Can you really earn money from home

This question has been posed to me a lot lately and I am very happy to tell everyone that my step-mother has received her first paycheck for work at home and can't be more happy. I asked her to write her story for me so I could post and show everyone that it is possible once you get past the scams. So without further ado, her is my stepmother's story about success with working at home:

Hi Everybody!

I would like to share this little bit of my ongoing quest to work from home. Some months back, I set out, determined, to find the perfect work from home opportunity. Since sometime around March, I entered into training to do medical transcription from home. I am still in training but getting closer to my goal every day. Transcription is not just a matter of easy typing by any means. At any rate, living on one income for a period of time now and no matter how close I am to completion of my training in transcription, I felt the need to acquire something to do even for just part-time.

Thanks to my wonderful stepdaughter, through her blog, I started some serious digging to find that part-time opportunity that would fit into my day, still allowing me the time I needed for other things. I checked into the opportunities that were available in most sites that Adele has listed on her blog. Going into Staffcentrix, Ver-A-Fast Corporation was listed.

I filled out the little form they requested and didn't hear anything for about two months. Then one day the call came. What a wonderful opportunity! The first lady to call me was so pleasant, as I have found them all to be. She fully explained what the expectations would be, which really isn't much at all. What they do ask of you is a commitment of 15 hours per week to do make some simple phone calls. For the first week that I had worked with this company, of which they only required seven hours in the first week, I received a check for $63.25! I was more than satisfied with that (figures to $9 per hour from the comfort of your own home).

I was compelled to share this story with all of you out there seeking the opportunity of your dreams. It has taken a lot of persistence, but I have believed in my quest all of the way. And of course, make sure that you fully check out whomever it is that you may be thinking of contracting with that you can be assured that they are reputable. Don't give up! You can make it happen. That $63 check won't pay the mortgage but it is another important step to reaching a very important goal and I am very grateful for it.

Good Luck to Everybody!

Go For It!

Columbus Herald Tribune - Work at Home?

Sometimes the websites look so real it is hard not to buy into what they are saying. I came across the Columbus Herald Tribune today it told the story of a single mother that was supporting herself and her child using the Instant Google Income program. It is a heart wrenching story about the struggle that must of us are facing in these economic times. As I was finishing the story a couple things struck me as being off.

First she said that Google sends her a paycheck every day for post their links. The only think I can figure is she is using AdSense like I do on this site and I can tell you that Google sends monthly checks no daily checks, so now I was wonder about the validity of the article. But I continued reading.

At the end of the article there were two steps that you had to complete to start making real income:

1. Purchase the Instant Google Income Program for only $1.95
2. Follow the step by step directions

WOW really it is that easy. NO! its not. I have posted a lot these days about being careful about the only pay $1 something for shipping and handling and get the program free ads. Like all the rest, this one follows the same scam. The $1.95 is for a free $7 day trial after that you will start getting charged monthly to use the program.

I know that I am skeptical now, but I just want to find one program that works the way it says it does and explains the costs up front. No more games, just sent me the truth!

I actually found a program that sounds really good it is $77 which I don't have right now, I have to wait for my monthly google check and then I will be purchasing it. Hopefully I will have some good news for everyone by this time next month.

Job Opening as a Mystery Shopper

If you receive the following e-mail, please read this before sending your personal information:

"----- Original Message -----
From: "David Smith"
To:
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 7:42 AM
Subject: Job Opening as a Mystery Shopper


> We are company that conducts surveys and evaluates other organizations. We are hired to go to other companies and act like customers in order to rate their service in relation to their customers.
>
> You will be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given funds to either purchase items or services, after which you would write comments on the staff's activities and give a detailed record of your experience.
>
> Examples of comments:
> 1. How long did it take to get your service
> 2. Knowledgability of product or service
> 3. Professionalism
> 4. Sometimes you might be required to aggravate the attendant and
> record their responses.
>
>
> We in turn give the information to the company executives so they improve their customer service. Most organizations employ us when they experience a high volume of customer dissatisfaction.
>
> Your identity will be kept confidential. You will be paid $200 for every survey you complete and receive a bonus that can be used for transportation costs and also receive a monthly salary of up to $2000.
>
> No commitment is required or this job, your hours will be flexible. If you are interested please send this
> information:
>
> Full name
> Address (No P O Box)
> City
> State
> Zipcode
> Telephone number
> Cellular number
> Age
> Occupation
>
> You may contact me via email address at davidsmith7@rediffmail.com
> Regards.
>
> David Smith"

The sender may change and the e-mail address may change, but this is a scam and you could lose thousands of dollars by responding to this e-mail.

The scammers use this type of e-mail to get people into paying a small fee – usually less than $100 – for information that is readily available for free. In addition they try and steal your identify. Avoid this scam at all costs.

Earn Money with your Photos

Shutterstock wants your photos! Submit your photos to Shutterstock and get paid every time one of your photos is downloaded. Web designers, magazine editors, and other graphic artists purchase monthly subscriptions to Shutterstock to download photos from this site.

Shutterstock is different than other stock models. Buyers subscribe on a monthly basis and can download up to 750 images over the course of 30 days. So what is your cut? Shutterstock will pay you 25 cents every time one of your images is downloaded. Once you reach $500 in earnings, your commission goes up to 30 cents per download.

The subscription model that Shutterstock uses encourages buyers to download a large volume of images.

Current Payout $0.25 (US) per download. That means that at just 2000 downloads a month, you can earn $500 (US) per month! Many of the photographers at Shutterstock earn this and more every month.

There are three ways to make money with this program: refer photographers, refer Stock Buyers (make 20% off their subscriptions), and submit photos for sale!

To learn more about Shutterstock Click Here.

Claim Your Free $197 Gift!

As I am sure you can all image since I do research on ways to earn extra money and join so many work at home programs, I get a lot of spam. I consider this spam to be a good thing though because it gives me a heads up to the kind of spam my readers are getting about work at home programs which allows me to research them and report on them before anyone gets ripped off. So I received an e-mail with morning with the subject line of "Claim Your Free $197 Gift!".

I followed the link and looked for the terms and agreements, but I didn't find any so I filled out the form with my name and e-mail address and on to step two to look for terms.

At step two there were still not terms, just asked me for my mailing address and phone number. OK, so I filled it out. On to step three which asked for my credit card, still no terms, there wasn't even a button to click on to accept terms just enter your credit card and click next. Wait what is that at the bottom of the page in really small letters, let me enlarge it for you:

"* THE FIRST INCOME ACCELERATOR CD IS FREE* WITH A PAYMENT OF $7.95 FOR USA ORDERS ($11.95 OUTSIDE OF THE USA). THE INCOME ACCELERATOR CD PURCHASE AUTOMATICALLY RENEWS TO A RECURRING CHARGE OF $97 A MONTH FOR THE INCOME ACCELERATOR MILLIONAIRE CD OF THE MONTH CLUB. "

Unless you scroll down you would never see it and end up getting charged monthly. So what is the name of this great program that wants to charge you monthly but neglects to share that information with you in an obvious place?

Accelerator Millionaire, I have not been able to find any information about the company on the Internet so I really can't tell you what is included for the $97 a month, but if it was something that was worth the money don't you think they would place this information where you can make a well informed decision.

The created of the program is Justin Blake and I found the following information about Mr. Blacke while searching the internet:

"Justin Blake and Chris Ryder are currently promoting an affiliate program with the catch phrase "make $1057 every month" I got sucked into this story and signed up for $47 with a monthly payment of $47 thereafter. When I received the download I realised that all this was a scheme to promote their website , get people to join and I'd receive a commission. If I sold 30 - 40 /mth I'd make $1057! I immediately replied to them that I did not want to flog a membership site and asked for an immediate refund.

Dianne thought this was rude and berated me for several emails. Realising I was getting nowhere I apologised and she informed me that a refund was done. I'm still waiting. After quering this with her, she now tells me that I'm not getting a refund. This is inspite of their site offering "an iron clad guarantee" and you can cancel at any time statement. Several times I've asked for phone numbers etc but they won't respond. BEWARE of promoters who don't supply phone numbers. I've contacted Visa and lodged a complaint but feel others should be warned about this operator. These are my experiences and others should make their own judgement based on their own research. I personally will never do business with Justin Blake again.

Regards Greg Reed
Success Creates Freedom!"

Work from Home Information

The Most Popular Home Jobs are:

1. Running a home-based business (these would be programs that you have to purchase)

2. Computer work

3. Data entry

4. Word processing

5. Telephone research/sales

6. Customer services

7. Proof reader

8. Market research

If you are going to work from home you need good a reliable mobile, landline, fax, email and instant messaging program. That way if any one of these services fail you can still communicate. Technology has made working from home a much more realistic option for many people. If you’re self-employed or starting your own business, working from home is also a good way of reducing your overheads.

It becomes more difficult if you are trying to break into the work from home job market as people tend to guard their positions fiercely once they have them. There are always plenty of advertisements, both on and off the Internet, for people to work from home but the majority of these are scams. Generally, if the company you are applying to requests money (and you are applying as a employee and not business owner, beware!

Top Three Homeworking Scams to Avoid

1. You send off your registration fee to receive details about earning a good income from homeworking. You receive a letter instructing you to put an advert in your local shop or paper, asking people to send you a registration fee! A similar online version of this are e-books which promise to reveal the secret of 'how to get rich quick' - the 'secret' then turns out to be instructions on how to resell copies of the e-book you've purchased!
2. You answer an advertisement for a position, such as a freelance proofreader. With the application is a piece of text for you to correct any mistakes. On submitting you will be then be sent an Information Pack, which you are charged for and then you find out the information is ready available on the Internet for free.
3. You apply for a position doing simple assembly work at home, such as: greeting cards, toys or crafts, and are asked to pay up-front for materials. The materials will be worth much less than you've paid,and often the assembly work you complete will be rejected and returned to you as 'sub-standard' and of course you will receive no payments.

There are, plenty of valid jobs you can do from home, you just need to be careful when first starting out.

Working from home can bring huge benefits, allowing you to balance your family and work time, work more productively and reduce day to day stresses.