The idea of going to work has changed substantially in the past 10 years. While the norm is still to commute to a physical office, there is a growing contingent who work from home, myself included. Being able to work from home affords a lot of freedoms — I’m sure John knows all about this — as it lets you spend more time with your family, you can save on child care costs, and you don’t have to fight rush hour traffic two times every work day. The arrival and rising popularity of the internet is largely responsible for this growing trend, but it can be difficult to find legitimate work-at-home opportunities. And that’s where WhyDoWork.com — the company that ordered up this ReviewMe review — comes into play.
Why Do Work When You Can…
The name of the website is a bit misleading. When I tell people that I’m a freelance writer who works from home, I get more than a little annoyed when the response is, “So when are you going to get a real job?” Working from home is just as legitimate a career as one that gets you to put on a monkey suit and sit in a corner office for 40 works a week.
Following this line of thought, the work at home jobs listed on the WhyDoWork website are just that: jobs. They’re still work, so it’s not like you’re on a twelve month vacation. Some are the telecommuting equivalent of more conventional jobs. When I surfed through the opportunities, I found several that called for “virtual assistants”, or people who act as secretaries from the comfort of their homes. They type up memos, reply to emails, perform administrative tasks, and answer phone calls. Other gigs are a little less conventional, but (hopefully) no less legitimate.
Making Money Online
On the plus side, a membership with WhyDoWork.com is absolutely free, granting you access to an active forum, useful hints and news on the blogs, and a list of work at home employers who have been deemed “a legitimate source for telecommuting employment opportunities.”
The people at WhyDoWork are out to make a buck too, so there’s a fair amount of advertising on the site. They sell eBooks, for example, and many of the pages come with fairly prominent Google Adsense blocks. There are also “featured” employers and opportunities. While the banner ads don’t bother me too much, the Google ads on the front page detract from the professional feel of the site. They also direct people to other work-at-home websites, which may not exactly be the goal of WhyDoWork.com.
If you have a blog or website (that is at least PR3), you may be eligible for a link exchange from WhyDoWork.com. Check the partners page for more details on this, as well as information about advertising on their site.
Work at Home Jobs That Actually Pay
I’m not sure how stringent the screening process is before WhyDoWork.com approves a job posting, and as such, I’m not sure if the “opportunities” are any more trustworthy than the potential scams you find on Craigslist. Interestingly, the bulk (if not all) of the postings link to SimplyHired.com, leading me to believe that the two sites are either owned by the same people or they have some sort of partnership.
Alternatively, jobs can be posted for $49 (for 30 days). This provides a little bit of comfort, because at least you know that the people putting up the openings had to fork out some money. They’ve got to be a tad more serious, right? There are also work-at-home jobs for mystery shoppers, paid online surveys, and other alternative “get paid to” opportunities. All in all, I’d say that WhyDoWork.com is fairly comprehensive.
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If I make as much money as john does online, I’d probably quite my day job.
You have to work towards it. Anybody can get to that status, it’s all up to you.
Yeah, turns out that not working is actually really hard work. Who would’ve thought
well, i’ve not been lucky enough to experience that yet and i hope it’d happen sometime soon
I’m not there yet either, but I’m well aware of the path that lies ahead for me to get there. I don’t see a whole lot of park benches to relax on
It is just hard to get that goal, maybe harder for us than I was for John, but with lot of work all can do it.
it’s true, but easy said than done. that’s why there are only few people who can earn 10,000 plus a month
easier, it is
We all would!
This is quite interesting — thanks for the review, Michael. I’m going there right now and I’ll be checking it out (a breath of fresh air from always sifting through Craiglist).
you should try out getafreelancer.com. I’ve used it in the past with success. In fact I’ve gotten quite a few clients who I now virtually exclusively work for. I don’t go to bid for jobs there anymore, they come to me
*keeps fingers crossed*
That’s a great situation to be in. Whenever you can stop scrounging for work things start getting a bit more comfortable
Thanks for the site!
I will look at it too.
Nice – I’m always on the look-out for more fresh content. TheUrbanMale.ca is going to blast off on June 1, 2007. All welcome!
-TUM
actually, i’d definitely quit my dat
So many of these sites exist, and they all link to bigger job sites. By the time you’re done clicking and getting to the point where you want to submit your information I’m sick and tired already.
For those persistent enough and looking for a break it might be worthwhile.
I’ve used getafreelancer.com in the past with success.
There are a bunch of them alright; the problem is legitimacy and actual success rates. Are they good enough to use for legit non-scam money-making job stints? Do you personally know people who’ve looked for jobs and been hired on these sites? There are a lot of factors to consider even before you even take the time to check out a potential job source. So you’ve gotten a few gigs from that site you suggested? That’s great — I wish everyone could find their niche, too.
It’s so hard to find any gigs for fashion as far as how to’s not trends and news.
I hear ya; finding a specific job description that stays true to who you are can be difficult. In the meantime, maybe you’d want to consider widening your scope a little, until the perfect job comes along that is — at least you never feel idle or unproductive.
good point, and there is a site exclusively for ruby-on-rails jobs, called jobsonrails.com, which is simple and easy to use.
I guess nothing is really that easy, even online. Looking for a job out there could just be as draining and time-consuming as finding one on the Internet. Both require a lot of patience, that’s for sure.
earning 100 to 1000$ from just a blog or the internet needs hardwork. But when you hit that spot of 1000$ and more… getting 11,000$ just like John, is inevitable. Meaning, the money will just come chasing after you and not you chasing the money anymore.
I believe that is very true.
Easy come easy goes.
So nothing easy could be good, specially jobs and money.
.
Should be hard
Even for John, I think it is not easy to find new ideas for this blog with 1 post a day minimum.
He needs to read a lot, maybe hours, to come with one single post.
I’m not saying that easy money isn’t good; I know I’d want to win the lottery (or even a JC contest for once LOL) each and every time. As far as John is concerned, he does need to be in the know for current and relevant events a lot. I don’t think he NEEDS to do anything though; he does them anyway because he’s having fun with them, that’s what makes him so evil LOL.
I’ve tried the surveys and they do help a lot but takes a long time, unless I search for more company that pay for answering surveys.
and Cheap, yup nothing is easy. It really is hard just the same hardwork on a regular job.
I guess a lot of people have earned their $$$ the John Chow way. Protecting your reputation and re-evaluating your work from time to time even after large-scale success do help though.
Work at home job sites have that “scam” feeling to them by default as a result of the spamming going on in the industry. This site appears to be a breathe of fresh air having some legitimacy.
I suspect that you’re right about getting over the hump to that magic figure of $1000 or so. I’ve a friend who has gone from scratch just over a year ago to close to that each month now. Consequently, he is starting to find that people are beginning to approach him now.
There will come a time when the words “day job” might not even exist anymore — that’s something to think about.
There will always be “day jobs”. They might someday in the future become fewer in number, but they’ll always be there.
hey Micheal, nice review…..your write quality has gone up thru the roof! nice work… i remember your first review me post here! survival of the fittest
I’ll second that. Your reviews have gotten much better Michael. Keep up the good work
that time i will bring my laptop along and sun burn my self at hawaii beach
I find whydowork to be a mediocre website, but I’m used to the professionalism and clean appearance of saveandmake.com now. I’ve checked out getafreelancer.com as well, it seems like a good, my problem is that none of these jobs can compete with the pay from my day job, so I’ve quit looking and started my own site….
Believe it or not, a lot of people started their own sites or blogs this way. This is where the idea of self-sufficiency and self-improvement come in. You don’t like what you see so you make your own waves — well done, Sabrina.
There are several ways from which we can earn so much that we can quit the day job. But it still requires hard work and dedication.
Its really easy to make money online.
100,000 + people live off eBay.
我是中国人，偶然在网上看到了关于你的文章，就到搜索引擎上去搜索，就找了你。你的博客太漂亮了，我也想做一个外语的，因为我现在很想学好外语。但我的外语真的是很差啊！
希望你能帮忙，和我作一个连接 ，让我的人气也旺一些。我也会为你大力推广的。
I’ve looked into the mystery shopper and paid surveys idea and found that it really is not the worth the time and effort. Besides it is really hard to find legitimate sites that offer mystery shopping and paid surveys choices.
hao are you
I guess it’s all about finding something that you can bank on, something your passionate most about (shopping, selling, advertising, etc), something you won’t mind doing even if the pay isn’t much — you know what they say about the happy worker…
Oh this could be interesting since I am liking staying at home and working more and more everyday.
I’d prefer to work for myself but if someone else wants to pay me from home so let them!
It’s hard NOT to make money online!
It is as easy as easy doing day jog.
Interesting site… I think I may take advantage of some of its resources.
It’s really getting irritating with all these review me posts on johnchow.com…
I’ve been able to make extra money writing code from home. The beauty of being a programmer is knowing that you don’t have to go to the office to get your work done!
I would to blog for living but for now it is a hobby. yes it is a real job !
Justin
seedubai.blogspot.com
WhyDoWork.com is not going to be favorite for job posters. They are charging a lot. There are hundreds of similar sites where you can post jobs for free or at very cheap price, like getafreelancer.com.
good post john
WhyDoWork.com sounds interesting,but still it charges an upfront cost. I joined Typeinternational , the work at home company before and i think they are a big rip-off! because besides charging me a joining fee of $65 doing work posting ads in classifeds,they came up with ridiculous other ‘up-sell’ methods like “You must buy a personal page to increase your earnings”, which i did, and splurge a total of $200 on nothing..Do Watch out for it friends..
Oh, and if anyone happens to be a hits4pay member, do visit the Unofficial Hits4pay blog too ok?
John
well the only way to make it bit in the long term is to work consistently and avoid the “get rich quick” route/mentality
Interesting, though anyone that has paid to read stuff makes me turn my head.
While it’s cool to work from home when you need to, we shouldn’t forget the significant social aspect of going to work. Sure it’s no party but you do interact with other human beings. I know I could handle working solely from home for a while, but I think I’d likely go stir crazy in a few months.
Nice info Michael, this kind of reviews are helpful., and it is also on the topic of this blog.
Geez…sounds like a good idea. Very helpful!
Now if there were a way to bloggers with causes can make money…
I guess it’s pretty cool, but I agree… No site that is trying to give/sell a product should have AdSense ads, it simply advertises your competitors. If your a media/news site, then there’s usually a relevance to the Ads. Cool idea though!
-Sam from MarketMatador.com
I’ve met a lot of people who blog on the side (on top of their day job). Revenue hasn’t been colossal for any of them in terms of blogging, but surprisingly all of them are quite happy with how things are going in their lives. They bask in the perks of both worlds, which is awesome.
Bookmarked. Though I’m not sure I believe it yet.
I also used to have people asking me “So when are you going to get a real job?”. People around me tend to see what I am doing home is silly and to pass time. But making money from home can be really possible. Just need a bit of persistency and patience.
I guess the reason why people aren’t really warming up to the idea of work-from-home or serious blogging businesses is because they think that by utilizing your time more (9-to-5 day job), you can get more revenue. As soon as the likes of John Chow get ultra-hot celebrity status (out of the blogosphere), I think more and more people will agree that certain work-from-home ventures are indeed profitable (with lesser work hours even).
Hmm worth a look I thought but I won’t be bookmarking it.
Web businesses are like the film industry…They keep coming out with the same plot staring different actors. Then occasionally there is a great film. Which is this? No telling yet…
http://selfmade.eliotdill.com
Well i have been online for a number of years now, people are all talking about AGLOCO (Alladvantage.com) had the same concept although after about a year it fell apart, they owed $10000~S to people all over the world, i my self had 300 referrals, i was in others paybar.com it died to, Now getting back to making money online.
I have been with a company which is very good, it will be bigger than *****Microsoft***** although
joining a company requires the input of money, but its a very good one, look here http://coil.myworldmovie.com