Welcome to WAHS Jobs and News where each week you'll find work-at-home job announcements, articles to inspire and inform, scam alerts, telecommuting trends and much more! 

Contents:

• Notes from Leslie
• Work-At-Home Tips, Tidbits and Inspiration
• Work-At-Home Jobs
• WAHS Reviews
  
• Telecommuting News!
• Scam Alert
• Work-At-Home Opportunities
• Marketing and Promotion for your home based business
• ETC... (Disclaimers, ad policy, subscription information, etc)

Summer is coming... yikes the kids are coming home! I always look forward to summer and being able to sleep in. After about the first week of my kids being home, I'm eager to send them back to school and am willing to get up early to do that. Too much down time leads to cranky children. Every year my husband and I vow to send the kids to camp, but we never do. Of course, we can't afford to send them the whole summer anyway, so I'm still stuck with figuring out how to keep them busy while I work. Last year I had them do projects. It worked pretty well except that most projects were done in an hour. This year, I'm looking at longer lasting projects. My son (12 years) and I have been talking about having him start a business. Since jobs are risky these days and its unlikely the schools will teach business skills, I believe developing business skills will important to his future. I also want to teach him about investing. I have Wow the Dow by Pat Smith and Lynn Roney, which is an investing book for kids. I have also picked up Rule #1by Phil Town to help me learn more. Finally, we thought we'd learn a foreign language. All these things should take some time and hopefully get us through the summer. Now I just have to work with my daughter to develop some projects for her.

National Work-At-Home Mom Week is coming May 6-13, 2007. To celebrate, WAHS will be giving away FREE WAHM Plan-Its with details on how you can become a WAHM too. Plus you'll get tools, resources and even get entered to win free prizes. Click here for details.



Have Leslie speak to your group or organization! Leslie is now offering her teleseminars to live groups from Maryland to North Carolina and points in between. Seminar/workshop topics include:

• Online Employment: Finding or Creating a Work-At-Home Job
• Developing a Telecommuting Program to retain and recruit the best employees for your business.
• Online Income - How to turn your Interests into Income Using the Internet!
• Internet Marketing for Small Businesses
• My Name isn't Mommy - Helping moms find balance in their lives.

If your group, association, or organization is looking for informative and practical seminar and workshop presentations, email Leslie for details (website coming shortly).

Have a terrific weekend!
Leslie Truex


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Tips, Tidbits and Inspiration

Several Do’s and Don’ts for Starting a Virtual Assisting Business by Diana Ennen

Virtual Assistants (VAs) are highly skilled professionals who provide administrative support and specialized services to businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, and others who have more work to do than time to do it. Examples of services a VA can do include web design and maintenance, word processing, meeting and event planning, desktop publishing, internet research, e-mail coordination, business start-up consultations and so much more. This can be the perfect work-at-home opportunity for many with good computer and Internet skills. Following are several Do’s and Dont’s to keep in mind for starting and operating your Virtual Assisting business.






DO -- Decide on a targeted market and initially focus your marketing efforts in that area. By developing a “niche” in your field, your reputation spreads quickly and soon you become a recognized expert. Several specialties include: medical, legal or business transcription, resume consulting, transaction coordination -- real estate industry, desktop publishing, manuscript preparing, academic typing, e-mail support, internet research, etc.

DO -- Be creative about where you can find business. The Internet offers a large variety of potential for clients just waiting for you to contact them. Actively network and don’t limit your marketing to simply placing a few ads in newspapers or the Yellow Pages. You want to find where there might be a need—and go fill it!

DO -- Write a complete business plan and marketing plan. Too many leave out this vital step and waste valuable time unorganized and without a clear-cut goal and direction for their business. When starting a business you will have tons of ideas floating around. You need to materialize all these and put them into a workable plan of action.

DO -- Develop a website that looks sensational! Your website is often the first connection a potential client has with your services. It must immediately let them know that they are dealing with a professional. Your site must then have the POWER to draw them to you and contact you. Let them see that you value quality by the look and feel of it. Additional tips include letting them know what services you offer and why you are qualified to offer those services by mentioning your experience and education. Be sure to include points on why you stand out among the rest and are the BEST! For example, if you have been featured in articles, radio shows, etc., have them listed with the dates. (See my example on www.virtualwordpublishing.com)

DO -- Learn everything you can about starting a business. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the greater your chances for success. Look to online services and message boards and chats to talk with other Virtual Assistants operating a business. Remember these are often run by pros who have been in business for years and are willing to share their experience. For example, I mentor and manage virtual assisting boards on HBWM.com, Bizymoms.com, Momspreneursonline.com and VAnetworking.com. With 20 year’s experience, I often know what works and what doesn’t in starting a business and staying successful, so my experience can prove beneficial.

DO -- Join associations that are targeted for our Industry. A few of the more popular ones are IAVOA.com and IVAA.com, but there are many others. By connecting with these associations and being active, you learn from them what works and what doesn’t and you are able to post your questions to associate members via list serves often getting answers to your questions within minutes.

DO -- Read, read, read. By frequently continuing to increase your skills and your knowledge of your profession, the end result is a more confident satisfied you. Every tip you get from a book can be a new tool in your business. I recommend highlighting areas from several books and adding them to your library. Keep in mind that you might not use that idea today, but it might apply to specialties you might add down the road.

DO -- Enjoy!! There’s no greater feeling than landing that first client or finishing your first big project. Plus, wait until you get the opportunity to tell someone you own and operate your own virtual assisting business. It sure beats I’m a secretary at .... Plus, when you enjoy your business it shows. Your clients will sense your positive attitude and want to be a part of your team.

DON'T -- Underprice your services. The average virtual assistant today makes $25 to $70 an hour, depending on their skills, services offered, location, and years of experience. Don’t make the mistake of assuming if you charge the lowest prices, you’ll get the most work. You won’t. Instead, you’ll end up working outrageous hours for peanuts! Clients will pay more for professional services. When a potential client discovers you’re charging a lower rate than standard, they often feel they will receive a quality of services that is also lower.

DON'T -- Overextend yourself. One of the common mistakes many virtual assistants make is to accept too much work and then not be able to accurately complete it. Learn to say no or have a back-up helper who can assist you with any overflow work. Remember one of the most important ingredients for success is keeping your clients satisfied. If you overextend yourself and make a lot of errors, it will jeopardize your business.

DON'T -- Get discouraged. It takes time to get a business going. Plan ahead and have money saved in reserve. Don’t buy items until you have found the best possible price and there is an absolute need. This advance planning takes the pressure off of having to make money NOW. If things are slow and the phone just isn’t ringing ... MAKE IT RING!! There’s plenty of work out there, you just need to aggressively pursue it.

Finally, the most important ingredient for success is your belief in yourself. If you believe that with your skills and experience, you can own your own business, then there’s nothing stopping you. DREAMS DO COME TRUE. SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

Diana Ennen, Author, Virtual Assistant: The Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, & Words From Home / www.virtualwordpublishing.com, diana@virtualwordpublishing.com Copyright, 2004 Diana Ennen -- May be republished in its entirety as long as author’s signature block is included.

Article Source: www.ladypens.com



To apply to the jobs listed below, please follow the directions posted in the announcement. DO NOT CONTACT WAHS TO APPLY TO A JOB LISTED HERE. Work-At-Home Success is not representing or affiliates with the companies posted here. These jobs are found by Work-At-Home Success or submitted for posting. Further Work-At-Home Success can make no guarantees about the jobs posted. Remember to never pay money to get hired. Please let me know if any job posted below asks for money or is otherwise questionable. Visit WAHS's Scam Alert page to get information on protecting yourself from scams.


Administrative Support and Clerical Jobs

Client service representative

Part time, long term remote assistant Atlanta area

legal typist secretary paralegal PT (Yolo County/Sacramento)

word processors (80 wpm)

Virtual Office Professional (scroll down page)

Transcriber/Typist (scroll to end of page)

Computer and Internet Jobs





Financial, Bookkeeping and Real Estate Jobs

Accountant




PR, Marketing, Sales and Fundraising Jobs

Grant writer

copywriter

Writing, Art, and Photography Jobs

Managing editor

Online Content Writer

Music news writers

Miscellaneous




Search for more jobs!

Didn't find the job you want above? Here are some of the sites I use to find the above jobs. Most of these sites have 100's more jobs posted. Use the info posted at WAHS Job Search to learn great job search strategies.
 

Telecommuting Job Databases

• HomeJobStop has over 100 jobs in clerical, and more in customer service, writing, transcription,  miscellaneous plus 100's of others. Very affordable.
• VirtualAssistants  has 100''s of Secretarial/General jobs plus 100's more in other categories. Little more expensive but offers more jobs.
• Freelance Work Exchange offers over 13,000 jobs in many areas. It offers a 7-day trail for $2.95.
  

Free job search sites 

• CareerBuilder 
• Monster.com 
• Job.com
  
• Yahoo! Hot Jobs
  

• CraigsList.org (Search jobs under the city nearest you. Click on the "telecommute" option in the job search. Search other cities as well.

• CrazedList lets you search all of Craigslist on one site! Click on Jobs, and the "telecommute" option. Be sure to fill in something in the keyword list like "telecommute okay".

Work-At-Home in the News

Telecommuting can help fight global warming.



Get more current news on telecommuting at WAHS Telecommuting News Page.

Scam Alert

Check twice: Selling items online leads to scamming in ‘overpay and refund’ scheme

To learn more about scams and how to avoid them, visit WAHS Scam Alert page.