid to blog, tweet, take photos and
take videos. The pay is mostly based on your following, so if you want to make
money with your tweets, you’ll need to grow you Twitter following. Likewise, if you want to make money with
blogs, you’ll need substantial blog traffic (more on blogging below).
2. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is
one of the most popular ways to earn money online. Many successful freelancers
can earn an average of 50 cents to a dollar per word. Some are earning twice
that!
Of course, it doesn’t
start out like that. You’ve got to build your portfolio and your résumé, blah
blah blah. If you’re interested in writing, I’m sure you know this. If you’re
not interested in writing, I wouldn’t recommend traveling down this road just
for the money.
It takes dedication
and time, though it can be highly profitable if it’s what you love. Assuming it
is what you love, let’s talk about making money with it.
Before you decide to
start reaching out to all of these freelance writing companies, you need to
have a web presence. You need a blog (in my humble blogger opinion, of course).
Or you could just
have an online portfolio. Even a LinkedIn profile works to get started. When
you’re ready to start, here are 150 resources to help you write better, faster
and more persuasively.
If that’s
intimidating, just start with these 50 resources.
Now for what you’ve
all been waiting for; once you’re ready to actually start making money, here
are 10 websites you can start with:
Listverse – Listverse
pays $100 for each accepted post. The article must be a list, it must be at
least 1,500 words and you must include at least 10 things. Other than that, you
can get pretty creative with it.
TopTenz – TopTenz
pays $50 for each accepted post. Again, the article has to be in a list format
and it must be at least 1,500 words, with few exceptions. They post often so
your chances of getting accepted are fairly high.
A List Apart – A List
Apart pays $200 for each accepted post. They’re not first on the list, because
they tend to publish less articles, which means you have a smaller chance of
getting accepted. Same guidelines as above, 1,500 word minimum.
International Living
– International Living pays $75 for each accepted post. They are mostly looking
for travel experiences from countries you have visited. For this site, it’s
more about your experience than your writing ability.
FundsforWriters –
FundsforWriters pays $50 for each accepted post. They are looking for articles
about writing and making money with it. They only accept articles between
500-600 words, but they want you to make each word count.
Uxbooth – Uxbooth
pays $100 for each accepted post. They do tend to take four to eight weeks to
accept and post articles, so don’t count on this being a quick money maker.
They take so long, because they pair with editors to only publish amazing
content.
iWriter – iWriter
pays up to $15 for each accepted post. That may seem small, but they aren’t as
strict as many of the others above and they also allow you to pick exactly what
you write. You can write as many or as few articles as you want.
Textbroker –
Textbroker pays up to five cents per word, if you’re a 5-star writer. You’ll
start by submitting a short sample article and you will most likely start as a
3-star writer, but you can work your way up by writing more and writing great
content.
Matador Network –
Matador Network pays up to $60 for each accepted post, but standard pay is
around $20-$25. They don’t really focus on a minimum word count, but they have
a maximum count of 1,500 words.
The Penny Hoarder –
The Penny Hoarder pays up to $800 (rarely), depending upon the number of page
views you receive. The pay starts at $100 for 50,000 page views, so this isn’t
a guaranteed paid article, but it can potentially be highly rewarding.
There’s no doubt that
you can make money with freelance writing, but it’s a process. Once you start
building your portfolio and your writing skills, you can start making some
serious money. If you’re not an experienced writer, expect to put some time in
before you really start to see some dough.
3. Sell Your Stuff
Ever since the idea of
online auctions came into existence, the online selling market has been on the
rise. Many are interested, but don’t know how to get started. There are still
all kinds of ways to make money by selling online, whether you’re selling what
you already have or buying and selling like a store. Before we get started,
here are a few general tips when selling anything online:
Get a PayPal account.
If you don’t have a PayPal account, you’ll want to get one if you’re doing
business online. It’s the standard in online business for receiving payment and
paying others.
Take good pictures.
Some of the options below don’t require you to actually take the picture and
sell the product, but for the ones that do, make sure you take a clear picture
that makes your product stand out from the others. If you’re going to be taking a lot of
pictures, set up a small “studio-like” area in your home with a backdrop and
proper lighting to really make your pictures come across as professional. And
of course, you’ll want a good camera too.
Be honest. If you’re selling used items, be honest about
every dent, scratch, blemish, etc.. This will reduce many issues you could run
into and keep your reviews positive.
Do good business.
Plain and simple. Whether you’re selling on a small site or opening an online
store, your customer service matters. You’ll want to get those positive reviews
and make a good name for yourself. Respond to questions, concerns and
complaints. Offer a guarantee if available.
Follow those
guidelines and you will do well in online sales. When you’re ready to start
selling, here’s where you go:
Amazon – Have you
heard of FBA? It stands for “Fulfilled by Amazon” and it’s getting pretty
popular. Basically, you buy products (in bulk is best) and ship them to Amazon
for them to store. When your products sell, Amazon packs them up, ships them
out and sends you the money (after taking their cut). There are people making a
full-time living from FBA, while others just do it for some extra money.
CraigsList – Some
things don’t ship very well. Other things may make you feel uncomfortable to
sell to someone across the country. Anytime you’re selling a large item or
something you just don’t want to ship, Craigslist is a great place to go. It’s
simple to list your item (again, take good pictures!). If you don’t like the
idea of putting your phone number out there, the interested individual can send
you a message to your inbox without even getting your email address.
eBay – Of course you
can’t read an article about making money online that doesn’t mention eBay. You
can start an eBay store and get serious about it or you can just sell some
stuff to declutter your home. Either way, I’ve made my fair share from selling
on eBay and it’s still a popular way to earn money. If you decide to start an
actual eBay store, you’ll want to find a drop-ship business like Doba that will
store and ship items straight to your customers so you don’t have to deal with
an inventory.
Etsy – If you like to
create arts and crafts, you can sell them on Etsy.It’s completely free to open
an Etsy store. You simply sign up, post pictures of your creations and starting
selling. You can choose your payment option, but PayPal is generally the
easiest. Etsy makes it easy to sell and keep track of your inventory. There is
a small listing fee and they take 3.5% of every sale you make.
Facebook – Facebook
swap shops are great for selling things locally. It’s like
CraigsList, but a
little easier. You simply search for swap shops in your area and ask to join
the group. Once you’re in, take a picture of the item, write a quick
description with the price and post it. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
You can generally expect to get about what you would get at a yard sale, maybe
a little more.
4. Blogging
Hey look, an article
about making money online that doesn’t mention blogging. . . oh wait, here it
is.
First off, I’m a
blogger so it seems wrong not to mention it, but more importantly, it’s a
legitimate way to make money. It’s quite possibly the least straight-forward way
on this list, but it’s very doable and it’s also quite possibly the funniest
way on this list. I love blogging and I know hundreds of bloggers who feel the
same. So let’s talk about making money blogging and what it really means.
Blogging is something
that requires patience, persistence and discipline. It may mean writing
everyday for over a year before you really start to see any money from it.
There are exceptions to the rule, but from my dealings with other bloggers, it
seems to be pretty common to spend one or even two years building your blog,
your brand and your authority, before making any serious amount of money.
Some people argue
that you can make money without a lot of traffic and while that is true in some
circumstances, you will generally need a lot of website traffic to start
earning from a blog and that takes a while. Once you’ve reached that point,
here are the primary ways to monetize your blog and start earning:
Advertising – This is
definitely the most old-school way of earning money with a blog. It’s also
starting to become the least common way. You can sell advertising spots
directly on your site or you can sign up with a company like Google AdSense or
Media.net. Either way, you won’t see a whole lot of money from ads until your
views are well into the thousands each day.
Affiliates – There
are many affiliate networks, such as FlexOffers and CJ Affiliate that allow you
to promote other people’s products and services. You simply put a link or a
banner on your page and then you get a percentage if someone clicks through and
buys the product/service. You’ll want to select products that are specifically
within your blog’s category.This is an effective way to earn money once you
have the traffic coming to your blog.
Membership – Many
people have created a paid membership area on their blog. This is typically for
exclusive content that you can only access in the “member’s area.” If you have
a really great idea on what to include, this can be a great idea. You’ll have to create something that can’t
easily be accessed around the web.
Products – You can
create your own product, such as an ebook or computer software. You would then
use your blog as a promotion tool to get people to buy your product. As long as
you create a legitimate product with a whole lot of value, you should be able
to get some buyers, but like everything else with a blog, you’ll need the
traffic to get the sells.
Services – You can
offer a paid service, such as life coaching, blog coaching, goal setting or
financial planning. Just be sure to investigate all the legal implications and
make sure you’re not claiming to be a professional if you’re not one. With a
service like this, you’re basically using your blog to sell yourself. You’ll
need to convince people that you’re worth buying and then be able to back up
your claims once they purchase your service.
Sponsored/paid posts
– Many blogs publish sponsored and paid posts. Sponsored posts are basically
just posts about a specific brand, product or service. A company will pay you
to publish an article about it. It’s similar with other paid posts as well.
Your basically selling the spot for the article on your site. If you decide to
take this route, you’ll want to build your traffic before you will get many
offers.
Subscription – If you
think of something valuable (newsletter, online magazine, etc.) that you can
consistently offer on a certain basis (weekly, monthly, etc.), you may want to
offer a subscription service. This could be a fee charged each time your
product is sent out or on a monthly basis. Either way, this has to be something
that your customers can only get by subscribing to your website.
Videos – This could
be an entire section on it’s own. Many people have made money by creating
YouTube videos. Evan of EvanTube is a kid and he has made millions by creating
reviews of products that other kids his age would use. It’s not easy to get
views into the millions, but once you do, you’ll start seeing some cash come
in. Many bloggers have completely turned to videos to get their point across by
starting a video blog.
If you’re truly
interested in becoming a blogger, start by looking through the archives of
ProBlogger, Copyblogger and Boost Blog Traffic. Then go read through all the
free guides over at Quick Sprout. It may take you a year to complete those
tasks alone, but it will be worth it. You’ll practically have a MBA in
blogging.
5. Work-at-Home
Companies
Finally, there are
some companies that will hire you to work from the comfort of your own home. If
you’re interested in working for someone else, while still making your own
schedule and deciding where to work from, here are a few companies that will
let you do just that:
CrowdSource –
CrowdSource offers many types of jobs from “microtask” jobs to larger writing
and editing jobs. You decide how much you work and you can do most of it right
at your computer.
Demand Studios –
Demand Studios is hiring all kinds of creative professionals, from writer to
filmmakers. The pay isn’t amazing, but it’s competitive for a work-at-home job.
Fast Chart – Fast
Chart allows you to work from home as a medical transcriptionist. There are
some requirments and qualifications listed on the page, but if you meet them,
you’ll make competitive pay for the industry. You’ll also be able to set your
own schedule since you’ll be working from home.
Leap Force – Leap
Force is one way that Google rates websites for search engine ranking. If
you’re hired, you make decent money (usually over $11/hour), you set your own
schedule and it can be pretty fun to view and rank websites.
Liveops – Liveops is
a call center that allows you to work from home. Once your set up to take the
calls, you can begin making a weekly schedule and working from home. The pay is
generally close to $10/hour, but you can earn more with commissions.
SpeakWrite –
SpeakWrite will pay you up to $15/hour to transcribe information. You set your
own schedule and work from home.
Now you’ve got many
different options to start earning online. If you saw something that really
interests you, try it out and learn more about it. If you’re really wanting to
make a full-time income online, you need to be dedicated to learning how to do
what you want to do. There are tons of free resources out there. You just have
to search for them!
CLIENT BUSINESS
PLAN SUMMARY
Company Summary
Workunite is a new freelance management service providers providing a
website matching independent workers seeking a contract employment with a
variety of employers (Individuals, organizations, Business, Agencies) seeking
educated, talented, skills, responsible and reliable employees to fill these
vacancies. It will focus on providing a pool of employees to a pool of
employers both seeking a specific niche market. As the pool of employers grow,
the website can expand nationally and provide additional links to freelance
tools for freelancers, thus increasing traffic and the appeal of the website.
Workunite.com main mission is to become the link connecting employers
and freelancers. Therefore, workunite.com seeks to provide a concise and reliable
site for employers and independent workers to fulfill mutual needs. Employers
are seeking reliable and skills employee to fill a specific need for a
temporary project.
Objective
The main objectives for the company are as follows
- Attract
buyers of quality services (Employers) to hire providers of the specific
services (freelancers) on full time or temporary project.
- Attract
a minimum of 100 employers to post jobs and contract listing on the
platform
- Attract
related link to provide job seekers freelancer with additional reasons to
access the site.
Management
Workunite.com will be developed and run Musemiu Adeola and his work
partner Ousmane Kone. Musemiu Adeola had his Bachelor degree in Accounting and
had some experience in the field. Musemiu is very passionate of becoming a
young entrepreneur and being his own boss. He had a huge potential for an
online job freelance platform that provides jobs and contracts opportunities
for individual that possessed a potential skills. Musemiu Adeola had partaken
in various business activities and skills training and development. This
experience and knowledge will be directly applied in leading workunite.com to
become a premier specialized online freelance management provider.
Workunite.com is poised for success by combining a solid business model
with a huge market potential and a solid management team.
Company Ownership
Workunite.com will be incorporated. Musemiu Adeola will be the
principal owner and Ousman Kone his vice president subordinate and operators.
As of this writing, the company has not been incorporated.
The Market
It is well known that it is very hard to find a professional job out
there with appropriate skills and talents acquired in schools or professional
training. Most people are forced to work outside their field of study due to
limited amount of job in the job market. Some people work out of their scope of
field leaving their potential skills wasted. Others might not be satisfy with
their job salary and want to make additional income at their free time. Most
people want to be independent being their own boss without wanting to be
positioned in an office job. Also people tend to be flexible in life and tend
to work at their comfort. With this in mind, there are a high percentage of
freelancer that are looking for supplemental income, indicating a bountiful
market. Workunite.com will be receiving revenue from the employer listing fee,
job post, membership fees, and ads.
Five distinct market segments will be targeted.
- Individual’s
management project (Anybody who need help or is seeking assistant to get a
project done). Workunite.com believes there to be over 100 potential
customers in this segment.
- Profit
and Non for Profit organization ( Organizations seeking independent
workers to fulfill a certain needs)
- Public
and Private Business (This is also a main target)
- Employment
Agencies
- Colleges
and Universities
Competition
workunite will be competing with freelance management provider out
there such as guru.com, elance.com, odesk etc. Workunite.com will have cross
sections of job seeker and will make job match more simple and easy to use.
Workunite.com will embed some unique features on the platform such as job
directory and more in the near future.
Services
Workunite.com provides a reliable site to match independent workers
with employers searching for professionals, reliable, and educated employees,
thereby reducing turnover and its associated costs. Employers will be able to
create profiles, post projects, search for Independent workers, communicate,
make terms and agreement, award projects, manage project, rate freelancers
performance and pay freelancers.
on the other side, freelancers will be able to create profile, post
skills and expertise, submit quote, bid for project, make terms and agreement
with employers, obtain project awards, generate feedback from employers, and
receive payment from employers.
Market Analysis Summary
Workunite.com will focus on individuals, organizations, businesses,
Agencies, Colleges and Universities to provide the pool of potential employees,
given the fact that professionals with specific skills are faced with
challenges of finding the right job in the market constraint in their scope of
field. It is extremely advantageous for Independent workers to earn
supplemental income on what they love doing best.
Our company will provide a reliable pool of educated, stable, and professional’s independent workers.