2009 March | The Work at Home Woman

Envelope Stuffing – Work at Home Scam!

Tags: Scam Prevention, Work at Home, Work at Home Scams, Work from home
Posted in Scam Prevention
1 Comment »

When I was in college I worked part-time waiting tables, even though I made good money, I still had to pinch pennies to make ends meet. So you can imagine my excitement when I found an ad placed on my algebra class’s bulletin board, stating “Make Great Money Stuffing Envelopes, $2.00 per Envelope”!

I was so excited, I started calculating how many envelopes I could stuff in between classes and how much money I could make per week; life was going to be so much easier! I sent $12.00 off for the information pertaining to the envelope stuffing gig, and impatiently waited for the information to come.

Finally after a couple of weeks it arrived, the information that was going to solve my financial worries. I read the letter and it said, to make money stuffing envelopes, place the same ad you replied to in magazines, newspaper ads and on bulletin boards. You will then make money by people replying to the ad, and in return you will send them the same info. What a bummer! Luckily I only lost $12.00.

Today you still see envelope stuffing ads on the internet, “Make $1500 a Week Stuffing Envelopes”, only now they charge $20 – $50 for the same bogus information. In Tory Johnson’s book, “Will Work from Home”, she tests the envelope stuffing scam with a few different companies, none of them panned out. “Recruiting people to stuff envelopes is the oldest work-from-home gimmick that fools people every day. Don’t be one of them”.

For April’s Book Review, I will be discussing Tory Johnson’s, “Will Work from Home”. Feel free to read along, it has a lot of great information for those to want to work from home or become self employed!

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business

Tags: Business, Home Based Business, Social Networking
Posted in Social Networking
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With over 175 million active users, and a global traffic ranking of 5, it’s no wonder why people are turning to Facebook to promote their businesses and blogs.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Facebook has become the most widely used social media platform in United States; and the great thing about it is you can use it to promote your business for free!

Here are 7 ways to get started using Facebook to market your home-based business.

1. Create a personal profile and connect with your family, friends and co-workers. The average Facebook user has an average of 120 friends on the social network site. This allows you to promote your home-based business by word of mouth to your network.

A couple of nice features that Facebook allows are the ability to display a link to your website, and the capability to add your blog’s RSS feed on your profile.

2. If you are a celebrity, have band or business, Facebook allows you to create a business page. Here you can upload your logo or picture, display information about your business, and place updates and news.

Invite your friends and family to become fans of your business. Don’t forget to place links to your Facebook business page on your website, Twitter tweets and email signatures to help grow your fan base.

3. Promote your blog on NetworkedBlogs. This application posts a screen shot of your blog, a description, URL and most importantly your blog’s RSS feed.

Invite friends and family to follow your blog. Another great way to get followers to your blog is to post a topic in the discussion boards inviting other bloggers to comment on your blog with you returning the favor.

4. Use the Facebook Market Place to promote items that are for sale. This is great for those who sell on eBay or Etsy, and it’s free!

5. If you have a larger advertising budget, with 175 million active users, Facebook is a great place to advertise your business through a pay per click or impression campaign. The minimum budget they will work with is $1.00 per day and the current minimum cost per click is $0.01. See site for additional details.

6. Start a group that relates to your business niche offering information and insight. Forming and joining groups another great way to get the word out about your business.

7. Create a Facebook application. Facebook has more than 52,000 applications available. There are applications for everything from keeping track of your caffeine intake to sending virtual flowers to your friends. Social Flowers, an online florist, created an application that allows you to send virtual flowers to friends and family in your network, all while promoting themselves as a business.

For more great tips on using Facebook to promote your home-based business, check out Mashable’s blog post on “30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook”

Are you on Facebook? Become a fan of The Work at Home Woman, by clicking here.

Lovable Links – My Favorite Mommy Sites

Tags: Blog, Business Resources, Lovable Links, Mommy
Posted in Lovable Links
1 Comment »

Because so many of our readers are moms, I’ve decided to feature my favorite mommy websites for Friday’s Lovable Links. Not only are these sites engaging and fun to read, but they offer many business related tips, articles and strategies for mom entrepreneurs.

My first favorite Mommy website, is Mommy Track’d. If you need a good dose of humor, check out their True Mom Confessions in Worst Working Mom Moments, very funny! They also have great business resources in Work Your Way, Quick Survival Tips and Get Organized.

Check out Mommy Tracked at: http://www.mommytrackd.com/

Another great Mommy website is, Modern Mom: “The Magazine & Community behind the Mom”. Modern Mom has a Working Mom section that has modern mompreneur success stories and articles. The also have a section where you can join a group or participate in a discussion. Suggested article: Working from Home? Tips on How to Beat the Boredom and Isolation

For more information on Modern Mom, please see: http://www.modernmom.com/

The Mogul Mom Blog by Heather Allard offers free coaching and resources for mom entrepreneurs. Besides having great commentary, Heather has a Helping Out Directory (HOD) where moms can help other moms through a barter system. Example: if you’re a graphic designer, you could create a banner ad in exchange for free advertising on another mom’s site; great idea!

Check it out: http://www.themogulmom.com/

The Simple Mom Blog is a great place to get tips on organizing, productivity, money management, kids and simplifying your life. The commentary is always thoughtful and often inspiring.

Check out: http://simplemom.net/

Do you have a favorite website that you would like to share? We’d love to hear from you!

Check out Mommy Tracked at: http://www.mommytrackd.com/

For more information on Modern Mom, please see: http://www.modernmom.com/

Check it out: http://www.themogulmom.com/

The Simple Mom Blog is a great place to get tips on organizing, productivity, money management, kids and simplifying your life. The commentary is always thoughtful and often inspiring.

Check out: http://simplemom.net/

Do you have a favorite website that you would like to share? We’d love to hear from you!

10 Ways to Make Money From Your Blog

Tags: Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Make Money Online, Word Press, Work from home
Posted in Articles, Blogging
2 Comments »

By John Wood, AWAI Staff Writer

There are over 133 million blogs on the Internet.

This figure is according to Technorati.com, which also lists the average annual blogger revenue at $6,000 per year. They’re quick to point out that the $6,000 number is seriously skewed upward by the top 1% of blog owners, who make $250,000 or more per year.

The average median income for U.S. and European bloggers is only $200 a year.

Not a lot of money.

One thing is clear, though – it’s possible to make a good living from your blog.

However, if you’re going to bring in more than $200 a year, you need a good “blog monetization” strategy.

Heather Armstrong from Salt Lake City knows how to make money from her blog. Her motherhood-themed blog, www.dooce.com, has a loyal following of over 850,000 (mostly women) monthly readers. The estimated $40,000 in revenue it brings in each month has allowed both her and her husband to say goodbye forever to their 9-to-5 jobs.

So how does Heather do it?

And more importantly, how can you do it?

You can start by implementing one or more of the following money-making strategies:

Search Ads – Placing search ads on your site is the most popular way among blog owners to bring in revenue. According to Technorati, 38% of bloggers use search ads on their blog. The most well known “search ad” provide is Google with their Adsense program. Microsoft and Yahoo have similar programs.

Display Ads – Display ads are the second most popular way to make money with your blog. According to Technorati.com, 28% of bloggers use display ads. A display ad typically includes an image or logo. To arrange for display ads on your blog, you can contact a company directly, or you can go through online advertising sites such as chitika.com, shoppingads.com, text-link-ads.com, widgetbucks.com, and advertising.com.

Rich Media Ads– These are the ads what temporarily take over your computer display. They are very flashy, and it’s impossible to ignore them. I’ve seen them used when promoting an upcoming movie opening or a new television series. Although not widely utilized (according to Technorati.com, only 4% of blog owners use them), they are still relatively new and could grow in popularity.

Promote Your Own Products – Market your own products such as e-books, online courses, coaching, etc. Soft sell approaches work the best. Talk about something interesting and then relate it to your product or service near the end of your post. Include the appropriate link and suggest to your prospect that it might be a good idea if he clicked on it.

Promote Affiliate Products – There are no shortage of sites that offer affiliate programs. They are quick and easy to sign up for – and some will even approve you as an affiliate on the spot. If you’re writing a post that mentions a product you’ve had a good experience with, find out if it has an affiliate program connected with it. For example, if you run a poker blog, talk about the different types of poker chips that are available and supply affiliate links to purchase each grade of chip. You can also sign up with sites that administer affiliate programs for other sites such as Commission Junction (cj.com), Clickbooth.com, Linkshare.com, and Blogads.com.

Paid Postings – Some may find “paid postings” a somewhat unethical way to make money blogging. The idea is that advertisers pay you to mention their products in your blog posts (without revealing that what you’re doing is a form of advertising). Two of the most popular paid posting companies are blogdistributor.com and payperpost.com.

Spokesblogger – A “spokesblogger” is a spokesman for a government official, company, or non-profit entity. They get paid to promote their employer’s point-of-view. Like a paid postings blogger, a spokesblogger generally does not reveal that they are a paid spokesperson for the cause or organization they advocate in their blog.

Donations– If the content you provide is useful and free (and/or ad-free), you can ask your readers if they’d like to donate money to keep your blog up-and-running. You see this quite often on political-oriented and “computer technical help” sites. You simply add a “donate button” to your site and link it to your online transaction processor (Paypal or Paypal equivalent).

Set Up an e-Store – Some websites will provide you with everything you need to set up your own online store. Amazon.com provides their affiliates with the opportunity to set up and customize an “AStore.” Zlio.com is another popular site that lets you set up your own personal online storefront. Cafepress.com allows you to personalize merchandise. It’s a great way to establish a blog brand, flex your creativity and make a few bucks in the process.

Flip Your Blog – Once you’re familiar with how to get a blog up and running, and you’re ready to make money, you might want to sell your blog. Especially if you enjoy starting a blog more than you do maintaining and nurturing one. SitePoint (marketplace.sitepoint.com) is just one of the sites where you could list your blog for sale.

Of course, not all blog owners set up a blog with the intent of making money. They use their blog to enhance their reputation within their industry. Which indirectly may lead to more money through speaking engagements, high profile writing assignments, and even business partnerships.

Put one or more of these 10 techniques into action, continually update your blog with fresh, interesting, relevant content … and as your search engine rankings and visitors increase, so will the income it generates for you.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

Do You Need an Employee Identification Number (EIN)?

Tags: Business Information, EIN, Employee Identification Number, Entrepreneur, Tax Information
Posted in Business Information
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By Holly Reisem Hanna

When starting a new business there are many steps that one must take; determining the structure of your business, filling out a DBA form, and perhaps applying for an EIN. An Employee Identification Number is a nine digit number that is used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify a business.

Who needs to apply for an Employee Identification Number?

Any business that has employees.
Any business that has a corporate or partnership structure.
Any business that files tax returns on employment, excise, alcohol, tobacco and/or firearms.
Any business that withholds taxes on income, other than wages, paid to a non-resident alien.
Any business that has a Keogh plan.
Any business involved in trusts, IRAs, estates, non-profit organizations, farmers’ cooperatives and plan administrators.

When in doubt consult a lawyer, accountant or other related professional.

There are many ways to apply for an Employee Identification Number. You can visit the IRS website and apply online, use their toll-free telephone service, apply by fax or mail, or by utilizing a third party, such as Legal Zoom. I highly suggest applying for your EIN yourself on the IRS website; it’s easy and free, where as a third party will charge you around $79.

Please visit www.irs.gov for additional information.

Mystery Shopper Scam

Tags: Mystery Shopping Scam, Scam Prevention, Work at Home Scams, Work from home
Posted in Scam Prevention
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By Holly Reisem Hanna

Yesterday, the Today Show featured a story about a woman who got scammed by the Mystery Shopper Company, Best Surveys Inc. Best Surveys Inc. claims that you can make $700 a week by becoming a mystery shopper for them; they even post a Better Business Bureau symbol on their website.

The scam consists of Best Surveys Inc. sending a fake check in the amount of $1000 to the participant; the participant then cashes the check at their bank, and completes their assignment by reporting on a Western Union or other cash wiring company. The participant then wires $900 to Best Surveys Inc, and then gets to keep $100 as their profit.

Seems like easy money, right? But a couple weeks later the bank finds out that the initial check was counterfeit, leaving the participant responsible for paying the bank back the money. By this time Best Surveys Inc has taken off with your money and is nowhere to be found.

Lesson of the story, do your due diligence when applying or looking for a work at home position. By following these simple steps you can decrease your chances of ending up a victim of a scam.

Check out the company at the actual Better Business Bureau website.
Do a Google search and see if the company has any negative reviews.
If the company offers testimonials, try to get in touch with these people and get their thoughts on the company.
Look for valid contact information: phone number, email address, physical address.
Check out the latest scam information on Scam Busters.
Never pay for a job or wire money to a company.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

For more information on scam prevention, check out our scam prevention section for additional tips and resources.

Have you been a victim of a scam? Write and tell us your story: holly@theworkathomewoman.com

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