Building your Virtual Office

 

Today’s world is an amazing place. We can buy groceries without ever leaving the house, pay bills without writing a check, and even earn a living from the comfort of our own homes. Neighbors everywhere are asking themselves, “What does that guy next door do for a living? He never seems to leave the house!”

With more and more individuals and companies conscious of the environment and our carbon footprint, many are choosing virtual options for their workforce. In addition, as the cost of maintaining brick-and-mortar offices continues to rise, entire companies are moving into the virtual world. Whether you are working from home for your employer, running a home-based business, or working as a freelancer, the key to success is creating an efficient virtual office.

Anyone who has worked from their home, their car, or from a hotel room knows that they must present themselves, and their company, in a professional manner, despite their remote location. A virtual office allows you to have everything a traditional office has – from a mailing address, to communications services, and even staff – but instead of driving to your office wearing a suit, you can walk downstairs to your home office area in your jeans or your jammies.

Here are some important things to keep in mind when building your virtual office:
 

Calculated Casual Dress: Under typical day-to-day circumstances, nobody will actually see what you are wearing to work. However, when conducting business from your home, it can be easy to overlook the importance of appropriate attire for video conferences and the occasional face-to-face meeting or networking event.
 

Address to Impress: Using your home address creates privacy issues and doesn’t portray a professional image. One alternative is a mail box at your local Post Office, however the drawback to this is that you’re limited to receiving mail via the US Postal Service. A better option is to use a mailbox location like Mail Boxes Etc. or The UPS Store. These options offer an actual address with a suite number, which is actually just a box number. One drawback is that you have to go somewhere to pick up your mail, although some services do offer to send your mail to your address.  However, the benefits far surpass the minor inconvenience of making that short trip to get your mail as most locations provide shipping and receiving services, send notification when you receive a package, give you access to a notary, and offer copying, printing, Internet access, and faxing services as well.
 

Another interesting alternative is a service called Mailbox Forwarding, which gives you a mailing street address with online viewing access to all your letters, documents, and packages, regardless of which service delivered them. You manage your mail through your online control panel where you can request that your items are opened and scanned, shredded, recycled, or forwarded to your home address. Pricing ranges from $9.95 to $39.95/month depending on your mail volume.
 

Catch the Calls: When running a business, phone calls are a constant interruption, but you certainly don’t need an on-site receptionist when there are so many virtual options available. There are many companies that offer virtual receptionist services, with live receptionists available 24/7 to answer calls and take messages in a professional and courteous manner.  These services save you money by eliminating the need for benefits, overtime or vacation pay for a traditional receptionist.  They also save you time by managing incoming calls and delivering messages via phone or text.  This allows you the opportunity to schedule your return calls, and gives you and your business a professional image.
 

One of the downfalls of working in your home-based virtual office is that you can no longer leave work at work. To help you manage your personal and professional time and tasks efficiently, consider utilizing an online tool to keep track of events, share your schedule with other virtual workers, delegate tasks, manage projects, and get reminders on your computer or your mobile phone. HyperOffice, HiTask, and ClientSpot all offer a variety of options and pricing levels based on the number of users, team size, and whether you require online storage for documents. Once you are organized you will be able to complete the tasks by priority at which time you need to remember where the off switch is located….and don’t be afraid to use it.

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