Work from Home - Volume 1

Ok, ladies and lurkers. I told you yesterday that I would come in here and start posting ideas and information on what you can do from home to earn some money. How much you earn doing these things will depend on how bad you want to work. Where there is a will, there is a way and if you have that will, I am going to provide you the way.

Today I am going to talk about something anybody can do, yes even you, from home with their computer. I know you have one because you are on here reading about this. How to become an administrative/virtual assistant.

Things you will need are as follows:

• A computer
• A phone
  
• A printer, nothing fancy just so it prints
• A fax machine - they are like 50 bucks new...cheaper at garage sales
  
• Business cards/flyers
  
• Your desire to succeed

I should mention that the last one is the most important one. Now, once you have all those in line....and the cards by the way you can print for about 5 bucks. You get them free just pay 4.95 postage from www.vistaprint.com

If you do not want to wait for them to ship them, which by the way doesn't take long, then you can make your own. However, I must tell you theirs are on heavy card stock and are much more professional than those flimsy ones you print yourself. Besides, think of the cost for the ink as well. It isn't cheap and printing your own cards will cost you more and give a less professional look. Just because you work from home does not mean your cards do not have to be professional-looking.

You can design your own marketing flyer with any of numerous programs out there. One thing you must have, if you don't already, is Microsoft Office. All new computers come with Microsoft Works, unfortunately, this will not do. Remember, most places of business work in either Microsoft Office or WordPerfect. Legal (attornies) entities usually work in the latter. Not always but more often than not.

Just as you can design your own flyer, you can design your own letterhead. If you need help with that, contact me. I will be more than happy to help you on that. I can even design one for you if you need me to. The objective here is to get your name out there. You would be surprised how much your help is needed by contractors near and far.

Once you get the marketing packet together--I would include a flyer outlining your services, a business card and a coupon for a certain percentage off if they contact you by a certain date--look on www.switchboard.com under contractors for whatever field you decide to work with in whatever city/cities you choose. Those details are at your discretion. Do not work for free, unless this is going to be a hobby of yours. Your time is valuable and you deserve to be paid and be paid well.

Most contractors are charged by the hour or if you prefer by the job. That is again up to you. The going rate in most bigger cities is anywhere between $10 to $20 an hour or depending on the job you can offer them a monthly rate for say, proposals, payroll, bookkeeping. If you are going to do anything in payroll or bookkeeping, you will need to have accounting software like PeachTree or QuickBooks.

Now you are probably thinking, I don't have that kind of money to purchase all that software. There are women's shelters and other places in your area that will help you get those. If you need help finding those, let me know. Since there are people reading this that are in different parts of the country, I cannot post one specific one. I will, however, help you do the research if you need me.

Come back tomorrow for another episode of Work from Home. I know you can do it. Have a blessed day and don't forget to thank God for your blessings. You have many even if you don't see them all the time. Being alive is one of them.