I could really use some more bread, but I’m already working a full-time job - and one that demands I be available at odd hours and days. I’ve been looking at the various work at home sites I can find - all of which have been ‘send us this registration fee and we’ll make you rich’. :rolleyes:
Is there really any way to make a bit of extra cash, working online?
Medical transcription. It pays pretty well, and the basic requirements are the ability to type quickly and an extensive knowledge of medical terms – and you can get the latter from study.
Freelance translation. Know any foreign languages?
Freelance copy editing, though you will need a bit of training.
Freelance indexing, but you have to be talented at it and have a bit of training
I know someone who does court transcriptions from home.
What kind of training would you need for this and how would you go about it? TIA.
How about a 16 year old with no college degree?
I know a lady that baby sits at night. The parents want a few hours away and they’ll drop the kid off at her house for the evening. I think she gets 10 or 12 bucks an hour. She keeps two or three at a time some nights. I can’t swear to it but IIRC my wife claimed that she made an extra $400-500 a week this way.
Quick math…avg 2 kids/night $50/child or guess $100 per night just round it to 5 nights/week. $2000/mth. she’s just gonna be sitting at home anyway. Might as well make a few bucks and it gives her two kids friends to play with.
Note: no infants only children who are toilet trained need apply. Feed’m before they get here. AND double pay for unexpected overtime.
Damn, that could run into money. Not like I remember. BTW She’s got a certified whatever for who knows what.
How about it g/u wanna babysit? :eek:
I don’t know how most people get into it. In San Francisco there’s an organisation called Media Alliance which offers Copy Editing courses and provides job listings. I’d guess there are probably similar things in other areas. If not, try your local community college.
I, too, have heard that medical transcription is a good option. This was from someone who did it.
Is that what’s known as a scopist?
There’s a bit more to it than that. A person who does not already have the raw ability cannot just take a class and then open up shop. Building a client list takes time and effort (especially these days, when many publishers are slashing staff who then also end up looking for freelance work), and most will want to see that you have at least a liberal arts degree, if not an advanced degree in a specific subject for more in-depth work, as well as in-house experience under your belt. (I got lucky and started out with no in-house publishing experience and a degree in graphic art, but I am told that this is the rare exception rather than the rule. I also got lucky because it took me only 40 letters and calls to gain my first client, and that was six months after I contacted them. The time frame and letter/call/contact count is usually much higher.)
Here’s an informative page about what copyediting entails. See also the other pages on this person’s site, especially “Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base.”
From the webpages I’ve looked at, scopists seem to be people who proof-read the transcriptions. From my understanding, the person I know translates the court-steno’s shorthand into regular text.
I don’t know how to get a hold of her to ask but thanks for teaching me a new word. 
I have a friend who does mystery shopping. She really likes it.
(BTW, she started by hunting around on line and finding companies who wanted mystery shoppers, she never paid anyone anything to start.)
Travel agent works really well as a WAH job. That’s not exactly a growth field right now though.
Freelance copyediting and copywriting are some great options, but they can be pretty difficult to break into. Taking courses is a good idea - it will give you more credibility and will teach you what people are looking for in a copywriter or editor. But keep in mind that, particularly with the current economy, you’ll have to do some networking and send out a significant number of sales letters to get any meaningful work. I usually go to a networking event at least once a week, plus I spend a lot of time sending out sales letters. Unfortunately, a lot of companies have cut back on their advertising, and are less willing to work with unknown freelancers.
Subscription boards can give you some work, but keep in mind that you would be competing against people who are willing to work for next to nothing. In addition, the individuals and businesses posting to those boards don’t really value copywriting or editing all that much - they’re usually just looking to get the cheapest writer or editor they can find, and many don’t understand that you get what you pay for. Also, a lot of the jobs on those boards are one-shot deals instead of on-going client relationships.
Out of curiosity, exactly what sort of freelance/work-from-home work are you looking for? What are your abilities and your interests? It might be a good idea for you to take a few moments to sit down, think about it, and write them down. If you’re interested in writing, for example, and think you’ve got some real talent, buy a Writer’s Market (about $30 at any Barnes & Noble or major bookstore) and send out some queries to a few magazines, or maybe put together some sales letters and send them out to a bunch of businesses. If you’d really like to get into transcription, go to your library and do some research on how to break into that. If you like children, perhaps you could put an ad in the paper or put up some fliers offering your services. Make sure to consider your current work hours in your decision, too. If you don’t have regular work hours, or if they can change really suddenly, perhaps babysitting wouldn’t work for you.
Phone sex might be a good option if you have the voice and the imagination for it. The positions that I have heard of let you set your own hours. You call in when you are ready to receive calls and the main office routes them to you when available. I know at least one Doper that had a roommate that did this. It wouldn’t be that hard once you built an effective persona and you can build long-term relationships by having repeat customers. If business is slow, you can call the regulars yourself and see if you can talk them into a little phone play.
I do work from home part-time writing resumes. I work for a friend’s start-up company, so I got in purely by accident, but it’s been some decent extra money. I’ve got a few people under me now, and we’re hoping to go full-time with it soon, but for now, it’s decent money. The company is totally legit, we’re incorporated and everything. It’s definitely not one of those work-from-home schemes.
Ava
My great-aunt used to tie flies at home. Not sure how well it paid or who she did it for.