According to International Telework Association and Council (ITAC) of Washington, D.C., there are more than 19.6 million people who reportedly work from home (1999). The ITAC estimates that by 2010, there will be around forty million people working part- or full-time from their homes. (http://www.jala.com)

Sage Research, Inc. reported that companies will continue to initiate telecommuting programs. The use of remote workers will become a necessity as overhead costs continue to rise. (http://www.sageresearch.com/)

Yet, even though trend of telecommuting (working from home) has steadily grown over past two decades, it remains an untapped benefit for majority of North America’s workforce. This makes many job seekers ask: “Where are companies that allow individuals to work from home? What does it take to land a home-based job?”

With a bit of thorough research, this information can be found. Without proper research, however, there are plenty of unscrupulous people trying to make a lot of money from others’ need to find home-based work. Through tricky advertising they take millions of dollars from very individuals who are trying to earn a living. These scammers, as they are commonly called, are all too aware of how desperately people want to earn a paycheck from their homes. And their target market grows by leaps and bounds every year.

Compared to amount of misinformation out there, amount of reliable information about working from home seems scarce. That’s why it’s important to search it out and take advantage of it when it becomes available.

To learn what it is like trying to find and actually land a telecommuting job, Telework Recruiting, Inc. surveyed dozens of people who frequent online E-mail groups that focus on telecommuting issues. The results of this survey will help give job seekers an understanding of what’s involved in a search for a telecommuting position. These results should also help employers realize value that having a telecommuting option has for so many candidates.

Although telecommuting is a work option that increases each year across North America, it is still not norm. According to Telework Recruiting, Inc.’s survey, average length of time a job seeker spends searching for a position that allows telecommuting is two years. For individuals who want to start out with a new company as a teleworker, it can take longer than for those who try to persuade their current companies to allow them to telecommute full- or part-time.

The number-one reason survey respondents believe that it takes so long to find telecommuting work with a new company is that they simply can’t find legitimate companies to work for. Their research usually takes them to companies offering bogus job opportunities or scams. These supposed hiring companies either want people to pay for information about job or to file an application or, they want people to perform idiotic activities such as sending spam E-mail or posting advertisements all over Internet.

The second reason is that they believe companies are afraid to trust them to perform their work from home. Despite numerous studies that indicate that teleworkers are actually more productive, it still seems to be a concern for employers that home-based employees will be sitting around watching television, rather than working.

The third top reason people feel they can’t find work from home employment is there are simply too many people competing for few telecommuting opportunities that are out there. This may be true, which only reinforces point of how it is important for job seekers to invest in creating a top-notch resume and to continually hone their skills.

Other reasons attributed to inability to find telecommuting opportunities include:

-- Lack of training or experience for jobs they are seeking

-- Not being open to other types of work; that is, being too narrow in their job seeking focus

-- Not looking hard enough

-- Or not actually having a home situation conducive to telecommuting. (I.e. Having a child around that requires almost constant attention.)

For survey respondents who have been successful in finding and keeping telecommuting positions, we asked for their input on what were some factors related to their success. The number one reason they gave: Diligence. They believe they were successful mainly because they didn’t give up looking. They researched everything. As one person put it: “Leave no stone unturned.”

Another top factor for their success was having a good employment track record. These days background checks are almost always performed. (The growing number of background checking services out there evidences this.) Maintaining exceptional references by previous employers is extremely important.

Available online at: http://www.netpreneurnow.com/mini.shtml (along with a number of articles)

Also available via Autoresponder: mailto:conversation@netpreneurnow.com

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From The Heart: A Conversation with a Newbie

by Stuart Reid

I've been inspired to write this short piece to answer THE most common questions I hear. It takes form of a fictional discussion.

NEWBIE: "How do I make money on Internet?"

ME: "You need to sell `something` to `somebody` - and of course make a profit."

NEWBIE: "What??"

ME: "You need to persuade people to exchange their cash for your goods."

NEWBIE: "That's another way of saying same thing. Don't you have any practical advice?"

ME: "First, you need to know what people are willing to spend their money on. Discover what they want to buy, or would like to buy.

Second, you need to reach these people. You need to be where they are, to go where they go.

Third, you need to present what they want in way they expect it."

NEWBIE: "Sure, that sounds like common sense to me. But if it was that easy we'd all be doing it!"

ME: "It IS that easy! There is NOTHING else. There's a lot of tactics you can use to make process more likely to succeed, sure, but at end of day your job is to give people what they want.

You could specialise in one market. You could target any market that is likely to give good results. You could - if you were that kind of guy - blatantly scam everyone for a quick buck, but you'd quickly crash and burn that way.

You need to build a reputation. That involves trust. It takes more than just throwing offers at people - make friends with them first."

NEWBIE: "Now we're getting somewhere! I know what you mean - I'm getting sick of same offers clogging up my mailbox each day, and if I am surely everyone else is?"

ME: "To some extent, yes, that's why you need to develop your own style and personality. The market is very busy, so you need to distinguish yourself. For example, it doesn't mean you shouldn't jump on bandwagon *if* current in vogue product is worth it - but you should try to make your offer differ from everyone elses!"

NEWBIE: "Right. Ditch those carbon-copy promotions, then!"

ME: "You've got it! Write your own ads, include your own bonuses, that kind of thing."

NEWBIE: "So, what can I do to reach these people and find out what they want? Is it just a matter of reading messageboards, and when someone needs help send them to a good offer, with my affiliate link?"

ME: "There's so much you can do here. Personally, I think that way is pretty unlikely to succeed.

Remember you need integrity - a good reputation. You need to distinguish yourself in whatever market you choose (even if you are active in all markets). Your own web site and mailing list are a good start, and are almost essential. That way you can develop a following.

Then you need to build a basic strategy that encompasses ALL your marketing activities. A good starting point is to drive visitors to your website, and capture their e-mail address. Then provide them with good information and carefuly chosen offers where appropriate. With an autoresponder this can be automated.

Make your site a useful resource for them to return to with perhaps some changing content to encourage repeat visitors, such as a Blog, or a online newsletter, or a "xxx of Day" type feature.

Once this is in place you have a good platform to work from, and then you can answer that board members question. If it sounds like hard work, I apologise, but you don't need to do it all at once. In fact I'd encourage you to start as soon as you can. You'll never come to anything if you constantly try to perfect everything. Build something first, and improve as you go along."