Do you consider yourself a professional writer? Are you writing articles\/stories for money? Do you have one of more books to promote? Are you offering editorial or some other service to writers\/authors? Or are you in the process of writing and publishing your first book? <\/p>\n
Most likely, you work out of your home. You\u2019ve created an office or setup a corner of a room where you conduct your work. Most of us do, these days. And most of us start out feeling a little less than professional since we work from a spare room or a sectioned-off portion of our garage right there in our home.<\/p>\n
How does someone come across as professional when they work from home? Here are a few suggestions:
\n\u2022\tHave a separate telephone line for your business and answer it as you would if you were working for a company downtown\u2014\u201cHello, this is Diane at Teddy Bear Publishing\u2026\u201d or \u201cAmy\u2019s Editorial Services, how may I help you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\tIf your business relies on customers or clients, keep regular hours when you will be available by phone or email. You might also consider this policy if you are producing a book and working with a printer, cover designer, etc.<\/p>\n
A benefit of working at home, however, is the freedom to come and go as you please. And when your business has little to do the public, it\u2019s easier to take a day off during the middle of the week, entertain out of town guests and drop everything to take a friend to the airport. However, there are still basics you can follow to maintain your professional persona. For example:<\/p>\n
When someone calls or emails you to ask for some information or for a smidge of your time, avoid saying, \u201cI have to get my nails done today (clean out the garage, buy a new dishwasher, babysit for my nephew), so I can\u2019t do that until tomorrow.\u201d Say, instead, \u201cI\u2019d be happy to take care of that for you, can I get back to you tomorrow around noon?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure, you may be getting your nails done, cleaning the garage of going shopping, but your client, customer, or colleague doesn\u2019t have to know this. Let him or her imagine that you are swamped with publishing, writing, editing or promotional work and can\u2019t possibly consider their request at this moment. <\/p>\n
What are some of the other things you do to maintain your professional persona? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you consider yourself a professional writer? Are you writing articles\/stories for money? Do you have one of more books to promote? Are you offering editorial or some other service to writers\/authors? Or are you in the process of writing and publishing your first book? Most likely, you work out of your home. You\u2019ve created […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t