How to Succeed at Working Remotely: 7 Tips for Beginners

Let’s be honest; devising a realistic work-from-home guide is burdensome. While working remotely seems like the ultimate job, hacking it is another. Trust yourself to miss a deadline or two, thanks to afternoon naps.

Remote working challenges can only be countered by working around them. This can be particularly harder for beginners looking to succeed at it. If you are in this bracket, here are 7 tips for you.

Tip 1: Set Yourself Up for Success

Start by having an equipped and reliable work-from-home environment. Invest in a good computer, fast internet, a webcam and other devices you may need. As a freelancer, you must trust yourself with speed and quality beforehand.

Slow Wi-Fi is a freelancer’s worst enemy. It will give you bad ratings since you will always miss deadlines. If you cannot find a good service provider, you are not ready.

Get the latest versions of remote working tools to streamline online work. Applications like Asana help you to organize your work.

Tip 2: Structure Your Work Days

Working from home makes you your own boss. This is not permission to be disorganized. Take this opportunity to create structures that work without overcompensating yourself.

First, identify what your online work demands from you. Then, identify what times of day you are most productive. Come up with a schedule and create time-blocks for the items on your to-do list.

Skills like time management, organization, goal orientation, and accountability are needed here. These will enable you to submit quality work within deadlines.

Tip 3: Communicate Effectively with Clients and Teammates

Communicate your time zones to your clients. This will inform them of when you are likely to be available. When working remotely, use autoresponders that let the clients know when you will attend to them.

In case any instruction is unclear, do not hesitate to ask for clarification. A lot of back-and-fourths do not mean that you are stubborn. Remember, over-communication is better than having your submission rejected.

Communicate the status of your task in a project. Especially if you are working on it with other team members. When working remotely, you can use remote working tools like Google Suite and Trello. Failure to give periodic status reports can cause confusion and delay a project.

Tip 4: Negotiate Remote Job Contracts

Unless voluntary, nobody wants zero compensation for a remarkable job. With this in mind, you need to treat your online work as a business. You need to learn how to negotiate contracts.

Before asking for or drafting a contract, consider these pointers.

• Define your income goals
• Plan the hours you want to work per day
• Know the value and quality of your work and price it accordingly
• Research on the standard market prices for the value you offer
• Learn the art of negotiations

If you do not know how to ask for a fair price for your value, clients can exploit you. It all starts with one more task followed by delayed payments. Before you realize it, you have been overstretched and underpaid.

Tip 5: Set Competitive Prices

Identify what sets you ahead in online work and master it. To get online jobs that really pay, apply the billable hours’ technique. Here, you bill projects by determining how many hours you will need. This will prevent you from being exploited.

If you are offering a matchless service in online work, mark up. Your clients will have no choice but to afford your quality work. Working remotely makes you the boss, so be ahead of the game.

Tip 6: Develop a Culture of Collaboration, Etiquette, and Trust

When working remotely towards a common goal, all stakeholders have to cooperate. Once the work is sent to you, draft a to-do list. This will give a depiction of what is expected of you.

Identify which tasks are the top priorities. Know the amount of time you will spend on each task. Prioritize the biggest for the morning and complete a task at a time.

While doing online work, keep your clients’ needs in mind. Do your research well, follow instructions and deliver exemplary results. Your accountability will keep you in your clients’ good books.

Tip 7: Network

If you are looking to build a career, be smart. Start by informing those close to you what you do. Allow your clients to recommend you to other potential clients.

Sign up to platforms such as LinkedIn. Such platforms allow you to showcase your work where potential clients can see it. Keep updating your skills and projects done. That way, potential clients can see your progress.

LinkedIn is a good space to connect with professionals. Draft an appealing profile that has your knowledge, skills, and work experiences. By connecting with others, you broaden your network and your clientele base.

Are You Ready to Succeed?

Thanks to technology, companies now have more employees working remotely. Additionally, there are countless opportunities for you to offer your skills to clients globally. You only need to define your niche in the vast online market and develop it. Clients are willing to offer top dollar for exemplary work.