I know what you’re thinking, and no, this does not have to do with dating. Unless of course you’re looking to date a work from home opportunity, then you’re in luck.

All kidding aside, I’m always on the lookout for new ways and opportunities to make money online. Well, sometimes they end up finding me instead. This one came in the form of an email that introduced me to LucrativeMinds.com. A little bashful I never heard of the site before, I had to inquire more and find out what it’s all about.

What is LucrativeMinds.com?

Probably one of the most notable features on the site is the work from home compatibility match. Yep, you read that right. Basically, you spend about 5 minutes to fill out a questionnaire, and at the end, their proprietary technology will match you with the make money opportunities that you have the best chance of succeeding with.

Sounds pretty cool, right?

Here’s more, straight from the site:

This Lucrative Minds^SM patent pending technology is a unique aggregation of labor intensive manual research and the world’s most trusted web and business research data sources.

They offer management tools so you can mange the opportunities you’re matched with using their Lucrative Score^SM. Combined with a Compatibility Engine^SM, these opportunities are ranked so that you can pick and choose which ones you want to go with, assuring you a higher success rate, since they’re based on the information you entered into the questionnaire.

Their main goal, which is parallel to mine, is to help people avoid scams and common internet fraud. That’s been my primary goal since the first day I launched this site. There are numerous scams and thieves out there today, so whatever we can do as a whole to make people aware of them is a good thing.

What You Can Expect To Find

LucrativeMinds.com is also a huge work from home resource, not to mention they dub themselves the ‘Work From Home Research Professionals.’ Here’s just a little of what you’ll also find on the site:

• List of Work From Home Opportunities
• Blog
• Forum (Must be a subscriber to gain access)
• Resources Page
• FAQs
• LM Investigator Page (Goes more into detail about what the site is about and their stance on scams)
• Articles and Education
• And More

You’ll also want to read the Why Trust Us page, which fortifies a lot of what I’ve stated already. There’s also a short video clip with President and Co-Founder Greg Carter, who I had the pleasure of emailing back and forth about the site.

Advantages Over Other Sites

LucatriveMinds has many advantages over other work from home sites, most notably the innovative technology they use to match people to specific opportunities. But, there are some other distinct features that set them apart from the crowd.

From the words of Greg, they:

• have APIs that go out and gather data, most on a daily basis.
• let the community chime in and provide ratings.
• provide an unbiased score to each one of their opportunities.
• are 100% free.

The ratings system is what stands out to me. Members can rate every opportunity and resource they come across. By offering member ratings, this provides assurance among members that the opportunities are reliable and that members had a positive experience (assuming the rating is positive, of course).

I could go on and on, but honestly, just go to the site and see for yourself. There’s nothing to lose but 5 minutes of your time. You may just find the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, that is, if you haven’t found it here first.

Disclaimer: This post was written in agreement that Greg will showcase my site on LucrativeMinds.com’s blog in exchange for my positive review of his site. With that said, I fully believe that LM is a credible and reliable resource for money making opportunities.

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The following is a guest post by Daniel Kamen. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

If the grind of the daily commute to your workplace and back is sapping you of all your energy; if you are finding it difficult to balance school with your current job; if you want more time for yourself and your family; if the thought of going back to work leaving your baby behind is traumatizing you – it’s time to say goodbye to the office and hello to your new home-based career!

Yes, the work from home concept has taken off in a big way, so much so that its growth has left many industry experts dumbfounded.

According to telecommuting statistics published by the consulting and research organization Telework Research Network, about 3 million people work out of their homes full time. And, with a little flexibility and openness from employees, this number has the potential to grow because 40% of U.S. employees hold jobs that can be easily performed from home.

If you’ve already started your work from home career, then kudos to you! But, if you are on the lookout for serious and legitimate work at home options, here are a few hand-picked professions you can consider.

1. Medical Transcription

If you thought that the job of a medical transcriptionist is to blindly transcribe doctor dictations into ready-to-use text, then you are wrong. And, you’ve obviously never heard a doctor give dictations. Not only does it involve understanding sometimes illegible and sometimes accented recordings, but you should also be able to interpret the very complex medical jargon so casually used by physicians. Given this context, it’s obvious that the job is no walk in the park. A formal training program or prior clinical experience may be necessary for a medical transcription career.

2. Virtual Administrative Assistant

This is a fairly recent home-based career and involves providing administrative assistance to clients from a remote location, in most cases the assistant’s home. Virtual assistants are usually sought after by small or home-based businesses that don’t have the resources to hire a permanent employee. Those interested in virtual administrative assistant careers must be trained in performing the same office tasks that an in-house assistant typically would do.

3. Translation

The world has become a global village. As geographical boundaries begin to disappear in the sphere of business and culture, the need for linguistic experts who can translate important technical, legal, marketing, research and other types of documentation into different languages is increasing. Many such translators work out of their homes on a contract or project to project basis. Firms that offer translation services may also allow their employees to telecommute as long as the information being translated is not sensitive.

4. Medical Billing & Coding

The U.S. Department of Labor has projected a much faster than average growth for the medical billing and coding career. The job these specialists perform forms the basis on which healthcare practitioners are paid for their services. With the increase in the use of technology for charging health insurance companies, the demand for professionals trained in the latest medical billing and coding techniques is also increasing. This demand has made room for small, part-time, home-based medical billers and coders to co-exist with full-time professionals who work for big enterprises.

5. Freelance Writing

While freelance writing is by no means a new career, the evolution of technology has given it a fresh spin. In addition to writing for magazines, journals, newspapers, etc., writers now have newer and more exciting vistas to explore. From blogging and corporate copy writing, to web content and technical documentation – the choices are many for freelance content writers. The more time you spend working on different projects and adding different types of content writing skills to your repertoire, the more value your services are bound to fetch!

Sources:

1. http://www.teleworkresearchnetwork.com/telecommuting-statistics

The following is a guest post by Joe Pawlikowski. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

What’s your primary computing device? For many at-home workers I know, the laptop rules all. There are plenty of reasons for this, but it comes down to flexibility. Working in a room inside your home — or worse, tucked in the corner of a main room — can make life awfully lonely. It’s natural to want some level of human interaction, even if it’s just talking to a barista or people-watching. It’s tough to lug a desktop down to Starbucks, so the laptop does bring some flexibility. Yet there’s a new technology that can grant an even greater level of flexibility than a laptop.

Tablet computers hit the mainstream in 2010 when Apple release the iPad. There had been other tablet PCs before that, but the iPad really set the standard for the modern tablet computer. Since then we’ve seen dozens of devices hit the market, including Apple’s market-leading iPad 2. Android has gotten into the tablet game, too, and there are plenty of high-powered Android tablets on the market and coming soon. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 might be the most powerful Android tablet yet. Because they hold a few distinct advantages over laptops, tablets could soon become our primary work devices.

Portability

As mentioned above, many at-home workers choose a laptop over a desktop for portability reasons. This can be for a number of reasons.

• Inspiration can strike anywhere. If you have a good idea but nowhere to write it down, what good does it do? It might be a pain to pull out your laptop and open up a new document, but it sure beats trying to keep it in your head before you get home.
• Changing work environments. While an office without co-workers can be peaceful, working at home can get lonely and boring. Heading to a coffee shop can help spice things up, for the menial cost of a medium drink.
• In home flexibility. Part of the work-at-home allure is not having to sit in front of a desk from 9 to 5. There’s the option of moving around the house: to the couch, to a favorite easy chair, and even to the restroom (though no one seems willing to admit this). Using a laptop means you can amble about and still get work done.

A tablet provides these same benefits, but to a greater degree. It’s easier to pull the cover off your tablet and jot down an idea than it is to open up your laptop and create a new document. You can more easily carry around a tablet than a laptop, since one of the tablet’s main features is thinness and lightness. That means you can take it from room to room with no changes at all — there’s a reason some people call their tablets their couch devices.

Simplicity

Talking to a few at-home workers recently, I realized one reason that so many of us work from laptops: they’re simpler devices. There are no massive graphics cards or overclocked processors. They’re not as powerful as desktops, and that’s part of the appeal. That’s because many at-home workers simply don’t need all that power. What we need is a machine that handles a few tasks.

• Internet browsing
• Email
• Instant messaging
• Document and spreadsheet editor, though Google Docs can provide this service
• FTP client, though there are web clients and plug-ins that can do this.
• Media playback.
• Perhaps a few specialty applications.

The only item on this list that would create a problem for tablet-based users is the specialty software. That might create an insurmountable hurdle for some, but many at-home workers, and perhaps most at-home workers, can recreate almost all of their laptop experiences on a tablet. If not, there is software that allows users to simulate their laptops on their tablets. This still makes some form of traditional computer necessary, but still allows for the flexibility of a tablet.

Everything else on this list is easily accomplished on any tablet platform. While some handle multitasking better than others, most can handle the simple tasks an at-home needs to accomplish.

Other Issues

Just because a tablet provides portability and simplicity does not necessarily mean that it’s the best option for your work from home lifestyle. There are certainly some aspects that wouldn’t work for certain users.

• Lack of a keyboard. While there’s an easy solution here, buying a Bluetooth keyboard, that takes away from the tablet’s portability. Some people still find this preferable, though. After using a tablet for many months, though, I’ve found that typing on the virtual keyboard works just fine.
• Screen size. People with poor vision probably won’t make this switch, because they need the larger screen size. Then again, tablets aren’t that much smaller than laptops. Considering how much closer you can hold them to your face, it’s essentially a wash. But it’s certainly a personal consideration.
• Existing software. You probably have spent money buying programs for your laptop, and have invested time in learning them. They will not transfer to your tablet, of course. You’ll need a whole new suite of apps. While tablet apps are typically cheap, that’s still more money out of your pocket.
• Flash. I don’t like Flash. I wish all websites would move onto HTML5 as quickly as possible. On tablet’s it’s even worse than on laptops and desktops. The iPad doesn’t have it at all, while it runs shakily, at best, on Android. Unfortunately, with so much of the web still reliant on Flash, this could be a big issue.

Will you make the switch?

Switching from a laptop to a tablet might seem, in some ways, like a downgrade. It’s smaller, it doesn’t have as many programs, and it isn’t as powerful. For many people it’s not a realistic switch. But, for a simple-needs user such as a blogger, the switch can make sense. It probably makes sense for people who also have a desktop, since I can’t yet see a tablet being someone’s primary device. For those who work on a laptop, though, the tablet can present a viable option. Think of all the ways it can benefit your at-home working experience.

About the Author:

Joe Pawlikowski is the editor of AndGeeks, a site dedicated to uncovering hidden gems of Android.

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The following is a guest post by Amy Young. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

If you work from home, then you already know that you are one of the lucky ones. You don’t have to commute, you decide when you will work, and you can manage your time around your family’s activities. However, you may feel a little less motivated when you don’t have someone to answer to everyday, which could lead to serious problems with your business.

Staying motivated is critical when working from home, so here are a few tips that have worked for me and my home office.

Start Your Day Right

Think positive thoughts from the moment you wake up. Give yourself something to look forward to during your day and think of it the moment you open your eyes.

Get ready for your day as if you were going into an office. Take a shower, put on some nice cloths, and have a good breakfast. Working in your pajamas will only hurt your motivation, and a lack of food could affect your focus.

Before you even start to think about work, give yourself some time to prepare for your day. Take that time to sit, relax, and think positive thoughts about the work day ahead of you. Try not to start working with an “I don’t want to work today” attitude. Have a cup of coffee or tea, and give yourself some “me time” before you have to start working.

Find Your Work Space

Set aside one room or space where you will do your work and nothing else. If you use your couch or the dinner table, you could be more distracted. If you have a specific desk for your computer and always work from there, your mind will know that when you sit down it will be time to get to work.

Whatever you do, don’t lie in bed while working from home. Your bed should only be used for sleeping. Otherwise, you could have trouble falling asleep because your mind thinks the bed is a place to think about work.

Finally, keep your work space neat. A cluttered desk usually means a cluttered mind, which is very bad for focus and motivation. Decorate the room so it is aesthetically pleasing to you, but beware of decorations that may be distracting. Motivation will come when you keep your work space neat and simple.

Close the Door

This may seem like a small difference, but a closed door has a very specific meaning to you and your family. If your door is open, it could say that you don’t really want to work today, and you will consequently be less motivated. An open door will also tell your family that you are available to talk or play, when you really should be focusing on your work. Close your door and you will probably find you are less distracted.

Take a Break

Set a specific schedule and take frequent breaks during your work day. You may be able to stay on task for hours, but taking a break every now and then may help you with efficiency. You could even try taking a walk or doing some housework to break up your long work day.

If you stress about the amount of work you have to get done, try breaking up large projects into smaller tasks. These goals will seem more attainable, and it will be easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Know When to Stop

Start and stop working at the same time every day. People who work in an office all tend to end their day together, so they are able to feel the day wind down and find a time to stop and go home. When you work at home, you may find yourself answering one more email or making one more phone call until suddenly you realize that it’s almost time for bed and you didn’t get anything else accomplished that day. When you have a set schedule, you can tell yourself to focus and work really hard until your specific end time, and then you can be done for the day.

About the Author:

Amy Young is the author of articles like this one relating to business, marketing, and working from home. Her company’s mission is to educate others about credit resources and personal finance.

The following is a guest post by Laura Backes. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

Sometimes we get so caught up in how great an opportunity sounds that we don’t take a second to look at the bigger picture. Who wouldn’t want to make $1,000 a month for a mindless, menial task like stuffing envelopes or forwarding emails? But, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? So, how do you spot the scams from the legitimate money making opportunities?

1. Google It!

Whenever you type a company into Google, and it shows up on sites like ripoffreport.com or hotscams.com, that’s a pretty good indicator that it could be a scam. For instance, if you start to type in “Company Name” and the first results in Google are the sites just mentioned with that company name attached, you would be wise to check it out. Read reviews and find out what people are talking about and why they label it as a scam. Some are legitimate claims and are completely obvious, while others aren’t. Make your best judgment call.

2. Required to Pay a Start-up Fee

You shouldn’t have to pay to be a part of a company – they’re supposed to be paying you, not the other way around. Anything that requests that you pay a nominal fee to sign up as an affiliate should raise a red flag. Likewise, anything that requests that you send your banking information via email to verify your credit history and such (especially before you’ve even interviewed or spoken with a real person) should be an indicator that it probably isn’t a legitimate business.

Note: Some websites do require a one-time fee to join. These are membership sites that provide information on real work at home jobs, such as data entry or surveys. A small fee is required as it took the website owner/s a large amount of time to compile the information and resources that they’re providing. You’re paying for their time and instant access to the information that they collected in order to help you find an online job. Don’t mistake these as scams.

3. Job Posting is Vague

Any job listing that has a lot of grammatical and spelling errors, and doesn’t clearly state what you’ll be doing, should make you turn your head in the other direction. An authentic opportunity will care about the message they are sending out to potential employees. You should expect the same high level of professionalism from a potential employer as they expect from you as a potential employee.

4. Guaranteed Thousands of Dollars Immediately

Unless you were born with the Midas touch, get-rich-quick schemes rarely work. It’s unlikely that you’ll be making as much as salaried employees at a big firm just from stuffing envelopes, distributing flyers or allowing someone to put graphics on your car while promising that all you have to do is drive your regular routes (if that were the case, wouldn’t we all work from home and have cars with other people’s businesses on them? I know I would!).

5. “Asked” Not to Leave

Anytime you go to click out of a website of a potential employer and a pop-up comes up asking if you’re sure you want to leave or telling you that they’ll discount the start-up cost for you if you sign up now, should make you question the ethics of the company. While it’s usually not a scam, do you really want to be involved with a company that is obviously desperate? Take time to consider whether you want to work with them or not.

Obviously, not all work at home opportunities are scams. Obviously you can be quite successful at working from home, but you also have to be willing to put in the time, and anything guaranteeing little to no work on your part with massive financial rewards should set off warning bells in your head. It’s easy to get caught up in dollar signs and the idea of getting rich quick, but it also isn’t realistic. So, be smart, do your due diligence by researching the company, and always keep in mind that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It may be a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post from Laura Backes, who enjoys writing about all kinds of subjects and also topics related to internet providers in my area. You can reach her at: laurabackes8 @ gmail.com.

The following is a guest post by Scott Lindsay. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

The cost of health insurance is a deterrent for many people who would love to work from home. However, without it, the cost of medical treatment and hospitalization could spell financial ruin for many families. It is the single reason why at least one of the parents in a family looks for employment outside the home. The need has become compounded in recent years with the huge numbers of people who have been laid off from their jobs due to the recession.

If you have a home-based business, you can still enjoy the benefits and the peace of mind of having health insurance. This makes working from home so much easier. You have the benefit of knowing that you and your family have health coverage and you can stay at home with them doing what you love. Just as you purchase home and auto insurance from an insurance provider there are many insurance companies that have affordable private health insurance.

The first thing you should do is to check to see the type of coverage offered by the state in which you live for health coverage for home-based business owners. You can find this information on the state government website. Various insurance brokers can also point you in the right direction to be able to purchase what you need in coverage. In this way you will be able to find a health insurance policy that is tailored to meet your specific needs.

There are other benefits to using an insurance broker for finding health insurance coverage when you work at home. You can compare the various policies and the premiums associated with each one so that you can get what you need at the cheapest possible price.

Evaluate the various parts of the policy. If you are an unmarried male or if you are beyond child-bearing years, then you will not need to have any maternity benefits provided for in the coverage. If you don’t have any dependent children, this can also lower the cost of the premiums. By choosing the highest level of deductible that you can afford, you will also be able to find very affordable health care coverage.

A health savings account is another option for those who want to work from home. If you enroll in such a program you can have monies available to pay for medical attention when you need it. This type of plan is not really health insurance. It is a type of savings account into which you make regular payments. Then you can withdraw money that you need if, and when, the time comes. It is not the best option, but at least you will have money for medical expenses.

If you are in good health, you will not have any difficulty being able to purchase health insurance for you and your family. You can also purchase a policy if you have any pre-existing medical conditions without having to pay any exorbitant premiums. You can have these conditions excluded from the policy.

Check to see if you qualify for Medicaid. If you have been laid off from your job where you did have health insurance, you may still be able to have health insurance under COBRA. Under this program you can keep your existing health benefits for about 18 months after you are laid off as long as the company still has at least 20 employees.

It certainly is possible to have the needed health insurance coverage for those who have work at home jobs. By searching online you will be able to find the insurance providers that sell such policies and you can do comparison shopping to get the best one for your needs.

About the Author:

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur and has been making a living online for over 12 years. He has been totally free from the 9 to 5 rat race since 1998 and enjoys every moment of it! You can contact Scott at: http://howtoearnmoney101.com/

The following is a guest post by Patricia Garza. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

If you’ve worked at home at any point in your life, then you are probably overly familiar with the your-friends-and-family-don’t-take-you-seriously phenomenon. It seems as though no matter how long I worked from home, nor how much money I made, my loved ones always thought I was somehow unemployed, a bum, and couldn’t be taken seriously. Of course, working from home and earning a comfortable income is still a rarity, but it is such a rarity that I can almost understand why it is looked down upon to not have a 9-to-5 fixed work schedule in an office. The worst part of your social circle not taking you seriously is that they won’t leave you alone. Here are a few ways to deal with problems with this phenomenon that I have just described:

1. Establish an Office-Looking Home Office

One reason that my family and friends did not take my job seriously was because I did not have an office space per se. My office was usually my bed or my couch, and when I decided to finally clear my tiny desk of soda cans and scraps of paper, I’d occasionally work there. The best thing I did for both my productivity and for my reputation among friends and family was to set up a separate room in my home that looked exactly an office in a real office building. I had the big swivel desk chair, the plant on my desk, a stack of business cards held by a card holder, and even a name plate on my desk. Of course, the name plate was more of a gag, but you get the picture.

2. Set Up an Answering Machine or Voicemail that Sounds Professional

Since you work from home, there will inevitably be times when you receive phone calls in your “office” that are not of a personal rather than a professional nature. I began by taking these calls, but eventually I stopped. If it were really important, they would leave a message on my voice mail, the recording of which was me in my most professional-sounding voice. If it isn’t an emergency, do not call back until your work is finished.

3. Set a Strict Lunch Hour

Long and erratic lunches are usually a luxury reserved for us work-at-homers. But when your friends and family find out this little secret, especially stay-at-home moms and retired folks, they will want to bug you for coffee and lunch dates throughout the day. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a nice break ever so often, but it is a better idea, for both your productivity and your sense of professionalism, that you set a lunch hour, say from 12 to 1, and you stick to it. If you go a little over or under, that’s fine, but if you leave yourself open to friends and family taking advantage of your work time, you can kiss your productivity goodbye.

4. Say No To Errands

Since most of the world does not work at home, these poor creatures do not have much time to run those pesky, afternoon errands until the weekend rolls around. While you can pick up your dry-cleaning whenever you feel like it, you can get that grocery shopping trip during low-traffic times, your office counterparts must rush home after work to get these tasks done, or else wait. Once your friends and family find out that you can run errands, believe me, you will become a veritable errand boy or girl. Although at first I was more than happy to help, after awhile I was not getting anything done. Now, I take others’ errands on a case-by-case basis. How long will it take? How important is it? Can it be accomplished before or after the hours I usually work. Of course, this means that you will have to learn to say no, which took me quite some time and effort.

Of course, this list may seem a bit harsh, considering you want to do spend as much time with loved ones as possible, and you want to be able to help them when you can. After all, that’s why many of us decided to ditch the office environment and work from home, right? At the same time, however, establishing flexible rules with your social circle will help enormously in so many aspects of your work and social life. Your friends might even begin thinking you have a real job.

About the Author:

Patricia Garza writes about gadget, technology, design, social media, and e-learning related articles at online university rankings.

The following is a guest post by Alex Papa. if you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

For twenty years, I have followed an entrepreneurial path I began in my late teens. In these twenty years, working mostly from home, I built a real estate empire and a virtual real estate business. Reflecting back over those years, I now realize many mistakes I made on that journey, even though at the time I made choices as best I could, knowing what I knew then.

If I had it to do over again, I’d do several things differently. If you are in your teens or early twenties wishing to start a home based business, I hope this can help you.

Education

Having remained a devoted entrepreneur throughout my professional years, I can see now that 3 years in college would have been sufficient for my needs. A college degree is a useful achievement if you plan to seek a position as an employee for someone else in the professional sector. However, many things I learned in 5 years in college and post graduate study didn’t have much practicable use in my home-based business ventures. Years spent in school, working hard earning 3 degrees, nobody ever asked to see my Bachelor or Master degrees when it came to my business dealings.

What counted most were my other achievements, namely my bank balances and assets. Joint Venture partners and other potential investors did not consider my education achievements as assets, but handicaps instead. In the entrepreneurial world, university education may confine you to thinking “inside the box.” In real world business applications, innovative thinking is essential. If I had bypassed college at 19 or 20, my imagination would have remained intact instead of being restricted by an overload of education, as in the real world of entrepreneurship, thinking “outside the box” is a much more effective strategy.

The Value of Mentors

My “real” education evolved based on what I learned from other successful entrepreneurs. Spending time with these individuals, whether leisurely or on a professional level, was extremely advantageous to me in the early years. Their perspectives on things, their thought processes, were totally different from the mainstream. I learned that what determines our success in our chosen path is our way of thinking. People think different depending on their choice of life, and the outcome of our life is a direct result of our thinking. Even if you work from home, the major key to success in your business is to think like a business owner, not an employee! Who you evolve into is based on what you think of the most. It took years for me to shift my thinking to be more like theirs. If I had it to do over, I’d begin relationship-building with mentor entrepreneurs much sooner.

Seeking Part-Time Employment

I understand many people seek a part-time job until their home based business takes off. If I had it to do over, I would be much more selective of part-time employment positions I accepted in my years after college. As an eager aspiring entrepreneur, joining the sales and marketing team of a successful company, even in a part-time role, would have been an invaluable skill builder for my future endeavors. If you want to learn skills to apply in your home based business, then flipping burgers at McDonalds will not give you any skill. If you have to get a part-time job, get one that gives you knowledge you can apply in your business. Absorb all the marketing and sales skills you can while working for someone else. When you’ve learned what you need to know, go out on your own. The sooner you begin working on your own prospects and ventures independently, the better.

Giving to Others

If I had it to do over, I would have given more to others, and I am not referring solely to money. You can donate time, thoughtfulness, a business tip, a helping hand, or simply letting someone know you care. There is much reward and satisfaction in giving to others as opposed to being self-involved and insensitive to others around you. In today’s economic environment, there are thousands of people that need to start a business from home. If you become successful, take time to show others.

I wish you every success in your home based business.

About the Author: Alex Papa often speaks in seminars about entrepreneurial start-ups, cost-reduction, internet business solutions, and internet security for small businesses. In his own website he gives you the chance to get the latest Norton Internet Security code. Alex also recommends the new GotoMeeting discount code to reduce costs of your e-conferences and customer presentations.

There are numerous websites and blogs related to working from home. This blog is just one out of the thousands, so the fact that you’re reading this really means a lot to me. You could just as easily stumble on one of the other work from home blogs instead.

Would that really be a bad thing, though?

I mean, every blog is different and provides their own unique perspective, so reading more than one blog is by no means a bad thing. In fact, I encourage it!

Yes, I recommend reading other work from home blogs as well. It will help you to get a more rounded perspective and overall picture on working from home.

With that said, I want to point you to a resource that showcases other blogs in this industry.

MastersDegree.com recently posted their Top 25 Work From Home Blogs picks, and I’m honored to say this blog is among them.

Also making the list are some other blogs I follow, including the SmartPassiveIncome blog by Pat Flynn, making the top of the list, which is well deserved in my opinion.

Somehow my blog managed to come in at number three on the list. Not sure if that’s deserved, but I’ll take it.

I encourage you all to go check out the post and read some of the other work from home blogs that are out there. You can learn a lot of awesome tips and advice from other experts in the industry. And I, by no means, consider myself an expert. Just throwing that out there.

I want to thank Amanda from MastersDegree for making me aware of this post and showcasing my blog. I appreciate it!

See you all soon.

The following is a guest post by Sam Briones. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

The jump from regular 9 to 5 employee to full-time telecommuter may seem daunting at first, but once you do it, it really is worth it! Telecommuting holds so many perks that are lacking from the usual office job. However, telecommuting takes skill to do right!

First-time telecommuters may feel like a fish out of water, not knowing how to “start telecommuting” the right way. Some first-timers are ill-prepared for the change, and they suffer from a lack of productivity and less than stellar performance at their job.

If you are a telecommuter that is just starting out, then why not take a tip or two from this list! You may find tips that will make your work more organized, more productive, and ultimately, more fun!

1. Establish a Schedule

You may think this first tip is a bit ridiculous, since the reason why so many of us dislike regular jobs is the mundane routine. However, tough as it may sound, schedules are key to keep your productivity levels constant. It may not be as strict as a schedule one follows at the office, but it’s good to give yourself the time to mentally prepare so that work is actually starting.

2. Create a Work Area at Home

Your mind may feel lax when you start telecommuting, just because your mind associates your home as the place to relax away from work. To keep productivity levels up, set up a work area at home, like a mini home office, or even just a desk! This will help your mind go into work mode, and can really help keep distractions at bay.

3. Set Proper Times for Chores, Pick-Ups, and other Errands

You probably chose to work from home so you have time to do these things. Therefore, you owe it to yourself to set out proper times for you to accomplish these tasks properly, and without hurry. A great tip would be to give yourself a half an hour to an hour break to accomplish these, so that your mind gets a break from work mode.

4. Establish Limits

Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you should work all day, every day. That’s a ticket to burnout. Just as office hours end at 5:00 p.m., establish a time when you stop work, and get to enjoy your home for what it really is, a place to relax and spend uninterrupted, quality time with your family.

5. Determine Your Most Productive Time

Desk jobs force you to be productive as soon as the clock says 9:00 a.m. Never mind that your mind and body aren’t programmed to function at that hour, you’re still expected to be “on.” The beauty of telecommuting is that you actually have the luxury to find that certain time where your body and mind are just “in the zone.” Once you find this particular time, you can use it to your advantage. You can get more tasks done in a much shorter period of time, maybe even managing to accomplish your “to do list” for that day. Once you’re finished with that, then you’re free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day!

About the Author: Sam Briones is a writer who specializes in topics ranging from personal finance to saving money on auto insurance.