Computers and high-speed Internet access mean new, better-paying choices for people who want the flexibility and convenience of careers that don’t require an office-building cubicle.

A call center in your home

In recent years, you’ve heard a lot about companies routing their customer-service calls to workers overseas, but a less-noticed trend is the growth in home-based call-center workers.

Thanks to the Internet and better call-routing technology, more companies are finding they can outsource their order-taking, sales and problem-solving calls to home-based workers , said LiveOps board member Bill Trenchard. LiveOps not only runs an outsource operation, Trenchard said, but it also provides technology for companies that want to set up their own home-based call centers.

Home-based workers tend to be better educated and more loyal than their counterparts at traditional call centers, according to Trenchard. Most of LiveOps ‘ workers have college degrees and turnover is low.

Call centers usually have no tolerance for audible distractions, so a crying baby, barking dog or ringing doorbell could get you fired. (Some companies require their workers have dedicated offices with doors to minimize potential distractions.) An operator also needs a dedicated phone line, a computer and high-speed Internet access.

Some call centers that employ home-based workers:

• Alpine Access
• LiveOps
• Arise
• West at Home

Start a Web business

Working from home is a dream for many — and a reality for a few. Turn something you now do for fun into something you do for a living.

If you find a concept that works, you might make additional money teaching other people what you know. Tamaira Sandifer of Sacramento, Calif., launched a service called Fun Mail for Kids that sends customized packets, complete with stickers, personalized letters and crafts projects, to kids.

Online auctions

Online auction sites have helped people do more than empty their attics (or fill them up again). The largest online auction site, eBay, says it is home to more than a million “professional sellers” who report the site as a primary or secondary source of income.

Continued: Be a mystery shopper

Auction sites have “how to” sections to familiarize beginners with the selling process, and a little research can help you determine the best way to market your offerings, said Webb, the author of “The Mom’s Guide to Earning and Saving Thousands on the Internet.”

Sellers also need to be mindful of their reputations because bad feedback from buyers can hurt future sales, she said. Staying organized, using truthful descriptions and shipping items promptly are essential to a profitable auction business.

Webb also advises newbies to start slowly, particularly if they’re buying items with the intent to sell them at auction rather than selling off what they already own. It can be easy to misjudge what people will want to buy, she said, and the costs of listing, the site’s commissions and buyers who don’t pay can eat into profits.

“The best way is to bank some (profits) and then reinvest some,” Webb said.

Mystery shopping, survey taking and ‘piece work’

Mystery shopping and survey-taking opportunities have been around for a while, but the Internet has made finding them easier, Webb said.

“Mystery shoppers” are typically paid $5 to $100 per assignment to pose as average customers and then critique a store or service, Webb said. The range for filling out surveys or participating in focus groups can be even wider, from a few dollars to a few hundred bucks a shot.

As with other work-at-home jobs, applicants need to be prepared to start small and work their way up. Research companies look for reliable, articulate, detail-oriented people and tend to reward the ones who consistently perform well, Webb said.

Both jobs tend to come with freebies as well as cash. Webb said she’s been given such products as free laundry detergent and free diapers in exchange for her opinion on surveys.

Mystery shopping tends to take more time and effort but generally pays more. Webb said she makes about $6,000 a year in cash, plus free goods and services worth $3,000 to $4,000.

“I work it in with our schedule. I look at the week ahead and think, ‘Where do we want to go? What do we want to do?’ ” she said. “If I need to buy clothes, I’ll look to see if they need a mystery shopper.”

Some Internet-based mystery-shopping services include:

• Corporate Research International Mystery Shops
• Mystery Guest
• Service Intelligence Experience Exchange

National survey companies with an Internet presence include:

• National Family Opinion
• Survey Savvy

“Piece work” is an age-old concept that’s been updated by the Internet, most visibly on Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk. The site pays people to perform tasks that computers can’t easily do, such as fill out opinion surveys, transcribe audiotapes and see whether items for sale have been correctly “tagged,” or classified.

The Mechanical Turk for which the Web site was named was a 1700s and 1800s hoax in which a supposed machine played chess (the Turk actually concealed a human chess ace). Amazon started the site to find humans to help fix problems that its automated systems couldn’t. The Mechanical Turk is now used by an array of “requestors” who want people to help them with various small tasks.

The problem here is that the pay is often literally pennies — sometimes just a single penny to perform a task that might take a few seconds or minutes. Only you can determine whether the time you spend is worth the payoff.

Other home-based businesses

There’s not much high-tech about home-based businesses such as child care, house-sitting, dog walking and errand running. But classified advertising sites such as Craigslist can help you easily and cheaply connect with potential customers.

And old-school businesses, if properly run, can provide a decent living, said Steve Damato, who operates a licensed day-care center with his wife, Jodi, at their home.

The Damatos inherited the day-care business from Jodi’s mother after she retired. The Damatos moved into the mother-in-law’s home to look after her and the business. Previously, Steve had worked as a flight attendant while Jodi had been a stay-at-home mother for their daughter. Besides the opportunity to be a full-time father, he likes the fact that he no longer has to work nights, weekends or holidays.

    Author: Liz Pulliam Weston