How Quickly do Career Step Students Get Jobs After Graduation? Part One

I thought I had finished up with the medical transcription series a while ago but I continue to get e-mails and comments with questions that I guess I forgot to answer the first time around (how, I don’t know, because I wrote over 50 blogs on the subject, but I still managed to somehow skip over some things. I think it must be some sort of heretofore untapped “talent” or something. Not a particularly useful talent, but there you go.) I get two questions frequently, so I thought I would answer one in this blog, and one in the next: … Continue reading →

Reason #197 to Work from Home

We recently got word that my husband’s long-time employer, a sign company, was closing their doors come August 1st – the owner was retiring and wasn’t selling the business but instead just shutting it down. As we debated what to do, we finally decided that moving was our only option. We live in a small town, and there isn’t exactly a plethora of graphic artist jobs in the offing. We will be moving to a larger town about two hours away, where there is a plethora of sign companies who hopefully will want to hire my husband. Hopefully. 😉 But … Continue reading →

Keeping Track of Your Workload

I was just talking to my mom (hi Mom!) and we started discussing all of the many jobs that I do. She asked me, “How do you keep them all straight? How do you know which jobs you should be doing next? Do you have a spiffy computer program to track it all?” I told her that my favorite way of keeping track of my workload was to use lists. Just last night, I sat down and wrote out a huge list of things I needed to do – it would take me at least a week to get it … Continue reading →

Working From Home Gives You Variety

As I just said, I have been pleasantly surprised that working from home this go-’round has actually gone really well. I am able to be a hermit when I don’t feel like being nice, which is Really Nice Benefit Number One, and Really Nice Benefit Number Two is the variety of the work that I do. Since I have come home to work, I have blogged (here, of course, and then I also have a personal blog that deals with politics – see my bio for more info.) I have also written copy for websites, edited sales letters, done lots … Continue reading →

To Work at Home or to Not Work at Home: That is the Question

Okay, so I’m not nearly as funny as I think I am, but despite that horrible headline I just wrote, I do hope y’all get something out of this blog. I wanted to write today because I’ve been thinking lately about my choice back in March to come back home to go to work. It was basically going to be an “in between time” while I waited for school to start in May, so I could become an elementary school teacher. Last time I had worked from home, it was as a transcriptionist, and because I didn’t like transcribing, I … Continue reading →

How to Find Work if Interested in Subcontracting

I just finished explaining subcontracting from the point of view of the contractor. Now we’re on to finding the work if you’re interested in becoming a subcontractor yourself. I am the member of a popular WAHM (work-at-home moms) forum, and I am realizing now, more than ever, that one of the best parts about being active in those kinds of forums is the work that comes from them. I have gotten a handful of jobs in the past several months from other posters on that forum either posting a “Help me!” post that I responded to, or by them PMing … Continue reading →

How to Avoid Some of the Common Pitfalls to Subcontracting out Work

Yesterday, I covered the basics of subcontracting out work. Basically, whether you’re an IC who is overwhelmed with work, or an IC searching for work, subcontracting can be your best friend. It doesn’t just have to be in the writing field – transcription is a huge field for subcontracting, as is editing eBooks, editing articles, etc. Some work lends itself to subcontracting better than other work, but pretty much anything that can be done at home can be subcontracted to another person. Since the IC field is such a feast or famine world (I better take this work because I … Continue reading →

Subcontracting Out Work: The Basics

I know that I am supposed to be doing legal transcription blogs right now, and I promise they are coming, but I’ve still got more research that needs to be done on the topic. I am interviewing a gal who works in the industry so we can get an inside scoop on the legal field like we did the medical field, so it is in the making, but the series isn’t quite ready to hit the spotlight yet. “Coming Soon To A Blog Near You!” (actually, very near to you – the very blog you’re on right now. Amazing how … Continue reading →

Creating an Office in Your Closet

Yes, you read that right. Currently, my office is housed in my closet. Let me explain. As I just said, I needed to set up a home office when I came home to work, and I needed to do it for cheap. I managed to do it cheaply ($126, not including those pens I love) but no matter how much furniture you have, you’ve got to have a place to put it all. Luckily for my husband and I, we live in a three-bedroom house with no children, which means we have our bedroom, my bedroom, and my hubby’s bedroom. … Continue reading →

Setting up a Home Office for Under $150, Part Two

In part one, I told you a bit about how I bought furniture at garage sales, even got free furniture at garage sales, and then how my husband brought home a rusted piece of junk someone had the temerity to call a filing cabinet. I didn’t see the possibilities that laid beneath that rusty exterior. My husband did. He brought home a quart of free purple paint (also from work – he works in a sign shop) and started in on it. He was carefully applied the paint, and after it dried, I could hardly believe it was the same … Continue reading →