With the right office equipment, an ergonomic chair and keyboard and a positive, can-do attitude, you can make as much as $300 per week doing work at home data entry in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Many credit card companies, and other nationally recognized companies need fast, accurate data entry clerks.

Begin by obtaining some good database programs — Microsoft Office 2000, Oracle Database, Filemaker or dBase — and practicing with them every day. Copy the telephone directory for practice. You want to have an accurate speed of about eighty words per minute. Remember, most data entry clerks are paid per entry, not per hour.

Invest in a comfortable, ergonomic chair and keyboard. Make sure your work space is well lit and free of distractions. Some people like to listen to music or audio-books while doing data entry, others like everything quiet.

Apply for data entry jobs at local companies, especially universities (try the alumni association), fraternities and sororities, and publishing houses. You may also try looking for data entry work through the classified ads in newspapers, but keep in mind that many of those jobs may have already been filled and the ads run only to satisfy the EEOC. Consider accepting one-time or contract-type data entry jobs to build up your resume and get in some practice.

Be extremely careful about looking for data entry work online. You will see many advertisements for companies that promise to place you in excellent data entry jobs. Most of these companies are frauds. It’s easy to tell the fakes — aside from making outlandish promises about the amount you can earn, they will ask you to “join”, to sign up and pay them money, for materials or information. Never, ever pay someone to employ you. Legitimate companies pay you — never the other way around. Websites such as about.com provide detailed information about work from home scams vs. real opportunities. Look for work at indeed.com, monster.com, hotjobs.com, or careerbuilder.com.

When interviewing for a work at home job, remember that you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Find out exactly what your duties will be — some companies ask their data entry clerks to do a bit of editing or other work — and how much they’re going to pay you. Different types of entries may be paid slightly different amounts. Ask them how much work you will be expected to complete per week. Some companies only have seasonable work — you may be laid off for weeks or months at a time. Be sure to find out what the arrangements are and whether you need to re-apply for work when the layoff period is over.

Once you have a data entry job, continue to evaluate your experiences. Are you working from computer printouts? Are the printouts legible, or are they difficult to read? How about the size of the type? If it’s too small you may get eyestrain; some companies provide magnifying reader stands, and if not, you can buy one. How is the spelling? You may want to go through the printout ahead of time and make corrections.

If you’ve never worked at home before you may need to learn to pace yourself. To keep from getting repetitive strain injury, take three or four five-minute breaks per hour. Get up and stretch, take a brief walk, drink some water. Avoid high-carb foods; stick with fruit and vegetables. Take vitamins and be sure to get some form of exercise on a regular basis. Don’t overwork yourself and don’t overdo it on the coffee — when you find yourself getting tired, stop. Also, don’t “cram” — don’t wait until the last day before a deadline and try to get all the work done at once.

Data entry work at home can be an excellent way to make extra money. Be smart, be careful, and you may find it is the ideal work for you.