Working from Home: A Win-Win for Business Owners & Employees

by Michele Unangst 

Other ways to describe them are work from home, virtual office, home based jobs, flex jobs, but the prevailing phrase is telecommute jobs.  They've become the new employment model over the last ten years.  As companies and employees are changing the structure, so many new benefits and job opportunities are emerging due to telecommute jobs.

Ten years ago, the ability to have a telecommute job was only for highly technical or executive positions.  Now almost 40% of the nation’s employers have them  In fact there are companies today that have no traditional brick and mortar office and every employee telecommutes with every job being a telecommute job.  Great examples would be Upworthy and Evolving Wisdom, all of their jobs are telecommute jobs.  It would beg several questions as to why?

First there is a huge cost savings for the company in offering telecommute jobs.  Companies are able to hire all over the world, and save on the cost of facilities and operations.  Take Aetna for example.  Almost 47% of all positions ranging from medical, customer service, sales, operational, and administrative are telecommute jobs.  This has saved Aetna millions upon millions upon millions of dollars.  In turn?  In turn they have been able to hire more and more people for positions.

Telecommute jobs have proven regardless of the industry that the employees work at a higher level than those in a traditional office environment.  They offer some flexibility to employees that allow them to work more, be more productive, and the retention of employees has risen 19%, because they are working in that type of position.  Why?  Employees, love to have the ability to work from home.  Telecommute jobs save the employee mountains of money and time.  Freeing up an average of $11,000 dollars a year in commuting expense and incidental cost.  Gas, childcare, eating out, and spending on lunch hours.  Not only is the employee keeping more of their check, they are ultimately happier working in the environment they prefer the most, their home.  Telecommute jobs are not a trend. It is the new model.

Companies such as Apple, Aetna, UHaul, Humana, American Express, to name a small few of the 1000's of companies that have adopted the telecommute model.  It is the ever-increasing employment model.  These positions now service all positions: customer service jobs, sales jobs, medical jobs, financial jobs, technical jobs, management, project management, administrative, and education jobs.  They're the desired opening for both employer and employee.  No longer reserved for the few but open to the many.  When searching for your next position get the job that you want and need and desire to have, the telecommute job.

About the Author: Michele Unangst, is the Founder and CEO of Get My Mom a Job and its coordinating subsidiaries. Specializing in telecommute jobs only, the company's mission is clear: "Women do not have to choose between work, career, and their family or personal life." 

"Maintaining a Professional Image While Working at Home"

by Ali Brown

One of the benefits of a home office is never having to wear a scratchy wool suit or pantyhose (unless you want to). The danger is that it’s easy to let that professional image slide if you spend the workday sitting on your couch wearing yoga pants and channel surfing in between conference calls. Follow these tips to maintain a professional image while working at home:

Stick to a schedule. True, working from home allows you to set your own schedule and gives you the flexibility to travel, take care of children, or otherwise tend to your personal life. But if clients never know when they’ll be able to reach you or if you sometimes sleep ‘til noon because you stayed up late watching movies, that can jeopardize your professional reputation. Your work hours will depend on the nature of your business and when you work best, but once you get into a schedule, try to follow it. And let your regular clients or customers know what those hours are. Being self-disciplined with your time means customers or clients can count on you and makes it easier to get work done.

Mind your social media use. Sites like Facebook and Twitter can be excellent tools for promoting your business and keeping in touch with old friends or colleagues. But if you get too personal or casual online, it can have an adverse effect on your business. Remember, anything you post online is public. Even if your settings are supposedly private, it’s easy for one of your contacts to take a screenshot or retweet something they find funny and/or offensive. Be friendly, but put on a professional face and always ask yourself how potential customers or clients might react to something you’ve posted.

Manage your incoming phone calls. If you use your cell phone for business and personal calls, remember to answer calls from unfamiliar numbers in a professional manner. Resist the urge to answer if you’re in a noisy bar or next to a screaming child. In fact, if you have young children, you should set up a separate phone line for your business and make sure you’re the only person who answers it.

Set up a separate workspace. Even if it’s a converted closet or a corner of your living room, having a space devoted to work helps you get into a business mindset that you’ll project to clients or customers. Having a designated workspace also helps you navigate issues of work/life balance. When you’re at your desk, it’s time to work. When you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, it’s time to relax.

Get out of the house when you have to. Sometimes it’s hard to feel like a professional when you’re surrounded by laundry that needs to be folded or toys that need to be put away. In those cases, it makes sense to work somewhere else, at least part of the time. It’s also smart to have a place outside of your home for meetings. Coworking spaces often let you rent conference space by the hour or the day. You could also partner with another small business to share meeting or office space.

The bottom line? Maintain a professional mindset and create some separation (physically and mentally) between your business and your personal life.

© 2010 Ali International

 Self-made millionaire entrepreneur and Inc. 500-ranked CEO Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow profitable businesses that make a positive impact. Get her FREE weekly articles and advice at www.AliBrown.com

Time Management for the Entrepreneur

by Deborah A. Bailey

It’s the end of the day and you’re feeling overwhelmed because you haven’t accomplished everything that you set out to do. Not to mention the fact that now there are more things to add to your “to do” list. If you’ve ever had that experience then you know how frustrating it can be. Where did the time go?

Even though we all get the same 24 hours in a day, we might not be using that time as efficiently as we’d like. A friend of mine, who’s also an entrepreneur, says she’s only getting a couple of hours sleep a night because she’s trying to get everything done. It’s not unusual for her to go to bed at 5:00 am, only to have to get up again at 8:00 a.m. to start working again. Though we can have good intentions when we start out, it’s so easy to get sidetracked with time wasters. If you find yourself wondering why you’re not getting things done, it’s time to change how you’re managing your time.

• Don’t answer every call as it comes in. Screen your calls and return the lower-priority calls at a later time.


• Close your email program. Reading and replying to emails all day long is a major time stealer. Choose two or three times during the day to check your mail.


• Keep a list of things to accomplish for the day and stick to it.


• Take time for breaks in order to keep your energy level up.


• Working for hours without clearing your mind will make you less productive.


• If you work from home establish boundaries. Don’t get stuck on the phone with friends or family who feel that if you’re at home you’re not working.


• If a potential client contacts you, arrange a time to meet. A consultation that you think will take 15 minutes could end up taking a large chunk of time out of your day.


• Create systems to handle repetitive, day-to day tasks.

If you plan out your day and create systems to stay on track, you’ll be able to accomplish more. At the end of the day you can look back on all the things you’ve completed and not be frustrated by what’s been left undone.

Deborah A. Bailey is author of two non-fiction books including, “Think Like an Entrepreneur: Transforming Your Career and Taking Charge of Your Life.” She's also the creator and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio, a weekly internet talk show. Her fiction work includes a short story collection and a novel, available on Amazon.com. 

For more information, visit http://www.BrightStreetBooks.com.