Work Shak Archives - Page 43 of 123

Preparing Quotes for Potential Clients

: Image by Thom Watson via Flickr

When you do freelance work from home, you often need to prepare quotes for potential clients. This can be a tricky business, since you want to get adequately compensated for your time without scaring away a potential client. You want to make sure that you are getting a windfall, rather than under-quoting and ending up with a nightmare. When preparing a quote for a potential client, you should keep these things in mind:

* Client’s budget

* How much you get, on average, for your work

* How long the project will take to complete (include research if necessary)

* Market rate for the services you are fulfilling

In some cases, it might be worth it to compromise. In other cases, you might be better off if you have a “take it or leave it” mentality with a particular client. Knowing where to the draw the line has a lot to do with your personal comfort level, and whether or not you feel like you let a client go elsewhere. When you do prepare the quote, make sure that you spell out what services you will perform for that money. If the client wants more, be prepared to adjust the quote.

What things do you consider when preparing quotes for potential clients?

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Is Your Home Business Ready for Cyber Monday?

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

: Image by ex.libris via Flickr

If you run a home business using the Internet, it is vital that you prepare yourself for Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the biggest online shopping day of the year, and you need to be prepared. There are plenty of things that consumers can do to protect themselves on Cyber Monday, but sometimes home business owners forget to make sure they are ready. Here are 4 things you can do to make sure you are ready for Cyber Monday:

1. Create Cyber Monday deals: Offer specials for Cyber Monday. Provide discounts, or have a sale. Offer free shipping. Make a special banner to draw attention to the sale, and promote it on Facebook and Twitter so that your followers know what is happening. You can also send out information through your customer email list. (You can even provide special discounts to your subscribers.)

2. Double check your design layout: Make sure that your home business web site is uncluttered and attractive. Fix code problems, and make sure that you have an attractive web site.

3. Make sure your navigation is working properly: Double check your links. Then check them again. Fix broken links, or remove them. Make sure your site navigation is easy to use, and make sure that, on Cyber Monday, it is easy for your customers to find the good deals.

4. Check your web site security: Make sure that everything is in order with your home business web site security. You want to protect as many customers as possible from the unscrupulous.

If your site is too frustrating or unattractive, that will affect your sales. Make sure that you have everything in working order, and that you promote your Cyber Monday sales among your customers.

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Friday Fun Video: “Rental Car Smells Like Sunshine”

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

I loved these old commercials from Geico, with the celebrity “translations” of customer stories. One of my favorites is this one with The Pips. I hope you enjoy it, and that it starts your weekend off right.

Happy Friday!

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Work from Home Idea: Online Tutoring

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

: Image via CrunchBase

There are a number of opportunities for the resourceful work from home professional. One of the more interesting opportunities is online tutoring. If you are knowledgeable about a certain subject, you can tutor others about. Sites like Tutor.com offer opportunities for qualified individuals to help students who need help. Of special interesting are math and science tutors.

In order to be approved for online tutoring, however, you usually have to pass a certification or prove your ability to help others. This is not for someone who has only small knowledge of a subject. You can set your own hours, and do something rewarding. You can get paid between $10 and $50 an hour, depending on your level of expertise, the subject and other factors.

Even if you decide not to do online tutoring, you can still be an independent tutor, offering your work from home services to people in your community.

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Using Home Business Income for “Extras”

by Miranda Marquit 1 Comment

: Image by cindeelean via Flickr

One of the reasons that some people start a home business is to help earn a little extra money for “extras”. I am in a position where my work from home income is our primary income, but when I first started, back when my husband and I were both working on advanced degrees, it was more about being able to afford a few “extras” — like pizza a couple of times a month.

Many people start a home business, or take small work from home jobs in order to be able to take care of extras. This is especially for those involved in multi-level marketing or affiliate programs. Several women in my neighborhood sell candles or jewelry, or have affiliate scrapbooking supply sites, so that they can finance their hobbies. It’s much easier to maintain your scrapbooking, or buy fun jewelry, if you participate in a program that helps you pay for it.

In the end, it is important to consider your goals for your home business. If all you want is to buy a few extras, then you can plan for that. However, if you want to use your work from home income as a larger income stream, you will need to make different plans. In the end, it is vital that you determine what you want to accomplish, and then make a plan to help you reach your goals.

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Are You Ready to Work from Home?

by Miranda Marquit 2 Comments

: Image via Wikipedia

Many people have understandable concerns when it comes to starting a home business. However, there are some great resources out there that can help you decide whether it’s time to work from home, and give you some ideas for home businesses. Indeed, Sparkplugging offers 21 home business resources, providing links to such helpful articles as:

I also found some helpful information today in a post from Frugal Dad on corporate security vs. freelance freedom. The comments are interesting and helpful as well. And, My Wife Quit Her Job offers a cool post on how to break through the 100k a year barrier.

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Foods that Provide Energy for Your Work from Home Day

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

One of the essential keys to maintaining your motivation when you have a home business is keeping up your energy. A little snack a few times a day can really help keep your energy flowing as you work from home. Here are four foods that can help you keep your energy level up — and that are reasonably good for you:

1. Yogurt: With a number of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, yogurt can be a good way to get a little extra fuel. Just be careful: Avoid yogurt that has a really high sugar content. This can lead to a crash later.

2. Whole Grains: These more complex carbs take longer to break down, providing you with steady energy. I like to have multi-grain toast sometimes to keep me going, or find some other type of whole grain to snack on.

3. Fruits: Fruit is a great source of energy, and it is good for you. Bananas and strawberries offer a high amount of energy — and they are easy to snack on!

4. Vegetables: Vegetables provide a more steady source of energy, and can keep things moving through the day. Spinach is one of the best sources of energy, so you can include it in a salad at lunchtime. Other vegetables that make good snacks include carrots, celery and sugar snap peas.

When you plan your day so that you are taking advantage of snacks that can help you maintain your health and your energy, you are likely to find that you will be more productive as you work from home.

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Friday Fun Video: Can You Answer this $100 Question?

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

I was never a huge fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I watched it a couple of times with my family when it first came out, and I had no idea that it was still on. Anyway, I thought I’d share this from the show. Apparently, the pressure can get to you when answering even the easiest question.

Do you know the answer to this question?

Happy Friday!

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Work Exercise Into Your Home Business Schedule

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

Recently, I signed up at the local gym in order to kick-start myself into actually exercising. With my son in first grade this year, I suddenly found that I had time to work on some things that have been bugging me. Like my health. So I joined a gym, and I go swim three times a week, working it into my home business schedule.

When I’m not at the gym, I try to work exercise into my home business schedule in other ways, since I know that it is important. When you have the sedentary lifestyle of a freelance writer, you need to do some things to try and stay healthy. If you take five to ten minutes three or four times a day, you can accomplish a lot. Plus, you should be getting up every so often anyway. So here are some fairly easy things you can do to get in a little exercise at home:

* Use the stairs

* Do some yoga (bonus: this can also help you relax)

* Get exercise DVDs that offer 10-minute workouts (save money by checking them out of the local library)

* Use handweights

* Do sit-ups

* Do lunges or squats

You can improve your health if you just get moving a little bit. And, if you have more time, you can do a sustained workout, go for a bike ride, take a walk or go to the gym.

What do you do to work exercise into your home business schedule?

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Taking Advantage of Windfall Months

by Miranda Marquit 1 Comment

: Image by thinkpanama via Flickr

When you have a home business, you have to be prepared for occasional drops in income. However, it is also important that you use a windfall, when it comes, wisely. There are some months where I am asked to complete a big project, and so get a great deal more money. Sometimes, I have two or three months in a row where I end up with more than usual. While it can be easy to get used to the higher amounts of income, it can be dangerous to come to rely on this money.

If you have a monthly average (figured out from what you made last year, divided by 12), you should consider what to do with extra money that comes your way each month. Hopefully, you already put some of your regular income aside for emergency savings, retirement and other regular expenses. So when you get extra some months, you truly can do something extra with it. Here are some ideas for what you can do in windfall months for your home business:

* Pay down debt.

* Set a large amount aside for something specific you’ve been saving up for.

* Invest it.

* Buy something fun or treat yourself.

Understanding your financial priorities can help you decide where the extra money should go.

Of course, you should also set a little aside for your taxes. If you make enough extra each month, that could change what you owe in taxes, and mean that the estimate taxes you have been paying are insufficient. Just remember that you might be charged a fee if you end up owing too great a difference in your taxes.

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