How to Make a Living From Home Anywhere in the World by Johnathan Robinson - HTML preview

Introduction

The idea of working at home doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. Many people prefer to be outdoors or in an office setting, whether it be for physical comfort, motivation or for social interaction. However “working from home” is synonymous with a higher level of freedom and flexibility and it doesn't necessarily mean you have to be stuck in your bedroom or home office. Depending on what you're doing, your “home” one day could be your physical house, the next day could be the coffee shop on the corner and the day after could be a lounge chair on the beach. As you can imagine this means using the power of the internet. With a good internet connection you can literally work from anywhere in the world.

Deciding How You Want to Work

There are many different reasons why a person may want to work from home. I think the big one for most people is some form of freedom.

Whether it's financial freedom, the freedom to spend more time with your loved ones or just the freedom to kick your shoes off and be more comfortable while working. So let's first look at what your overall goals are.

Employee vs. Entrepreneur

The first big decision to make is whether you want to work for someone else or work for yourself. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Which one works better for you has a lot to do with your personality type. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone just as being an employee is not for everyone. Which one is more financially rewarding will also depend a lot on the individual.

As an employee you need to have a different mindset than you do as an entrepreneur. As an employee you are a contributor. You are part of a team. Unless you are the CEO of the company, things will probably not always be done in the way you think is best and your ideas and suggestions will not always be adhered to. Even working from home, you will have to answer to someone and you may not always be able take time off or vacations when you want to.

However, there are also some advantages of being an employee. First you may have experienced leaders that can organize and accomplish things you don't have the know-how to do on your own. Again you will usually be part of a team as an employee. Together that team may be able to accomplish larger goals than you could starting out as an entrepreneur on your own. Also being an employee can be a learning experience that teaches you the skills you need to become an entrepreneur in the future. Being an employee also provides structure. If you find it difficult to motivate yourself, working for someone else can give you the added push you need to be productive. Also as an employee you usually have a set salary or hourly wage. Which means you know about how much you’ll make over a certain period of time. This is the big one for most people.

Finally, in some ways, you may actually enjoy a higher degree of freedom as an employee than as an entrepreneur. As an employee your tasks are usually much more compartmentalized so you may only need to perform a certain set of tasks each day or each week and not have to think about areas outside your personal realm of responsibility. For example, a person who processes orders usually will not have to worry about the details of creating the design for the new company logo. As an employee you are free to focus on doing an excellent job in your own position and trust that your teammates are doing an excellent job in theirs. On the other hand, as an entrepreneurs, especially starting out, you will usually have to be involved in all aspects of your business. The buck starts and stops with you, so there are many things to keep track of and be responsible for. You usually will work longer hours than you would as an employee and also take fewer vacations (unless working vacations :). There is also no guarantee of income. You get out what you put in. As an entrepreneur you must eat, sleep, and breath your business. Your business completely dominates your life. That's why it is so important that you love what you're doing.

Stationary or Nomadic

Work-From-Home Employee

For those that would like to be employees with the added comfort of working at home there are several different types of opportunities. We’ll look at some of the more common types here. There are a quite a few good websites for those seeking work from home opportunities. If you do a Google search for “Remote Jobs.” You’ll get pages of results. We’ll discuss some of the most common options below.

Sales and Telemarketing

There are a lot of work-from-home sales opportunities online, however many may not be able to be performed completely remotely. Telemarketing jobs are typically the type of sales jobs that work best if you are seeking a job that allows you to work completely remotely. Though other types of traditional sales can also be done remotely. Telemarketing jobs can be for any number of products and services. The bad thing about them is that most don’t pay well. However since many pay commissions, top telemarketers can earn decent livings. The good thing about telemarketing jobs is that they usually require minimal training and many telemarketing jobs can be done from anywhere in the world.

Some insurance salesman work completely remotely but this largely depends on the regulations in the state where the policies are sold. Insurance can be a lucrative profession but there are licensing requirements and it is not for everyone. If you are interested in a career in insurance, insurance companies are always looking for new agents and will usually help you with the licensing requirements. The majority will require some face-to-face contact with clients but there are some that allow you to sell strictly online. When choosing a company compare reputability, upfront commissions and residual commissions. A really good agent with the right company can make millions, though this is far from average. Since many insurance agents also sell annuities you will notice there is cross-over between the insurance and securities market. The deeper you go into selling other types of financial instruments, the more licensure you will be required to have but insurance licenses are typically easy to get. Insurance can be profitable on it's own and is also a great inroad into other financial markets.

Besides telemarketing and insurance there are myriad of other types of sales jobs you can do. Some can be done completely remotely and some will require some face-to-face client interaction. For those that require face-to- face meetings, with luck you can work meetings around your schedule and be able to enjoy the ability to work largely from home, depending on the sales process.

Customer Service and Support

Another option for employment that allows you to work remotely is finding a Customer Service and Support job. It’s pretty straightforward. You’re usually paid an hourly rate to take payments or address issues with products or services. Depending on the company you may be able to do this job completely remotely. You may also be able to have varying degrees of flexibility with your schedule. Customer Service and Support jobs do not pay the best but this can vary greatly depending on the industry and your experience

Programming

Programmers have an abundance of opportunities online. There is so much need and so many different types of programming jobs, that employers many times are a lot less particular about where the work is done as long as they are able to get their needs met. These jobs many times will require a degree in programming, however you may also be able to secure one of these positions by attaining certifications in the desired programming language.

With the potential for high pay and flexibility of work locations, programming jobs are among the best types of work-from-home jobs.

Work-From-Home Entrepreneur

There are almost limitless opportunities for work-from-home

entrepreneurship. I’ll discuss some of the opportunities that I find to be the best. These are all ways of working from home I do, or have used personally, so I'll give you the good and bad from my perspective.

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