Work Online... a beginner’s basic guide part 1

Almost everyone now knows that people are using computers to make a living working from home, however fewer people really know the basics and how to be properly organised to begin and exactly what is involved. It is NOT staying home all day in your pyjamas and spending much of the day watching the telly and playing on Facebook.

There are different ways to work from home, you may actually not be self-employed at all but have all the benefits of a regular salary, a contract, pension rights etc, but just be allowed by your employer to work from home. Maybe you run your own business from home as a freelance accountant, copywriter etc or you make and sell things on line.

Many companies recruit people to work from home and the opportunities are increasing regularly. It is not only beneficial to the workers but also to the company, who do not have the same overheads as they would have for a building full of staff and all the things they have to pay for them as employees such as pensions. However, this does mean that self-employed people often have to take care of these benefits for themselves, unless they are willing to work until they drop and work even when they are sick. It is a very good idea to look at income protection polices for the self-employed.

The Internet has really changed the world of work and how and where people work. Quite a few people remain highly suspicious of anything to do with working from home and refuse to view it as a proper job, which is hard if you are trying to do it and these people are your family and friends. There are scams yes but it is also quite possible to make a successful living working from home or as a self-employed person wherever you work from. Many things that earn money can now be done from home or your own office as long as you have the technology required, usually a computer, maybe Skype and mobile Internet such as Smartphones and tablets to stay in touch with people you are working for. Just a few examples of self-employed careers include telesales, writing, admin work, being a PA, marketing and web design but there are many more. Lots of self-employed opportunities require little or no set up costs and ideas for a business can come from your hobbies, interests or skills. Even if you would really quite like to just listen to music or play games all day, it may be surprising how many opportunities there are advertised for writers with a knowledge of music, the movies, Internet games etc. Write about your skills or interests and get paid.

However, before becoming self-employed, your mindset and preparation needs to be just the same as if you were looking for a traditional job. Know your skills, be able to present your experience, be confident about it and have a good CV ready for any applications you make on freelance job boards such as those listed here:

http://dailyjobsinfo.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/huge-list-of-147-freelance-job-boards.html

http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/freelance-jobs/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245953

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6965-freelance-job-websites.html

http://benrmatthews.com/find-freelance-jobs-online/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/04/04/10-great-sites-to-find-gigs-and-part-time-work/

http://skillcrush.com/2014/10/10/sites-finding-remote-work/

http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/09/freelance-sites.html

http://www.writersincharge.com/freelance-job-boards/

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/9-websites-to-find-freelance-writing-jobs/

http://blog.creativelive.com/best-sites-finding-remote-jobs/

Working for yourself is not an easy option but it can be a lifeline for those who are older, sick or disabled and have had pension plans not perform as expected or had disability benefits stopped as part of welfare reform and told by the government that they must look for work, when not fit enough to hold down a demanding job outside the home. There are attitudes that someone considering working for themselves need, you will not make a go of it if you are one of those who does not see it as a real job and is just giving it a go out of desperation, you need a lot of self-belief, motivation and skills such as discipline in things like time management.  

I won’t pretend that IT skills are not a big help, I still know older people who do not use a computer and insist they have no intention of doing so, but even selling things on sites such as Ebay and Etsy require an ability to use the site software. Yes, you can just go to the local flea market and get a stall but the advantage of the web for any business at all is the reach that your business can have.

Remember too that your computer and other equipment are only an aid to your business when they are working and if not then not only can you lose a lot of money but it can cost you a lot in repair bills. Put into your business plan and projected expenses such things as insurance policies and or emergency funds and if you cannot do the repair jobs yourself, then get to know reliable people who can from recommendations. As you earn money remember too that the tax man wants his share, either find yourself a well recommended accountant or software that will help you do your taxes yourself.

Get and stay organised and focused. One of the most important skills when working for yourself are those of time management. The housework and shopping still needs to be done, you need to eat, your laundry needs doing and letters and bills need to be attended to. One of the advantages of working for yourself is that work is available online all the time, but this does not mean that you work 24/7. Being so busy that you are swamped with work and get nothing else done either is NOT productive. If you were working at a regular job, you would not be there round the clock seven days a week, so when working for yourself, know when to stop and keep a work/life balance … and be confident that you can do well. 

Valerie Hedges 

More tips for avoiding the desperation trap

When it comes to working from home and on line jobs there is still unfortunately among many a stigma attached and people’s reactions to hearing you are doing it are not always positive and encouraging. I have written previously on some of the motives behind this. It is not always because people who go out to work every day think you are just lazy and want to stay at home all day in your pj’s and are watching the television, but because they care about you and are worried about the uncertainties that can come with working from home such as not having a regular wage. For all the positive feedback I get from my blog and I thank my readers for this, I have at least one friend and family member who do not really consider that it is work at all and it won’t ever be because a job is not a job unless you leave the house every day to go to it and receive a regular pay with your tax and national insurance paid and paid holidays and a signed contract.

 It is not so surprising that people who care for us are so uncertain about the wisdom of taking up working from home opportunities, there are a lot of scams out there and desperate people can easily fall for them. People have been and are increasingly driven to take chances when they are older or sick or disabled and a pension plan has failed to perform, they are having to wait many more years than they originally expected to claim state pension or disability benefits have been withdrawn after a medical declaring them for work when they are not…. we can so easily fall into the desperation trap because we are exactly that ...desperate.

We can end up doing ourselves no favours by looking desperate when applying for jobs with employers too. It is tempting to apply for every job advertised that we can possibly do when terrified our benefits will be sanctioned by the Job centre for not having applied for enough jobs,  but recruiters smell a desperate applicant like a rat and applying for three different jobs at the same company from a PA, to sales rep to cleaner will do you no favours at all and rather than making you look enthusiastic and willing will only have recruiters see you as a Jack or Jill of all trades and master or mistress of none !!

There is a lot to be said for preparation before you even begin to apply for jobs, identify your skills, your experience and prepare a generic CV that can be posted on to on line job boards where you may even be offered an interview without applying for a job because your CV has been seen, while this CV can also be adapted to specific job applications.

Very often a job seeker has an immediate need for a job, there are bills to be paid and it can be very tempting to apply for any number of what seems to be and are often advertised misleadingly as  'opportunities '.

 Many work from home jobs now are offered on a commission only basis with no salary and the applicant is asked to consider themselves self-employed. As a very new freelancer when doing telesales before my writing began to take off I was initially willing to take commission only jobs, convincing myself that OK if I worked enough hours, all the hours God sends in fact, I could make enough to cover what would have been a salary had I been paid one. This was until an experienced self-employed friend told me ‘Hey !! when someone asks you to work for commission only you say yes OK sure, here is my hourly rate and this is my % commission on top!’ Another pitfall of accepting commission only terms is that if you accept a job on such terms but still need to claim a state benefit because you are on such a low income, you may well find that the benefits office will tell you that you have a job, work more hours!!! ‘

One of the ways to have more chance of avoiding scams when applying for work from home jobs which are if you find the right one or combination of jobs, a good way to cope with the problems of being older and or disabled but still having to work is to change the search terms that you use when looking. Freelance ……. Whatever e.g. writer jobs tend to throw up better quality results than work at home opportunities and also learn how to use job boards to your advantage. When looking for work from home or looking for a job with an employer, use reputable job boards to source jobs to apply to. Many of the job boards more commonly searched for traditional jobs such as Total jobs, Monster, Indeed, and Reed also have quality work from home jobs, good searches include terms such as freelance or work from home, though it is strange how terms relate to search engines since Home based jobs very often brings up lots of jobs ...in nursing homes.

Whether you are applying for jobs with a company and an employer or self-employed roles, be sure to read the job description. Hirer's know a desperate applicant trying to convince the advertiser that they have the experience for the role a mile off ...do not waste your time or theirs by applying for jobs that you do not have the experience for. Many advertisers of jobs today do not have the time, money or inclination to train someone on the job, while there are such things as transferable skills, such talk at the job centre intended to encourage you to apply for anything and everything as long as you get a job can be misleading, employers want someone who can hit the ground running and who knows how to do the job.

As for scams and being taken advantage of, writing jobs are a good example of this. Jobs for writers in various forms have been around for years, it is hardly a new career field though more people are taking it up on a freelance basis largely due to the many opportunities posted on the web on specialist boards for writers and bloggers. They come as all kinds of job titles, Copywriters, bloggers, article writers, SEO content writers being just a few. However, not even every genuine opportunity is worth it, I have seen advertisers wanting writers to write articles for $3 for 750 words!!! OK, you could write several articles and get paid $3 a time, but it may well be more worthwhile to be able to write less while getting paid a decent amount each time rather than be writing all week. Much as you may even enjoy what you do, be realistic and above all else know the value of your talents.

Knowing the value of your talents also very much applies to opportunities such as selling your handicrafts, don’t sell at rock bottom just to get sales, remember that to grow your business you have to cover costs such as materials and work the cost of these into your prices.

Don’t look too desperate ...know your worth, in the end it pays ….

Valerie Hedges