Are Home Typist Jobs Online a Scam?

If you are investigating ways to make some extra cash from home, you may have seen online ads for home typist jobs. These advertisements suggest that with the completion some simple typing projects you can earn a relatively good income. Sound too good to be true? Let’s take a closer look at these home based typist opportunities to determine what the bottom line really is.

First, let’s establish the fact that there is not a big demand for someone to simply perform copy typing from their home. In the past it was possible for someone with good typing skills and a typewriter to earn a few bucks typing up books and other publications for other people. But that was many years ago when only trained typists could produce typed material in an efficient manner, creating a supply of home typist jobs.

Nowadays, most people will do their own typing directly on their personal computer. And even for those who cannot use their own computers efficiently, there are other work arounds available. Software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking can turn words spoken into a microphone into typed text almost instantaneously. Even in the corporate world, there are very few typists employed. Most administrative assistants spend their time organizing calendars and conferences, making phone calls, and emailing, but usually not too much time typing up letters for their employers.

So why the plethora of home typist jobs being advertised online? The answer to that question is that these opportunities are usually related to marketing and advertising. If you pay the fee to obtain the information pack you will find a set of instructions on how to write and submit advertisements, most often as an affiliate for some program. In other words, you advertise for a product and get paid a commission on any sales that stem from your ad copy.

Almost anyone with a computer can perform these work at home typist jobs, but your financial success is dependent on your ability to write concise, catchy ad copy. Often these advertisements are short – many are for Google Adwords or similar online advertising programs where the ads are only around 20 words. No matter how much time you spend, you will only make money when someone purchases the product advertised after clicking on your affiliate link in the ad.

If you must pay to place the ad yourself, not only is a profit not guaranteed, but you may end up losing money. However, most of the home-based typist programs will at least inform you on how to submit some ads for free. If you focus your efforts on free ad submissions, all you will risk losing is your time.

In summary, home based typist opportunities online are really a type of affiliate internet marketing. The disadvantage is that you will be paying money for training information that you could easily find on your own (for free) by doing some basic internet research. The advantage is that buying the training material may save you some time searching around for advice, but be prepared that there is still a learning curve which will take you some time to master. Home typist jobs are not a scam but they will likely be a disappointment for people who are looking to earn some extra cash quickly. Success working at home takes time.