Are you self-employed? Do you freelance and work remotely? Maybe you have a marketing business that you run out of your home. If so, you likely spend a lot of time at home or at your favorite coffee shop writing, creating and producing great content for your clients.
For many others, it may be the ultimate dream come true to work at home and set their own schedule. But living in your pajamas and messy bun day after day can actually cause more harm than not. In order to conduct yourself in a professional manner and see positive results, you’ll need to play the part to the tee.
Here are a few ways to boost your productivity and project a professional image from home business each and every day.
Personalized Stationery
In order to promote your business and gain new clientele, you need to make sure you can create a brand for yourself that will be successful. This starts with a company name and logo. This will help others identify your business easily and set you apart from competitors and others in the field. Once you have a brand and a logo, you can begin to create stationery that will add that professional business touch to your envelopes, letterhead, and newsletters.
Purchasing personalized stamps with your company logo is a great way to save money on your advertising and marketing expenses. While most of your business may be handled online through your website and social media accounts, having something to grab and go back to, such as personalized stationery and address stickers, will help you build your brand visually.
Easy Access Website
Working at home and owning a business is very different from running it out of a brick and mortar building in town. For most businesses, such as marketing, writing, and virtual assistant jobs, all you need is your cell phone, laptop or tablet, and an internet connection to get through the workday. Because your clients are spread out across the country or sometimes across the globe, you’ll need to have a website where you can connect with them around the clock—through the time zones.
Make sure your website showcases your product and your services. If you have e-books or courses you sell, be sure to have a landing page that highlights your best selling assets! Work with a web design company that will handle all of the website’s issues, including the domain and all of the services you’ll need for a successful online presence.
Networking with Other Freelancers
It’s important that even though you’re the boss, that you still have a direct connection with others throughout your workday and workweek. One benefit would be to connect with other freelancers or individuals who also work from home or are self-employed. Not only can you develop interpersonal and business relationships, you can also network and find new clients this way.
Be open-minded to community centers and locations that host a coffee hour and other meetings that encourage local small business owners to reach out and share their ideas. If you don’t have one in your area, consider setting one up and sharing the information with your local small business chapter or other community organization.
Dupe Your Workday
Duplicating what you would do if you had to go into an office every day is another way to encourage a professional homework environment. Getting up at a specific time and creating a schedule for yourself is important for success as you work at building your business. Generate time slots set aside for completing work assignments and stick to them. Have your breaks and lunch at a specific time daily. Stick to it to create a normalcy to your workday.
Making sure that you get dressed in casual work attire is also important. This helps you improve your self-esteem and may actually help you boost self-confidence when talking and video conferencing with clients or other freelancers. Replicating an office job or position outside of the home can give you the boost you need to add a sense of professionalism to your workday, even if your home office is in your garage.
No matter where your home office is or how you get your work done, keep it professional at all times. Utilizing multiple methods to generate a productive work environment will help give you the monetary results you’ve been looking for.
