Our top tips for home workers

Often the most popular posts on the blog and social media are those in which home business owners offer their personal tips for home workers.

Those bits of insider knowledge only acquired by getting out there and doing it.

And often by making mistakes and vowing never to repeat them!

The guest posts I’m highlighting today all come from well-established home workers, got a great reception when first published and deserve another turn in the spotlight.

There’s a bit of a numerical theme going on too:

1. 3 ways to handle ‘Do you do discounts?’
Sales and special offers happen all the time now, not just a couple of times a year, and people are looking for a bargain with any purchase, business services as well as consumer goods. So you may well have been asked by a prospective client if you will offer a discount.

That panics lots of us, because we want the sale, but we need to make a decent living. We want to be generous and share our expertise, but we don’t want to feel ripped off. Corrina Gordon-Barnes (pictured) has 3 ways you can think about that question before it happens, so you’re prepared and can come to an amicable deal.

2. 8 things I wish I’d known before I started a business
Barbara Winter promotes the joys of self-employment, has written hugely popular books on the subject, and runs seminars in the US on how to be ‘joyfully jobless’, the best description of self-employment I’ve ever come across.

In this post she recalls how she didn’t know a soul who was self-employed when she started her first business, and how she proceeded by trial and lots of error. Although there is plenty of information and advice now available, some of the things she learned still aren’t being acknowledged. Find out what they are!

3. Working from home – 13 ways to waste time
Lots of readers have identified with Anthony Chatfield’s post on the many ways we manage to procrastinate. Some we convince ourselves are necessary, others we know are distractions but are all too easy to fall prey to.

Do you ever find yourself dealing with lots of unimportant little jobs when there’s a crucial big one waiting to be done? Get distracted by people who don’t understand you’re working and ring up doing the day for a chat? Anthony’s been there, and has tips for home workers on plenty of other time-wasting activities too.

Have you acquired your own nuggets of wisdom that you’ve learned from experience but don’t see discussed? We’d love to share your tips for home workers here on the blog. Don’t be shy, get in touch and we’ll send you our guidelines for guest posts. It’s a straightforward process and you’ll get a little free PR into the bargain 🙂