Perspective: The Unseen Opportunity For W-2 Employees Working From Home

I was involved in a brief conversation with a group of people online, when one of them said something odd; rather, it was odd to me.

He’s a slightly-above minimum worker, and after taxes he takes home around $1200 per month. He said, “working from home and making $1200 per month isn’t a lot“.

PS: No, this has nothing to do with the 1-time $1200 stimulus that some people are going to get. Some people tried to make a connection because of the number 1200, but that is unrelated.

Traditionally, he’s right, but here’s something to think about – $1200 per month when you work from home goes a lot further than when you make the same amount on a regular job.

That’s because working a regular job comes with overhead expenses that working from home does not.

The Unseen Opportunity For W-2 Employees Working From Home

The big one is commuting, specifically gas money.

Come June 12th this year, I will have been working from home for 8 years, and when I transitioned to working from home, I saved about $250 a month in gas instantly.

When I no longer had a car, I saved even more money because I didn’t have car payments, auto insurance, tax and tags, or maintenance.

A good friend of mine who made the transition to working from home? He sold his car and bought a motorcycle. He says that saved him about $500 per month.

There are also little things that add up that most people don’t think about. For example, when you work from home you do less laundry, and you for those who have dry cleaning, that bill goes away.

Also, working from home people tend to spend less on food. Some people only spend money on restaurants, vending machines, and so on because they’re at work.

The only up-tick in spending would be for utilities. Maybe an upgraded internet plan or phone service plan.

The other big saving is time.

Most people don’t realize how much a traditional job impacts their schedules, so let me ask you a question.

Would you go to bed the same time you do, or even wake up in the morning at the same time you currently do, if you didn’t have to get enough sleep, or wake up in time to get ready to go to work?

For many people, the answer to that is no; and if you’re one of those people who can’t wait for the weekend so you can either stay up later or sleep in the next morning, you’re one of those people.

Time is a valuable asset; the only one you can’t get back in fact.

Added to that, if you no longer have to commute, depending on how long your commute is, you can get some of your time back immediately.

My longest commute was 2 hours in one direction.

I was working on a construction site and there was always heavy traffic in the heart of the city. Not commuting gave me back 6 hours!

That’s four hours travel time to and from the job, and then the extra hour I used to got to bed, and the extra hour I slept in because I didn’t have to wake up early.

Then there was the passive time in between. I didn’t have to get dressed, eat a fast breakfast, then rush out the door.

Getting rid of that morning rush and sleeping in that extra hour was well-worth working from home.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying settle for $1200 per month.

What I am saying is, don’t be blind to the benefits and possibilities of what working from home.

If you didn’t have to commute for your job, would you even own a car?

I know some people who only own a car for there job. In fact, I know a few people that don’t even like driving, but they have to for work.

Also, who doesn’t want a little bit more time during the day, even if it is to sleep in an extra hour every morning.

But here is the opportunity.

I know people who took that extra couple of hours a day to do things like upgrade their certifications, get a degree, learn a new skill, or start a business on the side.

Not having the time to do something is one of the biggest set backs people face, and there are decent opportunities out there for people who want to go get it.

There is freelancing and consulting, (both of which I do), and there are business opportunities ready to go with monthly costs, (which I also do).

Some of them can cost anywhere from $25 to $200 bucks per month, and I personally know people who is making and extra $1,000 per month or more from them.

Big disclaimer here… I’m not saying you will make money from any opportunity. Let’s be real here.

Nothing is guaranteed, and if you venture out and start your own business, there are both risks and circumstances beyond your control.

That being said though, the opportunities out are there for the taking if you want to pursue them. Just make sure and do your homework.

Anyway, with $1,000 per month, you can see we’re not talking about making big 6-figures or 7-figures that you’ll hear people talking about. Even smaller amounts can be significant success.

For most people, an extra $500, $600, $700 a month is a whole new lifestyle. That’s their car payment + insurance, a chunk of their rent or mortgage, their health insurance.

I know two people who were finally able to pay off their credit card debt and start saving the way they always wanted to, all because they had one monthly debt covered with a little bit of extra income.

I even know some people personally, who are living like proverbially kings on just $60,000 a year.

They were able to afford the lifestyle they wanted, and it started with them working from home and using that extra time and money they were saving wisely.

This pandemic.

If you’re one of the people blessed enough to work for a company that keeps you employed and you’re working from home, for all of the bad happening, this can be an amazing opportunity for you and your family.

If you’re one of the people out of word, this can still be an opportunity for you. You may not want to jump into any kind of paid business opportunity, but there are some really great ways you can take what you know and turn it into an income stream.

Whether you’re working from home or unemployed because of the pandemic, think about this.

What did you do for your job? All of your skills, your talents, and your knowledge. What did your job entail? What did you have to do? What did you have to know?

Mindset: A new perspective

If your employer was willing to pay you money to do what you do and leverage your skills, talents and knowledge for themselves, how many other people would be willing to pay you to do the same for them too?

That’s big, right?

I mean, there are hundreds, even thousands and tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses all over the country that can’t afford to hire people or keep a staff, but they are still willing to pay every day people just like you for your skills.

If you were able to take your skills, your talents, and your knowledge, package them up a little bit differently – catering to those people, (the entrepreneurs and the small businesses), you can start making money.

A lot of freelance sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Funnel Rolodex, (one of my personal favorites), allow you to register, create jobs, (what we call gigs), set your price or hourly rate, then list them for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

You will have to learn a little bit how about to present yourself to be more appealing, maybe even learn how to create irresistible offers, and even go through some trial and error to start making progress, but when you do get it, you’ll start seeing little hits of cash come in.

For me, when I started, it was $5 bucks here, $10 bucks there. Then I’d get $25 here and $50 there. A quick $100 bucks one day, $250 another.

It doesn’t sound like much, but trust me when I say it ads up.

I kept at it. I kept working and improving, and soon enough I was landing $1,000 per month clients.

Here’s Some Proof

I am not one for flashing cash. I think it’s “gimmicky” and a bit dangerous even, however, I also believe in transparency and integrity, which means, if I am going to teach you how to make money from home, I better well be making money from home myself using the same exact methods I’m telling you about.

Also, a bit of a disclaimer (again). What you’re about to see are my personal results and it in no way guarantees that you will get the same results.

That being said, I wanted to share some results from my PayPal account – where I invoice and receive payments from clients.

The first thing you’ll notice is that I blacked out the names of the clients, for obvious reasons. The second thing you’ll notice is that this is all from this year.

This first one is payments received from January to March, ($2,290.40).

These two are invoices paid for February and March, (another $1,910). Notice that these were paid and there were no fees taken out.

And finally, this is an invoice that hasn’t yet been paid, (and I’m confident that it will be), for $1,885.00

If you’re doing the math, just from freelancing, that’s $6,085.40 in three months, which is a little over $2,028 per month.

Another way I make money is with affiliate marketing; that is selling other people’s products and services, and earning a commission when the customer buys.

Because I’m a programmer and an engineer, I resell hosting plans for the company where I host my stuff – again, integrity is important to me so I won’t sell anything I don’t use myself.

It doesn’t happen very often, but when a client asks me for hosting I recommend them. Check this out.

There’s only one customer there, but it’s almost $50 bucks per month recurring – and that is just one affiliate program I am a part of.

Obviously I’m not rolling in deep pockets, but an extra $2,000 per month ain’t bad at all considering I literally work on my bed with a laptop and a cellphone, putting in 20-30 hours per week.

… and remember. I don’t have a car payment, or car insurance payment, have to fill up every week, or anything like that.

Anyway, there are other ways I make money too, and as the year goes by there will be more clients, more gigs, and more commissions and my income will increase, but more importantly…

I hope you get the idea; or at least starting to.

Just because the pandemic has you working from home, or even out of work, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t opportunity to make money, or even get ahead.

All you really need is a little bit of knowledge and maybe some guidance to help you get started.

How Do I Learn More & Get Started?

This is the cool part.

There are two really great resources that I’ve brought together to help you make the absolute most of making money education, and strategy that you can actually use to start making money right now.

And they’re both free…

The first one is a free book that will teach you all about what you were just introduced to – how to take your knowledge, your skills, and your talents, and turn them into money.

It’s perfect for those who need to make money from home and it is a treasured resource in my personal library. Yes – integrity – this book has been invaluable to helping me get where I am.

The second one is a free guide that I’ve written to help you accelerate the process so you can start making money sooner.

The first book isn’t that long. It’s about 300 pages and you can read it in a weekend if you so desired, but, I know first hand that it may take longer for some people.

So the guide that I wrote is kind of a “crash course” in how to make money from home, complete with a big picture overview of freelancing and entrepreneurship, coupled with some powerful advice, as well as simple ideas you can use to start making money from home very quickly.