It’s no secret that social media is a great way to network. Done well, you can make the right connections to keep you supplied with plenty of job leads and referrals (should you need them). While LinkedIn may not be social media in the true sense of the term, it is the social platform most people think of when they want to network for business purposes.

LinkedIn is great for connecting with people you already know. It helps you stay in touch with those you’ve worked with in the past and remind them that, “Hey, I’m here if you need anything!.”

But when it comes to making new contacts, LinkedIn makes it, well, difficult. You can “invite” them to your network but then you would have to fib that you know the person you’re trying to cold-call on in the LinkedIn world. This will probably turn that person off from connecting with you before you get a chance to say a proper hello.

You could send an InMail (the equivalent of a Facebook message but on LinkedIn) but, surprise, you have to upgrade to a paid account.

So, while there are 396 million LinkedIn users, connecting with them is not easy unless, that is, you already know them. But, fear not! There is an unspoken hero of the social media job search that allows you to instantly say hello to a person, brand or business with no previous connections.

You’re probably already an active user. You probably check it every day. And you probably never realized just how powerful it is in helping you find work from home jobs.   

I’m talking about Twitter! Yes, the hashtag-friendly platform known for #MondayMotivation and #RuinaNovelwithSocial Media is actually a smorgasbord of (legitimate) money-making opportunities. But, you’ve got to know where and how to look for them.

To do this the right way, you’ve got to do three things:

1. Follow the Right People
2. Tweet About the Right Things
3. Leverage the Power of the Hashtag

Of the last 20 freelance clients I’ve worked with, 4 of them came from Twitter. That’s 20 percent — not too bad for a few strategically placed hashtags and a couple of quick follows! Many freelancers leverage social media to get clients, but if you’re not a freelancer, fear not!

You can apply these same techniques to be in-the-know when it comes to remote jobs and increase your chances of landing a home-based job without having to submit your work from home resume to hundreds of openings.

Follow the Right People

There are 974 million Twitter accounts. You don’t have to follow them all to increase your chances of finding work from home jobs. Instead, concentrate your efforts on those accounts known for tweeting about #workfromhome jobs.

You’ll find a lot of bloggers in the work from home arena who are actively tweeting legitimate home-based job leads on a daily basis. If you’re not already, you should be following:

• @RealWaystoEarn
• @Holly_Hanna
• @WAHMRevolution
• @DHBW_Fans
• @AshleeWrites (that’s me!)

That’s just a small sampling of some of the work from home bloggers out there who tweet at least one remote job lead a day. Chances are, if there’s a legitimate home-based job out there, one of these amazing bloggers is sharing it with their followers. Follow them and your feed will soon be filled with plenty of opportunities to earn a living from home.

There’s also a number of companies that readily share their home-based job opportunities via Twitter. Some of the more popular ones are:

• @WAHCloudSource
• @AriseWorkfrHome
• @LiveOps
• @iSS_World
• @SutherlandHires

Again, this is just a drop in the bucket of all the companies out there that may be tweeting about work from home jobs at any given time, but the ones listed here routinely share their home-based jobs.

There are a number of websites that are part job board & part blog that tweet work from home jobs. These may include their direct clients that advertise with them or simply a lead they caught wind of. Either way, they are also worth following so you can be the first to know when they’ve got a new home-based job up:

• @SymmetryatWork 
• @RatRaceRebels
• @RemoteJobsOpps
• @VirtualVocations
• @flexjobs

You’ll find, the more accounts you follow, like the 15 listed here, the more work from home jobs available to you on a daily basis.

Create a Twitter List

I suggest creating a Twitter List with these accounts, and ones like them, on it. With a Twitter List, you can view that list’s timeline and see only tweets from the accounts on that list.

So, if you make a list called Work From Home Jobs, anytime you view that list, you’ll see nothing but those tweets in your feed. Neat, huh? If you’d like, you can just subscribe to my Work from Home Job Leads list which contains all of these accounts (and more!) and instantly gain access to tons of legitimate job openings!

Tweet About the Right Things

What you tweet about can make all the difference in how you’re received on social media. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good GIF and laugh so hard sometimes I cry over memes, but if you make the commitment to use social media to find a job, you’re gonna have to be more mindful of what you share.

This doesn’t mean you have to share only business-related stuff. It does mean, however, that you should put some extra thought into what goes into your tweets.

Adopt the 20% Rule

To make it easy, try to adopt the 20% rule. What’s the 20% rule? Tweet five times a day with each of those tweet’s accomplishing something specific. (1 out of 5 is 20%, hence the 20% rule).

Tweet 1: Industry News

Depending on whether you’re a web developer, customer service pro, or marketing guru this could be anything from the latest happenings of an influencer in your industry to a big development in the field. It’s a good idea to create a Google Alert with some industry-related keywords so you always have plenty of material to choose from.

Tweet 2: Retweet

You’ve got to share the love!  As you catch up on Twitter, find a tweet that really sticks out to you for whatever reason — was it funny, inspirational, thought provoking? If you find a tweet that you like, share it with others in a retweet.

Tweet 3: Something Motivational

Whether it’s a quote or a feel-good story, people love motivational tweets! Quotelicious is a good source of Twitter-friendly tweets with an easy-share button built right in.

Tweet 4: Something just for Fun

Head on over to All Top or Popurls and find something to share. Every so often, people appreciate it when something insanely funny or odd news makes it way through their feed.

Tweet 5: A self-serving Tweet

Don’t be afraid to use Twitter (sparingly!) to promote yourself. If you’re a freelancer, share examples of your work. If you’re looking for a job, ask for help! If you maintain a personal blog or portfolio of work, share links to your latest stuff. You never know who your tweet will show up in front of and, with the power of a retweet, your information could find its way in front of millions! (When’s the last time a job application worked that hard for you?)

If this sounds a bit overwhelming, I understand. Staying on top of social media can be a challenge. Consider using an automation tool, like Buffer or Hootsuite, for help. They both have free options and make it easy to keep your Twitter queue filled with fun and relevant tweets to help your job search.

Leverage the Power of the Hashtag

I can’t stress enough how useful (and powerful) hashtags are! The way to find stuff and be found on Twitter is by using search-friendly hashtags. Seriously, incorporated the right way, hashtags can do a lot of the work for you!

For me, a few strategically placed #freelance and #writer into my 140-character allotment has brought me my fair share of clients. How?

When companies, business, and brands are looking for something (or someone) in particular, they will do a search. And, nine times out of ten, they will search for a particular hashtag. So, if you’re tweeting the rights things (as mentioned above) and incorporating the right hashtags, you stand a pretty good chance of coming up in the search results.

Similarly, when you’re looking for something, like work from home jobs, you can perform a Twitter search and find everyone who’s tweeting about them:

If you need hashtag help, head on over to Hashtagify.me It’s great to find trending terms, related hashtags, and the top influencers using those terms.

It’s no secret that I love Twitter. I get lost in what’s trending and all the happenings of businesses and brands 140 characters at a time. And while Twitter can definitely be a timesuck, it’s also a valuable source of legitimate home-based jobs. Done the right way, you can incorporate a Twitter strategy that  helps you find and land a work from home job that’s right for you!

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the disclosure for more information.

The post Use Twitter to Find Work From Home Jobs appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Before I blogged about working from home, I spent a good deal of time reading about working from home. I would scour the corners of the internet (and still do!) to find any work from home opportunity that was out there.

In that time, I learned about legitimate ways to earn extra money online, how to find freelance work, and where to go to when looking for some of the best job leads around (all while getting some practical advice, too!).

My quest to find job leads and reliable advice to go along with them, lead me to some pretty amazing blogs along the way. In fact, I made it a point to check these blogs at least once a week. The result? Tons of valuable information that introduced me to hundreds of real work from home jobs and some actionable ideas, too.

Now, that I have thrown my hat into the work-from-home blogging ring, I’d like to give a nod to all those who helped get me where I am today. Without these blogs, I would have never gotten some of the work from home jobs I’ve landed over the years and most certainly would never have launched my own freelance career or blog.

And you know what? I’m pretty confident, if you make it a habit to check out these blogs regularly too, you will end up finding the right work from home opportunity for you – whether that means starting your own business, landing your dream home-based job, or launching a freelance career.

Sure, you could check Indeed Jobs or endlessly browse Craigslist to find many of the same work from home jobs, but what you lack on these sites is the personal touch that each blogger brings with those leads – real reviews, advice, ideas, and all around personality that make their corners of the Internet bookmark-worthy must-reads.

So, here, in no particular order, are seven of my favorite work from home blogs that you should visit on at least a weekly basis to catch up, say hi, and see what they’ve been up to!

The Work at Home Wife

Angie Nelson is The Work at Home Wife. She began her work from home journey when she started her own home-based Virtual Assistant business. It’s no surprise then, that she brings the same entrepreneurial spirit to many of the posts you will see on her blog. Readers can draw plenty of inspiration from her personal story and been-there-done-that advice she offers about making your own home-based career.

My favorite posts:

Part-time Work at Home Jobs: Earn $1,000 a Month

200+ Ways to Get Paid to Write

How to Become an Amazon Seller and Make $40,000 a Year

The Work at Home Woman

No list of work from home blogs would be complete without mentioning The Work at Home Woman. If you have spent any time researching home-based jobs, chances are, you already know Holly Hanna as the award-winning founder of this popular blog. Geared towards women who want to balance life, family, careers and everything in between on their own terms, you can find plenty of no-nonsense advice on being successful in your life’s endeavors.

My favorite posts:

99 Work at Home Career Ideas for Women

Best Products to Sell from Home

How to Figure Out What Work From Home Job is Right for You

Work at Home Mom Revolution

What’s great about Work at Home Mom Revolution is the approach Lisa Mills takes to sharing work from home job leads. As a work from home mom since the 90s, she truly understands the desire many parents have to earn an income while being there for their children. To help them reach their goals, she shares a variety of daily job leads. Currently working as a transcriptionist, Lisa recently wrote an ebook detailing how others can also launch a successful home-based transcription career – one of many legitimate remote job opportunities you can find when you stop by Work at Home Mom Revolution!

My favorite posts:

How to Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career

6 Companies that Hire Home-Based Court Researchers

11 Online Tutoring Job Opportunities

Real Ways to Earn Money Online

Real Ways to Earn Money is a large resource of home-based jobs. There is a huge directory of work from home opportunities, tons of ways to earn extra cash, and enough job leads to keep you busy applying for weeks! This does not even take into consideration the several weekly updates of valuable blog posts Anna posts each and every week. Whether you want to be a freelance writer, track down non-phone jobs, or just earn a little extra each month, you can find it all (and more!) on Real Ways to Earn!

My favorite posts:

Work from Home Jobs that Pay Weekly

Companies You’ve Heard of That Hire Remote Workers

Where to Find the Best Work From Home Job Leads

Free Work at Home Guide

As you might have guessed by the name, Free Work at Home Guide aims to be your go-to resource when you want to find free legitimate home-based job opportunities. Shay provides plenty of advice in the form of helpful beginner’s guides, company reviews, and daily job leads. If that wasn’t enough, there are also extra income opportunities listed as well as home business ideas for those entrepreneurial-minded home-based job seekers.

My favorite posts:

How to Find Chat and Email Jobs

How to Find Data Entry Jobs

20 Ways to Make Money Writing Online

Not Now Mom’s Busy

Not Now Mom’s Busy is a work from home meets lifestyle blog ran by mother-of-five, Cori. You cannot go wrong with her weekly work-from-home job roundup as well as her general musings on making it work when working from home. What is unique about her blog is that not only does she show you how to make money from home, she also provides practical advice on how to keep the money you earn with various frugal advice and money-saving tips. At Not Now Mom’s Busy you’ll come for the job leads and stay for the fun of it all.

My favorite posts:

8 Ways to Make Some Extra Money

How to Start a Blog

How to Start Your Own Home-Based Gift Wrapping Business

Work at Home Adventures

At Work at Home Adventures, you can find words of wisdom, motivational advice, and tips on avoiding scams for the work from home jobseeker. All of these must-read articles are combined with plenty of home-based job opportunities ranging from benefits-based employee positions to independent contractor positions and even ideas for going solo with your own freelance career. Miranda is the blogger behind Work at Home Adventures and, as a mother and wife, understands that most would-be home-based workers have been in her shoes. As such, she discusses a variety of work from home opportunities that allow people in all sorts of situations earn income from home.

My favorite posts:

5 Things No One Told Me About Working from Home

5 Dishonest Work at Home Job Descriptions on Craigslist

15 Steps to Starting a Daycare Center in Your Home

With these 7 work from home blogs in your feed reader, there will be no stopping you in your home-based endeavors! Whether you want to work for a company like Amazon, become a solopreneur, or just earn some extra money on the side, you can find the advice you need to get you where you want to go with these blogs. Be sure to bookmark them, give them a follow, and stop by frequently. While there, introduce yourself, say hello, give a comment, and share with your friends!

The post 7 Must-Read Work from Home Blogs appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

As soon as I see Halloween decor on store shelves, I know it’s time to start preparing for the holidays. And with the holidays comes a lot of shopping and money spent. So, before holiday shopping (and spending) arrive along with Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday spending-sprees, it’s a good idea to think about getting a seasonal remote job to help cover gift-giving costs.

Seasonal Remote Jobs

Tons of retailers need extra employees around the holidays to help with all the shoppers this time of year. But since it’s just a temporary surge, companies will offer seasonal (temporary) jobs instead of hiring on permanent full-time staff. This gives them the much needed help for a couple of months without the commitment of bringing on a ton of permanent employees.

How long is a seasonal job?

A seasonal job usually starts in early November and runs through mid-January. Depending on the company, the start and end dates may vary but, generally speaking, you can expect most seasonal jobs to last about two months. And the best part is, you don’t have to head to your local stores to find seasonal work–more and more companies are offering work-from-home seasonal positions!

1-800-Flowers

As one of the major online retailers of floral arrangements, 1-800-Flowers stays super-busy come the holidays. They also operate several online specialty retailers that sell things like fruit bouquets, gift baskets, homemade baked goods, chocolates, and even popcorn:

Holidays are a great time to deliver smiles to our friends and family, and what better way than sending fresh flowers, plants, and gift baskets?

Although you will be representing 1-800-Flowers or one of their other brands, the hiring process happens through an agency (CloudSource). Hiring is happening in rounds with positions starting every single week from mid-September until December.

The application process is super-simple. After you apply online your computer will be tested to make sure it meets the technical requirements and from there you’ll be sent to a virtual interview. The virtual interview process lets you record your answers to interview questions at your convenience (pretty neat, huh?). So, no waiting for a recruiter to call or nerve-wrecking phone interviews to deal with.

This position is open to candidates in the United States living in one of the 48 contiguous states. To start, positions are part-time and will move to full-time the week before Christmas.

Groupon

Your favorite daily deals site is now hiring seasonal employees!

This is a work from home customer service position where you will be responsible for helping customers via phone and email, so you will definitely need amazing communication skills to work here. You might be helping customers with general questions about their accounts or answering more in-depth questions about a specific Groupon offer (they can be a little tricky to understand if you’re new to redeeming Groupons!).

The customer service department takes calls between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. daily — there will definitely be some flexibility in choosing your schedule.

Groupon is only hiring Seasonal Customer Service Representative for these locations:

• Milwaukee, WI
• Augusta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Provo, UT
• Cincinnati, OH
• Kansas City, MO

This is a part-time opportunity (about 20-30 hours each week). The start date is November 9th and will continue through January. Pay rate is $11.00 per hour.

Amazon

The mega-retailer and creator of Prime frequently hires work from home customer service reps. But around the holidays, they ramp up their hiring efforts to keep up with the crazy number of orders that come their way (customers were buying 426 items per second from Amazon on Cyber Monday 2013!) .

Full time and part time opportunities are available in Arizona, Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia, Delaware, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Virginia for our seasonal customer service associate position.

In addition to living in one of the places above, you’ll need a quiet, distraction-free work area and a dedicated landline. Prior customer service experience of one year and being comfortable navigating the internet and communicating through email and instant messaging are also a must!

This position pays $10.00 per hour but you’ll have the opportunity to earn bonuses. So if you think you have what it takes to temporarily take on Amazon, you can go ahead and start the application process here.

Hayneedle

Hayneedle sells about anything you can think of for your home. They also have baby items, toys, and pet supplies. You never know what you might find at Hayneedle since they sell a lot of speciality items that you won’t find at your everyday retailer.

Based out of Omaha, Nebraska, they are now hiring for Seasonal Online Retail Specialists. This position is part sales, part customer service. You’ll help shoppers find items and answer their questions but also initiate and close sales.

Hayneedle is only hiring Nebraska residents for this position. You must also have a dedicated landline and be able to pass a background check. There are full and part-time options available. On the hiring page, there is no mention of pay rate, but it does mention performance incentives. So, if you are a good salesperson, you can probably do well at Hayneedle.

Nordstrom 

Nordstrom is a specialty retailer that sells an assortment of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, shoes, and accessories. They also have discounted apparel at their Nordstrom Rack and HauteLook brands.

Nordstrom is now hiring Seasonal Member Care Representatives to represent their HauteLook brand.

If you have a love for all things fashion, this is the role for you. You’ll help customers with their online shopping, make recommendations regarding fit and style, and answer any questions they might have.

Customer interactions will take place over the phone, via email or chat. And no matter what the question or inquiry, it’s your job to help resolve it! If you think you have what it takes to discuss fashion and provide customer service, you can apply here.

This is a full time position. The customer service department is open seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. — so there’s a ton of room for flexibility when it comes to scheduling (plus, did I mention product discounts?!?!).

Skullcandy

Skullcandy markets and sells headphones, earbuds, MP3 players, hands-free devices and a number of other audio and technology products. This position will be a Brand Ambassador for Skullcandy but you’ll be hired and perform your work through VIPdesk Connect.

As a Brand Ambassador, you should already be familiar with Skullcandy and be enthusiastic about their products. You’ll relay this passion when interacting with customers in order to help them find the perfect product and answer any questions they may have.

This is a seasonal opportunity starting in early November, but it could potentially turn into a permanent gig (if you’d like).

Seasonal period runs early November to mid January. Temporary team members in good standing at the end of the period will be evaluated for continued employment on the Skullcandy or other teams at VIPdesk Connect.

You can choose to work full time or part time. Shifts are available Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (EST). The pay rate is $9.00 an hour with the opportunity to earn incentives. If you live in AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, KY, MD, MI, MO, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, or WI you can start the application process here.

More Extra Money Ideas

So, if you’re still interested in making extra money for the holidays, but don’t think a seasonal job is the solution — no problem! There are other ways you can make extra money online (whether it’s for holiday gift-giving purposes or year round help).

Phone Mystery Shopping

If you don’t mind picking up your phone, you can make money each month as a mystery phone shopper. These are contract positions with varying amounts of work available, but if you sign up with multiple mystery phone shopping companies, you can actually make some good money. Most of these jobs require you to call different business, ask some questions, and submit a report. That’s it. You get paid for every call you complete.

Micro Jobs

Monetize your downtime with short task sites! Even if you have just a few hours of free time each week, you can use them to make money from home. Most of these sites are super-easy to sign up for and once you do, you’ll be able to start making money. The more sites you sign up with the more chances you’ll have to earn. Many tasks take a matter of minutes to complete. So, the next time you find yourself with nothing to do, why not complete a micro job for money?

Usability Testing

Get paid to think out loud. It’s no secret that User Testing is my favorite usability site. For each website test you complete you get paid $10.00, mobile tests earn you $15.00 and “peek” tests pay $3.00. There are a several other usability testing sites you can sign up with too. No matter what site you sign up with, you’ll need to be comfortable having your voice, screen, or face recorded as you navigate websites and complete tasks. All you need to do is provide your honest feedback as you do so. That’s it. Most website tests take about 15 minutes to complete and can pay anywhere from $8.00 to $12.00 depending which company you sign up with!

Still need more? Check out this directory of extra cash ideas where you can find a list of ways to earn money from home and helpful information about making money from simple tasks.

With seasonal jobs and year-round ways to earn extra money online, you can tackle even the longest wish list or put away money for a rainy day without ever having to leave home.

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