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

In order to plan, you need to have the right tools at your fingertips including calendars (paper daytime planners or calendar applications) and an appropriate place to make solid to-do lists.   Start with an evaluation on what tools will help you and then using those tools to plan ahead.

If you are an independent contractor or employee working from your home office, it is generally your responsibility to keep up with equipment. Make sure you are updating virus protection as well as computer and software updates. Many things of those maintenance activities cost money but some of them are just a matter of completing the updates.

Some virus protections are free as well as Adobe reader products. I have found certain software will not function properly without all of the components which might mean windows updates or Microsoft office products. Keep a planner or notebook that gives dates of current updates to keep you on top of equipment and software. This will keep you up and running in your virtual home office.

For me, the view from the home office is so essential.  I recently moved my office from a small room without much of a view to a larger office with a great window and a great view.    For more tips on the ideal home office locations, please review chapter ten of the book.

I love my career working virtually from my  home office. It gives me the flexibility to contribute an income to our household, as well as enjoying life along the way. In my position as a Program Consultant, we have hired many people that share the same attitude towards working from home except for one small thing..they really don’t want to work. People that think they want to want to work from home will find many reasons to keep them from doing their job:

The cable man is coming; I need to take off the day.

The kids have a dentist appointment; I can’t work today.

I am just not feeling well.

How about if I get started on that tomorrow?  Or next week?

Working from home is very flexible and that same flexibility is one of the greatest reasons to work from home; but working from home is still work. If I don’t complete my scheduled working hours, I will not have a job or future work.  If you need help with time management, check out Melissa’s book:“Your Virtual Home Office can be a Reality”

I have worked from home for 12 years, but I have recently made a very positive change within my working environment.  I have made the transition from a home office to a portable office.   With my new laptop and a briefcase filled with necessary files, I am ready to work from any location with wifi.

The transition has been quite rewarding and I frequently find myself working while  waiting for appointments or killing time between appointments.

Many people have asked me why do you work from home and I have to say my answer is always going to be the same. Family has always been first to me and I found ways to have an income around the needs of my family. In the beginning when my children were small, I had a licensed and registered home daycare so that could contribute to our household as well as be the sole caregiver of my children.

Today I am fortunate enough to have raised my grown children and can contribute to the care of my 3 year old granddaughter and have a career as a Program Consultant for Rich Enterprises, Inc.

Working from home provides flexibility and freedom to work as well as enjoy life. If you need help getting started with your work from home journey-check out Melissa’s book-Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality!

Have you ever noticed that tycoons have their hands in more than one basket? This is true for the work from home business owner as well. Since the work from home job source is just a bit different than the traditional job where you might be offered 40 hours per week, it is a great idea to have multiple sources of income.

If you are just starting out in the work from home industry, you might want to keep your outside part-time job until you have fully integrated in the working from home world.

If you need ideas on how to start your work from home journey-Check out www.yourvirtualhomeoffice.com

Working from home has many perks but it does not have the automatic support system offered from working the traditional brick and mortar job. I have a large support system of co workers and other contacts that are in my field that are also working from home. Social sites such as Linked in Facebook and Plaxo are great sites for keeping in touch with business contacts.

Business friends and acquaintances are great to have when you are in need of someone to bounce new business ideas off of or just need someone to hear about your day. Whether people are sitting in the desk next to you or 1,000 miles away, they can still make a big difference in your day.

There are many companies that have started hiring virtual workers. Where can you go to find legitimate work? Here are a few of my favorite websites for legitimate work from home opportunities.

www.ratracerebellion.com

www.indeed.com

www.odesk.com

www.wahm.com

If you need help getting started in the virtual world-Check out our website:

www.yourvirtualhomeoffice.com

The Internet is clearly becoming the new work from anywhere work force solution that offers better solutions to those that normally would not have the working opportunities due to geographical factors. Many companies are choosing to change the way they hire. They are choosing to use independent contractors and freelancers and workers are choosing this lifestyle as well.

Becoming an independent contractor allows the worker to broaden their reach into the virtual working world. Make your virtual working career the best it can be by expanding your work search or home work to a wider reach for work solutions therefore opening doors that normally would be closed due to geographical restrictions. Check out Melissa’s book for ideas on how to search for work and build your virtual working career:

www.yourvirtualhomeoffice.com