Home Business Startup

You Can Do it Without an Online Opportunity

Type in the search phrase data entry and you get over 225,000,000 results! Perhaps data entry at home is easier to manage with only 165,000,000 search results! Or how about online data entry? About 101,000,000 results!

To make things even more complicated, data entry has gotten a bad name.

Half of the links in your search results have to do with avoiding scams - or promises of legitimate opportunities. Worse yet, are the scammers themselves who are masters at convincing people they can earn hundreds, even thousands, quickly and easily using special instructions, a directory, a membership, or other such program. Even websites that seem to be helping you sort through the madness with recommendations of genuine data entry possibilities are no guarantee of being ethical or honest, though they sound sincere. Who do you believe?

Most of these online data entry opportunities are on an independent contractor basis. You are not an employee – you are self-employed. In the United States, you don’t get a paycheck with taxes already deducted – you get a Miscellaneous Income Form 1099 at the end of the year and must pay self-employment taxes out of your earnings.

These companies hire independent contractors because it is so much cheaper than hiring employees. They don’t have to provide work space, equipment, supplies, salary, benefits, etc. In addition, they name the price. They tell you what they are willing to pay – just as if you were an employee. They get the best of both worlds.

• If you are willing to invest a little money here, a little money there trying out online data entry opportunities until, hopefully, you come across one that works …
   

• if you are willing to invest your time into the enormous learning curves accompanying some of these ventures …
   

• if you are willing to contact customers directly from a directory of prospects you purchase from one of these data entry vendors …
   

• if you are willing to work as an independent contractor for somebody else and let them dictate your earnings …

Why not invest your time and money in your own data entry home business?

Data entry is a highly sought after service in a wide variety of industries. The most popular is direct mail marketing. Any company or individual who wants to develop a database of names and addresses (their prospects and customers) in order to send mailings, email, and/or set up a contact management system – requires data entry.

Your first step is to do some market research in your local area. I call this Prospecting. Look in the phone directory under the categories of Data Processing, Fulfillment, Mail House, and Marketing. These types of businesses are excellent prospects for your data entry services. They specialize in helping other businesses market to their customers in various ways. And the first step in the process is to input a customer list into a computer, which is commonly outsourced to a home business like yours.

Also look under Data Entry. There are large vendors who take on huge quantities under a tight turn-around – and they frequently outsource parts of these projects to independent contractors like you.

How about commissioned sales people like real estate agents, mortgage loan officers, and insurance agents? Pay attention to the mail you get at home. Perhaps you could assist your local black-topper, landscaper, pizza place or florist in entering and maintaining their list of prospects and customers.

When you are out and about, watch for surveys, newsletter sign-ups, rebates, registrations and other forms that are filled out by consumers and must be data entered in order for the information to be useful. Take a blank one home, noting the sponsoring business name, address, and phone number. These are prospects for your business.

Go through your junk drawer, your address book, your personal files … you should be able to find another 10 or more prospects. Who do you know that earns a living based on gaining new customers? Who do they know that might need data entry services?

Keep in mind that direct mail marketing isn’t your only option. If you have background or experience in the areas of legal, medical, or accounting, for example, you could pursue those types of customers.

Do some prospecting for a few days in your local market. If you feel confident that, indeed, there is some opportunity there for you … take the next step in pursuit of your own data entry home business. It can be full time or part time. You set your own hours and decide how much work to take on from week to week. It does not require aggressive sales – postcard mailings, sales letters, flyers, passing out business cards, and word of mouth should bring in plenty of projects. Start-up costs are very low - and the best part - you set your own rates and keep all the profits.

Michelle Johanson
© 2007 Projects Plus LLC

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