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November 1, 2021

How a Social Media Manager Can Help Reduce Your Stress and Make Your Online Presence Soar

As a business owner, you have a full plate. Chances are some of the things on that plate include managing your social media accounts and conducting promotions. Social media promotions are the lifeblood of many businesses. They also require time and expertise and may not be your strongest suit or even an area of interest.

You can’t quit social media. But, you can hire a social media manager to make your life easier and increase the quality and effectiveness of your social media presence. If you think that sounds expensive or like a lot of work, hear us out about how bringing a social media manager onto your team can reduce your stress and workload while changing your online presence for the better and creating meaningful results for your business.

The Basics

There are four main steps to running a social media promotion. At a high level that includes:

  • Setting goals for the promotion.
  • Creating an offer and making a plan.
  • Communicating the offer.
  • Assessing your results.

Let’s look at how a social media manager can enhance each of these areas for better results.

Setting goals

Ideally, your social media promotions will drive more business, reach new customers, and cement loyalty with your base. Because it’s essential to identify what you want to achieve at the outset of any communication activity, goal setting is the first step for online promotions.

As you embark on a promotion, your goals may vary. For example, your goal could be expansive–like attracting 500 new followers. Or, it may be specific, like selling a certain number of products within a particular time frame. Either way, setting clear goals for the promotion is the first step.

When you work with a social media manager, the goal-setting process grows and is more expansive. You’ll work together to take a broader look at your social media presence and think about where you want to go in the short- and long term.

The social media manager can create an overall social media strategy that broadly supports you based on your business and growth goals. Often, the strategy will include promotions with specific goals aimed at particular audiences and in distinct timeframes. 

For example, a social media strategy may span six months and have four promotions across three different platforms. One of the promotions may be aimed at attracting new followers and one may seek to reward your best customers with a special offer. Each requires a different approach, which the social media manager can identify.  

As part of goal setting, the social media manager will set specific desired metrics for each promotion. The metrics serve two purposes. 

  • Helping the social media manager develop the right tactics to share the message and refine her approach over time. 
  • Providing a view into how different promotions perform. This knowledge can drive decisions on future promotions and provide important insight into what matters to your customers.

Creating an Offer and Making a Plan

The next step in social media promotion is to create an offer. Many business owners have a feel for the types of promotions that move their business forward and often return to the same well when creating new promotions. While this approach can be practical for a while, in the fast-moving environment of social media, these promotions can fall flat and stop delivering.

When you work with a social media manager, she will include your preferences and historical offerings into the planning process. But, she also has the skill set to create new and different types of promotions that can help keep your content fresh.

With insight into the types of social media campaigns that other companies are doing and knowing more about how those efforts are working, a social media manager can identify the promotions that make the most sense based on your objectives. She can also explain the ins and outs of the process based on her experience.

In addition, she will bring you new promotional ideas–some of which may push the envelope beyond your comfort level. But, it’s still helpful to have a sense of the universe of promotional opportunities and see where the market is going.

Once the two of you agree on a strategy and goals, your social media manager will create a calendar of promotions and posts aimed at realizing your goals. 

Part of this process includes selecting the right platform for your message. Social media managers understand the nuances of different social media sites. So, they can conduct detailed audience analysis to determine which social platforms are most attractive to your customers while creating plans to develop new audiences. 

The calendar will include plans for optimizing your posts with keywords and the right hashtags so people can find your company and see your promotions. 

The calendar may also include opportunities for paid posts to boost your exposure at crucial inflection points and with specific audiences. In some cases, your social media manager may recommend a partnership with a key influencer.

Your social media manager will look across the plan to ensure brand consistency across platforms to ensure your promotion consistently reflects the right tone. And, she will make sure that the timing of each promotion makes sense and fits into the broader plan.

Communicating the Offer

When communicating the offer, a good social media manager does the heavy lifting. She will move into creative mode to produce the media used to share your message and the specifics of your offer. This can include:

  • Developing social media content, such as writing posts, taking photos, making graphs, creating memes, and developing infographics.
  • Creating video scripts, sourcing talent, and producing video work.
  • Finding related content that can be cross-promoted through your sites.
  • Updating your company’s profile pages to reflect the latest information about your promotions.
  • Responding to comments and posts on your behalf. This includes answering questions and sharing regular updates with you in a summary.
  • Integrating customer data from other platforms and other social media sites and using email and website traffic to ensure that your promotion and message find the right audience.

 

Assessing Your Results

At the end of each promotion, your social media manager can analyze engagement across platforms. She will determine how each post performed and tie that work back to the goals established at the beginning of the project. 

If posts or promotions are falling short of goals–or if something is taking off–she can adjust the plan and the calendar to keep you moving in the right direction.

At specific time increments, your social media manager will sit down with you to discuss progress and help set new goals.

Finding a Social Media Manager

Working with a social media manager doesn’t have to be expensive. Many excellent social media managers work as contractors and find clients through niche sites such as HireMyMom. 

If you can offer flexibility and a remote job opportunity, you are well-positioned to find an experienced resource who can help your business grow and make your social media content sing.

When you use HireMyMom, you have access to a dedicated pool of professionals looking for remote work. Because HireMyMom charges job seekers a fee to access job listings, all our job seekers are serious about finding work. And, the volume of resumes that flow in is more manageable than the numbers that arrive when jobs are advertised on free job sites.

Tell us About Your Experience

We’d love to hear about your experience working with a social media manager. Please drop us a line and let us know how the partnership changed your social media presence and helped you realize your goals. 

 

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October 28, 2021

HireMyMom Success Story: Nicole Smith

Tell us about you and your experience finding work on HireMyMom

Once I decided I was going to change my career path to work from home, I spent the time creating my account and really being mindful of my skills and what I’m able to offer others. I checked in daily and applied for jobs as they came through. I did a few zoom interviews with some very nice people. I was lucky because within a few weeks I had a part-time job offer which actually turned into a full-time job within about a month. I’m now able to work from the comfort of my beautiful home office, no more fluorescent lights 🙂

What are your top tips for landing a job or jobs on HireMyMom.com?

My best advice for landing a new gig is to spend the time really filling in your profile and don’t be afraid to show your personality. Also, finding a job isn’t going to happen overnight, so patience is needed. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the career coaches and other resources to help you.

What piece of advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of your work from home journey?

The transition can be a little scary and stressful so make sure you have good organizational skills and processes in place, that will make the transition into your new normal much smoother.

What do you see as your greatest success in life?

I’m VERY introverted and this journey has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone but that’s ok because it’s worth it.  I am actively searching for more opportunities as well!

 

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October 25, 2021

Four Powerful Habits to Boost Productivity and Get More Done Each Day

As moms, we understand the power of habits. We develop habits to help our families keep moving. We encourage our children to develop good habits as they grow. The habits we depend on make it possible for us to keep many balls in the air while guiding our children to adulthood with support and direction. 

When you work from home, habits can serve the same purpose in your professional life. Key productivity habits can help make your days easier.

Over the years, the HireMyMom team has observed the habits of highly productive and organized work-from-home moms. Here, we share their habits with you.

 

Set Goals Early and Often

In Stephen Covey’s famous and bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he advises “to begin with the end in mind.” In our experience, starting with that view when approaching your work from a home office can help move the needle on productivity. Having a clear destination helps to keep you on track. Knowing your goals enables you to make decisions that support your overall objectives.

We tend to think of goal setting as an annual affair. While it’s true that a yearly cycle can help you develop longer-term goals, one habit we often see in successful work-at-home moms is that they set goals regularly and often in multiple time increments.

For example, if you have a big project due in 30 days, finishing it could be a goal for the month. Breaking the project down into smaller weekly and daily tasks provides shorter-term goals that can make your work more productive and help guide your decisions around the actions that will help you realize your goals. 

For best results, write your goals down. Research shows you are 42% more likely to achieve goals if you write them down.

 

Make a List

There’s nothing better than creating a to-do list and then crossing items off as you complete them. And, for moms who work at home, regularly creating a to-do list is an essential tool and an important habit.

There are many ways to make a list–you can use pen and paper, dash off an online list, or use a phone-based app. The important thing here is to take all the tasks rattling around in your brain and dump them into one place that’s easy to access and quick to read.

Here’s a low-tech approach we often see used and many find effective.

  • Treat yourself to a fun or pretty notebook and designate it for keeping all your lists and notes together.
  • Write your long-term goals on the inside cover and any pertinent information that you need regularly but don’t always remember on the back cover.
  • Draw a line down the middle of a fresh page each day. At the top, write “work” on top of the left column and “personal” on the right side. 
  • Assign tasks into each category. This method differentiates personal and professional tasks, which helps you be more efficient when you sit down to work.
  • Fill in the tasks that you aim to achieve that day, using your goals as a guide. 
  • Place the most important jobs at the top of the list or put a star next to them, so they draw your attention.
  • Enjoy crossing items off as you complete them.

 

Establish a Routine

As a mom, you know that babies and children thrive on comfortable routines. As a work-from-home mom, a routine can help you feel a greater sense of control over your life and time. Knowing what comes next and when makes much of your day easier because you don’t have to stop and think about each step. Instead, you fall into a daily rhythm that helps you thrive.

Many work-related routines fall away when you work from home–there’s no commute, you don’t have to get dressed or pack a lunch. While that has a beautiful quality, it also eliminates powerful signals to your brain that it’s time to work.

As a work-from-home mom, create new routines to set the stage for productivity. Here are some ideas to establish a routine:

  • Set specific work hours and honor them as much as you can. 
  • Batch your work by dividing your day into increments for doing certain things. For example, start each day by checking your email for 30 minutes. Then move on to a block of time dedicated to project-based tasks.
  • Use a timer to help keep you on track. For example, if you designate 30 minutes for email, use a timer to help ensure that email responses don’t eat up a block of time set for another task. As your routine falls into place, you won’t need the timer as much because you will feel the transition times as they approach–that’s part of the power of a routine.
  • Set aside break times to connect with a colleague through slack or gchat or walk around for a few minutes–just like you would in the office.

If you find Mondays particularly difficult, check out these tips to start your work week off right.

 

Develop Rituals

It’s tough to transition out of mom mode and right into professional mode without taking a few minutes to reset. 

When you work outside the home, preparing for the day and completing your commute are rituals that help you with the transition. But, when your commute is just a few steps down the hall, you lose that time and process.

Developing a few short rituals to ease the transition can make you feel fully present as you start your workday and can help increase your productivity. Here are a few suggestions to help create rituals to begin your workday:

  • Pour a cup of coffee.
  • Sip it as your walk around the block.
  • Listen to a short podcast related to your work.
  • Check your goals as you sit down at your desk to ground yourself in the day’s tasks.

At the end of each workday, rituals can help you transition back into mom mode. When you wrap up your workday, try:

  • Closing any open documents on your desktop.
  • Review your to-do list and cross out any completed tasks.
  • Make a few notes for the next day.
  • Close your eyes for two minutes and reflect on the day. Try to leave any stress behind.
  • Shut your office door, physically or metaphorically, as you leave work for the day

Share!

Tell us the habits that you depend on to maximize productivity.

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October 18, 2021

Turn Your Idea Into a Supercharged Business With These Four Easy Steps

While making dinner or driving carpool, many thoughts likely go through your head. If one (or more) of them includes a new business idea, congratulations-you have the heart and mind of an entrepreneur (and a momtrepreneur)!

The business you are considering can be anything–it doesn’t have to be a wholly unique new product. Perhaps, you’d like to put your top-notch project management or administrative skills to use by launching a virtual assistant business.

Or, maybe you know you’d like to work for yourself and are thinking of launching a business that fills a need in your community–like a dog walker or child care provider. 

Whatever your interest, the next step is taking the idea and making it happen. So, how do you take the kernel of an idea or a desire to hang out your own shingle and turn it into a full-fledged business? 

While the prospect may seem overwhelming, a few initial steps can quickly put you on the road to success. The HireMyMom team talks with successful entrepreneurs looking for help every day. Here, we distill what we hear from them into four easy-to-follow initial steps to get you started with whatever business you are considering.

 

Talk About It

It’s exciting to consider launching a new business, and it’s fun to talk about your vision. So, the first step is easy–talk with trusted friends, family members and other advisors about your idea. Share the big picture you have in your head and get their reaction to it. Encourage them to ask questions and poke holes so you can refine your plan and create a clear vision of what you want to do.

We encourage you to seek out the enthusiastic and skeptical for this step. In this phase, it’s crucial to have a wide variety of input, and each perspective will help you get a better sense of how you can massage your idea for the best chance at success.

That said, establish a timeline for this phase–probably two to three weeks. That gives you time to have many conversations and chew over different ideas but still lets you move forward with the plan in a timely manner.

 

Conduct Research

Next, embark on a research project. The goal is threefold:

  • Find out what other businesses are operating in your space–this is called market research.
  • Determine where your business fits in–this is called competitive analysis.
  • Learn about any permit or licensing requirements to open and operate your business. Knowing about any required permits or licenses can help you avoid potentially costly situations down the road.

The information taken together can help you refine your business plan and position you for success.

Start with market research. Aim to learn more about other, similar businesses. Ask potential customers what they are looking for and what they value in the service. Find how much they charge and what their customers think of the service. Ask potential customers what service is missing from the current mix. Find out more about the demand for your product or service.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers a helpful guide for conducting market research before launching a business. 

Next, perform a competitive analysis to determine how your business will fill a niche. For example, you may decide to offer a twist on a product or service to make your business stand out and solve a problem you saw in the marketplace. For example, if you were thinking about a child care business, you might learn that parents are looking for evening care during your research. As a result, you may decide to offer child care after traditional business hours to cater to families who need help in the evenings or on weekends. 

Or, you might learn that the only infant night nurse within 50 miles is cutting back her workload and the need for that service exceeds what the market offers. You might then steer your business toward short-term overnight care so new moms can get some sleep. You could offer to do laundry while on duty as a way to make your business stand out.

In some cases, you may find that the area you are considering is currently underserved, and standard product offerings plus availability are enough to get your business off the ground quickly. 

For example, in your research, you may find that a shortage of qualified administrative assistants has local accounting firms struggling to return calls and schedule meetings. In that case, you might tailor your virtual assistant business, so you cater to industries with high demand.

Or, maybe you are considering a pet-based service, and you learn that there aren’t enough dog walkers in your neighborhood now that people are heading back to work. You’ve found a gap that you can easily step into to meet the need. 

Market research and competitive analysis are both necessary because they position you for success by uncovering your competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

 

Write a Plan

Next, craft a business plan and put it in writing. Your business plan doesn’t need to be MBA thesis-worthy. You can use an online template from sites like hubspot or the balance small business. 

If that’s not your style, you can write the plan out on a piece of notebook paper or pull up a document on your laptop. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers helpful tips for writing a business plan.

Generally, your business plan can be as comprehensive as you desire. But, at a minimum, it should reflect the basics elements of your idea. 

Start by documenting your vision, hashing out your overall mission and the details of the product or service you plan to provide. Peer into the future and include an aspirational statement to help you guide you along the way.

Suppose you are launching a virtual assistant business. In that case, your vision may look like this: Start a virtual assistant business that focuses on calendar management, customer callbacks and spreadsheet support for small business owners in the real estate industry. Over five years, grow business sufficiently to add three part-time employees providing similar services.

From there, your business plan should answer these questions:

  • What is the name of the business?
  • Who does this business serve? 
  • How will I find customers?
  • How will they know about my service?
  • What’s the competition?
  • What’s my competitive advantage?
  • What obstacles might I face?
  • How much does this product/service cost the customer?
  • How will I staff this business to meet the demand?
  • Do I need money to launch this? How much? How will I get it?
  • What are my promotional plans?

 

Then, set a few short and long-term objectives to help you move along. Many people find that creating specific action plans with deadlines helps them set and achieve goals. Make sure your goals are SMART, that is, specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely.

 

Make It Official!

Armed with your great idea, backed by research and fueled by the concepts documented in your business plan, it’s time to get moving. 

Complete any legal and tax forms required to launch your business. You can find guidelines for selecting a business structure and instructions for getting federal and state tax ID numbers from the Small Business Association. The NOLO website offers low-cost legal forms.

Line up support to help ensure your success. While the specific support you need will vary by business type, some likely sources of support include:

  • A banker who can help you set up a small business account and offer basic bookkeeping guidance.
  • A mentor who has small business experience and can guide you as you launch, run and grow your business. Check out the Small Business Development Center for information about programs sponsored by the federal Small Business Association. They offer specific counseling for women-owned businesses.
  • A community of like-minded business people to share in the joys and struggles.

 

Call Us

The HireMyMom team can’t wait to hear about your success! When you are ready to find a work-from-home mom to supplement your staff, or you have an opportunity to give a budding, at-home professional some work, visit HireMyMom.com to find the resource you need.

 

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October 11, 2021

How to Make Money from Home and Save on Childcare

At HireMyMom, we work with mom professionals at every stage of their motherhood journey. We have moms with newborns considering their professional options and mothers with kids entering college who love working at home and can’t imagine any other way of working. 

One of the most common questions we hear from mom professionals with young children considering working from home is: can I work at home without childcare? And, we get it! Childcare is expensive, it can be tough to arrange, and using it can be a source of stress. 

The answer is that it depends on lots of factors. Let’s dig into what’s possible, based on our experience working with thousands of mom professionals as well as employers who seek them.

A General Rule of Thumb

If you have young children who aren’t old enough to go to school, you can probably work about ten hours a week without childcare. Any more than that is difficult because your kids need your attention just like your work. 

Without childcare, squeezing in those ten hours will take creativity and discipline. Many moms who work from home with little kids rise early to knock out work before their family wakes up. Others burn the midnight oil, and some are committed to working every second of nap time. Some moms establish routines that include specific hands-off kid activities that allow them to work while the kids keep themselves busy. 

The great news is that HireMyMom offers many part-time opportunities that can work with this schedule. But, if you find that you want more hours, you can likely find a part-time childcare situation that meets your needs and your budget.

Finding Part-Time Childcare

The prospect of finding high-quality, full-time child care can be daunting. But, there are several ways to find part-time child care, perfect for work-from-home moms. Here are some ideas:

  • Ask nearby family members if they are willing to commit to helping a few hours one or two days a week. 
  • Share childcare duties with another work-from-home mom who has similar needs. Take turns on kid duty a few hours each day or every other day, giving each set of adults a chance to work kid-free and the kids a chance to play with friends.
  • See if local churches offer a mother’s day out program where you can enroll your children and establish a regular work time while the kids attend the program.
  • Consider a preschool program that your kids attend a few mornings a week. Many pre-schools offer a session that meets from 9 to noon. Usually, you can pick the number of days your child attends, choosing between two and five-day programs.
  • Enroll your kids in a sports camp that meets a few times each week and work while they attend. 
  • Look for a local high school or community college student who could provide a few hours of support each week. Community college students often have a few free hours midday between classes, which can be ideal if you are looking for mid-day care.
  • Ask a neighbor to consider swapping tasks with you–trading a few hours of child care for a service you’d be happy to provide like shopping, cooking, or organizing.

Need More Childcare?

If you need more hours of child care than these ideas provide, consider partnering with another family (or two) to hire a shared nanny. This is an excellent solution if you both need a fair amount of childcare but don’t want to use a child care center or commit to a full-time child care provider. 

There are many ways to split the nanny’s time. One option is arranging different days/hours but ensuring the nanny will have a set number of work hours each week. Or, you could arrange to have the nanny take all the kids to alternating houses throughout the week. This type of setup makes it easier to find a professional, full-time nanny without having to shoulder the expense on your own.

If you go this route, do the work upfront to make the arrangement successful. Start by agreeing on a general framework for hours and days at the outset. This type of arrangement works better when everyone is on the same page in terms of schedules. But, be prepared to be flexible, as schedules and needs can change. 

Also, talk with the other family about general expectations for kid behavior and activities while the nanny is in charge. For example, will kids watch television with the nanny? Do you expect the nanny to supervise while the kids play or actively engage them in activities? Many nannies provide light housekeeping services like dishes and laundry. So, map out expectations in those realms, too. Discussing these topics in advance can ensure a smoother partnership.

Another idea: Invest in Yourself

Many moms with young children use the time when their kids are tiny to take training classes and launch a virtual assistant (VA) business. As a VA, you take care of many tasks, including email response, appointment setting, travel planning, and calendar management. These businesses are flexible and can be scaled as your family life changes and your children grow. 

VA work is catching on quickly. You can work as a general VA who does a wide variety of tasks or become one with a specialty in a particular industry or need. It’s a great business model because it solves a problem so many people have — squeezing more tasks into a day. It’s also an excellent lifestyle for moms who want to control their own time while keeping professional ambitions alive. 

At HireMyMom, we’ve partnered with four different training programs to help our members learn more about this business opportunity and acquire the skills needed to launch a VA business.

Find support

No matter how much you love your kids or how much you love your job, it can be tough to be a working mom. Join our Community of moms working from home and share your struggles, ideas, or best tips for managing child care and connecting with other moms like you.

 

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October 4, 2021

Great Leaders Share These Five Traits–Here’s a Peek and Their Secrets to Success

When you lead a team, you set the tone and establish the tenor. Strong leaders know that what they say and do can change the trajectory of a team’s future. As the owner of a small business, you are the leader for that business–and chances are you have a lifetime of leadership experience to call upon and guide your interactions.

But, when you lead a virtual team, the equation changes. Your leadership must be tweaked to ensure your efforts travel over the miles to guide, inspire and lift up your employees.

At HireMyMom, people leading businesses with workers spread far and wide across the country, spanning multiple time zones, inspire us each day. 

Sages have shared millions of words about the traits of effective leaders and how those traits translate to leading virtual teams. Along the way, we’ve noticed a handful of consistent traits and habits among those who do it well. Here’s a roundup of our observations.

 

A Long and Wide View

Vision is an essential trait of a remote leader. An effective leader looks further and broader than her team or business to see the bigger picture. This perch gives her a peek at upcoming trends–and issues–before others see them and provides the advantage of acting sooner rather than later. 

In many cases, this translates to being prepared to leverage new business opportunities. Sometimes this comprehensive view helps a leader spy a weak spot on the team and act before an issue develops.

John Maxwell, author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership, says that having the ability to see more than others before others allows great leaders tremendous advantages. One of the benefits of this skill is that great leaders can move into a cycle of test, fail, and improve. This cycle is a crucial component to keep businesses growing and reaching new heights of success. 

When you lead a virtual team, acquiring the vision that drives the success cycle takes special care and commitment. In our experience, openness to feedback, industry engagement, and frequent team communication help open this field of vision for business owners. Attend webinars, go to conferences and keep the lines of communication wide open. Overall, aim to be approachable and broadcast that you want to hear from people and welcome all ideas.

 

Authenticity

Authenticity is one of the characteristics that we often see among highly effective leaders. Those who inspire others embody the qualities and habits they promote. And, more importantly, they model those qualities and practices in public and private ways.

Team members see this match in words and deeds and find inspiration.  It’s easier to follow along when team members know their leader really believes in something and isn’t just paying lip service. This creates cohesive teams. 

It can be challenging to show team members these qualities when leading a virtual team because of limited in-person interactions. However, in our experience, leader authenticity still shines through the phone, email, and instant messaging- it just shows in subtler ways. For example, meeting with people individually by phone or video chat, sharing your enthusiasm and honest assessment as you discuss projects, providing constructive criticism, and jumping in to help when team members struggle are ways to show authenticity. 

Another way you can exhibit authenticity as a remote leader is to share positive stories and anecdotes about company culture when you talk with your team. It can be tempting to gripe, especially with a long-term team member. But, the best leaders of remote teams make a point to share their beliefs and positive messages with gusto. 

 

Building People to Build Business

Maxwell says that great leaders intentionally add value to people through skill development, and that’s been our experience, too. Great leaders see potential in people and invest in them so they grow. At HireMyMom, we see this in action when employers call us to replace a person who has grown into a new role at the business.

Investing in skill development for your team is good for people and business. Employees who know they are valued stick around and tend to be fiercely loyal to the leaders who helped them grow.

Looking at a team member and knowing how and where to invest in development can be trickier when managing a remote team. Mark Murphy, author of “Leadership IQ,” suggests that leaders of remote teams look for ways to extend their energy to be more open to coaching and meeting with employees across time zones. He says that leaders who successfully manage remote teams are “indefatigable” when it comes to coaching team members. If you find your energy waning, he suggests building breaks and flexibility into your day, so you have more time and energy for working with team members.

Also, this is an area where vision matters. Having a wide and long view helps you find the right people and invest in cultivating the right skills. 

 

Big Love

Great leaders love their people and value them deeply. This doesn’t mean they are never unhappy with their team’s work or never have a challenging employment situation. 

Instead, it means that great leaders know their people and share common ground as a way to connect. In some cases, leaders and team members connect over personal matters first, sharing experiences about parenthood, hobbies, or pets. That connection quickly spills over to a shared purpose around the business. 

When you lead virtual teams, take the time to connect with your people and show that you care about them and value them as people and team members. Your remote team members need as much–if not more–encouragement than those who you see regularly. There are several ways to do this. For example, discuss big projects as opportunities and help to paint the long-term vision. 

Remember that remote workers aren’t surrounded by a team, and it can be difficult for them to put mistakes into perspective without the benefit of seeing in-person reactions. When things don’t go as planned, show support by acknowledging the problem and providing assurance that you have faith in the employee or the team. For example, consider saying something like, “that project did not go as planned” when a mistake happens. Then, you can provide perspective by saying: “while we are all disappointed, I know you gave it your all. I’m certain that we will learn from this and get back on track. We will work together to make it happen.” 

These types of reassurances can help team members feel valued and appreciated.

 

Courage

All teams and businesses–no matter how well run–eventually experience challenges. And, when those challenges pop up, whether they are big or small, great leaders exhibit courage. 

When thinking of leader courage, we are reminded of the old saying that no one ever drifted to their desired location. Indeed, success is a road–sometimes a long one. Travelers need the grit to traverse the trail, and those travelers need a strong leader to drive and encourage. When leaders exhibit courage in the face of adversity, team members notice.

When leading a remote team, courage comes in a lot of forms. Sometimes, it means sharing constructive feedback that might be sensitive. In other cases, it means changing business directions or revamping teams. But, when leaders display courage, teams can solve problems, come together and thrive in the future.

Challenge yourself to be brave by practicing in everyday situations, like sharing constructive feedback or trying new ideas. This experience can prove valuable when things go sideways, and you need to dig deep to find all the courage. 

 

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The small business owners and entrepreneurs we see leading teams each day inspire us. And, we never get tired of hearing your stories. Tell us what leadership qualities make you an effective leader. Your observations and tips for growing leadership skills help us learn more and share what we see with others.

 

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September 27, 2021

Want to Work From Home? Answer These Six Questions First

As a busy mom, one thing you may be considering is if a work-at-home job is right for you. We suspect this is on your mind whether you work now or have been away from the workforce. As more and more companies offer work-from-home opportunities and your family life and personal goals change, it’s natural to wonder if this is an approach that could help you find the sweet spot between income, professional ambitions, and family responsibilities.

Like so many areas of motherhood, there are many important considerations as you ponder whether or not an at-home job fits your life. In our experience, concerns generally fall into three main categories–personal, family, and professional. 

At HireMyMom, our team totally understands these questions. We want to help you by creating a framework that makes it easier to answer the question of whether or not you’d like to work from home.

So, we’ve pulled together this list of questions every mom can ask herself before deciding whether an at-home job is a good fit. Think of this blog as your personal “Ask Alexa” as you wrestle with this important question. Here, we break down the questions to ask yourself as you search your heart on this important decision.

 

Personal Considerations

Let’s start with the personal part because, ultimately, this is a decision that will affect you more than anyone else. Working from home can be a radically different way of life–many people love it right off the bat, others warm up to it, and some find that it’s not the right approach for them.

There’s no right or wrong answer, and there are many layers to consider. But, here are three good questions for you to consider as you think about whether working from home is right for you.

How do you feel about being at home more/most of the time? If you are familiar with the routine of going to an office each day, suddenly working from home can be a significant change, and some people find it jarring. 

  • COVID-19 provided many of us with a preview of working from home. While you may have a good sense of how you’ll feel, knowing    that being at home is a more permanent situation may change the equation for you. So, it’s worth considering how you will feel if you    have no office or work location to go to when you need a break from the house.                                                                                                         
  • Here are some specific things to consider. Will you miss getting dressed up? Would missing out on your commute make you sad? Do you have sufficient friends and social support systems outside the office to stave off the loneliness that can come from working at home?

Do you have a sound time management system? When you work at home, it can be challenging to manage your time because many traditional time markers disappear. There’s no ritual of getting ready, no commute, no coffee run, no customary chats with a co-worker to ground you at the start of each day. And, with no office to get to, no boss standing by, and family obligations easily visible from your workspace, it can be challenging to organize your tasks and time in a way that lets you be successful. 

  • For others, working from a home office makes it easy to let work slide into the nooks and crannies of life. When that happens, some at-home workers find that work takes a larger swath of time and leads to an unsustainable lifestyle.                                                                        
  • Ask yourself: How will you find the discipline and motivation to work each day? How will you organize your day into intentional blocks of time where you can work? Can you turn off your work brain when it’s time to move on to a family-related task? Will the temptation be too strong to focus on other things? One way to think of this is to consider if you’d rather fold laundry or work on a project. If you say fold laundry or you aren’t sure, working at home could be more of a struggle for you, and you may want to do more exploration before you jump in.

Do you have a place to work? Or, can you find one? Working from home is still work and having a place to focus makes it much easier to be successful. We find that the most successful at-home workers have a dedicated space to do work. It can be a complete home office, a desk tucked into the corner of your living room, or a bag that holds your work materials and gets popped up when and where you need it. The point of identifying a space is that it helps put you in the right mindset to get to work. 

  • So, look around your house and see if you can carve out some space to call your own. What’s needed to turn that area into a workspace?

Family Considerations

As a mom, your family situation will weigh on your ability to transition to working from home. Talking your plans over with your spouse is an excellent way to assess whether or not your family is ready for you to work at home. These questions can also help you plan a transition to working from home.

  • How does your budget look? Working at home can save you money. But, it can also cost a little in the short term as you make the transition. To assess how you may fare in this equation, consider how much money you might save by not commuting, buying work clothes, and paying for other expenses related to work.
  • Then, consider the costs involved in setting up a home office. Do you need to purchase a computer? A desk? A printer? Upgrade your internet service? Finally, take a look at the pay you are likely to earn from a work-at-home job and run the numbers with your spouse.
  • What’s your childcare situation, and how does it affect your ability to work? The question of childcare often is framed as one that affects younger kids more than older kids. But, as your kids get older, the times and ways they need you change substantially.
  • For example, if your kids are in middle school, your afternoons may include lots of driving around. That could limit the types of jobs you are available to do, or the hours you can work.
  • Conversely, if you have very young children, you may find that you have a good chunk of work time in the afternoon during nap time and again in the evening. Consider whether your kids are at school all day. If they are too young for school or if you homeschool, think about what that means for your ability to work.
  • You can involve older children in this conversation and discuss times when they may manage on their own while you work. If your kids are younger and you think you may need childcare, explore your options for finding it as part of your consideration process.

 

Professional Considerations

As you think about transitioning to a work-from-home lifestyle, the type of work you are interested in is an important consideration and likely to drive many of your decisions. In terms of professional concerns, there’s one main question to consider: what are your professional goals? 

Work can be a significant source of identity for many moms. For others, career considerations are not that important. But, thinking about professional goals makes it easier to determine what you want out of a job. There are several ways to answer this question, and the answer could vary at different points in your life. 

For example, if you have an established profession, do you want to continue to work in the same field but move to an at-home job? Or, would you prefer to make a change to something new? 

Maybe, you don’t have professional ambitions but would like to find a job that provides additional income or lets you engage a new or different part of your brain each day.

Or, perhaps you’ve always wanted to start a business and want to use this time to launch something. 

All of these answers are valid and offer great opportunities for working at home. Knowing how you answer this question can help you find the right work-at-home opportunity that aligns with your professional goals.

If you aren’t sure what you want to do or how your skills may translate to different types of jobs,  HireMyMom offers resources to help.

Ready to move forward?

If all this soul searching has you sure you are ready to work from home, it’s time to find the right partner in your job search journey.

Join HireMyMom to have exclusive access to a curated list of legitimate work-from-home jobs. Moms love us because they know all applications are going to real businesses looking for help. Employers love us because they know they can find high-quality, highly motivated candidates who want to work from home. 

 

 

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September 20, 2021

How to Save Money, Attract Talent and Grow Your Business Like a Pro

As a savvy small business owner, you are always looking for new ways to gain a business advantage. One option you may be considering is moving to a fully remote workforce. For many businesses–large and small–this move makes a lot of sense.

As the labor market tightens, a fully remote workforce can make it easier for you to source high-quality candidates from across the country. Also, offering remote work leads to greater flexibility, which can mean greater productivity and increased retention. Finally, if your entire team is offsite, you can save money by cutting back on or eliminating office space.

Whether you dipped a toe into the remote office waters during the COVID-related closures or if it’s new to you, a few key strategies can make it easier for your business to thrive. Here are our top tips from the team at HireMyMom.

 

Build the Right Team

Many people–especially moms–love working from home. The right people make it easier for your to build a remote team that works. 

Before moving to a remote work model, talk with your current employees and explain your plans. Outline the vision you have and give people a chance to share their thoughts.

If you need to add to your team or find new team members, your best bet is to search for those who are actively looking for jobs that can be done from home. Using a platform like HireMyMom is a great way to source qualified candidates specifically looking for remote work. You can find and hire a team member who’s located anywhere with good internet access–which can save you time and money.

If the prospect of a nationwide search daunts you, consider our concierge service to help reduce the amount of leg work you need to do. We created HireMyMom’s Concierge service for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process.

With our full-service Concierge service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you from start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s). 

 

Let Communication Flow

Effective communication can be a challenge when your team moves from on-site to remote. The challenge is on two fronts–keep track of the work and maintain the critical relationships that connect staff members to you and each other and make it easier to work through issues, solve problems and innovate.

When you are accustomed to leaning over for a quick, impromptu chat, it can feel unnatural when you can’t do that. And, if you use email for all your conversations and requests, reading and responding to email can quickly take over your workday. 

As teams move offsite, it’s easy for you and your team members to feel isolated from each other and miss the cues and camaraderie that comes with being together in the office. Trust is an essential element for remote teams, and relationships build trust. 

Luckily, there are many ways to keep the lines of communication open and nourish the relationships among co-workers. Here are options we’ve seen work well to keep teams connected, talking, and growing:

  • Host stand-up calls where everyone joins to share updates. Timing can vary, with most happening either daily or Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Weekly can work, too.                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  • Start these calls with some small talk to help grow personal relationships that ease overall interactions. When people know each other personally (even just a little), those connections make it easier to establish and maintain working relationships.
  • These calls are also a great time to share feedback about the work process and highlight great work that an employee or team member is doing. It’s also fun to celebrate birthdays, talk about weekend plans, and briefly swap stories or pictures. For example, ask people to share pet pictures or back-to-school snaps. Closing the meeting with talk of schedules and near-term objectives is a great way to get everyone on the same page.                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  • Pick up the phone and call your team. Sometimes, a live, one-on-one chat is precisely what you need. Talking by phone provides an opportunity to check in, connect on a relationship level, and work through options. Depending on the size of your team, you may want to schedule regular one-on-one calls or have impromptu conversations as needed.
  • As a leader, aim to make phone chats familiar enough that team members are comfortable talking with you and sharing in an open environment but not so common that people feel micromanaged.

 

Communication is also key to keeping track of the workflow. Here are some communication tools that we’ve seen help make workflow and tracking more productive.

  • Use an online project management tool like Trello or Asana to track work and communicate with your team. These programs help all team members stay up-to-date with the workflow across the team and provide an online forum for questions, comments, and updates. These tools offer each team member a broader context and make it easier to know where things stand.
  • Add instant messaging to your suite of work tools. It’s a great way to replicate the instant communication you may miss in the office. Also, sending short requests via chat helps to cut down on email.         
  • Set up a text group that makes it easy for people to share with co-workers and exchange information back and forth, even when away from their desks.

Establish Boundaries and Let it Go

One of the most challenging elements of switching to a remote team is learning to be more hands-off as a leader and a manager. A lot of the battle is mental–changing your expectations for control over the work. Here are four concrete steps to make that switch easier:

  • Establish boundaries that increase your comfort level and share those boundaries with your team. For example, if it’s important to you that everyone maintains certain core hours, share that expectation and collaborate to find the core hours that make the most sense. Likewise, if you prefer to keep specific hours open, let your team know how and when to reach you best. Understanding expectations makes it easier for team members to manage their days avoid mixed signals that can lead to issues.   

 

  • Set expectations and share them. For example, consider how to approach time zone differences. Using the context of deadlines is an excellent way to consider this issue. Is a 5 p.m. deadline in New York a 2 p.m. deadline in California? Or, does the end of the day mean, end of that person’s day or before you log in the next day? Addressing these types of expectations upfront makes workflow more manageable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
  • Adjust as needed. Remote work arrangements throw up gray areas. A process that works well now may not work as well next summer. Be open to making adjustments as needed. Tell your team that you expect things will change and that you are open to their feedback about tweaking the system.       
  • Let it go. The final (and possibly most difficult) step is to exhale and let the magic happen. You have a great business, a fantastic team, and all the building blocks for success in place. Time to relax and see what happens.                                                                                               

Share your Experience

Tell us about your experience building and maintaining remote teams that work. What steps did you find most valuable? What would you do differently?

 

 

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September 13, 2021

How to Hire a Superstar in a Sizzling Job Market

Hiring is tough for everyone right now–big and small businesses alike are struggling to find the right people. But, as a small business owner, there’s a tremendous pool of workers that you can tap into–moms who are ready to leave the rat race and find work-from-home positions that provide flexibility and meaning. 

The pandemic forced many families to re-evaluate the work-life balance equation and prompted people to reconsider their career trajectories to determine if they are on the right track. Prudential, the global financial services giant’s latest Pulse of the American Worker survey, found that 48% of Americans are rethinking the type of job they want post-pandemic. According to the research, work-life balance is one of the drivers behind the shift.

These changes are leading to the “great resignation” or the “great reshuffling” that you may have heard about. Many are willing to trade the perks and income of a large employer for a more flexible job where they can contribute in a meaningful way. 

As a small business owner looking for a remote team, you are perfectly positioned to scoop up these workers who can bring a wealth of knowledge and resources to the job and your business.

Here’s your guide to tapping into this valuable talent pool to grow your business and add talent that might not ordinarily be available.

 

Focus on Moms 

Focusing on moms is a great place to find your next superstar employee. As the light starts to appear at the end of the pandemic tunnel, many large employers are plotting return-to-work plans. But, many moms who have been working at home for the last year and a half are looking for an alternative to going back to the office and are turning their notice into large employers rather than reshuffle family life to accommodate a commute. 

If you can offer flexibility and a remote job opportunity, you are well-positioned to find an experienced hire who can help your business grow.

To find mom professionals interested in remote job opportunities, partner with a niche job site like HireMyMom to have access to a dedicated pool of professionals looking for remote work. Because HireMyMom charges job seekers a fee to access job listings, all our job seekers are serious about finding work. And, the volume of resumes that flow in is more manageable than the numbers that arrive when jobs are advertised on free job sites.

Employers love us because they know they can find high-quality, highly motivated candidates who want to work from home by partnering with HireMyMom.

 

How to Make Sense of Corporate Speak on a Resume

Once you have created a post and applicants start to roll in, finding the right person may take a little detective work. 

As people transition out of jobs with large employers, resumes may be full of unfamiliar terms and titles that don’t seem to match your needs. But, a few tricks can make those resumes easier to decipher.

As you review resumes, look for department names and activities that line up with your needs. For example, suppose you are looking for someone to do online marketing. In that case, you may review candidates from a diverse pool of experiences that include departments that range from marketing to public affairs. Likewise, titles can vary.

You may see titles as varied as a project manager, marketing associate, or vice president of marketing. Try not to get hung up on the title. 

The key is to look at the person’s specific activities to find the fit for your role. As you look through that list of accomplishments for each job, keep your eyes peeled for the types of skills you need. 

For example, if you know that you need someone with marketing experience, look past the title and department and see if the skills you need are listed. It may be tempting to only look at the most recent job the applicant has held. But, looking back a little can reveal how the applicant’s career has unfolded and provide essential clues about overall abilities and learning agility. Review the cover letter for additional insight.

If all this sounds daunting, you may prefer to use HireMyMom’s Concierge service. We created the Concierge Service for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process.

With our full-service Concierge Service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you from start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s) sourced from a wide array of qualified applicants who will be dedicated to helping your business succeed and grow. 

 

Confronting Common Fears

Many employers look at a resume full of corporate experience or stuffed with fancy titles and decide to take a pass for one of several reasons. Here are some of the most common concerns I hear from employers and some additional things to consider:

Fear: The pay requirements for that person will be too high. 

Reality: The applicant saw the pay range in your posting and decided to apply for the job. Some people value flexibility and opportunity more highly than money at different life phases.

Fear: Experienced workers won’t be happy and might leave quickly.

Reality: Workers with a lot of experience know that it takes time to learn a new job and likely have the breadth of perspective that helps them persevere through the first few months on the job. 

Fear: Experiences at a large organization aren’t transferable to my business.

Reality: Many experiences at large employers still involve small teams, so the experience of a small team is unlikely to be foreign. Also, an experienced employee from a large company may be able to share new ideas or best practices with your team. 

 

Interview to Screen Out Concerns

If you have some of the concerns above or others, rest assured that the proper interview strategy can help you sort through your concerns and find the right person. During the interview:

  • Ask the candidate about her intentions.
  • Inquire about the specific things she is looking for in a new job.
  • Ask about the type of flexibility she is looking for in a job.

These questions can help put your mind at ease and make it easier to feel confident in extending a job offer.

 

Go Ahead, Leap!

If you’ve never hired an experienced person before, the prospect of doing so can feel daunting. But, with a bit of leg work, the right questions, and a partner like HireMyMom, I’m sure you can find the right person to help your business grow.

Once you find your superstar mom employee, send me a note sharing your experience.

 

 

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