New is In!!: December 2015

When I decided to sail alone, i.e. to start off as a freelancer after a decade of full-time employment, I wasn't sure if I would be able to get help. But I was determined to get a decent project that pays me decent and allows me to be a mother, and freelancing was the best bet!

I started with naukri.com, but not much was offered to me, I tried linkedin, glassdoor, freelancer.in , elance, odesk but it felt like I had to learn to swim along with sharks! And, in fact I'm not a great swimmer! I like to sail at my pace, on my conditions :D

So here is a quick guide for people looking to jump onto work from home, part-time or freelancing opportunities.

Pick Your Core Area - There are multiple types of job profile available, do not just pick one because you are being offered that, you decide what you want to do - Data Entry, Mystery Shopping, Content Writing, Recruiting, Testing, Mobile App Development and any such fields like this.
Get a demo project ready - The difficult part with such kind of opportunities is that people judge you by what you have done, so if you have a good experience then that would speak, but if you are just starting off, make sure to have a demo project ready and published on www. You could use any of the free tools like word press/blogger to showcase that.
Decide on your rate card - Most of the project owners would like to get the best quality work in minimum price. So do not go with what is offered, of course that again differs with you being a beginner or a pro in the field. So if possible do some market research and know whats the market rate offered for your expertise. You could register on these sites like freelancer.in, odesk,elance to get a rough idea. Or connect via linkedin and talk to people who are already working in this area.
Shortlist and research on companies who could hire you - Just for example if you are good in mobile app development, look out for companies who work in this domain and send them a proposal they cant refuse!
Be Patient - The last point is the most vital and important one, you would not get a good opportunity overnight so you need to be patient and keep trying! You know - there is just one opportunity waiting just for YOU.

I personally tried "n" number of websites to get an opportunity for myself, here are the sites I tried myself and my opinion about them -

naukri.com - You may get calls through this , but clearly mention in the summary that you are looking for a work from home, part-time or freelancing opportunity. Applying to the jobs displayed on naukri.com may not help, and its sheer waste of time.
timesjobs.com, shine.com, monsterindia.com - They are not much of any help! I personally did not get much calls through these sites.
freelancer.in, odesk,elance - These sites are good and you may get lucky [ I wasn't] , but I would not recommend these sites to beginners as the bidding strategy make you feel demotivated. When you see there are already "x" applicants for this project, you are bound to shake a bit. So if possible stay far from these sites.
sheroes.in - The site exclusively for women [ however even men can register] is like a genie to me. It has given me so many projects till date that I should be really grateful to them. You should definitely try it out.
hersecondinnings.com - Again a site exclusive for women, did helped me in getting couple of projects.
doparttime.com - Although their domain exclusively say "doparttime" but I hardly found opportunities on this site.
gharsenaukri.com - Not much of help to me. But they have projects to explore out.
workflexi.in - I guess this venture has just started as there are many issues with the website, but you may try.
craiglist uk and la and other cities - craiglist also is a good option to explore global opportunities, however not all people entertain other country applicants, hence you need to be clear and patient enough with this.
linkedin - Mentioning clearly on your profile that you are looking for a freelancing/part-time opportunities does help.