My name is Michelle Schacherer and I am 28 years old. I was born in Mexico and I’m currently living in California. Ever since I was a kid I loved learning languages and communicating with people, that’s why, throughout my life, I managed to learn 4 languages (Spanish, English, Italian and German). I have always been very curious too, and that’s what made me love learning and improving myself. I have a BA in International Relations and an MBA with 2 majors: Marketing and Finance. I worked for 6 years as a public relations and sales representative for an eMarketing company in Mexico, and 3 years after starting my job there, I also started teaching English and Spanish to managers of big American corporations in Mexico. Doing this allowed me to meet many people in the business arena, which later on came handy since people were asking me to work with them directly, and since you can do almost everything online these days, I could afford to work from home. I currently work from home or wherever I am traveling as a Marketing Coach and a Translator for companies in different countries.
1) How did you get started working from home?
Since my job position had to do with sales, follow-up and public relations, I sometimes didn’t even need to leave my house. I had to make phone calls or send emails to speak with clients. If I had to get new clients, I just had to do some research on the prospects and sometimes even cold-calls. Since I had a sales quota, my boss gave me the freedom to do whatever I needed to reach it. It didn’t matter if I was never at the office. As long as I was there every now and then for the important meetings.
2) How did you choose the work-at-home career you do?
I have never been the type of person who likes being hovered over, nor sitting at a place for 8 hours straight every day. So, I noticed that working from home really worked for me. I could be doing personal things and job related things whenever I wanted, as long as I complied with my job. I found myself being able to go to the store during work hours without having someone telling me I couldn’t leave at all. I could also travel and not miss important events, since I didn’t have to request leave-time. All I had to do was stay in touch with the HQ by email or phone and reach my quota or finish the project the client requested.
3) How did you get started (basic initial steps)?
4) How did you get your first client or customer or job?
Working from home it started with a recommendation a client posted on my LinkedIn profile. A friend of his contacted me because this client has spoken very highly of me. So, we met in person and started taking things online from there. Since this person was in the US while I was still living in Mexico, we would meet only a few times and carry out the rest through the internet. I started managing his Social Media network, coaching him about the online tools to generate leads, the importance of SEO, how internet browsers work, I did marketing research for the Latino and American populations, and what online campaigns were better. This person (client) also liked my job, and recommended me to one of his relatives who works in the same industry, but this time to help him translating documents from Spanish to English and vice-versa.
5) How do you market your business?
Mainly through word of mouth or through recommendations on my LinkedIn page. Sometimes I will also attend entrepreneur mixers.
6) What does your usual day look like?
I wake up around 5 in the morning, work out, have breakfast and check my email. I’ve been lucky enough —after all these years— to get a couple emails every other day from people needing my services, so after looking at the email, I will reply with the turn-around time and start working on the project. If it’s a small project I can be done before those 24 hours and continue my day by reading, shopping, cleaning the house, etc. Whenever the project takes longer, I will choose my business hours and start working after breakfast, then take a break for lunch and stop working by 5 pm. If the project isn’t finished by then, I will continue the next day.
7) What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
That having good values when doing your job will automatically create a positive impact on the client, who will recommend you to others if they had a satisfactory experience with you. So, they become your loyal brand bearers and will save you the time and effort you need to start reaching people who don’t know you. The power of word-of-mouth is incredible, but you have to stay constant with your job and values. If you fail, all the loyalty you created can go down.
8) What advice would you give someone who wants to work from
home?
