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Andakwa
Member
Joined: 6 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 6 Mar 2009 14:17
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Hello, I am new here and wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself, I am a mother with a large family that has been subjected to downsizing and business closures in my recent employments . I am seeking legitimate honest employment or opportunity that I can be proud of and provide for my children with, I have researched many opportunities and have found most of them require considerable upfront, which being unemployed with family don't have , or they are so complex that I am unclear as to what the actual product or service is that they are offering or it is almost impossible to ever reach a paycheck.
I am seeking information on legitmate ways to make money that do not involve reading emails - tried that and all I got was alot of junk mail and had to change my email account. Also I have not had any such luck with surveys either . Other than this what careers have you pursued or know of out there that is minimal to no start up and actually work to provide an income.
My hobbies include taking pictures , writing poetry, spending time with my kids , geneolgy and enjoying nature.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as I continue on my research to be able to feel confident enough in an business or work at home job that I can do it with kids in tow.
I have never really worked from home before except the occasional childcare in between jobs in the past, but life is changing the kids are growing and way too many businesses in my area has closed or downsized. Suggestions Please. Thank-you Sincerely for any help that is actually meant to help me.
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1220
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2009 00:29
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Welcome Andakwa,
I am a mom of five myself, although one is of to school so I am down to four... 
One suggestion I have for you if you like to write about your interests is in doing affiliate marketing as there are products out there in the lines you are talking about that you can promote in blogs, Squidoo lenses, by writing articles, etc....
There is very little investment and in some cases none, I paid under fifty bucks for a program that helped me, some spend more and others less, depends on what they find as far as a program to help understand everything better....
I had paid over ten grand in the past for a home business that I did fairly well at, and the truth of the matter is that sometimes with those more high end businesses, you can be making several grand a month much quicker but there was way more overhead costs and more headache with it, I thought... just my opinion.
Affilaite marketing is a way to make some extra money without investing much... you just have to give it some time and good honest effort. There is a thread here on Affiliate Marketing that you might want to check out if it is a new concept to you....
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rata1234
Member
Joined: 7 Mar 2009
Posts: 4
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2009 01:21
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Hi Andakwa,
I also suggest you to learn affiliate marketing. I am learning article marketing. There is no investment required to start a home business. I write articles a submit them to the directories to drive traffic on my web site. Please ask if you have any question.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 913
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2009 06:56
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Hello Andakwa,
Welcome to the forum. What a blessing to have a large family. That was always my dream. 
I'm sorry to hear you are having difficulty with the downsizing. I hear more and more similar stories every day and my own family members have been affected as well.
I'm glad you are willing to have a look at options to make some online income, but realize that it takes time to build up something.
I went down the same path you did with the "paid to read" emails and surveys, with the same results. Ugh!
I did end up putting up an investment in a program ($299 for SBI) to learn how to build my own niche topic websites, but I understand you don't have the money to invest in something like that upfront.
Some other suggestions you may find helpful is to submit your photos to some of the stock photos site, like dreamstime.com , istockphoto.com, fotolia.com, fotosearch.com and shutterpoint.com.
That's just a few of the major sites that buy and sell photos. People are always looking for images for their websites, so if you are good at photography, you may be able to earn some money that way.
As for your interest in genealogy, I know there are some affiliate programs for genealogy. You could do as Mountainmom5 suggested and learn to do some article marketing.
Basically, these are the steps involved.
1. Do some keyword research to find out what phrases relating to genealogy people are typing in the search engines trying to find information on the subject. Take particular note of the supply and demand of those phrases.
2. Write individual articles about each phrase that looks like it has a high supply and much lower demand.
3. Search for and join related affiliate programs that offer a commission for leads or sales. Get an affiliate link from them so they can track your referrals.
4. Build a free blog, squidoo lens or hub page on the subject of genealogy and include your affiliate links in the content of your writing as appropriate.
5. Submit the articles you wrote (from #2) to a couple of the article directories, like ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com, etc. At the bottom of the article you can leave a link in your source box that leads to your blog, lens, or hub page that you built (from #4).
6. Find related forums on the subject of genealogy or family history, etc., and join in the conversation. If they allow signature links (like in this forum) leave a link to your blog, lens, or hub page.
That's the process for trying to make some income without an investment, but obviously, there is a lot more to understand about each one of those steps, particularly the "How TO" part of it.
If you decide you want to try that side of things, there are some free ebooks and videos, etc., that can help you through the process.
My personal suggestion would be to try the photo side of things first and try to earn some start up money for a solid website building program like SiteBuildIt (SBI).
As I said earlier, that's the program I used to learn to build my website business and I can't recommend anything higher. It's been a tremendous blessing and help to me.
I wish you all the best with whatever you decide to do.
Blessings,
Angie
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1220
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2009 10:37
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happywife: Some other suggestions you may find helpful is to submit your photos to some of the stock photos site, like dreamstime.com , istockphoto.com, fotolia.com, fotosearch.com and shutterpoint.com.
I never knew that - I have a daughter that will be looking into that. She takes beautiful photos of everything! Thanks Angie!
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Andakwa
Member
Joined: 6 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 7 Mar 2009 10:52
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Thank you , I have been considering the photography thing but wasn't sure where to go with it. I did a senior portfolio for someone I knew as a graduation gift and had a blast with that. I like pictures because they take a moment and turn it into a story that can be remembered for years to come.
I like doing objects better though since incorporating it into my family activities is also a factor.
What would be the best way to build a portfolio - should I put them on disk or print them out or both? If others have had similar experience what seems to work best?
Also has anyone worked with the sites that offer print on demand for books and if so what type of books usually sell best ?
What is the best way to protect the copyrights of such ?
Has anyone worked with dropshipping companies and if so which ones would you recommend as to put my name and reputation out there has to be with a company I can trust. What steps would you take to ensure that they are legitimate.
If I decide to go that route I don't want to get burned or ruin relationships with the people I encounter with such. Just being careful.
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aplina
Member
Joined: 5 Nov 2007
Posts: 255
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2009 13:05
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l do but l was thinking of you doing some custom scrapbook for people since you already good with photos.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 913
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2009 18:44
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Andakwa,
I don't think the photo sites I recommended require a portfolio (although I haven't looking into it thoroughly).
I'm pretty sure that you just sign up and set up an account with them. Then you upload your photos into their site and as people purchase and download your photos, you get paid.
You may sell the same cute picture over and over again. You may only earn $1 per download or if you sell it under certain conditions, you can earn much more. You really need to check with each of the sites to see what their terms, conditions, and set up require.
I don't know much about the print on demand options, although I know there are a number of people in the SBI forums using them.
As for the dropshipping companies, WorldWide Brands has the best reputation as far as I'm aware.
Blessings,
Angie
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jae_m
Member
Joined: 8 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2009 21:22
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Hello, as a father myself, I certainly know where you are coming from. From personal experience, I have tried almost every trend of work at home things. Some I have made money off of, and some I have spent a lot of my time and received nothing. Although it is hard to tell what succeeds and what doesn't, it is often good to go with what we know and what we know that succeeds. One fall back that I have always been back to was selling on Ebay. I know it is an obvious answer but it is obvious because we have heard the success of it time after time. No matter what I do, or how far a certain business venture or work at home program takes me, I am back at selling on Ebay. It is fun, addicting and profitable.
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Andakwa
Member
Joined: 6 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2009 09:13
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Thank You
I think that I am going to try to sell some photos and possibly try the print on demand for my poetry.
I will research that some more and hopefully I will make enough to do the things that I need to do.
I use to sell on ebay all the time and would love to get back into that but need to find a good supplier (which I need to make money first probably to do ) or figure out the lowest cost way of doing so.
I use to joke that I was addicted to Ebay so I know that is something that I enjoy and can do with kids around )
I am still open for suggestions as you never know which venture is going to be the one to take off and actually be able to make it with.
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NTC
Member
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 362
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2009 11:03
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Dear Andakwa,
Since you already have the gift of writing, I agree with the above suggestions. Affiliate marketing through articles may be a great avenue for you.
I started with the Bum Marketing course, which is free.
Working from home is wonderful. I have two young children, and love being here in my home office.
Have a wonderful day,
Victoria
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Andakwa
Member
Joined: 6 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2009 20:47
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decided to test the waters on fotolio and see how it does it seemed the better of some of the sights I looked at.
How do you make the link clickable in signature?
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 913
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2009 23:26 · Edited by: happywife
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Hi Andakwa,
Glad to hear you've decided to take some action. I hope the Lord blesses you with a few sales fairly quickly to keep you encouraged.
To make your link clickable, you need to place it between these tags [url][/url]. Those are the opening and closing tags. If you want it to be a text link like "My Photos For Sale" or something like that, you need to put the words in between the two tags and place the actual url inside the first tag. url=http...etc.
There should be a link with some instructions (if I remember correctly) when you go into your profile to edit your signature.
Blessings,
Angie
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Andakwa
Member
Joined: 6 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 10 Mar 2009 10:25
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thank-you, I've loaded a couple photos and waiting for them to be searchable I guess it takes a little bit of time to get them in the database. Hopefully I am doing this right.
Thank-you for letting me know how to make the link clickable.
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