Guest post by Heather at Work at Home Market
When my husband, and I were first married, we decided I would continue working for six months. During that time, I worked over 35 hours a week, and spent many hours commuting. As the six-month mark neared, I found myself exhausted, often falling asleep hours before bedtime.
My desire to work from home increased with each day. I wanted the liberty to prepare my husband’s breakfast and lunch in the mornings without being late for work. Most of all, I wanted to enjoy our married life without the exhaustion.
We were a bit leery if I would be able to work from home successfully, but we started praying about it and asking the Lord to bless our desires. Amazingly, before I even left my job, my brother offered me some part-time work that could be done from my home! I also pursued two separate business ventures. Now, over a year later, I have nearly replaced my former income, and have the flexibility I need to stay home!
Here are some things I’ve learned that have helped me be successful in working from home:
1. Set a timeline for yourself for starting to work from home. In two months? Four weeks? This is just a simple way to motivate yourself in looking for home based work.
2. Create a polished cover letter and resume. Make sure your cover letter explains that you are looking for freelance and contracted work. Send this letter to businesses you would love to work for. Hopefully, this will allow you to connect with someone who may be willing to hire you for home-based work in your field of choice.
3. Build a solid website that is a host to your resume and portfolio. This is a great way to display services that you can offer (photography, writing, editing, etc.). Include your website address in your cover letter to provide an easy way for interested clients to check out your work. If you don’t already have work experience in your field, offer to take on some jobs for free in order to build your portfolio and work experience.
4. Get the word out that you want to work from home. A simple e-mail to a few friends and family can go a long way in connecting you with potential job leads.
5. Make sure you avoid scams. As a rule of thumb, never pay to work for a company. Whenever you are offered a job, do your research on that company and ask advice from those you trust.
6. Advertise. Advertise your services in newspapers, websites and even on Facebook. For my freelance business, over 50% of my clients find out about my work through Facebook.
This is not an extensive list, but I hope it gives you a starting point. If you are serious about working from home, I encourage you to make goals for yourself and do something to pursue your work-at-home career each day, until you have found the job you are looking for. Having a home-based business does take a lot of work upfront, and even a few tears (trust me, I know!), but, as I’ve found, if this is what you’re supposed to be doing, the right job option will come along. Be patient and don’t give up!
Heather is a freelance webmaster, writer and photographer. She currently runs Work At Home Market, a site dedicated to helping others find freedom and flexibility by working from home. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her husband, cleaning & organizing their home, and traveling the world. You can e-mail her at [email protected].
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Thank you Crystal for publishing this! I hope some of you were inspired or blessed by our testimony. 🙂
I am new to working at home. I have always been crafty but reacently been making that pay. mostly my family are the ones buying my stuff. What would be my next step?
You may want to check into selling your items on Etsy, or even Ebay. It really depends on your goals as well as your market. My mom enjoys being crafty and has a flea market booth. See if any of these options will help! 🙂
Wow, that last one is a good one. I never would have thought about advertising freelance services on Facebook. I’m still enjoying working full-time outside the home for now, but that will probably change once children come along.
I should note that I don’t Pay. However, I always post link to updated work, have links in my profile, and use fan pages. Some people do use pay for the sidebar advertising–which may be beneficial as well. Personally, I try to keep my costs as low as possible! However, if you post your work it lets your friends & family know what you can do…and most of the time they WANT to support you. 🙂
I wish I had the option to work from home. Too risky as a single parent to quit, and then end up w/ nada at the end of the day (especially w/ this economy). I have basically begged, pleaded and groveled at the feet of the V.P. for my dept for two years to let me telecommute ONE day a week, (my commute is 50 miles, ONE way, and in a large city w/ plenty of traffic)… I feel like I’m missing out on my daughter’s childhood, and there is nothing I can do about…. sux……..
Have you seen the book, “The Other 8 Hours”? I think you’d find it very inspiring!
I haven’t….. but, will check it out! Thank u!
Heather,
If you haven’t done so already I would suggest that instead of focusing on why it would be good for you to telecommute one day a week put together a comprehensive plan as to why it would be beneficial to the company to have you work at home one or more days per week. This plan should include:
-Why it would be beneficial to the company to have you work from home.
-Think about potential problems (phone coverage, etc) and come up with a solution as to how to avoid these problems.
-Is there something that you could offer up as a compromise? 4 10 hour days, 80% pay instead of full time, etc
-Could you do this as a trial? Would your boss be willing to let you try it for a month and then make a decision to either nix it or allow it to continue?
By focusing on how the company would benefit you might get a better response. Of course, sometimes there is just no way that you will get someone to change your mind but it’s worth a try if you haven’t done so already.
At the end of the day you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it. I understand that you need to work (I’m also a working mom) but you need to question whether there is a better opportunity somewhere closer to you. I have a 35 mile commute and I’m so thankful I have a good support system in place to help out with driving my youngest to all her activities. Being so far away does add some extra stress to an already loaded plate.
Good luck!
I am in the same boat, not a single mom, but commute 50 miles one way. I have asked for reduce pay and the ability to work in the office 3 days a week and 2 days at home. My bosses say they don’t want to lose me but just wouldn’t budge on the scheduling either. Looking and praying something opens my way. I love my job and don’t want to leave the company, but my kids need to come first sometimes. Good luck on finding something.