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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Web Work What Works And What Doesnt

Web Work - What Works and What Doesn't

Deciding to start your own Internet Home Based Business can be an exciting and scary time. There are so many opportunities that are offered on the internet. Many are legitimate from reputable and honest work at home internet business vendors. Unfortunately, there are also some fraudulent schemes.

A popular home business opportunity being advertised on the internet is Medical Billing. While being a medical biller is a legitimate home based business, one must be careful of the schemers who are just out for your money and leave you to fend for yourself in an industry where you have little chance of succeeding.

It starts by you responding to the ad for the medical billing work at home business. You will receive a phone call pitch telling you about the burgeoning health care system crisis. Typically, the pitch includes statements about claims piling up and just waiting to be processed. Your opportunity lies in processing these claims electronically, which is not being done often. This is where you make your money.

Doctors, they say, outsource their billing to you. You can work in Accounts Receivable, Insurance Claims, Physician / Dentist practice management. They claim that you do not need experience as training is included and you get the added bonus that their sales staff will put you together with health care clients to get you started. The sad truth is that your investment - $2500-$9000 is seldom recouped. In order to come close to recouping your investment and/or make a profit, you will need to find your own clients. The training you receive is sub-par. The problem with Medical Billing, as it can be a legitimate business, is that the market is saturated, the competition is fierce.

Take careful consideration when choosing a Medical Billing company to partner with. Your best bet is to locate a company in your area, get hired on as a medical biller so that you can receive their training and then work towards moving to a home based operation.

Another legitimate work at home business opportunity that is commonly distorted by schemers is Surveys for cash. There are many survey companies you can join that give you the opportunity to get paid for taking surveys. What you must be mindful of are the websites that say they offer you a home internet survey business opportunity but really only offer you the opportunity to pay upfront money for a listing of those survey sites that will pay you to take their surveys.

Most of the firms that they provide you in their list are firms that you could have found for yourself through your own searching on the internet. Some of the firms on their list aren't even current. The fees charged for the initial directories can be up to $100. What you get for your investment are out of date lists, with incorrect information, poor navigation, inadequate contacts and pages that don't work.

There are some websites that the consumer advocate agency recommended as legitimate paid survey work at home internet business opportunity firms. These sites do charge upfront fees of up to $60.00. The difference between these firms and the schemers are that these firms actually have staff dedicated to helping you find survey clients and assignments. These firms offer a 100% money back guarantee and actually honor that guarantee.

Will paid survey sites make you rich? Probably not, but you can earn a decent income. Most survey sites offer payment for surveys taken anywhere between $15-$25 and some even offer payment of $75 for a completed survey. Time to complete a survey can range from 5-30 minutes per survey. Income potential is up to you. It depends on the amount of time and effort you wish to put forth. A 20 hour week could provide you with a median monthly income of $1600. Again, this won't make you rich but is definitely a good income for something with so many benefits - little to no overhead, no dress code, no rush hour traffic, no training or experience required and hours you determine yourself.

One of the major points of having an Internet home work income business is to be in charge of your life. An Internet home work income business is about working the schedule you want to work, wearing the wardrobe you want to wear, setting up the home office you want to have, and being your own boss. While no one (or at least no one legitimate) would ever tell you that an Internet home work income business is a breeze to start and make a lot of money at, those who have been there and done that and succeeded will tell you it's wonderfully stimulating and satisfying â€" no matter what the financial outcome.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

9 Tips on Creating a Professional Emailed Job Application

With the advent of the Internet, many of us have the opportunity to apply for work through email.

However, just because this is the Internet and email is so fast and convenient, that does NOT mean you should give up professionalism and polish!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT. I recently looked over a few emailed applications, and let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience! Here are a few examples of how *not* to do things...

• One person simply forwarded the job description to the hiring company. There was no explanatory letter, no name (just some garbled email address), no nothing. Why should a company want to hire someone who can't be bothered to make an effort?
• Several people got the name of the hiring party wrong. Some misspelled it, others substituted someone else's name.
• Spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors, and formatting problems like you wouldn't believe. One person said that her greatest strength was her attention to 'detal' (should have been 'DETAIL'); another said it was his responsibility to 'a tent to customers' ('ATTEND to customers').

It almost goes without saying that you should always follow the application instructions provided. If you're inquiring or applying for a job - regardless of whether it's online or in the 'real world' - there are certain rules of etiquette that apply:

1. GREET THE PERSON. Don't just barge in and start writing. A simple "Dear ___" is great.
2. CORRECTLY SPELL THE COMPANY NAME AND THAT OF THE HIRING MANAGER. If you don't know how to spell them, take a few seconds and find out.
3. INDICATE WHAT POSITION YOU'RE APPLYING FOR. Be specific; the company may be hiring for more than one job.
4. PROVIDE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF YOUR RELEVANT SKILLS. Keep it short and to the point.
5. CHECK YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. It takes just a few minutes. If you are not confident about doing this yourself, ask a friend or family member to check it over for you.
6. BE COURTEOUS! Don't make demands. Remember that the *only* thing the hiring manager sees is your email - he or she can't see your facial expressions or body language, so take extra care in the words you select and how you put them together.
7. FORMAT YOUR EMAIL TO 60 CHARACTERS PER LINE. Many email programs automatically 'word-wrap' somewhere between 60 and 70 characters. Add a hard return when you reach 60 characters on a line; this will ensure the company gets a nicely formatted application, just like you intended.
8. TELL THEM HOW TO CONTACT YOU. As the bare minimum, leave your phone number and email address.
9. AND FOR GOODNESS SAKES, TELL THEM YOUR *NAME*. This is so obvious it's painful, yet I've seen dozens of applications there are not signed. End your letter with 'Sincerely', 'Regards' or 'Yours Truly', and then sign your name.

Competition for home based jobs is fierce, and companies can afford to be choosy. Don't give them a reason to pass you by! Professionalism still counts - even on the web.