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Journey to Work-At-Home Success

I am frequently asked how I was able to earn enough from home to survive. I remember wanting to have that same question answered as I did my research into working at home. Whether it was a book or infomercial, the stories were about people who were nearly homeless, deeply in debt who then seemly became rich over night. They left out the details of the frustrations and failures in the process of working at home. Getting from where you are now to work-at-home success is a journey that takes time. To illustrate, let me show you my journey.

1990 - I'm not sure how I got the work-at-home bug. I think it was seeing a real estate program that helped people become financially independent. I ordered that program although I wasn't able to get it to work. But from that point on, the idea of working from home began to burn inside. The odd thing is, I was already working some from home. I was a newly graduated social worker working 2 days a week for a school prevention program. But much of the work for that program (fundraising) I did from home.  During this time I did a lot of research on working from home. I did try to start a scholarship service but the franchise went out of business a month after I joined. 

1992 - Along with the school job, I worked 30 hours a week as an adoption social worker. I left this position to work 3 days a week as a school counselor at a different school (I still worked the 2 days in the prevention program). However, I continued to work on a contract basis for the adoption agency. This work I did from home but at the time I didn't recognize I was working at home. In my mind, working at home was something different. So the quest for a great home business continued. 

1993 - My husband and I moved and I was able to find full-time school counseling work. But I got pregnant during this time and my desire to work-at-home increased. The internet was just starting to grow so I spent a lot of time online. I tried one network marketing program without success because the process of building the business made me uncomfortable. I was still hoping there was an easy, fast way to make money at home.

1994 - 1996 I worked one more year as a guidance counselor and then in a dumb move I quit thinking the financial pressure would force me to do the work required to stay home. During that time I tried to start a typing service (we were in a university town) and an in-home day care for teachers (that way I could have the summer off).  I made a good start but didn't follow through so those services never quite took off. Then I decided to become a Realtor.  As a Realtor I was able to work from home. It was during this time I launched Work-At-Home Success to provide information and resources to guide people who also wanted to work at home. It started with just a few pages and since then has grown to hundreds of pages.

1996- 1997 I discovered that maintaining the ability to work at home was a difficult process. I had to return to a "job" as a social worker but presented my supervisor with a work-at-home proposal when I had my second child. My immediate supervisors were supportive of the proposal but the Management Team wouldn't even look at it. So I left that job to work as an assistant to a Realtor. During this time I began to build my own real estate business again and within a few months I was once again working at home as a Realtor. It was different this time not so much from my own effort but from having a broker who worked with builders. 

1997-2000 During my time as a Realtor, I still needed childcare. My goal for working at home had been to be with my children so real estate wasn't quite meeting my needs. I also came across a book that showed how much I had to pay to work. Running the numbers, I found that I could afford to stay home earning just a fraction of what I though I would need. The internet was expanding and I began to find contract work online and added affiliate programs to my website.  By 2000 I was earning pretty good income from home but it required a great deal of work. Daily marketing using current marketing trends was crucial. Also, searching for new projects before finishing existing projects was required if I was to never run out of work. I published my telecommuting book, Jobs At Home as a guide to help others find work in the same way that I had.

2001- 2003 In 2001 my income began to drop as internet companies began to lose money and go out of business.  I did NOT want to return to a job especially after so many years of working on my own. My sister gave me the idea of being a contract social worker. I sent letters to adoption agencies throughout my state. One responded and I was hired to work from home. Almost immediately I wasn't satisfied as I didn't like going back to asking permission to take a day off and I found I needed to arrange childcare for my children as least 1 day a week. In 2002, I made a new arrangement with the agency to work on a contract basis. This turned out much better as I could determine my own hours and refuse work if I wanted. As I looked over my work-at-home career, I noticed the ups and downs and realized that I wanted something that could potentially make me more and was based on my effort, not on what others wanted to pay me. So I began the search for a home business. I tried many of the sign-up-get-paid programs on the Internet. I didn't get a single check...okay maybe 1 check for $6.00. I knew I didn't want to do home parties or inventory products. But I knew I wanted residual income. I tried one program online that did make a few bucks but the compensation plan paid very low. In October 2003, I was introduced to a program that met all of my needs. It was an established company (18 years old at the time), in my research I found positive reports from third-party organizations such as Inc Magazine and the BBB, it involved products I use anyway and best yet, I didn't have to parties, inventory or talk to my friends and family.

2003- Current Today, I still do some contract work with the adoption agency and collect a few affiliate checks. But over the last year and a half, my home business has become my income center. The difference between what I do now and what did to make money from home in the past is that now, if I do take a break, I still get a check. Before when I freelanced for online companies or worked affiliate programs or sold real estate, I only got paid when I produced. If I was sick or went on vacation, there was no income. I do wish I had found my business early on although I don't' know that I would have been ready to take on the work required at that time. Like many people, at the start of my work-at-home journey, I was looking for something I could just sign up and do from home. Through my experience and through studying people who work I home, I came to discover that no one is successful working at home without working hard especially during the times that there is no money coming in or when things get frustrating. Success comes to those who hold fast to their dreams, put daily action behind it, and never quit.

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Leslie's favorite home income programs:

Get more work-at-home information and resources at Work-At-Home Success.