For Work At Home Moms and Another New Site

My last two blog challenges have all been about reading other blogs and promoting my own, so not much to post on that, so today I will be bringing updating you on For Work At Home Moms.

For those that don't know, forworkathomemoms.com is my website that I have recently created. Today I was lucky enough have my best friend offer to help write for it. She is a single mom who is currently in school doing online classes to stay home with her son. I think she will bring a unique view to the table and help us reach even more struggling mothers. So I would just like to say thank you do Audrey for her help. I appreciate it and I'm sure the readers at For Work At Home Moms will as well.

I something just for you guys into writing, I found another site for you guys!

Software Judge

They pay people to write reviews of software. I'm currently waiting to get a response on the review I sent in, I'll post back and tell you how it goes but I have several friends that have said they are having a lot of success with it.

New Informational Website

I just want to introduce you to a new site that I just started. It is still very rough. I will be adding a lot of content to it written by me as well as many work at home and student mothers I have met. I hope it will become a great resource for work at home mothers and student mothers alike! Please check it out and comment to tell me what you think. I'm still working on picking a theme, I know the current one is a little bland. I want to focus on getting some quality content up for now.

http://forworkathomemoms.com/

Day 2 - Resources for Freelance Writers

Today's challenge in "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" is the list post, meaning a post with a list in it. I spent a while trying to brainstorm a topic for this list, so following my theme of talking about freelance writing, here is a list of useful resources for new and experienced writers alike.

• Online dictionary and thesaurus - Every writers knows these will be great resources. Words being the main tool of writers, having access to their meanings, synonyms, and antonyms is a very powerful thing.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - It is always a good idea to stay brushed up on your grammar and technique. This site is full of great writing exercises for new writers, out of practice writers, or any writers that just plain knows their weaknesses. (Mine is commas.)
• OpenOffice.org - An all in one office suite. Basically, a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Does word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and powerpoint presentations. You can even save your documents in the Microsoft Office formats.
• Article Checker - Checks for duplicate content on the web. It is usually a good idea to run your articles through it just in case. Most people will put their articles through a similar site when they are received and refuse them if they do not pass.
• Grammar Checker - While not 100%, it may catch some grammar mistakes you miss. I know I always make sure to use it before sending an article to a client.
• Text Analyzer - Analyzes your text for keyword density, word count, and more. A very useful tool. 
• Citation Machine - Helps create citations in the proper format.
• Wikipedia - Online encyclopedia created and edited by the public. A great place to start your research since you will find information on almost everything here. Remember though, it is edited by the public so important facts should be double checked.
• Online Encyclopedia - Search on many different online encyclopedias for information.
• Wikimedia Commons - Tons of images that anyone is free to use or contribute to. A great resource for finding images for articles and blog posts.

I hope this was useful. If anyone has a useful tool to add to the toolbox, feel free to comment below!

31 Days To A Better Blog - Day 1

I mentioned before that I was reading the book "31 Days to a Better Blog". Each day there is a blog challenge for me to complete to both make this blog better and make me a better blogger. Today's challenge is the "elevator pitch" which is a pitch that is short enough it could be done in the time of an elevator ride. So here it goes. Let me know what you think. Once it gets tweaked I will change the blog description to match. Below is the "elevator pitch" followed by a shorter pitch that the book suggests coming up with for things like forum signatures or business cards.

Are you a stay at home mom, unable to work, or just want to make some extra money working from home? Well I know I would. Amanda's Work At Home Adventure is just that, an adventure in working at home. I'm traveling and navigating the internet in search of legit ways for normal people to make real money working from home online.

Amanda's Work At Home Adventure - A Journey for legit ways to make real money online.

What do you think?

Update - Textbroker

I sent in my sample for Textbroker.com and got approved. There were so many articles to choose from! Your pay is based on ranking. The average writer will probably be a 2 or 3. A level 3 makes around one cent per word. It isn't amazing but it took me around 15 minutes to write up a 300 word article on Thailand. The better you right the more of a chance you have to rank up as well. The higher the rank, the more jobs and better pay you will receive. I noticed well over 100 offerings for level 2 writers though so even if you are new to writing or out of practice, try out Textbroker.com for some extra money.

On a more personal note, I just purchased the book "31 Days to a Better Blog". I expect it to be a good read. Watch out for a new blog post every day with "31 Days" as a label as part of the book is a blogging exercise for each day. Don't worry, it won't be taking the place of the information I normally post!

Another Website For Freelance Writing

I was recently shown a new site called Text Broker. It seems to have some real potential! I will post back with how I do with it as I just signed up. The way it works is you sign up as a writer, fill out some basic details, and write a sample based on the prompt they give you. From there you receive a rating. That rating will decide which jobs you can take. There are hundreds of open jobs... you browse the jobs, accept one, write the article, and submit it to get paid. Of course, submitting a low quality article can have your rating lower and if you don't follow instructions your article can be denied, but I have heard a lot of success stories with this site. More when I receive my rating and do a few jobs.

Link

Four Big Mistakes People Make Working From Home

1. Buying products that promise big money.

Almost every ad you see that promises "big money in ten seconds flat" is exaggerating. Sure, there are tons and tons of ways to make money online, and I have personally met people that make six figure incomes working online... but just because something works for one person, doesn't mean it will work for another. Free resources, like WarriorForum which I link to on the right, are much more trustworthy.

2. Not reading enough.

When getting into any online work at home venture it is important to read! You need to know what you are doing, know the process, know the challenges, and know the risks. If you don't learn about what you are doing you might as well be purchasing one of those over the priced get rich quick books, because you aren't going to get anywhere. Find what you want to do, read about it, take notes, and plan your approach.

3. Reading too much.

Reading too much can be just as bad as not reading enough. Information overload is one of the worst enemies of newbies. There are so many ways to make money, so many business models to follow. It is easy to try and take in more information than you need. Pick your business model, pick your niche, and read about that and nothing else. If it ends up not working, you can come back and read about something else, but multitasking and trying to learn about too much will just slow you down in the long run.


4. Reading and not doing!

This is the real killer with most newbies.  Most people get started in working from home by reading... the real trick is you need to put everything into action! For every hour you spend reading and learning, try putting an hour into actually working on your project! If it is freelance writing, start writing an article or reading about your niche you want to write about! Make a website or start a blog if that is your method. Don't just learn, do! Learning isn't going to earn you any money unless you actually sit down and get to work!

Don't fall victim to these newbie mistakes. Just remember, the key to success is to find a good, trustworthy source, pick your business model, learn, and then, most importantly, DO!