Work At Home Tips: Don’t Quit Your Job

If you have a job before working from home, don’t quit your job.
If you have a work at home job, don’t quit your job for another.
If you’re starting up a new home business, don’t quit your job.

Why?

Too many people quit before they are ready and they end up scrambling to find money to pay the bills, the rent or put food on the table. Work at home jobs come and go due to whatever reasons companies have and most times it’s unexpected.

Starting a home business whether in direct sales, a freelance writing business or virtual assisting business all takes time to build and there will be money coming out of your pocket before going in your pocket.

If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, there is hope. Sign up with a temp agency and work outside of the home until you can get your feet under you again. If working outside the home is not an option, there are freelance sites like All Freelance Work and Elance. There’s also an online agency called Hire My Mom. (A fee is required.)

As the saying goes, it’s best to diversify your income stream or have more than one egg in your basket and you can do this with these jobs.

Non-Phone Jobs

~Sophia

Vacation or Staycation When You Work At Home

People who don’t work at home think that people who do work from home are on a constant vacation. Hey, I can understand where they are coming from, but I know they are wrong.

Yes I work from home and I have complete control of what I do and when I do it with my business, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a routine or schedule I follow on a daily basis. It’s kind of difficult to reach my target market if they are all sleeping, isn’t it?

With that being said, it equally important to take time off and unplug during the summer months or when you really need it. It’s called balance and we all need balance to function in a healthy way.

You can reduce your hours of work or you can re-arrange your schedule — work 4 hours in the morning and break in the early afternoon or use downtime as filler time to work on the non-computer aspects of your business. Figure out what works for you, but don’t miss out on the fun things life has to offer.

If you can’t take a vacation, then take a staycation and rediscover your hometown with your family and friends.

~Sophia

Beware – Self Professed Home Business Guru’s & Experts

Today I would like to share a home business tip with you that I feel is very important…especially if you are networking and/or doing business online.

When online, you will come across many self-professed work at home experts and guru’s but you need to be careful in who you trust.

I have been networking and working online for 14 years and I can personally tell you that I have run into way too many to count folks who claim to be an expert in home business, business coaching, training, etc. Most of these times, these folks have had NO professional training and ‘think’ that after 1-2 years of running a home business, that it qualifies them to be an expert. As you can see…it is a big problem online.

My tip & advice to you today is this…if you are thinking about buying someone’s ebook, coaching or training services, you really need to check this person out. Ask them for references, educational/training background etc. You can not take their word on it nor can you figure out if they are legit or not.

Anyone can make a name for themself online…good or bad and when it’s bad…it takes some time to come out.

So always proceed with caution & ask for references and check them out before signing up or purchasing anything from home business guru’s or self-proclaimed experts.

Shelly

Work At Home Tip: Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket

One thing I’ve learned about working from home is to never put your eggs into one basket and many people don’t. How do they manage all their jobs? Some people are great multi-taskers and even if you’re not, you adjust to your working schedule.

Depending on your work at home jobs they could be extremely flexible. Besides running my two websites and a couple of blogs, I also ghostwrite and have another smaller gig that doesn’t matter when I complete the job as long as it gets done and if I don’t complete it, I don’t get paid it’s very simple in that way.

Some supplement their primary income with affiliate marketing, a direct sales business or other freelancing jobs. Diversify your income stream as you never know what may happen, but don’t spread yourself out too thin either.

~Sophia

Proper Times To Make Business Phone Calls

As a home business owner myself, I can tell you that I absolutely hate it when I get a business phone call before 8am or after 9pm EST.

What I have learnt over the years is that you should never make any type of customer/business phone calls to a persons home before 8am or after 9pm unless you have that customer/clients permission to do so.

It is perfectly fine for you to accept phone calls any time of the day or night that you see fit…but it’s not okay to call people up at inappropriate times because it ‘fits’ into your business schedule.

Furthermore, If you don’t know the time zone that your customer/client lives in…then your best bet is to try to call mid-day or early evening your time…that way you are not calling too early in the morning or too late at night in their particular time zone. (North America Time Zones)

Nothing will irritate a customer/client more than being waken from bed at 7am to take your call.

When making business calls, use common sense.

Shelly

Work At Home Job Leads: Apr. 2

Customer Service – Researched – Must live in Oregon
Customer Service – Researched. Must live in these States Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Illinois ,Montana, New Hampshire New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, and Virginia
Inside Sales – Must be able to attend training in Columbia, MD
Temp Data Entry – Pick up and return West Berkeley
Technical Recruiter/Sourcer
Business/Technology Freelance Writer
Customer Service Agents – Researched

Have a Happy Easter!

~Sophia

Work At Home Job Leads: Feb.16 Writing Jobs

Writing jobs are still very much in demand. Here are some writing jobs that I think you may be interested in. Just in case you’re not sure what “Unresearched” means. It means I haven’t taken the time to research if the position is legitimate.

Good luck!

Freelance Writer – Unresearched
Firehow How-To Writers – Researched
Witty Los Angeles Writer & Social Maven – Unresearched
Writers – Unresearched
Sports Blogger – Unresearched
Writer/Editor Publishing Support – Bethesda – Unresearched
P/T Freelance Writers – Washington – Unresearched
Freelance Editors – Unresearched
Native-English Essay Writers and Researchers – Unresearched
Freelance Writer – Unresearched
Writers – Unresearched
Freelance WorkKeys Test Question Writers – Unresearched

Have a great week!

~Sophia

Work At Home Job Tip: Use Twitter To Job Hunt

The longer I’m on Twitter the more I discover how you can use Twitter to find a work at home job.

I’m often coming across tweets in my Twitter stream from various people looking for someone to complete a job for them. Not only are there independent owners looking for help, but corporate companies are also using Twitter to find employees or Independent Contractors.

First of all, create a Twitter account. It’s preferable to use your name as your Twitter username if your account is for job hunting. If you have a portfolio online add the URL to the website field and then sell yourself in your bio.

Upload a good and clear photograph of you. Forget the cutesy avatars. If you have time customize your Twitter background and use this added space to include your credentials or experiences.

Start following experts in your niche by using the search function in Twitter. Tweet about what you know so you add value, tweet about telecommuting job news you have read, share tips about your industry and help answer other people’s questions that relate to your field.

You have to be consistent in your networking efforts and you have to engage with your followers. Remain professional at all times and never say anything bad about a previous or current employer or company.

By combining social media sites with your other methods of finding a work at home job it can only be of a greater benefit for you.

~Sophia

Keeping Your Computer Safe While Working From Home

Here are some recommendations in keeping your computer safe while you’re on the Internet.

If you like to use Internet Explorer 7, make sure your security settings in Internet Options are at it safest. Follow these steps:

Click on Tools then Internet Options
Click on the Security tab, then click on Custom Level

You will see: Active X Control and Plug-ins
The following should be Disabled

Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls
Binary and script behaviors
Download signed ActiveX controls
Download unsigned ActiveX controls
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe

Scroll down to Downloads
Automatic prompting for file downloads – Disable

Enable Pop Up Blocker

Scroll down to Scripting
Allow paste operations via script – Disable

Click OK, when done to save the changes.

I recommend using Firefox for your browsing needs. It’s a great standalone and safer browser than Internet Explorer. There are different themes and extensions which you can use to customize it to your needs. You can even view sites in IE with Firefox by downloading the IE extension.

Some telecommuting companies specifically ask for Internet Explorer so make sure you don’t completely get rid of this browser.

Each time you visit a website, a cookie is installed on your computer. There’s nothing wrong with it, but there is a concern for Internet privacy since it can be used to track your browsing behaviour.

Here are my recommended and basic software to download. All are free.

CCleaner – It’s a quick click of a button to delete your online activities. It clears cookies, Internet history, temporary files and more.

Pop Up Stopper – For Internet Explorer you can use Panicware Pop Up Stopper. Although your computer already comes with a pop up blocker, it doesn’t hurt to use two. In Firefox, I recommend downloading the Ad Block Plus extension.

Spyware Blaster – Works like an anti-virus program, but it’s an anti-spyware program. It prevents the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

Zone Alarm Free or Pro – Depending on your needs. The free firewall version works very well.

AVG Free – Free antivirus program. Other popular free antivirus programs are Avast and Avira.

Some other recommended sites to bookmark are:

Trend Micro – It is a free online scan for viruses and spyware.

PC Pit Stop – Free computer checkup and diagnostics can help you detect and fix many common PC problems.

Shields Up! – Internet connection security for Windows users.

~Sophia

Ways To Get Work At Home Job Experience

I think it’s one of the most frustrating things a person can go through. How are you suppose to get job experience if no one will give you a chance?

What I have found when you are looking for a telecommute job, you really do need some skills and or experience. Even if the ad says, “No experience necessary.” you still have to have something.

If working from home is really what you’re looking for, here are some suggestions on how you can gain more experience if you have little or none.

1. Get more education. You have to invest in your learning if you want to get ahead and get good paying work at home jobs. It’s more competitive when you’re looking for a telecommute job because there are not enough jobs and they are many people who are more qualified than you.

Look to your community colleges, community centers or search online. Be careful with the online schools if you’re looking out of your home town.

2. If it’s possible work outside the home for a year. You can count volunteer work as job experience. Keep in mind the job position so you can use this experience for when you start searching for a work at home job.

3. Writing jobs are really out there and you can start in the lower paying companies. I understand that getting paid $5 for an article is very cheap, but you may want to rethink this if you’ve never had anything published before and you’re brand new to writing. Writing is a good way to get experience in something.

4. People hear transcription and they start to freak out. General or legal transcription is your aim and you don’t need any specialized training. You need to have a good ear, fast typing speed and accuracy. It’s something to look into and I recommend having at look at AccuTran Global.com.

5. You can also apply for jobs that don’t require a lot of skill or experience. Granted you won’t be paid big bucks, but you will get experience. Use your own judgement as you don’t want to be working 40+ hours for less than minimum wage.

I always say keep an open mind. There are a variety of ways to work in the comfort of your own home. The question is how open are you to other ideas? Some people are adamant that they don’t want a home business. A home business doesn’t mean you have to sell someone else’s products or services. What are your passions or interests?

Take the time and think about it.

~Sophia

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