If you have opted to try your hand working from home with freelance work you may find yourself surprised at the number of opportunities that present themselves to you in this field. You will find that you are not limited writing articles, or any other type of writing. You have the opportunity to get paid to post, transcription, call centers, articles, selling products and much much more.

When the time comes and you make the conscious decision to become and IC (Independent Contractor) or freelancer the most difficult thing to do is to jump in and get started.

Yes, as a semi-newbie to the work at home freelance scene I have spoken to dozens who confirm that this starting step is the most difficult they have had to face when opting to work from home. So, what better way then to just jump right in? right?

So, what should your first move be? Your first move needs to be identifying what you like to do, that can be incorporated into the freelance world.

Just a few options that are readily available in the Freelance world are: Transcription; Freelance Writing; Paid to Post; Call Centers; Candles, and that is just to name a few.

Now, figure it out. Then come back here and see if I can help point you in the right starting direction.

There are dozens of sites on the Internet that are willing to pay you to write articles. The best way to uncover these sites, in my experiences, are to do a thorough online search for "get paid to write" and also join up with some work from home forums.

Forums are a great way to find out who's looking for freelance articles, how much different companies are willing to pay, what they are looking for and which companies to avoid. Through forums such as WAHM.com, and many others sprinkled across the world wide web, you will make strong freelance connections with legit individuals and companies that are willing to give you a chance to show what you are made of.

Online searches really are only going to help you with ideas of the type of companies that will hire you and open up an avenue to uncover some good work from home resources such as forums and blogs related to home based work.

Once you have a list of potential companies you need to research their individual style preferences as some want technical and SEO articles while others are looking for personal stories and perspectives. Also, outside of expectations, you need to get familiar with article length. Most companies, on average, are looking for 500 word articles but you will run across some that expect 200 or even 1000 words.

Here are a couple of starter sites you can look into:

Daily Article

Associated Content

Helium

eHow - This is a revenue sharing site, so you write a short how to ... and you get paid off of the clicks your articles generate. This site is actually a lot of fun and I would recommend trying it out until the creative juices get flowing and you get more comfortable with writing.

What is paid to post you ask. There are companies out there that are hired by forums and blogs to bring traffic to their sites. Those companies then hire individuals to post on those sites and pay them per post. On average you make between .10 to .50 per post, depending on the job.

These companies expect nothing more then for you to provide quality posts for the companies who have paid for their services.

To make it as a good poster here are some things you will want to follow and keep in mind.
1) Do not make short-" yes/no" or "me too" types of posts. Keep them at the minimum between 15 and 25 words unless otherwise requested.
2) Never disclose that you work as a paid poster on any forum you are paid to boost.
3) Always respect the rules of the forums you are on.
4) Never Spam
5) Be careful when using affiliate links in your signature or posts - often it is not allowed by the company who hired you.
--Basically, just follow the rules!

Here are a couple of sites, that I guarantee are legit, to start you off:

Kickstart Your Forums

Forums First

Transcription is the act of turning audio and/or video into text. This takes a highly skilled ear and good grammar to be a successful with transcription.

Some companies will expect some sort of previous schooling or experience before hiring you for this position, however, some companies are willing to allow you to test and would hire without the schooling and experience. I recommend signing up for MTurk and listening to some of the transcription audio they have there and try your hand at that first before taking on a company test.

There is free software called EScribe that allows you to slow down, speed up and clear up audio which is a real necessity in this line of work. Way too often you will run across transcription audio recordings of people with heavy accents, fast talkers, whisperers or some with a lot of background noise so being able to work with them can save a lot of time.

Many work at home transcriptionists also have a foot pedal which is on some occasions required by companies hiring for transcription both medical and general.

If you are good at customer service you can always look into call center work from home. There are companies out there that hire you on, either as an employee or an Independent Contractor (IC) and allow you to work at home.

This job typically entails a few hours a day (some give a lot of leeway) and at least a few days a week. You are typically hired to answer or make calls to customers regarding orders, services or general help and information.

If you get hired on there are often requirements you must meet that vary but you are typically required to have the following:

Landline telephone

Computer requirements differ

Quiet home office

corded headset