WYLIE, Texas — You've probably seen the ads promoting schemes to make money from home-based businesses. Most of the offers are not legitimate, but there are some that actually are real money-making opportunities.
Take Sara Moore, for example. She doesn't have to leave her home in Wylie to make an extra $500 a month.
Moore is a virtual tutor with Tutor.com. She helps children with their homework via computer, working on math problems on a virtual chalkboard. For this stay-at-home mom, it gives her flexibility and a chance to earn money.
"It is wonderful," she said. "You get to set your own hours. Each week you pull up your schedule and you get to set what hours you want to work that week. You can choose to work one hour a week, or you can take time off."
For the last two years, Moore has earned on average $500 a month working just a couple of hours a night for tutor.com.
"I make enough to pay off two to three of my bills," she said.
If teaching isn't your thing, another option is a company called LiveOps, where highly motivated employees can make $150 per day.
LiveOps is a "virtual operator" site that lets you work as a customer service representative from home. The pay depends on how many hours a week you work, or how much you sell.
Another sites providing provide online work opportunities is Etsy.com, which specializes in providing a platform for people to sell homemade items.
