Pay Day (1/23 to 1/29)

Another week down, and this one brings January incredibly near it's closing as well.  I'm still trying to figure out where it all went...

Here are this week's deposits from random programs.  I'm still slacking on my GPTs, but overall I think I have my goal in check for the week:

• Cloud Crowd:  4¢ which brings be up to $42.10 total from them since I got started, again this is just from people in my downline.  (Proof of Payment)
• YouData:  45¢ which brings me up to $4.59 with them.

Overall I'm sitting at about $947.29 for the month with a few more payments expected this weekend.  Unfortunately that total includes fees though so I'll probably net less than $1000, but I suppose I'll still be able to count it as reaching my goal for the month.

I'll have to force myself to push harder in February to be make sure I make over $1000 after those annoying fees get taken out.

Coming soon: January earning breakdowns, February goals, and more!

Thursday Tip Triad #7: Formatting Your Bid

So you've taken the plunge and jumped into the legitimate work from home jobs world and are now starting to search for private clients on sites like Elance, Guru or Odesk... So far we've talked about how to get past the bidding jitters, how to weed out some of the jobs that won't get awarded and how to form your proposal.  This week we're going to talk about how to actually format your bid.

1.  Break your pricing down.  Just like I said last week, you want to be as detailed as possible.  Don't just tell them "I'll do this project for $300" get elbow deep in your break down to make sure they understand exactly what you are doing for them.

I will provide you with 10 articles of approximately 300 words each for $30 each, or $300 total, which equates to about 10¢ per word within 10 days of accepting the project.

I'm actually blushing...

So today I was piddling around and I discovered what is, as far as I know, the first completely random mentioning of my blog.  I stumbled into a blog entry at 1ClickVA, the actual post mentioning Earning At Home is here.

I have to admit that it feels pretty awesome to get some random public praise like that.

Thank you @OneClickVA!

It also reminded me I need more guest bloggers for Motivational Monday.  So far it's looking like a monthly feature instead of weekly, and I have February and March filled already.  Who's it going to be when spring comes rolling in?

Celebrating!

I woke up this morning and was thrilled to see that after almost exactly 4 months, I had hit 50 followers!  Granted, I would have loved to have hit 50 sooner, I haven't taken advantage of any sort of follower finding sites or anything of that nature.  I also didn't properly setup my blog at it's birth to get the most out of the search engines since I didn't have any clue about that kind of thing.

Regardless, I'm absolutely ecstatic!  I decided to bite the bullet and buy my own domain, and am now trying to figure out how to set it up since I didn't buy it directly through blogger (the easy way) because I think blogger goes through GoDaddy and I've heard that most people don't use them and opt for NameCheap instead.  I have to admit that $8.81 for a domain with free privacy for a year is a pretty great deal!  I actually bought one for this blog and one for my up and coming business site. 

Even more exciting is that by the time I had forced myself to hit the "purchase" button I had gained another two followers.

While I am a little sad to know that my hard earned page rank will reset because of this, but I'm sure I'll get back to where I was in no time.  You should all be forwarded to the new URL through your bookmarks, but in case you aren't the new site will be AtHomeEarning.com after I get the kinks worked out. 


See ya there!

All Caught Up... Almost...

I'm really proud of myself right now.  I managed to really burn rubber this weekend and got caught up on almost everything.  A few of my propagation projects are still a bit behind but that can easily be resolved today since I have nothing else to do (thanks to my weekend work-a-thon).

I still haven't been able to touch on any of my 2010 business goals for the year, but if I can keep my production level up like I did this weekend, I should be able to start working on my own side projects soon.

Weekend of relaxation, here I come!

Pay Day!

Are you ready for the weekend?  I most certainly am, unfortunately I don't know how much wind down time I'll have.  I'm hoping to go full throttle this weekend so that I can relax next weekend without my conscience nagging at me, but so far I'm off to a bad start since our dinner outing doubled in length after finding out our original destination had closed down!

Here are my most recent deposits from random websites:

• Cloud Crowd: 40¢ bringing me up to $42.06 total with them. (Proof of Payment)
  
• YouData: 11¢ bringing me up to $4.14 total with them. (Proof of Payment)
  
• Swagbucks: 3x $5 Amazon cards delivered which means I've had $45 worth of Amazon cards delivered, $20 worth of Red Envelope cards delivered and I have 2 more Amazon cards pending. (Proof of Payment)

Overall my cash earnings for the month are still not quite where they need to be.  I'm at only $656.57, but I have had a lot going on.  I still have 9 days left in the month which means most of my repeat projects will pay out again before the end of the month, so there's still a chance for me to hit the $1000 mark even with the difficulties I've had this month.

Getting Crafty With It

So some of you guys suggested taking some time off and even (gasp) shutting off my computer to help me unwind and shake the stress, and I just might do that... I'm thinking that I'm really going to try and force myself to put my nose to the grindstone tomorrow and this weekend to get caught up so I can take the following weekend off.

The big question is, what will I do to keep myself from religiously checking my computer like I usually do? Enter craft time!

Thursday Tip Triad #6: How to Price Your Proposal

Here we are again, another Thursday means another set of tips for how to successfully find and land legitimate work from home jobs and freelance gigs.  Last week we discussed how to form the bulk of your proposal on freelance projects like those featured on Elance, but this week we'll be talking about the part that everyone cares about - the Bid.

Coming up with competitive pricing and knowing how to best present your offer is a key part of landing freelance jobs.  I am not claiming to be an expert, but here is what I do and it seems to work well for me.

1.  Don't be afraid to ask for what you are worth.  I do not

January Woes

I have to admit that January has been really hard for me so far.  Between happy and sad life events that have occurred this month I am really having trouble keeping motivated and on track.  Balancing life and my legitimate work from home jobs as well as the rest of the goals I've set for myself is starting to wear me down.

I honestly think that this happens to all of us at one point or another, and we all think that we're the only one who has ever gone through it... Almost as if we're failing by being the only person ever to burn out while working at home.  The truth though, is that it happens to everyone, even those who absolutely love their work or those who make incredible amounts of money.

Everyone has problems getting going at one point or another.

Pay Day!

Here's the weekly list of payments I've gotten in the last week, not including private clients.  It's pretty brief, mostly because I'm slacking on my GPTs and PTCs:

• Cloud Crowd - 79¢ bringing my total with them up to $41.66.  (Proof of Payment)
  
• PineCone Research - $3 to bring my earnings with them up to at least $27.  (Proof of Payment)
  
• YouData - 1¢ which brings my YouData total up to $4.03.  (Proof of Payment)
  

I also cashed out for 2 more $5 Amazon cards on Swagbucks. I can't decide if I'm going to go for the Wii Fit Plus or Wii Mario Kart with 2 Extra Steering Wheels. Decisions decisions lol...

Thursday Tip Triad #5: Forming Proposals When Bidding

When it comes to finding legitimate work from home jobs, freelancing really seems to be a great option.  Unfortunately, it can take a while to get a grasp on what to do and what not to do.  Once you've signed up for a site (whether it's Elance, Guru, oDesk or something else) you have to start creating proposals and bidding, but that process can be intimidating.

Several people have asked me for tips on how to write a good proposal, so here are a few tips!

1.  Provide a brief introduction.  Use the prospective client's name (or user name if their name is unknown) and comment on the fact that you would like to be considered for (insert project name).

"Hello JohnnyRox451,
I'm incredibly interested in your Content writing about Valentine's Day project and would love to work with you...."

Where did January go?

We're already two weeks into the month and I'm trudging around like a zombie.  2010 is throwing jab after jab into my gut - but I'm hanging tight!

I've made just under $400 so far this month which is disheartening since I'm under par for my goal so far, but I think I can still pull it off.

I do have a few special things I'd like to mention though:

1. Guest Bloggers:  I'm still looking for people who want to share their success with everyone here.  Motivational Monday looks like it will be a monthly thing for the time being until more people perk up and show interest.  If you want to be a guest blogger and share some encouraging words about the success you've enjoyed - drop me a message!  (All guest blogs will include a link to your blog, website or profile page on one of the sites you write for.)
2. Crafty Ladies:  If you have an Etsy shop or a website featuring things you've made, I'd love to chat!  I'm looking to start doing regular give aways here at Earning At Home and would love to give you some publicity in the process.  If you're interested, let me know!
3. New Domain:  I should have my blog up on it's own domain in the near future.  I'm still a little nervous about buying a domain but I know that it's worth it.

If you want to be a guest blogger or want to donate to a giveaway for some free publicity message me here or leave a comment.

December Earnings Breakdown

I know it's late - but better late than never right?  Here is the breakdown of my December earnings from different sites, programs and my private clients as well.  As usual this will only include the cash that was in my accounts, accessible and spendable during the month of December.

Paid through PayPal:
I received $883.68 minus $26.18 in fees totals $857.50 from PayPal.

Paid through eLance:
I received $367.50 minus $32.15 in fees totals $335.35 from Elance.

Total: I made $1,251.18 in earnings and $58.33 in fees (blasted fees) for a total income of $1,192.85!  I can honestly say that when I sat down to make my tally towards the end of December I was shocked at how much I had made.  If I can fine tune my work process and increase my productivity slightly, I think I'll be able to start making $1,500 a month by Spring.

Here's the breakdown by site for deposits last month:

1. IMShopping $50.00 Proof of Payment
2. YouData 66¢ Proof of Payment
3. Cloud Crowd 42¢ Proof of Payment
4. Wanelo $25.00 Proof of Payment
5. Greenfield Online $30.00 Proof of Payment
6. SurveyHead $20.00 Proof of Payment
7. PineCone Research $12 (this only takes PayPal deposits into account not checks) Proof of Payment
   
8. Private Clients $1,054.77

Here's to a new year and another good month for all of us!

Pay Day!

Here are some new proof of payments that haven't previously been posted.  I know I'm a bit behind but this January has dealt us one painful blow after another so far.  I'm crossing my fingers that this is a sign that the rest of the year will be smoother.

• iRazoo - Got my 5th $5 Amazon card on 12/31 (it was requested on 12/2) bringing me up to $25 total with them.  (Proof of Payment)
• YouData - 32¢ bringing me up to $4.02 with them total.  (Proof of Payment)
• PineCone Research - $3.00 (Proof of Payment)
• Cloud Crowd - 56¢ since my last payment update which brings my grand total with them up to $40.87.  I also  think I've been deleting the paypal emails from them because I could only find a few of them.  (Proof of Payment)
• IMShopping - $20 bringing me up to $128.25 with them total. (Proof of Payment)
  

Thursday Tip Triad #4

So it's been brought to my attention by a number of folks that Elance is a bit hard to get the hang of, and to be quite honest, I agree completely! While it is a great way to find legitimate work from home jobs, it can also be really difficult to get the hang of. After two months I still find myself getting confused from time to time so here are a few tips for getting started with Elance.

1. Choose your category very carefully. One mistake that a lot of people make is that they pick a job category without really thinking about what it will contain and if it's the best option for them.

A New Design for 2010

For those who have been reading about my experiences with legitimate work at home opportunities and freelancing for a while, you've probably seen me say over and over that a new layout was on it's way.

Sure, I did some tweaking here and there. I even made my own background and a slider, but I never actually launched a full fledged, personalized layout... until yesterday!

Thanks to Jenny, the author of The Freebie Addiction, I have a brand new layout with personalized graphics. She picked the image, the colors, everything - all I had to do was smile and nod as she amazed me time and time again with her suggestions and designs.

If you find yourself on the market for a new button, banner, background or anything else for your blog or site, I would highly recommend stopping by The Freebie Addiction and dropping Jenny a message. Her work is superb and her prices are amazing.

January Goals

After last month's experiences with legitimate work at home freelance work and other eggs, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to repeat those same results of earning $1200 and I don't want to lose the motivation so I'm setting my goals up around that area. 

Since I've been working on a new blog and a new layout I'm already a bit behind for the month but I've decided that my goals should still be high so here they are!

January 2010 Goals:

1. Earn at least $1000 so that I won't lose my motivation after the immense success that December blessed me with.
2. Keep working on organization and time management.
3. Get in gear on my residual income goals since I haven't yet started and hopefully get the blog up and running for it as well.
   

Motivational Monday

Motivation is something that everyone needs on a regular basis to stay encouraged, but for those of us in situations where we work from, finding motivation can be harder. Those who are self employed or turn to freelancing and legitimate work at home jobs as their source of income rarely get the same kind of encouragement that occurs in a brick and mortar environment.

The solution? Motivational Monday!

Stop by on Mondays to check for encouraging words from a variety of people. This week you'll have to listen to me ramble, but hopefully next time you'll hear from a special guest.

If you're interested in being a Guest Blogger, contact me to let me know. Don't be shy, you can share your success story and help others stay motivated!

A New Year Means New Goals

I haven't completely pinpointed my goals for the new year, but I do have a brief outline of the things I hope to accomplish in 2010.  Here's a rough draft, just so you guys know what to expect out of me as the new year progresses.

1.  Start working on "Residual Income" writing.  There will be a new blog to track the details, but I'll also have basic updates here.

Get Featured!

Starting (hopefully) this coming Monday, I would like to start running a weekly "Motivational Monday" column.  I know it's a bit short notice, so I will most likely write the first one on January 4th, but after that I would like to feature a different reader every week.

You don't have to blog, you don't have to have made thousands of dollars, you just have to have made some sort of progress towards reaching your goals or achieving your dreams.

If you are interested in being featured please use this form to contact me.

A few details for Motivational Monday:

• If you have a blog or website, I will include a link to your page with your article.  (If you have a button I am willing to use that.)
• I will generally require a link back from your blog/site to my blog.  
  
• There are no heavy set link requirements, but the posts should be at least 250 words long, if not longer.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

I can't believe it's new year's eve already... I have no idea where 2009 went it feels like it was so incredibly short.  I don't even know how to say goodbye to it, because I don't feel like I ever said hello.

This year was my first full year living where I am now, and I have to say that while I still hate my environment, I do love my family - so I guess 2009 passed by so quickly because I was happy.  This last few months went especially quickly with the creation of this blog, meeting all of you and the fact that we're all achieving what most of us previously thought was impossible.

We're legitimately earning money from home.  No scams, no investments, no crazy marketing schemes.  It feels genuinely great to be able to do this, and to be able to help each other as we do.

Thank you all for your encouragement and your inspiring stories.

Happy New Year everyone!