Work At Home

Information, resources and tips for work at home jobs, telecommuting, freelance work, home business ideas, and more.  It is a dream for most, as well as a reality for many.  Never before has the work from home option been so possible for many. 

Some common home based businesses include... Data Entry, Document Coding, Virtual Assistants, Legal Transcription, Medical Transcription, Customer Service Reps, Freelance Writers, Proofreaders, Editors, Surveys, Translators, Telemarketers and, Online Tutors.

Advantages are many...

• The personal satisfaction of working for yourself.

• No office politics and distractions.

• No commute, saving time and money.

• Flexibility in your working hours.

• Control and independence in your workday and life.

• Often, the potential for unlimited earnings.

Before you invest your time or money... You must thoroughly analyze the offering.  Many are legitimate, but the majority are useless time wasting scams.  Take the emotion generated by appealing advertisements and web sites out of the equation when analyzing work from home companies.  It is imperative that you remain objective.  Key areas to analyze include:  

• Return on investment

• Money making potential

• Ease of use and implementation

• Privacy Protection

• Customer Service

The right personality and temperament... Working from home, working for yourself, starting a business, or telecommuting is not for everyone.  You should do significant introspection and be brutally honest with yourself as to whether you have certain personal characteristics crucial for successfully running your own business, or working from home.  While this list is not exhaustive, here are some key self assessment items to ponder. 

• Are you internally motivated, a self-starter?

• Do you control your thoughts well?  Are you happy?

• Do you need to be near people or have constant social interaction?

• Are you self-confident?  Are you an even person, level headed?       

• Do you cope well with disappointment, or with success?

• Do you get bored easily?  Are you truly disciplined?

• Are you emotion or logic driven?  Are you realistic?

• Do you ever blame people or events for anything in your life?

• Do you have a do-it-now personality?  Do you procrastinate?

Some tips to get started... These will not guarantee success, but they are some basics that should be adhered to.  Remember, if working from home or running your own business was easy, everyone would be doing it.

• Set goals, especially daily.  Have an agenda and focus on key success tasks, not busy work.

• You must avoid being distracted.  Taking personal phone calls, flipping on the TV, browsing irrelevant websites, will get you nowhere, fast.

• Know when to stop and take a break.  Work hard, but realize that it is imperative for mental functioning and creativity to schedule time to relax.

• Do not go it alone.  Join professional groups or relevant associations, subscribe to magazines, newsletters, or message boards.

• Have an appropriate designated workspace that is going to be used for work purposes only. 

• Keep your work area and computer very well organized with no clutter.

• Decide what equipment, software, hardware, etc. you need.  You probably do not need the best fax, printer, copier, etc. money can buy.

• Have a schedule, and stick to it.  To be successful, you must avoid performing tasks during the day that are not key to your business.