There are lots of ways to make money at home. Two of the more unusual ways are adult entertainment ‘telephone actresses’ and ‘webcam models’ jobs.

We’re not going to make a value judgement about the moral, ethical, religious, or philosophical issue involved. But we will warn you about the financial issues.

First, there are very few women who make good money at it. You have to have acting talent, for starters. And you have to have the self-discipline and stamina to do it all day long. A common misconception about work at home jobs is that you can make lots of money and do very little work. That’s not true in general, and it’s not true in this case.

Sure, if you Google the terms you’ll find stories about women that “made big bucks in an online career.” Naturally you won’t find stories about all those that didn’t. You’ll also find lots of stories about rock stars too, but you won’t find many about the people that play their hearts out and never make it.

Second, how do you know you’ll get paid after all your hard work? Because sex is a dirty word for some people, sexual activity tends to end up in seedy districts in real life and online. And those areas tend to attract seedy characters. Add the anonymity of the web, and you may find yourself working for unidentifiable and dishonest people that pay you only a fraction of what you deserve, if at all.

Third, just because you have a phone or a webcam doesn’t mean you’re equipped to get down to business. Even if you think you’re sexy, some training is still required. Do you know what it takes to keep customers coming back, for example? One outfit recommends that you watch other girls at work. But, of course, you pay the going rate for that.

Like other online business opportunities, the bottom line is

“buyer beware.”

UPDATE: Britain has banned employers looking for sexy web-cam performers from placing ads on government funded job centers.”We shouldn’t put vulnerable people in an environment where they’re exposed to these types of jobs and could feel under pressure to work in the sex industry,” Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said in a statement. The government plans legislation to protect vulnerable jobseekers from feeling they have to consider jobs that they are not comfortable with, according to the statement.

Jobs “that involve the direct sexual stimulation of others” will not be allowed at the government job centers because public money should not support work according to Grayling. However, they will continue to advertise other types of vacancies in the adult entertainment sector, such as cleaning jobs in striptease clubs.