About.com Home Business

Survey Finds 46% of Small Businesses Use Email Marketing

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:52:49 +0000

Results of a recent survey have been released by Campaigner, an email marketing solutions provider. The results show that 46% of those surveyed with small businesses ranging in size from 1-20 employees currently use email marketing as part of their marketing mix.

The results also indicated that 36% plan to begin email marketing in the next 12 months, while 18% of businesses with 1-20 employees say they have no plans to begin using email marketing. Newsletters, sales and promotional offers and announcements are the most common ways respondents said they use email marketing. Among online marketing tools used by small businesses, email newsletters are second only to marketing through social networks.

The complete survey results, which are included as one of two reports compiled into their 2009 State of Small Business Marketing Survey are available in PDF format through a download on Campaigner's website. The report is free, but requires user registration to access.

Related topics:
What is Email Marketing?
Direct Mail Marketing
Email and Strategic Internet Marketing
Survey Finds 46% of Small Businesses Use Email Marketing originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 08:52:49.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Latest Work from Home Job Postings

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:36:13 +0000

Ten more work from home job postings are now available.

This week's job postings include two highly paid positions that are telework eligible from the federal government, one in human resources based in Washington, DC, and one in building management based in Chicago.

I've discussed the Hilton@Home reservationist program in the past, but this week's work from home jobs include a position with them as Customer Service Coordinator.

Believe it or not, this week's work at home jobs includes a position as a blogger on the topic of telecommuting. Finally, there have been comments from a few of you who are disabled that have mentioned CORA, and this week's postings include opportunities with them. Admittedly, they are minimum wage, but you do get to work from home.

10 New Work from Home Job Postings
Discuss Finding Work from Home in the Forum
Sign up for my Work from Home and Home Business Newsletter or RSS Feed

Latest Work from Home Job Postings originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 00:36:13.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Free Work at Home List? Not Hardly!

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:13:47 +0000

Today I discovered and reported another scam ad on my home page here. Here's what the ad looked like:

The ad clearly says, "Free Work at Home List", doesn't it? So I clicked through and reached a sign up page. Innocent enough. Provided an assumed name and a valid email address and clicked Submit. Then I reached a page that told me:

To Get Your Free Work at Home List Please Follow These 3 Simple Steps to Confirm Your Email Address

Which told me to open my email, open the message and click the confirmation link. I opened my email. The message read:

You were just at our site FreeWorkAtHomeList.com and requested our Free Work At Home List. I look forward to sending it to you. But first, you just need to take a quick second to click on the confirmation link below. This ensures that we only send our list to people who really want them, and it helps eliminate spam.

Okay. I figure no problem. Now I can complete the process. I clicked the link.

The link went to a sign up page for a FREE Google Automated Income Kit - Fast - Free - Profitable. Son of a B, if it's not the same Google work at home scam routine wolf in sheep's clothing again!

But what happened to the "Free Work at Home List"? It's nowhere to be found!

I then clicked the Terms and Conditions link from the Google Income Kit sign up page (always my first step before signing up for anything). Lo and behold, a pop-up window, which describes the Terms and Conditions for the "BlogToolKit" I bring you the same old crap! Where did the BlogToolKit come from? And where is my "Free Work at Home List?" Did somebody eat it when I wasn't looking?

To their credit, this outfit admits they want to take your money right on the sign up page, although it's in very pale gray text. It says (emphasis added):

This is a trustworthy, authentic and secure website (actually, when I clicked through, the browser told me the site's security certificate was invalid)... By continuing, your kit will be sent to you via United States mail, in 3 to 5 business days, S/H not included, so be sure to look for it. Also, by continuing you understand this offer includes a 14-Day Free Trial to the BlogToolKit.com website, which can help you create an additional income using the tools and strategies inside. After the 14-Day Free Trial period, you will continue to enjoy full membership at an affordable $39.95 per month billed automatically to your credit card.

Well, isn't that special? So you're telling me, my Free Work at Home List, is neither:

A work at home list, nor
Free.

But wait! It gets even better.
("How could it?", you're asking.)

What they don't tell you directly on the sign up page but do mention in the Terms and Conditions (and I assume the Privacy Policy too, except that I was too ill to read it by that time, and again, I've added emphasis here as I wouldn't want you to miss something exciting):

We may sell our user information and/or join together with other businesses to bring selected opportunities to our members. By allowing us to make the information you supply available to these third parties, you are able to receive free information on products and services that may be of interest to you. We will use contact information from your registration data to send you information about our products and services and to keep you informed of our other products and services that may be of interest to you. This information may also be shared with third party advertisers who may contact you by means of e-mail, telephone or other sources of marketing. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the practices of our third-party advertisers.

Now that's really special! Thanks so much. I'm so glad I clicked your ad. I'm also glad to you are able to eliminate spam by making me click a confirmation link that goes to a completely different offer than the Free Work at Home List you advertised, yet you are willing to SELL my information to others so they can spam me! Now that's just so special that my eyes are welling up with tears.

You have just changed my life! You take truth in advertising to a whole new level! I can't wait to get my Free Work at Home List! Oh, that's right. I'm not getting it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go on using regular toilet paper instead.

Free Work at Home List? Not Hardly! originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 10:13:47.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Work at Home Jobs for the Disabled - Revisited

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:20:09 +0000

Since I posted the question, Why Do You Work from Home or Want To? I've received over 90 responses from you. What I never realized was the number of you who are disabled and are desperately wanting to find work at home so you can continue to support yourselves and your families.

While I post legitimate work at home jobs each week, and I even occasionally stumble upon a work at home job that is especially suited for the disabled, I have to admit, this is an area that has not received enough attention on this site. My "big" contribution to the subject amounts to a blog post I did over two years ago titled, Work from Home Jobs for the Disabled.

That post talked about an organization known as the National Telecommuting Institute (NTI), which describes itself as follow:

National Telecommuting Institute (NTI) is a unique educational/job-matching organization pioneering the development of telework jobs for Americans with disabilities.

However, not all of the comments on my prior blog post were positive about this organization.

Recently, I've been receiving comments about an organization known as J. Lodge Corporation. Those comments (assuming they can be trusted, and I assume they can), seem to indicate that J.Lodge is the answer for many of those who are disabled and are trying to find work at home. On its website, J. Lodge explains:

Our agents, despite having suffered an illness or injury during their professional career, still yearn for the opportunity to apply their skills within a business environment. Recognizing this need, J.Lodge structured our entire employee model around the physically disabled - providing them a platform to succeed by allowing them to apply their expertise to our client base. This employee model has been the backbone of J.Lodge's success and is what differentiates our company from our competitors.

The company provides services to its clients in the area of call monitoring services (for quality control purposes), call center services, and what they call "All America Works", which they describe as their "Professional contract staffing service focused on placing physically disabled Americans in fulfilling, work at-home jobs."

The company's Website says it is actively recruiting and hiring individuals for Technical Analyst, NonTechnical Analyst and Customer Service Specialist positions. The application process involves completing a series of online tests, which they say takes from 45 minutes to an hour to complete (you do not have to complete the entire test in one sitting). If your experience and skill level matches their needs, a Human Resources representative will contact you about the next steps in the process, which can include an in-person interview at your home office - there is no need for applicants to travel.

I found no complaint record for J. Lodge in a Better Business Bureau search and saw no negative comments about them in a Google search, either. Ironically, some of the NTI material suggests that they refer workers to J.Lodge, but I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.

At any rate, I'm hoping that a new source for work at home jobs for the disabled has come forth. I'm very interested in hearing about your first-hand experiences with J. Lodge if you contact them, or if you are already working for them. I strongly encourage you to leave your comments here on this post or join in the discussion in the forum. I have created a new folder called Work at Home for the Disabled.

It's tough for anyone to find work at home, but the disabled have additional hurdles they have to face every day. I'm hoping to do a series on the topic of work at home jobs for the disabled in the future, so your stories, your experiences and ideas are most welcome!

Read the Prior Post on Work at Home for the Disabled
Visit the J. Lodge Website
Join the Work at Home Jobs for the Disabled Discussion in the Forum
Read the Stories of Those Who are Disabled and Need to Work from Home

Work at Home Jobs for the Disabled - Revisited originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 14:20:09.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

10 New Work from Home Jobs

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:31:12 +0000

Ten new work from home jobs have been posted.

This week's list of work from home jobs includes multiple positions with a home-based call center for telesales agents, as well as an array of health care, tech and blogging work from home positions.

10 New Work from Home Jobs
Real Work from Home Jobs with Google
Discuss Finding Work from Home in the Forum
Sign up for my Work from Home and Home Business Newsletter or RSS Feed

10 New Work from Home Jobs originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 00:31:12.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Starting the Wrong Home Business

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:26:19 +0000

True, most of us would love to be home all day. And, many of those who would love to be home would like to be independent, without a boss. So the soul searching goes on to decide on a business that you might like and could be successful at. Your choices during the time will have a great impact on how things turn out for you.

This was apparently the dream for one Montgomery County, Texas couple who started a business out of their trailer. In fact, the young couple was recently featured in this online Montgomery County News report. Seems the business they chose was to operate a home-based meth lab. Oops! Wrong business to start!

The piece reports that James and Melissa Jones of Splendora, TX were busted on multiple charges, including intent to manufacture a controlled substance (a first-degree felony), at the home they shared with their two children. It seems that the Jones residence allegedly contained an active methamphetamine lab.

If you decide to go into business for yourself so you can work from home, please be sure to choose a legal home based business! And never, never put those you love in danger because of it!

Starting the Wrong Home Business originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 17:26:19.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Weekly Work from Home Jobs

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:35:24 +0000

The latest work from home jobs have been posted.

This week's list opportunities to work from home includes one that looks especially fun - an American Football Blogger. It's a part-time position that reports on Sunday night football games. So now you can actually get paid to watch football on TV!

This Week's Work from Home Jobs
Discuss Finding Work at Home in the Forum
Sign up for my Work at Home Newsletter or RSS Feed

Weekly Work from Home Jobs originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 00:35:24.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

CraigsList Posts Job Scam Alert

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:35:03 +0000

CraigsList can be a decent place to look for work at home jobs, although it has its issues. Among them are that you can only search one metro area at a time and that CraigsList draws a lot of scammers so you need to be careful in screening which work home jobs you apply for. As I was visiting CraigsList today, I saw the following alert, directly from CraigsList with respect to job openings in general:

SCAM ALERT - affiliate scammers are posting bogus ads promising (nonexistent!) employment, paid research trials, or other compensation, but then notifying repliers that they'll need to jump through a hoop first, directing them to:
background checking services

credit checking or reporting sites

sites where you are instructed to enter your resume or other personal information

sites where you are asked to sign up for a "free" trial offer

sites offering training or education

sites offering a "system" for making money

survey or focus group sites

sites designed to deliver malware or misuse your identifying information

all in hopes of earning affiliate marketing commissions or otherwise profiting at the expense of persons seeking employment.

Lots of variations on this scam, but each generally involves dangling (nonexistent!) compensation, and then directing you to a website where you are asked to sign up for something, use your credit card, or input personal information such as your email address.

Then there is a link to the job postings in the category you selected so you can proceed, but you might want to continue reading the scam alert before you do so, for the following information:

FUN FACT: If you are able to determine a scammer's "affiliate ID" and report it to their affiliate marketing program, this will often result in termination of the scammer, and confiscation of the scammer's ill-gotten gains by the affiliate program.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Google Work at Home Scams listed in CraigsList, since those work at home programs seem to be actively recruiting affiliates who are probably unaware they are participating in something that's often seen as a illegal.

Be vigilant, regardless of where you seek work at home. I sometimes use CraigsList as a source for my weekly Work at Home Jobs List and although I scan for clues that the ads I post are legit before I pass them on to you, it's impossible for me to apply for each posting to determine if it fits the mold of the scam job ads that CraigsList warns about.

Report Work at Home Scams and Get Even
Victim of a Scam? Share Your Story
Finding Work at Home

CraigsList Posts Job Scam Alert originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 10:35:03.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Words of the Week: Viral Marketing

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:04:19 +0000

You may have heard the term "viral marketing" passed around a bit. But do you really know what it is and why it's important? And no, it has nothing to do with the recent spread of the H1N1 "swine flu" virus, although the way it spreads could be comparable.

Videos posted on YouTube are Internet viral marketing tool in today's environment. If a groundswell notices a specific video on YouTube and then shares it with others, the number of persons viewing the video can rise exponentially in a very short period of time. This form of viral marketing can increase website traffic dramatically, but the traffic surge is often short-lived and the effects of Internet viral marketing can fade very quickly.

What is Viral Marketing?

Words of the Week: Viral Marketing originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 00:04:19.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

About.com Home Business

More Work from Home Jobs Posted

Survey Finds 46% of Small Businesses Use Email Marketing

Latest Work from Home Job Postings

Free Work at Home List? Not Hardly!

Work at Home Jobs for the Disabled - Revisited

10 New Work from Home Jobs

Starting the Wrong Home Business

Weekly Work from Home Jobs

CraigsList Posts Job Scam Alert

Words of the Week: Viral Marketing