Here’s a recent email I received from a reader, highlighting how difficult securing a work at home job can be. Especially when you consider that someone is always lurking behind every corner to scam you with the promise of a job or the ability to make excessive amounts of money from your computer.

Begin email —–>

I’m trying to obtain a work from home position. Some kind of traditional data entry job from home. I’m tired of these “no money” bogus jobs in my area. I’m looking to be more independent and make money using my computer and my keyboarding or writing skills. Please help! Please respond ASAP with some suggestions. When I open up your web page, I don’t know where to go or what to do first, there is so much, I’m completely overwhelmed. HELP!

Thank you.

Maria V*****

Maria highlighted a problem with the website, something that most website don’t do. Teach users how to maximize the benefits of the resources provided and show step by step, how to use the website. I quickly created a short video after receiving Maria’s email, specifically for the purpose of teaching uses how to use the jobs database at genuinejobs.com.

For these are other how-to videos, please visit the Video section by clicking the “Video Channel” link in the top navigation of this page (http://www.obzokee.com/video-channel/) Remember to leave us your comments by clicking on the comments link below.

Every telecommuter knows that it takes a special kind of dedication to be able to perform effectively when you’re surrounded by people who never seem to get it that though you’re home, you’re technically still at work. Then there’s all the “around the house” work that always seem to require your attention.

Take this morning for instance… I had plans of waking up early and starting to write content for a new website I want to launch Jan 1 2008. But I guess mother nature had other plans for moi! The video I took says it all:

So guess what I’ll be doing for the next couple hours? This is after I spent 3 hours cleaning the garage and back yard yesterday. Plus I’ve already cleaned up 7 bags of leaves from the front (same place as in the video above) last week.

What’s that smell you ask? If you’ve been lucky enough to be part of the mentoring program (free) offered by David Ledoux then you’ll know what I mean. In his latest post/assignment Mr. Ledoux took the chain letter idea and applied it to blogging. Cool huh! Then he challenged all of his mentoring students and readers to spread the blog chain by listing the following top 10 websites…

1. Free Acne Advice
2. ILOVEMLM Blog
3. Fax Marketing
4. Jack Squatro
5. DidYouSmellThat
6. TurboRecruiting
7. RyanShamus
8. Martial Arts Supplies
9. Make Money Online
10. Patio and Gardening Tips.

Did you get the smell? http://www.didyousmellthat.com

“I will never be the victim of a scam, not me I know better.” Sound familiar, I know I have said it…and I also know that I have been scammed. No one wants to believe that they are going to be scammed that only happens to fools who don’t know any better. It is easier then you think to be scammed on the internet when you are looking for ways to make extra money online. You read their information, see the testimonials, they are only asking for a small monetary investment and an equally small investment of your time. They want to teach you the business, tell you they are offering something no one else is offering and if you are not completely satisfied and haven’t made any money they will give you your money back. Can’t beat that right? You should, with a stick and see if it still moves.

First, there is a difference between working for yourself and working for someone else on the internet. It should never cost you money to work for someone else. Did your current employer charge you a membership fee or processing fee to work for them? No, they didn’t and that is no different then an online employer. There will be an investment to have your own business though.

Please, please, please realize that upfront cash is not your only monetary investment. When it comes to making extra money online, your time is even more valuable. Oh, it’s only a couple hours a week, a day, maybe 20 hours a month it’s not big deal. What is the payoff at the end of that week, or after two weeks, the first month? Some amount of money should be flowing in to compensate your time. Some will offer a money back guarantee, that is the money you paid to them, not for any advertising you had to do, not for any other service you had to sign up for, not for your time invested, and that is only a money back guarantee if you can find them to get it back.

Let’s talk about the other services and advertising that is the gimmick with a lot of internet marketing scams out there. You buy their product, as you are going through their program you find out that you need to sign up for four other programs to make this program work. That is not included in your money back guarantee and something you should not do. There are free sites on the net to help you build any business or find work from home jobs to help you make extra money online.

I wish that there were tell tale signs to warn you of so that you don’t get scammed while you are trying to work from home, but there isn’t really. I can only offer you this advice. If it sounds to good to be true, then it is. Money back guarantees don’t mean anything if you can’t get them to give it back. You should never have to pay someone to work for them. All businesses require some start up investment. Check them out with the Better Business Bureau online. Go with your gut instinct. It is possible to make extra money online. There are just a lot of things to consider before jumping into it and leaving your day job.

There are a number of legal ways to make money online. Some are short term with limited gains and other are long term with big payoffs.

If you are good at writing, you can make money writing a blog. A number of sites provide free blogs and will pay you, depending on the number of people viewing your blog. The best bit is you do not need a dime to start and you don’t need any web design skills. The beauty of blogging is that there is no set topic and you can write about whatever is closest to your heart or what ever you have a good grasp of. Some people find blogging very therapeutic and some sites allow you to add Google Adwords, so you would be able to earn more money from people clicking on them.

Submitting articles for money is another legal way of making money online. There are a number of sites where you can submit your articles and they will happily pay you for them.

A number of auction sites are available. Take eBay, for example, you can make money by selling your unwanted stuff and using the money to buy some more stuff that you can sell off at a profit.

Answering surveys online is a great way of making money online. You can answer questionnaires for market research companies and they pay you for it. Although answering surveys is an easy and interesting way to make money online, one should make sure that the company is reputable since there are a number of rogue companies that will have you answer surveys and not pay you.

Working for others online is a great legal way of earning money. The number of people telecommuting has increased and companies find it more acceptable to employ telecommuting employees. A number of forum owners need people to post and make conversation to keep the forums busy to make them attractive to more visitors, so you could get paid to chat and facilitate conversation. You could be employed as a moderator, making sure all posts are under the right topics as well as removing any obscene posts.

Being a virtual assistant is another legal way of making money. A number of companies get a lot of emails so you could be involved in selecting which mail goes to who as well as answering some simple questions. You will be the first line of support for a company. You could be answering live help and dealing with simple problems and referring more complex ones to someone else for closer scrutiny.
Researching could be a legal way of making money online. A number of companies employ people to compile certain chunks of information for them. Certain busy people could employ you to find certain things for them. A busy executive might want to know where to get a certain dress for her daughters play, you would look for which site has them and pass on such information. This saves them time and they, in turn, pay you for the service.