How to Earn Real Income Working at Home in Georgia

Working from home can be lucrative if you find the right opportunity.

If you live in Georgia and dream about earning a living without having to work rigid hours or drive long distances to work, working from home is an option you should consider. Home-based workers can operate businesses from their homes, they can work as telecommuting employees for traditional employers or they can work as independent contractors for one or more clients. Telecommuters and independent contractors have the easiest time earning real income working from home, whether they live in a metropolitan area like Savannah or a tiny town hours from the nearest large city.

Instructions

1. Beef up your skills with job training. Earn Work Ready Certificates in one or more core areas through Georgia's Work Ready program so that you can show potential employers you're ready for success.

2. Ask to take your current job home if the work you do now is suitable for a work-from-home arrangement. Request that you be able to work from home part of the time if you can't perform all your job duties off-site.

3. Search for new jobs that aren't advertised as being home-based but that you could do from home, at least part of the time. Look for positions near your home. An Atlanta employer, for example, is more likely to consider a telecommuter who lives in Redan than one who lives in Macon because the Redan telecommuter can come into the office as needed. Use your Work Ready Certificates as evidence that you're serious about performing well.

4. Apply for positions with virtual staffing agencies. Virtual agencies operate in much the same way as traditional employment agencies do, except that they hire telecommuters, whether as employees or freelancers. Agencies and employers outside of Georgia won't acknowledge your Work Ready Certificates, but some virtual agencies offer their own certifications.

5. Seek freelance and independent-contractor opportunities from employers looking specifically for telecommuters. A number of online forums that focus on home-based workers list job leads every day, as do job sites that specialize in telecommuting positions. The nature of freelance opportunities often makes geography irrelevant, so base your search on the types of positions for which you're qualified rather than the locations of the companies. A customer service agent for an airline based in New York City can perform as effectively from Albany, Georgia, as he could from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

6. Search online classifieds with job listings in Georgia. Home-based workers find Craigslist to be especially useful. The "ETC" and "part-time" sections under the jobs category and the "gigs" section all list legitimate work-from-home positions on a regular basis. Browse the larger cities' listings for nationally advertised positions and smaller cities' listings for local opportunities.

Tips & Warnings

• Competition for home-based work is fierce -- oftentimes worse than for traditional jobs, because applicants can be anywhere in the country, or even overseas. Focus on applying for jobs you have a reasonable chance of getting.

• If you're hired as an independent contractor, consult a tax professional for advice about quarterly tax payments, tax implications of the business use of your home and other tax issues.

• Work-from-home scams are common. Never pay for a job or give your Social Security number to a prospective employer until you've verified that the employer and job are legitimate. Work-from-home forums are an excellence resource for this verification.

References

• Georgia Work Ready: What is Georgia Work Ready?
• Georgia Work Ready: How do I Get Certified?
• Work At Home Moms
• Work Place Like Home
• Flex Jobs

Resources

• Team Doubleclick
• Craigslist: Georgia
• FTC: Work at Home Schemes