We all know how good it is to finally ditch your day job and go freelance, full time. The hours are better (well not necessarily since some workaholics like yours truly decide to work even on weekends!), and you can choose what you want to do, when you want to do it and how much you want to be paid. Other benefits of leaving the corporate rat race and being a full time freelancer include:

• You can think about settling down or starting a family with the flexible schedule you will be enjoying
• Think about taking up new hobbies – things you’ve never tried before (like hang-gliding!) or rekindle the relationship with your long-forgotten books
• Reconnect with friends and family members you never knew existed!
• More time to enhance your lifestyle by doing something worthwhile, like being part of a charitable organization
• Learn new skills that will enrich your future career
• Start your own business and expand your portfolio

If you have been thinking about making the break away from the banality of working for someone else and would like to go freelance, here are 3 tips how to ease the transition and become a successful freelancer!

Tip 1: Embrace social media

This can be done even when you are still working under your current company. You can sign up and get a LinkedIn account and polish your profile. This may even land you a job, allowing you to quit your job without a heavy heart, knowing that somewhere out there, someone appreciates your skills and you can now work on your own pace! Facebook is also a great place to socialize and get to know like-minded individuals. Share your thoughts and you’ll see it is indeed easy to be a full time freelancer – ask the thousands or even millions of freelancers across the world! What better way to connect with them, than checking them out on social media sites.

Tip 2: Redo your resume, Web 2.0 style

These days submitting a resume doesn’t mean you’ve got to write a boring old letter detailing your achievements. You can even use sites like PitchYourTalent.com in order to get headhunted. However, it’s easy to be tempted to work under a conglomerate’s shadow so be firm and tell yourself you’re here for the opportunities that would allow you to work freelance, not otherwise.

Tip 3: Freelance websites are your friends

Freelance sites like Freelancer.com is a great place to hang out and see what the market currently needs. You’ve got the talent? Flaunt it and advertise your services. If you are lucky you may even get numerous job offers, and we haven’t even setup our own site yet! Which brings us to …

BONUS! Tip 4: Blog!

Yes, blogging can get you jobs. In fact, blogging CAN be a job! It does not matter if you are blogging from a free platform such as Blogger.com,

A lot of people are not averse to doing their own laundry but when it comes to ironing their clothes, they end up procrastinating because it can be a rather tedious chore to perform. With so many clothes to iron in a single household, you can certainly turn this to your advantage and provide reliable ironing service to assist people with this boring task. Starting your own ironing service business will prove to be very beneficial to you in the long run, and your customers will appreciate you for it. Here are some helpful hints that will help you get started on your new ironing service business.

Budget matters!

Starting an ironing service business would not cost you an arm and leg. A budget of $200 to $300 is more than enough to get all that you need in order to kick start this project. Equipment for your ironing service business that you need to invest in includes a good brand name steam iron. You may consider getting a cordless iron so that your job can be done quickly and without the hassle that comes with a long cord. To make your ironing service more appealing, don’t forget to buy a wide ironing board as well as ample starch for your clients’ apparel. You may also want to provide personalized bags complete with your ironing service logo, the clients’ name and address to send clothes you have ironed for them. And finally, if you are charging by weight, do invest in trustworthy weighing equipment. In short these are the things you may want to invest in:

• Reliable cordless iron
• Sturdy ironing board
• Personalized bags with company logo
• Good weighing equipment
• Staff uniforms for future expansion

Flexible working hours: What’s not to enjoy?

You will also be glad to know that you will enjoy flexible working hours with your new ironing service business. You can either work at ironing clothes from 9 to 5, or you can opt to divide your day whereby you will spend the first half collecting your clients’ clothes or running errands for them. The rest of the day will be dedicated to ironing and packing.

How to promote your ironing service

Promoting your ironing service business is easy once you know the ropes.

• You can print brochures on A5-sized paper. Whether you choose to print in black-and-white format or in full color depends on your budget. Whatever your choice is, do ensure that your message is clearly written.
• You can opt to hire a good copywriter to churn out short but impactful brochure copy to attract potential clients and drive them to your ironing service.
• For those who are Internet-savvy, do make use of your know-how by setting up a website to promote your ironing service and attract potential customers.
• You can give out special memberships and let your website members enjoy discounts once they sign up with your ironing service. And if you wish to let your rates do the talking, why not? While your prices are competitive, there is no reason to sell yourself short.
• Once you have a steady supply of customers, word of mouth about your blossoming ironing service is more than enough to get your profits rolling in.

Most pet sitting businesses begin with an animal lover’s desire to see their pets taken care of properly when they are away. It is obvious that they do not feel comfortable checking their beloved companions into pet kennels. This is partly due to the worry felt once they see the living conditions of these kennels. If you feel the same way about this issue, starting a pet sitting business may not seem like a bad idea at all, especially since you know you will do your best to please your human AND animal clients!

Tip 2: Research, research, research

Before starting your pet sitting business, you should first do thorough research. Get your pen and notebook out and create a SWOT analysis and set targets pertaining to this new pet sitting business. “SWOT” is the abbreviation for “Strengths”, “Weaknesses”, “Opportunities” and “Threats”. This is part of a strategic planning model that you can create prior to starting your pet sitting business.

Tip 3: Let your talent and strengths shine

When you think about “Strengths”, think about what competitive advantages you have that other pet sitting businesses don’t? Compared to larger pet kennels and pet boarding hotels, your pet sitting business might offer more value-added, people-friendly services. Or perhaps you have ample experience and would prove to be a good pet sitting business owner because after all, you’ve been taking care of an assortment of pets ever since you were a young child.

Tip 4: Turn weaknesses into opportunities

Next, think about your “Weaknesses”. Being a new pet sitting business owner, the lack of adequate start up capital might set you back a little. You will also need to build a strong reputation if you want to succeed. However, you can transform setbacks into opportunities to succeed once you know what is needed to eliminate your weaknesses.

Tip 5: Look for opportunities continuously

“Opportunities” for profit and growth in your pet sitting business can be abundant once you think about the current situation happening around you. For instance, if there are numerous pet stores in your neighborhood, there might be an increase of new pet owners. This would mean more clients and hence, opportunities for your pet sitting business to flourish.

Tip 6: Identifying threats

“Threats” to your pet sitting business can appear in many forms, but the easiest to spot are the fancy new pet boarding hotels that threaten to pull customers away from your humble little establishment.

Being the Boss of Yourself

If you are your own boss, you do not have to worry about someone breathing down your neck about assignments you need to complete or task you should perform.  You are the only one to make business decisions for yourself.

However, it may be difficult to maintain a high level of productivity without someone cracking the proverbial whip.  This is not necessarily because you are lazy, but just because it is the tendency of most people to eventual move at a slower pace without anyone to answer to.

You Sign Off on Your Paycheck

Those who have decided to work at home are in total control over how much money the bring in per week or month, which means in a way, you are the designated person who signs your paycheck.

But many people who work at home come across quite a lot of difficulty replacing their previous salary amount with their work at home one.  So make sure you formulate a winning business plan and are prepared to implement it before you take the plunge in the at home job industry.

Flexible Schedules

When you work at home, you are not at the mercy of someone else deciding your work hours.  You decide what time you want to begin your work day and what time you want to end it as well as the total amount of time you want to put in each day.  Working at home equals freedom.

Remember, those who do want to make a success of working at home need to put in a lot of hours for quite some time before they can begin to take it easy.