By Peter Louis
Are you a stay at home mum who wants to earn some cash or perhaps start a home based business? Well, working as a freelancer can allow you to do just that. But how can stay at home mums work from home? What is a freelancer?
A freelancer is simply someone who works for themselves by providing their services for hire to individuals or businesses that need them. Freelancers, also known as contractors or service providers, generally work as independent businesses and may do so without much fanfare as sole traders or partnerships and through more complex vehicles as registered companies.
Freelance work can vary in length, but it's not unusual for freelancers to work on short term contracts or jobs and for various 'employers' over a relatively short period unlike with permanent employment.
Can stay at home mums freelance?
Most certainly! But not so long ago, if you were a freelancer, then more than likely you were based at a client's site or at least needed to frequent the client's premises. Home based jobs were rare and it was common for freelancers to work away from home perhaps only returning during the weekends. These freelancing opportunities still exist and are clearly unsuitable to stay at home mothers who want to work from home.
Fortunately, through the Internet, new freelancing opportunities have arisen enabling stay at home mums to conveniently perform various jobs whilst remaining at home or without the need to frequent an employer's site and these opportunities can be local, national or even global in nature.
What skills are needed?
Many different skills can be used to successfully work from home. There isn't any prescribed list. Some freelance jobs do, however, require specialist skills but others require the same skills you're using right now to read this article. So in fact, you already have the skills needed to get started in freelancing!
As a guide, however, freelance jobs include data entry, CCTV monitoring, phone answering, customer helpdesk, coaching, link building, online research, writing reviews, mystery shopping, e-marketing, article writing, graphic design, proof reading, Website testing, blogging & tweeting, dog walking, wedding planning, catering, online tutoring, translation, virtual assistance and so on.
How to get freelance jobs?
Job boards seem an obvious place to start to get an online job. Yet job boards don't specialise in micro outsourced jobs, which are the type of jobs you're looking to get as a freelancer. Moreover, jobs boards seek to capture CVs and not services, which may not be useful to stay at home mums that may not have a CV or may not have worked in recent years.
Specialist micro outsourcing job sites are a better option. They specialise in helping you advertise your services and not you CV and that's important. You'll also be able to interact online with job providers, which will help you better understand their needs or allow you to discuss your skills or experience.
Summary
The Internet has opened up freelancing job opportunities that do not require freelancers to be based at an employer's premises. This article has discussed freelance job opportunities in relation to stay at home mums and where such online jobs can be found to allow mums to work from home.
Copyright 2011 by Peter Louis. All rights reserved
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