Thousands of Iowans have ditched the office and clock in at home. More could work from home down the road as laid-off workers look for new opportunities. But, before you turn your home into an office, experts say do your homework.
Sarah Harding has a quick commute. She just grabs her computer and goes to her living room or kitchen. She says, "It's fantastic." She got a gig working from home six years ago while finishing grad school. She says, "Taking inbound sales calls for infomercials. It is really awful, but sometimes that's where you have to start."
Now, she teaches for an online university, writes freelance articles and runs a consulting business all from the comfort of home. She works about 15 hours a week at night when her nine month old daughter goes to bed. She says, "There's so many job opportunities, for me, I've picked the ones that don't have a set schedule."
If you go online, you'll see all the job opportunities, but experts say you have to be careful. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says about 75 people have filed complaints with the A.G.'s office for work at home opportunities this year. He says that's consistent with last year. He says, "That's a significant number, and could climb, there's a little bit of lead time before people complain to us."
Miller says the number could climb as more people look for any type of work or even just extra cash in this economy. The category is already in the top twenty for number of complaints. He says, "There are a lot of red flags for working from home because it's an established area of fraud over the years."
Miller says one of those red flags is if someone contacts you, like through an unsolicited e-mail. He also says to avoid anything that involves cashing checks or giving a credit card number. Finally, he says be wary of seminars. He says, "They contact people, get them to a seminar and they use high pressure tactics. An Iowa consumer put up $6,500. We were able to get that back recently."
Harding says, "I haven't actually been taken, so I feel good about that, but I've seen schemes." Harding says she's avoided the schemes and scams because she learned where to look. Now, as part of her consulting business TruYu, she helps others find legitimate job leads. She says, "Mostly what I do is more just help people identify what aren't scams, what is going to work for them." And work for their lifestyle, as they turn their homes into offices.
Harding says you can make real money working from home. Two of her clients are married and both stay home: They make $65,000 dollars a year combined.
If you look for a home based position, you'll find several popular categories. Teaching is a common work from home gig. They hold class online. A home-based teacher can earn up to six figures, depending on the type and number of classes you teach. Freelance writing positions are also popular, but Harding says the jobs are difficult to get. Companies pay people $10 to $20 per article. Medical transcriptionist is another popular position. Workers transcribe doctor's notes from the comfort of home. Call center representatives work for a variety of well known companies and may take sales calls, handle complaints, even do tech support or give medical advice over the phone from home. Finally, virtual assistants are becoming popular. They do everything a typical assistant does, just not from an office.
Some web sites are even screening work at home jobs now. You can check out www.ratracerebellion.com for legitimate leads, just be advised, the site also includes advertisements, which may not be legitimate jobs.
Sarah Harding has a quick commute. She just grabs her computer and goes to her living room or kitchen. She says, "It's fantastic." She got a gig working from home six years ago while finishing grad school. She says, "Taking inbound sales calls for infomercials. It is really awful, but sometimes that's where you have to start."
Now, she teaches for an online university, writes freelance articles and runs a consulting business all from the comfort of home. She works about 15 hours a week at night when her nine month old daughter goes to bed. She says, "There's so many job opportunities, for me, I've picked the ones that don't have a set schedule."
If you go online, you'll see all the job opportunities, but experts say you have to be careful. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says about 75 people have filed complaints with the A.G.'s office for work at home opportunities this year. He says that's consistent with last year. He says, "That's a significant number, and could climb, there's a little bit of lead time before people complain to us."
Miller says the number could climb as more people look for any type of work or even just extra cash in this economy. The category is already in the top twenty for number of complaints. He says, "There are a lot of red flags for working from home because it's an established area of fraud over the years."
Miller says one of those red flags is if someone contacts you, like through an unsolicited e-mail. He also says to avoid anything that involves cashing checks or giving a credit card number. Finally, he says be wary of seminars. He says, "They contact people, get them to a seminar and they use high pressure tactics. An Iowa consumer put up $6,500. We were able to get that back recently."
Harding says, "I haven't actually been taken, so I feel good about that, but I've seen schemes." Harding says she's avoided the schemes and scams because she learned where to look. Now, as part of her consulting business TruYu, she helps others find legitimate job leads. She says, "Mostly what I do is more just help people identify what aren't scams, what is going to work for them." And work for their lifestyle, as they turn their homes into offices.
Harding says you can make real money working from home. Two of her clients are married and both stay home: They make $65,000 dollars a year combined.
If you look for a home based position, you'll find several popular categories. Teaching is a common work from home gig. They hold class online. A home-based teacher can earn up to six figures, depending on the type and number of classes you teach. Freelance writing positions are also popular, but Harding says the jobs are difficult to get. Companies pay people $10 to $20 per article. Medical transcriptionist is another popular position. Workers transcribe doctor's notes from the comfort of home. Call center representatives work for a variety of well known companies and may take sales calls, handle complaints, even do tech support or give medical advice over the phone from home. Finally, virtual assistants are becoming popular. They do everything a typical assistant does, just not from an office.
Some web sites are even screening work at home jobs now. You can check out www.ratracerebellion.com for legitimate leads, just be advised, the site also includes advertisements, which may not be legitimate jobs.
