Definition:

LinkedIn is a social network within the larger world of social mediathat is geared toward business. LinkedIn is very popular with those who are seeking work and trying to build their network of contacts so they can reach out to employers. LinkedIn is also popular as a way of marketing a business, because business owners can interact with those who are interested in their services by answering questions, participating in discussions and more.

From LinkedIn:

LinkedIn exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. Our mission is to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. We believe that in a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust.

Alternate Spellings: Linked In

Common Misspellings: Linked In

Examples:

Because so many business use LinkedIn, it's a great place to network and get recommendations as well as search for a job and participate in discussions.

Did You Find Work from Home or Did it Find You?

It Found Me - I Didn't Seek it Out

 (2987)

27%

I Went After It and Got It

 (1817)

16%

A Little Bit of Both

 (236)

2%

I'm Not Working From Home Yet But I'm Looking

 (5802)

53%

Total Votes: 10842

Definition:

Social networks are groups of individuals who share a commonality. Their common bond of social networks may be the community in which members live, their religion, subdivision, career interest, social interests, common friends or shared beliefs. In short, social networks can arise from nearly any commonality or even a desire to make friends among their individual members. Therefore, to define social networks requires a broad view.

Today's Social Networks

While traditionally, social networks were made up of people who might gather face-to-face, today's social networks are predominately online. Examples of today's social networks include social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and others. With increasing mobile phone popularity and enhanced cell phone technology, even Twitter might be considered a social network of sorts where you can let your network of friends know what you are doing or thinking at any given moment. Today's social networks are predominately free to join, which makes them extremely popular.

Use of Social Networks for Job Search

Social networks can be useful for those who are seeking legitimate work at home jobs. Most social networks include job search tools you can use. In the case of LinkedIn, access to some job postings is limited to members only.

Social Networks for Business Promotion

While strictly social when they began, social networks like Facebook and MySpace are being increasingly used for promoting every type of business from a small one-person business to mega corporations. From its birth, LinkedIn was geared more to fostering network connections within the business community and it's common for entrepreneurs and corporate managers alike to seek out partnership opportunities for their business.

Also Known As: social networking, social media

Examples:

Joining various social networks and opting in to sub-communities within them can also be an effective tool for promoting a business.

In their early days, social networks were also used as a means of building links to business websites - an important search engine optimization technique. However, in most cases, today's social networking sites have made adjustments that make these links worthless for search ranking improvements. Still, such links can bring increased traffic to a website.

Legitimate Work at Home Job or a Home Business?

Let's face it, a home business isn't for everyone, but there are plenty of you who would like to find legitimate work at home jobs- at least if you could find telecommuting employment- maybe to be with the kids, maybe because you're at your best when you work from home. For whatever reason, finding legitimate work at home jobs isn't an easy task, and I know that many of you have been looking for the perfect telecommuting job opportunity for quite some time. I also know that the number of legitimate work at home jobs pales in comparison to the scams that seem to about everywhere.

Unfortunately, even when you do a Google search for "legitimate work from home" or "legitimate work at home jobs", many of the results are not legit either. The plain truth is that for every legitimate work at home telecommuting job opportunity out there, you can figure at least 9 of 10 are not the real deal.

With a Home Business You Have More Control

If you start your own home business (not one where you pay your way into an opportunity - there are plenty of scammers there, too) doing something you like to do, you'll have all the control and you can be absolutely sure you're not getting scammed. Your home business can be as legitimate as you make it.

Freelancing, becoming a consultant in a field you already have experience in, making products through a hobby, becoming a paid photographer, etc. are all ways you can start a business of you own where you work from home on your own terms. So if you can do that, you're well ahead of the game. You don't have to drop everything and do your business full time. You can start part time and build your foundation. Then, when you're ready (or when you have to, such as if you get laid off), you're business will already be up and running. There are plenty of resources for you here on About Home Business. Here's a good start:

• 9 Top Part-Time Home Businesses
• Freelancing Guide
• Home-Based Conulting Businesses

Working Your Way Into a Legitimate Work at Home Job

Another way to avoid getting scammed and get yourself into a real, legitimate work at home job that will let you telecommute is to either take a job in an office and work your way into a telecommuting arrangement with your employer or approach your current employer about working from home - maybe not every day at first, but a few days a week on a trial basis. My article, Convincing Your Boss to Let You Work at Home will get you started in this area.

You'll probably notice as you search for legitimate work from home that some jobs for companies you already recognize - like United Health Care, Aetna and others, will allow you to work at home after a probationary period, which may be up to one year in the office. If you can do that, you'll also be ahead of the game and will avoid getting scammed.

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Tell Your Story - Why Do You Work from Home - Or Want To?

Why Do You Work from Home - Or Want To? (Share Your Story)

Participate in the Work at Home Poll

Poll: Did You Find Work Your Work at Home Job or did it Find You? - Click One:

• It Found Me
• I Went After It and Got It
• A Little Bit of Both
• I'm Not Working from Home But I'm Looking

Check the Latest Work from Home Poll Results

If you've already voted in the Work from Home poll or just want to check the results, you can use this link:

Check the work from home poll results

Participate in the Work at Home Forum Discussion

For those of you who would like to go into a bit more detail or voice your thoughts on legitimate work at home jobs, I welcome you to participate in the discussion on this topic in the About Home Business Forum.

Let me know: If you've found a legitimate work from home job, how did you find it? Did you have a strategy or a work from home plan that worked? Do you have any suggestions for others who are looking for work from home jobs?

Searching for Work from Home Jobs

Many of my long-time readers know that I posted legitimate work at home jobs here every week. When I was searching for those jobs and weeding out the phonies, I saw distinct patterns in what to look out for.

Basically, if you're going to search online for legitimate work from home, it's like any job search you'd do even for local office work. There's not much difference except that you really need to be on your toes and look for tell-tale signs that a job might be less than legitimate.

Your job search sources are the same - you can useAbout.com's job search powered by Indeed, search on CareerBuilder or Monster, or for tech jobs on Dice.com. You can also look through employment sites, like Robert Half, Net Temps, Kforce and others.

The real difference is in narrowing down your search to find telecommuting opportunities. So that means you'll be including search terms to specifically help you find legitimate work at home. Because different companies refer to telecommuting and working from home with different terms, it pays to be aware of some variations and work them into your search. For example:

• Telecommute
• Work from Home and Work at Home
• Telecommute
• Remote
• Offsite
• Virtual

In my years of experience filtering the legitimate jobs from the scammers, I've foundtelecommute and telecommuting to lead to the highest percentage of legitimate postings.Telework is also good, and is prominently used by Aetna Insurance and by the U.S. federal government. It seems like, for the most part, all federal job postings (or at least a vast majority of them) are now required to say that telecommuting is possible. Whether it happens or not may be a different story, and if you apply for such a position you'll want clarification of the chances that you'll actually be allowed to work at home at some point.

Unfortunately, using work from home and work at home yields the fewest legitimate telecommuting opportunities. Those two terms are very popular with scammers, so you need to be extra careful if you use them in search.

Job Search Aggregator Sites

Another practice you're likely to bump into when you're searching for legitimate work at home are the aggregator sites, which seem to crop up daily. If you see a job listing from one of these sites (you'll get to recognize them) try to go to the source site instead. For example, there are loads of sites that list legitimate work from home jobs from companies like United Health Care who aren't authorized to post the job. In order to apply, you may have to sign up, give up your contact information including your email address, and in some cases - worse yet - pay a membership in order to apply. That's a sucker's bet for sure. If you see a job posted with the name of the company, do a search for the company and use the job title in the search and you may be able to go direct to the employer's site and bypass the party who is trying to get your contact information or get you to pay for a membership.

In many cases you'll see the aggregator listings along with the legitimate search result from the company itself. Whenever it's available, always go direct to the hiring company or its authorized placement website.

For more information in this area, see:

• Finding Work at Home Jobs
• How to Find High Tech Work from Home
• Using LinkedIn to Find Work at Home

Steering Clear of Work from Home Job Scams

In the vast majority of cases, legitimate work at home jobs shouldn't require that you pay anything for the privilege of telecommuting from home. There are a few legitimate exceptions where you may need to pay a membership fee to belong to an independent network of work at home professionals or you may have to pay a small amount for training or equipment that enables you to do your work from home according to the specific employer's telecommuting standards.

As always, tread carefully and do your homework on any company you're considering. Good luck, and here's hoping your legitimate work a home job dreams come true!

One final note. If you do get raked into a scam, you'll want to read, What to Do If You're a Victim of Work at Home Scam. In no event do you want them to get away with it, as they will only continue to scam others who are trying to find legitimate work from home.

Tell Your Story - Why Do You Work from Home - Or Want To?

Why Do You Work from Home - Or Want To? (Share Your Story)

Check the Latest Work from Home Poll Results

If you've already voted or just want to check the results, you can use this link:

Participate in the Work from Home Discussion in the Forum

For those of you who would like to go into a bit more detail or voice your thoughts on work from home, I welcome you to participate in the discussion on this topic in the About Home Business Forum.

Let me know: If you've found work from home, how did you find it? Did you have a strategy or a work from home plan that worked? Do you have any suggestions for others who are looking for work from home?

More Resources for Legitimate Work from Home

While I'm no longer posting legitimate work from home jobs I find on these pages, you may get additional leads and information on working from home on the About Home Business Facebook page, by following me on Twitter or by signing up for my free weekly newsletter. Here are the links:

• Like About Home Business on Facebook
• Follow Me on Twitter
• Sign Up for My Newsletter

If you've been a work at home scam victim or have come close to falling for one, don't get mad, get even!

Okay, so maybe you canceled your credit card and you will no longer be a victim of a specific work at home scam, but it can happen again and happen to your friends, neighbors and others who fall for the same phony lines with phony testimonials.

You can report work at home scams to one or more of several sources, including the US Postal Service (for scams received in the mail), your state Attorney General's office, or the agencies listed in detail here, all of which accept online complaint filing.

Internet Crime Complaints

If you've been the victim of a work at home scam on the Internet, whether through an email, a pop-up ad or a landing page you ended up on after clicking an ad, you can report that scam to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

You don't actually have to have been a victim - but if you are, be sure to save any evidence you might have - electronic or otherwise - such as credit card receipts, etc. because the IC3 will ask for those materials.

The FBI is a part of the IC3 and it has an international reach against crime. You do not have to be a US citizen to report a work at home scam or other Internet crime to them. Find out what's involved, what to expect and how to file a complaint with the IC3.

Better Business Bureau - BBBReporting Work at Home Scams to the FTC

The FTC - Federal Trade Commission - is a U.S. government agency that collects complaints about companies, business practices, identity theft, and episodes of violence in the media, including information on work at home scams, many of which involve false or deceptive advertising. When the FTC receives a complaint, it files information about that complaint, such as an Internet scam, into a secure online database that is used by thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement authorities worldwide.

Find out what's involved with filing a complaint with the FTC, what to expect and where and how to file.

The BBB, or Better Business Bureau, is another avenue for filing complaints for work at home scams. The BBB accepts complaints even if the company doesn't belong to the Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau has office throughout the U.S. and Canada, and representatives work with you during the complaint process. By filing information on work at home scams with the BBB, you are creating a complaint record that others can see if they believe a work at home opportunity might be a scam.

Find out what types of complaints you can file, where to file and what to expect once you do file our complaint.

Have you been a victim of a work at home scam? Tell us your story!

Readers share their work at home and other Internet scam experiences, including what scam they fell for, what happened, and what they did about it.

Definition: Social media is a form of interactive online communication that includes a variety of outlets, such as:

• Blogs - Blogs are considered a form of social media because they allow people to share and comment on posts. When blog writers and commenters trade thoughts and opinions or respond to each other, they are in effect, "socializing".
• Social networks - Facebook and LinkedIn are two prime examples of social networks. Social networks are places where people interact with each other, discuss topics that interest them, build their networks through invitations to other people or businesses they'd like to connect with, etc.
• Social news - Social news sites include Digg. Essentially, members submit stories they enjoyed or think are important. The usual social news model allows other members to vote up or vote down a specific story.
• Social bookmarking - Social bookmarking sites allow members to share their bookmarks - sites and pages on the web they use frequently - with other members.
• Twitter and YouTube - Both Twitter and YouTubeare part of social media because they allow people to interact with each other. In the case of YouTube, videos may be shared or commented on. Twitter is considered a "microblogging" tool because it is similar to blogging but posts are limited to 140 characters or less. Twitter posts (Tweets) may consists of a quote, a link or recommendation to a good article or page on the web, or an opinion about someone else's posts.

Examples:

Social media is growing in popularity as sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube have exploded in popularity.

If you've been the victim of an Internet crime, whether through an email, a pop-up ad or a landing page you ended up on after clicking an ad on the Internet, you can report that crime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

What is the Internet Crime Complaint Center?

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

The Internet Crime Complaint Center's stated mission is to "serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime."

About Filing a Complaint

The IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded (the victim) or from a third party to the complainant (such as a bank, for example). Since the IC3 is empowered to report Internet crime to international authorities, you do not have to be a US citizen in order to file a complaint.

When you file a complaint, the IC3 asks that you provide the following information:

• Your name
• Your mailing address
• Your telephone number
• The name, address, telephone number, and Web address, if available, of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you. (You can sometimes get this information from the Terms of Service or Privacy Policy links in the footer of the bogus website.)
• Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded.
• Any other information you believe is relevant to your complaint.

Where to File Your Internet Crime Complaint

The IC3 allows you file a complaint on its website at:http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx. Before you actually complete the form, which will in effect file your complaint, the IC3 asks that you read its FAQ at:http://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx.

What to Expect After You File Your Complaint

After you've successfully filed your complaint with the IC3, you'll receive an email with your complaint ID, a password for your case, and a link to your case file. When you use the link and password, you'll be able to file additional information about your Internet crime complaint as it becomes available.

IC3 personnel will review your complaint and forward information to appropriate criminal authorities and/or regulatory agencies, if warranted. The IC3 itself does not conduct investigations - its primary purpose is to disseminate complaint information and get it in the right hands for further action. You will not receive a status on any actions taken on your complaint.

From the article: Telecommuting: Finding Legitimate Work at Home Jobs

I love to hear stories of why people started working from home and I hope you'll share yours. If you're not already working from home, why do you want to? Everyone has their reasons for working from home, what are yours?

Why I want to work from home.

I desperately need to do something now!! I have a total of 5 children. My husband has a good paying oil field job but with me not working, it's getting harder to pay the bills. I am a dental assistant but had to stop working when I found out I was pregnant with triplets. And with my salary, we cant afford daycare for me to go back to work. I'll be working to pay for daycare which really defeats the purpose of working.

—Guest Elizabeth

unemployed single mom

The reason I would like to work from home, is first of all... to be my own boss, be home for my kids, worry free of being laid-off, and to aleviate the commute time. I want to be assured that my bills and children will be taken care of. Overall, just have a stable income and be able to take my children on vacation. Being unemployed has really taken a toll on me and my children causing deep stress of not being able to pay my mortgage, pay bills, purchase food, clothing, as well as not having medical insurance. It really frightens me to think of my children becoming ill and I have no insurance. So being my own boss and working from home has a huge advantage over working for someone else.

—Guest Minnie

legitimate work at home jobs

I am a medical transcriptionist who has worked for the same company for 10 years. I am looking for a well paying, employee status, daytime job. i have not left my company yet and am very happy with my work, but i am a subcontractor and need employee status to get health benefits, paid days off, and hopefully, be paid by the hour instead of by the line.

—Guest SusanGuyon

Why I Really Need To Work At Home

Due to my recent health issues, I have opted to seek legitimate opportunities for working at home. I have no transportation and cannot stand or sit for long periods of time. Working at home, I would be able to decide when I need to stand or sit.

—Guest CissyAnn

I Work from My Home for several reasons.

First, because I know there is more to me then going to a job where I get paid what they determine I'm worth. With this economy it's about pay cuts, not raises. I want to make a difference. I help people lose weight nutritionally, get the results they want from work outs and overall be healthier. There is nothing like watching someone come out from weighing themselves and they're crying because they have lost weight since last weigh in. You watch their confidence grow. Their energy increase. What a true honor to be part of touching someone's life like that. I'm working toward my future and retirement. For those wanting a business, I help them with that aspect too. What greater business then one you can help people with what they need - Health, Weight Loss, Performance and Financially. You can find me at Facebook - sellarsr@aol.com

—sellarsr

Housewife Needs to Work at Home

I want to do work at home because I'm a housewife. Before I got married 2 years ago I was a working woman but right now I'm a housewife and need to work at home.

—Guest naznin

No Local Jobs for Memaw

I have recently become unemployed and was denied unemployment. I live in a small town and there are no jobs. I need an income BAD!

—Memawdann

WAH for meaningfull life w/ selfrespect

I am a handicapped person and going to marry a handicapped man to prove that handicapped people also have dreams and choice of living. it is almost impossible to find jobs for the people like us specially in India so I want to work from home. I'll be very happy and thankful if somebody helps me to find a suitable job. I am MA in political science.

—Guest molu

Skip commute, have more time w/family

I am working at home 2 days a week but I would like to work at home more than that (maybe 3 or 4 days, probably 3 - I don't think I could convince my boss to let me work at home more than three days a week). I wanted to work at home because of the commute - even after moving closer to the office, it still takes about 1 hour to get to/from the office, and while I don't have to drive the whole way, I take the Metro subway, it's still hard to be away from my family (husband and toddler) that long. Plus I am expecting again and want to be able to establish a strong connection with my new baby as well. At home, I can stretch out the work a bit more if needed.

—Guest BookwormMama

Need a Legimate Work at Home Job

My neurologist put me off work because of my back. I can only set stand or work for a few minutes because of severe back pain. The Dr. told me its ionoperable and going to get worse. My back bone's cutting into my spinal cord. My wife has to relocate for her job from Pa to TN as the factory is relocating. My wife worked there for 34 years. My dad lives with us and he is 86 years old. I need to help make a little living and I have to find something very soon. I need something to make me feel useful again before it's too late. I just need a home job. [From the moderator: You should contact your local and state agencies to see if you can get help - perhaps in the way of vocational counseling and possibly SS disability. You are in a situation that is not likely to get any better without some outside assistance. I also encourage you to visit the About Home Business forum and look for discussions about work from home for the disabled. Also search this site for work from home for the disabled, as there are several blog posts with lots of comments that may help get you pointed in the right direction.]

—Guest Jim

Why I want to work at home

I am a single mother...I have worked my butt off to try and give my kids a good life..because of that I really haven't been around as much as I should have been..My youngest is 14 and has gotten into major trouble because of me being gone all the time at work..I need to find something that I can do that I will be around more..When I am at home he doesn't run the streets like he does when I am not around...I was leaving the house at 7 am and sometimes I wouldn't get home until well after midnight...I need to be home with my kids..I have already missed so much of their lives and I have nothing to show for it cause we do not have our own house and I am literally broke.

—Guest Teresa Ward

Why I want to work from home

Moved to a small rural town on Lake Huron 3 years ago, I am an LPN, had one job in a Hospice (main office was in a larger town) Moved here at age 60 to ready myself for retirement, bought a house, was laid off (in that order) and have been on unemployment ever since, unemployment rate here very high, I have only seen one new commercial business in 3 years, no growth= no jobs. I am being forced to semi-retire when my unemployment is up in Nov and I have signed up for SS, I have to have a part time job to make ends meet so I am looking to work from home kinds of jobs. So tedious trying to find one that will work out, your site does look promising :)In the past I have done medical transcription, however these companies want you to shell out $500 for digital response and I am not willing to do so on a maybe if you pass the tests kind of thing. Part time would be good.

—Guest Kerry

Want to Earn Extra Income from Home

I am looking to earn some extra income online part time.

—Guest ajit patil

Work from Home with No Politics

I want a legitimate job working from home. I am 56 yrs old and I want out of the office politics and back stabbing. I want a good environment. Home would be that enviroment.

—Guest Cheryl L. Leffler

Work from Home in Improved Environment

I want to work from home because of the every day hassle of being short staffed and dealing with LAZY co-workers and the Boss playing favoritism. It's just a bunch of crap in the work force ... it's all about WHO you know instead of WHAT you know. And I am not a yes person and have very strong work ethics and do not play politics.

—Guest Kelly