Melissa Rich Author – Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality!

The Internet can be a great tool for researching and locating work at home job opportunities; but it can also serve a venue for con artists and scammers to find their prey.    Be careful with any work at home “job” and exercise great caution in reviewing those opportunities.   I hope the resources in Chapter 8 have been helpful.

If you have other resources, you would like to suggest for inclusion in our site or in the next printed edition, please contact me at any time.

This week is our local county fair.  I have plenty of activities planned with my daughter related to the fair.  Each day, I am so thankful for the opportunity to work from home and am so thankful for having a flexible schedule – where I can accommodate my daughter’s schedule.

For more information about establishing home office hours, please review chapter 10 Establishing a Virtual Home Office.

We have so many options available for telephone service while working from home. You have your traditional land line, VOIP and cell service. What works best in the work from home setting? When I first started working from home, I used a traditional land line but due to living in a rural area, they provider did not offer voicemail or other services that were available with VOIP or voice over Internet. Back-up plan would involve my cell phone and would allow me forward my calls to it during working hours. Today there are many different types of phone service options.  Deciding what works for you really would depend on the type of calls that you make on a daily basis. In the beginning, I was making 200-250 calls per day and needed the traditional land line with headset. Today, my cell phone and blue tooth works wonders for work on the go. On the go for me can mean all over the house, in the backyard or actually going somewhere. The greatest feature of a cell phone would be the fact that they come with all the bells and whistles. Once you determine your work at home career, you will decide what technology works best for you.

When registering for the upcoming free webinar, please don’t forget to submit your questions.   The last 15 minutes of each webinar is reserved specifically for questions and answers.  We will answer any questions regarding setting up a home office, home office tax deduction, minimizing distraction, and other questions releveant to telecommuting.

I look forward to talking with you at the next webinar and I look forward to answering your questions.

Working from home brings on unique challenges. People tend to believe you are sitting at your computer playing and tend not to take your work seriously. Family can be the worst when it comes to work boundaries. Set up working guidelines early in your work from home career. Let family know that when you are in your office, you are off limits unless it is an emergency. If you have small children at home, try to set up scheduled activities to keep them occupied while you work. Plan focused work during nap time or time when you know you will have uninterrupted work time.

Don’t answer the phone when personal calls come in. Let your extended family know your working hours and when you typically take a lunch break for those times that just can’t wait until the end of the day.

Prepare yourself for interruption hurdles knowing the work from home journey is well worth it.

Working from home brings unique challenges. People tend to believe you are sitting at your computer playing and tend not to take your work seriously. Family can be the worst when it comes to work boundaries. Set up working guidelines early in your work from home career. Let family know that when you are in your office, you are off limits unless it is an emergency. If you have small children at home, try to set up scheduled activities to keep them occupied while you work. Plan focused work during nap time or time when you know you will have uninterrupted work time.

Don’t answer the phone when personal calls come in. Let your extended family know your working hours and when you typically take a lunch break for those times that just can’t wait until the end of the day.

Prepare yourself for interruption hurdles knowing the work from home journey is well worth it.

The technology blues:

 My DSL worked perfectly for hours and then would fail repeatedly.  My internet access was sporadic and unpredictable, and thus, my productivity was the same – sporadic and unpredictable. 

Unlike the corporate world, my home based business does not have an IT department. 

Bad news:

After two hours on the phone with DSL technical support, we came to the conclusion that my office phone Bluetooth was inferring with my internet connection.  The problem is now resolved, but I am now hours behind schedule. 

Good news:

I may need to work into the night to get caught up – but I can work from the comfort of my home office.  Best of all, I can wear by pajamas and perhaps even my pink bunny slippers.  Hee Hee!

Business duties call when needed even while working from home. I sometimes struggle with conference calls or other times when it is inappropriate for a child to be heard. Yesterday, my fill in babysitter was a little late getting here for my conference call. I immediately went to plan B. Pulled out the special movie, favorite snacks and when all else fails the pacifier. I was able to hold an entire 30 minute conference without anyone knowing a small child was in the back ground. Of course, my headset was on mute-just in case. Always have plan B. You never know when you are going to need it.

Your Virtual Home Office is hosting a free webinar and will cover a wide range of topics including:

• Advantages of working from home.
• Disadvantages of working from a virtual home office – which are often overlooked. Did you know that working from home present unique challenges? Are you prepared to overcome those challenges?
• Personality traits for working from home. Do you have the drive and determination to succeed from a home office?

Melissa released her book on February 15th of this year. Her book focuses on the following topics:

• Advantages/disadvantages of working from home and required personality traits. Chapters one and two.
• Analysis of each work-at-home structure (employee, independent contractor, starting a business, purchasing a franchise). Chapters three through six.
• Evaluating opportunities (characteristics of scams, researching, and reporting). Chapters seven through nine.
• Preparing for working from home (establishing an office, becoming incorporated, and selecting experts, business insurance). Chapters ten through thirteen.
• Ongoing operations (coping with family, children, and interruptions; technology, sales, marketing, and tax implications). Chapters fourteen through nineteen.
• Success stories to provide additional insight and inspiration. Chapters twenty through twenty-three.

Attendance is limited to the first 100 to respond. Complete the registration form below to reserve your free webinar today and begin your work at home journey.

http://www.yourvirtualhomeoffice.com/free-webinar.php

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend.   Now that the holiday has passed, it is once again time to resume working from my home office.   But is working from a home office similar to a holiday?

Well…….absolutely not.  Working from home can be difficult – just like a traditional job, but it also requires the ability to manage the distractions that accompany a home office.  To learn more about managing distractions, please refer to chapter 14 for more information.