Top 10 Misconceptions About Work-at-Home Professionals and Our Jobs

On my way to my second year as a work-at-home girl. Still a noob at my finest but over the course of this new career set-up which I've been enjoying and savoring every minute of every single day, I've had a few observations on how some people misinterpret the real meaning and essence of working at home and I listed them down. Check it out...

1. We just lie around and do nothing. All day. Everyday.
Oh, don't we all wish we could do that? I know I can sleep for 12 to 16 hours straight if there's a "need" to, but then who would want to do that everyday? I heard that we burn more fat sleeping than walking around aimlessly in the mall, but still, there are a lot of things I'd love to do rather than lie around and do nothing. I'll write a blog post about that soon.

2. Our work involves just lounging on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and my personal favorite, Blog-Hopping.
Unless... you're a social media manager by profession. Found a job posting for one of those and was tempted to submit an application but I hesitated. I'm not sure if I'm ready to treat Facebook-ing and Twitter-ing (?) as real jobs yet. I might get tired and bored. But I'm not closing doors. Give me a few days to think about it again... Personally, I use social media as a replacement to the typical water cooler chitchat office workers get to enjoy. Although, I sometimes overdo it (quickly flips journal for a copy of 2013 resolutions and highlights this item)...

3. Because we've got lots of free time, we can run errands for anyone who needs them. Anytime.
I mean, I sometimes risk getting our power and Internet disconnected because I prefer paying all bills at the same time, in one payment center. If you'd like me to run an errand for you, schedule it on the same date as my Bill-Paying-Day-Out.

4. Since we're "just at home" the whole day, visitors can drop by unannounced.
Truth is I work in various stages of undress. And the house can also be in various stages of topsy-turvy. And maybe I have a bunch of deadlines just around the corner or pending items on my To-Do List begging for me to check them off as done. So unless you're ready for all of the above, plus the fact that my eyes will be glued to the computer and I'm mumbling incomprehensible stuff while nodding at intervals at whatever you're saying... please tell me in advance in you're coming for a visit. I'd love to chat too, but I don't want to spoil the moment by being a half-baked host.

5. Our bosses and clients can't see us so we can work half the day for them and spend the rest doing... whatever. Except working.
Liars go to hell... And they also lose jobs and go hungry before finally getting thrown into the sea of flames.

6. Work-at-home professionals earn in Dollar$$$, so we must have so much money.
Ever heard of fluctuating exchange rates? We are at the mercy of that. Got the picture?

7. It took us just a few clicks to get our jobs so it's probably easy for us to find a job for all our relatives, friends, and neighbors too.
It took me one month to land a client I could work very well with. From then on, I never stopped being on the lookout for other clients I can still accommodate in my schedule without sacrificing work quality. I have a husband, pets, a home (and a self!) that I need to take care of and cook for. You know yourself and your skills best so please try to look and apply for jobs yourselves. I was never selfish with the search venues but I'm afraid you'll have to do the legwork.

8. Working at home is easy-peasy.
Think: Time Management, Discipline, Customer Service, Continuous Learning, Personal Development, Foreign Exchange Rates, Financial Management, Health and Wellness, Socialization, Housekeeping, Cooking, Nurturing Relationships, et cetera, et cetera... Now, does it still look easy?

9. It's a scary work set-up because we don't have health care and social security benefits.
It's scary everywhere! You think you're safe and your career's secure because you're a regular employee and you can't be fired? Eeep! Wrong! We're mortals. There are risks everyday, in any industry. Even large corporations close down for one reason or another. Regardless of industry and employment status, we should all save, save, and save for the rainy days. Even ants (i.e., the free-riders on my coffee) know and practice that...

10. We're just a bunch of lucky bitch*s and b*stards.
You are wrong. Just wrong.



Oh wait! What do we have here?


Because you're patient enough to read up to this point, you get a...


BONUS!
11. We're swimming in excess free time, so when we plan to meet somewhere, you can be late for about 30 minutes to one full hour. 
I'm kidding. I hate it. So so so hate it. I'm not exactly a Best in Punctuality Awardee but hey, I'm a Runner-Up now... I value friendships and opportunities to socialize but not at the expense of my career, which I love and I'm proud of or spending my time with my Family. Before I say 'Yes' to meet-ups, I've computed the foregone income or rest time it would entail so please, have a little bit of consideration. If you plan on being late please tell me in advance so I can: (a) Not come; (b) Bring a book; (c) Bring my laptop; or (d) Allow Arya to tag along. :)


Enjoy your weekend (if applicable) work-at-homies!

What I Do For A Living, What I Do With My LIFE

"So Cham, where do you work?" - The proverbial question which is frequently thrown at me. Oftentimes, by strangers-turned-new-aquaintance. Sometimes by old peers I haven't seen for quite some time. Sometimes, I'm prepared to answer. Others, catch me by surprise.

source

"Oh me? I work at home..." I answer them. In various languages and dialects. In many different formats and word combinations. In various intonations and styles. And yet, the reaction I get is pretty much the same. People may also use a wide assortment of languages, words, and even non-verbal gestures, but still, the message is clearer than crystal to me:

"Ah... So your husband works and you just stay at home. Do you have kids?"

Of course I tell them the truth. None yet. At least not human children. But it's pointless to explain. I'm just a lazy girl who stays at home and makes her husband work his a** off so I could swim in his hard-earned money.

It used to bother me so much, you know. It hurts me to the point that I contemplate on going back to being employed in a regular office job (with all the corporate clothes and clunky shoes that I have to endure while at it) just to prove a point. But now, not anymore. In fact, I just sit back and laugh my heart out the whole day. OK, that's an exaggeration. My point is that because I know what the truth is, I don't get affected that much anymore.

I guess it's every girl's dream to be have a husband who can provide for her needs as well as that of  the entire family and household. Even I dreamed of that! And I believe that it's every man's dream too. But it's another thing to wish my husband could earn money for both of you so that you can sleep all day (Although I sometimes do...). What I'm saying is that husbands and wives have their own comparative advantage when it comes to tasks that they do well. And of course, I have no intentions of criticizing stay-at-home wives and especially moms who do not do income-earning work and spend their days caring for everyone in the family. I wish I could do that too! Some of them I even idolize and look up to as my personal inspiration. And as a good partner to your husband, you can and you should always find a way to do your part of making your life together beautiful.

As long as you know your value as a person, and not just as a wife, then there is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to worry about. As long as you and your husband know the exact division of labor system that you have in your family, then who cares about what other people say? Boost your own self-esteem. Find whatever it is that makes you happy, whatever adds value to your own life, and continue to grow and nurture it. It is a waste of precious time and talent to think of what your detractors say about you.

It is only you who knows the whole truth about yourself. In the grander scheme of things, it is not what you do for a living which actually matters. It is what you do with your LIFE. Live with the truth in your mind and in your heart and everything will be alright. Maybe not just alright. Not simply better. But always for the BEST. ;)

5 Things You Should NOT Do During Client Meetings

Weeks ago, I mentioned something about coming from a Skype meeting with a new client. Funny because it tookalmost a month for me to write something directly connected to that day. Something that is part of the lightbulb moment I had in the middle of the said meeting. (No, I didn't drift off, thank you.) Client meetings are very important. This is a non-negotiable fact. In any career, in any type of business, client meetings are inevitable and must be treated with the highest possible value. The way one handles these can actually make or break a deal, a transaction, or worse, TRUST. And this applies for all kinds of meetings - face-to-face meetings, video conference meetings, phone patch meetings, et cetera. Inspired by the relatively successful meeting I had, I have scribbled 5 Things You Should NOT Do During Client Meetings. And of course, I did this AFTER the conference call was ended.

1. Be LATE.
To be late for a client meeting is unacceptable. It tells so much about your character and unfortunately, your business. No matter how great your product or service is, if you come in late, res assured that your client has already subtracted a few (or more!) points from the scorecard they keep for you. What a waste!

2. Come UNPREPARED.
While the main objective of a client meeting is for you to know what your client wants, so that you can serve his or her needs accordingly, when viewed from the other side of the table, the client also sees your meeting as an opportunity to hear about what you have to offer, and the reasons why they should do business with you and not your competitor. So, make sure that you prepare for each client meeting that you have scheduled, with the appropriate materials that you need in your presentation (i.e., portfolio or work samples, curriculum vitae, actual product samples, and others). It is not guaranteed that you will need to bring them out, but better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them on hand, right?

3. Talk and ask about PERSONAL stuff.
Your client is not your friend, much more your Best Friend, so they wouldn't care. Maybe you will be, in the future, but for now, maintain a professional air - in your manner of speaking, in the topics that you open, in the humor that you inject into the meeting to break the ice. Especially if it is the first meeting...

4. Be extremely EMOTIONAL.
This covers the entire spectrum of emotions. Never be too Happy (when you get the deal), Sad (when you don't), Angry (when your client challenges your credibility or passes on a rumor about you from the grapevine), and so much more. Never ever wear your heart on your sleeve in from of your clients. Do not leave yourself vulnerable.

5. LIE.
All lies you tell will surely come rushing back to you sooner than you expected. White lies, black, blue, pink, or whatever kinds of lies - there is no room for them in any client meeting. Over and above superior quality service, your client deserves the TRUTH from you.


There is so much more to this list, depending on each person and each type of business. I leave it to you to fill up your own list with all those DON'Ts that you could think of.

Have a Happy Monday! Enjoy your client meetings this week!  :)

10 TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL WORK-FROM-HOME PROFESSIONALS (Prelude to My FemaleNetwork.com Article)

To tell you the truth, I never imagined myself to be a plain housewife - the kind who stays at home the whole day, cooks the family's breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleans up the entire house every single day, sews up curtains, pillowcases, and bedcovers... and monitors the daily progress of the soap operas that we have an abundance of on local TV... and oh, take care of the kids, of course. I don't have anything against plain housewives, none at all. My Grandma has been a plain a housewife since time immemorial and she's the best one in the whole wide world. But for some reason, I didn't see myself as one... Nor did I see myself as a career woman. I once dreamed of being a teacher, a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer, even an astronaut and a scientist. But never did it occur to me that marriage and family life would have anything to do with it... that getting married and starting my own family will affect the career choices that I would have to make.

Or maybe I just didn't know what I wanted to do with my life...

Until I left my previous job, not immediately hopping off to the next one. I had lots of time in my hands during that time... Time to cook, time to sleep, time to read, time to relax... time to reflect...

Time to write...

And just like that, it came to me like a flash of lightning... I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life...

BUT...

They say that writers don't get rich... Well some actually do (Does J.K.Rowling ring a bell?) but you've got to be ONE GREAT WRITER to be really rich. Maybe someday I'll get rich too. Maybe I'll find my name printed on the cover (and spine!) of one great book... or maybe two... Maybe...

Meanwhile, I'll think about helping out on paying our bills... while doing what I love the most - WRITING...

Right now, working-from-home is the best way to go for me...

Are you thinking of shifting from an office-based career to a work-from-home one?

I wrote an article for FemaleNetwork.com entitled "10 Traits of Successful Work-From-Home Professionals". Perhaps you would want to check it out to see if you're ready to make the "Big Leap" too. (Click HERE.) I am yet to master these 10 Traits and am still a long way to go before I can call myself successful but it's nice to visualize how and what I can be in the future, as a work-from-home writer. This article is based on conversations, observations, and readings I've made in the hope of helping myself grow in this new patch I've planted myself on.

I'm so excited for what's to come... ☺

Do You Write When You're Upset?

I do. A lot.

hello 2012!

In fact, my love affair with writing is borderline obsession already. Especially now that I don't work outside the house anymore. I write when I'm happy. I write when I'm sad. I write for work. I write for pleasure. I write for a living. I write for life. 

And I write even when I'm upset. The only difference is that, I keep that writing to myself, for myself. I write a lot when I'm angry with anyone - my husband, my family, my friends, the world... It helps me a lot, to be able to pour out my innermost emotions without being judged, interrupted, or contradicted. Not that I'm too self-righteous to hear our what other people may have to say. There are just times when the answers that you need can only come from within yourself... and not from another person. Been doing this since I was 12...

And it works. I usually feel a little better after I write...

How about you? Do you write when you're upset too?