So Whats This Work At Home Shit Anyway?

I'm A Giant Douche!

Anyone ever do data entry or tech support from home? This shit always comes across as a scam but I'm a sucker for some more or less easy money and some people actually claim that there are legit versions of these businesses out there. Even Clark Howard - AM Radio's Penny Pinching Genius - has a link for these kind of jobs (Sadly, they all involve talking to people on the phone. Who the hell wants THAT?)

clarkhoward.com - Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs

Anyone here ever clean up with any kind of stay-at-home jobs?

EDIT: I'm not looking to start a full-time job at home, just something on the side that will help put a little money in my wallet.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I work from home. I'm a programmer though. I don't know how you could get away with it having a lesser skilled job such as data entry or tech support. I'm able to work remotely due to the type of projects I work on which require little face-to-face communication. It also helped that I worked inside the office of my company for a year first, and the fact that they're totally lenient about this kind of stuff.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I did freelance web development from my room in my parent's house doing highschool. Got paid 16 bucks an hour for it, too. This was possible due to the nature of the work, which was a client contractor deal, where I was my own boss, and the clients basically didn't care what I did as long as I got it done. It did require a lot of long-distance communication shenanigans though. Lots of talking on the phone, a couple web meetings, and enough emails to choke an rss junkie.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by lord-of-shadow

I did freelance web development from my room in my parent's house doing highschool. Got paid 16 bucks an hour for it, too. This was possible due to the nature of the work, which was a client contractor deal, where I was my own boss, and the clients basically didn't care what I did as long as I got it done. It did require a lot of long-distance communication shenanigans though. Lots of talking on the phone, a couple web meetings, and enough emails to choke an rss junkie.

If you were getting paid $16/hr you were getting ripped off.

Typically web developers are paid between $50 - $150/hr. In fact by charging less you are doing a disservice not just to yourself but the entire market.

When you're a contractor, you should set your rates so that you're turning away about half your clients. If you're not, raise or lower your rates until you are.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by ramoth

Typically web developers are paid between $50 - $150/hr. In fact by charging less you are doing a disservice not just to yourself but the entire market.

Are you completely certain about that? I know some web developers, and although we don't discuss such things, their lifestyles do not suggest that they get paid anything like that. I'm pretty sure they get paid more than $16.00 an hour, just not as much as you're suggesting.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

Are you completely certain about that? I know some web developers, and although we don't discuss such things, their lifestyles do not suggest that they get paid anything like that. I'm pretty sure they get paid more than $16.00 an hour, just not as much as you're suggesting.

I'm an independent software engineer. I'm do a very similar thing, but I write desktop applications and not web sites. I know hundreds of web developers. In fact, I spent all of last weekend at a wedding full of them.

Yes. Those numbers are correct. If you are charging less you should be charging more.

Note that when you are a contractor, you do not typically work 40hrs/wk. The point of contracting is to work fewer hours a week, typically 30 or less.

How ya doing, buddy?

I think when you're a 16 year old living in your parents' basement you should be charging slightly different rates than someone getting married. Not to mention I imagine your friends have a bit more experience, a larger portfolio, and all those sorts of things.

It's kind of like how I could say people that do tutoring for less than $40 an hour are ruining it for everyone, but it really depends on the credentials of the tutor you want to hire. When I tutored back in high school I was lucky to make $20 an hour. Now that I'm a grad student with a BS I'm sure I could easily get $40-$50 an hour.

Also, wtf, only working 30 hours a week? You lazy bums.

FELIPE NO

I work for free >:[

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

i thought that's why we were sending money to Miles

Jesus Miles what the fuck PAY THE MAN ALREADY

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I worked from home the summer before I entered grad school. I read and analyzed research papers on microbiology and public health for the R&D department of a big disinfectant company, which I then wrote about and uploaded to an internal database for that company.

I got paid quite nicely, and it was an awesome way to kick back and relax before grad school. I ended up reading and analyzing about 600 research papers. So, besides being paid a decent wage, I learned a lot about microbiology that I didn't already know. Best job I ever had.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by ramoth

If you were getting paid $16/hr you were getting ripped off.

For a professional web dev, that's correct. But I was pretty damn young, and I was far from professional. I actually could have gotten away with charging more, but by charging less I was able to afford myself a little bit more flexibility. Someone who's paying such low prices for my work wasn't likely to complain if I perhaps took a bit longer to get something done here and there.

And it took me considerably longer to get stuff done than a seasoned dev would take, due to my inexperience and the need to teach myself some stuff as I went along. So as far as the final cost to my clients went, they weren't saving as much as it may have sounded.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Soluzar

Are you completely certain about that? I know some web developers, and although we don't discuss such things, their lifestyles do not suggest that they get paid anything like that. I'm pretty sure they get paid more than $16.00 an hour, just not as much as you're suggesting.

One thing to remember is that ramoth lives in California. However, $50-$150 is a fair range for contractual work done by professionals. Salary work is of course cheaper.

How ya doing, buddy?

If I'm not in the studio or on the set I'm a freelance webdesigner and editor and I usually work from home.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Lehah: How much money are you looking to make? Data entry isn't what I'd consider "easy" money.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Gumby

Lehah: How much money are you looking to make?

In a perfect world, I'd be very happy if I could make my weekly gas money ($20 - $25) by doing this. So, say, a $100 a month.

Of course I'd like more but I'm not going to delude myself anymore than I am already

FELIPE NO

A couple of months ago, I wrote for Reviewstream. It's a simple concept; you can write a quick ~200 word review about anything in existence and they'll pay you $0.40 per review. Yes, I mean ANYTHING. I saw some stuff on there that made me lose my faith in humanity. People wrote about different ads in a magazine and analyzed their effectiveness, for example. It's pretty much a shitty time, since their minimum payout is $50, but with some patience I guess anyone could hit that.

Though they advertise a rate of $2 per review on the front page, you have have to write about a really hot item in order to get this much for a single article. They've also got some kind of algorithm that analyzes the reviews after you submit them, and it's ludicrously inconsistent. Sometimes I got $2 for writing about the most mundane things, and other times I only got $0.40 for long, quality articles. Don't bother contacting them to ask why either, as these people can't type in English to save their lives.

I managed to hit the minimum payout in a little over a month by writing about 5 200-word reviews per day about trivial bullshit, and lo and behold my paypal account was actually credited. Don't know if I'd actually recommend this place, as I don't think I have the patience to hit that payout mark again. Look into it if you're a fast typer with excellent BSing skills, I guess. The site doesn't pay you on quality, but quantity.

It might be possible to sneak nonsensical gibberish by them with a unique content generator of sorts, but I haven't given it too much thought.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Kanji

A couple of months ago, I wrote for Reviewstream. It's a simple concept; you can write a quick ~200 word review about anything in existence and they'll pay you $0.40 per review. Yes, I mean ANYTHING. I saw some stuff on there that made me lose my faith in humanity. People wrote about different ads in a magazine and analyzed their effectiveness, for example. It's pretty much a shitty time, since their minimum payout is $50, but with some patience I guess anyone could hit that.

Though they advertise a rate of $2 per review on the front page, you have have to write about a really hot item in order to get this much for a single article. They've also got some kind of algorithm that analyzes the reviews after you submit them, and it's ludicrously inconsistent. Sometimes I got $2 for writing about the most mundane things, and other times I only got $0.40 for long, quality articles. Don't bother contacting them to ask why either, as these people can't type in English to save their lives.

I managed to hit the minimum payout in a little over a month by writing about 5 200-word reviews per day about trivial bullshit, and lo and behold my paypal account was actually credited. Don't know if I'd actually recommend this place, as I don't think I have the patience to hit that payout mark again. Look into it if you're a fast typer with excellent BSing skills, I guess. The site doesn't pay you on quality, but quantity.

It might be possible to sneak nonsensical gibberish by them with a unique content generator of sorts, but I haven't given it too much thought.

That's pretty interesting, actually. Doesn't sound worth the time or patience but interesting none the less.

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My friend works at home. He does comics.

Fucking win.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Unless you're someone like Erik Larson and hold a number of IPs, comic artists don't make much more than I do. I think most clock in under 30k a year.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.