Deciding What Type of Work at Home Business Is Right for You

I’ve been working from home since 2001, but I haven’t always done the same things that I do now. There are a lot of ways you can work from home these days, and there's a bit of a journey that some of us need to go on in order to figure out just what the right fit is for us.

There are so many things to consider when you make the decision to work from home, and there are different options, different requirements, and different levels of responsibility involved with each area. Let's look at some of the broader areas of the "work from home" universe that you might be considering....

This is where you’ll work for a parent company that outsources work to work at home agents and remote workers. Popular positions in this category include data entry, proofreading, transcription, customer service, writing, and other traditional positions that don’t require you to be present in an office.

Many times you can get into these positions without experience. Some companies offer training resources. Sometimes there will be a skills test they want you to take during the application process to see if you're a good fit. They're usually more interested in seeing that you can handle certain tasks than whether or not you have a degree to hang on the wall.

These were made most famous by companies like Avon and Tupperware, but these days there are hundreds of direct sales options out there – you’re not limited to selling just makeup or plastic storage containers. There are companies that sell children’s books, custom handbags, interesting jewelry, health products, and just about anything you can think of.

If you make something with raw materials, your hands, and creativity, you can most definitely sell it on several marketplaces. You're not just limited to Etsy and eBay anymore, there are lots of options out there for selling creative goods.

Even Amazon has a handmade section now. And it's full of beautiful amazing items from crafters and makers around the world. (I admit to spending way too many dollars there myself.)

Don't be afraid to put your work out there and get paid for it. The world needs more beauty in it and you can help with that, whether you decide to use an existing marketplace or to put together your own website with a shopping cart and fun stuff for your fans.

Speaking of having a website, a lot of folks find themselves working as full time bloggers. It sounds like an 'easy' path, but it can be a lot of work. You have a website to maintain, content to create, marketing to do, graphics to make, skills to learn, email lists to manage, and revenue streams to figure out. It turns out to be a lot more work than just writing a few words a day, though it definitely starts with the writing.

I think often times people start out doing affiliate marketing on the side and end up enjoying it so much that they turn it into their full time focus.

This is when you promote a product as an affiliate to earn a commission, it can be a physically shipped product or it can be a digital information product.

The nice thing about being an affiliate is that you don't have to manage any products or do any of the customer service. You just promote awesome things that you enjoy using and earn a commission when someone buys them based on your recommendation.

Freelance work can be done in almost any area of business. Web designers, ghost writers, transcriptionists, proofreaders, and project managers often work in this way.

Freelancing is sort of a middle ground between working for yourself and working for someone else at a job. When you freelance you still set your own hours, but you need to maintain a base of clients to keep the income flowing.

A lot of freelancers usually end up forming their own business when they reach a point of having many clients and a lot of work, in order to grow they need to take the next step and bring in some help to keep up with the number of projects they’re managing. It’s just a natural progression of your business life cycle. Of course, you can always start off with this option and form a company right of the gate.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of ways that you can work from home. This is just an idea generating point to help you figure out what kind of work might be right for you and your current situation. I hope you've found it helpful and maybe it sparked an idea or two for you.

You can always mix and match business models or change it up later on to make it work for you. In fact, I strongly recommend combining business models to have multiple streams of income when you're able to do so.

• Blogging and affiliate marketing go great together.
• Selling handmade goods combined with a how-to blog that tells people how to create what you make can be a lot of fun and generate ad revenue.
• Offering services as a virtual assistant combined with selling an ebook that tells them how to DIY the thing that you do can open up new possibilities.
• And hundreds of other combinations ....

Shape your own work at home journey and do what works best for you and your family.