Excerpt from New Mr. Tech Book on Telecommuting

As I promised, more techiness for your geeking enjoyment.   I've been head down in a book for some time.  Hoping to release it by the end of this year, early next year.  I'll be talking about how to be a telecommuter.  There are so many great tools out there that are free or inexpensive that enable the average person working in an office to work from home, full or part time.

According to one survey, 62% of firms have remote workers and 34% of employees surveyed, work away from the office.  For those job seekers, being telecommute prepared can allow you to save money and time in commute and gas.  Following is a short excerpt from Mr. Tech's, upcoming,  book on telecommuting. 

How to work from Home - Introduction

I work from home, set my own schedule, except for meetings during the daytime.  Us telecommuters have to make some concessions to those that still have to work in flourescent light jail.  Sorry guys, but there is a better way, and you don’t have to get on the freeway every day, and you don’t have to go siteat a boring desk under flourescent lights like some bad nightmare from a comedy about working in such a place.

People ask me all the time, “How do you do it”?  I got tired of telling everyone, so I decided to write a book.  That way, next time someone asks, how I did it, I can hand them a business card with my number and a link to the website where they can purchase my book.  If it works for them, it only cost the price of a book.  If it doesn’t, they bought me  a couple of martini’s at a decent establishment, and someday maybe I can return the favor.

I have been doing this for around 20 years now and salaries have varied, but I make a decent living, live where I want the only requirement being decent Internet access.  Other than that, the beach, the mountains, another country, all are fair game.  As long as your work gets done, you are available when needed, and you can do it consistently, you’re in.  All you need is a few tips a plan and some elbow grease.

This is not a get rich quick manual, this plan will involve hard work.  I will also say this type of work is not for everyone.  You have to be a “motivated self starter”.  You have to be able to work on your own with little direction, and most importantly, you have to put in your time.  It’s very easy to fall into the trap of not putting in a full work week.  The flexibility to be able to take a day off when you want, and a long weekend every once in awhile, can quickly turn into a job-ruining slack fest.

This book will delve into all of those issues.  From humble beginnings to a full fledged telecommuting machine.  This book will give you the tools to succeed as a telecommuter and point you in the right direction in the types of training you will need, and the types of jobs that are available to telecommuters.

The future is now, throw away your commuter mug, and get one of those nice fat cups that takes up a large area of your desk, and prepare to join the growing ranks of the remote workforce.


I'll post more juicy tidbits soon.  The following is from the Introduction and gives a bit of background on the author and his qualifications on the topic of telecommuting.