Tory Johnson's Work-From-Home Tips

Become a Virtual Publicist

Technology has made it possible for thousands of virtual public relations firms to exist nationwide, all of which are eager to identify experienced communications and marketing professionals who are diligent in their work habits but also crave the flexibility of a home base.

Among them: Perkett PR, Bisbee and Company, PartnerCentric, Orca Communications, and Wasabi Publicity, just to name a few. If you're a seasoned PR pro, contact them with your capabilities and availability.

You should also consider starting your own virtual PR firm. If you're experienced in promotions, event planning, writing, pitching, media contact management, crisis communications or strategic planning, there's a good chance your services are in demand.

Without expensive office overhead, you can offer competitive prices while making a hefty profit. Create a Web site that promotes your abilities, and start spreading the word. Since you're in PR, you no doubt know how to toot your own horn.

Telemarketing Opportunities

Many companies and organizations outsource their cold-calling campaigns to third parties. Those third parties hire full-time and temporary workers -- many of whom work from home -- to place those calls with specific goals in mind.

You may be required to persuade contacts to book an appointment, commit to making a donation, or agree to try a product or service. Your calls could also be focused on debt collection.

Typically you'll receive an hourly base pay, plus performance-based commission. While some training is provided, applicants are expected to have some high-quality customer-service and/or cold-calling experience.

Among the companies to explore: Telereach.com, Intrep.com, and West.com. You should also search online for home-based telemarketing positions on the big job boards and the major search engines. Do not pay for leads; you should be able to find employers that are hiring without paying a middleman for access to that information.

Guide Users Online

Use your subject-area expertise to make money assisting others who are in need of that knowledge.

Chacha.com is a new search engine that is similar to Yahoo or Google, but users have the ability to request the free help of a live guide. That live guide is sitting at home making money while he or she assists with the online search. Learn how you can make $5 to $10 per hour, which can be paid to you via debit card or direct deposit, at chacha.com.

About.com offers qualified applicants the opportunity to become guides if they have proven expertise in a topic area. As a guide, you're responsible for publishing a full-length article every 14 days and you must update your blog at least three times per week. Anyone can apply, but you must pass a 17-day self-guided online training program to familiarize yourself with About's tools and demonstrate your knowledge of the process.

Successful guides never make less than $500 per month, according to About.com, and some guides can earn upwards of $100,000 a year for popular, high-trafficked sections. Visit the getting started guide on About.com for details.

On JustAnswer.com, users agree to pay for experts to answer their questions. If you have an expertise -- from gardening to genealogy -- you can agree to answer questions for a price. The site then pays you based on accepted answers.

Become an Online Tutor

If you graduated from a college or university in this country or in Canada, or you're a current student at an accredited school, and you have expertise in English, math, science or social studies, you could make money as an online tutor.

You must be able to convey key information to students of all ages -- generally fourth grade through college level -- in an online environment. That means teaching mathematical formulas and chemistry equations to a kid through cyberspace, rather than face-to-face instruction.

Visit www.tutor.com to learn how you can make $10 an hour or more working five hours to 30 hours a week from home. To find other online tutoring opportunities, or to learn how to start your own online tutoring business, do a Google search using the keywords "online tutor" and research dozens of options based on your availability and subject-area expertise.

Get Paid to Write or Edit

A handful of Web sites pay for articles, but unless they're commissioning your original work, you won't make big bucks. Associatedcontent.com pays around $10 per approved/published piece. Helium.com is another option that rewards prolific writers, and both sites are a good way to build an online portfolio of published work while making some money at the same time.

Myessays.com allows essay writers to sell their original work starting at $10 for a short paper, and up to more than $100 for comprehensive work. Writerfind.com lists a range of freelance opportunities for experienced writers to pursue on their own.

Another option is freelance writing for magazines, trade publications, newsletters or local newspapers. If you've developed a specialty or have a particular interest in a single topic -- film, fashion, food, travel -- many Web sites and small publications work only with freelancers and regularly look for writers to do reviews on products or new releases, ranging in topic from electronics to beauty.

Contact the editors of the publications you'd like to work for. (Their names and contact information can typically be found on the masthead or Web site.) Ask for their writers guidelines and be ready to submit samples of your work. (This is also where links to your work from the two sites listed above can come in handy.) We hire freelance writers for our company's magazine, which is published three times a year. All of them have come to us unsolicited with their writing samples and story suggestions.

Compensation varies based on your experience. Novices might have to accept free products or press passes for their work. Experienced writers can expect to make anywhere from fifty cents to $2 per word. For multiple articles, you might settle on a flat rate.

Apply for freelance work on sites such as Cyberedit.com, which hires professional writers for a range of projects including resume writing and document proofing. Editfast.com also hires experienced editors, writers and proofreaders.

Maximize Online Job Boards

The big job boards like HotJobs.com, CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com are filled with thousands of work-from-home opportunities. SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com compile positions from a wide variety of sources. The key is to search all of these Web sites by using the words "virtual" or "home-based" when looking for opportunities advertised online.

TheLadders.com, which focuses on positions paying in more than $100,000 annually and requires a monthly fee to join, features a wide range of senior-level positions from home in sales, technology, finance and marketing. You can also promote your own skills and abilities on Web sites such as Guru.com to enable employers to find you. Craigslist.com and Backpage.com are two sites that post local listings for a wide range of freelance opportunities.

As with any advertised opportunity, you must do your homework to determine if something's right for you. That means talking to a live person and not just relying on an e-mail exchange to learn in-depth about the requirements, challenges and potential earning power. Don't be fooled by postings that promise big bucks for minimal effort. If it were that easy, we'd all be working in those jobs!

Use Your Language Skills as a Translator

If you are a native speaker of a foreign language, then becoming a freelance translator could be a great opportunity. Several companies need documentation translated for international partners and hire freelance translators through companies like Welocalize, Language Translation, Inc. , Accurapid.com, Telelanguage.com, Sdl.com.

Most companies require applicants to take a written test and sign a non-disclosure agreement. Precision and accuracy is a must. Companies who hire freelance translators prefer candidates who are native speakers of the target language, have experience with professional documents, software or multimedia translations, and are members of a professional translation association.

The most in-demand services include translation from English to Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Italian.

This is another business you can start on your own if you have the skills and are able to network effectively to land a client. A major corporate client can keep you busy full-time and smaller businesses would likely offer project work here and there.

Become a Virtual Assistant

Oftentimes small business owners and mid- to executive-level professionals need a personal assistant but cannot afford to hire one on a full-time basis or simply don't have the space in their offices. Therefore, they hire people from remote locations to do their administrative work for them.

Virtual assistants can handle bookkeeping, administrative duties, travel arrangements, transcription and correspondence, and other support services that can be done remotely via e-mail and phone.

A search on Google using keywords "virtual assistant" will generate results for many independent contractors. Some will outsource a share of their workload. Check out virtualassistantjobs.com and teamdoubleclick.com. The International Virtual Assistants Association may be a valuable resource.

You should also consider starting a similar business on your own. Be your own boss, set your own hours, and acquire clients through self-promotion and marketing. Networking and referrals are your best bets for landing clients. Create an e-mail about your services and send it to everyone you know -- and ask them to forward it along to everyone they know.