Halina’s story is both exciting and inspiring and I’m thrilled to hear of her success. Be sure to show her some love in the comments section.

Halina writes…

How Writing for “Content Mills” Allowed Me to Quit My Job and Become a Full-Time Freelance Writer

Two days ago, I resigned from my job at a biotech firm. It’s been a good ride for these past 5+ years, but it’s time to move on. I must say, my resignation left many questions in my coworkers minds!

I have no other “official” job lined up at the moment. I have told almost nobody in my family about my resignation; folks would think I’m crazy to give up a good-paying and benefits-laden job for what I’m about to embark upon. And yet, in the midst of my fears about how I’m going to handle private health insurance, mortgage bills, etc., I feel excitement…an excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time. This can only be the feeling that one gets when one is about to start a business of her own.

What is the business that I am starting? Why, it’s none other than my sole proprietorship, Haelix Communications (HC). The nature of HC’s business will be freelance and general writing on-demand.

Of course, I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide that I was going to quit my job and become a freelance writer. No, this decision is the result of 10+ years of writing privately and for work, conversing with other bloggers and writers, and attending many upon many networking events for entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, I also created my personal finance website, Your Money and Debt, took up affiliate marketing (check out Gelato-Maker sometime), and wrote extensively for so-called “content mills”. After all these years, I point to content mills as being the biggest reason why I can afford to quit my current job and go solo.

In early 2007, I started writing for a forum site called myLot. Although the pay was miniscule (~$0.01/post), I was thrilled that a website would actually pay me for posting to its forums. One day, while perusing site topics to comment on, I came across a post discussing the writing site Associated Content (AC). It sounded decent enough, so I applied to AC and started writing.

My first submitted article to AC netted me $14, an amount that would’ve taken several months to compile on myLot. I was hooked. I started writing on every topic imaginable and submitting my content as fast as possible. When AC introduced page view payments, things got even better; my monthly page view earnings went from $5 to $25 to even $40 per month. It wasn’t long before I was dreaming of retiring and becoming a full-time AC writer.

Then, about six months into my AC stint, my earnings per article were cut dramatically. I started receiving $5, $4 and sometimes under $3 for my content. It became apparent that writing for AC was no longer worth my time and I began looking elsewhere.

Through various review articles posted on AC, I became aware of Constant Content (CC) and Examiner. CC accepted content that was submitted on behalf of specific client requests; the site also accepted “free form” content for sale. The best thing about CC was the fact that I could set my own rates and author rights. The worst thing about CC was that the site took one-third of my earnings from the article sale price. Also, some clients would request time- or subject-specific content and then never buy the content I created. This led to my wasting a lot of time with CC writing requests, at least until I figured out that I should stop writing for specific client requests and just submit “evergreen” content that anyone would want to purchase.

Examiner was another bag entirely. The site paid only via page views. Since Examiner is well known in journalistic circles, my pay per article was initially quite high. Then, just like with AC, Examiner underwent some kind of Google reconfiguration. My 50+ articles, each of which earned me a buck per month, went to earning me maybe 10 cents per month. It became fruitless to continue writing for Examiner, unless I just wanted to broadcast some big news.

I kept looking for new writing sites with which to sign on. I tried Helium but didn’t like how member earnings were determined by votes. I also tried HubPages, InfoBarrel, Demand Studios, and Triond. Through I’ve Tried That’s Free Directory of Online Money Making Opportunities, I found out about and later posted a review of Textbroker, a freelance writing site that can fetch $0.05 per word or more. To this day, I write content for Textbroker; it is by far one of my best money-making writing sites.

An interesting phenomenon occurred every now and then: potential freelance writing clients would contact me directly using either my personal finance or Haelix Communications websites. The clients were finding me through my published content on sites such as AC, Examiner, InfoBarrel and HubPages. I began obtaining direct writing assignments from these clients, and often for a higher rate of pay too. This got me thinking about the amount of clients and money I needed per month in order to “retire” from my current job. Given that I already generated as much as $1K from certain clients and ”content mills”, my proposed retirement might be possible. The question I now had was, how could I empirically determine if freelance writing would support me financially?

Looking at my monthly expenses, I knew that my mortgage bill of $930 took the biggest bite out of my income. There were also monthly utility bills totaling about $400 per month. I added up my income from AC, Google, my websites and Examiner and decided to track it for a period of four months. This would help me understand if I could survive without my current job. My reasoning was that if I earned enough money to at least pay off my mortgage every month, then working full time at my freelance writing “gig” would provide enough of an income for me to quit my job.

The breakdown of my earnings outside of my regular job for the next four months were as follows:

When I added up all of my earnings from the above noted freelance writing and freelance writing-related activities, the total amount was $3,771.69, which worked out to $942.92 per month. I had earned enough money to actually pay off my monthly mortgage.

What happened next? Well, I didn’t just quit my job the next day. Instead, I continued tracking my freelance writing earnings month-by-month, making sure that I could make it if a client “fired” me or otherwise terminated my contract. I also began looking for more long-term writing projects with magazines and periodicals. Interestingly enough, one of the “content mills” that I’d all but given up on, AC, was acquired by Yahoo! and started sending very lucrative writing assignments to its more seasoned writers. As a result, I was able to pick up an extra $200-$300 per month just from AC alone.

Inevitably, I felt confident enough in my skills as a freelance writer to announce my resignation at work. This was a scary, and yet an incredibly exhilarating moment in my life. I have no regrets, and I look forward to my new career.

-Halina Zakowicz
Haelix Communications

The point of this post is to show you that every little bit of earnings add up. Some people seem to think that online surveys aren’t worth their time. Here’s proof that even if you get paid a few bucks here and there, you can still pull some nice extra side cash each month.

The best part? Everything on this list is FREE to join.

To the proof!

SurveySavvy

SurveySavvy was one of the first programs I started recommending when I’ve Tried That was just beginning. Four years later, I’m STILL collecting checks regularly from them. The surveys are fairly easy to do and they do pay out very nicely. They also give you the option to take more “in-depth” surveys and participate in research studies. I’ve been paid $60 just to track what I drank for a week. Not bad at all.

Click here and sign up at SurveySavvy now!

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is another paying survey program with a frequency similar to SurveySavvy. However, at Opinion Outpost, you get rewarded with points for completing surveys. You can use those points to redeem cash or prizes. They slightly differ from SurveySavvy because SS pays in cash only. At Opinion Outpost there is an extra step involved, but you can still get paid in cash. Join!

Click here and sign up at Opinion Outpost now!

American Consumer Opinion

Similar to SurveySavvy and Opinion Outpost, but as you can see, the surveys are a little less frequent. The good news is that surveys do come in and you do get paid! It’s still a must-join from me.

Click here and sign up at American Consumer Opinion now!

BigCrumbs

With BigCrumbs, you can get money back on nearly anything you buy online. BigCrumbs has setup an affiliate program with hundreds of different online stores like Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Macys, or even Walmart. You use BigCrumb’s affiliate link just before purchasing and they receive a percentage of your purchase as commission for referring you to the sale. BigCrumbs then will give you a cut of the affiliate commission as a thank you for using their link. As you can see, I saved an extra $15 just by clicking through BigCrumbs first. Highly recommended with Black Friday/Cyber Monday coming up!

Click here and sign up at BigCrumbs now!

InstantCashSweepstakes

Instant Cash Sweepstakes is a market research business that will reward you for taking part in short online polls. Every poll consists of three questions and takes only a few seconds to complete. The polls are a mix between member created questionnaires and polls created by businesses interested in seeing answers from a specific demographic. You can take part in up to 5 polls every three hours.

The easiest way to make money is to just keep taking the polls. You can randomly be selected to win a handful of change at the end of each poll. (Another bonus tip: consistency in your answers will also allow you to take more polls per 3-hour block, so be honest!) The polls are fun and they’re a great way to kill some time during the day if you get bored. You just need to log in and remember to take them!

Click here and sign up at InstantCashSweepstakes now!

PaidViewpoint

PaidViewpoint is a relatively new company that I’ve been recommending lately. This is actually the first time I’ve been paid by them. It’s run by the same company that operates InstantCashSweepstakes. They are a market research company paying you to participate in surveys. It does sound familiar, but PaidViewpoint is putting a fresh spin on things, including guaranteed payments for every survey you’re invited to. Seriously, you can’t get kicked out of a survey halfway through because you don’t “qualify.” Oh, and you automatically get $1.00 just for signing up.

Click here and sign up at PaidViewpoint now!

Use this code when signing up for an extra cash bonus: itriedthat

ClixSense

Clixsense pays you to look at ads and websites. All you have to do is click on a link, look at a website, wait a few seconds, and you’ll get money deposited into your account. This is probably the easiest way to make money on this list. As you can expect, it doesn’t pay as well as the others, but it’s still a great way to make some extra money in your spare time. If you join Clixsense, I highly recommend upgrading to the Premium Level. This will allow you to view hundreds more ads and will quickly pay for itself. Remember to refer your friends and family. This one allows for referrals 8 levels deep. Start building that downline!

Click here and sign up at Clixsense now!

SwagBucks

This one is a personal favorite of mine. SwagBucks awards you simply for using their search engine. Every time you search, there’s a chance you might win SwagBucks and you can redeem SwagBucks in their marketplace for money, gift certificates, or thousands of other items. Just think how many times per day you use a search engine like Google or Yahoo. Google.com used to be my home page, but I switched it to Swagbucks after I joined. I’m getting the exact same search results, only now I’m slowly making money by doing so.

I cash out $25 in Amazon gift cards every month. You can redeem your SwagBucks for cash as well. I like the Amazon gift cards because they’re less SwagBucks per dollar and I shop there frequently.

Click here and sign up at SwagBucks now!

CashCrate

Finally, we have a program called CashCrate. Really, it’s a giant compilation of this list rolled into one program. You can get paid for answering surveys, participating in polls, viewing sponsor ads, shopping etc. I tend to avoid completing offers for cash. I believe it’s not worth the hassle. Instead of rambling on about the features of this one, you really just need to click through and check out the website yourself.

Click here and sign up at CashCrate now!

The Bottom Line

The bottom line on this one is simple and when added up, it comes out to…

$301.87!

That’s an extra $300 I made this month. So far. Starting to see the value in ‘get paid to’ sites? Individually it may not seem like a lot, but when you add everything up, it’s pretty clear that you can make a nice chunk of extra change each month.

Don’t overlook this post! Be productive! Go back and click on every single Sign Up link I posted above. Like I said, everything here is free to join and will certainly help out each month.

When I started working from home four and a half years ago, there were two things I absolutely needed. The first I already had: a laptop. Until you get acclimated to the day-to-day operations of your from-home job a laptop is preferable to a desktop, since it affords you maneuverability. The other item: a smartphone. This was back in 2007, before everyone started carrying one, but I’d need one nonetheless. If I’m working from home I’m going to set my own hours, I reasoned. Setting my own hours means I might be out while an important email comes through. I can’t be caught off-guard. And so I upgraded my crappy flip phone to a BlackBerry.

Since then I’ve sought to get every last drop out of my BlackBerry. Part of that is because I run a BlackBerry website that focuses on practical uses for the device. The other part is that I don’t want my $30 monthly data plan to bring me only email and web browsing. No, I want to make sure that I’m getting my money’s worth. For me it has meant making the BlackBerry a personal assistant of sorts. I store all sorts of lists on there, including my grocery list. I use it to record everything I buy. I’ve even used it to help me lose 40 pounds in a year. It’s safe to say that the BlackBerry data plan pays for itself many times over.

Yet I was struck by a strange feeling after getting the new BlackBerry Montana*. It’s a great device — without a doubt the best BlackBerry ever released. That got me excited. But then another thought struck me. Is this really necessary? For me, sure. After all, I write a BlackBerry site and I wouldn’t be of much use if I didn’t actually have a BlackBerry. The thought was for other at-home workers. Is a smartphone really necessary to function while working remotely? Here are a few considerations that factor into this question.

* Bear with me, please, as I try to start a trend here. You see, BlackBerry models have always been named as numbers. The first one I bought was an 8830, and then I got an 8330, and then a 9630, then a 9650, and now a 9930. For the latter two they’ve added the title Bold, but they call about a half dozen different BlackBerry models the Bold. While BlackBerry models are in production phase they get code names. We see these leaked on the internet constantly. The code name for the BlackBerry Bold 9930 was the Montana. That is much easier for distinction purposes than the 9930. What’s easier to remember, 9930 or Montana? That’s what I thought. /rant

Your boss

If you’re among the lucky at-home workers who answers to no one, congratulations. We all want to be our own boss one day, so you’ve captured the dream. If you are your own boss, you likely deal with clients and perhaps you deal with employees. Since clients can come calling at any, and since employee management is a round-the-clock task, chances are you need a smartphone. There doesn’t seem to be any way around this.

For those of us who answer to someone, it’s going to depend on how that someone operates. I happen to rank among the luckier ones. My boss does not come calling at all hours, and does not expect me to be at her beck and call. We schedule amicable times for meetings. Few of her requests involve time-sensitive material, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t see an email for a few hours. Even if I’m out in the middle of the day there usually are no issues. I definitely don’t need a smartphone in order to appease my boss.

Of course, this is an incredibly lucky situation. Not all bosses are quite that understanding. Many bosses are leery of at-home workers, and want to be on top of them at all times. Other bosses, no matter how nice or trusting, tend to smother employees. Clearly you’ll benefit from owning a smartphone if this is your boss. With so many communications tools, such as email and instant message, you can quickly reply and let them know, or at least think, that you’re on task. Really, you can use your smartphone to fake being in the office, thanks to technology like front-facing cameras. With any kind of hands-on boss this is likely a necessity.

Your schedule

Any at-home worker should absolutely read Steve’s unconventional productivity tips. Maintaining productivity is one of the most difficult tasks for an at-home worker, and all five of his points make all the sense in the world. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this article I’m going to read a chapter in a novel before I get to my next task. But there’s one tip in particular that relates directly to our topic at hand.

If you take Steve’s advice literally and pick unconventional work hours, then you’re probably going to need a smartphone. Again, if you have the hands-off boss you might be able to avoid it. But chances are if you’re not in the office the same hours as your boss, you’ll still have to maintain a line of communication. Maybe you can get by with your computer. But if you plan to be out of the house at any point, a smartphone is the only reasonable way to maintain communication.

Still, there are plenty of at-home workers who prefer the discipline of working 9-5. There’s something satisfying about checking out once that big hand hits the 5. If you work these normal hours, and you have a relatively hands-off boss, chances are you can get by without a smartphone. It’s probably to your great benefit, too, since you can completely unplug during your non-working hours. There will be no work-related distractions while you enjoy your evening. Trust me, the world will still be there when you get back to your desk at 9 the next morning.

Your field

You name a job, and I can find you people who perform it from the comfort of their home office. This can be anything from PR to engineering — though the latter would have to involve a pretty sweet home office. Depending on your position, you might be able to skip the whole smartphone thing.

If you work in technology or communications, there really is no way around the issue. Using myself as an example again, what use is a guy who writes about tech but hasn’t tried the latest gadgets? The communications field is similar in that way. If your job is to communication — whether it’s PR, journalism, or web production — aren’t you better off having a device that specializes in communications media?

Then again, if you’re working in data entry, or you’re a remote administrative assistant, perhaps you can get by without one. Again, it really depends on your job specifically. But it’s pretty clear that no, you do not need a smartphone for all work-from-home jobs.

Why not a smartphone?

After reading this, you might think: Why wouldn’t I want a smartphone? They are, after all, some of the coolest gadgets in the universe. They provide tools that anyone, whether they work in an office or from home, can use to their advantages. Here are just a few reasons why an at-home worker would benefit from not having a smartphone.

• Cost. The smartphone itself will likely cost you around $200, and then there’s the $30 monthly data plan. Since most carriers require you to sign a two-year contract when purchasing a smartphone, that’s a total cost of $920 in addition to your normal cell bill. At the same time, you can find a perfectly adequate cell phone for free on a two-year contract.
• Burdensome connectivity. Some people just can’t disconnect. That’s good in some instances, but it’s bad in others. From my experience, staying connected all the time leads to distraction and prevents me from accomplishing my personal goals. We all need a life outside work. A smartphone is always with us, and is always reminding us of work.
• More costs. You downloaded the latest productivity app for your iPhone, right? Yeah, that probably cost you $5. And you want Angry Birds to play while you’re bored, so that’s another few bucks. Add in movies and music for on-the-go entertainment, and you’ve added even more to your monthly costs. Remember, smarpthones are money making machines, but not for you necessarily.

Realizing the inevitable

Eventually we’ll all have smartphones. Hopefully by then things will change, and we can address some of the issues mentioned above. But for now, for the right type of at-home worker, a smartphone should not be considered a necessity. If you have a hands-off boss and work fairly normal hours, chances are you can save some dough, and some anxiety, by sticking with your crappy little flip phone. There’s a good chance it can bring you a bit more happiness than a loaded smartphone.

Joe Pawlikowski is the editor of BBGeeks.com, a site that helps BlackBerry users get the most out of their devices offering tips and reviews on everything from games to BlackBerry car mounts.

I’ve been working for myself for a few years now. If I tell someone I run my own business, the most common response I receive is “I don’t know if I’d have the discipline for that. I’d just sit around in my pajamas and watch TV all day.” Yeah, a 24 hour TV binge sounds great and all, but if you’re not working, you’re not making money.

It does require a bit of discipline to work entirely for yourself. I’ve developed a few personal habits that have helped me stay productive over the years. Some of these are a bit unconventional, but they work for me. Enjoy!

1. Become a Professional Single-Tasker

For a while, it seemed like you had to good at multitasking in order to be a good employee. The more tasks you could do at once, the better. This is the wrong approach. Yeah, you may think you’re getting more work done in less time, but the overall quality of the work will decline, you may be adding unnecessary stress to your life, and you probably aren’t getting all that much done any way.

Human beings aren’t designed to multitask. We’re built to focus on one set of instructions at a time. If you continually switch back and forth between work, there’s going to be an adjustment period where your brain needs to refocus on a new set of instructions. You can switch back and forth between tasks, but you can never really multitask. Stop trying to do it all.

For me, I focus on one-task until completion. I really like to “get in the zone.” If I have more than one project open at a time, my productivity takes a hit. One task. One time. Until completion. It works great.

2. Work at Night

If you work at home for yourself, you have the option to set your own hours. This means you aren’t bound to the traditional 9-5 work schedule.

For the longest time, I forced myself to go to bed so I could be up early and ready to work. I would then spend the next hour or so laying in bed thinking about the work I had to do. Come morning, I’d wake up groggy, miserable, and only interested in work after a few hours and a few cups of coffee.

I finally embraced the idea of staying up late and working on what I needed to. I stopped trying to conform to what should be a “normal” schedule, but instead turned to when I worked best. Turns out, I really hit my stride right around midnight. There are less distractions at night too allowing me to focus entirely on work. My point is, find out when you work best and set your own schedule. The old nine to five doesn’t work for everyone. Don’t force it.

3. Unplug

When I sit down to work, I’ll put my phone out of arms reach, exit from any chat programs I have up, close my email, and pretty much seal myself off from the rest of the world until I’m done. Dedicate your full attention to completing the task at hand. That email or text message that just came in isn’t that important and can wait until after you’re done.

I actually use an extension for Google Chrome that monitors my web activity and restricts access to certain site (eg. Facebook, Reddit, any site that has flash games) if I’m not spending enough time working. If I waste too much time browsing the web, this lovely message pops up:

4. Overload Yourself

This one may be extremely unconventional. Every Monday, I’ll create a pretty extensive task list and set hard to reach goals I’d like to accomplish throughout the week. I write it on the white board above my desk. It’s always watching me day in and day out.

This helps me in two ways. First, when I’m facing a giant to-do list, there’s nothing else I can do BUT work. The list is giant! It has to get done. I don’t have time to sit around and watch TV (unless it’s on the to-do list, that is) when there’s work to be done. Second, I feel extra productive immediately after I cross off or erase an item on the list. I’m ready to keep going to get this list gone as quickly as possible.

5. Stop Working

Seems a bit counter-intuitive, no? After all, this is a post about how to stay productive. You’d think not working would be the least way to increase productivity possible. We are all human after all, and working non-stop for 8 hours straight is the easiest way to kill your productivity. You’ll burn out fast.

Take breaks. Get away from work. Leave your desk. Go get lunch. Read a chapter of your book. Do some dishes. Anything really. And whatever you do, don’t leave a non-work task unfinished. If there’s a pile of laundry you’ve been meaning to wash or an email you have to answer, get it done before returning to work. It’s only going to constantly nag at you and interrupt your train of thought until you go back and finish it anyway.

Working isn’t always easy, but it doesn’t have to be this grand struggle we so often make it out to be. Above all, minimize your distractions, practice some discipline, and take pride in your accomplishments. That’s how I stay productive. How about you?

Three words. Three relatively short words. When separated, they don’t really draw out too much emotion. Combine them, and you get a phrase that elicits both hope for a new beginning and a severe fear that what little you have can be crushed and taken away.

Ugh. Right?

Work at Home/Telecommuting Jobs

Today’s post revolves finding actual work at home jobs. I’m not talking about job “opportunities,” pyramid schemes, multi-level-marketing programs or anything else that wouldn’t be considered a traditional job. I’m talking about telecommuting. The act of working out of your home office for an employer. You work a set amount of hours. You get paid a set amount of money. It’s a job. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Internet made working from home possible. It also took the idea, twisted it, and turned it into something that could actually lose you money. Real telecommuting jobs DO exist! I’ve seen them! Honest! And I’ll show you how to find them, how to spot the scams, and how you can get started, today.

What to Expect

Have you ever searched for a job online? It can be a complete disaster if you don’t know what you’re doing. You can be scammed out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars if you aren’t careful.

Scams disguised as jobs claim new victims every day. Be sure to read the following article extensively. Not only will it save you hours of frustration, but it could save you from becoming another victim.

How to Spot the Junk

Before we even begin searching for telecommuting jobs, you need to know how to differentiate between fake work at home “opportunities” and legitimate telecommuting jobs.

It’s best to start with an example. Here are two ads from craigslist, each advertising a different “work-from-home” job:

Job Ad #1

Web Content Writers

Needed Part Time, Full Time, freelance writers. VRO Websites is hiring writers who can rewrite vacation rental descriptions into the VRO Website format. You will incorporate keywords into the content to help with search engine placement. We have a specific process and format that you will follow to create the property descriptions.

We will pay $20 per property. A skilled writer can complete one property in an hour or less; once you have a firm understanding of the format. This is a work at home job, or can be a full time job, hourly job, if you would like to join our staff. We have offices in SE Portland near the corner of Morrison and Grand Ave.

Please submit a resume and writing samples. We will contact qualified clients. We need immediate help, so please list your availability as well.

* Location: SE Portland
* Compensation: $20 per Property Description
* Telecommuting is ok.
* This is a part-time job.
* Principals only.

Job Ad #2

Consumer Driven Health Care

#1 Leading health care provider company in the United States is seeking health representatives that want to work from home.
Our company has been in business for 14 great years with well over 1.7 million satisfied members and still growing.
* Compensation: commission
* Telecommuting is ok.
* This is a part-time job.
* Principals only.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!

Job Ad #1 is for a legitimate job, by which I mean an arrangement in which a company or individual pays you a predetermined amount in exchange for your time and/or skill. Job Ad #2 is a “hook” for Ameriplan USA. I’m not saying Ameriplan is a scam, but it’s definitely not a job that will bring you a known figure in exchange for a known amount of time.

Identify “hook” ads in three seconds or less

Here’s how: pretend you’re in an interview. What if you were in a job interview and the interviewer kept making vague statements about how much money you’re going to earn? What if you asked what kind of work you’ll be doing and he said, “You’ll be helping people achieve financial freedom,” or a similarly vague answer? You’d know something is not right. So take that interview mentality with you when reading work-at-home ads.

The following are red flags in part because you’d never see or hear them at an interview for a real job. Individually, they don’t automatically indicate a fake job or “hook” ad, but ads containing more than one of them are almost certainly selling you something other than a job.

• Vague job description – After reading Job Ad #1 you know exactly what you’ll be doing. But what kind of work will you be doing for Job Ad #2? It doesn’t tell you! Hook ads have to be general because if they were specific, you wouldn’t click through to their sales page.
• Exaggerated titles – If a title uses any combination of the following words, proceed with caution: money, income, freedom, unlimited, or success.
• Vague statements about pay – You’ll earn “commission.” Next time you fill out a credit application, write “commission” in the Income line and see how far it gets you. Real employers know exactly how much they’re willing to pay you, and batting that figure about is a normal part of the hiring process for real jobs. Imagine going to a real job interview, and when you ask about pay, the employer says, “As much as you want to earn! You can live the life you’ve always dreamed of!” You’d see right through him. Online jobs are no different.
• Talk about Big Money – While they never give specifics, hook ads do often tantalize you with large numbers. $500/week! Part time! Up to $100 per hour!
• Exclamation points!!! – Job Ad #2 doesn’t have any, but they very often do. Truly exciting job opportunities don’t need exclamation points. That they’re exciting should be self evident from the detailed description.
• A hyperlink in the ad – Sure, legitimate companies can link to their business Web site, but they often do not. Hook ads need the link because they’ve got to get you to the sales page.

It’s all in the headline

Here’s an actual headline for another craigslist hook ad:

Work From Home $1,500 to $3,000 PT or FT Legitimate & Honest Job!!!

Here’s the thing. Do you believe the guy at work who says he was the funniest and best-looking dude at last weekend’s company picnic? Of course not! In the same way, it never occurs to legitimate employers to tell you that they’re legitimate. Why should they? They are looking for employees, not to prove themselves. If you doubt me, go to your next job interview and ask, “Is this a legitimate job or a scam?” It’s a quick way to end the interview and the funny look on the interviewer’s face might be worth sabotaging your chances.

There are other warning signs, but these are the ones we see all the time. With practice, you can learn to identify them at a glance. Soon enough, you won’t even have to read the article. Most headlines reveal enough details about the job that will allow you to skip the posting entirely. You will no longer waste time pursuing leads that only end up being hook ads.

Using craigslist to find jobs

http://www.craigslist.org

If you’ve never before experienced craigslist you’re in for a real treat. Craigslist.org is comparable to the most populated shopping mall on Black Friday where all the customers are on some form of stimulant drugs, and someone shouts “Everything in the mall is now 99% off!” There is pushing, yelling, fighting, an old lady gets knocked over, three people are hospitalized, and someone is arrested for gang related crimes.

Right now, you probably feel like the old knocked over elderly lady. But, fear not, with this guide you will be the leader of the unruly mob. Welcome to craigslist.

craigslist in brief

craigslist is an enormous, rapidly changing set of classified ads. It’s a city within itself. From advertising your local business to finding a ride across the country, to personal ads, craigslist has it all. At first glance, it looks like an unorganized list of links that serve no real purpose.

Simply put, it is largely overwhelming, especially if you have no prior experience navigating it. But I can assure you that underneath all of that clutter is an efficient, well-regulated work-at-home resource just waiting to be discovered.

How to Search craigslist

Here’s a brief overview of navigating through craigslist for those who are unfamiliar with the site. Along the right side of the main page is the location navigation section. Here are the major cities, states, and countries from around the world listed in alphabetical order.

Selecting a state or province will give you further location options until you can narrow it down to the city or town closest to where you live. After you select a city, the middle portion of the home page will change to your selected city and you’ll see a number of categories from items for sale, to job listings, to personal ads. Clicking on any heading will take you to the list of available postings.

Spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with craigslist by following the instructions above to get to the List closest to your location. Then, once you’ve poked around your local List, test your craigslist skills with the activities below.

If you can easily accomplish the following three tasks, you’ve got a strong grasp on craigslist navigation.

• Locate a list of subletting apartments in Reno, Nevada.
• Search for available tickets for sale in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Find available writing jobs around Tallahassee, Florida.

Searching craigslist

Now that you understand how craigslist works, you can finally begin your job search. The true beauty of a telecommuting job is that location doesn’t matter. You can be employed by a law firm in San Francisco even if you live in Calgary or Florida. With that in mind, the largest number of work at home job ads will be based in major cities with the most people actively searching those cities. This can work both for and against you.

On one hand, you’ll have more job ads posted in a specific city, making your life easy, but on the other, you have even more competition from others looking to work at home, too. So select a major city, visit the craigslist of that city and begin your search.

• First, narrow your search by industry. You should begin by narrowing down your search because if you just do a generic search for “jobs,” you’ll get too many irrelevant results. Beneath the Jobs heading, you’ll see a long list of industry-specific categories. You’ll want to stay in the category that best describes the type of job you’re looking for. This won’t eliminate the junk ads, but these categories generally have much less junk than the “Etc.” and “Part time” categories. You can also browse every job heading if you haven’t narrowed down your area of expertise first. Just click on the actual “Jobs” title to view every available job posting.
• Narrow your search to “telecommuting.” Once you arrive at the appropriate section, you’ll be able to narrow down your search to just telecommuting jobs by using the search feature located at the top of the section. Don’t bother fling in the search box. Simply check the “Telecommute” check box and click search to pull up ads that list telecommuting as an option. A list of postings will present itself in chronological order starting with the most recent.
• Narrow your search by time. Look at listings from the previous three days only. craigslist ads move so fast that they’re obsolete within 72 hours, at the most. You will be doing yourself a favor by not wasting time waiting to hear back from an outdated ad. Stick to current postings and avoid the headaches.
• Be as specific as possible with keywords. When you choose to put something in the search box (other than just selecting the “Telecommuting” box) be specific. Don’t use generic terms such as “work at home” or “virtual job” because, nine times out of ten, you’ll only return scams. To attract real jobs, use terms such as “writer” or other job title, and type-of-work keywords such as “freelance” and “independent contractor.”

Overview

• Stick to big cities in your search. These contain the most ads.
• Stay in industry-specific sections and keep away from the part-time and “Etc.” sections. They always contain the most spam and hook ads.
• Try to avoid applying for jobs older than 72 hours.
• Don’t use generic terms like “work at home” when searching. Stay job-specific.

Not So Perfect

The only drawback to searching with the telecommute option is that in order for it to be useful, the employer listing the job has to know what it means. Unfortunately, many don’t, and they won’t check it even though it’s an available option and those not looking for remote workers sometimes do check it.

There isn’t a good shortcut around this problem, so you might just have to spend some time reading ads in-depth to ensure that you don’t pass over a golden opportunity or waste time applying to a company that isn’t looking for telecommuters. craigslist is good, but like most things, it’s not perfect. This flaw is more of a minor annoyance. Don’t let it hinder your searching.

Have Others Find Jobs for You

There is always the option to skip the hassle of searching for jobs and have someone else do it for you. I have 3 options below. As you move down the list, more work at home opportunities will be made available.

You aren’t actually paying for a work at home job here. You’re paying someone else to sift through all of the bogus opportunities out there and provide you with nothing but legitimate ways of making money.

1. WorkAtHomeCareers.com
   Cost: FREE!
   The first site is owned and operated by our good friend Eddy Salomon (also of WorkAtHomeNoScams.com fame.) Eddy regularly searches for legitimate opportunities and posts them here. The site is free to use and is therefore sponsored by advertisements. Keep this in mind while you search!

2. 121 Hidden Online Jobs
   Cost: $7!
   This is actually a report that I myself wrote. I researched over 100 different companies and compiled all of the legitimate opportunities into an easy to use guide. It’s only seven dollars and your purchase helps me keep I’ve Tried That running! Highly recommended!

3. HomeJobStop
   Cost: Starts at $18!
   HomeJobStop is best suited for someone who wants to really kick start their telecommuting career. You’ll get access to hundreds of legitimate work at home job ads. It’s updated constantly and you can get a lifetime membership for just eighteen dollars. This is a very powerful tool not to be overlooked.

In all honesty, let someone else do the work for you. Yes, you may have to spend a few dollars but the amount of time you’ll save and the headaches you’ll miss out on will surely be worth it.

Stay safe out there. Please, please, please ask me to look into a job for you if you think it may be a scam. I’ll be more than happy to help.

Back tomorrow with information on building your own online business. Stay tuned.

I have personally investigated hundreds of different companies looking to hire work at home employees and have compiled the best work at home opportunities into this new report.

What’s New in Version 1.2

The guide was fully updated on 6/8/11 and the following changes took place…

• New companies added
• Removal of companies no longer hiring
• Updated all the dead links & ensured all companies are active
• Grammatical and spelling fixes

What’s Included When You Order

• 121 different Work at Home opportunities all personally screened by me
• REAL telecommuting jobs, not “money making offers”
• Companies looking for employees to fill positions like writers, editors, data entry workers, virtual assistants, customer service representatives, and so much more!
• FREE Lifetime updates
• Enough leads to last you for months
• A free copy of my 45-page Complete Guide to Telecommuting

For full details, click here and read more about 121 Jobs.

Additional Information

• This opportunity is for US based employees only.
• If you bought the guide already, use the download link you originally received to get the updated version. You do not have to buy the guide again!
• Don’t have the link? Send me your name and email and I’ll send it again.

Order Today!

This full report will only cost you $7 one time. Yes, you read that right, only seven dollars. I couldn’t be pricing this report anymore fairly… at $7… the price of a bowl of 6 hot wings… I’m almost giving it away!

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Hidden Online Jobs page.

Enter for a Chance to Win $25!

To celebrate the update of my report, I will be giving away $25 to Amazon to one lucky customer. To be in the running to win simply order a copy of the 121 Jobs report by 11:59PM (EST) on Friday June 17th 2011 and you’ll automatically be entered into the drawing to win. Past customers are automatically included in this drawing as well!

Hurry! Time is limited!

Feel free to leave a comment on this post with any questions you may have!

Steve

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Hidden Online Jobs page.

A quick overview: the concept behind SwagBucks is that they’d pay you for using their search page to browse the web. They make money through Google’s sponsored results and then pass some of their earnings on to you in the form of SwagBucks.

All you have to do is use their search bar and every so often, you’ll be awarded SwagBucks which you can redeem for cash or prizes. The best part is the SwagBucks search bar uses Google, so you’ll get the same results you’re used to, but now you have a chance to make some extra money. It takes no extra effort on your part either. It’s a fun way to make some extra money each month.

There are a lot more ways to earn, but searching is by far the easiest and the quickest. You’ll see the other ways in just a minute, but first…

Proof SwagBucks Actually Pays

Here’s an inside look at every order that I’ve placed with SwagBucks since I’ve joined. This is a look inside my own personal account. As of May 2011, after joining for less than six months, I’ve cashed out and received $420.00 worth of gift cards.

Now, there are thousands of items you can spend your SwagBucks on or you can even redeem them for cash. I chose the giftcards because they’re a little bit cheaper than the cash redemption so you get more value for your SwagBuck, so to speak. Plus, I shop at Amazon often and this really helped cut down on costs.

I’ll save you the trouble of adding it all up. I cashed out $200 in Southwest Airline vouchers (paid for my round-trip flight to Orlando!) and an additional $220 at Amazon.com!

Oh, and did I mention this was all free?

How to Quickly Start Making Money at SwagBucks

Step 1. Click here and create your account now. It takes 30 seconds and it’s completely free to join.

Step 2. Once you confirm your account and login, you’ll see the menu at the top of the page. Click on Earn, then search and you’ll be taken to a page that looks like this:

Step 3. Use SwagBucks like you would Google, Yahoo or Bing, but now, you’ll actually make money doing so. As a matter of fact, I was planning on taking a screenshot of the search results when I was rewarded with $7 in SwagBucks. Not bad at all!

Step 4. That’s it! Browse the site to find out more ways you can earn, but searching is by far the easiest and it’s something you probably already do a lot during the day. Now you can make some extra money while doing so.

The Bottom Line

SwagBucks is a scam free way to make extra money online. I’ve been a member for about six months now and I’ve been paid a total of $420. It’s completely free to join and will help you bring in some extra cash by doing things you already do online. What more could you want from a program?! Swagbucks is awesome and I highly recommend you click here an create an account right now.

Enter Louise. She was in your exact shoes just a few weeks ago when I first started talking to her. She had read a few of my posts regarding Wealthy Affiliate and was interested in getting started, but was apprehensive and had some questions.

Louise’s story is probably very similar to your own. She’s always been interested in making money online from home, but she was worried about spending money to get started. She wasn’t sure if Internet Marketing was something she could “do.” Here’s an actual excerpt from the very first email she sent me:

“Would I start a website? Do a blog? I don’t feel like I am a writer!! Sorry for all this – I just don’t know if I should do it, where to start, and what to do exactly!! I hope this makes sense and doesn’t just sound like a lot of babble!! Thanks for reading this! Maybe if I could feel like I had a place to “start” going in it wouldn’t feel so overwhelming.”

Sound familiar?

Louise eventually set her fears aside and signed up for a month of Wealthy Affiliate. That was three weeks ago. She has since setup her first website, written a number of articles for it, started getting people to visit it, and has actually made quite a few bucks already!

I’ve loved talking with Louise and hearing of her progress. I just had to share her story with you guys and she agreed to do an interview for I’ve Tried That outlining what she’s accomplished so far.

An Interview with an Internet Marketing Beginner

I asked Louise a few questions and here’s a copy of the transcript…

Steve: Tell us a little about yourself!

Louise: My name is Louise Uithoven and I am a stay-at-home Mom to two kids and am married to an awesome guy! I think I’ve been fascinated with the internet since it came into being! And I’ve always wanted to find a way to make a living using it.

S: When did you join Wealthy Affiliate?

L: I joined WA in March of 2011.

S: What was your Internet Marketing experience before joining Wealthy Affiliate?

L: I’ve sold on eBay for 7 years. So I was familiar with selling online or having a product online – but I never created my own website, had a blog, bought a domain name, etc. In fact I had always thought that was something I would never do – that it was way out of my league! It scared me to be honest! But when I saw the reviews by Steve about Wealthy Affiliate and read the reviews on the website – I thought they could even teach me to have my own biz! I’m not tech savvy at all and I was able to follow the steps and I actually have a website and blog now! This is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been involved in!

S: How many websites do you currently have? What are they?

L: I just have one. Selling Items Online and you can check it out at http://www.sellingitemsonline.org/ . But once I get this one established I think I will branch out. My son and I are actually thinking of starting one for him so he can blog about what he likes – and he is 16!! The possibilities are very exciting!!

S: Very impressive website for a beginner! What was the biggest thing holding you back from joining? Have those fears subsided?

L: Probably the cost! But I’m feeling more comfortable and actually thinking I can make this work and make some money with my website!

S: Have you made any money yet?

L: I actually have! And to be honest I was shocked! I’ve already made enough to cover all of my initial expenses and the next two months of training and more money is coming in every day! I guess that is what cements this for me. The guys that started WA know what they are doing & how to help you!

S: What advice would you offer to someone who’s currently on the fence about joining?

L: WA lays out step-by-step how to get your own website up and running! I am very impressed by the help and support offered. And they really do get how intimidating it can be to do all this when you have no prior experience! Give it a try – you will never know how far you could go until you do!

S: Anything else you’d like to add?

L: Have a mentor that is willing to help you out, encourage you and be honest with you. I actually found that in Steve! I don’t think I would have gotten this far without him! Thanks Steve!

S: Aww, thanks! And thank you for doing the interview!

L: Thanks so much for this opportunity!!

-end of interview-

As you can see, Louise went from knowing nothing about Internet Marketing to setting up a website to actually making money in less than one month’s time! I highly suggest you check out her site Selling Items Online and take a look around. Again, this was made by someone who had never created a website before, but was assisted with the tools available at Wealthy Affiliate. Very impressive!

Don’t forget that when you sign up for Wealthy Affiliate through I’ve Tried That, you get exclusive access to my Top 10 Secrets to Making Money Online at Wealthy Affiliate! You’ll see the bonus added on the sign up page.

I highly suggest you set your own fears aside and click here and come join Louise, myself, and thousands of others at Wealthy Affiliate all working towards building a successful online business. To quote Louise once more, “Give it a try – you will never know how far you could go until you do!”

Just a quick reminder that I will be drawing the winner of a $25 Amazon Giftcard tonight, April 1st, at 11:59PM EST. To be eligible to enter, all you need to do is order a copy of my report 121 Jobs You Can Do From Home.

I have personally investigated hundreds of different companies looking to hire work at home employees and have compiled the best work at home opportunities into this new report.

What’s Inside

• 121 different Work at Home opportunities all personally screened by me
• REAL telecommuting jobs, not “money making offers”
• Companies looking for employees to fill positions like writers, editors, data entry workers, virtual assistants, customer service representatives, and so much more!
• Enough leads to last you for months
• A free copy of my 45-page Complete Guide to Telecommuting

For full details, click here and read more about 121 Jobs.

Order Today!

This full report will only cost you $7 one time. Yes, you read that right, only seven dollars. That’s less than the cost of a Big Mac meal at McDonalds. This will be a much better investment for both your work at home career and your health.

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Jobs page.

Best of luck in the drawing!

Steve

I have personally investigated hundreds of different companies looking to hire work at home employees and have compiled the best work at home opportunities into this new report.

What’s New in Version 1.1

The guide was fully updated on 3/22/11 and the following changes took place…

• New companies added
• Removal of companies no longer hiring
• Updated all the dead links & ensured all companies are active
• Grammatical and spelling fixes

What’s Included When You Order

• 121 different Work at Home opportunities all personally screened by me
• REAL telecommuting jobs, not “money making offers”
• Companies looking for employees to fill positions like writers, editors, data entry workers, virtual assistants, customer service representatives, and so much more!
• FREE Lifetime updates
• Enough leads to last you for months
• A free copy of my 45-page Complete Guide to Telecommuting

For full details, click here and read more about 121 Jobs.

Order Today!

This full report will only cost you $7 one time. Yes, you read that right, only seven dollars. I couldn’t be pricing this report anymore fairly… at $7… the price of a bowl of 6 hot wings… I’m almost giving it away!

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Jobs page.

Enter for a Chance to Win $25!

To celebrate the update of my report, I will be giving away $25 to Amazon to one lucky customer. To be in the running to win simply order a copy of the 121 Jobs report by 11:59PM (EST) on Friday April 1st 2011 and you’ll automatically be entered into the drawing to win. Past customers are automatically included in this drawing as well!

Hurry! Time is limited!

Feel free to leave a comment on this post with any questions you may have!

Steve