If you are passionate about writing, you will be building a career with love and enthusiasm. On the flipside, you must understand that taking up freelance writing is a big step and can be a bit more complicated than just sitting down and writing constantly. You will become the sole owner of your writing business, as well as the only employee.

This is the essence of being self-employed. You will become responsible for accounting, marketing, advertising, selling, communications, promotions, planning, organization, cleaning, and (of course) writing. It takes hard work, perseverance, dedication, and good business skills to survive in this business. A little luck on your side won’t hurt either. Many beginners get overwhelmed by the unexpected and required tasks involved. However, if you truly love to write, it is all worth it – especially getting paid for your something that you formerly viewed as just a hobby!

Freelance Writing Essentials

Here’s some wonderful news for you – you don’t need to make much of an investment to begin this journey, considering you probably already own a computer.

First you need to start thinking about where in your home you would like to conduct your work. Is the current location of your computer the best spot to be working in? Maybe the other corner of the living room will offer more space. Scope out the best office space in your home, as private as you can manage.

It’s also important to have a discussion with your family about your freelancing plans. Include children in this conversation, even if they are small. Let them know that you will be working from home, and how often you plan to be working. Inform them that this is not a hobby, but that you will be building a career. Also tell them that you will need some private and quiet time when you are working. Small children may not always (or ever) understand that part but you may find it i easier to work at nap time, bed time, or during school.

Supplies for Your New Office:

* Printer and ink
* Scanner
* Fax machine
* Notebooks
* Assortment of envelopes
* Stamps
* Assortment of Paper (printer paper, scratch paper)
* Reference books (dictionary, thesaurus, style manuals)
* Storage space (file box, desk organizers, etc.)
* Pens
* Writable CDs to back up your information

Getting Started as a Freelance Writer

Search the web for information for beginning freelance writers. There are countless resources out there for you, and you will not have a difficult time finding information and help.

This will allow you to learn from other’s writing experiences. Don’t be afraid to apply their advice right away. Learning through trial and error is how every beginning writer gets their start in the field. You will make some mistakes, but you will survive. The only mistake I wouldn’t want anyone to make is writing for free. You do not have to write for free to build a writing portfolio. If you really want to go this route though, you certainly have the alternative to volunteer for a nonprofit organization, or write for a very low fee.

Get to Work:

Begin to collect markets, which are publication’s writer’s guidelines. They will tell you what you need to know about writing for that particular publication. Many websites for writers have links to writer’s guidelines. Seek out the ones you would like to write for. Keep an updated and growing database of markets you would like to get published in. Send queries or submissions on a regular basis. Start setting goals for yourself, and working on improving your writing. Before you know it you will be turning down assignments!

Freelance Writing Resources

Here are some great resources to help educate you about this industry:

Writer’s Digest
http://www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu/

Absolute Write
http://www.absolutewrite.com

Writersweekly.com
http://www.writersweekly.com/markets_and_jobs.php

Start a Freelance Writing Business is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

If you are serious about your business you will need to have your own website. Having control over this site is important. You need access to the site at any time and the ability to upload any form of content. One way to achieve this is by opening up your own hosting account.

Remember with a free website you have no control over how long it will be hosted for. You can easily wake up one morning and the site is gone, along with all your hard work!

Hosting can be confusing so to help you understand why you need hosting I will try to explain the concept of hosting fundamentals, which in turn will help you in choosing a web host.

Every webpage or blog has pages full of content including text, images and videos. For people to access these pages the entire site has to be accessible. This is done by purchasing a domain name and then hosting the name on the internet.

The hosting portion is done by a hosting company. For a fee they will allow you to upload your content and make it viewable for visitors.

Hopefully you now understand why you need hosting. It allows you to have secure web pages on line and gives you control over how your site looks and what type of content you place on it.

Choosing Your Web Host

Of course there are plenty of hosting companies to choose from. To help you narrow your choices down take the following points into consideration. You will then be able to make a wise hosting decision.

• Is this a personal or business site?
• Do you have a budget for hosting?
• How big do you plan or growing your website?
• Do they offer Cpanel?
• Are you uploading lots of images?
• Will you require a shopping cart and payment method?
• Do you plan on installing a forum?
• If running a business will you need to set up an affiliate program?
• What type of security does your site require?
• Does the hosting company offer website templates?
• Will your account allow for growth or upgrading if and when you require more space?
• Is there a support desk and an online customer service system?

As well as thinking about what features you want for your site you need to think about how much work you are prepared to do if things go wrong! Does the hosting company offer free support or will they charge you extra to go into your account and fix something?

Each web hosting company offers different packages and features. Be sure to check each one at and make comparisons before making your final decision.

Choosing a web host could be one of the most important things you do for your business so take your time and choose wisely.

Choosing a web host is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

But what can goal setting software give you over an ordinary pen and paper method? And do you really need goal setting software?

If you are a “tools geek” you would probably answer “yes, of course I do”, but for an ordinary person is goal setting software a help or a hindrance, and what is the best goal setting software out there?

Goal Setting And How It Can Help You

Clear goal setting can help you in any part of your life. Whether you are setting up a business, defining what you are going to achieve in any particular week, or mapping out your hopes and dreams for your family, having your goals clearly defined and in mind all the time will help you to achieve success in whatever you set out to achieve.

There’s no question that when you effectively define, measure and track goals, and you always measure against them, you will have a much better chance of getting to where you want to go.

The troublesome parts in doing it properly are managing your progress and staying motivated while doing it.

With the technology that we have these days, we don’t need to be writing goals and monitoring them with a pen and pencil.

Goal Setting Software

A particular online tool that may be the answer to this is called GoalsOnTrack and in this article we will review exactly what this is and how it might help you.

This goal setting software, created by Harry Che, was made to help you establish goals for all aspects of your life. But it may actually be very effective for defining business and career goals. The control panel inside the software enables you to set specific goals in as much as you can record them, set a deadline and also state what the intended end result is. The dashboard enables you to keep things on track and you can classify your goals after you set them up.

To help you to continue to be motivated, you can include images to each goal. When you add images, you have the option to run a slideshow to help you visualize your success. GoalsOnTrack allows you to apply it since you can keep track of your daily tasks. As soon as you have upgraded your daily tasks in the application, you will be able to view how well you are progressing.

There are certain habits that you’ll be able to develop which you know will increase your chances of success. Through GoalsOnTrack , you can even jot down habits that you feel will help you achieve your goals. When you work towards developing these new habits, you can use the software to keep track of your progress. The application also provides a calendar where you will be able to schedule your tasks, appointments and any other thing that you need to help you achieve your goals.

The very last element to the goal setting software is to assist you to track your progress and measure how well you are doing. You will find access to graphs and information that allow you to achieve this and with detailed facts and figures you can quickly assess exactly where you are in terms of your goals.

If you would like an effective way to create your goals, and just as importantly monitor them and make you accountable for them, then GoalsOnTrack appears to be the best goal setting software to do it.

Do You Need Goal Setting Software? is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

There are many ways you could start a cleaning business, from offering a fully blown “clean anything” service to something a bit more specialized.

Here are 5 suggestions, – there are likely many more!

Go start a cleaning business today

5 Ideas to Start a Cleaning Business

OK, here they are – 5 rather different ideas to start a cleaning business

There you have it, five great ways to start a cleaning business, I bet you can think of many other ideas and angles

Start a Cleaning Business is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

Believe it or not you can be paid to play games and the best place to do it is from the comfort of your own home.  Video game testers (usually beta testers) play games to report bugs, review playability and interest levels, identify any consistencies and also suggest any features that they feel would add to the game in question

Basically they are paid to put a new video game “through its paces”

It is worth explaining the four stages of development of a game, being divided into, the pre-alpha, alpha, beta and stable stage. The most commonly held request for video game testers is to test out the beta stage, and these testers are generally known as beta testers (doh!)

The beta stage is the debugging stage. Here the game may be useful for internal demonstrations and previews for some customers, but is not ready for release.

When the game is in the second to last stage of development, it is released to a group of beta testers who test the game. It is up to them to report any bugs found in the game and perhaps any minor features or changes they would like to see to the final version of the game. Once all the beta testers give their thumbs up the game will move into a stage of completion, and with no changes needed, the game is ready to release to the market.

Become a Video Game Tester

You will likely have to add information about yourself; like your full name, company, address, city, country, phone and fax numbers, email address, desired product as a beta tester and the hardware configuration of the computer you are using. Note: There is no reason to lie about the credentials of the computer you are using; these companies usually hire people using all types of systems!

When working as a video game tester, you have to give your honest and true opinion of the game you are testing.

If you are lucky enough to become a video game tester, the company will almost certainly give you some detailed training and education.  They will provided you with an education on topics like advanced bug hunting techniques, buffer management, bandwidth math, and many more topics. The higher skilled you are, the better the prospect of your being hired as a beta tester.

Sometimes, besides offering a salary for beta testing, the company may offer discounts on the software of the company and unlimited and free downloads of the product beta tested, for a certain period. However, as a beta tester it is important that you promise that you keep all information connected with the game you are testing in strict confidence. Breach of this strict confidence could lead to dismissal so bear in mind you will not be allowed to talk with anybody about the software with anyone but your direct superiors

if you are interested in becoming a video game tester I recommend you check out this guide to becoming a video game tester

Become a Video Game Tester is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

Maybe starting a home based business is something you have never considered, or maybe it is something that you have vowed you would look into “if you had the time”.

Or maybe you are just too busy in your day job, or fulfilling your day to day responsibilities, to even think about getting a home business off the ground.

Well, let me tell you that more and more people all over the world are taking control and starting up their very own home based businesses, and you can too

The good news is that in this era of technology it is very possible to start a home based business with minimal investment and very low start-up costs. All you really need is a computer, a reliable internet connection, and the drive to get your venture up and running.

You will also need persistence and patience because a home based business will take some time to get going but once it is up and running and making money it will be one of the most satisfying things you have done in your life.

And the great news is that it is possible to start a home based business around your day job, the idea being that you get it up and running and making money before you even consider quitting your day job or any other daily commitments you have.

You can run your home business idea in the evenings and at weekends. You could get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later. If your day job means you are staying away from home you could do work on your business from your hotel room in the time you would normally be propping up the hotel bar.

Starting a Home Based Business

I would highly recommend that you consider starting a home based business offering a service of some sort, rather than seek a work from home job paying a wage.

By that I mean providing services to others either over the internet, or services to others in your local area.

Later in this series of articles I have some suggestions but the first step is to sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil (yes, we’re going old school for a minute).

In four blocks write down

- What Am I Good At? (And What Evidence Do I Have That I am Good At It)
- What Do I Enjoy Doing?
- What Are My Current Skills?
- What New Skills Would I Like to Learn?

It will be much much easier starting a home based business in an area that can tick the top three boxes, but it is also perfectly possible that you will want to break away and do something totally different.

Really give this exercise some thought as it will form the basis for your business going forward. Do this exercise over a few days rather than in a rush.

Go for a walk and think about it, ask friends and family what they think. Think about it when you are relaxing in the bath, or driving into work…

For instance your piece of paper may look like this

- I am good at design
- I enjoy camping
- I know a lot about camping equipment and the latest camping must haves
- I would really like to learn more about how to put a website online

You get the idea. Hopefully you will have many more than one item in each section.

If you can’t tick all three boxes then aim to at least consider the top two. You will want to enjoy running your home business, not see it as a chore…

In the next stage you will be honing in on your offering, deciding exactly what your offering is,  how you can provide your offering , and how you will go about finding your customers ….

Stay tuned for the next article in the series “Starting a Home Based Business” in the next couple of days

Starting a Home Based Business is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

This is a thriving career choice, and one you can practice from any location, and is perhaps an ideal work from home opportunity.

It is important, however, to point out that becoming a life coach isn’t something that just any person can do. You do not need necessarily need to have educational degrees (though these days you can) or indeed very long business experience, but you do need to have a coach’s way of thinking.

In other words, you should obtain personal fulfillment from teaching and assisting others

These are the ideal qualifications to become a life coach

Perhaps you are curious as to the qualifications and credentials you must have in order to establish your life coaching practice. In reality, no specific degrees or certificates are required for this type of work. It’s handy if you have a business background, but even this isn’t important, since you can learn the required skills on your own.

It can also be helpful to acquire some education to assist you with identifying what being a life coach entails. This can include studying books, enrolling in a course, or using the services of your own life coach. By doing this, you have better understanding of what is necessary when it comes to coaching other people.

Become a Life Coach

A vital part of being a life coach is having the ability to help yourself along with knowing how to help others. So you should know how to market your business to acquire clients who will pay you and thus keep you in business.

It’s not difficult for a person to have some business cards printed or website uploaded to the Internet marketing their life coaching business but that doesn’t ensure that you will get many new clients. As a result, you have to keep yourself well-informed in different marketing techniques and what it takes to be successful as a small business operator.

Bear in mind, if you’re going to coach people how to be successful, you also need to know how to run a successful business yourself.

While you can handle coaching sessions in many ways, long distance coaching is the most favorable option for a lot of people. If you are living in a big city, and love interacting with people face-to-face, you may want to only work with local clients and therefore just become a local life coach.

Nevertheless, the main benefit of having a practice in which you coach clients over the phone, through e-mail, or via Skype is that you can broaden your client base to include countries on all continents. In addition, it offers you the freedom to live in any place and travel at will because you use the Internet to interact with your coaching students no matter where you are at any moment. Thus you can see that it can be extremely beneficial to work as a long distance coach.

We’ve found that there are some important aspects of setting up a life coach practice if you want to experience success with it. This career has only just lately come into existence and gives you numerous options in the way you operate and customize your business.

If you become a life coach you can, for instance, focus on coaching people in a certain field that you’re knowledgeable about, like publishing, finance, the music business, or whatever your background might be.

Why not take the plunge and think about how you might become a life coach and work from home right now?

Become a Life Coach is a post from: Work From Home Ideas

Often people’s perception of starting a business is that it is “all or nothing” and that once the business is started they will be handing their notice in to their boss the next day.

The great thing about starting an online business is that it doesn’t have to be like this – in fact I would strongly advise that you don’t quit your day job until you sure that your online business is viable long term :

At this point check your online business:

• Is what you actually want to do long term
• Will make you money consistently long term
• Is sustainable into the future
• Has a business plan to grow and expand

You may run your business for a few months and then decide that you are quite happy to leave it as a “nice little earner” – that you can run it alongside your day job, and alongside your current commitments.  You could even outsource parts of it so it does keep running during the times where you are at work

But I am getting ahead of myself….

If you have a day job that pays the bills and provides you with health benefits and other perks my advise is to keep the job while you work on launching and growing your business part time. Get up an hour earlier, stay up an hour later, work on it weekends or in your vacation.

Those many hours you spend watching the latest soaps, or the big game, or give up one evening a week on socializing to work on your online business.  You could also save some money by being focused on building up something really worthwhile

Word of warning  though – Do not let your online business affect your performance in your regular day job in any way. Don’t run  it in work time, don’t use work tools to run it and my advice would be to keep it totally separate.  The last thing you want to do is affect your performance in your day job.

Now with hard work and luck there may come a time where you need to make a decision as to whether to pursue your online business full time or not and give up your day job.

Only you and your family can make this decision based on the position you are in and your commitments.

It seems like a lot of time, but if you start an online business and work it around your day job and stick with it, you can steadily increase your income with the online business until there comes a time where you can comfortably afford to let go of the job you now have.

You may welcome this with open arms if you hate your job, or if it is too stressful, or if you really want to put a stop to the commute, or traveling to customers or far flung offices.

Or your job may be under threat of redundancy or your company about to be taken over.  Or you may be made redundant next week and you may not even be aware of it yet… in this instance an online business could be a backup plan, something in your back pocket which you could pickup and grow if things go horribly wrong for you in your regular work.

Or it may be a more painful practical decision.  You may love your job but the practicalities of it make it impossible to continue for health reasons or family and childcare commitments.

There are many reasons you may choose to go “full time” with an online business – my advice is to just make sure you have covered all bases and the time is right for you ….

Also put in the mix what you could achieve if you had those forty hours a week plus  commuting time available to run your own business rather than somebody else’s.  If you were really focused on creating something worthwhile what could you achieve for yourself in those forty precious hours?

With the benefit of working your online business full time, you’ll be able to devote the steady attention the business needs to continually grow. Rather than squeezing it into the schedule, you’ll have the time you need so there are advantages to “just going for it”

It’s not so much about finding the time as it is taking the time and if you’ve always wanted to go about starting your own online business, there’s no better time than this moment.

So if you have ever thought about starting an online business then I am here to tell you that it is possible, and it is possible around your day job.

If you have limited time then the best possible way to start an online business is (in my opinion) to get into affiliate marketing, which is where you are paid a commission for selling other people’s products or services.

Many people start off online by selling eBooks or software which by way of being virtual (and therefore not limited to available copies unless restricted by licenses) receive very high commissions – often up to 75%.

But did you know that Amazon and eBay, and many retailers large and small also run affiliate programs so you are bound to be covered for almost any niche you want to get into – from teaching people how to make money online, to dog training, from golf to stress management there will be digital and physical products you can sell as an affiliate.

Starting an Online Business Around Your Day Job is a post from: Work From Home Ideas