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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Concerns When Working From Home – And How to Address Them

When you start to consider a work from home job position, certain challenges and concerns might creep in. How will I get anything done when the TV is right there? Will I talk to anyone all day? There are a lot of valid concerns in a home based career, but most have simple solutions.

Read along for some of the most prevalent challenges, as well as ideas to address them.

Social Isolation

One of the main concerns with working from home is that you’ll become isolated. Even if family is around once in awhile, it’s not the same as an office environment.

It’s good to know going into a home based job that you won’t be in a traditional environment with traditional co-worker relationships. This seems obvious, but the allure of a work from home job can cloud this kind of thing. Be aware of the potential isolation and make plans for it!

Schedule working days out at a coffee shop, meet friends during your lunch break, or network at night. It’s important to get out, and also maintain relationships and contact with your co-workers. It’s very possible to be just as close to a work from home co-worker! It just takes some effort to communicate on a more consistent basis.

Distractions

If you’re going to be working from home with kids, pets or other family members, it can be very distracting! In addition to that, you have the freedom to watch TV, listen to loud music, and be distracted by any (and every!) thing around the house.

To help with distractions, ensure that childcare or pet care is in place for very important calls or meetings. Do your best to schedule crucial things around your family’s schedule, and then do your best to seclude yourself for that time period.

Distractions will come when you work from home – the laundry, neighbor kids, the UPS truck. But you can work around it! Set your schedule, keep boundaries, and set up outside care for when you truly need it.

Office Space

While it’s tempting to lounge on the couch, it’s important to have a designated space that’s just your own for work. Take the time to set up a workspace that is both functional and comfortable, and leave it for work only.

It’s important to separate work from home. The easiest, most distinctive way to do this is by working and living your home life in separate spaces. Focus on ergonomic chairs, paint and decor that is calming to you, and office supplies that make your life easier.

Productivity

Many people assume that if you work from home, you don’t get anything done. Nothing could be further from the truth! There have been many studies done, and almost all of them point to the fact that working from home is much more effective than going into a traditional office.

Click here to view a recent study.

Between less sick days, decreasing employee turnover, and fewer office distractions, it’s easy to see why working from home is the ultimate in productivity.

Don’t fear the home based career! While there are considerations that vary from the norm of an office job, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a bit of forethought. Enjoy the flexibility, productivity boosts, and quality of life that working from home can afford!

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August 13, 2015 0 Comments

Use Technology to Make Your Home Office a Success

If you work from home, you probably encounter the common misconception that you spend most of your workday sitting on your couch in your pajamas with only a half-charged laptop to keep you in contact with the working world. It is true that working from home gives you a level of freedom that isn’t available to the commute-and-cubicle set, but if you’re successful, you make your work environment match or even exceed that of a real office. You keep strict hours and a strict dress code, and you have a designated workspace with a range of technologies that keep you productive and competitive.

If you’re trying to find this balance, consider the following technologies to help you out. Then, you’ll see that they only thing missing from a traditional office is the daily commute.

Track Your Time

Working from home takes discipline. You are surrounded by all kinds of distractions, including the television, laundry, and children, but you have the same demands as any other employee. Technology can be a great tool for separating your work life from your home life. Smartphone apps like Toggl allow you to track your work life the way any at-office time keeper does, so you know when you put your eight hours in. If you need to limit your time on Facebook or BuzzFeed, RescueTime runs in the background on your computer or phone and limits your time on sites that are notorious for wasting time. If you have the opposite problem and find it difficult to separate yourself from work at the end of the day, use Eternity Time Log to restore balance by tracking your work and play. It even connects with your smartwatch to alert you when it might be a good time time to take a break and smell the roses.

Stay Connected

Working from home doesn’t always mean working alone. There are meetings to attend and large-scale projects that require collaboration across multiple departments. Google Hangouts and Skype have become standards for video communication on the web. When it’s time to get down to work, Dropbox and Quickbase offer specific environments for sharing and managing files. One of the greatest features of these technologies is the ability to track changes over time and quickly delegate tasks for different team members. Physical offices used to be a necessity because you needed an actual location to bring everyone together, but as technology finds newer, better ways for people to connect from remote locations, the cube farm becomes more and more irrelevant.

Make Your Home a Place of Business

If you run your own business out of your house, technology is necessary for promoting your business and giving you a leg up in a competitive market. If you meet with clients at your home office, there are subtle ways to make it feel more like a place of business. When combined with mirroring capabilities of Apple TV and Chromecast, a high-def OLED display is perfect for displaying PowerPoint presentations and product demonstrations. Your clients will be so impressed, they won’t ever want to go back to their office.

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June 25, 2015 0 Comments

How to Stand Out From the Social Media Competition

Having a prominent, consistent and engaging social media presence is non-negotiable if you want to be successful; it builds trust with customers, draws in new customers and helps retain customers. That said, there are specific strategies businesses can use to improve social networking tactics and, ultimately, drive more business.

Focus

There are countless social networks to choose from, each one with its own medium. For example, Pinterest and Instagram focus on visuals, Twitter relies on text and Reddit runs on its discussions. Not all business models are fit for every social network. It is important for businesses to focus on one to two social accounts that really fit the business model, brand, customer base and overall goals. To do this, research your demographic to find out which social networks they use the most. From there, narrow that down to the networks you can use effectively and consistently.

Use Hashtags and Tags

Customers browsing through social media platforms find businesses at random through hastags. Hashtags group relevant content together making it easier for potential customers to find your business. You can create a hashtag specific to a campaign to expand your brand reach. As an example, Lifelock uses this technique on their Facebook page with the hashtag #Lifelockforgood which highlights the businesses volunteering efforts.

Build Trust Through Consistency

Social media platforms are excellent resources to build trust and sincere relationships with your customers and clients. But, in order to build that foundation, your business must have a consistent presence on social media. When a potential customer or client considers buying from you, they will likely visit your social accounts, and if you haven’t tweeted, pinned or updated a status in more than three weeks, it could cause the customer to veer away and buy from someone else. Build a consistent schedule that your business can stick to. Gain the trust of your customers and prove your validity as a resource for what your audience needs.

Engage and Respond

No one wants to interact with auto-responses or a constant barrage of pre-scheduled posts and updates. It is essential that businesses engage with customers and respond to inquiries in a timely manner. This humanizes your business and instills a certain level of comfort and shows that your employees are relatable. Engaging with your customers will make your brand stand out instead of blending in with flat, one-dimensional businesses.

Create a Manageable Schedule

Being a consistent voice on social media platforms can be a hefty amount of work if you’re not organized. Creating a schedule or editorial calendar is more efficient than spending hours posting everyday. A few things to consider:

Is your audience engaged? Creating a winning editorial calendar that posts everyday at noon is pointless if your demographic is most active in the evening. Use social media analytics tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to determine the best time of day for you to schedule posts.

What content is most popular? Track the most popular content for your audience so you can continue to maximize on that interest and engagement across all channels.

Are you posting actionable marketing? You want to include things like coupon codes, previews of new arrivals or any other incentive for followers to find out more information about your business and make a purchase.

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April 23, 2014 0 Comments

The Working Stay-At-Home Mom: Turning Passions Into Paying Positions

Compared to the societal ideals of 50 years ago, women today can choose independence by choosing at home professions. Women are no longer cast into the roles of housewife or stay-at-home mom. Modern day independence provides women with opportunity, whether they choose motherhood, a career or both.

In 2011, working mothers served as breadwinners for 40 percent of family households, according to 2013 Pew Research Social & Demographic Trends analysis. Breadwinner moms were comprised of married mothers who earn a higher income than their husbands (37 percent) as well as single mothers (63 percent). The trend of breadwinning mothers has understandably been linked to an increasing presence of mothers in the workforce. Nearly half of the U.S. labor force is made up of women, and the employment rate of married mothers has increased by 43 percent between 1968 and 2011.

Even so, stay-at-home moms and working moms typically remain polarized. In motherhood, you’re either pro stay-at-home mom or pro working mom—never both. The discord fosters resentment, judgment, envy and guilt from both groups. With all of these harbored negative feelings, why do women have to choose either/or? Here are four ways stay-at-home moms can not only participate in the workforce, but nurture their passions by choosing at home professions—an even greater reward.

Etiquette Consultant

For a mother raising her children to be upstanding members of society, teaching manners and morals are invaluable lessons. Take your family lessons on decorum and start an etiquette consulting business. Etiquette expert Catherine Holloway teaches professionals, adults and children how to create opportunity by acting with diplomacy and civility in social situations. Jacqueline Whitmore coaches professionals on business etiquette and protocol designed to spur business growth. Fine-tune first impressions, conversation skills and even body language. Etiquette services can also include advice on proper thanks yous and gift-giving customs, from writing traditional thank you cards to ordering flower delivery for professional settings.

Health Entrepreneurvegetables

If you love to color your refrigerator with greens and stay active with the family, delve into a business dedicated to health and wellness. Not only can you make a difference in your family’s lives, you can change the lives of others. Brand and build a website that features your family’s nutritious recipes and inspirations for staying healthy. Other business outlets for a health-passionate advocate include establishing an online retail store for T-shirts and tanks crafted with unique wellness-related designs. Or perhaps you have an idea for a marketable nutritional product or supplement. Entrepreneur Joyce Emily fueled her passion for nutrition by creating the superfood drink Basic Greens. The juice drink became Emily’s brand, empowering people to live a healthy lifestyle.

Professional Organizer

You may as well call yourself an organization pro. You constantly return misplaced toys to bins and rearrange cupboards to fit an influx of plastic cups and bowls. You’ve developed the problem-solving skills to declutter, downsize and maximize space. Why not earn some cash with your craft of expert organization? Sara Pedersen offers hands-on organization assistance and simplification services through her business Time To Organize. She cites U.S. News and World Report and states professional organizing as one of 20 hot jobs for the future workforce. On Pederson’s Career FAQs, you can learn how to enter the professional organizing industry, including how much you can make and required certifications and training.

Wardrobe Stylist

Inundated with motherhood and homemaking demands, a woman can lose her sense of style. Perhaps you’ve been in her (worn out) shoes before. Ya know, when heels are inconceivable and sneakers have even replaced cute ballet flats. By starting a styling business venture, you can offer sensible fashion advice and inspiration for real women who are just like you. Urban Darling provides in-person and virtual styling services, as well as online lookbooks for an “elegant young professional” and many other types of women. Help the fashion-impaired with closet audits, personal shopping and event styling. If you have the look and eye to be a professional fashion stylist, check out Complex Style’s list of tips on how to make it happen.

Now, it’s your turn. Choose one of these at home professions or select from the countless others available to you as a stay-at-home mom. You’ll find so much reward and satisfaction.

Check out these other great articles about home-based jobs as a work from home professional. Also check out our home-based job descriptions and current job postings for mom professionals.

 

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January 3, 2014 0 Comments

Hiring a Virtual Assistant Will Help You Grow Your Business

What VAs Provide their Clients and How it Has Helped Their Business

As a home based entrepreneur, most of us look forward to getting to the point where we need to outsource work. If we are outsourcing, we must be busier than we can handle and looking to lighten our load. If that’s the case, you’ll want to take a look inside the opportunities available to home business owners in hiring a virtual assistant (VA).

What is a Virtual Assistant?

If you have not heard of a Virtual Assistant, they are “highly skilled professionals who excel in their given area of expertise. They provide extensive marketing solutions, administrative support, proofing, editing, website design, bookkeeping and many other specialized services for entrepreneurs, small businesses, authors, and others who want to bring their business to a new level. VAs work globally taking advantage of all the many benefits the Internet offers,” Diana Ennen, author of Virtual Assistant – The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, says.

Ways A Virtual Assistant Will Grow Your Business

“A VA can help a client’s business grow in so many ways.  One of the main reasons a person hires a VA is to just take over the daily administrative tasks so they can focus more on their clients and customers, thus making more money and growing their business.  But once the immediate tasks are taken over by the VA, they can start to move into more of a partnership.  A VA can become the second in command for the client.  When the trust grows over time, the VA starts to work with the client’s customers, also helping to make even more money and allowing for their business to grow,” Carolyn Berg, Virtual Assistant/Owner of CyberOffice Solutions, LLC says.

Another way a VA can help a client’s business grow is research.  Most business owners do not have time to do research on the internet or make updates to databases, etc. A VA can handle research as well as help search new business alliances and opportunities.

“Carolyn Berg has been my Virtual Assistant since December 2006. She handles many responsibilities that allow me to develop and market my business. She maintains my online newsletter, creates campaigns, makes calls to clients, creates marketing packages with desktop publishing and overall, keeps me on track. She is always willing to assist me, and she has made some great suggestions toward building the business,” Tom O’Brien, owner of Tom O’Brien Productions, in Washington, CT shares.

A Virtual Assistant is a Business Owner

A virtual assistant is not only an assistant to other business owners, they are business owners themselves. They understand the ins and outs of running a business and know what is involved in owning a home based business. “VAs have a unique way of looking at problems from a business standpoint. Many of them have had their own growing pains and dealt with them which is a big advantage to businesses who use our services,” Candy Beauchamp, CVA, CRESS OffAssist says.

“I use three VAs in my business. I have my main VA who performs administrative tasks for me, another who does my accounting and a variety of others I bring in for special projects such as designing a brochure or doing research.  If I was doing all of this work, I would never have time to see the number of clients that I am able to see and consequently wouldn’t be able to achieve the income that I now can.  Beyond that, they have added capabilities to offer services to my clients that I either don’t have the skills to do or don’t have the motivation or time to do. VAs have given me back time and created a broader range of services that I can offer to clients,” Brad Farris, Anchor Advisors, Ltd, in Chicago, IL, adds.

In today’s world, you don’t have to be in a big office building to have an assistant. You simply need to look online for the many talented VAs out there. I’ve found hiring a Virtual Assistant to be a great way to help manage and grow my business.

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Lesley Pyle is the founder and president of HBWM.com Inc. which includes the national association of Home-Based Working Moms helping moms network, learn and grow in their role as a Home-Based Working Mom and HireMyMom.com connecting at-home Mom Professionals with home-based jobs and projects in virtually every career field.  Pyle has been featured in numerous publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Home Office Computing, and many others.  Twitter @lesleypyle and @hiremymom

Check out these other great articles about tips for mom as a work from home professional.Also check out our current job postings for mom professionals.

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December 4, 2013 0 Comments

Top Ten Things Moms Want For Christmas

10. Santa’s elf to help entertain the children so we can get some work done.

9. Another elf to help get all the Christmas shopping done.

8. One more elf to decorate the tree, and one to keep watch so the kids don’t knock it over.

7. And just one elf to wrap all those gifts.

6. An elf would be nice to put those lights up that honey just hasn’t gotten to yet. (“No dear, I’m not nagging!”)

5. What about an elf to clean up this place? What a mess! And that laundry… oh please say you will.

4. It would be great if we could borrow Mrs. Claus just to do some Christmas baking.

3. And Santa, can you send a personal trainer elf to get rid of some of these extra holiday pounds?

2. Oh and an extra wonderful, loving elf to watch these lil sweet angels so honey & I can attend a holiday party would just be great.

 

And Santa, number ONE of the 10 top Christmas gifts for Mom is……

1. Some of that magical dust for more hours in the day!

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Lesley Pyle is the founder and president of HBWM.com Inc. which includes the national association of Home-Based Working Moms helping moms network, learn and grow in their role as a Home-Based Working Mom and HireMyMom.com connecting at-home Mom Professionals with home-based jobs and projects in virtually every career field.  Pyle has been featured in numerous publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Home Office Computing, and many others.  Twitter @lesleypyle and @hiremymom

Check out these other great articles about tips for mom as a work from home professional. Also check out our current job postings for mom professionals.

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