The past few months I have let this blog and my business in general fall by the way side. Between making much-needed repairs to my house, awaiting the birth of my newest grandson, moving 88 miles to be with him, his brother and sister and their Mom & my oldest daughter, and extra client work, I have just been neglecting myself AND my business.

I had even missed TWO months of doing my ezine, which had never happened in the 11 years I have been its editor!

I am settled in now, new grandson is 6 weeks old and it is time to get back into the swing of things. Look for regular posts to this blog and to my others and help keep me accountable to never again let my personal and business needs slide to the point where people think I have disappeared off the face of the net

I am a who strives to help my own clients keep their lives in balance and need to remember to do the same for ME!

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing and proofreading
assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

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Before you can start your own home business you should designate
a place for you to work. The area that you work in should be free
of distractions and have a computer,a desk, a phone, a connection
to the Internet, and, if possible, a bathroom and coffee pot or pitcher
with your favorite drink. ( I always have a cup of tea next to me -
it is the one thing that I love hot, cold or in between temps. )

This way you will have everything you need until you take your lunch break.

Something to remember is that you are ‘at work’ in this area. An ideal solution is to have
every distraction taken care of. This means that you have someone looking after your child or children, if possible. If your children are younger than school age, hire someone to look
after them during the day.

This may seem strange since you are working at home, but would you take a baby
into your office with you? Probably not – your boss wouldn’t allow it. Having someone
look after them while you are working ensures that you will get everything done during business hours.

If your children are school age and old enough to understand, let them know that you are working, and that you should only be disturbed if it’s an emergency. If they are still young, have someone watch them after school.

This may seem like an unnecessary expense, but if you are talking to someone on the phone, they won’t take you seriously if they hear a crying baby in the background, or children fighting. You want to make yourself seem as professional as you can so that people know they can trust you.

I learned all of this first hand when I started my home based office services business 13 years ago. I had, at that time, a 16 year old girl, a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old girl. I had to set limits once they were home from school – they had their special “Mom times” and I had my “Mom is working here!” guidelines. It took some work but we did manage to survive it.

Like I told them, they wanted me to work at HOME instead of going out to another “job” when I got laid off from being a telemarketer – and in order for me to do this, they had to understand that this WAS a job and that I was working. If I had a “real” job, they could not run in and out bothering me with silly snitching, fighting and whining and they had to learn to pretend that I was NOT here.

It worked – they are all grown and here I am, still working at home!

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

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It’s not uncommon to see large companies moving many jobs overseas in an effort to save money. They call it outsourcing. As a mom who works from home, you have that same opportunity while you run a small business.

Typically, outsourcing involves finding jobs that can be done outside the office in another location for less money.

As your business grows, you might very well find that you need help. Even when you are highly organized, there seems to be more and more work to get done. Instead of encroaching on family time, find a way to get all of your tasks handled without boarding the train to Looneyville.

Outsourcing works for the small business owner, too. Just like a large corporation find the tasks that can be done in another location and send them out. Here are some suggestions:

1. Hire a virtual assistant. Administrative work can be such a chore and take up more and more time as your business grows. Hiring a virtual assistant can alleviate much of this burden. They are also entrepreneurs who use their industry skills to help your business grow. It is easy to find a list to begin by typing “virtual assistant” into any search engine.

2. Hire a part-time cleaning service. The housework is always staring you in the face when you work at home. Instead of worrying about it or compromising business hours, hire a professional to take care of the upkeep. Once you clean your home thoroughly, having a service to come in weekly will keep everything managed.

3. Hire freelance help. Freelance employees pay their own taxes and overhead. Sometimes you need the help of other professionals. For example, Internet marketing can take a large chunk of your time. Finding someone well versed in the matter to run that side of the business lets you concentrate on actually meeting deadlines or finding new places to market your business.

4. Put your family on the payroll. Who says you can’t use a little nepotism? You run a business, but it is all in the family. Enlist the aid of your kids, husband and other family members so you can get more done. Ask your husband to take over dinner duty a few days a week. Set up a reward system (such as shiny stars) for your kids when they help mommy by picking up their toys and keeping their rooms clean.

Growth is great but it can decrease your productivity if you continue to try and do everything yourself. It’s time to get help. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to handle everything. Find ways to outsource tasks … to everyone.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

p.s.

Freelance Mastery details legitimate freelancing opportunities from reliable employers that you can do from home. These are WELL PAYING jobs, that are offered to you by established companies and businesses in all different industries and markets. Check it out

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