I am currently unemployed and would like to know if any of you do or know of a legitimate work at home program I could find info and perhaps become employed in. I have checked into some but they don't sound legitimate and most want a fee up front which is scary to me. I would like to do crafts, assemble small items or do work on my PC. Please email me if you could help! Thanks, Carla

-- Carla Hoy (hoycarla@hotmail.com), September 03, 2000

Answers

I am looking too for me. I have searched and searched, but something is always up with them. We make crafts, carved, painted and inlaid and I haven't got them up anywhere on the net yet. And the web is so big, I don't know if anyone would even see them. Let me know if you find a good one and I will do the same. A friend of mine stuffed 1000 envelopes and never got a dime.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 03, 2000.

Cindy, I have a friend who makes jewelry and produces other items. She had her website up for 4 years before she discovered eBay.com to sell her products. She made more money from the first 3 months on eBay than she did with her website in 4 years. Just a thought.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 03, 2000.

I saw a show where a woman interviewed and researched handymen, contractors, painters, plumbers, etc., and then for a fee she acted as a broker when other people needed work. In exchange for not having to hunt around, they paid her a small fee and she also got a commission from the workers for sending the work their way. You might want to consider something similar that is appropriate for your area (you could include mechanics, appliance repair poeple, vets, etc), you know - whatever is needed. You might even be able to set up some sort of expedited arbitration service with a profession mediator in case anybody gets into a dispute with the worker you referenced, as will inevitably happen. Most any service professional will cut a rate or offer a commission if they get more work with you than without you. You'd have to advertise heavily at first, until you got steady word of mouth and a list of loyal return customers, and you'd have to do in-depth work researching and background checking prospective service clientele, but there are computer services for this that charge a small fee (and of ocurse it would be tax deductible).

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 03, 2000.

You can check out www.smcorp.com. When layoffs were threatening a few years ago, I looked into their programs. Costs a little out front, but has potential. A bit of advice , any work at home advertisment that promises an average income potential, be realistic and figure 5% to 10% of the advertised figures. I usually try to avoid discusssion of these type of things, as the saying goes, If it sounds too good to be true, it probally is, this site however, I have known of people that were able to use it toget by or supplement their income.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 03, 2000.

Just thought of something else. Did you get a copy of the book Ken S. was offering?

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 03, 2000.

I'm still offering the free e-book, "How to Earn Extra Money in the Country". Over 200 pages, over 300 possibilities. Just send me an e- mail request. Format is Microsoft Word. Money back guarantee if sent electronically.

However, don't know why but I cannot send it as an attachment to anyone using hotmail.com. If you don't have an alternate e-mail address, just send five first class stamps to me at Ken Scharabok, 1645 West Blue Creek Road, Waverly, TN 37185 and I'll send it on a diskette.

You are welcome to print out whatever of it you want. Perhaps a local print shop can print it out on a high-speed printer for so much per page.

-- Ken S. in TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 04, 2000.

Carla, Another "at home" possibility is a cookout catering service. A Cajun I worked with got layed off, had a hard time getting work, took his severence pay and got a smoker and trailer. Complied with the health dept open pit regs, got licenced, started doing "Cajun cookouts" for parties. When our company finally called him back, he told them to keep it. His total outlay was less than $800 initially, other expenses followed as he had income to cover them. The last issue of Countryside had an ad for a publication that covered liability requirements for various home businesses.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 04, 2000.

Some friends of friends of mine made $60,000 in three months growing mushrooms at home. But these were not exactly the normal kind of shrooms, and I'm told it was a lot of hard work, not to mention somewhat stressful.

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoffjoe@yahoo.com), September 04, 2000.

My mom works from home and makes about two thousand a month plus great medical benefits doing medical transcribing.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), September 07, 2000.

Kathy, how long has your mom been doing transcription? I won't be out of the program until Dec. Just curious. thx

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), September 07, 2000.

I just started working in a hospital, and have been wondering about learning to do transcription, as they seem to be in short supply. The hospital will help pay for me to go back to school, too.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 07, 2000.

sheepish, my moms been a medical transcriper for 37 years and never been laid of or out of work, its a great profession, good job security.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), September 07, 2000.

i would like to have you consider the advances coming in computer technology and voice. i heard on tv(sorry) that we will have the ability within 6-9 mos of no longer having to use the keyboard but use our voice for the commands this is from a program from microsoft and some one else who i don't remember. i know of several dr's are already using direct voice transcription programs. i think the need for transcriptionest will be around for awhile but will be seeing a decline in the numbers needed. my advice would be if someone else such as an employer would like to train you go for it but be careful putting a lot of your own money into learning the skill. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), September 09, 2000.

gail, too true! There will continue to be needs however, for editing, and proofing (example: even with WORD, and Spell checking, there still is!. Typing "there" could be "they're" , "their"). Zantac sounds like Xantax, etc. Also, even though the docs will be able to do the voice recognition thing, they have to "train" the computers to recognize their voices. They don't have much time. A couple of prof. transcriptionists that I know think it will be more like the transcriptionist training her/his voice instead, to save time keyboarding! Who knows? But a very valid point indeed! Considering the capital outlay of ~$3k-$5k, even more so...

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), September 09, 2000.

Sheepish, Hate to bust the bubble on this, but software companies are already developing versions of A.I. software that according to publications will be available within the next 2 to 3 years to allow any PC to "intelligently" decipher and question voice input. If you have had the opportunity to access some of the phone systems voice driven computerized directory assistance you have been exposed to artificial intelligence utilizing proofing software. These advances are one of the reasons that I decided to trade my career in electronics and CIS for a simpler, more productive one. The giants in the industry have squeezed 40 years of advancement into 8 years of real time. Cutting edge technology now is obsolete within 90 to 180 days of implementation, just read any PC harware and software publication.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 09, 2000.

Jay...Cool! Then I can stay retired! And I can type 90 wpm on this Forum (groan....) I have 2 backup plans for this schooling, so I think I will be okay. If not, oh well! Life's for living, so they say!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), September 09, 2000.

Not too sure! My wife and I started our web site www.drglass.net back in july of 2000. We have SMC, and we are still waiting for our ship to come in! Heck, we will settle for a dingy right now!!! All of these people who say they are making alot of money with this system are only fooling themselves...

-- Richard Lynch (rlynch8@adelphia.net), March 15, 2002.