Remember: this website is about information and does not offer jobs

Basic Rules:

1. No email, urls, addresses or phone numbers in posts. Put them in your Profile.

2. No spam. Spam is an unrequested message telling us about this or that opportunity etc. If you spam, all your contact and affiliate details will be deleted and you may be banned without warning.

3. No advertising. This is a discussion Forum and not an Advertising Forum. Discussion is what makes you, and this Forum, interesting.

4. No self-serving posts. As homeworkers we all have to learn the art of self-promotion. However, there is a difference between a great post that talks about yourself in relation to other homeworkers and perhaps the discussion in hand, and a post that just says, "I have this great opportunity and you have to find out more about this fantastic scheme from me".

5. No self-serving links. Sometimes it is important to include a link in a post to say, a news item, a government website, or a free-to-use business website, because it supports what you are saying. That is OK! Sometimes we need to a link to a website that we have a query about - in this case, leave off the www so that it does not become a clickable link. Never include any affiliate links in any post! That will be deleted and frowned upon.

Basic Guide to getting the most from this Forum:

1. As a general rule new users should lurk in the Forum for at least a few days to get a feel for the type of messages posted; posting off-topic messages or questions which have just been asked (and probably answered already) is irritating to regular users of the Forum.

2. Be polite when asking questions and you are likely to get an answer, provided the question is sensible. Do not make demands, you will be flamed.

3. Do not overuse caps, only use this to emphasise the odd word here and there. Whole messages or phrases typed in caps are considered to be shouting and this is offensive.

4. Please do not shoot the messenger!

5. This is not an instant chat board so you may not get an instant reply. It depends on the time of the day and what people are doing as to whether they can manage to answer. It will have little or nothing to do with you! So please do not take anything personally.

6. Please feel free to answer some of the questions you see! We are all helping each other and no-one gets paid to sit here writing answers.

7. Enjoy and good luck.

Frequently asked questions:

1. I want to work at home but where do I start?
2. What sort of information can I find on this website to help me?
3. Is this a scam?
4. I need to earn money now?
5. I want to work for a company that pays you every month please help.

1. I want to work at home but where do I start?
   There are lots of different ways to work from home and in asking this question you may be thinking specifically of one or more of the following:
   1. Part time work at home, for an employer
   2. Piece work where you are paid for the completed work that you return
   3. Setting up your own business to provide a product or service, using skills you already possess
   4. Joining an MLM to be self employed but still have back-up, support and training.

   Many ask this question with (1) or (2) in mind - they are looking for an employer to offer them terms, hoping that someone is advertising for urgently needed packers, sorters or envelope stuffers.

   It doesn't work like that. Unless your work can be done on the web, then (1), (2) and (3) all rely on the worker or service provider (you) being geographically near to the company that needs the work done.

   The only way to find work like that is to canvas your local area, approaching the factories, offices, small businesses or neighbours around you, depending on what you want to do and who might want your service, although people in this forum will be able to help you with ideas on how to advertise/canvass.

   So, instead of asking 'what is there', you need to be asking 'what can I do?'

   Once you have a clear idea of your likes (and dislikes!), skills, hours and funds available then this will narrow the options and allow you to see what is available.

   

2. What sort of information can I find on this website to help me?
   If you want to find out what people do at home then look at the Case Studies link at the top of the Forum. If you want to get some ideas then click on the Main Index link at the top of the Forum and look through pages such as: Not sure where to start?; Ideas for work; List of ideas and contacts and Network Marketing just for starters. And if you are looking for extra money at home because of debts then working at home is NOT the answer and you have to look at our Debt Advice link at the top of the Forum.

   After you have looked through those and considered your own situation, look through this Forum and read what people say and if you like their style and ethics then look in their Profile to see what they do or for further contact details. They might be running the sort of business or work at home that would suit you.

   

3. Is this a scam?
   This is a commonly asked question but before you ask it in the Forum you must choose your words carefully.

   It is a very sad fact that there are many businesses out there operating within the law but are downright appalling, non-ethical and guaranteed to eat your money. These can not be called a scam because they are technically not illegal! As revolting and a rip-off that they are, we are not allowed to make statements likely to damage them!!! However, there are ways of saying what we want without entering the world of libel. A flick through Private Eye, a UK weekly political publication, shows the art of saying what you want without becoming libelous!

   On the other hand, some businesses are misunderstood and then misrepresented by a poster. That is not fair on the business. Though that person's opinion is valuable - because if they felt that then you might too. Perhaps the business wasn't right for them and it isn't right for you either but it might be good for the next ten people reading about it. Say what you feel, or what went wrong but don't resort to calling it a scam or illegal unless you are a specialist in Business Law!

   Then there are the illegal schemes - and what is legal in one country is not legal in another! It is a minefield.

   If you are enquiring about a scheme you have seen, then ask but don't say "This looks like a scam" ... as that is libelous!

   And if the Forum Moderators are at all concerned, then we'll just edit your post and make the changes in purple so that it is clear what is no longer your own words.

   We don't want to see this Forum turned into a place where people are unable to say what they feel or have experienced. Just be careful about how you say it!

   

4. I need to earn money now?
   Then working at home is not the way to do it. Let's be brutally honest here and not waste your time chasing after all the scams out there.

   People do work at home and do earn an income, but it just takes time to get it going. From weeks to months and often it is a couple of years before you see a decent income coming in.

   

5. I want to work for a company that pays you every month please help.
   The hard truth is that you are unlikely to find such companies that will pay you to work at home.

   If we can save you from wasting your time hunting for what doesn't exist then at least that is something.

   That is why there are no easy answers.

   There is work at home and people are paid by companies to work at home, but these are usually jobs where a person has worked for the company in the company premises and are then shifted to working at home.

   You could do telesales work working at home and on a salary, but often these are commission paid jobs.

   Otherwise, you join the millions of self-employed people who do loads of different things with perhaps some having regular contracts with companies.

   There are many skilled professionals who work at home. Self-employed and offering their services.

   There are many people who have started a network marketing business who work at home and earn far more than a salary, but generally it takes a few years and continuing hard work to achieve that.

   Working at home is not for everyone. If it is for you, then it takes time to get going and you'll never want to work any other way again!

Glossary of other words:
Flame	This is a hostile message that is e-mailed to someone or posted on a newsgroup or Forum
Spam	A term used for an inappropriate and unrequested commercial messages sent to an e-mail list or to a newsgroup or posted on a Forum. This is usually done as a mass mailing to many lists and groups at once
URL	URL = Uniform Resource Locator and this is the "address" of pages on the Web

Click for the Forum

 
Here is that quick and easy glossary of internet speak that you always thought you should know about!

Emoticons (emotional icons) are used to give character to the written word and to make up for a lack of voice inflections, facial expressions, and physical gestures in written communication. Some emoticons are called "smileys." Most emoticons look like a face (eyes, nose, and mouth) when you tip your head to the left! :) or :-) Happiness, sarcasm, or a joke ;) or ;-) Wink, cheeky smile :( or :-( Unhappiness :] or :-] Jovial happiness :[ or :-[ Despondent unhappiness :D or :-D Jovial happiness :I or :-I Indifference :-/ or :-\ Undecided, confused, or sceptical :Q or :-Q Confusion :O or :-O Surprise or realisation of an error ("uh oh!") And then there are these which are a cross between acronyms and the angle brackets used for HTML coding which is what makes up web pages: <g> Grinning <j> Joking <L> Laughing <s> Smiling <y> Yawning

Acronyms are another form of shorthand and some of these have come from normal usage. AAMOF as a matter of fact BBFN bye bye for now BFN bye for now BTW by the way BYKT but you knew that CMIIW correct me if I'm wrong EOL end of lecture FAQ frequently asked questions FWIW for what it's worth FYI for your information HTH hope this helps IAC in any case IAE in any event IMCO in my considered opinion IMHO in my humble opinion IMNSHO in my not so humble opinion IMO in my opinion IOW in other words LOL laughing out loud NRN no reply necessary OIC oh, I see OTOH on the other hand ROF rolling on the floor ROFL rolling on the floor laughing ROTFL rolling on the floor laughing TIA thanks in advance TIC tongue in cheek TTYL talk to you later WYSIWYG what you see is what you get

Q. What does the emoticon d8= mean? A. Your pet beaver is wearing goggles and a hard hat.       [Can there be any explanation?!-Ed]

More Fun!

Thanks to one of our readers who sent this to us with the following note: I came across this one and thought about all the people on the Forum - including myself. Especially the ones looking for the prooffffffffffreadingggggggg work lol. Hope you like it. - Anna B.

RULES FOR WRITERERS

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Don't use no double negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be ignored.
21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words> however should be enclosed in commas.
22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
23. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
24. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
25. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
26. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
27. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
28. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
29. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
30. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
31. Who needs rhetorical questions?
32. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. And finally...
33. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

Please email your favourite tips and explanations to admin@homeworking.org and we may include them on this page.