By: Leslie Truex

If you have wanted to be hired to work from home, the options for you are endless. Today nearly 23% of the workforce works from home at least part time. However, there are characteristics and work habits that you must have if you are going to be successful. Before you quit your regular job to take a work-at-home job, make sure you have what it takes to telecommute:

1) Do you have a skill or talent? Companies that use telecommuters are not looking home workers per se. Employers are more concerned with finding someone who has the skills and experience to do the job that needs to be done. So, how fast can you type? Are you accurate? Can you write? Do you have phone skills? Are you experienced using bookkeeping software? In essence, what skills do you have to give to a company?

2) Do you have the resources? While some companies will provide you with equipment and services, many won’t. Do you have a computer with high-speed Internet access? Do you have landline phone service with flat-rate long distance? Do you have basic word processing and spreadsheet programs? Do you have the equipment, services and resources to do the job you want to?

3) Are you reliable? Are you able to deliver the work at the quality expected in the time frame needed? This means if your child is sick, you can’t just slack off and work whenever. Instead you need to stay up late or get up early to meet the deadline. Work-at-home employees need to operate with the same professionalism as any other employees.

4) Are you self-motivated and able to work independently? There are hundreds of distractions when working at home. The laundry, Oprah, kids, neighbors, the couch for a nice nap, etc. There is no boss standing behind you to make sure you are getting the work done. Its up to you schedule time to work and to get it done in a timely manner.

5) Would you hire you? Before you answer that question, really think about it. If you were the owner of a business that needed to hire help, would you hire someone who had your work ethic or skills? If you are someone who chats a lot by the water cooler or does just enough to get by, you probably wouldn’t want to hire someone like you. If that is the case, you need to change your ways. Working at home gives you a great deal of flexibility and freedom, but its still a job in which someone is paying you to provide quality work to your best ability.

Telecommuting has been the perfect solution to balancing work and family for me; however, it does have its challenges. Not everyone is suited to dealing with the lack of structure and routine that comes with working at home. Before you take the leap into telecommuting, make sure you have what it takes to succeed.

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Leslie Truex is a work-at-home consultant and owner of Work-At-Home Success. Get her Jobs Online Toolkit free with a subscription to her work at home jobs and news newsletter, which is also free. Subscribe here http://www.workathomesuccess.com

By: Tammy Embrich

If you love to write, then you’re one step further to using article marketing to benefit you and your business. Pick a topic you need to learn more about or one that you are interested in. Do the required research, and make it into a resourceful article.

Write articles that relate to your business. Also, concentrate on topics that you know people will be searching for. Use specific keywords in your articles so the search engines will find them…thus, resulting in finding your business.

The following steps will guide you through the article marketing process…

1. Find ideas for your articles. This can be accomplished in a number of ways.

* Participate in business message forums

* Participate in chat rooms

* Join discussion groups

* Blog

* Subscribe to ezines

Ask questions, read, and learn. The result will lead you to some innovative article ideas.

You can also get ideas from actually reading other articles. You should never copy content from another person’s article…but rather, come up with an unusual twist or angle and make it your own.

2. When you have a topic for an article, give it a title and start writing it. If you are not an expert on the subject, you will need to do some research. Keep in mind WHY you are writing the article. You should be writing articles that are geared toward getting traffic to your website or business. Make them interesting and resourceful…making the reader WANT to visit your site.

3. Once you have written your article and have checked it for errors, you will need to start submitting it to various message forums and article directories. Try to choose directories with a high page rank. The ones with higher page ranks will have more importance with the search engines.

4. Always include your resource box at the end of your written article. This will include for example: your name and a link to your website or business. When people read your article you will have your link right there for them to click on and visit. Website owners are always searching for content for their websites. They often search in article directories. When they download your article, they also download your resource box. The more articles you write and submit to directories…the more links you will have directing people to your business.

5. When you start to submit your article to various article directories, you will want to alter your article so that you won’t be submitting duplicate content. A lot of directories will not accept your article for this reason. Some may even delete your account . A good idea is to re-write a paragraph or two of the content. You can also change the title of your article.

Articles are one of the most effective marketing tools on the Internet today. Use it and benefit from it. Don’t be afraid of it. Write about what you know, and keep writing, and success will follow.

Article written by: Tammy Embrich

Tammy is an Internet Marketer and is the owner of Work At Home Opportunities and owner of Real Work At Home Jobs.

Tammy’s two work at home websites focus on free telecommute job leads and more
 

By: Rhonda White

1. Get Obsessive with Local Marketing

Local advertising is not the most popular way to promote your affiliate programs, but yet it’s still a productive means of getting the word out. First of all, buy a short, memorable domain name related to the topic of your affiliate site. Use this domain name for local marketing on your vehicle, business cards, return address labels, with your handwritten signature, etc. Get a little creative and place it on wearable items too. Visit Zazzle.com and start creating your own apron, tshirts, bumper stickers, keychains, mousepads and more.

2. Use the Products and Services Wholeheartedly

If your spending alot of time promoting for one particular company that offers tangible products, get a few of the products to show off. Use the products and brag about what qualities that you like best. Many of us are natural sales people. We often buy products or use services from particular companies because a friend or relative made a wonderful recommendation. There are many companies that should pay my husband commission. And they probably would if they only knew how much he talks and brags about their products! By the way, your kids can get in on the action too. They make great little sales people. Their enthusiasm shines through and their honesty about their likes and dislikes is often admirable.

3. Write a Fictomercial

WordSpy.com defines Fictomercial as “a work of fiction in which a company pays the writer to incorporate the company’s products into the story.” It’s a new trend that’s gaining popularity. If you have a knack for writing fictional stories, you may want to try your hand at creating a few interesting stories to draw attention to your products or services that you’re promoting. The movie industry has already gained momentum on this sort of advertising. I can already think of numerous movies that have included some “dot com” promotions. Of course, the trick is going to be a matter of integrating your promotion delicately as possible without seeming like a big commercial interruption in the middle of your story. If you have a gift for writing, you might want to take a shot at optimizing this new trend.

4. Use that Answering Machine

These nice little inventions really don’t get used quite enough. “Please leave a message right after the beep” could really use some creativity and much improvement. Most of us seem to enjoy the funny messages we hear on message machines, in fact, we remember them for quite awhile and even chat to our friends about it. If you have a great sense of humor, why not come up with a really quirky message that will entertain and make a lasting impression…and sneak in a little free advertising too. Don’t forget to take advantage of your voicemail message,too. We pay enough for those cell phones, we might as well get some extra advertising out of them.

5. Donate Some Old Books

This is a promotion you may have not heard stated before. But, I like the idea, so I’m going to share it. Do you have some books that you need to get rid of? Take some book labels with your domain name and a short catchy quote written on them and stick them inside the covers. Donate these to your local thrift stores. Even if people do not buy a book, they often browse through them. I’ve often seen business cards stuck in books at the library, but book labels stuck inside used books might be there to stay for quite awhile.

People often like to buy used magazines at cheaper rates as well. Create or buy some address labels with just your business information on them and stick them over the address labels on your old magazines. Now, if you can just get them to your local donation center before they’re too old be news, they’ll be sure to find new homes!

As a final word, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. By all means, use popular marketing methods that have been tested and that statistically work best, but don’t be afraid to get a little creative and come up with some new ways to promote as well. It will certainly help you escape boredom and keep your mind sharp…and who knows, perhaps you will create a new advertising trend afterall.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Rhonda White Get your Free Affiliate Marketing Ecourse at mommyaffiliates.com. Don’t Miss Out on More Revenue Options, visit mommyrevenue.com.

By: Connie Ragen Green

Blogging for your business or for your niche market is a way to start a conversation with your readers and keep it moving. But keeping your blog posts fresh, interesting, informative and frequent can be a real challenge.

Before you make more than one or two posts to your blog, write down a list of topics that you will cover. You may have many ideas on what to write that readers will want to read, so keep a journal of topics and ideas that you can draw from. You will also want to read other blogs on topics that are similar to yours. You should actually read and comment on several blogs regularly to truly become part of the blogosphere.

Having a series of blog posts on one topic may make your readers more likely to sign up for your feed (your RSS feed) and come back to your blog often. A series of tips is a good way to show your readers that you have thought out what you are going to write about. You may also want to offer them a PDF file of all of your tips that they can easily download from your blog.

Make every effort to post to your blog twice a week. Even if you only write one paragraph, it is better to post more frequently. This will help both readers and search engines to find you more easily and get your name and message in front of more people. Adding pictures will also make your blog more interesting. Make sure you use royalty and copyright free photos. Blogging can boost your business tremendously if you stick to it and always give your readers good information.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Connie Ragen Green has been blogging for one year now. She learned how to write articles and blog posts from the article guy, Jeff Herring. Join Jeff for a f’ree teleseminar each week on writing articles by visiting www.WriteArticlesWithJeffherring.com

By: Barbara Ryan

Is it possible to turn a hobby, something you enjoy doing, into a profitable business? If it is something you are thinking about then there are a few things you need to do to determine if you can be successful.

Research:

Do Internet searches for your product idea. Visit the websites and see what is already being offered. How does it compare to your product? You will want to be able to offer something better, or at least comparable for a similar or better price.

List your product features and the benefits they have for your potential customers. Why should they buy from you rather than the competition? This list will later help you structure your sales page and determine your pricing structure.

Make a plan:

A written plan, a business plan, will help guide you and outline all the steps you will need to put into place in order to succeed. Many home business start up without the benefit of a formal business plan, but taking a little time to write one up will great increase your chances of success. You business plan will outline each step necessary to start and run your business.

Some of the things to include in your plan are details, such as:

What exactly you will sell, different versions of your product, pricing, shipping rates, how will you handle the shipping, return policy, etc…

A website plan, hosting company, costs, will you write the content or hire someone, who? A marketing plan, what marketing tactics will you implement, how, when. What do they cost?

Determine a timeframe for each step in the process. Determine your goals, being realistic. Determine when you will work and how it fits into your family schedule.

Yes, a hobby can be turned into a profitable business, but it takes some serious planning and hard work. Be realistic about the goals you set for yourself and your business and stay motivated and positive about your business. Be proud to tell everyone about how you turned a fun hobby into a profitable business.

Article Source:  http://www.wahm-articles.com

Barbara Ryan is publisher and co-editor of http://mom2momlounge.com/blog/. Barbara is also owner and designer of Cherish Collages, a custom Photo Collage Design business developed from the love of a digital photography hobby.