Telecommuters - Don't Be Confused!

With such high gas prices these days, everyone is talking about telecommuting. But I see the term thrown around a lot in ways that I believe are causing confusion. Also, in some countries the term 'telecommuting' has not permeated the culture and so people really struggle to understand what we crazy Americans are talking about. As such, here is an explanation of the various terms that will explain exactly what telecommuting is, and isn't.

Telecommute / Telework: The term 'telecommuting' at its most general meaning is simply the concept of working from home instead of going into an office. To be more specific, though, it implies you are working for a company that has many employees and you are working at home but still in close contact with your coworkers, boss, etc who are either in the company office or, are like you, telecommuting themselves.

Another synonymous term for telecommuting is 'teleworking'.

Home-Based Business: Telecommuting, as I and the majority of others use it, does not refer to the act of working from home when you work for yourself and have a home-based business. Telecommuting is working from home to, literally, avoid the commute that you would normally make. Someone with a home-based business, as the phrase implies, is working in the location that houses their business - their home. They have no commute and therefore their work from home is not a virtual replacement for their commute into the office.

Freelancing: The home-based business crowd includes freelancers. They work for themselves, performing services such as writing sales copy, editing, photography, journalism, or just about anything really. They typically work from their home (or whatever location they choose to spend their time at - the coffee shop, their favorite vacation spot, etc) when they're not visiting their clients.

Virtual Assistant: Another term, very closely tied into these concepts, is 'virtual assistant' or 'VA'. A virtual assistant is a special type of freelancer. A small business owner may not want to hire permanent employees but may still need help with specific tasks that he/she is not comfortable with (or just doesn't have time for). A VA provides assistance to a (typically) small business owner in such areas as marketing, book-keeping, project management or a host of other tasks. In some cases this person may act very similarly to an administrative assistance to a manager at a large company. However this person is not an employee of the client's company and is not co-located with the business they work for (hence the 'virtual' part of VA). They work, normally, out of their homes. This closes the gap a little between home-based businesses and true telecommuting, however it truly falls into the former category rather than the latter.

Work From Home / Work At Home: The term work-from-home or work-at-home is, in my experience, more generic. It seems to cover any type of situation in which you work at home - both telecommuters and home-based business owners.

So What?

These differences can be important. If you see articles and job postings that talk about telecommuting, make sure you understand what you're reading - especially when it comes to advice on how to find telecommuting jobs. Often they're really referring to freelancing and other forms of business ownership. While that may work for some, it's not what most people are seeking when they are looking for telecommuting jobs.

Clearly, however, the skills and techniques for telecommuting are just as important for virtual assistants and even for the home-based business owner and freelancer who deals with customers, clients, vendors and partners over remote communication methods (such as phone and email) rather than via face-to-face interactions. We have many challenges, techniques, and strategies in common and can learn from each other, even if we can't share the same job posting board.

Nicole Bachelor, the "Master of Telecommuting Success" is the author of "How to Avoid Going to Work Without Quitting your Job". She specializes in teaching people how to effectively work from home. Nicole has been telecommuting exclusively for over 4 years, and has vast experience working with teams that are spread all over the world as well as working with teams in low-cost regions of the world.

Find out how you can http://avoidgoingtowork.com

And "Unlock your telecommuting power."

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