List Options for working at home

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on February 23, 2010 at 11:29pm

9. Cutting Hair from home

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on February 24, 2010 at 10:34am

10. Run catering out of your home like Grace did.

Permalink Reply by Jenny on February 24, 2010 at 12:41pm

11. Market Garden
Many towns have farmer's markets and most welcome small gardeners and sell space week to week (Big farms who are present all year get the best space, but lots of buyers like to pass them up and check out the little guys first.) A specialty crop, or simply something you grow very well, can be great way to get a huge return on your investment. Backyard Market Gardening by Andy Lee is a good resource for this idea. Now is the perfect time to start planning for this.

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on February 24, 2010 at 2:18pm

Love it. In fact I had a bumper crop of Lemons and Grapefuits that I just gave away.

Permalink Reply by Grace Becker on February 26, 2010 at 6:57am

Good morning all,
Have any of you heard of Seth Godin? If you have not, go and check him out. He has written a lot
of books as is very well known for his blogging. He sends out his blog every day. It is probably one of the
most highly read blogs, anyway, I believe he has a whole book about it called "The Purple Cow".
Here are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head.
Dog walking
watering plants and getting mail while people are out of town
Shopping for others
running errands
coupon cutting
affiliate marketing
negotiating deals for others
hiring yourself to cover shifts at booths at craft shows, conventions etc
banquet server
Some of those are not at home, however, it is flexible weekend work that can bring in some income.

Permalink Reply by Christina Weber on February 26, 2010 at 8:39pm

I guess it would be babysitting but one mom in our neighborhood gets the elementary kids at the bus stop after school and then she gives them a snack and they play at her house until their parents come home from work. She is able to make several hundred a week for the five kids and her little ones tend to like that time of day because the school aged children play with them and it is a break from thier routine and it is only a few hours for the mom. The parents who have their kids there like it because it is a home alternative to the after school care program offered by the elementary school.

The downside is she has to be home by 2:30 every school day and so it is not very flexible since the "working" parents are depending on her.

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on February 27, 2010 at 4:00pm

12. Dog walking
13. watering plants and getting mail while people are out of town*
14. Shopping for others ,running errands,*
coupon cutting
15. affiliate marketing (What is this exactly, Grace can you expand)*
16. negotiating deals for others (Grace - can you give an example)*
17. hiring yourself to cover shifts at b ooths at craft shows, conventions etc*
18. banquet server*
19. Providing afterschool care for neighborhood school kids.
*Some of those are not at home, however, it is flexible weekend work that can bring in some income.

Permalink Reply by Grace Becker on February 27, 2010 at 4:34pm

Anne There is a lot to affiliate marketing, and I admit that I am studying it myself. I will try and give you a brief explanation and a couple of examples. Affiliate marketing is when you really like a product or service of someone else and you want to recommend it to others. Many many companies now are wanting to form affiliate relationships with folks who will recommend their products. In return, they will pay a commission to them. The company selling the product has an affiliate program, you sign up for it, they give you a specific link that you provide to others to whom you are recommending their products. If those to whom you recommended the product click on the link and make a purchase, you are paid a commission. I know it sounds a bit complicated, so I will give you an example. You go to Amazon and sign up for their affiliate program. Then you write something on the web (or simply have it on your website store) about a product that can be purchased on Amazon and provide your Amazon affiliate link. I click on the link, go to Amazon and buy the product, you get a commission. Amazon even sweetens the deal and if I shop for other stuff and make purchases through your link, you get commission on all the shopping I do while connected through that link. At Christmas, I did a lot of shopping on Amazon. I used an affiliate link of someone I know, they got a commission on all my shopping. Not all sites are like Amazon and extend the commission beyond the singular product you recommended, but that may be the case in the future. The amount of commission offered varies by product and site. There is a huge learning curve on this subject, and I will be glad to share as I get more info. It might be a great way for us moms to work from home, but as with everything else, it does require a lot of work. To find out if the company has an affiliate program, go the their website, scroll to the bottom, you can usually find out there.

As for negotiating deals for others. some people love bargaining, it is fun for some, for others it is misery. I have a brother in law who is thinking about hiring himself out to negotiate bargains for others and split the difference between the asking price and the actual negotiated price. It would only be worth it on fairly expensive items. He is considering purchasing cars, appliances etc. You would be amazed at the places that will negotiate price. My daughter actually went into a retail mattress store and bargained with the manager and bought a $850 mattress for $500.

I am going to do my homework on the affiliate stuff and post more as I learn more. Have a blessed weekend. Grace

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on February 27, 2010 at 6:02pm

Thanks so much for the explanation.

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on March 4, 2010 at 3:56pm

20. Be an sitter for a sitting service ($8-9 per hour)
21. Become a Certified Nurse Assistant for a sitter service (approx $15 per hour)

Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on March 17, 2010 at 12:12am

22. Teach a toddler class from your home. I know of mom who teaches a full-immersion italian class for moms w/toddlers. They sing and read and play. It's about $100 for 6 classes, once a week. Plus $20 for a book and CD. Wish I was fluent in something. I would do it.

Permalink Reply by Grace Becker on March 17, 2010 at 1:09pm

Here are some more ideas that I have seen but not thought up myself.
23. Personal Chef
24. Compile and Package School Supplies from school list
25. Grocery delivery service to college campuses and assisted living facilities.
26. Hand written thank you cards marketed to brides.
27. On site cell phone lessons, dvd, digital camera etc
28. Concierge services to businesses
29. A reservation service, make all types of reservations and send client confirmation
30. Make scrapbooks for others.
31. Post party cleanup cleanup after weddings, reunions, birthdays etc.
32. Plant gardens for people
33. Visit other people's senior parents when they live at a distance
34. Garage sale for deal for working moms
35. Read books, newspapers etc to seniors