Re[2]: WWW PUBLISHING

[powen -at- MAIL -dot- LMI -dot- ORG]

RoMay writes:

>       I would certainly be interested in learning more about the in's
>       and out's of telecommuting.  For a number of reasons I need to
>       stay in this area for a while.  I would love to keep my hand in
>       at tech writing via the modem  so telecommuting would be a good
>       solution to many of my needs.

>       My question: how do you obtain such assignments?

While I've been approached online by people or companies I don't know to do work
for them via modem, I've had enough bad experiences - not getting paid,
miscommunication - with my face-to-face clients that I'm leery of taking on such
clients. I used to advertise Nighthawk online, but received far too many
time-consuming queries and not enought assignments I'd want. (You might have
noticed that my partners and I are very picky - life's too short to waste it on
bad assignments or bad clients). If I were offered a short assignment (so I
won't lose a lot of money or time), I might consider taking the risk.

I've been most successful lining up telecommuting assignments by asking every
client I take on if they are comfortable working with me that way. Most who have
the capability are - you just need to ask. I also find it best to work onsite
for a while until the client feels comfortable that I'm good at what I do, that
I understand the assignment, that I'm honest and hard-working, and that I'm very
independent and self-motivated. Most of my clients have limited space, and other
resources, so they like having me using the electricity, hardware, and software,
and my home office. I don't work for clients who don't trust me, in any case, so
working the question of whether I'm wasting time - offsite or onsite - doesn't
come up.

Pam Owen
Nighthawk Communications
Reston, VA
Nighthawk1 -at- aol -dot- com, or powen -at- lmi -dot- org