No, this is not a “How to Make Money Online” article, as we suppose that you are fed up with all those people smiling at you from the beach on a website with flashy texts. “Find OUT How I managed TO WIN 5000 dollars!!!!! In ONE MONTH!!!!” is a scam. People know that money online can be made, but it is a matter of skills, passion, and work. Making money at home is not easier or harder than taking a salary from a corporation, but it is fulfilling and it brings more satisfaction. One of the lucrative initiatives that you can think of is a call center at home. On the other hand, having success with this initiative is not as easy as you might think.
1. What area?
A call center is actually a support for websites, companies, and firms that want to stay in touch with their clients. The reasons why companies prefer to outsource call centers are diverse. The trick is to find something you are good at. You can’t be a call center operator for an IT company as long as you have worked as a journalist. The good news is that call centers are needed today in many areas, and examples of successful support companies are plenty. A journalist is perfectly suited for call center support for a newspaper, blog, or even for public companies.
2. Training
Just because you are a good journalist does not mean that you are ready to talk on the phone all day long about writing articles and news. Training is important. You will deal with angry customers that must be treated with respect, with clients that know more than you do, and with absolutely newbies that want to know everything since the start. Developing communicational skills in your area of expertise will determine your possible success more than anything else.
3. Hardware
As for the logistic side of your future home business, we have some good news: besides the fact that you can find solid communities talking about everything you need, those are also cheap. A performing phone based on VOIP technology, a set of headphones and a quiet room where your child does not have access is everything that you need. The type of phone is important, as it must offer performances and capacities based on your area of expertise, but those are details talked on the specialized forums.
4. Finding work
Now that you have everything set, it is time to find actual work. Here are some great resources from where you can find jobs practically in nay industry or area:
About.com – you don’t have to take everything for granted on About, as some of those articles are not written by professionals, but it is a great place to find links to other websites offering jobs, and some good hints about this industry
WAHM – don’t be fooled by the name. Work At Home Moms is by far the most important hub of resources, guides, and experiences of any person that wants to make money from home, not only for US moms. The forum is interesting, as many companies post all kinds of jobs there, especially for people that want to work from home as a call center agent. If you don’t find something that suits you there, you can ask the members, and you will be surprised about how supportive and helping they can be.
Work at Home Desk is a solid website where companies post call center jobs from home, and it is also updated, checked and improved all the time.
Few last words: Use a small business CRM software to maintain the records of your customers, it will help you to send news letters and emails to your customers.