5 Helpful Tips On How To Work From Home

Working from home is not just an option, it is a way of life. Overhauling the way you work can either make or break your career and sanity. Follow these helpful tips to get you started:

TAXATION RULES

One of the first steps to straighten out your finances as a freelancer is to know what your filing status is. In the Singaporean tax code, there is a huge difference between employment and small business types. Knowing which one you fall under on will save you in the long run. The government judges your status based on whether you take some risk of doing business or you get a share of the profits.

For instance, you may think that you are subject to the self-employment tax as a sole proprietor of a company. However, the law may consider you as an employee if you only have one client who supervises you, dictates your regular hours, pays you per hour, and gives you benefits.

GOAL SETTING

As a freelancer, it will help to develop both long-term and short-term goals. The former helps you to create a direction, a purpose, and a will to push forward. Long-term goals enables you to improve your money management and increase your job satisfaction despite working from home. For example, in 3 years time you can expand your business to reach international clientele.

While, short-term goals give you achievable targets. These targets will help you pay the bills and track your cashflow.

DAILY SCHEDULE

From my experience of working from home, I noticed how important it is to keep everything organized. You must have time management skills and motivation to finish each task. For example, you may set defined working hours when you work from one company. Try to avoid phone calls or emails beyond your regular schedule.

It is easy to get trapped into working any time and any day when you are working from home. Devise a plan to balance out your work and personal time to maintain your sanity. Every morning, you may plan a couple of breaks such as half an hour for coffee drinking or fifteen minutes to go outside. In reality, you must pull out your body from the laptop and have brain breaks.

HEALTHY SOCIALIZATION

Working from home can be isolating for most people. When you are used to being in an office filled with lunch buddies, it can be a significant adjustment to leave everything behind. This is why you must meet others on a regular basis. Meet your clients face-to-face, socialize with a group of people who share the same hobby, or invite your office friends for dinner.

Working from home saves you from a lot of awkward and embarrassing social encounters. But, you still need to interact with others to keep your mental health in tact.

WEEKEND SANCTUARY

As you are working in the comfort of your own home, things can get mundane and exhausting. Your life can be a series of completing tasks without a weekend to look forward to. Be different!

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Allot at least two days to enjoy yourself without having to think of work. Spend time with family and friends during your weekend sanctuary. Otherwise, you are comparable to the lifestyle of graveyard or red-eyed shift workers.

Sources: 1 & 2

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How To Efficiently Evaluate Your Boss

It is not uncommon for a boss to continually evaluate your output and etiquette. While this happens, you are also evaluating him or her. Your mind automatically makes assumptions and perceptions about a person, even if you do not realize it.

To aid in the smooth stream of operations between the employees and the employers, transparency is needed. Evaluate your boss efficiently by following these tips.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Keeping the lines open between the employer and the employee can help address and prevent issues. Observe how your boss communicates with you. Does he motivate you when you perform or does he constantly criticize your work? He must be able to filter personal issues and constructive criticisms.

Feedback is essential in brewing a good relationship. Furthermore, the boss must be able to deal with the mistakes in a calmly and efficient manner.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS

When I was given a leadership position, I thought that micromanaging my staff will help lift their loads. To cut it short, I was wrong. A good boss does not dictate every step of the way. He trusts the capabilities of his employees and does not take credit for the work that they have done. However, he is willing to share the responsibility when things go wrong.

Management skills are showcased through your boss’ ability to discipline unpleasant behavior and through giving proper guidance to those who need it. Your boss must understand the requirements of each job title and maintain order in the workplace.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Interpersonal skills refers to your boss’ ability to interact with you as an employee. Does your boss care about you and the company’s expectations? Does he recognize your achievements and contributions to the team?

A good boss must be able to encourage you and your co-workers to meet the same goal. He must be able to clearly communicate the expectations, which are in line with the company.

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When evaluating your boss, ensure that you incorporate both positive feedback and constructive criticisms. Confidentiality is highly encourage to enable you to have honest reviews.

Lastly, put yourself in his shoes! Consider how you want your boss to conduct performance reviews and give the same courtesy to your boss.

Sources: 1 &2

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Surefire Ways To Make Your CV Stand Out

Your heart is pounding and your sweat is drenching. Within your hands are your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and other supporting documents. You are about to answer some interview questions. An interview that can either make or break your career.

One of questions that you prepared for was: “What makes you stand out among your peers?” It is a query that underlies your attributes and characteristics. It sets you apart from the rest. This question can also be answered by a well put together CV. Highlighting your distinct characteristics can help the interviewer determine whether you are the ideal candidate for the job.

On that note, here are 5 ways to ensure that your CV stands out from your peers.

#1: PLAY WITH COLORS

Colors play a huge part in creating impressions. Red can ignite excitement while green can induce calmness. You have to understand the association between a color and your brand. This way, you can choose a palette that will best describe your brand.

Stick to darker blue hues to convey loyalty, honesty, and responsibility. Use red to convey passion, aggression, and emotion. Lastly, you may use turquoise to convey prestige and high ideals.

Do a quick search on Color Psychology to determine the colors that you can use on your CV. Use these colors to highlight the headers or as a background.

#2: LIMIT YOUR BULLETS

I, for one, tend to skip on some lengthy bullet points. As an interview, I look for at least four bullet points for each section. I do not need to know the entire story on how you became a professional! Choose your bullet points wisely.

Be specific whenever possible. You cannot put a bullet point stating that you have “improved the sales considerably”. Instead, you must use quantitative measurements (e.g., improved sales by 20% in the last quarter).

#3: CHOOSE YOUR SKILLS

When it comes to CVs, one skill seems to pop up more often. This skills is none other than communication. You see, almost all the jobs require you to have excellent communication skills. Hence, there is no need to claim it. Show off your excellent communication skills through the interview.

If you are still insisting that putting communication skills in your CV is a must, you have to give examples. Say that you have spoken in workshops or company team buildings. You may also narrate your contributions on website or on print.

#4: EMPHASIZE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Your accomplishments can set you apart from the rest. Use powerful verbs when doing so. Begin with enticing keywords such as improved, resolved, initiated, and increased. These go beyond simply stating your duties and responsibilities.

Remember to describe your previous employment experiences by highlighting how you solve the problems. This way, you stress that you added value to the company.

#5: HIGHLIGHT YOUR AWARDS

Aside from accomplishments, awards are tangible form of recognition. Include a category for awards or honors that you received throughout the years. Demonstrating that others value your contributions can greatly influence the interviewers decision.

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Quality recommendations are another form of recognition. Thus, you have to select people who know your skills and accomplishments the best.

Sources: 1 & 2

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Newbie’s Survival Guide To Working From Home

There are two types of perspectives that one can have about freelancers. Some people perceive working from home as a coveted dream. They are attracted with the idea of having to work in their pajamas, of avoid the long commute, and of being able to interact with their family without sacrificing income. In contrast, there are other people who view this setup as an impossible environment to be in. It is understandable! Working from home comes with varying degrees of challenges.

However, you must not lose hope. You can successfully transition from a traditional office to a flexible environment with the right strategies. That being said, here are just some tips that you may employ to transition with ease.

CREATE A DAILY SCHEDULE

Much like a traditional workplace, you must follow a daily schedule to stay on track. Set your working hours and avoid personal phone calls or emails that can distract you from your professional time.

Let us face it! It is easy to get swayed by your children or neighbors to work any time of the day. While starting at 10 am sounds exciting, you must manage your time wisely to keep your sanity in tact. Not everyone is hardwired to be well-organized and self-sufficient. So, be honest with yourself before you take this huge leap.

ASSIGN A WORKING NEST

It goes without saying that you must set aside a specific place exclusively for work. Whether it is as tiny as a storage room or as wide as your master bedroom, assigning a working nest will help your mind shift from its restful state to its stimulated state. You need to condition your mind to work despite being in your comfort zone.

More so, you may use your home office as a means to apply for formal records. You see, some institutions require you to assign a special place of business or a place to meet clients.

RETREAT WHEN NEEDED

As mechanic as day to day seems, we are no robots! Burnout can hit you at any moment. This is why you must plan your holidays. Whether you want to book a food trip in Bangkok or a Yoga retreat in Bali, you deserve to unwind.

Say you do not have the budget to travel overseas. Opt to schedule activities that will allow self-improvement instead. You may be interested in painting, pottery, or petting animals. Something that interests you can open avenues of pleasure in the future. Take it as a means to reduce the stress of being a freelancer.

SET A LINE

Last but the not the least, you must set a line between your “work-work” and your “housework”. It can be tempting to clean a dirty sink or to do the laundry, but you must do these chores outside your work hours. If you cannot fight the urge to do housework; you may use your break time. Blurring the line between work and housework can often lead to avoiding the tasks that need to be done.

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It can be scary to take the leap of faith. However, that fear will only make you stronger! What do we say to fear? Not today!

Sources: 1 & 2

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3 Key Digital Marketing Tips to Drive Sales

Every business needs an effective marketing strategy to meet sales objectives. As we are progressing tremendously into the technological world, it is imperative that businesses leverage the digital realm to speak to their target markets in more effective ways. Here are three useful digital marketing tips you should consider as part of your overall sales strategy.

Build an SEO-friendly website

Having an online presence is the basic necessity to thrive in the digital world. With 4.92 million internet users in Singapore at a penetration rate of 84%*, tapping on this medium to market your business is essential. You can first start off with a fully-optimised website that is search engine friendly. While Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is crucial for search engines to rank your website on the first page, you must also know how to target your audience online using SEO.

  1. Keywords

Before beginning any SEO optimisation strategy, you must know what keywords or phrases you want to rank on search engines. These words or phrases are what your potential customers will key into the search box when they are looking for a product or service that you also offer. There are many ways you can do keyword research. For instance, you can find out what generic words or phrases best describes your brand and also look up those used by your competitors to see where you are lacking in. There are several powerful keyword planning tools you can find online to perform this step.

Do note the type of customers you want to attract. If you are looking to drive sales to your e-commerce site such as Shopify, your potential customers are more likely searching for a product or service with a buying intent and thus, your keywords and phrases should be more product and service-focused. Those seeking information often use different short and long-tail keywords that are topical. While the former appears to be a more direct way to drive sales, the latter is also an important digital marketing strategy to tap on as it can persuade potential customers to visit your website to learn more about your brand before making a conversion.

  1. On-page SEO

Once you have decided on your keywords and phrases, it is time to work on your on-page SEO. These include updating your metadata by giving descriptive page titles and unique meta descriptions for each web page. Your URLs must also be easy to read, and your site must be accompanied by a clean web structure that is easy to navigate.

Images play a big role in search engine optimisation too. You can boost image SEO by updating your alt texts, image descriptions and titles with relevant keywords that relate to the nature of the image, the text it is accompanied by and the webpage it is displayed on.

  1. Content

One other crucial element of on-page SEO that is significant in digital marketing includes optimising your website content that can drive sales. While it is necessary to include keywords in your optimised content, you must remember that your content is not only meant to convert prospects but also serves as a resource for others to share. This means that you can reach new audiences that will increase your website traffic and thus increase the chance for you to convert a lead to a customer. There are different types of content you can include – blogs, videos, guest posts, product reviews and guides, among others.

Establish a powerful social media presence

Once you have a well-optimised website, you can now take advantage of social media to further enhance your online presence and be a level higher in your digital marketing sales strategy. There are 4.6 million active social media users in Singapore, with 4.2 million accessing the application via their mobile phones. Apart from creating paid advertisements on these platforms, you can create engaging organic content that your customers want to read, and drive engagement through likes, comments and shares. This allows you to generate positive brand mentions when your followers consistently interact with your brand in ways that meet your objectives. It is also an excellent opportunity to incorporate weblinks into posts and encourage your followers to click on them to reach your site.

All in all, boosting your products and services on social media not only helps to increase traffic to your website (that could potentially lead to conversions), but it also helps to build a base of loyal brand followers who are willing to share your content and thus increase your audience reach.

More prospects, more opportunities for a conversion!

Attractive Google My Business Profile

If you are running a business with a single store or several franchises across the country, setting up your Google My Business (GMB) profile will be incredibly helpful. An important SEO ranking signal, GMB allows you to manage your presence on Google Maps where you can provide all relevant details of your business such as the address, opening hours, telephone number and email, reviews as well as a link back to your website. Moreover, you can also give prospective customers an idea of what your business looks like by incorporating a 360 virtual tour. This allows them to have fun while interacting with your content and be prompted to find out more about your business by navigating to your website through your GMB profile. This drives organic visitors to your site who have the potential to generate conversions.

There is never a direct way to drive sales when it comes to digital marketing. Often, customers may not be as receptive to promotional content and thus it is useful to find other meaningful ways to engage them before they are more confident to make the purchase.

* Digital 2019 Global Overview Report, Hootsuite

 

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