20 Essential Tips for Telecommuting Success

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There is a reason lists are so popular online. They give a vast amount of information in an easy to digest format, and Freelance Switch’s tips for telecommuting success is no exception. They list some great tips that will help you succeed in any telecommuting job, including problogging.

Here are two of the ones I really liked:

Find your zone. Most people have a time of day when they’re most productive, when they can really crank out the work. Find your zone, and make the most of it. Don’t schedule trivial tasks during this time, but the most important tasks of your day.

Communicate. Whether you’re a regular employee working from home, or a freelancer working on a contract basis, you need to communicate with those you’re working with. That includes communicating what you’re working on, the progress you’re making, what you’ve achieved, any issues that need to be resolved, and anything that needs to be followed up on. Keep that communication regular, so you can’t be accused of not doing your work.

My most productive time actually shifts, sometimes I can get an amazing amount done first thing in the morning, while other times, I am only productive late in the evening, so don’t feel bad if finding your zone is difficult.

As for communication, I find this to be difficult to do, but very helpful. Communicating takes time, energy, focus, but making sure that everyone you work for, or with, knows what is going on, can help a project move faster, and keeps things organized.

Check out Freelance Switch’s full list.

Originally posted on August 16, 2007 @ 1:21 am

Pillars of Personal Branding

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Many bloggers are their own brand. Their name or alias defines who they are and if they stand out from the crowd.

With most bloggers I can mention the name Darren Rowse and get a response. He is a key figure and his branding, much like how McDonalds is fast food, Darren is widely known to be rather synonymous with problogging. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that Darren’s content is like fast food, far from it, but it does show how far his personal branding has come in the last few years.

Create Your Message

Decide what is special about you. Maybe you are great at web development, or public speaking. You might have a talent for colour theory. Who knows? The point is to come up with something that makes you different.

Next come up with a mission statement. It doesn’t have to be tied in with what makes you special. Maybe it is that you want to be the number one writer about printers. If you are going to be the number one writer about printers, how are you going to accomplish that goal? How will you stand out from all the other writers about printers? Add some points below your statement, this will help give you focus.

Repeat Your Message

McDonalds and others did not get to where they are by only building one restaurant. You have to continually repeat your message if you want it to stick in the minds of the masses.

You also have to work on the concepts and ideas surrounding your brand, continually tweaking them so that people don’t get bored of what you have to offer. Repetition can get more and more difficult as you try to work on growing your brand larger and larger.

Try different mediums. Podcasting is getting more and more popular, and if it fits your niche, it could be very worthwhile to get mentioned. Forums, social networks and bookmarking sites are all great ways to get your brand out into the world.

Keep Your Message Consistent

While I said you could tweak your message, you will want to keep the overall meaning intact. Anything you do to change your brand, even slightly, can undo all the work you have put into it. It can create confusion, thus giving an opening for your competitors to come in and take your top spot.

Remember to consider everything you write, and really analyze it. Is it the kind of message you want to be sending out? Does it fit with your brand? Branding can be difficult, but very worthwhile, give it the time and attention it deserves.

Originally posted on July 26, 2007 @ 10:47 pm

Domain Names: Why Short Matters

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I love telling people that I have a four letter domain name, but unfortunately, the people that aren’t in an online industry don’t understand why I am so excited.

Short and Easy to Remember

One of the first things that is so great about the domain is that it is short. Having less than five characters makes it easy for people to remember. If you were looking for this site, would you rather type in extraforeveryperson.com or just Xfep.com?

Type In Traffic

Shorter domains, especially ones that are real words, but even those that aren’t get a bit more type in traffic than other domains. When people first start getting used to the Internet, some of them will just type in what they are looking for and put a .com on the end of it. For example, someone looking for “love” online might just go to Love.com (owned by AOL, ew!).

Branding

Short domains are also easier to brand, in part because of the above points, but also because if I want to make business cards or other marketing material for this site, I only need to include my four letter domain.

Unique and Rare

The last important key to having a short domain is that it is unique and rare. Currently, when I go searching for a domain for a website, my first, second and third choices are rarely available. There are so many domain squatters who take the good domains in hopes of making a great deal of money on them someday that I find myself registering domains that are much longer, and less in line with my personal needs than I would hope for.

Anyone want bnintendowii.com?

Conclusion

So when you are picking out your domain, try to make it short, easy to remember, and unique. I know finding a great domain can be difficult in this day and age, but if you spend the time, you might be amazed at what you can find.

Originally posted on August 8, 2007 @ 3:52 pm

Con’s of Being a Problogger

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There are many people that think being a problogger is great, and for the most part it is, but I wanted to cover some of the negative side of being a problogger, and a few things that most people don’t think about.

Working From Home

Most people wouldn’t expect working from home to be an item on the con’s list, but it is. There are a lot more distractions at home from telemarketers, family and friends, and objects you own. I have found a days wasted in front of the television, or on the phone, when I should have been getting work done instead.

Sometimes you just think to yourself, maybe a round or two on the Xbox will allow me to unwind so I can refocus, and the next thing you know, it is late in the evening and you haven’t done any work at all.

Balancing Work and Life

Balancing work and life ties in with working from home as in both, you will need to separate yourself from the world around you, and manage your time. I am pretty bad at this. I either give work all my time, or my home life all my time.

Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t be better off working twelve hours a day for four days a week, and dealing with the rest of what constitutes my life during the three days off. But either way, it can be horrible to try to find the energy and focus to properly balance work and life.

Not being able to do this has caused burnout and created rifts in my relationships on numerous occasions.

Computer Time

When working as a problogger, you will spend an inordinate amount of time on a computer. So much so that you will have to become an expert at using one. It will become part of your ever day routine, and take over your life. I now have three computers at home, and because I am a geek, they all have different operating systems. I suggest that no one else ever go to such extremes, but if you want to be a problogger, you will have to get used to using computers all the time.

Oh, and you computer(s) will stop working at the worst time, so you best get good at repairing them or know someone that can.

Personality Requirements

There is something about problogging that requires a strange personality. One that can deal with being alone for long periods of time, and yet that same person also has to be able to network, and be interesting to be around. This type of personality is rare, and also a bit odd, and so that is why it is in the con’s column of being a problogger.

Energy Usage

One of the things that I have noticed about this job is the small amount of energy that the jobs uses. Sure reading and writing all day can be tiring, but my belly says that I am getting fatter and more physically lazy. Now, things that were difficult before, like roller blading for a couple hours, seem impossible after only an hour. It is like your body gets used to only needing a tiny bit of energy. Your appetite slowly changes, and you begin to gain weight. Think fatblogging is only a fad? I think it’s only going to get worse.

Between the high amount of focus and concentration, and the near zero amount physical activity, blogging can really wear you down.

Unstable Industry

You have to remember that pretty much anything online is pretty unstable. As an international problogger, I have to deal with the currency exchange, but other than that, I face the same instabilities as other probloggers. Some of the things you might face include: monetization strategies change, search engine optimization can shift about, and niches that are worth thousands of dollars one day, can have so much new competition introduced that they are only worth pennies the next. Doesn’t that seem like fun? It sometimes feels like you spend almost as much time planning ahead as working on your current projects.

Conclusion

These are just some of the negatives that come with working in the blogging industry, but after all that, I am still glad that I do what I do. This has been the most enjoyable job I have ever had, and I really hope that it never ends. Just keep all this in mind when you are looking at going the problogger route, and if any of these are a deal breaker, then walk away, and try something else.

Originally posted on August 2, 2007 @ 11:38 pm

100 Daily Must-Reads for Entrepreneurs

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Bloggers that get paid for their work are entrepreneurs in a sense, and so when I saw a link on Telegraphik relating to the 100 daily must reads for entrepreneurs, I was intrigued, and rightly so. Bootstrapper has put together a great list of links.

These days, it seems that almost everyone has a blog, so it’s often hard to separate what’s really worth reading from what isn’t. Luckily, we’ve done the work for you and narrowed it down to 100 highly informative sites. Take a look at what they have to say and see how they can help you grow your business.

Sites I read every day like Slacker Manager, Steve Pavlina, Duct Tape Marketing and Micro Persuasion all made the list. There are others that I haven’t checked out before, that are definitely on my must see list.

While these links are not specifically for blogging, I have no doubt that every one of us will find at least one very useful site in this list.

Originally posted on July 26, 2007 @ 3:01 am