It's not easy making money on your own

As far as work-at-home opportunities go, you really have only two choices. You can do your job from home as an employee, or you can run your own home-based business. While I’m sure there are many excellent opportunities for people to work from home for the corporation, I’ll be concentrating on the self-employed option.

There is one thing that I have to talk about before I go any further:

Creating your own income is not easy, or for the faint hearted. If it was, then we would all be working 2 hours a day at home. We would all be rich and there would be no incentive to have a “real” job. Can you imagine what kind of world that would be?

Having only yourself to depend on to provide an income is not easy to get used to. Reality will quickly introduce itself – sometimes very abruptly. I am lucky that, in my situation, I have a husband that has done well financially -though I am giving him a run for his money as top wage earner

I can only imagine how much more difficult it would have been had I been the sole provider for our household. I can see why starting a business is not even in most people’s vocabulary. However, sometimes we’re given no choice (as with my “early retirement”) but to adapt and move on as best we can.

Most of us actually do hold down real jobs because it is the safe, sensible thing to do. It’s reliable and dependable and exactly what we need when having that pay-check at the end of the week is not an option. There is nothing wrong with this. I held a job for most of my adult life and I loved having the security that came with it. There is something about that deposit in your bank account every week that is very comforting.

However, I now realize that there is a price for that security. That price is freedom – freedom to make your own decisions - freedom to make your own rules – freedom to earn what you’re worth – freedom to chart your own course.

The mature job applicant

Where did all the years go? That’s a question I tend to dwell upon a little more as the big 6-0 looms. I know it’s only a number, and you’re as old as you feel, but there is no denying the truth. In fact, I’ve been preparing myself for this big milestone by acting and thinking like a 60 year-old since this time last year. It doesn’t quite work though – I guess, deep down, I know better.

60 is such a significant age in many ways – some good and some bad. From an employment perspective, anyone over 60 is generally low in the pecking order when it comes to job opportunities. Heck, even 50 year olds are having trouble these days.

Now, I know you’re thinking that employers can’t discriminate like that; however, I have experienced it first hand. There are too many ways that they can disguise their true motives. Proving age discrimination can be tough.

I am sure that I was turned down for many jobs in 2005 because of my age. Sure, they can cover by saying that my qualifications were lacking, or that someone scored better on an aptitude test, but who do they think they’re kidding? Ok, rant over – feeling much better now.

Is it beneficial for them to steer away older applicants? I would think not, considering all the experience we have to offer. That new company can benefit first hand from this experience without spending much of their own money training new employees.

However, I am sure that many view older employees as slow moving and over paid - Workers that, once hired, will only have to be replaced in a few years after they retire.


“The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. The ADEA's protections apply to both employees and job applicants. Under the ADEA, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training.”

Had I not thrown caution to the wind and started a few things on my own, I would have very few choices in my life right now.

A little history

Where do I begin? I suppose a little history and the reasons for starting this blog would be a good start.

I was an executive secretary and receptionist for 20+ years. I’m also what you would call a casualty of downsizing. In late 2004, I was facing a lateral move due to the automation of our front reception area. In other words, I was replaced by a phone on a desk and a security door.

They called it lateral, I called it de-motion. Two months later, I accepted an early retirement package and was officially semi-retired – although I felt unemployed.

During the past 18 months or so, I have found out just how hard it can be for someone my age to find a meaningful job. I was under the illusion that with my experience I would be snapped up just like that – how wrong could I have been?

It’s discouraging to be passed over for positions because of my age. Yes, I realize that companies can’t discriminate openly like that, but let’s just say that there is still a lot of wriggle room for biased decisions and creative hiring. I’ll say no more about this.

Having spent the good part of 6 months looking for work, I decided to take a little time off during July and August 2005. After learning a little about blogging and websites from my grandson, I started a small craft site in September 2005. It was nothing serious and it got very little traffic, but it was so fun to play around with and I was hooked from day one.

Keep in mind; this was all very new to me. Yes, I had worked on computers over the years, but that was mainly applications such as Word and Excel. This was entirely different. The more I got into the technical and marketing side of things, the more I was convinced that I might (and that’s a big might) be able to make a few dollars in my spare time.

Over the last year, I have looked much further into making money from home (internet based and the more traditional methods) and the entire work-from-home strategy. That’s when I decided to create this blog and dedicate it to discussing work-at-home-opportunities for women.

Now, I say “for women” simply because I’ll be writing from a woman’s perspective.