Sell From Home

Rosa Taggart, started working from home in February of 2006, when her son was 7 months old. Before she left the corporate world, she and her husband had decided that she should be a stay at home mom for the benefit of their children. It was a difficult decision to make because she had to give up the career she had been working on for the past 5+ years and they had a mortgage. Within months, Rosa had a classic case of cabin fever! She re-discovered Princess House when she was having tea one day in her “Hot Beverage Mug” and thought “Wonder if they are still around?” Incidentally, Rosa has been using this very mug (a Princess House product) for 20 years and still remembers the show she went to when she bought it. Rosa was very impressed that a simple cup could last so long, still look new and be in style, so this simple fact peaked her interest in Prince House again.

Market What You Love

Rosa did not do ANY research before she started with Princess House! She simply picked what she loved. Rosa advises that when people are looking at what to do, they may want to consider what it is that they want to represent. The products that Princess House offers are timeless, exceptional quality, durable and versatile.  Rosa also points out that direct sales is actually a very simple concept:  She sells stuff = She gets paid. Likewise, when she recruits a person, they sell stuff then she gets paid. This is the norm of any business out there. Direct sales just makes sense and she works hard to earn her customers’ trust and thus, they come back to her time and time again to buy more products. She also likes Princess House because she was able to take a year off to have her next child, a daughter, with NO pressure/stress of having to leave her at a day care, so she could go back to work. This was the flexibility that she needed in order to be successful as both a business owner and a parent.

Measure of Success

Rosa did not expect to become successful/rich fast. With all business, there is a breaking in period. Some are shorter than others. She often asks people “When you went to school, when you were picking something to study, was it out of interest for the topic OR how much $$ you were going to make?” Money is hardly ever the reason people choose what they study, because if that were the case there would not be a physician shortage in this country! Rosa does what she does everyday because she loves the products. Real attainable success will come because of that. Frustration and failure are the result of gross expectations with limited or unreasonable time lines.

Challenges Of  Working From Home

Rosa has experienced three big challenges while working from home: Space, time and ‘You do what?’ Space because her office is located in her daughter’s room – she keeps her business binders under her daughter’s crib! However, this system works for Rosa because she can get work done while she watches her daughter sleep. Getting away from her children to make phone calls can be challenging, but it’s doable! Rosa also indicates that time can be a big challenge because now that her son is in Kindergarten she’ll often find herself at the school helping with the various school activities. But she states that if this were a standard brick-and-mortar job, this involvement in her children’s lives would never be possible. Lastly, Rosa says that “You do what?” is a question that she gets a lot from other people. She responds that YES this is her work at home job and YES she might as well do something productive while her kids are still home and she doesn’t NEED to go back when they are in school full time because she spends her time building something that will provide her an income and a flexible family life.

Rosa Taggard – Princess House Consultant

Do What You Love

Tess, a Mom living in Charleston, SC, started her journey as a work at home writer in January of 2008. After working in the corporate world as a human resource professional for fifteen years, Tess was ready to return to her roots and pursue a career as a freelance writer. Other than a BA in Business, Tess has no formal training in journalism, although she has taken several online courses to add to her skills and is a member of two local writing groups where she receives plenty of constructive criticism. Tess has written all of her life; inspired by her father, Joseph Curle, who was also an avid writer.

Life Work Balance

For years, Tess struggled with meeting the needs of both her career and her family that includes a special-needs son. She continually felt the need to find a work at home solution that would be able to provide the rewarding work experience she was lacking in the corporate world and the balance she needed at home. Writing is such a flexible career with so many options including working from home. Since Tess has a natural writing ability and a creative mind, becoming a freelance writer has provided her with the perfect solution.

Meet The Challenge

The biggest challenge initially was building a decent portfolio that would highlight her best skills to potential clients and colleagues. Many times, clients want to see what writers can do so they ask for writing samples before assigning work. Over time and perseverance, Tess has been able to build an impressive online portfolio of published articles, reviews and short stories, which can be found on her website. She calls this her “work in progress” and is aiming towards getting more work published in magazines and anthologies this year.

A Writer Writing

Thankfully, there are many opportunities available for writers to find clients and work online. Some of the best places to start looking are online communities and forums, where people post requests for work. This is where Tess first found some of her early clients and still writes for many of them. Nowadays, Tess is a member of several online article sites like Associated Content and Hubpages where she publishes articles and finds clients on a regular basis.

Benefits of Working At Home

Tess enjoys the freedom of being able to manage her own time, meet her family needs, yet still hold down a rewarding career while working from home. She loves being able to see the fruits of her labor in black and white whenever it gets published online. She also enjoys being able to share this experience with other aspiring work at home parents and hopes that through her efforts she can help others find their own way to this lifestyle.

Tess C. Taylor lives in Charleston, South Carolina who works from home as the manager of Online Research & Content for Flexjobs and the owner of  Taylor Resources Writing

Patricia Eales, the founder of Your Extra Pair of Hands, has always been known as the “go to girl”, for her innate ability to know what is required to get the job done, accurately and on time. Home & Gift Collection (now EverydayStyle) was a great direct sales company to work for. In the 3 years Patricia was with them, she achieved Management Status in her first year; was in the President’s Circle 3 times, was 2nd highest salesperson in Canada, and Top Fundraiser, and attained many other sales achievements. After time, however, she needed to go back out into the corporate workforce again, and ultimately founded her own business.

Sales And Small Business

Something that Patricia definitely learned in Direct Sales was the value of relationship building and customer service skills. There are so many options out there where people can choose to spend their money, so small business owners need to provide not only a superior product, but most definitely superior customer service. Another important thing she learned from both the corporate world were time management skills, which are especially valuable in any home-based or VA business.

Know Your Client

For Patricia, the ideal client is one who appreciates that they’re spending too much time on tasks that take away from the time they need to build their businesses and make money. These clients want a better ROI, and recognize the value of hiring a Virtual Assistant to help them achieve this. Patricia shares that her best client right now, is one that has no idea what a Virtual Assistant was or what she can do for them, and is thrilled at how she can help them establish a better workflow leading to an increase in their business.

Sell Your Experience

Patricia has often said that 20 years in the corporate world as an Executive Assistant to CEO’s and other top business people, has given her expertise in “hats”. As an Executive Assistant, she has been responsible for so many different and varied things, that on any given day she could be a marketer, an event planner, a personal assistant, travel agent, research assistant, customer service person or recruiter! Because of this experience, she has learned to recognize what someone needs, often before they even realize they need it. Patricia is more than just a secretary to her clients.  She partners with them to help their business grow, suggesting more cost effective or time wise ways to accomplish their goals.

Using Marketing Tools

In today’s fast paced world, the internet is the place to advertise your business. There is most definitely a right way to do it though! Patricia is presently working with clients who want to increase their visibility in the new Social Media arena, and the first thing she does is sit down with them, and ask what they hope to accomplish with this form of advertising. Her advice is that while it’s great to have thousands of connections on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, if none of these people are contacting you to buy your services or product, you’re just wasting your time spent in maintaining your presence. You have to combine your visibility with the desire to buy what you’re selling, and this is where Patricia’s social media services help her clients.

Networking And Home Based Business

Patricia advises to network as much as you can. When you’re starting out, you have to watch where your money is spent. You most definitely have to spend money to make money, but be smart about where you spend it. Networking groups are a great way to get out, meet people and talk about your business, in a very cost effective manner. You may not find a client from the people at a networking event, but you never know whom they know, and if they recognize that you provide a valuable service or product, they WILL tell their families, friends and business colleagues! Referrals are the life blood of any business, and networking is the place to find them. You can also join forums where you want to find your clients. For example, if your ideal clients are in direct sales, Patricia advises joining a direct sales forum to work on building relationships. You will then find that when they need the services you offer, you will be the first person they think of. And most definitely, investigate social media networking resources. Be prepared and be passionate about what you offer, and it will show in everything you do, and your business can’t help but succeed!

Patricia Eales, CEO & Administrative Professional

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