I put gas in my truck about three weeks ago, and since I never have to drive to work, I only put about 20-30 miles/week on it.

How about you?

Join the forum discussion on this post

In a recent post on the Red Tape Chronicles, MSNBC’s Bob Sullivan raises some important issues for telecommuters in 2008. Most interestingly, in a world that sees gas prices soaring, and employers and employees alike looking for solutions that help the bottom line, one would think that telecommuting should be a booming trend.

But it telecommuting isn’t booming now, is it?

Apparently tax incentives and promises of happier and more productive employees aren’t enough to push telework arrangements past roughly 10% of the workforce. So if the benefits of telework to both employers and employees won’t galvanize people to take advantage of their company’s telecommuting policies, then what would?

Hmm … if this were a political candidate rather than a work arrangement, what would the answer be?

Fear.

In political campaigns, we’re told all the positives characteristics of the various candidates. Candidates smile, they kiss babies, they shake hands with the multitude, they make promises, and they smile some more. But people aren’t spurred to action by these nice, positive tactics.

No, what really works is going negative, and adding a bit of fear to the mix. Maybe that’s how prospective teleworkers should make their case. Instead of simply touting all the positive aspects of telework, try pointing out the negatives of traditional employment.

OSHA statistics demonstrate that employees that are at highest risk of workplace violence are those that have extensive contact with the public - that is - non-telecommuting workers.

Telecommuters are also the least likely employees to create a hostile workplace, and to my knowledge, every recorded incident of employee sexual harassment have occurred in traditional workplaces and not telecommuting arrangements.

Traditional offices are also a breeding ground for every new virus and weird bacterial infection that comes along. With the high likelihood of close proximity to infected coworkers, traditional employees stand a much higher risk of suffering and spreading these infections themselves. Of course, the physical isolation of many telecommuters reduces this risk, and many telecommuters will work through minor infections that would otherwise result in a sick day if they worked in a traditional setting.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure that you could come up with more creative arguments to inspire fear of traditional work arrangements in your employer. The key is balance - you want them to see telecommuting as a solution to their problems rather than see you as a walking HR issue waiting to happen. Don’t play the fear card too heavily, but feel free to point out the downside of the status quo.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Thursday Bram posted a nice list of telecommuting tips on LifeHack.com today - things he says you should add to your “Telecommuter’s Toolbox” that could make your life as a telecommuter a bit easier.

Thursday covers a several must-have items (such as The Meal Plan, and The Outside Office), and I thought I would add a couple more to the list.
(more…)

Join the forum discussion on this post

Even if you’re only doing half your regular work from home, you’re going to need to have broadband network access. Why is that, you ask? Simply this - the speed that you access the internet will have a large influence on just about everything else you do. With broadband, email checks take seconds - even when there are fairly large attachments. You can keep in contact with customers, co-workers, as well as your spouse/significant other more easily using IM, transfer files, upload job bids, and download presentations or software in a fraction of the time it would take you if you used dial up.

So here’s a bit of math: Since broadband saves you time, and time is money, then broadband saves you money.

So imagine our pleasure when we heard that Comcast is beginning to offer “extreme high-speed” service to subscribers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, including Hudson, Wisconsin. This is a test system that provides 50Mbps downstream and 5Mbps upstream. The monthly cost of this service will be about $150.

ArsTechnica noted yesterday that:

“This announcement marks the beginning of the evolution from broadband to wideband,” said Comcast High-Speed Internet SVP Mitch Bowling. “We believe wideband will usher-in a new era of speed and Internet innovation for today’s digital consumers. Wideband is the future, and it’s coming fast.”

Even if you’re already cruising the net at a decent 8-10 Mbps (like I am), this still comes as good news. I often find myself having to download fairly large photoshop and illustrator files, some of which are almost 500MB even when zipped. The difference between waiting 1 minute or 10 minutes for such files is worth the extra money, at least to me.

Join the forum discussion on this post

On Telecommuterforum.com, we want you to be successful, and one way to do that is to help those of you who want a telecommuting job to find on. So we’re proud to offer you a new telecommuting job search feature.

Just click on Job Search in the header, and you’ll see a simple form. Select your state and press the “Find Jobs” button.

Our search engine currently pulls jobs from Yahoo’s Hotjobs, Indeed.com, and SimplyHired.com. As we go forward, we’ll add more sources and additional search options if they’re needed. We’re still working out some kinks with the Indeed search, as that doesn’t seem to want to filter by state, but we thought that it offered enough value to bring it on line.

Thanks to the folks at Springboard Software for the search script!

Join the forum discussion on this post

Whether you are an employer looking to expand your business or you are a busy professional, virtual assistants could be the answer that you are looking for. Outsourcing is one of the greatest skill sets that you can posses, yet so many people fail to leverage the concept.

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant is someone that works for you in primarily administrative jobs from anywhere in the world. These assistants are not physically present in your office as they can leverage fax machines, phones, voice over the internet (VoiP) services, IM’s and more to communicate.

What are the benefits of having a virtual assistant?

Virtual assistants can help you with traditional administrative tasks so that you can focus more of your attention on higher paying and more essential parts of your small business or even for that matter, you can focus more on the other things that you love to do in your life. Virtual assistants can often be hired in other time zones than you, creating the opportunity for your business to be working for you around the clock.

How do I hire a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual assistants can cost anywhere from $5-75 per hour depending on where you hire them from. Some great online resources to find freelancers are www.guru.com, www.craigslist.org and www.elance.com. You can post for a position, interview candidates and select the candidate that is the best fit for you and your business or personal needs. Be sure to establish specific guidelines and parameters to ensure that they relationship is a success.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Telecommuting is a growing business for almost any business sector. Whether you are skipping going into the office, traveling while you are working, an employer hiring workers who telecommute or managing a business remotely, there are many things to keep in mind to ensure your success.

Here are a few key tools to help you ensure success:

1. Voice over the Internet Services

While this is not a new tool, there have been substantial improvements in the quality of service provided. This service allows for you to instant message and to call employers, employees or clients while you are sitting at your home computer. Why is this great? Well, you don’t have an added expense (as many services are free) and you can call people without any additional technology required. The best service that I have found for this is Skype, and it’s Free!

2. PDA’s

I personally don’t use one any more as I find that it increases my aggravation level while I work, but if you are constantly on the go, they can be a great device to help you work. PDA’s allow you to check emails, download files and have cell phone access all in one.

3. E-fax

Efax.com allows you to send and receive faxes from y our own computer instead of a hard line. This is an essential tool for any telecommuter to use to stay in constant communication with your employer or your employees.

4. Instant Messaging

This is a great tool to keep in regular and instant communication with your employees or your employer. You can type your conversation quicker than email and many integrate into VoiP services as well. Some of the top IM programs are Yahoo, MSN and Skype.

Join the forum discussion on this post

As part of the its Green Networking effort, Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) unveiled a pilot project aimed at improving the way telecommuters get work done. Cisco announced it’s Smart Work Centers initiative, which it is piloting in Amsterdam, during last month’s Connected Urban Development conference held in San Francisco.

Cisco describes the Smart Work Center concept as:

an approach developed by Cisco and embraced by the city of Amsterdam, [that] enables local residents to work in remote stations without having to travel into the heart of the city. The Smart Work Center concept is based on a combination of technology and services that deliver a true connected neighborhood experience: the innovative use of convergent video-voice-data technology solutions; the availability of onsite services such as child care centers, dining and banking; open public and exposition spaces; and flexible desk seating and meeting rooms.

According to TechNewsWorld.com, the service aspects of the solution provide as much benefit to a telecommuter as the technical aspects. Indeed, for teleworking parents, having child-care options in a Smart Work Center could be worth their weight in gold.

Join the forum discussion on this post

While telecommuting can be a fantastic opportunity, there can be significant work-life challenges associated with the decision.

You can work 24 hours per day

Working from home from your laptop or desktop offers the opportunity to work in the comfort of your own home. The challenge that it can create for some people is that your work is actually in your home. When you work in the office and then leave to go home, the work often stays at the office. When you are accessible 24 hours per day, depending on the type of work that you do, it can create a problem with life balance. To avoid this problem, set expectations with your employer about when you are available, or if you work for yourself, try to set personal boundaries about when you intend to be available for work.

You never leave the house

If you are like me, I can go several days, and I am almost ashamed to say and entire week, without ever leaving my building. Why? Because, I can work and workout in the same building. I may go outside to get my cup of coffee in the morning, but otherwise, I am addicted to work. The best idea to avoid this being a problem is to put in your calendar all of the other things in your life that are important- i.e. personal time, exercise, errands, social events.

You have little to no social interaction

If you telecommute, you can go for extended periods of time without social interaction with other human beings. While this may not seem like a big deal, it is important to maintain personal contact and open communication with colleagues and other professionals. Schedule regular conference calls and occasional face to face meeting with colleagues and your supervisor to keep your pulse on the company and the company’s direction.

The first 10 years of my career I worked for a Fortune 50 financial company where I did virtually little to no telecommuting. In 2006, I purchased an international manufacturing company in Texas. The first 7 months I worked from a virtual office while I managed the production and management team in the factory located about an hour from my home.

After the initial period, I began to travel around the country. This next year was where I became a pro at telecommuting. Telecommuting in this fashion requires you to be resourceful, always learning in the new city where your nearest business tools are. I became a regular at the UPS store, I had my mail forwarded to me from a central location in Texas to wherever I was, I used Efax to complete all of my faxes and I was a midnight regular at Fedex Kinko’s. I traveled and managed my multi million dollar company from around the world and leveraged as many resources as I possibly could to stay on top of my game.

During the period of 2006-2008, I also acted as a virtual consultant for sales company and a financial company, also working from my virtual office.

I sold the business and here came the next challenge. I moved to another country and became President of a new company providing freelance writing and copy services to clients all over the world.

Telecommuting is a required skill for almost all business owners and executives. It provides you the ability to move quickly, to be agile and to work in almost any environment. My personal motto is that I can work anywhere as long as I have a laptop and a phone.