Data entry jobs scams or legit?

There have been a lot of data entry sites that's popping out of your inbox, facebook pages, twitter account,etc., and all of them promises an extra income of around $2000 plus monthly. Now who wouldn't want that extra income? and who wouldn't want to work at the convenience of one's home. Most of us would want to work and earn, yet at the same time spend quality time with our kids, friends and loved ones. More often than not, if we see ads that offer work at home opportunities, we click on that site right away, hoping that that website would just give you the opportunity of a lifetime. But guess what, most of these sites are just scams, trying to make money through advertisers and visitors.

So how do we know if a site is legit or not??

As much as I want to name sites that I think are scams, I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to do that. I might just get sued for defamation or for whatever lawsuit they might think of. But here are some tips to consider in finding sites that are legit.

1. Earn through referrals. If the site tells you to refer friends for a small amount of incentive, most likely, it's not a legit data entry site. This site will tell you that you will earn this much if you refer this "number" of people. Well this only means that the site is making money through the number of members or visitors they get, and not through legitimate companies that outsource the services of a typist or data encoder.

2. Asks you to buy a software. Well there may be sites out there that would ask you to buy a software for a complete list of companies that outsource data encoders. But most of the time, this kind of site earns money through software selling. I know some people who actually bought the software and said that there are companies listed that are actually non-existent.

3. Membership fees. If the site is legitimate, they don't have to ask for a membership fee, that is because the employers, or companies who find outsourced services for data entry pays them a fee for finding data encoders for them. In addition, if you work for legit sites like Odesk.com, you will find that they get their income through a commission based on your salary. For example, if you have an hourly rate of $10.00 per hour, they will charge your employer $11.00. They take the $1.00 you get $10.00/hour in full. They charge the 10% commission to your employer and not to your earnings.

Well Odesk did not pay me to blog about their site so I wont mention them anymore, this is just my way of paying homage to them for being the reason why I have an online job for almost two years now, this is my way of saying thank you.

It's not easy to find an online job, you may be able to sign up with a legitimate site like I did, but still, it's hard, you still have to apply for the job, make a resume, and a cover letter that will stand out. Don't forget,you're applying online, the competition is global. Especially in data entry. You will find that there will be at least fifty to a hundred applicants for a single job opening. It's a jungle. So, good luck!