So You Want to Work at Home

I have been writing for more than twenty-years. In my line of work there is more flexibility than most. I have been able to work from home a good portion of my career. Many people like me seek to bring their work and their home life into balance. Working from home is hardly a new concept. For hundreds of years the majority of work was done from the home. Cottage industries provided most of the goods and services needed by local communities until the industrial revolution.

Today, a new revolution is emerging, fostered by the information and technology revolution of the last century. People are beginning to return home in droves. With a telephone in one hand, a computer keyboard in the other, and a fax machine near by, people with a vast variety of backgrounds are finding it possible to work where they live.

Making the Decision

Not everyone wants to work at home. Not everyone should. Consider making a list of pros and cons before you decide to pursue a change. Pros might include being closer to family, earning extra income, reducing child care costs, avoiding long commutes, reducing start up expenses for a new business, and / or ending an unproductive job search.

The 30-second commute in your bathrobe is a wonderful thing for some people especially those who commuted 45-minutes or more to work. They can retrieve precious hours to spend with their family and friends, exercise, pursue hobbies or just relax. Additionally, working from home is a good way to manage the start up costs of a new business like creative writing. Avoiding the expense of office rent may be the key to staying afloat in the first lean days of your new venture.

Cons on the other hand may include; intermittent income, loss of social interaction, struggling to stay focused with more distractions, handling the background noise caused by young children, balancing the needs of your family and your clients at the same time, and having to avoid working all of the time.

You are much easier to find you before and after hours, and clients may not hesitant to give you unrealistic deadlines. If you have very young children, under the age of five, you will probably need a sitter even though you are available. Keep in mind that someone has to care for the kids and keep them quiet while you answer business calls, write, and market your work.

Getting Started

First decide what you want type of writing do you want to do. You may already have a good idea. If not, ask yourself the following questions:

Don't leave out any opportunities. I write everything from novels to computer manuals and training curriculum. If you have special skills in some area of business changes are good you can parley that into writing opportunity. Almost every industry has at least one if not many business journals. Journals are often looking for people with actual industry experience and writing skills.

Next, decide how best to go about creating your opportunity. If the answer to the fourth question was yes, and you get to write for that same employer, you are good to go. If that is not your best option, then you may want to work as a freelancer working on a project by project basis or a contractor writing for businesses.

Being an employee working from home is not much different than working on site. You may simply be able to take the job you already have and turn it into a home based position. This is certainly the easiest transition, but it is still a transition. If you are used to having someone provide direction and priorities for you, you will have to learn to do that yourself. You may be required to work traditional hours and so you will have to manage personal distractions. Avoid temptations like long lunches and extended personal calls that keep you from being fully focused on work.

Contracting can be a good balance between being an employee and being completely on your own. You still have to be very independent and capable of setting your own schedule. You may be treated as an employee who is paid benefits or as an independent contractor. These types of writing jobs include marketing, technical writing, speech writing, and drafting annual reports. You can find work independently or through contracting agencies.

One of the benefits of using contracting agencies includes the ease of finding work. Another is that the agencies pay you whether or not the client has honored the bill. On the other hand, you are paying for this security with a percentage of the income you earn. Recruitment firms, placement agencies, and consulting firms tend to keep 15 to 50 percent of the fee their clients pay. Companies who pay your taxes and benefits keep a higher percentage to cover their costs than companies who do not. However, some less scrupulous companies will keep a large percentage regardless, so be careful to ask before you agree on a fee.

If you're independent, you will have to provide your own benefits and employer related taxes and find your own work. You may be paid by the hour or by the job, however you work it out but you will get the entire check. How you are paid may be different from client to client. You are really a writing entrepreneur.

Home based entrepreneurial companies have grown by leaps and bounds as access to the Internet has become commonplace. It is easier than ever to market products from a single location. If you are going in business for yourself, first decide how best to organize your company. Do you want to be a sole proprietor, a partnership, a joint venture, or a corporation? If you decide that you want to incorporate you will have to determine whether you want to be an S-corp, C-corp, or LLC. Each type of business organization has its own benefits and risks. Before you decide you may want to talk with an attorney that specializes in start up businesses and a CPA who understands the tax ramifications of each choice.

Once you set up your business, identify the writing product and / or services you plan to offer. Next you will need to identify your target markets and research your competition. Before you make any life changing decisions, you want to be sure that you can make a profit. You may want to create a detailed business plan that identifies the costs, the potential rewards, and the risks before making your decision.

To Find the Work You Want

The following includes steps you can take to find work:

Never pay for job lists or personal marketing services. There are more job lists than you will ever need on the web for free. Recruiters contract with the companies who are looking for your services. You are NOT more likely to find work if you pay a fee then if you do not. In fact, if you pay a fee, you have removed the company's incentive for matching you with a company with a legitimate need.