Home Office Tech: Better Email
This article is part of our series: “Home Office Technology” in which we examine the various technology pieces you’ll need in place to successfully manage your home-based career.
Any review of the technology you’ll need in place to be a successful home-worker would be useless without beginning with your E-mail. Finding a powerful, flexible, and easy to use solution for your e-mail should be step number one on your to-do checklist.
Why is e-mail so important? To start with, you’ll need to provide your email to prospective employers. If you want to be taken seriously, you need a serious email address. After all, emails that look like “twinkletoes245@mail.com” or “suziesmom@mail.com” or “hotguy27@mail.com” just don’t portray the professional image an employer will be looking for.
Its also important to have a powerful email solution. Being able to process dozens, eventually hundreds, and likely thousands of emails per day is a requirement for anyone who is actively searching for home employment. And its likely over 90% of what you get will be “spam” or
unsolicited email. Its vital to have a solution that allows you to quickly identify the important email while removing all the junk.
You’ll also need to consider getting away from using email addresses that identify you as an “amateur” internet user. Ask anyone who is experienced with making a living on the internet, and they’ll tell you that someone with an AOL address, for example, is someone who hasn’t taken the effort to get out of their comfort zone to move beyond the “starter package” that came with their new computer. Other freebie email accounts can have similar image building results.
So what’s the answer? A simple and inexpensive solution can be setting up your own domain. Its very easy to register a new domain name and host email with companies like Godaddy or Dotster. In fact, you can do this for under $10. Simply figure out what domain you (stick to .com or .net if possible) and setup a single email address to check mail. Remember, make your email professional (example: yourname@yourdomain.com)
That’s a great solution for creating a professional email address, but what about handling all that email you’ll be getting? Gmail is a terrific solution. Their powerful email interface provides accurate spam processing that learns what’s important to you. With filters, you can have the system automatically mark your important emails. You can have their system check other email addresses, or you can download your Gmail account using a pop email program.
Now using a Gmail email account can still look professional, as long as you choose an appropriate username. However, they have an option allowing you to host your own domain name with their service, giving you all of the power of Gmail on your domain! This is a terrific option, and really easy to do. Simply register your domain, then register at Google Apps for your Domain. You can even use other Google services, such as documents and websites, with your domain.
Want a quick all-in-one solution? Dreamhost could be your answer. Signup for a new hosting account and receive a free domain registration. Then, they’ll walk you through setting up your domain’s email with Gmail. Its quick, easy, and powerful. Loaded with lots of extra easy-install applications, your Dreamhost account will grow with you as you need new internet solutions.
Categories: Home Income Tips, Home Office Tech Tags: email, gmail, google, Home based job, Home Income Tips
How To: Become a Customer Service Agent @ Home
One of the most popular home based job searches is for Customer Service positions. These jobs can offer some great benefits to someone who wants a steady income with an hourly wage and the ability to work from home. Many positions offer set hours each week, providing you with a stability that is often difficult to find with home income opportunities. And alot of these positions are with big-name companies.
What you can expect
When you work from home as a Customer Service Agent, you’ll be dealing with a wide-variety of calls. You may be taking orders for floral arrangements, or responding to requests for automobile towing, or helping a new customer signup for a membership to a website.
Most customer service jobs require a set schedule. Usually during business hours, but some jobs may require people to work late-night or overnight shifts. It can be difficult to find a position that offers full-time work, which is why many home agents end up working for a couple companies part-time each.
Usually these jobs will be paid on an hourly wage, and tend to range from $7.00 – $15.00 / hour. However, there are some jobs that pay for “talk-time.” That means that you are only paid for the time spent on the phone with customers, and not for the time waiting for calls. Make sure to understand the compensation details so there aren’t any surprises.
What you’ll need
In order to be a Customer Service Agent, you’ll need a home-office with a few basics:
Quiet Place to work: Your workspace needs to be free from interruptions, background noise, kids. Your employer will expect the same level of quality they can achieve from a traditional office setting. They don’t want their customers to know that you are working from home.
Quality Phone Line: You’ll need a phone line for this work, and probably a dedicated line. That means a line that isn’t receiving personal calls. Consider it your work line. Don’t go super-cheap, but there are ways to save. A quality VOIP service like Vonage is a good solution. Most cable companies are offering a quality digital phone line too.
Phone Equipment: You’ll need a good phone and a quality headset. Its quite likely you’ll be needing to type while on the phone, so a hands-free headset is a must-have.
High Speed Internet: You’ll need to have a high-speed internet connection. Often you’ll need to be on a secured-website entering the customer’s payment information and other details while on phone calls. A quality, dedicated internet connection is another must-have.
What they are looking for
Companies that hire for Customer Service Agents are looking for dependability, experience, and professionalism. If you want one of these jobs, you must be ready to demonstrate your commitment to your new employer.
First, make sure to be available when you are supposed to be. There are a lot of people who want these jobs, but it isn’t easy for the employers to find people they can consistently depend upon. If you can be trusted and counted on, you’ll be valuable to your employer.
The interviewer will also be likely looking for people with some customer service experience. Be sure to take into account your employment history… there are lots of jobs where customer service is a responsibility, and chances are you have lots of background from which you can pull for your application and interview.
Where to look for Customer Service Jobs@Home
At The HIB: We love to come across these job listings because we know how important they are to our readers. Make sure to view our Customer Service Jobs category for a quick review of these posts.
HomeJobster: The premium home-jobs site has lots of great job leads for customer service agents. Some of their positions are local, so look for jobs in your town. Many jobs are available to anyone throughout the country. Check out the HomeJobster site for fresh, active customer service job listings.
Also do searches on Google and your local Craiglist.org listing for “work at home customer service” or “customer service home agent” or other similar terms. Just remember, research each position thoroughly. Be careful to avoid any scams… there are a lot of unscrupulous people ready to take advantage of people looking for home customer service jobs. You should not have to pay an employer for a job, and make sure you understand the compensation and have the details in writing before you begin work.
A great way to work at home
It may take some time to find the right Customer Service position, but once you do, it can be a great way to earn a good living from home. Remember, there are always more people looking for these types of positions, so be persistent and patient. Continue applying for jobs that look like a good fit, and follow through promptly when a company returns your contact.
Categories: Customer Service, How To Tags: Customer Service, Home Income Tips, How To
Diversify Your Home Career
Ask just about anyone who has successfully found home-based employment, and they are likely to tell you the same thing… you need to diversify! Very few people find a single home based job that provides them with all their needs (full-time, consistent pay, livable salary). Although there certainly are many people who are able to work for one company and earn enough for their income goals, the much more common situation involves working for 2 or more companies.
We call this “home income diversification.” Its actually a pretty simple concept. Often in order to just find enough work, a home-worker needs to take on 2 or 3 different projects. They may work as a Customer Service Agent taking inbound calls for 15-20 hours a week, and also work doing website reviews for 10 hours a week. They may also sign up for a home-based business to help supplement their home-income.
The trick to home income diversification is to find successful programs that work well together.
First, try finding one job that has a set schedule that requires you to be working during specific pre-set shifts. Customer Service or Call Center jobs often require such a time-commitment. This can provide you with a base income that is steady and something you can count on.
Second, look for other home jobs that allow you more flexibility with your schedule. Look for jobs that pay by the project, and work more on deadlines then specific work hours. Writing jobs, telemarketing, and data entry positions often offer this level of flexibility.
If you find that you still have time in your work-week, try looking for other income projects that can help you grow your income. Think about things like paid online surveys, or perhaps consider looking into a home based business.
Becoming a Virtual Assistant is a great way to supplement your home based income.
Another way you can diversify your home income is by becoming a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants take on projects on a case by case basis. Sometimes they may have several hours worth of work to do for a single client, but often their work load fluctuates. Finding work as a Virtual Assistant can take time… there are some job postings specifically for this type of work. However, most virtual assistants end up setting up their own “shop” and accept projects from multiple clients.
Some very successful Virtual Assistants have even been able to turn this line of income into full-time work. In fact, by performing tasks for multiple clients, you essentially have built-in your home income diversification!
Diversifying helps insulate you from the ups and downs of working at home
One of the problems with home based employment is often the lack of stability. Many projects or jobs are temporary. Some are on-going but don’t always have work available. Some may take longer to be paid for, especially if you are invoicing clients.
By diversifying your income and taking on multiple jobs or projects, you can help insulate yourself from the occasional downs. If one job or project doesn’t have work, hopefully one of your others does! Remember to keep busy, but be careful not to over-extend yourself. Eventually you’ll need to make choices and decide where your time is best spent!
Get help finding successful home based jobs!
There is a lot of information out there about home based jobs, but the truth is for each open position, there are likely dozens if not hundreds of potential applicants. Make sure to stay up-to-date with all new current listings, and then be one of the first in line to apply!
Searching dozens of websites and online listings takes time, and its easy to miss hot job leads. Try taking advantage of a home job listing service such as HomeJobster and you increase your chances of finding gainful home employment.
Categories: Home Income Tips Tags: Customer Service, extra income, Home based job, Home Income Tips
Deciding How To Earn Extra Income
Deciding How To Earn Extra Income by Obinna Heche
Everyone wishes they knew how to earn extra income. Even the richest would not mind having a little extra pocket cash and discretionary income and the reality is that if you want extra money, failing to win the lottery you will have to work for it. One of the hardest things about earning extra money is deciding how to do it. There are many opportunities, especially online, that offer ways for you to pick up some extra change. First, you have to decide if you want to earn extra money online or offline and then take a close look at your capabilities.
By blending your desire for extra money with what you know how to do, you can find a way to bring home more income. Online opportunities present themselves in many ways but they will all require time and effort on your part. Many believe that simply starting a website will instantly bring them vast amounts of money and all they have to do is get it up and running and let nature take its course. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Even the best online business will require daily work and those that claim they are making tons of cash working only an hour or so each day are not being totally honest.
With the best site on the internet it takes constant nurturing to keep it in front of customers and keep it looking fresh and new. While many people visiting a traditional store want to find things in the same place every time they visit, online visitors want to believe they are looking at new items every time. They can conduct online searches to find what they want but they want to believe there is something new and different available as well.
This does not mean that everything on your site has to undergo daily changes but information that flows along with your products, to help them understand what the item is and what it does, will help them make an informed decision. Even something as simple as adding a news feed to keep your visitors updated on what is going on in the world may make a difference to your customers. If your site becomes a destination instead of an interruption it can mean increased income for you.
If you can find a news feed that offers information about the type of business you are in, it will be that much more interesting. Many sites offer extra money just for sending customers their way and referral fees can generate a lot of cash. You will want to be careful, however when choosing these sites as not all will fit into the values of your site. By hooking up with a site that goes against the morals of your visitors, it can detract from your credibility.
Obinna Heche. Los Angeles – California
Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365
Categories: Guest Blogger, Home Income Tips Tags: extra income, Home Income Tips
New Jobs @ HomeJobster {4/8}
Here’s just a few of the new home based jobs that were listed today on HomeJobster.com. Visit HomeJobster today for fresh home based job leads in Customer Service, Virtual Assistants and more!
Customer Service Rep ($8+/hr)
A CSR is primarily responsible for processing all calls on a client’s telephone lines in an efficient, effective and courteous manner by following all instructions and procedures necessary for answering, handling and dispatching such calls according to information available on the client’s account.
Director, Service Delivery
Seeking a Director of Service Delivery to be the primary contact for key Client relationships and manage the execution and fulfillment of all program deliverables. This position leads program development efforts, acting as the single point of contact, anticipating and responding to Client needs and expectations.
InHome Consultant
Motivated, enthusiastic and confident in-home sales professionals that engage and inspire our customers while enabling them to express their sense of style.
Visit HomeJobster.com now to view these and tons of other home based job listings!
Categories: Home Jobs Tags: consultant, Customer Service, fashion, Home Income Tips, sales
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