I often get asked about work from home without investment jobs. There seems to be a big misconception that you have to pay to work from home. In fact, as a career coach, I work with clients who say they hesitated to find remote work because every ‘opportunity’ required an upfront investment.
And I tell them that, with very few exceptions, you should never, ever pay to work from home. Period. That bears repeating — Don’t pay to work from home. (Again, there are only a few times it’s okay, like if you contract with NexRep or LiveOps as an independent business owner).
1. Do Not Sign Up For Multi-Level Marketing
So-called “opportunities” to work from home that cost money are scams. Plain and simple. The biggest culprits are those thinly disguised as network marketing, multi-level marketing (MLM) or direct sales. But, at the end of the day, they are pyramid schemes that I highly recommend you never sign up for. Not only are they costly and time consuming but there are so many better options to create a cubicle-free career that won’t make you pay.
Why MLM Sucks: The Numbers Don’t Lie
In the U.S., we have an agency called the Federal Trade Commission. Its main purpose is to protect consumers and promote competition among businesses. The FTC also has authority to conduct studies that shed light on consumer trends and business practices. One such study, The Case Against Multi-Level Marketing, highlighted the dismal state of MLM.
Based on 15 years of research, it was found that:
- 100% of MLM companies are recruitment-driven
- 99% of recruits lose money
- Less than 1% of MLM participants make any profit
The study concluded that:
“MLM as a business model is flawed, unfair, and deceptive. Worldwide feedback suggests it is also extremely viral, predatory, and harmful to many participants. This conclusion does not just apply to a specific MLM company, but to the entire MLM industry. It is a systemic problem.”
The Federal Trade Commission
The bottom line? MLM is expensive to join, yields little (if any) results, and does not offer a sustainable way to earn an income from home. Even if you’re desperate to start working from home ASAP, remember MLM is not the answer. There are better options to work from home without investment.
2. Get Clear On What You Want (And What You Don’t)
So, you know you want to work from home without investment, which means MLM is obviously out of the question. But what else do you want?
It’s a question I pose to my career coaching clients, and one I want you to really consider too. You see, wanting to work from home is great. There are a lot of benefits to the remote life, including more time at home, money saved with no commute, and positive environmental impacts. But a desire to work remotely isn’t enough. You need to get clear about what kind of remote job makes sense for you — we call these your “career ideals.” When you identify your career ideals you seriously simplify your remote job search (and help you steer clear of any paid-for opportunities that might tempt you!).
Your career ideals will include specifics like:
- The type of company you work for
- Pay rate
- Job responsibilities
- Hours worked
- Benefits
Your career ideals cover your perfect work scenarios as well as any deal-breakers. For example, if you have to have health insurance as part of your benefits package you make that clear. Now you know that any freelance or independent contractor positions are out of the picture, since they don’t offer any kind of benefits. Easy, right? It is. But it also means you have to do some self-reflection to identify what is truly important to you in a remote job. Skipping this step can add tons of time to your job search. As Behavioral Scientist Steve Maraboli says:
“It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.”
Steve Maraboli, Behavioral Scientist
It’s time to get clear on what you want in a remote job, so you can actually make progress in your job search (and finally work from home without investment). Need help clarifying your career ideals? No problem! Grab the free career ideals worksheet below:
3. Give Yourself A Specific Goal
Now that you know you want to work from home without investment, plan to steer clear of MLM, and have your career ideals nailed down, it’s time to give yourself a goal.
Goal setting is critical in your job search.
Goals keep you motivated. They hold you accountable. And goals give you a standard to measure your personal progress. There’s a lot of job search advice out there but no two job searches are alike. That’s why you need to create your own job search goal that’s uniquely tailored to you.
To jumpstart your goal setting and gain clarity, I highly recommend the S.M.A.R.T. method:
As a reminder, S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Attainable
- R – Realistic
- T – Timely
When you follow this system, you stand a better chance of creating a very specific goal that has a definite end point and is time sensitive. For example, your goal right now might be to work from home without investment. And, while this is a good starting off point, it’s too broad to be actionable.
A better goal would be:
I want to land a remote job within the next six months that uses my customer service background so I can work from home without investment. This goal is much more specific, measurable, realistic, and bound by time!
Goals that follow the S.M.A.R.T. rules tend to yield better results than overly vague ones. So, before you move forward in your remote job search, sit down for a second and give yourself a SMART goal! And don’t forget to write it down! Studies show that you’re 40% more likely to achieve your goal just by putting it in writing.
Work From Home Without Investment
Now that you’ve committed to avoid MLM programs, are aware of your career ideals, and have a goal in writing, it’s time to get going.
There are well-known companies like Amazon and Apple that regularly hire remote workers as well as distributed workforces that you probably haven’t heard of yet. These companies all offer work from home without investment jobs. You can find positions ranging from customer service to design, project management and administrative (and so much more). There are even virtual teaching positions and healthcare careers.
The bottom line is, no matter your career ideals, experience, and goals there are ways for you to land a real remote position so you can finally work from home without investment!
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