How I'm Doing It (Earning at Home)

Snow, Health and a New Job in 2011!

2011-01-31T13:43:00.002-05:00

2011 has been coming at us non stop! It's been quite the roller coaster ride and we're only finishing up the first month of it now!
Weather:I hope everyone out there has been staying safe and warm through all the crazy weather that's pouring down on so much of the country. We've been buried (repeatedly) under mountains of snow, including over a foot of it last week, with a possibility for more sometime in the next few days. Being from Texas all these "weather days" and "delayed starts" that the schools have are driving me nuts! I don't think I ever had a weather day in my life, and my son has had several closings and late starts in the past two weeks. He's going to be in school until July at this rate!
Family:On the other hand, this was also a blessing because he fell victim to a horrible cold that was keeping him out of school anyway, so at least he didn't miss as many lessons as he would have without the snow. He was also gracious enough to share it with me and we're both still trying to shake it off over two weeks later!
Hubby also applied with another fire company and tested with them earlier this month. He has been working out pretty regularly since then while loading up on the Whey Protein drinks and cutting down on the carbs (I'm still looking for a natural energy/health drink in my area - maybe something like Naked Juice - Green Machine, only cheaper and available in my area) .
After waiting a few weeks (which is actually quick for this kind of thing) his results came in today letting him know that he passed and is invited to continue on with the application process! Naturally positions in that field have a slow and extensive hiring process so it will be months until he makes any further progress, but this is certainly a wonderful start to a new career for him and a new year for us!
Work:I know this is the real point of interest here, and I'm happy to say that I actually have something noteworthy to share! After applying repeatedly over the years to assorted "website rating" type companies (you know, the ones with the heavy Non Disclosure Agreements that stop us from talking about anything in non-riddle form), I finally heard back from one! I had applied with them in November and heard back in late December at which point I started the first phases of their application and hiring process. Slowly I made it through the steps one by one, only to find out that they didn't know when the next training session would be, although it was presumed to be in the Spring sometime.
Then, right around the middle of the month, I got another email letting me know I could begin training (almost immediately)! I've since passed the training and am preparing to move into production with them, but let me say that the battle isn't over yet! While these jobs are sought after (and for very good reason since they pay so well and don't require phone work) they are oh so very stressful seeming! I'll definitely be walking on eggshells and crossing my fingers every night before bed, hoping that I don't get let go... I'm incredibly excited regardless though, because this truly is a wonderful opportunity!
If you've applied with these companies and haven't heard back from them, I would recommend that you keep trying! The work is somewhat difficult and stressful, but if you can handle it (and I'm hoping I can) then it is well worth the reward! Remember that it can take a while to hear back from them though, so don't be discouraged if you don't get a prompt response!
As you can see, our 2011 has started off with a bang! What has 2011 delivered to your doorstep this year?

Happy 2011!

2011-01-04T12:37:00.002-05:00

Yet another year has come and gone in our lives. Looking back on this past year, I definitely can't say that I accomplished everything I set out to, but I enjoyed 2010 none the less. My search for legitimate work from home jobs and earning opportunities fell to the wayside as I dealt with other things - but I'm hoping to get back on track in 2011!
Here are my "Resolutions" for 2011 - (They're a lot less monetary and a lot more personal this year.):
1. Be a better Wife! Can't we all do a little something to be a better spouse... Like being more supportive, more positive or more affectionate?
2. Be a better Mother! With so much focus on working and finding legitimate work from home jobs and opportunities I often feel like I'm not spending enough time with our little one after he gets home from school, so it's time to change that!
3. Be better to Myself! This one should be on everyone's list, especially all the mothers out there. With all the other things we have on our plate (kids, cooking, cleaning, working from home etc) we almost never take any time for ourselves. This year I'm going to try to spend more time nurturing my mind by reading books that aren't by Dr. Seuss (I'm thinking of starting with The Count of Monte Cristo), getting a regular 8+ hours of sleep at night and I'm going to make an effort to improve my health (both inside and out).
4. Be better to my Extended Family! With the economy the way it is, and my lack of steady employment lately, I haven't been able to visit my extended family (half way across the country) in over a year. I'm also not the best about writing or calling them, so this year I'm going to make an effort to call or write several family members every other week. They deserve to know what's going on, and the holiday season reminded me how wonderful it is to talk to them all.
5. And last, but not least - Be better to You! At the very least I'm going to aim for weekly updates until I'm back in the habit of regularly blogging. All you ladies (and gentlemen) have really been wonderful over the past year and a half, and you all deserve better from me!
How about you guys... I certainly hope your 2011 is off to as wonderful a start as possible. I feel like mine is going quite well *knock on wood* and I do have some job oriented plans in the works, but at the moment I don't want to jinx them!
How did you do with last year's goals? What are your goals 2011?

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-19T00:23:00.000-05:00

This year has gone by so incredibly quickly! I can't believe that we're already coming up on Christmas... As a matter of fact, it snuck up on me so badly that I fell victim to price gouging on a gift for our son. What was it? A Lego Harry Potter construction set of course! Seriously, tiny little pieces of plastic are a lot more expensive than I remember them being.
Luckily I had enough gift cards from SwagBucks and iRazoo to make the purchase of a $40 set at 100% mark up without any actual out of pocket expenses. The price has actually gone down since we got it, probably because there's less chance of it arriving before the holidays. I also grabbed the Big Blue Book of Beginner Books and some Melissa and Douglas sticker books to add to the pile of presents that are waiting to be wrapped. On the plus side, after this year I can guarantee that I won't ever put off buying something for Christmas because I think it's overpriced again!
Most of the other things we got were a bargain though, so I guess that helps to make up for it as well. How about you guys? Did you get any super deals or duds this year?
On a work related note, I've been applying like crazy for all sorts of positions. It's always hard to get back into the game after you've faded out. I did take on a mystery shopping position for one client, but the time to pay ratio was a bit sub par. I'm determined to find something that pays well on an hourly basis - I just keep carrying on chanting like the Little Engine that Could!

SurveyHead is Still a Keeper

2010-11-12T14:30:00.005-05:00

SurveyHead is one of the good eggs that I've kept in my basket from the start. There are a lot of sites out there that offer compensation for taking free online surveys, and of all of them, Survey Head is definitely in my top 5. I'll admit that I haven't paid much attention to the surveys recently, but I'm getting back on the ball again because the earning potential there is definitely worthwhile.
If you haven't signed up with SurveyHead, I'd definitely do so. Between the end of September 2009 and the middle of December 2009, I managed to earn nearly $100 with Survey Head. What's great is that even though I haven't been as active as I should have been, all of my earnings that I haven't cashed out are still there safe and sound with no deductions! The site itself has also undergone a great makeover that makes everything really simple to keep up with.

Getting started is easy and you can start earning instantly, while fine tuning what surveys they send you - so that you don't get mismatched as often. With these 3 simple steps, you'll be on your way...
1. Sign up with SurveyHead and receive an instant $5 credit for your account! This alone gets you half way to your very first cash out opportunity.
2. Take the time to fill out the profiles. Each one usually pays 10¢ to 25¢ and these profiles will help them find surveys that are more likely to match your demographic. You might still get scanned out of some, but it won't happen nearly as often - plus filling out the profiles gets you even closer to the $10 cash out limit.
3. Visit the site frequently when you have a few minutes throughout the day and evening. You can sign up for email notifications as well, but the quotas may fill before that email actually reaches you.
I will note that with the new site layout, came a new payment layout as well. While the minimum cash out is at $10, that level of payment only offers a few magazine subscriptions. Once you get $25 or $50 built up on your account (which can easily be done) you can cash out directly to PayPal or you can get a gift card for Amazon.com, Cafe World, FarmVille, FaceBook credits and more. Of course my top choices are PayPal or Amazon!
One great thing about Survey Head is that they have a really large number of online surveys available. While writing this post I went from having $17 in opportunities on my dashboard to $25! I know I won't qualify for all of them, but even completing a few of them each day will add up quickly.
You May Also Enjoy:Greenfield Online/Toluna vs SurveyHeadProof of Payment "Friday" Dec. 27SurveyHead and Opinion Outpost

Getting Caught Up...

2010-11-11T13:40:00.001-05:00

Thanks so much for all the emails and comments! I'm glad to be back, and I'm glad that you guys are glad I'm back! My family has been cycling a terrible cold and cough for the past couple of weeks, hence the lack of activity on my part, but we seem to be in the clear again... *knock on wood*.
Having been gone for so long, I figure that now is as good a time as any to see what all of you ladies (and gents) are up to. Have you found a great job or business that's helping you and your family? A GPT with solid results and decent earning potential? I want to know what's going on in your work at home world before I start boring you with mine ;)
In a nutshell though, I'm starting from scratch - luckily I have a few small eggs that are still snug in my basket, although some of my eggs have spoiled as well!

Back in the Saddle Again!

2010-10-26T13:23:00.000-04:00

First of all, I want to apologize to all of my readers (and friends) who have been left hanging over these last couple of months. What started off as an unannounced vacation at the request of my significant other quickly spiraled into an extended absence from the blog-o-sphere, but the good news is that I'm now back in the saddle and ready to start providing help and encouragement again!

Over the past several months I've been "taking it easy" on the monetary home front and have been dealing with family and health issues instead. We suffered several family deaths this spring and summer, my grandmother is still struggling with various illnesses (but her spirits are high) and my parents separated in the blink of an eye when my mother picked up without warning and relocated. To put it mildly, things have been rather interesting.

I'll be getting back into the swing of things again though, and Earning At Home will back in full swing in no time at all!

Things to look forward to:
A possible relocation of AtHomeEarning.com, we won't be changing our URL though!
Reviews of classic earning opportunities such as SwagBucks, iRazoo, SurveyHead and more!
Tips and bargains for the holidays...

March Earnings Breakdown

2010-04-06T10:22:00.003-04:00

I didn't put in a lot of work last month because of my headaches and migraines, so I didn't make my goal, but I did decently overall. I also dropped one client who required a lot of reminders to send me my weekly assignments, and constantly changed what they needed done... The money was good (usually around $100 a week), but the stress wasn't.

I also massively slacked off on another project throughout March because it's so tedious. I'm trying to motivate myself to get to work on it right now, but it's obviously not going well hehe.

Paid Through PayPal:
I had $471.26 in total PayPal deposits, minus $17.89 in fees, leaving me with $453.37 in spendable cash.

Paid Through Elance:
On Elance I picked up a couple clients this month, one of which has been a repeat client (yay!) and garnered $192 in deposits over the month, minus $16.81 in fees, or $175.19 in spendable cash.

And of course, here's the breakdown by site:

CloudCrowd: 55¢ (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 56¢ (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research: $6.00 (Proof of Payment)
Private Clients: $464.15 before fees (Proof of Payment)

Total: All in all I made $628.56 in spendable cash and also accumulated $40 in Amazon gift cards from SwagBucks and iRazoo, plus another $10 came in on April Fool's Day. I didn't reach my $1000 goal, but I also didn't put in very much work so I'm happy with what I did.

How did you guys do?

April 5th Already?

2010-04-05T15:50:00.000-04:00

Where did the last week go? Oh yes, into Easter preparation and celebrations... So much candy and family! We had a good 3 days of various celebrations to attend, and still have to do something with another chunk of family this week.

While I might have lost a week of productivity in the chaos, I am now pretty much 99.9% sure that my glasses are the issue with my headaches since family get togethers and outdoor excursions mean that I opt for contacts and shades for over my normal glasses - and sure enough my head has been fine lately. Unfortunately, that means I need new glasses because I only have one pair of contacts and the prescription for them is expired.

I'll be updating on March's numbers and April's goals this week - the latter will be a bit different from normal.

Another One Bites the Dust

2010-03-30T12:59:00.000-04:00

I swear, time is going so fast lately, I just don't understand it. Everything is just one big blur - I can't believe that we're already a quarter of the way through the year already!

I completely lost track of this month, mostly because of those migraines and headaches which are still attacking. I've decided that it's most likely my glasses, and I probably need a new prescription. There's no other logical reason for me to be in crippling pain on a nearly daily basis. I really hate getting new glasses though because they're so darn expensive, especially since they are the one item that I refuse to be cheap about since they're right smack dab in front of my face.

I'll be crunching my numbers soon, reviewing the month and updating on my goals for April soon. Hope everyone else has done well!

PS: If you're interested in doing a Motivational Monday post this coming Monday, let me know!

Do You Have SPRINGFEVER?

2010-03-27T16:04:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's cheesy I know, but I really do. After living in a dark room for the better portion of the week I am ready for Spring to be here! Unfortunately the temperatures plummetted back down into the mid to high 30s today so you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm not going out.

My solution? I'm going to "splurge" with the BigFishGames sale that's going on and buy a couple games to keep me from going insane while I'm trapped inside the house.

If you use the code SPRINGFEVER when you check out, you'll get 30% off any (and all) standard games which takes them from $6.99 each down to $4.89. The discount won't apply to games that are already discounted under $6.99 or on Special Edition games though.

I've always had a weakness for cheesy turn based RPGs (like the Aveyond series), Sim games (like Virtual Villagers) and Time Management games so I'm digging this sale.

The sale ends tomorrow though, so grab your games now!

I'm Alive!

2010-03-27T11:22:00.000-04:00

After suffering for 3 straight days from the worst migraine I've ever had in my life, I'm finally capable of existing outside of a pitch black room again! I actually had a migraine 4 of the last 7 days, but only 3 were in a row hehe

Bring on Spring!

SwagBucks Sale

2010-03-22T14:49:00.000-04:00

From today (the 22nd) until Wednesday (the 24th) SwagBucks will have their $5 PayPal cards on sale at a lower price than usual. They've dropped them down to 550 SBs currently which I think is about 200 cheaper than normal, but I'm not sure since I generally go for the $5 Amazon cards at 450 SBs.

If you're a PayPal buyer though, this is a pretty good deal!

Like this post? Check out these!
* SwagBucks Birthday Celebration
* Thank You iRazoo and SwagBucks

Pay Day (3/13 - 3/19)

2010-03-21T15:48:00.000-04:00

Here are my payments for last week, just some change from my down line at Cloud Crowd, so it's nothing too impressive. I really need to get back to work on all my GPTs!

Cloud Crowd: 21¢, $45.27 total since I started (Cloud Croud Proof of Payment)

I also cashed out $10 in Amazon cards from SwagBucks and $5 from iRazoo, I'll post proof when they arrive.

I'm super annoyed because I've been saving points on SwagBucks for a while now in hopes of a sale, and two days after I finally broke down and bought a couple cards, they announced a sale for later this week! Hopefully they'll put some good cards on sale, but not so many that I fully regret already redeeming 2 of my 5 monthly rewards hehe.

Thursday Tip Triad #13: Variety is the Spice of Life

2010-03-18T16:30:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned recently, I probably won't meet my income goals for the month again... Why? Well, for one thing I'm not giving it my all, and two, a lot of my private clients have gone MIA over the past couple of months or have made severe cut backs. I've also made some cut backs on the time that I'm willing to work for lower paying clients as well. This is all fine and dandy, part of being a freelancer and part of pruning - however I've been so focused on private clients for the last five months that I haven't gathered up any high quality back up eggs!

My realization of this is what has brought about the creation of today's TTT topic on variety. Private clients are great, content sites are great, survey and gpts are great - but to get the most security and the most money in the bank, you need to maintain variety!

1. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I've said before, The More the Merrier but it turns out this doesn't just apply to the number of eggs you have in basket. On top of wanting to have a number of legitimate work from home jobs and projects running simultaneously, you also want to have a wide variety of them. Get involved with some private clients, some websites that pay for content and anything else you can.

This way when your big bread and butter client vanishes, or your favorite static site changes their policy, you won't be left high and dry.

2. Don't limit yourself to one type of work... Unless you want to of course. There are a million and one ways to earn money from home via the internet. You can write, you can do website rating, you can be a personal virtual assistant, you can do social bookmarking etc - unless you only enjoy doing one single type of work, don't be afraid to mix it up so that you don't get bored or burnt out.

3. Always be prepared to start over. While I hope it never happens to any of us, it's definitely possible that it will - one day, every single one of our eggs could break. If that ever happens, be prepared to pick the shells out of your eggs and scramble up an omelet. The idea of starting all over is scary, but once you mastered the process once, you can easily do it again.

Keeping a good mix of eggs in your basket is a great way to decrease that chances of having to completely start over from scratch in the legitimate work from home jobs world. If you use all your resources, find private clients, public sites and don't be afraid to do things from all ends of the spectrum you should be able to keep your income strong, even when things get shaky.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
* TTT #12: Fighting Off Distractions
* What. A. Day.
* Friday the 13th

Break Studios

2010-03-17T13:24:00.002-04:00

I've decided that I really need to force myself into writing for more content sites on top of my client base so that I can fall back on something when my clients go AWOL or are short on funding.

I took the first step and applied with Break Studios this week and got my acceptance letter from them as well. I'm excited because the rate of pay is pretty decent compared to other content mills, but I'm a little reluctant to start. I'll just have to force myself jump in and hope for the best... I should be fine and I've never gotten bad feedback on my writing, but I'd imagine that private clients are easier to please than content sites that have 1000s of writers begging for a chance.

Starting tomorrow I'm going to make myself write one article a day for Break Studios, or for an hour a day M-F whichever takes longer. At the very least if I do one article a day during the week, that will net me $40 a week and once I get a few approvals and my confidence goes up, I'll increase the time I spend working on Break Studios' articles each day.

You May Also Enjoy:
* TextBroker
* Progress and My New Signature
* November Goals

I'm on the Prowl

2010-03-16T15:15:00.001-04:00

All right, it's official, I'm back on the prowl!

Over the last month or two a lot of my clients have been pretty hit or miss, so it's time to start seeking out new ones again. I had toned down my constant seeking so I wouldn't be tied to my computer for as long during the day, but it looks like I'm going to have to find a happy medium between constantly searching, and not searching often enough.

At the rate I'm going this month, I won't meet my goal - as a mixture of my not wanting to do work that doesn't pay well and my clients being a bit flaky. I also cut some of the higher stress people (the ones who constantly paid invoices late and made excuses) go for the the sake of my health and sanity. I'm all right with not meeting my goal again as long as I walk away from the month with a reformed basket of eggs, just in time for Easter.

This week I'll be picking up some new leads and seeing how they go!

Have a suggestion? I'm all ears!

Other Entries You May Enjoy:
* The Thursday Tip Triad
* March Goals

Pay Day (3/6 - 3/12)

2010-03-13T16:15:00.003-05:00

All right, here's the Pay Day update for this past week!

Cloud Crowd: 4¢, $45.06 total since start (Cloud Croud Proof of Payment)
YouData: 26¢, $5.60 total since start (YouData Proof of Payment)
Pinecone Research: $3.00, $36.00+ total since I started with them (Pinecone Research Proof of Payment)

And of course I also got another $5 from iRazoo this week that I already mentioned in my "Another Thumbs up for iRazoo" post.

Right now I'm around the $350 mark for the month so I really need to put the pedal to metal if I want to make my goal this month. I'm about $150 behind where I should be so I'm going to have to quit slacking and get in gear!

How are you guys doing so far this month?

Posts You May Enjoy:
* Pay Day (2/27 - 3/5)
* Pay Day!
* Proof of Payment "Friday"

Thursday Tip Triad #12: Fighting Off Distractions

2010-03-11T03:35:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest pitfalls of legitimate work from home jobs is the fact that there is no easy way to avoid distractions. Between family matters, household chores and the temptations of the internet, it's incredibly easy to get side tracked. The good news is that there are a few things that you can do help fend off these distractions.

1. Only have programs open on your computer that directly relate to the task at hand. This is something that I am terrible at doing, but when I do, it's a huge help. At any given time I have 15+ tabs open on Firefox, plus IE running and an assortment of word documents as well. Obviously having all those web pages at my fingertips cause my mind, and my mouse, to wander.

By closing out everything except what I'm working on, I'm able to get a lot more done because I'm not busy checking my blog stats, my comments, SwagBucks or anything else.

2. Make a "To Do" list. I know it sounds silly, but if you make a list of daily goals or tasks to accomplish you will get a lot more done. It also helps to keep it short and sweet so that you won't be intimidated by it. If you feel like you're going to be working all day, you're more inclined to put off getting started, but if you feel like you'll only be busy for a couple hours, you'll be a lot more willing to jump into your work day.

3. Take short, but frequent, breaks to do something enjoyable. Reward yourself periodically throughout your work day by doing things that you enjoy. If you're a fan of Guitar Hero or Wii Fit, take 10-15 minutes after every hour of work you do to play around. You'll find that these little rewards will keep you stimulated and motivated, plus getting up and moving away from your computer for a few minutes every hour is great for your health.

Working from home takes a lot more discipline than working in a brick and mortar job does, so don't feel bad if you find yourself having issues holding down a schedule or keeping on task. Taking advantage of these tips will help you improve your focus and productivity while you take advantage of your legitimate work from home jobs and opportunities, which means that you'll see an improvement in your income as well, and that is bound to keep you motivated!

Other Tips You May Like:
* TTT #3: Motivation
* TTT #9: Simple Organization Tips

Another Thumbs Up for iRazoo

2010-03-10T10:44:00.001-05:00

It really looks like iRazoo is getting their act together. On top of improving their referral system, it seems that they've made improvements to their gift card delivery times as well unless this last one was a fluke.

I've been with them since around October 2009 and have usually had to wait 3-5 weeks for Amazon gift cards to reach my inbox. This week however I had a shocking surprise... The gift card I ordered on 3/6 arrived today - less than a week later! That's even faster than with SwagBucks, granted I don't know if I was just lucky or if they are actually going to be that quick all the time, but I'm looking forward to finding out! (Proof of Payment)

Are any of you guys still using iRazoo? If so let us know how long it takes your next gift card to get delivered!

You May Also Enjoy:
* Newest iRazoo Updates - Better Than Before?
* Pay Day (2/27 - 3/5)
* Thank You iRazoo and SwagBucks

The Niche Blogger - Update Part 1

2010-03-09T10:31:00.005-05:00

All right, I'm super hyped up about this, and am planning on using my experience with The Niche Blogger as the foundation of my residual income blog once I start it. I will be putting up periodic updates here as well though, so you won't have to worry about reading two of my blogs to see how it's going unless you want all the juicy details of my experience.

I've only been a member for maybe 12 hours so far, but I've skimmed through the entire first month of lessons already and plan to go back and reread them all over the next couple of days.

The program looks really great, and Amy Bass (the woman who started it) gives really detailed lessons and break downs of everything. Some of it is a little too detailed and repetitive for me to concentrate on, but I'm going to make a real effort to stick to her exact game plan.

I'm also going to start with some really tiny goals as well since I know that niche blogging isn't over night money. She makes over $5,000 a month in residual income from her blogs, but if I could reach the $300 monthly income mark in 12 months, I would be ecstatic!

Additional Posts You May Like:
* The Niche Blogger Scholarships
* MM: Time Management Tips for the Work at Home Mom

What a weekend!

2010-03-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

So this weekend was really something, I managed to get a virus on my computer Friday, and a terribly invasive bit of spyware on Sunday, both while working for one of my clients doing some back link building... Who would have thought that there would be so many blogs out there with evil intent?

I've since switched my anti virus/spyware software to something new that seems to be catching things better before they come through. (Thank goodness!)

We also went to see Les Miserables at one of the local high school's and I have to say that it was a lot better than we expected it to be.

Now I'm ready for a fresh week, and I'm ready to keep pushing through March!

Other Entries You May Enjoy:
* March Goals
* No More Snow!
* What Would You Like to See?

Scholarship Approved!

2010-03-07T21:58:00.003-05:00

I just checked my email and found out that I received one of the scholarships for The Niche Blogger - Make Money Blogging that will last 3 months!

I'm really excited and can't wait to get started on it. Everything is broken down into one day lessons, so it should be pretty simple to follow along with. I've already got my hosting with Host Gator and I can easily get another discounted domain through Name Cheap, so I am super excited.

Hopefully this will help me get a jump on my residual income goals for 2010 (and beyond). I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on my progress as well... And if you get a scholarship also, let me know!

You Might Also Like:
* Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010
* A New Year Means New Goals

The Niche Blogger Scholarships

2010-03-07T19:36:00.002-05:00

I just caught wind Scholarships for The Niche Blogger - Make Money Blogging through an email that I got from the creator of the site... I had signed up for the free 10 day course earlier this year, and I really loved it, but I couldn't (and still can't) afford to sign up for their full course until now!

Earlier today I got a mail about a scholarship program, and there are still a few slots open so I applied and thought I'd spread the word. The opportunity is just too good to share, even if I'm putting myself at risk of not getting a scholarship by letting you guys know about.

You can find the full details at My Debt Free Goal and to qualify you need to meet the following three criteria:

Have children or a spouse that you need or want to stay home with.
Have a financial hardship.
Be motivated enough to actually take advantage of the program.

Other Posts to Check Out:
* VistaPrint Blow Out Sale
* Celebrating!

Pay Day (2/27 - 3/5)

2010-03-05T15:53:00.001-05:00

Here are my payments for the last week, and my total earned so far for March. It's looking pretty good... I also went ahead and picked up a Zino HD 400 for my little sis like I'd mentioned because I caught one on the outlet site for $189 as opposed to the usual $229. Hopefully that'll motivate me to work extra hard this month to make up for the cash I really shouldn't have spent - it was for a good cause though!

Cloud Crowd: 3¢, $45.02 total since start (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 5¢, $5.34 total since start (Proof of Payment)

I also got $20 worth of Amazon gift cards delivered to my inbox which is a nice bonus:

$10 from SwagBucks - Ordered on 2/27, delivered on 3/3 - They were super speedy this time! Technically I have enough SwagBucks to order another 5+ cards, but I keep putting it off in case they have some super sale. I'll probably just break down and buy them soon. Overall I've earned $70 in Amazon cards from them and $20 for Red Envelope - I only bought those because they were super cheap at the time. (Proof of Payment)

$10 from iRazoo - Ordered on 1/29 and 2/1, delivered on 3/4 - They were super slow this time. I actually sent an email to check my order status, and then they showed up the next day. I also ordered another $5 gift card today today. (Proof of Payment)

I'm at roughly $273.53 (minus fees) for the month as of yesterday which means that March is bound to be a pretty good month.

Related Posts:
* Asking for Your Input...
* Newest iRazoo Updates - Better Than Before?
* Pay Day (1/30 - 2/5)

Thursday Tip Triad #11: The Three Steps to Freelancing

2010-03-04T13:30:00.001-05:00

When it comes to freelancing and legitimate work from home jobs, you have to look at your work like it's a garden, or more specifically a rose bush. To find jobs and succeed at them you have to possess several skills that are similar to those that you need to employ when taking care of your flowers, veggie gardens or fruit trees. Today, for the Thursday Tip Triad, I am going to break freelancing down for you into three sections from start to finish, planting, nurturing and pruning.

1. Planting. The first thing you have to do with plants, of any type, is prepare the soil and make sure it has the proper nutrients to allow your seeds to grow. In this case, that means that you need to soak up as much information about the work type that you have chosen to pursue, whether it's writing, virtual assistant services or something else all together.

Once you've done that you can start to accumulate clients or jobs, and watch your income grow.

2. Nurturing. Just like a prize winning rose, your clients are going to need some TLC. Make sure that you keep an upbeat attitude, avoid making anything sound like it's their fault (even if it is) and keep open lines of communication with them. Your relationship with a client can grow and blossom over time into something spectacular, but only if you take the time to nurture that relationship.

Remember that a lot of the sites and people you are working for, are running small businesses and are possibly just starting out. As they grow, their needs will grow, and your potential for earning will grow as well.

3. Pruning. Last but not least, is the idea of pruning, you know... trimming off the dead leaves and the weak portions of the plant so that the rest of it can strive and grow. This idea is integral to the successful growth of your skills and your income. While it can be very hard to trim a small flower from your rose bush because you never know if it will be a late bloomer, sometimes you just have to do it.

Pruning has to be done carefully and with an immense amount of caution, but it has to be done. At a certain point, you will accumulate so many clients or jobs with different sites, that you won't be able to handle it all effectively and that's when pruning will become an issue. Assess your options and decide which jobs are the least profitable, most miserable, most time consuming etc and then begin to trim your schedule down. Unless you have no intent of ever working with the site or client again, let them know that you need some time to take care of things, and will get back in touch with them when you can begin working again.

If you take the time to properly plant, nurture and carefully prune your client and job base, you will find a great deal of success in the freelancing and the world of legitimate work from home jobs. While it might seem difficult at first, it does get easier over time, but patience and care are key. Take it one step at a time, and prune as needed, until you feel that you have created the perfect rose bush.

Do you have a suggestion for a Thursday Tip Triad segment or would you like to be a guest blogger for Motivational Monday? Feel free to contact me!

You May Enjoy:
Freelance Work
The Thursday Tip Triad
The Thursday Tip Triad #10: Keeping Your Sanity

Asking for your Input...

2010-03-03T13:25:00.002-05:00

All right, pardon this post, it's quite out of character - but I thought that this question could probably be answered (quite well) by you guys so here it is:

What computer would you recommend for a 15 year old girl?

Right now I'm looking at the Inspiron Zino HD 400. Not necessarily through Amazon though since I've found it through Dell for around $230 (sometimes a little less) and that price is my primary reason for looking into it.

Why am I asking this? Well, truth be told I have 3 younger siblings who have no computer to use for school, socializing or entertainment. While the two youngest don't really need one, I feel that it's integral to the life of a high school student and I know that it really helped me make it through school and through the stresses of being a teen in general. This is the same one that I'm planning to set up an anonymous teen oriented site for so she can have a hobby and start earning a bit of cash.

There is a computer in the house, my mother's laptop, but she doesn't let the kids use it for any reason including educational purposes and my sister is a year too young to get a job so that she could buy one herself. She does a lot of work around the house including cooking, cleaning and watching the other two kids while trying to keep her grades up in advanced classes without access to a computer anywhere but at school.

I feel bad for her, and would love to help her out, although $230 (plus costs of a monitor, probably $80 through Dell as well) would set me back quite a bit I think it would make her life a lot better at the same time. I just want to make sure that I'm getting her a decent machine if I do go through with it.

All it really needs to do is run the internet, word processors, instant messengers and games without being incredible slow or laggy. I'd like the pages to load instantly and for the games to get a decent frame rate as well.

Any input is appreciated on computer options, programs that let teens age 13+ start earning money (SwagBucks for example) and anything else that may be applicable.

Recommend Blog Posts:
What Would You Like to See?
Get Featured!
Where Did January Go?

March Goals

2010-03-03T11:06:00.003-05:00

All right, I'm keeping it short and simple once again, just in case the chaos of February isn't done with me yet. The biggest catch is that my birthday is this month which most likely means that I'll have at least 2 to 3 different birthday related dinners with different people.

Make $1000 of spendable cash after fees. I was tempted to raise this to make up for February, but I think that would probably just put a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.
Finish fine tuning my business site. It's up and running, has a theme and most of the necessary content, but it's not quite finished.
Pick three domain names. I want to pick (and purchase) three more domains this month, if I am on target to meet my monetary goal. One will be for my niche site, one for my residual income blog (not that I've even started working on my residuals) and a third as a teen oriented site for my 15 year old sister to run anonymously.

I'm really looking forward to jumping into March with a lot of motivation after everything that happened in February. Hopefully it will go a lot smoother!

You may also enjoy:
January Goals
A New Year Means New Goals
December Goals

February Goal Check

2010-03-02T16:39:00.002-05:00

So last month I had two goals, and as we all know, I didn't achieve both of them. I'm still happy with how things turned out overall though, and March is off to a great start. The client who had two outstanding invoices paid them on Monday, the Canadian currency issue was resolved today and I have a new invoice out for another $50. When that one get's paid I'll be roughly 25% of the way to my goal for March, which is pretty excellent considering it's only the the second day of the month.

Here's my pass or fail recap on February's goals.

Earn $1000 in spendable cash, after fees. Strike One! For the first time since I started this blog back in September, I failed to reach my goal. I did manage to make $617.40 though, which isn't terrible considering everything that happened last month. In case you missed it, this is Why My February Gets Two Thumbs Down.
Launch my business site. Check! This was a pretty good success. So far I have it up and running with most of the layout tweaking and content taken care of. It's not 100% finished but it's close enough for me to consider this goal to be a success. Had my month been calmer, it would have been completely finished up by now. Here's what I've done so far:

I got the domain name at the same time that I got this one back in January. It cost $8.81 from NameCheap with a coupon. The current coupon code is NCSPRING for anyone who is interested.
Then I bit the bullet and purchased hosting after putting it off for a really long time. I went with HostGator since they have a pretty cheap package that includes unlimited domains and email addresses to go with your domains as well. The package I chose came to $47.76 for 6 months of hosting, but I can put several domains on it so it's well worth it.
Setup WordPress on my business domain with the simple install that was available through HostGator, it took less than 5 minutes which was great.
Installed a free template from online, and tweaked it a bit. It took a while to find one that was well suited to my needs, but I think I found one that would be decent. It had a lot of extra crud on it, so I just altered the coding to make it disappear.
Setup the content that ready and worked on organization.

Like I said it's not done, but it's operational, and I have contact emails up on it which is important. I'm not advertising it yet either, but I'm pleased with the progress and the relative simplicity.

While February wasn't everything that it could have been, I'm still happy with it all now that I've had time to step back and think about everything that was going on. I think I'm ready for March now. Are you?

You may also like:
February Goals
January Goal Check
December Goal Review

February Earnings Breakdown

2010-03-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

The final total is in! I finished up with $617.40 in spendable earnings for February, with about $200 in invoices out for the month still. After adding it all up, taking everything that happened into consideration and making note of the fact that those unpaid invoices would put me over $800 - I'm pretty happy overall. Hopefully, March will go smoother though and I'll be able to reach my goals without any complications.

Paid Through PayPal:
I had $561.82 in deposits, minus $19.70 in fees giving me a total gain of $542.12... I actually had another deposit in there for $52.50, but it had erroneously been made in Canadian currency and I didn't notice until this morning when I started crunching numbers! I may come back and edit this post since it was deposited during February originally, or I might count it for March, not sure yet.

Paid Through Elance:
I had $82.50 in deposits, minus $7.22 in fees giving me a total gain of $75.28. I've finally moved all my old clients out of Elance to avoid some of the fees, so now it's just the occasional new clients that are getting funneled through there.

Total: So overall my earnings were $644.32 (not including that Canadian deposit) with $26.92 in fees for a total of $617.40 in spendable cash.

And of course, here's the breakdown by site:

CloudCrowd: $2.87 (Proof of Payment)
IMshopping: $21.00 (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 70¢ (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research: $6.00 (Proof of Payment)
Private Clients: $586.83 or $613.75 before fees (Proof of Payment)

Not great, and definitely not what I was shooting for - but considering everything that happened it wasn't terrible. Another $150 is due from one client, as well as the $52.50 from that Canadian currency mix up, which would have brought me up to just over $800 before fee which means that I was actually incredibly close to my goal, even with a lot of unexpected issues.

How did everyone else do last month?

Why My February Gets Two Thumbs Down

2010-02-28T12:31:00.004-05:00

So many things went poorly in February, that I don't even know where to start... I hate making excuses, but I feel like I should explain why I didn't meet my monetary goals (for the first time since I started this blog) to all of you.

There are, quite honestly, a laundry list of reasons - some that are my fault and others that are not... Here it goes:

Bad weather (4+ feet of snow) and that meant four snow days with the man of the house home. In other words there was too much noise, chaos and requests for attention to work effectively.
I had my second death in the family this year, both of which were unexpected and it threw me for an emotional loop.
One client didn't send me any assignments for 10 days, even though they told me 3 times in that period that I would have an assignment that day. That took a good $160-180 off of my monthly income. I'll be invoicing this one tomorrow, but I doubt it will be paid early enough to count.
Another client had to make some cut backs which dropped my income by $40+.
A third client has two outstanding invoices totaling $150. This is my fault for letting them slide on the first invoice and continuing to do the second week of work. They then said that I didn't send them a second invoice, even though I did (at the top of an email labeled "Invoice" that they replied to confirming that they had indeed received it).
A fourth client had an emergency that led to a delay in the pay roll, so there's another $10.
I burnt out on one particular project because of all the other chaos this month so I cut back my hours with it.

While there's more than that, I think you get the picture. I came in at a little under $600 for the month (before fees) when I totaled it all up earlier today. It's slightly lower than I'd expected, somehow my weekly Pay Day totals were off from my private client payments although I'm not sure why. I should have a good head start on March though, unless my #5 turns out to be my first non paying client.

All in all, if those payments did come through, I'd be pretty close to my goal which is somewhat consoling, but since I've always held to the fact that the only income that counts is what I have in my hands to spend, those payments will just have to count for next month!

I'm disappointed in myself for not being able to pull things together a bit better this month, but I'm definitely inspired to try harder next month and fight through whatever life may throw at me.

Newest iRazoo Updates - Better Than Before?

2010-02-27T12:13:00.001-05:00

This is exactly why I chose to stick it out with iRazoo and didn't instantly write off their changes, while they are not amazing, they're making improvements and going by the numbers I would have to admit that NOW is the time to jump on board with iRazoo. You can easily start earning a $5 gift card every week ($260 a year) or even every 2-3 days...

As I'm sure you all know, they recently went from the guaranteed 300 points earned per day to a search and win system similar to SwagBucks (who also went through a makeover recently). Each time you win with iRazoo now, you get 75 points with the possibility of winning multiple times daily. You can also refer people to increase your earnings.

Previously you got 50 points for every referral, and with the current system I'm not 100% clear on whether that still happens or not (anyone not signed up want to help me test it - if so email me and we'll see what happens). The big thing about referrals though, is that they have finally implemented a matching points system that will allow you earn 1500 points per referral, which means you will be rewarded for the first 20 wins that your referrals have.

I know it's not quite as much of a pay off as referrals through SwagBucks, but each iRazoo referral now has the opportunity to earn you 1/2 a gift card, which is a lot better than just getting the 50 points that you used to.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like most of my referrals have given up on iRazoo, but I think that with the new system it's a lot more worth it than it used to be. Let me break it down in cold hard cash...

Before:
3000 Points for a gift card - Earning 300 points earned per day and getting the occasional referral it would take 9-10 days to get a $5 gift card.

Now:
3000 Points for a gift card - Earning just 75 points from one win per day, plus having 5 referrals who win once per day (totaling 375) will net you 450 points per day, which means you can earn a gift card every 6-7 days!

If you have yourself plus 10 active referrals then you can easily earn 825 per day with just a single win per person and get a gift card every 3-4 days!

Granted you would have to have a steady stream of referrals to keep your earnings up, but even with a handful of them winning once a day it would add up quickly.

My biggest complaint about iRazoo is that I still don't like how slow their shipping is. I have two cards that I'm waiting on from 1/29 and 2/1 that still haven't arrived, but I'm hoping that their prize delivery will speed up soon.

Pay Day (2/20 - 2/26)

2010-02-26T23:59:00.001-05:00

Slow week in terms of payments, just a couple to report...

Cloud Crowd: 81¢, $44.99 total since start (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research: $3.00, $33.00+ total since start (Proof of Payment)

Right now I'm going to estimate that my earnings from the month are somewhere around $600... The actual total will be up in early March with an explanation of why it was so low. I'm hoping that the 4 invoices that I have out totaling up to over $200 will make it in before the end of the month although I'm not holding my breath the way this month has gone.

On the plus side, I should have an amazing jump start on March if they don't come in by the 28th.

What. A. Day.

2010-02-26T17:37:00.002-05:00

Today has been "something else" to put it mildly. I have had nothing but complication, after complication, after complication for absolutely no reason.

From misinterpretations and miss communication to invoices getting over looked, it has just been non stop issues today - and none of them SHOULD exist is what makes it worse. I feel like banging my head against a wall right now, but I guess that's one of the risks of any job, let alone where you deal with people solely over the internet.

The saddest part is, that miss communication may actually lead to the loss of one of my very first clients which is upsetting to me. Apparently we both managed to misinterpret things in emails that we sent throughout the course of the day, and I think that my honesty and straight forward attitude may have been partially to blame. If things don't get smoothed out, I'll be sad to have lost that client, but hopefully I'll learn something from the fiasco.

The annoying part is, that another client now has one overdue invoice and a second one on the table, and I have an unpleasant feeling that I won't get paid before the end of the month which will hinder my goal's total even more. A third client has an invoice out as well, but I'm less worried about them since I've worked with them for quite some time and am used to a little lag on their end once in a while.

It's been a heck of a month, elaborations coming soon...

SwagBucks Birthday Celebration

2010-02-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

I logged into SwagBucks this morning and thought I'd hit the jackpot, until I looked closer. I had 2700 SB's on my account and was actually afraid something might have gone wrong haha

What actually happened is that the SwagBucks Birthday Celebration began and ushered in a new point system...

Right now I'm a little concerned about the fact that our SwagBucks have been multiplied by 10, and the cost of prizes has been multiplied by 10, but TSG says that search prizes will be worth "1-20" or more... I'm hoping the 1 is just a typo and is supposed to be 10 otherwise they're blinding us with big numbers just to shaft us in a way that we won't notice.

I'm crossing my fingers for some awesome stuff today though!

VistaPrint Blow Out Sale

2010-02-24T11:30:00.002-05:00

I just got an email from VistaPrint with a list of over 2 dozen freebies for the home and office, and it also stated that shipping is free on orders of over $30...

Items include:
Shirts
Stamps
Posters
Rackcards/Brochures
Business cards
and much more...

These things are great for business and for personalized family gifts as well, so grab them while you can!

R.I.P. IMReportCard

2010-02-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday brought along an announcement from IMReportCard that deserves to be noted here. Yesterday they sent out an email announcing that they were no longer honoring their cash payments system. Although they have been over a year, they've (suddenly) decided that there was too much scamming involved once real money was introduced into the picture and are now saying that you will "earn status icons based on your credits earned". Woop dee doo!

I still think IMReportCard is a good research tool, but it's obviously something that I won't be bothering with any longer. I honestly feel as though this decision, that came without warning and without an offer to allow people to cash out what they've earned, has been made in bad taste.

I never made the cash out with them because I had issues finding programs I was experienced with and could write valid reviews for, and I didn't have the patience to vote on 1000's of comments, but I wish I had - just so I could have taken some money out of their pockets before they sprung this announcement on everyone.

R.I.P. IMReportCard

How Much Does Your Blog Earn?

2010-02-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

"How much does your blog earn," is one of the questions that I get asked most often, and the answer might be shocking.

A lot of people message me here, email me or contact me on the WAHM forums to ask me how much money I make off my blog, and honestly, the answer is that I earn just about nothing through my blog - but that's because this blog wasn't created to be monetized, it was created to help myself and help others learn how to successfully find legitimate work from home jobs.

Don't get me wrong, I have a few referral links on here for sites that I work with and affiliate links for sites that have really impressed me with their quality, but in terms of straight forward revenue from advertising, I've made less than $30 in around 5 months. Even those referral and affiliate links only bring in a few dollars here and there over time.

The big misconception comes from Adsense, you know, those ads on every web page in existence... While you might think that they just naturally pay you to have them on your page, it actually doesn't work that way at all. Adsense revenue can be generated by pageviews, but that's a rare situation. More often than now you will only generate revenue when someone clicks on those ads and then you'll earn anywhere from a few cents up to a dollar or two depending on what type of ad it was.

It is possible to make a decent chunk of change from Adsense, and it's something that I hope to master within the next 12 months with other blogs, but that's a whole other blog post...

Pay Day (2/13 - 2/19)

2010-02-19T23:28:00.001-05:00

This week's payments:

Cloud Crowd: $1.81, $44.18 total since start (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 21¢, $5.29 total since start (Proof of Payment)

So far I'm only at $563.45 at the moment which is a bit disappointing, but I've really been bogged down with a lot of non work related things this month. Between blizzards, illness, my toddler wrecking the house, more family members in the hospital and obligations that I have to friends, I've been incredibly busy and burnt out. There is still a slim possibility that I'll meet my goal, but February may be the first time that I have ever fallen short...

If so I'll just have to make up for it in March!

Thursday Tip Triad #10: Keeping Your Sanity

2010-02-18T09:01:00.001-05:00

As we all know, everyone needs a break sometime, and those of us in the legitimate work from home jobs world are no different from those who have brick and mortar occupations. Sometimes you have to ease up or take a complete "vacation" to keep from going off the deep end. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you get close to the breaking point:

1. Keep doing your easy and quick tasks if possible. Unless you need a complete and total vacation from your work at home obligations, try to keep your simplest and quickest tasks going while easing up on the more stressful projects. While a 100% work free week might completely refresh you, it also might put you in a situation where you find it hard to get started back up again when the work comes rolling in, especially if you haven't been working from home very long and enjoyed a long period of unemployment before that.

Right now, I've decided to step back from one of my clients for a while so I can relax a little and take care of some things that I've been putting off. While I may take a hit to my income, I'm still doing my smaller and simpler projects so that I won't lose all my momentum and earnings all at once.

2. Shoot for a 5 day work week. Once you have a few eggs in your basket, or clients on your roster, start whittling things down that require a lot of attention and try to turn them into something that can be done 4-5 days out of the week.

When I got started I was working a few hours a day, everyday, but recently I have tried to decrease my weekend work load so that I have a little refresh time every week. I still do some work on the weekends, but it's far less than what it was and it's generally work that could be done during the week if I didn't procrastinate (or if my clients sent it earlier in the week). I also now only present myself as a 5 day a week worker, with optional weekend availability for emergency situations unless the client is especially high paying, then I offer 7 day a week flexibility.

3. Know when to stop looking. In the world of freelancing and working from home, it's almost mandatory that you be constantly on the prowl for new opportunities. Unfortunately, that can be both beneficial and detrimental all at the same time so you have to know when to step back and take a breath from bidding and applying.

This is definitely the hardest thing for me to do because I constantly worry about losing clients or having clients flake out at inopportune times (as I'm currently experiencing). It also doesn't help that when it comes to seeking out new work my experiences so far have been of the "sink or swim" variety... Meaning that I am constantly seeking new clients and they seem to come in waves. I'll go a few weeks with absolutely no luck, and then suddenly I'll have offers for 5 new projects on the table. Obviously you can see how that could be both good and bad depending on time commitments, the amount of effort involved etc. While it is hard, I do have to turn some down in those situations so I don't burn myself out, but I always make it clear that I will contact them when I have the necessary availability again.

While it's not possible to completely avoid the need for a vacation every once in a while to regenerate your motivation and replenish your sanity, you can decrease how frequently you need them. If you recognize your limits, keep a few days light or clear of work during the week and always keep your simplest tasks on the table you can stay motivated and continue to run strong without pushing yourself over the edge with your legitimate work from home jobs.

No More Snow!

2010-02-17T13:46:00.001-05:00

Holy cow, I am a true Texas girl and if I see one more news alert about snow I may jump off my balcony.

We had over 4 feet of snow last week, and saw some flurries this week as well. Not only did a lot of us lose power, but it was so bad that our Wal-Mart closed down because they thought the roof was going to collapse! Luckily though I think things are calming down so I can get back to working on my February goals.

I actually got pelted with that giant snowball right after I took this picture. For some reason it seemed to be "get Mommy" day, probably because I was the one who had to put him in all those layers of clothes that he hates.

The weather threw me of schedule with blogging and working, it also threw some of my clients on the east coast off as well, but I think that I may still be able to reach my goals or at least come close. Has this nutty weather effected you at all?

Pay Day (2/6 - 2/12)

2010-02-12T22:29:00.000-05:00

Recent payments:

Cloud Crowd: 17¢, $42.37 total since start (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 49¢, $5.08 total since start (Proof of Payment)

My total for the month is around $371.68 at the moment. I have one invoice out that is worth about another $80... I also had one client who didn't send me anything at all to do last week which is a bit of a downer, but hopefully they'll be back in commission this week.

Super Sale at VistaPrint (2 Day Sale)

2010-02-12T10:42:00.002-05:00

There's a huge sale going on at VistaPrint right now for those who like freebies of the mailing or picture nature ;) I personally am addicted to this kind of thing and could probably spend my whole day filling my cart with freebies from VistaPrint. Right now I have a set of business cards made up and 100 post cards with a family picture on them in my cart (way more than I need, but my little one can use the others for drawing on). Now I'm working on a free 2010 wall calendar with family pictures from '09 on it.

Here are a few highlights:

250 Free Business Cards
50-100 Free Postcards (depending on size)
140 Free Address Labels
A Free Calendar (several different sizes and types to choose from)
Free rubber stamp, pen, t shirt, window decal, magnet and even a lawn sign

I love freebies, especially things I can use for mailing out to family members or for the kids. Over the past couple months I've gotten a set of business cards for the family (to give to friends and family when they need our contact info), a set for business and a set for my toddler to play with. I've also gotten two rubber stamps, 3 sets of return address labels, a couple note pads and some other odds and ends.

I'm debating getting one of everything with this current sale, just because I could use some shopping therapy, and the best kind of shopping therapy is the free kind hehe

Check it out and let me know what goodies you pick up!

Thursday Tip Triad #9: Simple Organization Tips

2010-02-11T08:45:00.002-05:00

After you get started in the legitimate work from home world one of the hardest things to master is organization. I for one, have never been very organized... My desk is usually a pile of papers, notepads, writing utensils and so much more. Luckily, there are a few simple things that can be done to help you keep organized and on top of your game without really requiring any sort of heavy time commitment or any sort of investment either.

1. Make a special Gmail account. I know this sounds annoying and silly, but honestly it's one of the best things you can do. There have been one or two times where I've lost responses from legitimate work from home sites because they've gotten lost in the shuffle of my primary inbox. Just last week I was trying to find my letter from a web site rating company that invited me to test with them, and couldn't.
This can easily be avoided by creating a separate account for all things work related. Use your name, or an abbreviation of your name so that it will look more professional and clients or employers will be able to easily connect you to your email.

2. Use Gmail labels and stars. I know Gmail has a lot of neat features that allow you to do a lot with your inbox and your messages, but one of the simplest things you can do is to make a label for every client or employer that you have. Using labels lets you pull up all your correspondence with one person or company at a time and if you star your most recent assignment from each employer, you'll easily be able to locate it, even if your client is chatty and sends you random messages that don't really apply to the task at hand.

To set up a label do the following:

Click the drop down button in the main portion of the Gmail page that says "Labels" and click "Manage Labels".
The second part of the box that loads up in the main portion of your page will have a text box, enter your desired label name there and hit create.
Click "Filters" from the top menu bar.
Click "Create New Filter".
Fill in the "From" box with the email associated with your label, do a test search if desired and then press "Next Step".
Click the button for "Apply Label" and select the appropriate label, click the "Also apply filter to # conversations below" if applicable then select "Create Filter".
Repeat steps 4-6, but put the email address in the "To" box instead of the from box in step 5.
Repeat steps 1-7 for all clients or employers, and anything else you would like to filter.

3. Take advantage of spreadsheets. I have a lot of spreadsheets that I use to keep track of things with. For example, I have one that I use to track all of my propagation projects including names, emails, passwords, websites, number of posts etc. There is another one that tracks my ad postings with dates and locations so that I can ensure that the ads are spread out over time.

You can also use them to create schedules, to do lists and dozens of other things. One stay at home mom, Melissa from SahmJob, even has one to help her stay on top of her housework!

While these may seem like small things, remember that small changes can lead to big improvements. Staying organized will make your work from home life a lot less stressful and a lot more profitable. Use free resources like Gmail and your current spreadsheet program to keep on top of things and you'll be ready for anything that your legitimate work from home jobs throw at you!

Greenfield Online/Toluna vs SurveyHead

2010-02-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

I've worked with a few different survey sites over the past few months and for those who have been reading from the start, you'll probably remember me raving about both Greenfield Online and SurveyHead... That's no longer quite as true though. One of the two has gone completely down the tubes leaving the other in the top slot, without any competition.

Greenfield Online becomes "Toluna":
To date I've made over $90 with Greenfield, but in all honesty I haven't done anything with them in several months. All those earnings were from in October and November of 2009... Since then, they started their merge with Toluna and went downhill from my perspective. (Proof of Payment)

Surveys used to be worth $X and there were interactive surveys worth $30 or more. Now that they are becoming Toluna, the value of their surveys is repulsively low. To earn $20 you have to accumulate 60,000 points on their site. That means that every point is worth 1/3 of a cent so every 100 points is worth 3.33¢... yes you read that right, it really takes 3,000 to earn a single dollar with them since they made their big switch.

It gets worse though, you might think that a 25 minute survey would pay at least $1 if not more, but you'd be wrong. Here are some of the numbers for survey offers they've sent me:

25 minutes for 1,500 points or 50¢
20 minutes for 900 points or around 30¢
15 minutes for 3,000 points or $1.00
10 minutes for 6,000 points or $2.00

I know the last two aren't terrible, but anything that pays a dollar or more is incredibly rare with them now. I don't know about you, but 20+ minutes for 30-50¢ is outrageous if you ask me.

SurveyHead:
I've been with SurveyHead for just as long as I've been with Greenfield and the earnings have been far better with SurveyHead. From 9/26 to 12/11 (less than 3 months) I made over $94 taking surveys with them. I fell into a slump where I quite paying attention to my survey sites and my GPTs, but I'm determined to work them back into my routine because they can be such a great way to earn.

So far I've cashed out with Surveyhead twice, and have over $40 still sitting on my account to withdraw. (Proof of Payment)

Pros:
You get paid to fill out your profiles (the more profiles you fill out, the more likely you are two get surveys that you qualify for)
Surveys pay $1-$7 on average
None of that 30¢ for a 20 minute survey bologna
LOTS of surveys to qualify for (check back throughout the day for extras)

Cons:
It takes a while for your reward to post to your account
When you cash out, it takes a while for the money to get deposited to your PayPal account

All in all though, SurveyHead has become my #1 pick out of all the survey sites I'm involved with. I still take part in some of the others, but between my two favorites from 2009, SurveyHead has stomped Greenfield Online now that 2010 is here.

iRazoo, Why did you do it?

2010-02-08T13:22:00.001-05:00

As most of you have probably noticed by now, iRazoo is working on a complete and total overhaul of it's previous self and is converting into something more SwagBucks-ish. Since they started their remodel, there have been a lot of iRazoo complaints and rightfully so, but I'm not quite ready to cut ties yet...

I will admit that when they initially implemented the changes, I was ready to jump ship instantly, but since then my annoyance has subsided partially and I've decided to stick it out and see what iRazoo turns into. Here's a recap of the changes for those who haven't been with them very long.

Before:
When I started with iRazoo in mid October of 2009, you got points for every site you visited if you rated or commented on it. You could earn 300 points per day and a $5 Amazon gift card was just 3000 points which meant you could get one every 10 days. The number of points earned per comment fluctuated a bit, but you knew that you would earn enough to cash out 3 times a month if you were vigilant.

After:
Now however, the site has abandoned the one thing that made it different from every other search and win site on the market and that's where all the iRazoo complaints are coming from. You used to be guaranteed points for every search you made as long as you visited links and graded or commented on sites, now it's joined the ranks of SwagBucks and all the others by becoming a "chance on search" type of site.

You can now earn 75 points, randomly, on any search - but any further rules are unclear. I personally attempted to get more information through their community forums, but have yet to receive a response. I generally do not click on sites anymore, or grade them, unless I win on that search and I'm unsure of whether or not iRazoo will look down on that or not since they haven't made any clear announcements on acceptable behavior. If I win, I'll click a link and leave a note, otherwise I ignore it.

The first few days with the new system left me really disappointed because I went at least 4 days without winning. Since then I've managed to win 1-2 times per day which still puts me at a huge loss, but I'm optimistic that future changes regarding referrals will cut the losses that users are suffering.

What I am suggesting to users though, is that you cash out as soon as you can and make sure to add your gift card codes to your Amazon account. Usually I let mine sit on the site until I need them, but with things looking rocky and no clear cut rules on the new system, I don't want to risk losing what I've earned. I was also planning on saving up for a $15 card, but once I had the few hundred points I needed to hit 6000 I opted for two $5 cards instead and am looking forward to receiving them late this month or in early March.

I completely sympathize with all the iRazoo complaints, and I'll admit that I hate the changes, but I'd recommend hanging in there for a while to see how it goes once the bumps get smoothed out.

Pay Day (1/30 - 2/5)

2010-02-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

Here are my most recent payments from various places:

Cloud Crowd: 1¢ for $42.10 total (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research: $3 for $30+ total (Proof of Payment)
IMshopping: $21.00 for $149.25 total (Proof of Payment)

I also had $15 worth of cards come in from SwagBucks! The longer I'm with them, the more I dig them even though I'm not searching as much as I should be. (Proof of Payment)

So far for February I'm sitting at $198.01 which is pretty good. I have one client that said they'll be away this month and another who said they may not need any services for a while, so I'm hoping to round up a few new clients to fill their gaps and keep my income steady.

Thursday Tip Triad #8: The More the Merrier

2010-02-04T11:54:00.002-05:00

When it comes to freelancing and finding legitimate work from home jobs, the only way to get them, is to throw yourselves at them mercilessly. A lot of people still want to believe that work from home jobs should fall out of the sky into their lap immediately, but that is not the case. Finding a job that is legit, and can be done from home around your own schedule, takes time, patience and dedication.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you're looking for legitimate work from home jobs...

1. Jump at every opportunity. The more jobs you apply to and inquire about, the more chances you will have to be accepted... of course the opposite applies as well so you need to keep up a tough shell and remember that you won't always get hired. If you do get offered the position and it turns out that the job isn't something you are interested in, or the pay is less than you want, you can always turn it down.

I've actually started applying for even the most vague of projects with a general skills/experience and pricing response because I rather gather as much information as possible than ignore the opportunity all together. I've also turned down jobs that seem too labor intensive for the pay after starting the interview process, but at least I didn't have to wonder about whether it was a dream job later.

2. Keep an open mind. Don't be one of those people who thinks that only one type of work is acceptable for them to do. Be flexible and open minded, apply for everything you see and turn down what doesn't work for you. The more eggs that you have, the better. Plus, the more variety that you have in your schedule, the less bored you will be.

3. Remember that small jobs add up. This one is twofold, and applies to both time and money. Even low paying jobs can add up quite nicely whether it's writing for a penny a word or doing something that pays $20 a week. Several small jobs can turn into a sizable amount of money very quickly. On the flip side, remember that small jobs add up in terms of time as well. Remember to keep in mind how long each job takes to do and how much time you have to do them... 20 small jobs might be enough to earn your dream income, but it also might run you into the ground if they take up too much time.

Remember that no job is too small, keep an open mind and apply apply apply! Don't be afraid to start with small jobs and work your way up to bigger and better projects. Finding legitimate work from home jobs that work for you is like gardening... You plant the seeds, grow the plants and then prune them as needed.

If you have any suggestions for future Thursday Tip Triad topics, feel free to contact me!

February Goals

2010-02-04T09:14:00.004-05:00

I'm going to keep my goals for the month short and simple because I feel like I really need to focus on one thing at a time until I can get back into a heavily motivated and productive state of mind. So without further ado, here are my goals for February!

Earn $1000 in spendable cash, after fees.
Launch my business site. I already have the domain, all I need to do is figure out what sort of graphics I want and how I want to design it. I'm a little jaded at the moment and can't figure out what sort of images (if any) would be best...

Hopefully by narrowing down my goals to two I will be able to put some serious time in on my business site and get it fully operational this month.

January Goal Check

2010-02-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

It's time to take a look at January and see how I did... We already know that I met my monetary legitimate work from home goals, but how did I do with everything else? Honestly, not so hot, but I'm determined to make sure that February is better!

Earn at least $1000. Check! Earning $1043.78 definitely means that I met this goal.
Keep working on organization and time management. Yes and No - This is still a work in progress... I'm improving, but I still have a long way to go.
Get in gear on my residual income goals since I haven't yet started and hopefully get the blog up and running for it as well. Not even a little - This one got pushed completely onto the back burner. I haven't put any work into residuals, or the blog... Although I'm avoiding creating the blog until I have a name for it.

Clearly I still have a lot of work to do before I can say that I'm clearing all my goals, but at least I'm willing to admit my failures. I'm happy that I met my income goal since that is the one with the most immediate importance, but I still need to put some significant work into the others as well.

January Earnings Breakdown

2010-02-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

January is officially over and I for one, am quite glad. Hopefully the rest of the year will be calmer than this past month has been. I am happy to say that I did indeed meet my goal of earning $1000 last month. While I was skeptical about my earnings, I managed to net $1043.78 after fees from my legitimate work from home jobs and adventures. Here's the official breakdown...

Paid Through PayPal:
I had $727.04 in deposits, minus $25.44 in fees giving me a total gain of $701.60.

Paid Through Elance:
I had $375.00 in deposits, minus $32.80 in fees giving me a total gain of $342.18.

Total: So overall my earnings were $1102.04 minus a nasty $58.26 in fees for a total of $1043.78 in spendable cash.

And of course, here's the breakdown by site:

CloudCrowd: $5.34 (Proof of Payment)
IMshopping: $20.00 (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 90¢ (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research: $3.00 (Proof of Payment)
Private Clients: $1072.80 (Proof of Payment)

I also ended up with $25 in Amazon gift cards from SwagBucks as well which is awesome, but doesn't count towards my cash total as per the rules I set out when I first made this blog. It's still a nice bonus though! They aren't all posted yet since some came in on after my last pay day post, but they'll be up soon. (Proof of Payment)

I was really concerned that I wouldn't meet my goal, but it looks like I did, even after fees were taken out which is refreshing. It's good to know that I can go through a month where I'm in a funk, and still stay on track for the long term.

Motivational Monday: Time Management Tips for the Work at Home Mom

2010-02-01T10:46:00.003-05:00

Here we are, one month down and 11 more to go! It's the first Monday of February and I'm ushering it in with a great guest post from Theody - you've probably seen her around here.

We all know that maintaining motivation can be a tough thing to do, so Theody has created a great set of tips to help keep the spring in your step. These are things that she has implemented to keep herself on track while balancing a family that is fully equipped with three kids, a blossoming work at home freelance writing career and her very own business as well! If she can do all this with 3 kids, what can you get done?

Working at home requires a whole lot of discipline. It is very easy to become so busy with other chores that are not related to working at home. Chores like; folding the laundry, ironing, dusting furniture and so many others. While for some, it may not be chores; it could be that friends and family do not seriously consider what you do at home as “work” and honestly can’t understand why you,” simply won’t answer the phone?” The list goes on and on.

Here are a few tips that I hope will help you manage your time better and keep you on track while working at home.

Create a schedule- I know this sounds obvious, but if you have worked out of home before working at home, I’m almost certain you had a schedule. It may not have been written down, but you had a modus operandi. You had a special day for doing the laundry, for ironing and for cleaning the bathroom. You didn’t wake up on a Monday morning and rather than get ready for work, decide it was a great day to fold all the laundry. However, when working at home, we fall into the habit of allowing minute details distract us from showing up at work. Then we try to justify those insignificant details as important. Imagine telling your boss that the reason you were late at work on a Monday morning was because you had to mop your floors?

Prioritize- A good question I ask myself is, “how is this activity helping me earn an income?” If I cannot find a single way that the activity will increase my income, then I can’t spend productive time on it. Who wants to employ staff that will spend valuable time on the phone chatting with a friend about trivialities? But when we work from home, we do this very often and justify it as not wanting to appear rude or inconsiderate. Let your friends and family know that you work from a certain time in the day and to please not call, unless it is important. Better still, they can leave a message.

Show up- This is also commitment. Working from home, being your own boss, can be a tough job. You need to commit a significant amount of time to it. Think of it as going to work in an office. You arrive at a set time, clock in and get to work. The same attitude should also apply to working at home. There will be good days and bad days, days you feel like working and days you won’t feel like working. So, having the right attitude helps.

Take a break- The same way there are days off in the office environment, is also the same for working at home. You must know when to take a break and catch your breath.

Remember to ask yourself, “If I applied for this job as an employee, would I employ someone like me?”

Theody is a mom of three. She is also a freelance writer and an Ind. Scentsy Consultant. She enjoys discovering how moms can work from home while raising their children. You can learn more about her here (http://theodysblog.blogspot.com)

Thank you.

Pay Day (1/23 to 1/29)

2010-01-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

Another week down, and this one brings January incredibly near it's closing as well. I'm still trying to figure out where it all went...

Here are this week's deposits from random programs. I'm still slacking on my GPTs, but overall I think I have my goal in check for the week:

Cloud Crowd: 4¢ which brings be up to $42.10 total from them since I got started, again this is just from people in my downline. (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 45¢ which brings me up to $4.59 with them.

Overall I'm sitting at about $947.29 for the month with a few more payments expected this weekend. Unfortunately that total includes fees though so I'll probably net less than $1000, but I suppose I'll still be able to count it as reaching my goal for the month.

I'll have to force myself to push harder in February to be make sure I make over $1000 after those annoying fees get taken out.

Coming soon: January earning breakdowns, February goals, and more!

Thursday Tip Triad #7: Formatting Your Bid

2010-01-28T21:36:00.001-05:00

So you've taken the plunge and jumped into the legitimate work from home jobs world and are now starting to search for private clients on sites like Elance, Guru or Odesk... So far we've talked about how to get past the bidding jitters, how to weed out some of the jobs that won't get awarded and how to form your proposal. This week we're going to talk about how to actually format your bid.

1. Break your pricing down. Just like I said last week, you want to be as detailed as possible. Don't just tell them "I'll do this project for $300" get elbow deep in your break down to make sure they understand exactly what you are doing for them.

I will provide you with 10 articles of approximately 300 words each for $30 each, or $300 total, which equates to about 10¢ per word within 10 days of accepting the project.

The above format lets your potential client know exactly what they will receive, when they will receive it by and how much it will cost them. It gives them the total price, the per item price and the per word price this way they can easily compare your rates to those of other providers without having to do any of the math on their own.

It's like when you go to the grocery store, pick up two boxes of cereal and look to see which has the cheaper "per pound" pricing to help you decide which is the better buy.

2. Explain why your price is what it is. If you know that others are bidding at a lower rate than you are, or at a higher rate than you are, explain why your rates are what they are so that the potential client isn't left wondering.

I'm sure you've received several bids that are slightly lower than mine, but I have extensive experience with this type of project and can guarantee excellent results (in a short time frame/with impeccable English grammar/etc).

Or:

Although I am an experienced (data entry technician/SEO writer/etc) I'm willing to offer my services to you at a below average rate because of my new status with (Elance/Guru/Odesk) in order to begin establishing my credibility as soon as possible.

3. Wrap it up with an offer to negotiate, a myriad of contact methods and then follow up! Again, this was mentioned last week but I can't stress just how important it is. The brief mention of negotiation and contact information will give your bid a professional appearance and encourage potential clients to at least talk to you instead of just dismissing you.

My prices are negotiable and if you would like to speak with me about my bid or proposal, feel free to contact me.

Thank you,
Name
Email
Instant Messenger #1
Instant Messenger #2
Skype

If you don't hear back and you notice that no one has been selected for a project. Don't be afraid to contact the buyer through the message board or other means if you have access. I have gotten several projects just by following up with a brief message to touch base after noticing that no one had been chosen.

I know this set of tips was a bit repetitious, but some things are just that important and deserve to be mentioned twice. Best of luck, and remember, if you don't put yourself out there and keep trying then you can't get in on the legitimate work from home action!

I'm actually blushing...

2010-01-27T14:34:00.000-05:00

So today I was piddling around and I discovered what is, as far as I know, the first completely random mentioning of my blog. I stumbled into a blog entry at 1ClickVA, the actual post mentioning Earning At Home is here.

I have to admit that it feels pretty awesome to get some random public praise like that.

Thank you @OneClickVA!

It also reminded me I need more guest bloggers for Motivational Monday. So far it's looking like a monthly feature instead of weekly, and I have February and March filled already. Who's it going to be when spring comes rolling in?

Celebrating!

2010-01-26T10:39:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning and was thrilled to see that after almost exactly 4 months, I had hit 50 followers! Granted, I would have loved to have hit 50 sooner, I haven't taken advantage of any sort of follower finding sites or anything of that nature. I also didn't properly setup my blog at it's birth to get the most out of the search engines since I didn't have any clue about that kind of thing.

Regardless, I'm absolutely ecstatic! I decided to bite the bullet and buy my own domain, and am now trying to figure out how to set it up since I didn't buy it directly through blogger (the easy way) because I think blogger goes through GoDaddy and I've heard that most people don't use them and opt for NameCheap instead. I have to admit that $8.81 for a domain with free privacy for a year is a pretty great deal! I actually bought one for this blog and one for my up and coming business site.

Even more exciting is that by the time I had forced myself to hit the "purchase" button I had gained another two followers.

While I am a little sad to know that my hard earned page rank will reset because of this, but I'm sure I'll get back to where I was in no time. You should all be forwarded to the new URL through your bookmarks, but in case you aren't the new site will be AtHomeEarning.com after I get the kinks worked out.

See ya there!

All Caught Up... Almost...

2010-01-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

I'm really proud of myself right now. I managed to really burn rubber this weekend and got caught up on almost everything. A few of my propagation projects are still a bit behind but that can easily be resolved today since I have nothing else to do (thanks to my weekend work-a-thon).

I still haven't been able to touch on any of my 2010 business goals for the year, but if I can keep my production level up like I did this weekend, I should be able to start working on my own side projects soon.

Weekend of relaxation, here I come!

Pay Day!

2010-01-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for the weekend? I most certainly am, unfortunately I don't know how much wind down time I'll have. I'm hoping to go full throttle this weekend so that I can relax next weekend without my conscience nagging at me, but so far I'm off to a bad start since our dinner outing doubled in length after finding out our original destination had closed down!

Here are my most recent deposits from random websites:

Cloud Crowd: 40¢ bringing me up to $42.06 total with them. (Proof of Payment)
YouData: 11¢ bringing me up to $4.14 total with them. (Proof of Payment)
Swagbucks: 3x $5 Amazon cards delivered which means I've had $45 worth of Amazon cards delivered, $20 worth of Red Envelope cards delivered and I have 2 more Amazon cards pending. (Proof of Payment)

Overall my cash earnings for the month are still not quite where they need to be. I'm at only $656.57, but I have had a lot going on. I still have 9 days left in the month which means most of my repeat projects will pay out again before the end of the month, so there's still a chance for me to hit the $1000 mark even with the difficulties I've had this month.

Getting Crafty With It

2010-01-21T23:05:00.003-05:00

So some of you guys suggested taking some time off and even (gasp) shutting off my computer to help me unwind and shake the stress, and I just might do that... I'm thinking that I'm really going to try and force myself to put my nose to the grindstone tomorrow and this weekend to get caught up so I can take the following weekend off.

The big question is, what will I do to keep myself from religiously checking my computer like I usually do? Enter craft time!

I've been snooping around online for online coupons since shopping on the net is a million times easier than shopping brick and mortar in my tiny town and I'm thinking that I may use some Michaels craft store coupons to order some goodies for me and my son to mess around with.

Being as far as we are from our family makes things rough and I've been meaning to make my grandmother a photo album and send her some pictures to help her keep her spirits up while she goes through chemo (again). It won't be anything too fancy because I'm not as crafty as some of you guys are, but a little paint, some glitter and glue, stickers etc would be perfect for my son to get busy with and that should keep me pretty well distracted for a while.

The worst part of buying online is paying for shipping but even if I can't find any Free Shipping Coupons it's still cheaper than paying for the gas to drive to and from any other craft store in the area and it's more convenient than going out in this icy weather.

I'm hoping that committing to something here in black and white, will help me actually do it in real life!

Thursday Tip Triad #6: How to Price Your Proposal

2010-01-21T13:23:00.004-05:00

Here we are again, another Thursday means another set of tips for how to successfully find and land legitimate work from home jobs and freelance gigs. Last week we discussed how to form the bulk of your proposal on freelance projects like those featured on Elance, but this week we'll be talking about the part that everyone cares about - the Bid.

Coming up with competitive pricing and knowing how to best present your offer is a key part of landing freelance jobs. I am not claiming to be an expert, but here is what I do and it seems to work well for me.

1. Don't be afraid to ask for what you are worth. I do not
water down my pricing just to get clients or projects because I want to make sure that I am making enough money to make things worth my time. Right now I have a few clients that I took on at super low rates when starting out and I absolutely hate it. My goal through the year is to replace them, or at least some of the time I spend working with them with work that pays better.

2. Use the word "negotiable". I always offer the option to negotiate my rates because I know that I ask for more than a fair number of overseas and even local freelancers do. While some people may be willing to work for 1¢ per word, I am not, I am however willing to adjust my pricing slightly. I will admit that I have been told a few times that my proposal is great but my fees are too high for the budget. These people generally contact me later for higher budget projects though.

Always tell them that your rates are negotiable and provide several ways for them to contact you about your proposal and pricing.

3. Be specific. Being as specific as possible is the key to a good bidding breakdown. In order to ward off any confusion you should be very clear and concise when pricing your work. Restate exactly what you will provide and exactly what you will charge. If the project may require additional expenses make an amendment for that as well.

For example, if you are designing their website you may want to include your actual bid for the project and then state that the client will also be responsible for any fees for images or fonts that they request. If the project is just for the design make sure to state that installation of the layout is extra as well (and tell them how much extra). Being detailed will keep the client from expecting more than you are willing to provide and will keep you from getting overworked and underpaid.

If you follow these tips when creating proposals and placing a bid on a project, you should see a pretty good response. Even if you don't win the project you will find yourself in contact with a number of people who may want to use your services later on other projects. Showing professionalism by providing contact information and crystal clear bids shows that you are serious about what you do which is attractive to most clients.

Next week: Breaking down the Bid. How to form your bids and take advantage of the above information.

January Woes

2010-01-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have to admit that January has been really hard for me so far. Between happy and sad life events that have occurred this month I am really having trouble keeping motivated and on track. Balancing life and my legitimate work from home jobs as well as the rest of the goals I've set for myself is starting to wear me down.

I honestly think that this happens to all of us at one point or another, and we all think that we're the only one who has ever gone through it... Almost as if we're failing by being the only person ever to burn out while working at home. The truth though, is that it happens to everyone, even those who absolutely love their work or those who make incredible amounts of money.

Everyone has problems getting going at one point or another.

Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to deal with it all. Ideally I'd like to take a weekend or so and do absolutely nothing so I could recuperate, but I really don't have the time to do that if I want to keep reaching my goals. I could purposely slack off on my goals, but I think I'd be upset later on and feel like I let myself down if I did that. Instead, I'm working in small and focused chunks on my writing, then I'm physically getting up and moving around.

Twenty minutes working then do the dishes, twenty minutes working then wipe down the kitchen counters etc. The idea is that I keep working so I don't get comfortable and relaxed, but I work on two completely different things to fight off boredom and keep my blood flowing so I won't fall into snooze mode.

Hopefully, this will get the bugs out of my system and the house cleaned at the same time.

Pay Day!

2010-01-15T23:09:00.003-05:00

Here's the weekly list of payments I've gotten in the last week, not including private clients. It's pretty brief, mostly because I'm slacking on my GPTs and PTCs:

Cloud Crowd - 79¢ bringing my total with them up to $41.66. (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research - $3 to bring my earnings with them up to at least $27. (Proof of Payment)
YouData - 1¢ which brings my YouData total up to $4.03. (Proof of Payment)

I also cashed out for 2 more $5 Amazon cards on Swagbucks. I can't decide if I'm going to go for the Wii Fit Plus or Wii Mario Kart with 2 Extra Steering Wheels. Decisions decisions lol...

Thursday Tip Triad #5: Forming Proposals When Bidding

2010-01-14T10:44:00.003-05:00

When it comes to finding legitimate work from home jobs, freelancing really seems to be a great option. Unfortunately, it can take a while to get a grasp on what to do and what not to do. Once you've signed up for a site (whether it's Elance, Guru, oDesk or something else) you have to start creating proposals and bidding, but that process can be intimidating.

Several people have asked me for tips on how to write a good proposal, so here are a few tips!

1. Provide a brief introduction. Use the prospective client's name (or user name if their name is unknown) and comment on the fact that you would like to be considered for (insert project name).

"Hello JohnnyRox451,
I'm incredibly interested in your Content writing about Valentine's Day project and would love to work with you...."

2. Keep it short and sweet. These people are going through what may end up being dozens of proposals and they don't want to read a novel. Freelance sites cap the length of bids for a reason. Use bullet lists as opposed to paragraphs of text. Only include information that is applicable to the project.

Bad Example - Bidding on Valentines job mentioned above
I have been freelancing for 17 years and have done a variety of written work as well as web design, sales, marketing and even phone based projects. I also have experience as a virtual assistant. I can type 60 words per minute, can do 10 key by touch, have used the internet for over 10 years and am very tech savvy.

Good Example - Bidding on Valentines job mentioned above

I have:
-17 years of freelance experience including writing
-60+ WPM typing speed
-Proficient internet research skills
-Excellent knowledge of top notch SEO writing strategies

The first example is harder to get the gist of, includes unnecessary info, is hard to read and is almost twice as long as the second example (317 characters v 172).

3. Tell them your plan. Anyone can say "Hey there, I'm awesome hire me because I rock!" What a lot of people forget to do is explain is how they plan to rock this particular project in general. For this particular hypothetical project you may want to consider something like:

What I will do:
-Provide well researched articles
-Provide perfect grammar and spelling
-Use your keywords X number of times total in (place 1), (place 2), (place 3) etc (You do not have to tell them everywhere you will use it, obviously.)
-Provide a quick turnaround for your project without compromising quality
-Make myself available for emergency contact

Again that's under 300 characters, so you have plenty of room for other information and your pricing as well. More on the pricing portion of your bid next week.

Where did January go?

2010-01-13T22:31:00.002-05:00

We're already two weeks into the month and I'm trudging around like a zombie. 2010 is throwing jab after jab into my gut - but I'm hanging tight!

I've made just under $400 so far this month which is disheartening since I'm under par for my goal so far, but I think I can still pull it off.

I do have a few special things I'd like to mention though:

Guest Bloggers: I'm still looking for people who want to share their success with everyone here. Motivational Monday looks like it will be a monthly thing for the time being until more people perk up and show interest. If you want to be a guest blogger and share some encouraging words about the success you've enjoyed - drop me a message! (All guest blogs will include a link to your blog, website or profile page on one of the sites you write for.)
Crafty Ladies: If you have an Etsy shop or a website featuring things you've made, I'd love to chat! I'm looking to start doing regular give aways here at Earning At Home and would love to give you some publicity in the process. If you're interested, let me know!
New Domain: I should have my blog up on it's own domain in the near future. I'm still a little nervous about buying a domain but I know that it's worth it.

If you want to be a guest blogger or want to donate to a giveaway for some free publicity message me here or leave a comment.

December Earnings Breakdown

2010-01-10T11:59:00.006-05:00

I know it's late - but better late than never right? Here is the breakdown of my December earnings from different sites, programs and my private clients as well. As usual this will only include the cash that was in my accounts, accessible and spendable during the month of December.

Paid through PayPal:
I received $883.68 minus $26.18 in fees totals $857.50 from PayPal.

Paid through eLance:
I received $367.50 minus $32.15 in fees totals $335.35 from Elance.

Total: I made $1,251.18 in earnings and $58.33 in fees (blasted fees) for a total income of $1,192.85! I can honestly say that when I sat down to make my tally towards the end of December I was shocked at how much I had made. If I can fine tune my work process and increase my productivity slightly, I think I'll be able to start making $1,500 a month by Spring.

Here's the breakdown by site for deposits last month:

IMShopping $50.00 Proof of Payment
YouData 66¢ Proof of Payment
Cloud Crowd 42¢ Proof of Payment
Wanelo $25.00 Proof of Payment
Greenfield Online $30.00 Proof of Payment
SurveyHead $20.00 Proof of Payment
PineCone Research $12 (this only takes PayPal deposits into account not checks) Proof of Payment
Private Clients $1,054.77

Here's to a new year and another good month for all of us!

Pay Day!

2010-01-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

Here are some new proof of payments that haven't previously been posted. I know I'm a bit behind but this January has dealt us one painful blow after another so far. I'm crossing my fingers that this is a sign that the rest of the year will be smoother.

iRazoo - Got my 5th $5 Amazon card on 12/31 (it was requested on 12/2) bringing me up to $25 total with them. (Proof of Payment)
YouData - 32¢ bringing me up to $4.02 with them total. (Proof of Payment)
PineCone Research - $3.00 (Proof of Payment)
Cloud Crowd - 56¢ since my last payment update which brings my grand total with them up to $40.87. I also think I've been deleting the paypal emails from them because I could only find a few of them. (Proof of Payment)
IMShopping - $20 bringing me up to $128.25 with them total. (Proof of Payment)

Thursday Tip Triad #4

2010-01-07T17:17:00.003-05:00

So it's been brought to my attention by a number of folks that Elance is a bit hard to get the hang of, and to be quite honest, I agree completely! While it is a great way to find legitimate work from home jobs, it can also be really difficult to get the hang of. After two months I still find myself getting confused from time to time so here are a few tips for getting started with Elance.

1. Choose your category very carefully. One mistake that a lot of people make is that they pick a job category without really thinking about what it will contain and if it's the best option for them.
You can only bid on projects that fall under the category you sign up for, so make sure you choose wisely. Additional categories can be added on for a monthly fee, but for the most part, that is probably unnecessary.

2. Pay attention to your connects. You can only place so many bids per month based on the number of connects you have, this applies to free and paid users. As a free member I got 3 connects per month, but I think they've raised that recently to 10. Most projects will only require 1 connect, but some with higher budgets can require more than that. Try to be choosy about projects when you first get started and pick ones that you feel you have a good chance at winning. You don't have to bid on brand new projects either, you can let them sit for a while and see what the competition offers.

3. Use the watch list. This is by far one of the most useful parts of the site. When you put a job on your watch list, you will then be able to see the highest, lowest and average bid that's been placed. You can use these numbers to make sure your pricing on the project is competitive and increase your chances to beat the competition.

A New Design for 2010

2010-01-06T13:02:00.002-05:00

For those who have been reading about my experiences with legitimate work at home opportunities and freelancing for a while, you've probably seen me say over and over that a new layout was on it's way.

Sure, I did some tweaking here and there. I even made my own background and a slider, but I never actually launched a full fledged, personalized layout... until yesterday!

Thanks to Jenny, the author of The Freebie Addiction, I have a brand new layout with personalized graphics. She picked the image, the colors, everything - all I had to do was smile and nod as she amazed me time and time again with her suggestions and designs.

If you find yourself on the market for a new button, banner, background or anything else for your blog or site, I would highly recommend stopping by The Freebie Addiction and dropping Jenny a message. Her work is superb and her prices are amazing.

January Goals

2010-01-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

After last month's experiences with legitimate work at home freelance work and other eggs, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to repeat those same results of earning $1200 and I don't want to lose the motivation so I'm setting my goals up around that area.

Since I've been working on a new blog and a new layout I'm already a bit behind for the month but I've decided that my goals should still be high so here they are!

January 2010 Goals:

Earn at least $1000 so that I won't lose my motivation after the immense success that December blessed me with.
Keep working on organization and time management.
Get in gear on my residual income goals since I haven't yet started and hopefully get the blog up and running for it as well.

Motivational Monday

2010-01-04T22:34:00.002-05:00

Motivation is something that everyone needs on a regular basis to stay encouraged, but for those of us in situations where we work from, finding motivation can be harder. Those who are self employed or turn to freelancing and legitimate work at home jobs as their source of income rarely get the same kind of encouragement that occurs in a brick and mortar environment.

The solution? Motivational Monday!

Stop by on Mondays to check for encouraging words from a variety of people. This week you'll have to listen to me ramble, but hopefully next time you'll hear from a special guest.

If you're interested in being a Guest Blogger, contact me to let me know. Don't be shy, you can share your success story and help others stay motivated!

I set out on my legitimate work at home job search in late September, as many of you already know. My family was financially spent and although I had been looking for out of house work for several months I was unable to find anything that worked with our schedule. I decided that I would create a blog to track my progress and warn others about work at home scams while pursuing my search for legitimate work at home opportunities.

I wanted to find legitimate work at home sites and jobs that would let me stay home with my son and supplement my husband's income to relieve the stress he was under. My original intention was to earn enough monthly to buy our groceries and keep us out of the red. Little did I know how easy it would be to find legitimate work at home jobs that paid more than I could even imagine.

My first goal was to earn $200 during October. I started off with some task work like Cloud Crowd, GPTs and survey sites. Some of them worked out really well, some weren't so great. I ended up earning just under $250 that month and was absolutely thrilled to have made my goal, even if it wasn't enough to pay my bills, it was enough to buy groceries and that was exactly what I had set out to do at that point.

October Earnings:

Wanelo $105 Proof of Payment
Livework $66.19 Proof of Payment
CloudCrowd $35.49 Proof of Payment
Greenfield Online $30 Proof of Payment
YouData $2.55 Proof of Payment

With my new found confidence I set out looking for more opportunities in November and I was determined to make my $300 goal. I decided to branch out a bit and found a few freelance opportunities doing things like forum posting and writing. Even though I had no experience, I figured I really had nothing to lose and if these were legitimate work at home jobs, they were worth a shot.

My (semi) fearless attitude paid off and I earned $777.28 in just my second month of work at home job hunting and my first month of being a freelancer. Not only had I surpassed my November goal, but I had surpassed my December goal as well! Even more impressive was the fact that I had actually earned enough to pay our rent and I did it all without paying anyone or getting wrapped up in any sort of work at home scams or business opportunities.

I will admit that I made a tiny investment in my Elance account to allow me to bid on more projects, but clearly that $15 was a good investment.

IMShopping $58.25 Proof of Payment

YouData 49¢ Proof of Payment

Cloud Crowd $4.40 Proof of Payment

Wanelo $30.00 Proof of Payment

Greenfield Online $32.00 Proof of Payment

AroundMe $23.97 Proof of Payment (one time deal)

SurveyHead $25.50 Proof of Payment

Private Clients $602.67

Then came December and the end of 2009. I had expected a slow month because I lost a couple clients and a few were too busy with the holidays to supply me with work. While I knew that I would make my $400 goal that was set the day this blog was born, I worried that I'd make less than I did in November and would lose my motivation. I picked up a couple of one time projects after putting in bid after bid on freelance project after project.

The results? I broke my record and even more amazingly, I had a four digit income as well. I didn't even realize how much I had earned until I sat down to put it all together for this blog and when I did, I couldn't believe it. I sat in shock and checked the numbers over and over, but they were accurate. I really had made $1200 during what I thought would be a slow month.

(Break down coming soon)

In three months I went from making nothing at all to making over $1000 all through legitimate work at home freelance opportunities, GPTs, survey sites and other online odds and ends. I managed to avoid all the basic work at home scams that lure in a lot of innocent victims and invested under $70 over the season on random odds and ends to help my legitimate work at home dreams grow.

Along the way I met an amazing bunch of people who have kept me inspired and motivated (you guys), I spread the word about how easy it is to find legitimate work at home jobs if you put a little bit of time into it and I heard amazing success stories from people here.

2010 is now upon us and I'm looking forward to seeing all of us grow and succeed as the year goes on. Best of luck and well wishes,

A New Year Means New Goals

2010-01-01T14:03:00.004-05:00

I haven't completely pinpointed my goals for the new year, but I do have a brief outline of the things I hope to accomplish in 2010. Here's a rough draft, just so you guys know what to expect out of me as the new year progresses.

1. Start working on "Residual Income" writing. There will be a new blog to track the details, but I'll also have basic updates here.

Sign up with 4-6 websites that have decent revenue share models or pay per page view
Post one article on each site per week
Find a way to maximize exposure at minimal cost

2. Break into monetized "Niche Blogging". I don't know the exact details of how it all works, but I'm determined to figure it out! I'm not sure if there will be a separate blog tracking this or if I'll just lump it all in here.

Create at least one new Niche Blog per month
Learn more about the art of finding good keywords

3. Create a personal business site.

4. Reach a point where I can earn $1500 a month, without overworking myself.

Get Featured!

2010-01-01T11:34:00.001-05:00

Starting (hopefully) this coming Monday, I would like to start running a weekly "Motivational Monday" column. I know it's a bit short notice, so I will most likely write the first one on January 4th, but after that I would like to feature a different reader every week.

You don't have to blog, you don't have to have made thousands of dollars, you just have to have made some sort of progress towards reaching your goals or achieving your dreams.

If you are interested in being featured please use this form to contact me.

A few details for Motivational Monday:

If you have a blog or website, I will include a link to your page with your article. (If you have a button I am willing to use that.)
I will generally require a link back from your blog/site to my blog.
There are no heavy set link requirements, but the posts should be at least 250 words long, if not longer.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

2010-01-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's new year's eve already... I have no idea where 2009 went it feels like it was so incredibly short. I don't even know how to say goodbye to it, because I don't feel like I ever said hello.

This year was my first full year living where I am now, and I have to say that while I still hate my environment, I do love my family - so I guess 2009 passed by so quickly because I was happy. This last few months went especially quickly with the creation of this blog, meeting all of you and the fact that we're all achieving what most of us previously thought was impossible.

We're legitimately earning money from home. No scams, no investments, no crazy marketing schemes. It feels genuinely great to be able to do this, and to be able to help each other as we do.

Thank you all for your encouragement and your inspiring stories.

Happy New Year everyone!

December Digest

2009-12-31T13:34:00.000-05:00

All right! Here it comes, another monthly digest to show my progress with all the different sites I've signed up with. I'm going to try and keep it shorter than normal which shouldn't be hard since this month kept me a bit to busy to give these sites as much attention as they deserve.

__________
~*~Gift Cards and Gift Sites~*~
These are the sites I've been working with that offer their rewards in gift cards and prizes.
--------------

iRazoo

Review: iRazoo is a quick way to earn a $5 Amazon card every 10 days. I have been slacking off a bit with them this past month, but they've been really great none the less. I've made $20 in Amazon cards with them so far and am still waiting for more to post to my account.

How it Works: Use their search engine to earn 8 points for voting on a site and 8 points for leaving comments about sites, up to 300 points a day.

Tips: Pick a celebrity and search their name, their name pics, their name pictures, their name images, their name news etc. It will make the process quick and easy ;)

Referral Bonus: You get 50 points for each referral

Earnings: Since 10/16 I've requested 5 Amazon cards for $5 each and have received 4 of them totaling $20. It takes 3-4 weeks for each card's code to be delivered by email, but other than that, I have no complaints. I also have enough points to get another card, but I've decided to start saving up for $15 cards instead to decrease the frequency I have to cash out. Proof of Payment

__________

SwagBucks

Review: Great site that awards SwagBucks for using their search engine. Unlimited earning potential, but it's all based on chance so you won't get them every time you search.

How it Works: Earn by searching, finding special codes, signing up for (and reading) their newsletter, etc then cash your SwagBucks in for Amazon cards and more!

Referrals: Two options: A) Become an affiliate and earn $1 per referral B) Refer members and earn 1 swagbuck every time they do, up to 100 swagbucks per referral.

I like the standard referral option because it has better earning potential, but it's nice to have an option.

Earnings: Since 10/17 I've earned $30 in Amazon cards and $20 in Red Envelope cards. I still have almost 150 Swagbucks sitting on my account to use towards Amazon cards today most likely.

Amazon cards generally arrive around the 16th or 30th of the month. Proof of Payment

__________
Lockerz.com

Lockerz has been up and down a lot for maintenance this month which caused them to fall off my radar because I've been so busy. The good news is that they have solved some of their traffic problems and things should be smooth once again. I know some of you are waiting for invites and I'll have them out today!

How it Works: Earn 2 points for logging in and 2 points for answering a quick question every day then redeem them for whatever prize you'd like. Electronics, make up, donations, etc.

Prizes are limited right now but their selection is growing. I'm still excited about this one even if I forgot for most of December.

Referrals: 2 points per referral, once you refer 20 members you get double points for a year! The downside to Lockerz.com is that you have to be invited through their website by a current member so if you'd like an invite please request one from me here.

Earnings: 202 Points since 10/7.

__________
ClubBing

ClubBing.com is a site that I really touch base with here and there. Their prizes are really great and affordable. If you enjoy playing games online this site is great for you!

How it Works: Play their games and earn tickets for prizes. They have video games for around 5000 tickets, and if you earn the full 1000 tickets a day, you can really bulk up on prizes.

Tips: Use an Anagrammar to speed up your ticket earnings. It will help you think of words you normally wouldn't.

Earnings: 3,097 tickets

_________
~*~GPT Sites~*~
GPT sites require patience! The money adds up slowly, but I believe that every little bit helps. These sites will also offer quicker earnings if you are able to round up a few referrals.
-------------

TrekPay

TrekPay gives members instant credit for visiting sites. Each week the credits are converted to cash, but there's no way to tell how much you'll earn. I've made any where from 49¢ to $1.34 in a week with them. It took me 7 weeks to reach the level needed to cash out with them, but I haven't yet made my request.

How it Works: Visit sites, click the TrekPay logo if you see it and let your credits accumulate.

Referrals: You get credit for advertising purchases made by your referrals (10%) and you also get extra credits when they sign up. As far as I can tell it's just 15 credits per referral once, but I could be wrong - the site doesn't really disclose it either.

Earnings: $6.51 since 10/1/09 in the following breakdown (70¢, 70¢, 71¢, 94¢, 69¢, $1.34, 49¢, and then 94¢ through the month of December because I didn't pay as much attention to it as I should have.)

Cash out Req: $5.50

__________

CashCrate

I still haven't really invested any time in CashCrate, so I haven't cashed out yet, but I think I'm going to try to put some effort into their "offers" soon. They can be a decent source of income, but it takes a lot of organization to remember to cancel before the trials charge through. If you are good at that kind of thing I'd definitely recommend it.

How it Works: They have hundreds of "offers" available on their site and pay you varying amounts to complete them. They also offer two surveys paying 80¢ each daily and have a referral program as well.

Tips: When you sign up use a back up email address not your primary email. You will end up seeing a lot of spam come in after completing their offers, but if you use an alternate email, that won't matter.

Referrals: They pay you 20% of your level one referral earnings and 10% of your level two earnings. On top of that, when your direct referrals reach $10 you earn $3! It's a pretty great referral set up over all if you can get folks to sign up.

Earnings: $7.42 since 9/24 but I haven't made an effort here yet.

Cash out Req: $20

__________

NeoBux

NeoBux has been a pretty decent experience. It's slow building but I don't mind since it takes such minimal effort on my part.

Referrals: As a regular member you get a 1/2¢ per referral click, but this quickly adds up and multiplies. If you choose to become a paying member (which I have not, and probably will not) you earn 1¢ per click.

Earnings: $7.365 earned since 9/21

Cash Out Req: $2

__________
ClixSense

ClixSense is also a very standard PTC program. Their ad values vary but I've never seen one that paid more than 2¢. Occasionally the add will "break out of the frame" as well which means you don't get paid for it and have to wait 30 seconds anyways before viewing the next ad. Aside from that it's a solid site though.

How it Works: Sign up, click ads, wait 30 seconds and move to the next ad. You can also pay $10 to upgrade and get more ads but I don't intend to do this. I may however earn the $10 then use it to upgrade if I feel that it's worth it to do so after that long.

Referrals: You don't really earn for your referrals as a regular member (you get 1¢ when they sign up). You do however get $2 if your referrals upgrade their account. If you upgrade your account then you receive 10¢ for each referral, $2 if they upgrade, $1 if their referral upgrades, commissions on clicks made by your referrals, and so on.

Earnings: $1.85 since 10/28

Cash Out Req: $10 by check only, however when you cash out they charge a $3 processing fee so I suggest waiting until you've accumulated much more than $10.

__________

YouData

YouData is what I consider, the highest quality PTC out there. You get paid to look at the list of ads available, and you get paid to actually follow through and click the ads, which is really innovative. They pay every week no matter how small your balance is, directly to your paypal.

How it Works: Click the ads (they don't show up often) and get instant credit.

Referrals: You get 1¢ per ad that your referrals view, until you've earned $1.00 from that particular referral.

Earnings: $3.70 earned since 9/21 (I've already deducted the processing fees.) YouData Proof of Payment

Cash Out Req: None, sent automatically each week.

__________
~*~Misc Programs~*~
This includes review sites, snail mail sites, and much more.
--------------
CloudCrowd

CloudCrowd is one of those programs that I still get payments from here and there, but I personally don't visit them any longer. This is a great egg similar to Mturk, but I personally don't have time to use it at the moment.

How it Works: Workers do random tasks that are posted for the payment listed. It's similar to Mturk but on a much smaller scale and the work only comes from CloudCrowd, it is not posted by external providers.

Referrals: The referral system has some great potential. It goes three levels deep and you earn a percentage of what your Crowd does on each level. Level one is 10.1%, level two is 3.2% and level three is 1.5%.

Earnings: $40.31 earned since 10/6 Cloud Crowd Proof of Payment

Cash Out Req: None, sent automatically, the next day.

__________

PeopleString

Do you get paid to read the junk mail that comes to you door each day? I do because I am a member of PeopleString!

How it works: Sign up, answer a few questions and then wait for your survey card to arrive in the mail. It took about 3 weeks for me to get mine, but it's necessary so they can confirm your address. After that you'll begin receiving other pieces of mail from them. Just visit the site and enter the code to collect your earnings. I am still waiting on the vast majority of my offers, but I have gotten two in the mail so far.

Referrals: As a standard member you get 50¢ per referral plus 5% of their earnings. You also get 2% of the earnings from folks on the 2nd-6th levels of your down line. This is another one of those programs where you can pay to upgrade your status and earn more, but it's rather costly so I won't ever do it.

Earnings: $24.15 earned since 9/29 (not including the mail that's on it's way to me)

Cash Out Req: $25, sent automatically once a month for standard members.

__________
IMReportCard

IMReportCard pays to write reviews, comment and grade online marketing programs and sites. The hard part is getting your first review approved, but once you do that you can start earning in other manners.

How it Works: Write brief reviews, leave comments and grade sites to earn points that convert into cash.

Referrals: Their referral program is great (if your referrals get a comment posted) because you earn 100% of what they do. That means if they leave a comment and earn 50¢ so do you!

Earnings: $5.52 earned since 10/3, but I haven't put a lot of time into it.

Cash Out Req: $20.00

__________
LiveWork

LiveWork is a freelance site run by LiveOps that seems to slowly be progressing through their advancement hiccups.

How it Works: Sign up, create a profile, and start applying with whichever jobs you'd like.

I worked on a project that paid 64¢ per task for 5-7 sentence answers. I have rejoined a team to do the same thing but have yet to see any posted to do. This has great earning potential but they seem really unorganized.

Earnings: $68.48 earned since 9/24 Proof of Payment

__________
IMShopping

IMShopping is a site that allows you to ask and answer questions about shopping suggestions, pricing, product quality and much more.

I became a paid guide in October and am really loving the site.

How it Works: As a regular community member you can earn money by answering questions that offer a tip. If you are selected as the best answer, you win $2.

After answer 25 questions you become eligible to be selected by them as a paid guide where you can earn in the following manner:
35¢ per question answered (must be in your expertise and you must be the first guide to answer)
an extra 65¢ if the asker gives you a thumbs up
an extra 65¢ + $1.00 if you get the "best answer" (this may only apply on tip questions, I'm not sure)

Payments are made on Mondays.

Earnings: $108.25 earned since 10/3 Proof of Payment

Cash Out Req: $40 if you are a community member, $20 if you are a Paid guide

__________
Wanelo

Wanelo is a great community for parents to share their experiences on products of all types through reviews. They have random contests that award $5-25 and sometimes have prize give aways as well. They recently gave away a Wii Fit for Christmas!

How it works: Register with Wanelo and sign up for their newsletter. Your best bet is to visit the blog to get updates on contest categories so you know what types of reviews you need to do and how to submit your reviews to the contest.

Earnings: $160 earned since 10/15 Wanelo Proof of Payment

Cash Out Req: None, automatically sent if you win.

__________
~*~Surveys~*~
Surveys can take a bit of patience and a lot of dedication. The key is to not give up on them... it's like a seed - you have to plant it and nurture it and then it will give you fruit, shade, and happiness as it grows!
--------------
Survey Spot

SurveySpot is on the bottom of my list for surveys, and I won't be discussing them any further. Of all the survey sites I have found, this has just not been worth it for me. They are starting to get more organized, but I no longer feel the need to hold onto them.

How it works: Take surveys and earn points, each point is worth 1¢ and 1000 points are required to cash out.

Earnings: $10 since 9/26.

__________
Greenfield Online

Greenfield Online was slow for me this month, I didn't actually get a single $30 interactive survey like I usually do. I'm keeping them around though.

How it Works: Sign up, take surveys, earn cash!

Earnings: Since 9/26/09 I've earned $94.00 and cashed out $93. Greenfield Online Proof of Payment

Cash Out Req: None

__________
LightSpeed Panel

LightSpeed Panel has been a disappointment this month (again). I am still sitting at 2100 points as I have been since October because of the lack of surveys coming out to me. Once I hit 2300 I plan to take my cash and split unless things pick up quickly.

How it Works: Sign up, complete surveys, instantly earn your reward points, cash them out for whatever you'd like. Surveys credit immediately and you can cash out for different amounts in $5 increments.

Earnings: Since 9/30/09 I've earned 2100/2300 points required for a $20 PayPal deposit.

Cash Out Req: None, just accumulate enough points for the prize you want!

__________
Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost seems like a pretty solid site but it has been slow recently as well.

How it Works: Sign up, complete surveys and earn points. Each point is worth 10¢ and once you reach 50 points you can request an instant Amazon gift code or you can request a check.

Referrals: Opinion Outpost is one of the few sites that offers referral credit. You earn 20 points (or $2.00) for each member who joins the site and successfully completes a survey which is pretty impressive.

Earnings: Since 10/15/09 I've earned $24.30 but I haven't actually requested a payout yet, although I probably should have!

Cash Out Req: 50 points

__________
HCD Surveys

HCD Surveys has potential but it seems to be pretty slow. I haven't gotten a lof of surveys from them and I've been with them over 2 months. I assume December is just slow in general since all my survey sites were slow.

How it Works: Sign up, complete surveys and earn points. Each point is worth 1¢ and once you accumulate 1000 points you can request a check.

Referrals: HCD offers 50¢ for referrals. Unlike Opinion Outpost, your referrals don't have to complete a survey, they just have to complete their profile.

Earnings: Since 10/15/09 I've earned $5.70.

Cash Out Req: 1000 points or $10

December Goal Review

2009-12-30T12:38:00.001-05:00

With the closing of December comes my monthly "Goal Review" where I take a look at the month and decide whether or not I have done the things I set out to do. This month, overall I am pretty thrilled with my results. I still need to do a bit of tweaking, but considering this is my 3rd month back in the working from home world and my second month really trying to do freelance work, I am really happy.

1. Earn $400 this month. Check! This was completely blown out of the water. While I don't have the breakdown created yet, I do have pending total for the month. I am still waiting on one payment that should come through today and this doesn't count the checks I received, but right now my earnings stand at $1,154.31 for December! So much for it being a slow month!

That is after all the Elance and Paypal fees by the way. My net earnings totaled $1211.18 minus $56.87 in fees left me with $1154.31.

2. Manage and schedule my time better! Check! This one still needs a little work, but overall I have been doing a lot better. A fair number of my PTCs and GPTs suffered this month but that happened for a myriad of reasons including the fact that the holidays had me a bit busy.

I spent a few bucks on a planner, have been getting up at 6am pretty frequently to work before my family is up and have had a few days where I was totally finished working for the day before my significant other was home, even with breaks and naps ;)

While my scheduling still isn't perfect, it is definitely improving and I am on the right track. Even though I'm in denial about the new year, I'm still preparing for it and it looks like it is going to be amazing thanks to my new freelance work at home jobs/clients and you guys. I fully believe that I wouldn't be working as hard as I am if it weren't for this blog and all the great messages I get about how it's helping people.

Happy (almost) new year everyone!

Another Year is Coming to a Close

2009-12-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

I feel like 2009 can't possibly be over yet because it's gone so quickly, but clearly the calendar would be a better time keeper than I would.

The next few days will be incredibly busy as I put together the following:

December Digest
December Earnings
December Goal Review

You can also expect to see new goals and game plans for January and 2010 as a whole within the next week. I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished next year and can't wait to see how we all grow throughout the first year of the new decade.

Proof of Payment "Friday"

2009-12-27T16:12:00.006-05:00

All right, the Proof of Payment Friday post was postponed for obvious reasons, and Saturday was spent recovering, so here it is a couple days late. Please note, that this won't include any of of the payments from my private clients, but that tally will be included at the end of the month.

IMShopping: I received a payment from IMShopping on Monday as usual, although I won't be getting one this week since the holidays had me a bit tied up. This payment was for $30 which brings me up to $108.25 total with them. (Proof of Payment)

SurveyHead: I got my second payment from SurveyHead for $20 and already have enough funds available to request another payment from them! So far I have cashed out $45.50 from SurveyHead, and I have about another $40 waiting for my request. (Proof of Payment)

iRazoo: I got another $5 Amazon card from iRazoo. This one had been ordered on 11/20 and arrived on 12/19 so it took almost a full month. I've been slacking off here a lot as well, but I intend to pick back up at full speed now that I'm getting my schedule smoothed out. I'm now up to $20 worth of payments from iRazoo. (Proof of Payment)

PineCone Research: It was a slow week with PineCone, presumably because of the holidays. I did get one $3 PineCone Research payment this week in conjunction with a product testing survey I did. (Proof of Payment)

YouData: I got my weekly YouData Payment on Saturday (because of the holiday) it was just for 1¢ (Proof of Payment)

CloudCrowd: I had a few payments from Cloud Crowd this past week, I have to admit that I personally haven't been doing anything on their site. These little payments are just from people in my Crowd, not from me directly. I got three Cloud Crowd payments totaling 24¢ this past week. (Proof of Payment)

TrekPay: TrekPay updated, I've still been slacking but I think I've managed to find a good place to fit my GPTs in on my schedule again so I expect it to pick up a bit. Right now my tally with them is up to $6.37.

SurveySpot: I also received a $10 check from SurveySpot, but haven't had time to scan it yet. (I still wouldn't recommend this company based on my time spent with them though.)

Total: $63.25 (spendable cash only) from my side eggs this past week. Still below par for what I would like it to be, but when combined with my Freelance earnings, I honestly think my total for the month may break into 4 digits this month!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:01:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

The Thursday Tip Traid: 3rd Edition - Motivation

2009-12-24T09:08:00.011-05:00

"How do you stay motivated" is something that a lot of you have asked me so this weeks tips for freelancing will revolve around that very topic! Keeping your motivation and momentum as a freelancing work at home mom, or just a freelancer in general, can be a really trying effort. While not every motivation suggestion will work for everyone across the board, I have gone ahead and assembled a set of 3 tips that have helped me out personally when it comes to keeping my motivation up while doing freelance work from home.

1. Make a schedule! I'm not talking about a super strict by the minute schedule, but a simple and basic schedule can go a long way to help you stay motivated while working through all your freelance work at home jobs for the day.

I personally create a check list that ranges from 6am to 6pm each day Monday through Friday. I fill in each hour with a work at home/freelance job or client's name, the word "family" or anything else I may have to do for the day that is non work related. As I complete each task I scratch it off to give myself a feeling of accomplishment as my list shrinks before my eyes.

This also benefits you because you get to see how long it takes you to complete a task and you can easily adjust your schedule each day as you pick up speed!

2. Set goals! Setting goals for yourself is paramount to maintaining motivation while doing freelance work. What type of goals you set is up to you. You can do daily, weekly or monthly goals based on working a certain number of hours or earning a certain amount of money.

I opt for monthly monetary goals (as you all know already) and I also strive to do a little better each day at maintaining my schedule than I did the day before so that I can increase my productivity over time.

It is also important to adjust your goals regularly so that your freelance success can blossom and grow over time. If you have the same goals each week or month, your motivation will stagnate.

For example my long term goal set is something like this:
- Adjust my goals each month until I earn between $1,000 and $1,500.
- Wean down the amount of time I spend working to reach that amount.
- Re-raise my monetary goal again and repeat the cycle.

3. Think about the long term! You probably aren't starting up as a freelancer and working from home for grins and giggles. Chances are that you are doing it because you need the money. Keeping that in mind will keep you motivated and on the ball all throughout the month, even when things get rough.

It may help at times to think about the long term and what you will accomplish. Perhaps you will be able to get rid of those nasty school loans sooner, purchase a second vehicle for your family or start looking into buying a house once you have established your income as a freelance service provider.

Thinking about things like this will light a fire under your rear even in the darkest of times and keep your motivation at high levels. If you have trouble thinking of the long term, think back to a financially rough time in your life and consider the fact that you are preventing those rough moments from raining down on you again.

Finding motivational methods to keep you on the path to freelance working success will take a bit of trial and error, but it is well worth it in the long run. At this point I am well on my way to being able to make over $1000 a month which is more than I previously made during a month of work at my old virtual call center job. Now I am doing on my terms, creating my own schedule and choosing exactly what types of work I do.

While burnout does rear it's ugly head here and there, I just take a look at what I have accomplished as a freelancer after only a few short weeks and I think about what I can accomplish over the next year as well. With my daily to do list with each task scratched off, my goals in mind and the long term dream of being able to own a house - I have managed to increase my productivity and maintain motivation for my freelance career, even during the ugliest of times.

Wanelo Christmas Giveaway

2009-12-24T00:17:00.004-05:00

Warning - Slightly out of character post:

All right I know this is late, but for those who have kept up with Wanelo (WAnt NEed LOve) you probably know about their Christmas giveaway. If you don't you can read about it here. If you haven't signed up with them yet you really should. I put off making my list because I was worried that it wouldn't be good enough, but I think it came out all right in the end haha

I decided to enter and am crossing my fingers that I win. Just to make it a little more fun, I decided to quickly explain why I want each item, so in no particular order here it is with explanations:

Mattress Heating Pad: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - It's cold up here in PA and it's terrible climbing into bed just to shiver because the blankets are icy
HoneyWell Air Purifier: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - I don't know what it is about this apartment we have, but the dust is impossible to get away from and I'm thinking something like this would help. It doesn't matter how often I clean the dust literally settles immediately, it's terrible!
Media Cubbies/Closet Organizers: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - Apartment life with two readers and a toddler who has grandparents that spoil him with small gifts leads to clutter. We recently invested in a few cheap bookshelves but we still need more storage :(
Euro-Pro Shark: WAnt (Hope to) LOve - This isn't a need, just a convenience. Right now I clean the floor on my hands and knees with paper towels, which means I only clean it on special occasions lol
100 Years of Magic Treasure Chest: WAnt NEed LOve - This is like a dream come true for my SO and me... we want our son to get more involved with Disney movies and this is the most amazing way to do it. I've found it for $130-300 depending on the site but I don't know if any of them are reputable places to buy from.
Other DVD Sets: WAnt LOve - These are classics that every child should experience instead of Spongebob and Ed Edd and Eddy. I really miss the GOOD cartoons of our childhood.
ELF Make Up Kit: WAnt NEed - I can honestly say that I have never worn makeup outside of Halloween and stage performances in highschool. I am just too cheap to invest in it. ELF's price tag is right but I wouldn't even know what to buy to start off with!
CHI Blow Dryer: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - I've also never owned a blow dryer in my life which makes living in chilly PA really annoying. I have long thick hair so I have to shower hours before I can actually leave the house in order for it to dry.
Ginsu Knives and Kitchen Aid pans: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - Being young and on a budget my SO and I bought the cheapest kitchenware we could and a year later it's all warped, peeling and rusting.
Flip Mino: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - This thing looks perfect for me since it's small, portable and easy to use. I live 1000 miles away from my family and something like this would be an absolute blessing. I could carry it everywhere since it's so light weight and shoot tons of video of my son for my family back in Texas.
Panasonic Camera: WAnt - I have a perfectly good digi already, but I'm always looking to upgrade the pixel count haha
Armorhide Desk Set: WAnt LOve - While a planner isn't a must have for a freelancin' mama it does help. This one isn't exactly what I want but it's the closest I could find. I honestly rather have a breast cancer awareness one with a 1 page per day refill, but that set doesn't exist!
Sorel Winter boots: WAnt NEed (Hope to) LOve - After that storm that blew through here last week I realized that wearing Converse low tops in 12 inches of snow just doesn't cut it. I need a good pair of winter boots desperately, but I just can't bring myself to invest in them when we have bills and other things to take care of that we really can't live without.
Mini chest freezer: WAnt NEed LOve - I used to have one of these but had to leave it in Texas when I moved and I can't stand being without one. I can't afford to get one for myself but I keep dreaming anyways. Until then I have to make due with an undersized freezer that won't let me stock up on cheap meat!

PineCone Research

2009-12-22T16:39:00.002-05:00

All right! I know a lot of you have heard me talk about how great PineCone Research is but how annoying it is that they don't have open recruiting... Well, guess what I got in my email today?

PineCone Research Registration Link!

Now I'm not sure how long the link will work so you should sign up immediately with them if you have any interest in working with them.

Review: Each survey pays $3 and sometimes they send you samples of products as well. When you review the sample you get an additional $3. So far I have earned at least $20 with them and the pay is really prompt. Checks from PineCone Research generally arrive in around 3 business days and after a while you can use PayPal instead and most payments arrive within 24 hours.

(Proof of Payment)

What would you like to see?

2009-12-19T07:46:00.000-05:00

I'm open to suggestions for new weekly columns. Now that I'm cleaning up my posting routine, I was thinking it would be fun to get everyone involved and see if there was anything that you guys were really interested in seeing here.

As we have it, here are the regular posts:

Weekly:

Thursday - The Thursday Tip Triad (Tips for Freelancing)
Friday - The Pay Day Post!

Monthly:

Goals
Goal Check
Earnings Breakdowns
The Monthly Digest

If there is something that you are really itching to see me talk about, leave a comment with your input!

Pay Day!

2009-12-18T22:26:00.006-05:00

I now name today Proof of Payment Friday... even though this post is actually coming through on Saturday since it's now 12:10 on the East coast.

Since Friday is the most commonly accepted pay day, I've decided to make it my official proof of payment posting day. This means that every Friday I will post all my payment proof updates from the week before. I figure it will be a lot neater and more convenient for you to see all the different proof of payment updates at once instead of splattered throughout the week.

It's been a while since I've done my Proof of Payment update so this is a bit of a long one:

YouData: I've received two payments from them since my last update, one on 12/11 for 5¢ and a second today for 21¢. (Proof of Payment)

IMShopping: I received a payment from them on 12/14 for $20.00 and I'm expecting another one this Monday as well. I really have to say that their community manager goes out of her way to help their contractors out, and that's been especially true this holiday season. If you haven't gotten involved with IMShopping yet, now is as good a time as any. Start asking and answering questions now so you can be considered for the next round of hiring! (Proof of Payment)

Pinecone Research: I really like this site. I get a couple surveys every week that promptly pay $3 each and sometimes I get a product to test out which leads to another $3 survey. It truly is a lot of fun doing things for them. I also just got upgraded to a being a paypal member which means no more annoying checks also! I've gotten 3 payments from them since my last update so $9 total and a new product to test. (Proof of Payment) Two payments were through PayPal on the same day, the other was by check, but I can't actually find that check at the moment so it isn't in the PoP folder yet...

Swagbucks: Thanks to the Swagstravaganza I have picked up a total of 8 more cards with them in the last week. Four $5 Amazon cards that were minimally discounted and four $5 cards for RedEnvelope that were discounted as well. That brings my earnings with them up to $30 in Amazon cards and $20 in other cards. (Proof of Payment)

Wanelo: I also received my $25 Reward for having the best Santa's List collection! I really do love the Wanelo community. (Proof of Payment)

On top of this I've been really busy with my writing and other work. I'm not sure what my numbers are at for the month but I feel like I'm going to finish up pretty close to where I did last month. I had a lag in work for about a week but now things seem to be picking back up again.

The Thursday Tip Triad

2009-12-17T21:36:00.005-05:00

Installment two in the new Thursday Tip column is a bit late again, in hindsight it also might have been better to dub it Freelance Friday - but I've already committed to making it a Thursday post!

Today's freelance job hunting tips will revolve around finding clients. I briefly touched on how to build a client base last week but this time I will focus fully on providing you with a few pieces of information that will help you build a freelance client base without any investment.

1. Use forums! I have found several long term clients through the use of public forums like those on the WAHM website. It is vital that you proceed with caution when dealing with any new client, especially those found on sites like that one, but you will generally get a feel for whether or not it is a scam immediately. I have found clients that I write for, do propagation for and advertise for among other things.

2. Use freelance sites! I know that some of them might not seem very impressive but they are still worth checking out. The clients I have that didn't come from forums came from sites like Elance and the business I have found through them has proven to be very lucrative. While it can be intimidating to get started on a site like Elance, it is a very simple process that can be very rewarding as I've shown through the copies of my account history with them.

Do what you can to flesh out your profile on each freelance site with a simple picture of yourself (nothing flashy), a description of services you provide and a small bio. Letting your possible clients get to know a bit about you can really win them over.

3. Promote yourself shamelessly! If you have a business website or even a well developed profile at a site like Elance with some built up feedback on it, or just a blog - use it to your advantage! Include it in your signatures on forums, your profiles on social networks and anywhere else that gives you an option to include and display a website. The more you get your name out there, the more you work you will get in return. If you hide your services from the public you will find that it much harder for your work at home career to flourish.

Working from home and building a client base as a freelance writer, virtual assistant or data entry assistant is something that you can do. The key is to remain patient, persistent and optimistic. If you keep offering your services to different people you will see your client list blossom over time and you will soon be able to enjoy working from home as a freelancer.

$500 Give Away!

2009-12-15T11:00:00.003-05:00

I usually don't advertise giveaways that other people post but this one looked like something that anyone can benefit from especially this month so I thought I'd spread the word:

Visit Money Saving Mom's blog for a chance to win one of five $100 gift cards to the shop of your choice (from a list of over 100 stores).

Updates

2009-12-14T16:54:00.002-05:00

Things have been oh so hectic. Apparently on top of the holidays, my SO's family has half their birthdays in December and I had forgotten about... plus the firehouse does a lot of charity work during December which leaves me and my 4 year old bundle of energy stuck indoors by ourselves a lot more than usual.

I did want to say that I took advantage of the gift card sale that Swagbucks was having and bought 4 discounted Amazon cards (saved 20 SBs which is almost 1/2 of another card) bringing my total with them up to $30 with over 100 SB left over.

My scheduling goal is chugging a long like the little engine that could but hasn't quite made it over the hill yet. I have been using a small notepad to schedule my tasks from 6am-6pm and I'm managing to finish most things in their allotted time slots, but not everything. I have been royally slacking on remembering to do iRazoo, TrekPay, NeoBux etc though so I think I need to actually schedule them in so I won't forget.

Coming Soon: More Proof of Payment for IMShopping and Pinecone Research.

Swagbucks Sale

2009-12-12T15:55:00.002-05:00

For those who have been watching the gift card sale from Swagbucks, they have finally put up the $5 Amazon Card at a discount. It's very minor and only a 5 SB discount, but it's still not terrible.

You can only grab two cards per day so I just snatched my two and am hoping that the timer resets at midnight so I can grab two more!

Freelance Work

2009-12-10T23:35:00.003-05:00

Freelance work might sound like something you are incapable of, but I promise you that it's not. If I had known how simple it was I would have started doing it much sooner than I did. It has really been a great source of income for my family and I'm only getting started. There's not a day that goes by where I don't regret how long it took me to take the plunge and seriously start hunting down freelance work.
I had a bit of an ordeal today (accidentally locked myself out of the apartment!) so this is up later than I'd intended but I wanted to get this post up before I go to sleep.

Tips for Freelancing (The new Thursday tradition!)

1. Sell yourself. You can't get clients if you don't put yourself out there. The more you offer your services the more clients you will get. Don't get me wrong they won't come raining down on you but you won't get any at all if you don't try. I would say that I typically pick up 1 in every 10-15 clients I make a proposal to. I don't know if that's above or below average but I am happy with it.

2. Use freelance sites and message boards. There are oodles of them out there and chances are that if you are looking at this blog you are already on wahm.com using their forums. I have gotten a few solid clients from there that provide me with over $200 in income a month. I've also had a lot of success with Elance, which I showed last month by posting my payments page from them.

3. Don't sell yourself short. I have gotten plenty of jobs with Zero experience and you can too. It is important to be honest with the prospective client though, don't tell them you know what you are doing if you don't. Instead tell them you are "inexperienced but are a quick study and can follow directions with great ease".

Get More Tips for Freelancing next Thursday!

Finding Clients

2009-12-09T17:28:00.002-05:00

I have had a lot of people ask me who my clients are and where they came from. I can't actually answer the first half of that question (privacy issues) but I can answer the second half...

I'll have a post up later today or tomorrow giving everyone a few pointers and I'll expand on my experiences some!

Wanelo!

2009-12-08T18:03:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I ever announced it but I made the first string of Wanelo Super!moms, and the second set was just announced so congrats to you guys :)

On top of that I just won my second Wanelo contest! I haven't been rewarded yet, but I know they're good for it.

View my winning collection Here!

Proof of Payment

2009-12-08T11:35:00.003-05:00

Here are a few payments that have already come in for December!

YouData 12/4 - 39¢ (Proof of Payment)
iRazoo 12/5 - $5 Amazon card which was requested on 11/10, bringing my total up to $15 out of $25 received (Proof of Payment)
Greenfield Online 12/7 - $30.00 for my Interactive Survey on Nov. 18th (Proof of Payment)

A Quick Note

2009-12-07T01:18:00.004-05:00

I am expecting to make a major layout change tomorrow that will move the earnings on the left sidebar to a nice little categorized box in the middle of the page. I'll be looking for feedback on this change, so don't be afraid to let me know what you think!

There will also be a Proof of Payment update and a few other updates tomorrow... this was just a super busy weekend with the holidays and a family member's birthday celebration as well. I haven't forgotten about you guys though so don't worry ;)

December Goals

2009-12-04T17:02:00.001-05:00

All right I'm sorry these are up so late, but here they are! I decided to opt for fewer goals this month so that I can really focus on them and hopefully get into a good routine, so they are super basic.

1. Earn $400 this month. This one was preset at the very beginning of the blog, so the amount is going to stay the same. I am going to try a lot harder to earn a lot more with my side eggs this month which leads me to goal two...

2. Manage and schedule my time better! If I can balance my time better then I can earn more.... it is as simple as that. Unfortunately, I am finding it a lot harder than expected to do that, but I know that it's a task that many of us have issues with. I hope to be able to find some good time management methods that can benefit me, and everyone else as well.

November Goal Review

2009-12-03T20:39:00.002-05:00

Overall I did well for the month, but I don't feel that I met all of my goals. Two of them were met with no questions asked, but two were not up to par in my eyes. I'll have to try harder in December!

1. To earn $300 worth of spendable cash by the end of the month. That means that only money that makes it to my bank account or PayPal account will be included in the tally.
Check! I totaled $777.28 during the month of November, however I would have liked to have earned $300 from non private gigs.

2. Create (and consistently utilize) a daily schedule so I can maximize my earnings.
Huge Fail! I could call this a success but I think I would be selling myself and you short if I did.
While I did meet my monetary goal, my scheduling still needs a lot of work. I feel like I could have earned more from my little eggs than I did because I was spending too much time on private hire work. I made $174.61 from my little eggs, which isn't terrible but I am not pleased. I need to find a better scheduling method for myself so I can reach my $400 monthly goal without counting client income.

3. Sign up with a freelance writing site and write at least 4 articles during the month to start getting my feet wet.
Semi Fail. I signed up with TextBroker and wrote 2 articles so I did about 60% of this goal. Overall this month I wrote well over 50 articles for private clients though.

4. Find a new private contract freelance gig.
Check! I managed this one with flying colors.
Private clients for the month included:
Two weekly propagation projects for different clients
One content writing project
One full service niche blog development client (writing, posting, marketing, etc)
One ad posting client
One virtual assistant position (was temporary and is now finished)
One unofficial propagation client

Of all of those 7 clients, 5 are ongoing projects (no end date known yet), one no longer needs my services, and the other is unofficial but ongoing... so that's not bad overall.

November Earnings Breakdown

2009-12-01T15:43:00.012-05:00

As usual, this post will consist of what I received during November that was actually spendable, not pending or accruing payments.

Paid through PayPal:
$565.64 minus $16.66 in fees nets $548.98 from PayPal.

Paid through eLance:
$250.20 minus $21.90 in fees nets $228.30 from eLance.
Total: $815.84 in earnings and $38.56 in fees for a total income of $777.28! Not bad for my second month, granted a LOT of the income came from private jobs I'm still really happy.
Here's the breakdown by program for deposits this month:

IMShopping $58.25 Proof of Payment
YouData 49¢ Proof of Payment
Cloud Crowd $4.40 Proof of Payment
Wanelo $30.00 Proof of Payment
Greenfield Online $32.00 Proof of Payment
AroundMe $23.97 Proof of Payment (one time deal)
SurveyHead $25.50 Proof of Payment
Private Clients $602.67

I also received $20 in Amazon gift cards from SwagBucks (Proof of Payment) and iRazoo (Proof of Payment), but that doesn't actually count towards my totals since it isn't cash.

I expect December to be a bit slower because one project was temporary and came to an end, and another is on hiatus for the holidays, but should resume in January. Overall I'm super thrilled at what I achieved last month monetarily.

It feels amazing to be able to shop for little odds and ends that aren't dire necessities. As a matter of fact, I've already finished almost all of our son's Christmas shopping, and thanks to that SeeHere promotion I have the beginnings of some Christmas presents for the rest of the family as well.

I did reach my goal in terms of cash made, but I need to work on some of my non private eggs a bit more in the future so I can reach $100 a week with them alone. I just need to work on my time management a bit more to be able to do that.

Coming soon, November Goal Review and December Goals. You will also see more layout changes in the future... after making that header (and not finishing the links) I've decided to opt for a different style menu instead.

November Digest

2009-12-01T13:57:00.004-05:00

Because of the length of the post, I have gone about listing in a special manner. To view the entire post, click the red link below:

Here we go again! The end of the month means another "digest" reviewing everything I've worked with so far, however my monthly earnings will be addressed separately...

Grab a drink and relax while you read about how things are panning out with each program.

Please note that some of the Proof of Payment links have not been updated yet, but will be today.

__________
~*~Gift Cards and Gift Sites~*~
These are the sites I've been working with that offer their rewards in gift cards and prizes.
--------------

iRazoo

Review: iRazoo is a simple GPT site that rewards user that use their search engine. You can earn 300 points per day, and a $5 Amazon card only costs 3000 points. Without ever referring another person you can earn $15 a month which totals up to $180 a year which is a pretty hefty chunk of Amazon cash....

....see the full post here!

VistaPrint

2009-12-01T10:12:00.004-05:00

Save 25-50% off on custom printed products at VistaPrint. Order today!

All right, so I've been hearing about VistaPrint for a really long time and I finally broke down and checked it out today... it's AWESOME.

Since I've been doing so much freelance and IC work I've been on the market for some basic mailing products (labels, stamps etc) and I decided to visit the Vista print site today to see what I could come up with.

I walked away with:
250 Business cards
280 Return address labels (two styles 140 of each)
A rubber return address stamp
A 50 page note pad
And a code for a free online Quickbooks accounts so I can track my income in a better manner (this could probably be found anywhere though)

My total? $10.43 for shipping, that's it!

I'm so hyped that I'm going to go order a set of things for my boyfriend now haha

Thank you iRazoo and SwagBucks

2009-11-30T08:36:00.003-05:00

I finally used my iRazoo and SwagBucks Amazon gift cards for a bit of Christmas shopping. I ended up with a total of $20 off my order... If I had all my iRazoo cards, my order would have been almost free haha

Little T will be pleased to see that Santa brought him two Lego Indiana Jones playsets, and I'm pleased that it only cost Santa $14.99 thanks to iRazoo and SwagBucks!

I only wish that I had gotten involved with these sites earlier instead of snubbing SwagBucks for so long!

November Digest and December Goals coming today or tomorrow at the latest!

SeeHere Update

2009-11-28T23:39:00.002-05:00

Well, I finally got around to taking advantage of those codes, and I realized that there is really no reason in the world for me to get 100 cards printed up...

In the end I used the 100 free prints code, but I did more than 100 prints so the extras were 12¢ each and I used one card code for 50 Christmas cards. My total for shipping and the excess prints was $15, less than $7 of that was actually shipping.

This certainly made Christmas a bit easier this year. Now I don't have to spend $50 on Santa pictures so everyone can have one!

LiveWork

2009-11-27T19:58:00.003-05:00

For those who have followed the blog for a while, you know that I did the 64¢ LiveWork query questions and was paid for them roughly two months ago.

Since then I've been waiting for a new set to be posted, and it appears that new ones have. They are only hiring up to 1000 workers for the project so if you are interested in signing on with them, you should visit the LiveWork site, sign up and apply now!

Best of luck!

((Today the SwagBucks deal card is the $10 Barnes and Noble gift card, it's on sale for 99 SBs instead of 125.))

2009-11-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

How I'm Doing It (Earning at Home)

Snow, Health and a New Job in 2011!

Happy 2011!

Happy Holidays!

SurveyHead is Still a Keeper

Getting Caught Up...

Back in the Saddle Again!

March Earnings Breakdown

April 5th Already?

Another One Bites the Dust

Do You Have *SPRINGFEVER*?

I'm Alive!

SwagBucks Sale

Pay Day (3/13 - 3/19)

Thursday Tip Triad #13: Variety is the Spice of Life

Break Studios

I'm on the Prowl

Pay Day (3/6 - 3/12)

Thursday Tip Triad #12: Fighting Off Distractions

Another Thumbs Up for iRazoo

The Niche Blogger - Update Part 1

What a weekend!

Scholarship Approved!

The Niche Blogger Scholarships

Pay Day (2/27 - 3/5)

Thursday Tip Triad #11: The Three Steps to Freelancing

Asking for your Input...

March Goals

February Goal Check

February Earnings Breakdown

Why My February Gets Two Thumbs Down

Newest iRazoo Updates - Better Than Before?

Pay Day (2/20 - 2/26)

What. A. Day.

SwagBucks Birthday Celebration

VistaPrint Blow Out Sale

R.I.P. IMReportCard

How Much Does Your Blog Earn?

Pay Day (2/13 - 2/19)

Thursday Tip Triad #10: Keeping Your Sanity

No More Snow!

Pay Day (2/6 - 2/12)

Super Sale at VistaPrint (2 Day Sale)

Thursday Tip Triad #9: Simple Organization Tips

Greenfield Online/Toluna vs SurveyHead

iRazoo, Why did you do it?

Pay Day (1/30 - 2/5)

Thursday Tip Triad #8: The More the Merrier

February Goals

January Goal Check

January Earnings Breakdown

Motivational Monday: Time Management Tips for the Work at Home Mom

Pay Day (1/23 to 1/29)

Thursday Tip Triad #7: Formatting Your Bid

I'm actually blushing...

Celebrating!

All Caught Up... Almost...

Pay Day!

Getting Crafty With It

Thursday Tip Triad #6: How to Price Your Proposal

January Woes

Pay Day!

Thursday Tip Triad #5: Forming Proposals When Bidding

Where did January go?

December Earnings Breakdown

Pay Day!

Thursday Tip Triad #4

A New Design for 2010

January Goals

Motivational Monday

A New Year Means New Goals

Get Featured!

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

December Digest

December Goal Review

Another Year is Coming to a Close

Proof of Payment "Friday"

Merry Christmas!

The Thursday Tip Traid: 3rd Edition - Motivation

Wanelo Christmas Giveaway

Do You Have SPRINGFEVER?