Marketing Your Wares 79
Writing Free Content 80
Using the Internet to Promote 81
Web Site Madness 81
Discussion Groups 82
Zines 82
Newsgroups 83
Make Sense of the Search 85
Why so many? 85
I'm over here! 86
The Search Methods 87
Using a Tool 88
The Presentation 88
What's next? 88
Locating Opportunities 91
What can I do? 91
How do I smell? 92
Locating Opportunities 92
Search Sites 93
Other Resources 93
Make Yourself Known 94
The Interview 94
Landing a Job 95
Balancing Your Finances 97
Financial Planning 97
Paying the Bills 98
Working & Living at Home 101
Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day 101
Combining Work and Home 102
Your Home Office 104
Can your business thrive out of your home? 104
Dealing with Customers and Suppliers 105
Neighbors and Family 106
Being Your Own Boss 106
Professionalism 107
Healthy Lifestyle 107
Work Hours 108
Legal Restrictions 108
Tips to Help You Telecommute Successfully 109
Taking the Leap 111
Before You Quit 111
Quit—With Dignity! 112
Things to be aware of 113
Security 113
Socializing and Being Liked 114
Promotion and Visibility 114
Fear 115
Bartering for Work 115
Sure, I'll Do It For Free! 116
Scheduling Your Time 117
Starting Out 117
If You Schedule It, Make It Happen 119
Last Minute Scheduling 119
A1. General Links 122
A2. Research Links 124
A3. Tools and Software 125
A4. E-Book Marketing Links 127
A5. Web Site Marketing Plan 131
A6. Telecommuting Web Sites 132
A7. Telecommuting Companies 134
A8. Government Links 138
A9. Personal Objectives 139
A10. Do I have what it takes? 140
A11. Am I ready? 142
A12. Business Plan 143
Information Resources 144
A13. Job Search Checklist 147
A14. Glossary 148
Index 151
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Table 1: Potential Telecommuting Jobs 32
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Figure 1: Creating Your Goals 18
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Edward B. Toupin is a freelance consultant, writer, and published author living in Las
Vegas. He currently handles technical writing tasks for various companies in New York,
Chicago, and Denver as well as imagineers and markets feature-length and short
screenplays.
Edward provides quality Web site design, development, and marketing as well as
writing, document design and planning, and e-book publishing services. You can visit
his Web site at http://www.toupin.com or contact him at etoupin@toupin.com.
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First and foremost, I want to thank my clients and my friends for supporting me when I
decided to take the leap into the telecommuting lifestyle. It was very much like
skydiving for the first time—massive fear and adrenaline until you land on the ground. If
you get it right once, you want to do it again and again.
Above all, I want to thank my wife for not passing out the day I showed up at home for
lunch—and never went back. Through my odd little twists and turns in my latest
endeavors, even though you didn't understand everything I did, you have been most
supportive! Thank you.
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I actually had a wonderful career as a software engineer. I worked on real-time,
process control systems for the larger oil companies. I had a big house in the
mountains, two fancy trucks, and all the bills that usually come with the idea of living
comfortably. I was caught in Corporate America by the golden handcuffs, but I had to
have more. Not more money—I wanted more time to spend with the family and more
time to do the things that I wanted to do.
Being in Corporate America for so long, I took the standard approach to finding more—I
started searching for higher paying jobs. I was able to locate and qualify for numerous
technical and managerial positions; however, I began to realize that I was going deeper
into a corporate hole. Unless I was willing to give up my identity, my creativity, all my
spare time, and my ability to enjoy life, then finding a new job was not going to work. I
found that I was spending more time at the office, more money maintaining the image
and less time with my family. Even with a higher paying job, I still just broke even on all
fronts!
One of the major issues I had when I left my former company was that I no longer felt
like I was accomplishing anything, because everyone wanted me to do something. I
know, this sounds whiney, but the problem was that I was a Web developer, a writer, a
software engineer, and a mathematician. I was working in every department doing all
kinds of things from tutoring developers in software engineering processes, to writing
Internet applications, to Web design, to writing manuals and white papers. I was even
used in various meetings, and on various documents, to translate highly technical items
into layman's terms for the clients.
One day, I decided to play hooky. I just relaxed on my deck and read a book. Out of
the blue, I felt this cold chill go down my back—all the tiny hairs stood up on end. A
vision of freedom flashed through my brain and I finally realized that I had to quit my day
job! Yes, tell the boss that I've had it and I quit! Then I realized that I still have that big
house in the mountains, two fancy trucks, and all the bills. I was stuck!
Here is where I have to explain something. For the past decade or so, I've been writing
for various publishers and developing Web sites on the side. My little part-time hobby
was grossing more than my full-time day job. I never realized that I could succeed on
my own until I took a long, hard look at what was happening in my life. I was
brainwashed by the corporate mentality! I felt as though I needed to work for others to
make it in this world. My actual realization was not that I just had to quit my job—I had
to work for myself.
During the past six years, I learned how to find telecommuting work, how to contact
publishers, how to contact producers, and how to make it happen. With the experience
I gained over the years, I knew how to make it happen all along—I just had to do it!
What I'm going to show you is how to use your experience to begin establishing
yourself. In this way, you can eventually break out of your golden handcuffs and turn
your life, and your career, into something that you want. It's not easy! In fact, at the
beginning, you'll end up with sleepless nights and probably end up wishing you were
employed full-time again. But, after all is said and done and you break out of the
corporate mind-set, it's rewarding and it's yours!
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