Everyone is dreaming of one day to work at home, and once upon a time I did too and now I'm living it. How did I make it? Patience! That is the first virtue everyone needs to master when you really want to shift from a traditional office work to freelance work. Why? Because it's not easy to find jobs online and most who offers opportunities with extravagant pays is nothing but scam. When you come across anything that feels too good to be true, stay away from them because it's 100% scam, and you might just end up convinced to give them money if you spend too much time reading their articles. This is especially true in data entry. There are just too many scammers out there who are trying to victimize real people who are just trying to make an honest living from one skill they know best.
When I first started looking for jobs online, I have encountered a lot of this kind of data entry and stuff envelopes opportunity, so I know how they work. Fortunately for me, I made a thorough research in the field of data entry and I hid the advice of those who have gone before me. Online jobs or home based jobs are real jobs that require skills and experience in order for you to be hired or accepted by a prospected employer. Currently I am working as a Virtual Assistant for 3 clients, one from US and another two from Australia and I am also writing web contents for a Filipino company. All in all, I have 4 jobs and sometimes it gets too stressful, yes, like any other job. I have to be aware of different time zones where my employers are located and be sure to finish the tasks assigned in an excellent manner.
Trust and reliability are the most important factors that prospective employers are looking for in a remote worker. Why? Because you are miles away from them and they are not sure if you will really hold up to your promise. But once you've proven your worth, you'll have an easier time of finding employers and the last project you've done usually retains you for a continuous flow of projects, and this is what happens to 2 of my clients. I won the bid in their projects and after the completion of the project they were satisfied and decided to retain me as their Virtual Assistant.
You can try to look for jobs at www.rentacoder.com or www.odesk.com. The system works by looking for projects that you believe you have to capacity to undertake and make your bid. There are many competitions, but if you are good writing your cover letter or bid letter - you are more likely to get a response from the buyer or prospective client. I hope that those of you who are dreaming of working at home can get some inspirations from my experience.
A big part of the work at home talk involves getting everyone in your household to agree on how seriously to treat your work. If you're going more for a hobby than a serious income your family should know this. But if your family will be relying on your income to get by they need to know to treat your work that seriously.
What About Housework?
Many work at home parents still try to do it all. Keep a perfect house as they run a business or work at their job. This is incredibly stressful and makes it harder to succeed at home.
A certain degree of chaos can make working at home much saner. Talk with your family about what you can tolerate in terms of mess. For example many families will want to stick with having dishes done promptly, but may be able to stand vacuuming less often.
Consider also the division of labor. Are the kids doing reasonable chores for their ages? Are both parents doing their share of housecleaning if both are working, even though one is at home more?
The Working Hours Challenge
Getting your working hours right can be one of the most difficult things to master. Quite a bit depends on the needs of your family. If you have a baby or toddler, odds are that your working hours will be scheduled by when baby is sleeping or your spouse can take over that job.
Older children can learn to respect your working hours to a degree. How insistent you should be depends on how many hours you need to work and the ages of your children. A 4 year old cannot be held to the same standards as a teen, obviously.
Whatever your working hours, leave plenty of time for family time. The big point for a lot of people about working at home is to have more time with family. If you lose that, why are you working at home?
One schedule that can work is to declare that from 5 in the evening until the kids go to bed is family time. Beyond that, make sure you include time for just you and your spouse, but the schedule you select can depend on your needs as a couple. Keep everyone off the computer at this time, and if you have a business phone, don't answer it. Of course, if the kids have homework, let them do it, but try to have dedicated family time regularly.
Talk Money
Money is a big part of working at home. If you have a work at home job, there may be expectations from your family as to how much you earn and what the money will go towards.
But if you have a home business, the money talk can be even more important. How much can be risked? Any business involves some sort of expense, whether it is to join an opportunity, have a website hosted, or just buying business cards to hand out to people you meet.
If things go well with your business, how much should be reinvested versus being used for family or household expenses? Reinvesting in your business is vital to its growth but you may need the money for other things. Your financial priorities need to be clear.
Both Ana Togonon & Stephanie Foster are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ana Togonon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Work From Home, Family and Writing. Ana Togonon is a work at home mom who has successfuly shift from traditional 8-5 office work to home base working on freelance projects such as virtual assistance, article writing, article submission, and data entry. Ana is also an acitive member of. Ana Togonon's top article generates over 4400 views. Bookmark Ana Togonon to your Favourites.