Good Advice!

Turn your hobby into a career!

How?

Dear Rose, I’m currently enrolled in a course called Grant Writing 101 from Online University. I’m reading what you wrote about grant writing. I want to leave my present job. I’m currently tying to be a Freelance Writer. I realize it’s very hard work but I two things going for me: I love to read and don’t mind hard work.

I was wondering if there are any pointers that you could pass along that might help my get started? I’ve read a couple of books but some where they never point out what to do when your new at this, I don’t have any clips, not even a web site(working on one), and nothing that could be called an example. This is where I’m stuck.

Any help would much be appreciated.

Alan P

The first thing I noticed about your email is that you don't have a website. I also don't know if you are talking about being a freelance writer or being a grant writer.

The first thing that I would advise you to do is to get your website up and running. At least then your site information can be seen 24/7. I don't know the details of the kind of site that you're starting but I would advise you to get that up and running as soon as you can.

If you're talking about freelance writing, I would suggest that you get a copy of the Writer's Market - whether you buy it outright or check it out at your library. This book contains most the information that you will need to start your writing career started.

If you're talking about grantwriting, I have seen it suggested that you start with a small, non-profit organization and help them with their grantwriting. That way you will start to make a name of yourself and plus it will give you that experience that you need.

I hope that this helps answering your question.

Here's An Inspirational Story

Here is a story that I hope will inspire some you out there! Read the story here. Once you've read the story tell us what you think about it.

Help Me To Get My Dream Job

Hey rose.. im a student in the national institute of technology in india.. Actually i wanted to go for fashion designing but my parents dint allow as im a good student according to them i must work..you know they are more concerned about job security types of jobs n all.,though they are right at their part..

Well., my friends say that i have an amazing fashion knowlege n all the latest updates.i help them choose their outfits,and also design their clothes. So..Actually i want a part time online job ,where i can send my designs according to the customers need. Can u plzz help me,i seriously need this.. Please respond.. N ur blog was superb. :) thank you. :)

If you are really serious about getting a job in fashion design I would suggest that you create a blog for yourself. At the very least this is a good starting point for you to get your name out there and on the internet. Second build up a portfolio of what you have done and shop it around both online and offline. I did some preliminary searching online and found out that there are many sites that provide valued information for those (including you) that want to have a design business of their own. So doing a little online searching will bring you information about the type of career that you want.

There even may be the possibility that you can get a grant for fashion designing! There is one organization that has a $25,000 grant for a fashion designer and to even help them prepare a runway show in New York! You may be eligible for that. The biggest question to ask your self is how badly do you want to be a fashion designer. Do you want it bad enough to put in the time to find the information that you will need to get started?

Facebook Is Hiring!

Normally I don't like the "pop up" ads that appear anytime I'm browsing the Internet. But once in a while you will find something that you may want to look further into.

One of the ads that popped up when I was browsing the Internet was about the well-know Facebook company.

Face book is a well-known name so this is something that you may want to look into. Their requirement for the job are that you have a computer, Internet access and knowing how to navigate it.

If you want to know more about this then you can click here.

This would be one of the most perfect jobs that enable you to work from home!

Turn Your Passion Into A Profession!

Someone posted this dandy little saying on Twitter and I thought that it would be the most perfect thing to add to this blog!

I have posted numerous blog posts about turning what you love to do into a business of your own and it's just always good to see someone else mentioning it besides me!

So many people have turned their passions into a profession - so why not you?

If you don't think that you can turn your passion into a profession, just drop me a comment and I will show you how it can be done!

Customizing Blog Templates?

Here is another work from home idea that may interest you.

Of course you know that the internet is filled with blogs - in fact you're reading one right now! But what you may not know is that people - bloggers to be more exact - are looking for ways to customize their own blogs. They may be tired or bored with the templates that their blog sites are offering and may want to have a design of their own - something more personalized and/or customized for their own blog.

There are numerous sites all over the Internet that offer free blog templates but a blogger may want something that is not offered on these sites - and that is where you come in!

You can design custom blog templates for bloggers and sell them from your very own site (or blog).

Mind you, this is a specialized kind of work and you would have to know html and CSS and you might even have to design a graphic or two! But if you have a lot of experience with blogs then this is something that you might want to look into. Even if you don't know html it still may be possible for you to custom-design graphics if you are good at making graphics. Just think about, if you have your own computer then it would hopefully have a graphic-making program already included. Since I have the Windows operating system, I have the Windows "Paint" program which can certainly be used to design a graphic or two. I also have Microsoft Word which comes with its own graphics program as well.

Creating logos is a very popular work at home thing that you can try with these programs as well! Businesses and organizations are always looking for a good logo. As a matter of fact I have seen sites where places are asking for logos and you have to be careful because you don't want to give away your work for free!

I really suggest that you take a look and see what kind of graphics/drawing programs that you have on your computer. Open them up and play around with them for a little while. You can also do a search online for free graphic programs, you can visit my blog, The 3D Beginner to find free graphic programs that you can download.

This is a very good work at home idea that you can try for yourself. I think that I'm going to try it myself just to show that it is possible! Using a simple program like the Windows "Paint" program to create logos and graphics that you will be able to sell.

How would you sell them? Well first you would create a couple of designs and put them on a website or blog of your own - you should be able to find free websites online as well as sites that will let you blog for free. Set up your own site and upload the graphics that you created and offer them for sale. Now there is the question of people "grabbing" your graphics without paying for them but there are some simple solutions for that. Number 1 you could "watermark" your graphics and number 2 you could upload "sample" graphics just to show what you are capable of doing as far as creating graphics are concerned.

So do some checking on your computer to see what kind of graphis programs that you have, play around with the program to see what you can come up with.

Update!

I have created a logos page where I have created a few simple logos (and graphics) using the simple program "Paint" that came with my Windows system.

Hopefully this will give you a general idea of what can be done with such a simple program!

Getting Paid To Smoke Marijuana?

This is not exactly a "work from home opportunity but it is another way to earn extra money.


Did you know that you could actually get paid to smoke weed! There are actual research organizations that will pay you to smoke pot!



Here is an example of one such program that I found for a client from my Grant Basics 101 Blog:

$800 For Pot Smokers!

Need Men & Women!



Participate in a 2 week study on the effects of marijuana on sleep. Study involves sleeping in our laboratory Monday through Thursday nights with one night of sleep deprivation. You must be:

• Between the ages of 21 and 45 years old
  
  
  
• Able to come to the lab to sleep Monday through Thursday nights for two weeks
  
  
  
• Able to stay awake one full night and the next day without any sleep
  

Earn up to $800 for your participation!

As hard as it is to believe you could actually get paid to smoke marijuana!

How About Creating Your Very Own Podcast!

I am sure that I mentioned many times on this blog about podcasting. What is podcasting? Well it's like having your own show on the Internet.



How do you create your own podcast? Well it's kind of simple really! What you do is record your show the way you want it to be and then you upload it to one of the free podcasting sites and there you have it - your own show! Of course you have to read the guidelines of the free podcasting site that you are using because on some of them you can't use copyrighted music - so check their rules first.


What can I podcast about? That's the beauty of it because you can podcast about almost anything you like! I recently created a podcast for where I live:

LaMott Podcast









How Can You Make Money With Your Podcast? Well the most obvious answer is that you can sell advertising time on your podcast - just like they do at radio stations! The more popular your podcast the more potential for more advertisers who will want to advertise on your podcast.


The tools you'll need should be relatively simple and most of the tools you will need should already be a part of your computer. You just need a microphone, a way (program) to record your show and since the most acceptable upload format is .mp3 you will need a program that will convert your show to an .mp3 format.


You'd be surprised and amazed at the number of topics that are on the Internet in the form of podcasts.


If you're feeling nervous or anxious or are just feeling afraid to try, then you might want to take a listen to some of the podcasts that are already out there and then you will see how it can be possible for you to have your very own podcast!



Who knows? You might even become a star!

How To Make Money With Your Blog!

Many times I have blogged about how you can make money with your blog! I, myself, have earned money from blogging. One of the ways that I have done this is by using Google's Adsense program but there are many, many other ways that you can make money blogging.



Here is another blog post that I have found online about how you can make money with your blog. It is a very interesting read and this blog post can be helpful to those who are just starting out.




How To Make Money With Your Blog

"How Can I Make Money Using My Webcam?"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

You Can Even Use Twitter To Help You Earn Money From Home!

Did you know that there are some people out there who are actually making money with Twitter? (I actually happen to be one of them )

I'm sure that I have mentioned this before about being able to make money using Twitter but I happened upon an online blog article that talked more about it. The name of the blog post is Why Twitter Can Help You In Your Bid To Make Money Online.

I, myself belong to SponsoredTweets and this is where I am able to make money by using my Twitter account. If you would like to know more about SponsoredTweets and how you can earn money with them just click here.

Famous celebrities like Kim Kardashin have made as much as $10,000 using this program!

How Do You Get Started Working From Home?

Here is a question that I received in my email:

My name is J and I just came across your site. I was wondering if you would have any information about how to get started working from home and where to get jobs (mainly writing)?

First of all thank you for your email!

Well I am a firm believer in taking what you love and turning that into a business but a lot of people don't want to go that way. They are looking for fast and easy ways to make money on the Internet but sometimes those "fast" ways are not the best ways! If you take something that you love to do and are able to sell that online then this is a very good way to start making money online.

A lot of people have found success at using Google's Adsense program to make money online. You can read about how much money some people have made with the Adsense program by clicking here. You can also find out more about the Adsense program by clicking here. Basically what the Adsense program is about is that you set up a website or blog, join the Adsense program and then place ads on your site. When visitors to your site click on these ads - that is where you earn money.

Another new thing that I am noticing is that there are a lot of sites that now have job openings for blog writers. I have seen a lot of these sites cropping up now and they list job opportunities for blog writers. Some of the pay is good and - unfortunately - some of it is not!

If you are interested in finding some blog-writing jobs, just do some searching online and you will find lots of links to different sites that are offering this BUT you have to be very careful when you investigate these sites because you want to make sure that these sites are legitmate!

The IRS Is Outsourcing..............................

If anything, here may be yet another reason that you may want to consider working from home!

Although this may be old news, there still may be some people out there that don't know that the IRS is outsourcing their work to areas outside the United States.

What this means is that the IRS is choosing to go the route of paying less money in expenses - ie hiring and paying workers who are paid less money and hiring workers that are outside the United States.

What this means for us is that there are less jobs out there.

I came across a very interesting article online about the IRS outsourcing its work. The article is called Don't Mess With Taxes - Another strike for IRS outsourcing.

Be sure to tell me what you think about this article and the fact that the IRS is outsourcing work to another country.

Have You Ever Thought About Teaching Music Online?

Here is another great working from home idea and that idea is to teach music - online!

Do you know that there is someone who actually became a millionaire just by teaching music online!

Again this is a very good example of someone who used their passion as their career!

You might be thinking how you could be able to teach someone online how to play music but it is something that can be done (and is being done now).

How could you teach music online? Well here are a few ideas. You can create and record lesson plans and sell those lesson plans in CD form or you could upload them to a website of your own and sell them that way.

You could also start a related newsletter and either charge for it or charge advertisers to advertise on it.

If anything, the fact that one person chose this kind of career and was actually able to become a millionaire by pursuing his passion, this should be something that can both motivate and inspire you into action!

Here Is ANOTHER Good Reason To Have A Blog!

Here is another very good reason to have a blog! I just visited an online blog from a woman who has her own very successful photography business.

On her blog she states that she does NO advertising!

Here is another quote from her site:

"but in my business we don’t measure the success of our web presence by the number of page views we receive or the number of comments posted. Instead, I measure its success by the type of clients that we book and how educated they are about our products and services when they approach us."

I think that this is a very important thing that you should keep in mind when you have or are thinking about starting your own business!

Having a blog is a very good idea and its something that is relatively easy to do - plus - you can start your own blog for free on the Internet.

So the next time that you think that having a blog will do no good, I suggest you take a look at this blog!

I Don't Do Any Advertising - All I Have Is A Blog

Don't Use Automated Check-Out Machines at Supermarkets?

Even though this is a working from home blog, I came upon a very interesting blog post online.

The blog post was about automated checkout machines at supermarkets and how they take away from using the cashiers at the supermarket.

I honestly have to say that I am quite torn about this because I can really see both sides of this. Number one I used to be a supermarket cashier myself before I started working at home for myself. And honestly I have to say that I really hated this job. I had to stand on my feet all day, got ruly and rude customers and I hated working 6 days a week with only one day off.

On the plus side, however, it was a steady and regular paycheck!

Now when I shop at the supermarket I used the automatic/self-serve registers because I like bagging my own groceries. But I know that my opinion is only one and I am curious to hear what others have to say about this.

Do the self-serve automatic registers take away from the cashiers that work at the supermarket? What is your opinion of this?

Don't Use Automated CheckOut Machines At The Supermarkets

I Want To Become A Webcam Model - Part 2

One of my most popular blog posts is I Want To Become A Webcam Model.

This seems to be a very popular post and I'm guessing that it is because a lot of people are interested in working from home using their webcams!

It is true that a lot of people have made money using their webcam - whether it be for sex or by using their webcame for other purposes.

If you are reading this post then I'm guessing that you may be interested in this kind of thing as well.

To put it basically you use your webcam as a basis of being able to make money. Being a webcam model really consists of just that - modeling in front of your webcam.

In a way it's kind of easy when you think about it. You just turn on your webcam and then you make money. One of the ways that you can make money with this is to charge a fee for others to view your webcam - which means that you will have to set up a special webcam page so that only those who pay will be able to access it. While I do have experience with designing web pages, this may be a tricky thing to do - especially when you're talking about having sites where only paid customers will be able to view it.

There are sites that know how to do this kind of thing specifically but remember that you will have to pay for their services as well. There are a lot of people that use them so I'm sure that there are some reputable ones out there - but again you would have to pay for their services - which is fine if you don't mind paying a middleman.

Another problem is how you will be able to accept payment. Paypal which is the most popular way to send and receive money online does NOT allow for sexual-related sites. But like I said before there are a lot of people who are doing this online so there are options available for you to be able to make money online with a sexual-related site.

I got a comment about this popular topic:

I am starting a webcam studio run by the best

Contact me by email for a job for any ladies that want it

So as you can see a lot of people are interested in becoming webcam models and there seem to be a lot of people interested in recruiting people to become webcam models.

It is not the type of thing that is for everyone though.

It may seem to be an easy and attractive thing being able to make money from home using your webcam but there are some things that you are going to need - especially a reputable and legitimate way to be able to receive your money online.

It may be shocking for you to read a blog post such as this but since this is a blog about being able to work from home, you should know that this is one of the ways that people are actually making money from home!

Comments Received

Webcam opportunity. Earn $500 a day or more working as a webcam model! Receive checks in the mail weekly. Work from home anywhere in the world, choose your own hours, full time or part time. Female, male or couples, Couples earn more, all shapes and sizes, no experience necessary, full training provided. We have been representing webcam models since 1998, with over 5 million website visitors daily. For more info please visit our site.

"Why I Don't Do Free Consulting Anymore"

I found a very interesting online blog post called "Why I Don't Do Free Consulting Anymore".

As a person that has her own business and who works from home I can definitely identify with this blog post.

If you have a business of your own or are thinking about starting your own business then here is a blog post that you should definitely read!

Why I Don't Do Free Consulting Anymore

Can You Make Money From Home With Your Blog?

Here is a copy of an email that I received:


Hi Rose,

Can you type?

If so, why are you working 9-5? This company needs people everyday to type from home.

Visit here to see if you qualify.

REQUIRED:

• Do you have basic typing skills?
  
  
• Reliable work habits.
  
  
• Simple computer experience.

You could even make up to $100 or more per day . Type Your Way To Good Money You really have to be careful when you get emails such as this one. Have I made money from home with my blog(s)? The answer is yes - but I have come to do it the more old-fashioned way. I make money with my blog by using the Google Adsense program, getting advertisers for my blog and I have earned money from my blog because it connects to what I do which is grant research and potential clients have found me via my blogs. If it can happen to me then it could happen for you too! But you are never going to know unless you try! So go ahead and start that blog!

You Never Know Where Your Next Client Or Customer Will Be Coming From!

I have started a new blog, "Rose's WebPage Designs!

I started this new blog because I got a new client who is a neighbor of mine.

Since this is a separate kind of work from my grant research, I decided to start a new blog about it specifically.

You just never know where your next client is coming from!