Archive for the ‘Working at Home’ Category

My life has been so nuts lately that it feels like my business is growing dusty and I’m missing out on great opportunities.

Do you ever feel like this?

I would love to hear about your own experience and how you manage it all. Please share your story with me in the comment section.

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a big product launch in the works in Internet Marketing land. John Reese has been talking a lot about outsourcing and shown you the wonderful things he’s learned for himself through leveraging the work of others.

But what if you don’t necessarily dream of having a Ferrari in your driveway? Seriously, how could you fit 3 kids in there anyway?

Let’s think about it for a second

What if you’re a mom or dad that simply wants more time with their family?

Or what if you want to afford a flexible lifestyle that allows you to pursue other interests, community service, etc?

Or what if you just don’t want to work so darned hard? After all, you’re a business owner, not an employee.

If that sounds more like you, the basic formula is the same. You can leverage the work of others and get that lifestyle YOU’RE looking for.

Here’s how it started for me and maybe some of this will sound a little familiar to your own life:

It was 2002 and I was just starting my online business. With some smart planning and a whole lot of luck, I created a website that was
growing to be very popular. It had lots of content and an active forum.

Problem was, I was overwhelmed and felt chained to my computer. I was worried if I left, I would miss an important email. I was afraid someone would post some disgusting spam on my forum in my absence. I just really felt compelled to be close by at all times. Add to that, I was writing and publishing all the content…keeping me way too busy and stressed out!

I decided enough is enough, I needed help. I didn’t have a lot of cash to play with, but started by hiring a VA to work a couple hours a week to answer email. I hired someone to manage the forum for a small monthly fee and some added exposure for her business. I also hired someone to manage our ad sales on a percentage basis.

In short, all this meant I had a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders and it didn’t cost me much at all.

Slowly, I gave my team members more responsibility and hired more people. The new found focus I had meant I could work less, but it also meant I was now much more focused. I could finally concentrate on building my business, rather than certainly working it. I also had a heck of a lot more to spend time with my growing family.

If you’d rather be building than working, it’s simple for you to do as well

Even if you’re on a budget, you can start hiring help. While John’s formula is to focus on hiring inexpensive overseas workers, you can still afford to hire locally…without losing your shirt. Start small and then grow. And personally, I prefer to hire my contractors from the same areas from which most of my business comes from. It just makes sense to give back to the community that gives to me. And what’s key is that you hire the right people, not that you found someone to work for $2 per hour.

And ahem…if you would prefer to use your money directly for hiring people, instead of on a really high-priced education, Melissa has what you need to get started. If you haven’t already seen inside Outsourcing Sweetie – I’d recommend you do so.

It’s only $10 for access and if you want to pay for John’s course, you can expect to pay about 200 times more.  That’s a heck of a lot of hours you could actually hire someone to WORK on your business, instead of watching some videos about hiring people. OUCH!

It covers everything you need to know to free up your time including:

• How to outsource on a budget: You are the CEO of your business, you stunt your growth if you feel you have to do every task.

• What to outsource: It’s one of the biggest questions people have. You might feel you don’t have time to train people, you know the work the best, etc…but the thinking is backward. Learning to let go of tasks that are costing you time and money are key to growing your business.

• How to find quality contractors: We’ve all heard horror stories and heck, you may encounter a horror story or two, but when you know how to look for and approach contractors, things can go a lot more smoothly.

• Communicating effectively with your contractors: It’s absolutely crucial that you know how to communicate with your contractors if you want results. I’d say 8 times out of 10 when someone tells me their contractor did a bad job, it comes down to poor communication. If you don’t say what you want, you simply aren’t going to get it.

• Building your team for business growth: This isn’t about hiring cheap labor to get some tasks done. It’s about working with people on an ongoing basis, so they can become valued members and contributors to your team. When you get someone good, treat them like gold and give them ongoing work.

How do you get started?

Overall, the important thing is to get started with getting the help you need. Think about what you hate doing most about business. What causes you stress? What takes you more time than it should? What causes you to procrastinate and put the rest of your business on hold? Start by getting those things off your plate.

Once you’ve got a valued member on your team and you become more productive and more profitable, give them more tasks and add more people to your team.

One of the best ways to find good people is through word of mouth. Ask your fellow online business owners for a recommendation. You can search freelance sites as well, but sometimes finding that perfect member for your team, is closer than you think.

Give them a bit of work at first or a project to take care of, to see how you work together and what their output is like.

As I mentioned, good communication is incredibly important. It’s key to getting the job done right and to building a solid relationship with your team member. Always provide as much detail as possible in how you like things done. While this can be time consuming at first, the more your team member gets to know you, the easier it will be to add more work for them to do.

One note: it’s OKAY to use an outsourcing company.

If you have reviewed John’s videos, he tells you shouldn’t use an outsourcing company, but that you should go straight to the labor source. This may or may not be appropriate for your own business.

When it comes to overseas hiring, I personally would tend to stay away from an outsourcing company because I would feel uncertain about the conditions and wages the actual employees receive. I would be unwilling to possibly risk employing the services of a virtual sweatshop. That does NOT mean that overseas outsourcing companies are all sweatshops. It just means, the risk isn’t worth it for me.

And truthfully, you could run into the same issue in hiring an American company if they happen to outsource their own work overseas. However, if you do your homework and due diligence, I think you can come up with the right answers.

Outside of that point, one of the reasons you might want to employ an outsourcing company is simply for time management and to avoid the stress that comes with managing individual contractors. Even though you can find great workers by going directly to the source, sometimes an outsourcing company can be the glue that holds your project together.

Instead of dealing with flaky contractors who disappear without completing work and sometimes take deposits with them, you can work with a company that ensures everything gets done.  If the company is reputable, they’ll get it done for you. If the company is not, and it sounds like John found a bad apple or two, they may take longer than necessary or never get it done. About half the people who work for me on a regular basis, I went to directly…but in some cases, I just prefer to get my projects done with someone else holding the wheel.

John suggests that you can hire a project manager in house, instead of letting the outsourcing company do it. In fact, that’s what we’ve done with All Custom Content. Annette & I have an AWESOME project manager that manages clients projects and writers. This  frees up our time for more important work. But the thing is, it may be a while before you get there. If you only have a few contractors, it may not be practical to have your own project manager and that’s where working with a company that delivers the finished product to you, just as you wanted it, can make all the difference.

Keep at it, it’s worth it.

I’ve gone from that frazzled mom trying to build a site and community to the CEO of my business. Currently, I work about 6-8 hours per week and focus in what I like doing and what I am good at. To me, that means my focus is marketing and copywriting…while most of the other details are tended to by my team and business partners. The amount I work changes, depending on the time of year, what’s going on in my life and really, how much I feel like working.

For you,  the amount you work and your focus might be a little different, but the important thing is you find where you are best contributing your business growing.

It’s a good life and it’s possible for you to carve out the life you’re looking for too. Where will you start or continue on that journey?

Further Study

Click here to $10 access Outsourcing Sweetie. Complete with study guide or audio, if you prefer, plus training materials for your contractors and other useful tools.

By the way, that’s my affiliate link…just so you’re in the know. I can’t offer you an iPad as a bonus for using my link, nor will I be cruising to the Bahamas on what I might earn. But what I do know is that you’ll feel much more capable of hiring good help and getting a whole lot of your life back.

Many times in the past, I’ve found myself in a position where I was asked about my career background, or do I work, what do I do, and all the other ways of asking if someone if they have a job.

For a long time I just said I was at home with my kids, because it was too complicated to get into with someone who has a 1% chance of knowing what you’re talking about. But as the world of technology continued to advance at an incredibly fast rate, and it was getting rare to hear of anyone who didn’t use the Internet, I become more outspoken about what I did.

Even so, the first time I decided to speak up and answer with a, “Yes, I work at home,” when asked if I worked. It felt great to get it out there, to feel like I was more than just somebody’s mom. And looking back, I’m not sure what I expected, but the response I received in return just made me feel like a complete moron…

First she laughed like she found the whole idea hilarious, and then went on to babble about how being at home with the kids is work, it’s the hardest job there is, and blah, blah, blah. I was speechless. Did she really think that I considered my choice to be at home with my kids as work?

And much to my disappointment, that wasn’t a fluke reaction. In fact, everyone thought the same thing – that I wasn’t talking about the work I do at home to make money, but rather that being at home with my kids was the work.

Slowly my answer to the big question evolved to where I would say, “Yes, I’m in marketing,” and most of the time it would get left at that. If they wanted to know where I actually did this ‘marketing’ work, I would tell them my home office to which they would say “oh” and that would be that.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked the “do you work” question, so I was caught off guard this past Friday.

Now that my kids are older and comfortable going to the dentist, I made the decision to move them from the child-oriented dentist located over an hour away to my local dentist. This was no big deal, but since my last check-up less than 9 months ago, my dentist sold his practice to another dentist in the same building, which means she took over his patients and I hadn’t yet met anyone in her office.

That day, after the hygienist was done with my son, she asked me to come back to meet the new dentist and as we were waiting for the dentist to finish with another patient, she was asking me questions, during which I told her I had 3 kids the youngest just shy of 19 months old. But the questions eventually led to asking if I worked, and without thinking I said I work at home. You guessed it; she thought I was referring to my kids.

So I have to wonder, is the offline working world still completely clueless about the online one?

Or does it go deeper than that…

Do people working regular offline jobs simply refuse to believe that someone without much of an educational or working background, can work from their home a few hours a week, and make a six figure income, because it’s…unfair?

Personally, I think it’s a little of both. A lot of people really are unaware of the online business world, and the potential it has to help you create the lifestyle you want. And then some are just plain ‘ole spiteful about your claims of working at home.

Nevertheless, here you are. YOU chose to see hope and be inspired by the impossible. To question “work” in the normal sense, and become conscious of what you really wanted from your life.

Do you shuffle along the same worn and predictable path as everyone else; or step off of it into the unknown and forge your own path?

Somewhere among the ignorant and unpleasant feedback to what you do, you find peace with who you are, what you’re doing, and how you choose to live your life. How others decide to see you shouldn’t matter because you know what’s real and right for you; and you can smile knowing that you had the courage to break the mold and shape your life into whatever you wanted it to be.

So here’s to following your dreams no matter how much everyone else wants to hold you back!

All my best,

Today marks the very last day of 2009, and I’m super excited about the year to come. I don’t do the whole party thing to ring in the New Year, but if you’re going out, have fun and stay safe!

I recently finished putting together my business plan binder for 2010, so I decided to shoot a quick video to share some of the things inside of it with you. Oh, and I kinda got carried away on the whole working from home thing, so the intro is kinda goofy, LOL! Not to mention my overuse of the word ”so”.

Anyway, I hope you glean a few ideas for your own planning, and I would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts for preparing your business for a New Year.

Product mentioned in Video: I printed out the 8 page checklist from Sales Army Secrets that lists 20 things you can do to help you recruit new affiliates, and placed it in my planning binder for easy reference.

The course is fantasic and is filled with unique and effective strategies that Jimmy D. Brown uses to build and motivate his affiliate force…and how you can use them too. I’ll be putting the information I learned from this course into action this year.

Also, my Affiliate Manager Sweetie course comes with 6 editable email swipe files that you can use to send to potential affiliates to get them on board, and promoting your products. So I plan to refer back to those myself too ;-)

When you first make the decision to work from home, whether it’s starting your own business or working for someone else, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all and sometimes certain aspects fall through the cracks.

Unfortunately, if you don’t take the time to plan out your business and consider every angle of working from home, you may find yourself quickly becoming a part of the 90% of home business owners that fail within the first year.

It’s not about having the motivation, the ideas, and the knowledge to create a viable home business; it’s about having the plan to guide you there. While it’s true that many people who own successful home businesses did so without a plan, it certainly does no harm for you to create one for yourself as a way to get things rolling.

Here are 3 things that you might not take into consideration when you decide to work from home:

1) Do you have the time? You might be thinking, well yes, I’m at home all day. But what about your children, activities, household duties? Are you capable of balancing all those things so that you can run a home business too? Just because you’re going to be working from home doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. The truth is, you’re going to have to work harder then you’ve ever worked before.

Are you ready to miss time with your family or work until the wee hours of morning? Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you can work when you want and still make tons of money. The truth is, you’re going to have to make plenty of sacrifices to get to that point. However, it is possible to set your own hours and make a good income, but it takes plenty of hard work to get there first. So if you’re not ready to make sacrifices in the name of business, then maybe you should reconsider and wait until you are ready.

2) How are you going to accomplish everything? Jumping too quickly into a business can leave you feeling confused and frustrated when things don’t happen the way you want, or expect them to. Outlining a plan for each phase of your business will give you a clear idea on what you need to do to get to, and through each phase.

- Who is your target market? (who will buy from you)

- If you choose to operate completely online, will you get a website, a domain name? Will you need a shopping cart, a merchant, a designer?

- How will you stock your store if you choose to sell physical products? What about photos?

- How will you market your business and finance your marketing efforts?

- How will you fulfill orders and ship them? Will you be able to get to the post office to ship items in a timely manner?

- Do you need any special licenses to operate? What about insurance? Packaging?

There are so many things to consider when you choose to run a business from home, so if you have a plan in place it will be so much easier to accomplish your goals and prepare yourself for any unexpected things that may come up.

3) Are you prepared for growth? A home business is no simple undertaking. It takes sweat, guts, and tears to build up a business to the point that you can actually make an income. Depending on the type of business you have, will you be able to handle it on your own, or will you need to outsource, hire help, or even move into a brick and mortar building?

Do you even want to grow that large, or will you be happy running a small business? This is something you need to seriously think about. For example, if you own a children’s boutique selling clothes that you make yourself by hand, what will you do when the orders start coming in faster then you can keep up with? Will you have someone to help you, will you look for a manufacturer for your designs, or will you have to start handing out refunds? Being prepared to handle growth before it happens will make the transition go smoothly when the time comes.

So before you jump on the work at home bandwagon looking for a fast buck, slow down and keep it real. Ask questions, research, and consider hiring a business coach to help you get started the right way.

Thanks so much for your support and well wishes on the big changes that are happening around my home. If you haven’t read the post yet, you can get caught up here.

I wanted to clarify a little because I seem to have caused confusion for some. And for at least one person, I managed to get them a bit worried. She wrote to me and said:

“Frankly, I was a bit shaken. It’s not easy to hear that one of the most successful WAHMs I know is returning to employment.”

Now, I don’t want anyone to be shaken by my news because it’s truly not that shocking…nor should it cause worry to anyone else. So in clarification:

I’m not returning to work out of economic necessity – but out of contractual obligation. Although there was a dip in the earlier part of this year, business is still going very well and back on the upward climb. So please, don’t let my news cause you to fear an imaginary demise of your own business. Everything is a-okay here and there is a plan in place to continue to grow my business during my employment (thanks goodness for outsourcing…hey? )

We’ve also made a plan to make it work as a family. The boys are in school all day now…and baby will be home during the day with hubby. Hubby will also be attending night classes, so we’ll be doing some alternating shifts at home, but what matters to us is that someone is always home for the kids.

So please don’t worry (for me or for yourself)…we’re just doing what we gotta do for our family. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably heard me lost and confused a few times – wondering what day it was. One day, I had to confirm if it was indeed Friday. Another time, I had somehow skipped a whole week ahead.  BLUSH. But blame it on the fact that nobody in this household has had to go to school or work for a couple months. We’ve been living a relaxed, no schedule lifestyle and while that’s loads of fun, it was a bit disconcerting.

Well, in one week from now that’s ALL about to change. It’s back to school time and it’s back to school with a VENGEANCE, I tell you. We’re going to be so overscheduled, it’s not even funny.

Here’s what’s happening:

• The boys are going back to school and this will be Nathan’s first full days as he hits grade 1. Malcolm is on his way to being a big shot grade 3er.
• My HUSBAND is going back to school. Yep, for 3 nights per week, he’ll be at college, studying technical writing.

And here’s the one that really has me thrown for a loop:

• I’m hitting the 9 to 5 grind again. Yeah, I just said that and *I* am still in disbelief. But the fact is, I’ve known it was coming for over 6 years. When my sons were born, I took additional maternity benefits from my employer (above and beyond what is offered through Canada’s Employment Insurance Program). And as part of taking that extra benefit, I am obligated to return to work for a period of time. Guess they don’t want people taking benefits and riding off into the sunset…darn it!

So that means, I’m back at the job for a minimum of 18 months. Thankfully, my husband will be home during the day, so can take the kids to school and be home with the baby. Then at night, I’m in charge. So although there will be some adjustment, the family is being taken care of.

On the one hand, I’m kind of excited about this renewed challenge…but on the other hand, I’m bummed at how this is going to change my overall hourly worth (not too mention I’m going to miss my family like crazy). My business offers so much return on time investment that a job just doesn’t – it’s a decent paying job, but the hourly calculations just don’t match up. But alas, it’s something that must be done.

Anyway, that probably gives you a bit more insight into the changes taking place around here with Melissa coming on board and my focusing on projects that are less about me – removing myself from the equation some. My business activities are going to focus on:

• Planning the marketing and future directions for my business.
• Managing my contractors who take care of  customer service, administrative tasks, website updates, a lot of writing and so forth. I’ll be assigning and checking work, but greatly reducing the actual tasks I do in my business.
• Of course, I’ll still be doing some writing too. It’s what I enjoy and do well, so you won’t see me completely disappear.

I’ve had people ask me how I’m going to be able to keep up. How can I possibly run a business with a full-time job and a family? Well, I did for about 6 months in 2003 before the birth of my second son and I was far less organized back then. I’m set up for it now. It may mean a bit of late work on Sunday nights and and some catching up during lunch breaks, but it’s going to be business as usual.

In this last week we have left, we’re enjoying tons of time together and just taking it easy. I’m really going to miss our lazy days, but we’re ready for this new chapter in our lives.

Well according to Tony Shepherd, it actually took him 97 days – and I absolutely believe him.

Why?

Because I’ve had the pleasure of working with him behind the scenes on a few of his projects. And let me tell you, he’s the real deal, and you really won’t meet a nicer guy.

His down to earth style and great sense of humor makes his blog a fun read (http://www.tony-shepherd.com), and it’s one of the few I enjoy reading on a daily basis. His weekly ezine is a riot, I love how he mixes humor and real life and turns it into an incredible lesson for online business owners.

Okay, not to keep bragging on him….but Tony really is a successful marketer and 100% worth following (IMHO), which is why I wanted to share his free report with you.

If you’re feeling stuck, and you really want to quit your day job, you’ll want to grab a copy (you’ll be presented with a valuable $1 offer, but don’t let this deter you from getting the report) => Quit Your Job in 90 Days

His report is a great read and will help you put a system into place so you can start getting your foot out of the door of your J.O.B.

 

 

 Get your free copy of his report: Quit Your Job in 90 Days