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Reader's Write |
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1 Introduction Meet the Editor Page 2 Other Useful Newsletters
The RAS means being focussed on what you want, even on a sub-conscious level. |
  Mindset Over the past couple of years I’ve received many enquiries from women and men who would like to work at home just as I do. The enquiries come in the form of phonecalls, email and written letters, both from all over Australia and from countries on the other side of the globe. One day I received an email from a lady enquiring about joining The Internet Home-based Secretaries Network. She wrote of her experience, the work she’d been doing for her boss and how she had wanted to build up her business full time. She had been discussing aspects of running her business full-time with her boss for whom she did work at home part-time. Her boss???? Something hit me out of the blue! She was working at home, doing work for this man and operating with a business name. He wasn’t her boss, but her client! Where was her thinking? If you work at home, what is your thinking about the work you’re doing and the people you deal with? Are they your bosses? Or….. your clients? Following is an extract of the response I sent to this lady: Your goal is a great one and keep it foremost in your mind. What we think about most, does happen. A friend and mentor of mine is a doctor in psychosomatic medicine (of the mind) and he teaches about the RAS - reticular activation system which means that what you think about, you're drawn towards - your mind is like a magnet. Have you ever just bought a particular car (or thought about buying one) and see one like it everywhere you go? That's the RAS. As you think more and more of wanting to work at home, opportunities will open up - just like they magically appeared!… ……But patience is a key thing - it took me three years to build to full-time work at home. I contracted myself out and did a number of part-time jobs (always calling each one 'my client' - never my boss) and, where I had to sign contracts, had it made out in my business name and not my personal name. This way, if I got too busy, I could call someone else in to help. My focus was always my business, never as myself as an employee. It’s not magical really, your eyes, ears and mind have been opened to ALL possibilities, just like a radar constantly on guard. Things you didn’t see or hear before can now be seen and heard. The RAS means being focussed on what you want, even on a sub-conscious level. My friend and mentor's wife told me how she’d looked high and low for a particular piece of cane furniture that she wanted for her home. She checked every store she could think of, scoured the newspapers for ads and then, one day, when she thought it was furthest from her mind, and they were driving down the road from home, she noticed a shop she hadn’t seen before. And yet, it had been there all along. Only a few short metres from home. And, wouldn’t you know? The piece of furniture she wanted was on the front verandah of this store. If she’d not been focussed, even on a sub-conscious level, on this particular piece of furniture, she’d probably never have noticed the store. RAS can work both in a positive and negative way. If you think positively about the things you'd like to do and achieve, you will be drawn towards ways that will assist you in doing just that. But, if you think negatively about things that might happen, they too can happen. Almost like a magical, mystical force working alongside you. Opportunities will suddenly be seen by you because your eyes are now open to them. Make the RAS work for you and think positively and strongly towards your goals and plans for your future in your working life, personal life and family life. My thanks to Dr. Pete who taught me about this and opened my eyes to my possibilities! Kathie M. Thomas, Co-Director, T.N.T. Business Development Services A transcript of this article was published in Small Business & Home Based Income Magazine (Australia) in April 1999. |
| Questions & Answers | |
| How should I set my prices? This is not always easy but firstly, you must have had some experience in the area you plan to work, and therefore, have some idea of your capabilities (E.g. if you type, how many words a minutes you can do, or how many pages an hour, as a measure). Next, perhaps you could contact some businesses similar to yours to get an idea of prices - that's not easy, they may perceive you as competition! But you could always offer to take on overflow work for them and assist them whilst you're building your own business. Perhaps businesses similar to yours put out newsletters that tell about their services, etc. and you could receive a copy of this. Check the web also to see what's around for information. And join business networks - the best way to develop contacts and business. But it is essential that you know and understand what you're capable of doing or producing so that you can start working out charges according to your abilities. |
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| Have Your Say: I work from home. My company ADG Group, Inc is a technical and executive search firm and also a human resources consulting firm. At first, because of the industry people weren't that accepting. But as they got to know us and became familiar with our work they actually admired us. But it wasn't until the whole virtual office, telecommuting craze came about that we started getting treated with the same respect as a "suite" based company does. I feel that because my company is homebased we have to work that much harder to come across professional. Anyone who knows me knows I have an extremely low tolerance for unprofessional behaviour. In fact a few of my clients say I'm too professional and need to lighten up! :-) But once you let that guard down your professionalism is questioned. My home office is so fully equipped that upon first glance, you would "think" I was in an executive suite! LOL. But that doesn't make me professional. How I deal with my clients does. I think working from home has given us an advantage because we spun off a new division that handles Virtual Team Management/Telecommuting consulting. Now there are companies out there that want to function as we do, so we opened that division. It's going great too. SO the moral is, being at home doesn't put limitations on you, rather, it opens you up to new and inventive ways to stay creative and generate business. ;-) So to all those new SOHOs out there, believe in yourself, don't set limitations and remember you control the pace of your business destiny! My three cents.Adrienne Graham, ADG Group, Inc., http://www.adggroup.com Ed's note: This is good advice Adrienne - working at home doesn't mean you aren't professional and it is up to us to maintain that professionalism and show the bigger companies that we can compete! |