TEAM DOUBLECLICK - Team DoubleClick
Dawn - Just The Fax
NORC - NORC
Sharon - Card Senders
MEDQUICK - MEDQUICK
Rochelle - At-Home Professions
Agnes - Personal Touch Products
Dawn - Card in the Yard
Kristie - Blinds, Shutters, and Shades
Joyce - Ident-a-Kid

Closeup: Team DoubleClick

There is a new kind of service bureau emerging thanks to the Internet and Web-based technology. It’s known as a virtual staffing agency. Team DoubleClick is one such agency, based in tiny Lodi, Wisconsin. It is owned and operated by Gayle and Jim Buske. A mere year after hanging out their virtual single, the company already has over 1,000 virtual workers in their database serving over 150 clients around the world.

Team DoubleClick is able to provide clients as far away as Saudi Arabia with numerous administrative, creative, and/or technical services. Gayle Buske says, “Our virtual assistants can do almost anything that an in-person staff member can do – except filing, of course.” Team members are home-based professionals of all kinds including administrative assistants, data entry workers, writers, editors, graphic designers, marketing pros, Web designers, transcribers, telemarketers, and more.

The virtual professionals here are all freelancers. They join the team by filling out an extensive form online that outlines their skills and experience. When a client calls looking for help, Team DoubleClick quickly searches the database and reviews resumes to see who might be a fit. Anyone who is a good candidate is contact individually to discuss the project. Sometimes projects are unusual and it’s difficult to find the right person easily. When that happens, the agency sends out a “group call” via email, asking anyone who is capable and available to reply.

For team members, the agency offers flexibility and good pay. For example, the pay for general administrative work is about $18 an hour. Other tasks pay more. Team DoubleClick gets a 15% cut. It’s a good deal for freelancers who don’t have the time or inclination to market their own services or deal with the headache of billing clients.

Virtual staffing is still in its infancy and there aren’t many companies out there like Team DoubleClick – yet. But the technology is here and trends follow technology. For example, only two years ago most transcription service bureaus needed home workers to live nearby so that tapes and finished hard copies could be picked up and delivered every day. Now the technology has evolved to the point where all transcription can – and is – being done online. With high-speed Internet connections plus a new type of transcribing machine (WAV), transcribers can live anywhere including the most remote areas.

“Lately, we’ve noticed a trend with the new clients we’re adding,” says Gale. “Many are actually hiring us to take work away from bricks-and-mortar assistants. It’s not because they’re unhappy with them or their work – they’re giving it to us because they’ve learned that hiring virtually is much more convenient and economical for them. And it’s offering more and more opportunities to our home-based workers who can earn just as much – or more – by working in their virtual offices at home.”

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Closeup: Dawn

"I must be an entrepreneur at heart because I'm always on the lookout for an additional source of income," says Dawn Harrington, of upstate New York. "Just The Fax really fit the bill. It must be the best sideline business there is."

Dawn is one of millions of people who work as full-time employees and run sideline businesses out of their homes. As an administrative assistant for a university, she thought at first that she wanted to leave her job, then realized all she really wanted was to supplement the family income.

Dawn's first attempt to go into business failed before it got started because she paid for an unscrupulous business opportunity that never delivered what it promised. She was more careful, downright leery, when she decided to try again.

"I figured I was already out $6,000 and I had a $3,000 computer just sitting there in my house. I was determined to find something that would work." Dawn found Just The Fax right here in The Work-at-Home Sourcebook. This time she was more careful about checking out the company.

"After seeing the preliminary package, it just didn't seem like it could lose," Dawn says. "Actually, it seemed like fun."

The Just The Fax business concept is simple. You fax daily lunch specials from local area restaurants to businesses where workers will likely go out to lunch on weekdays. It works because it's an inexpensive way for the restaurants to advertise and because it targets the customers they're after - the people who want to go out to eat.

Best of all, it takes only an hour a day to operate the business. Even in a small population area, the earnings are $1,200 a month with virtually no overhead. Larger areas can bring in up to $7,200 a month with very little extra time needed.

Dawn says if it can work where she lives, it can work anywhere. "This is a small area with a sluggish economy. But it was so easy to get started, it was surprising. I followed instructions and started sending letters copied verbatim from the manual. That was in December. By February 3rd I was up and running with enough restaurants to earn $1,000 a month."

Could you ask for a better part-time business? "I don't thinks so," says Dawn. "I can work full-time, and I don't have to take any extra time away from my kids. I do it after they're in bed. And the fringe benefits aren't bad either. I love to eat, and I've picked up a lot of recipes and cooking tips, too."

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Closeup: NORC

Founded in 1941, NORC is the oldest survey research organization established for non-commercial purposes. NORC is a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the University of Chicago.

Survey research is the collection of accurate, unbiased information from a carefully chosen sample of individuals.

Some organizations do opinion polls, asking people to rate the performance of public officials, for example. Others do market research, asking about such things as the products people use. NORC does social science research, asking about people’s attitudes and behavior in areas of social concern, such as education, housing, employment (and unemployment), and health care.

NORC’s clients include the American Cancer Society, Harvard University, the Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and the Social Security Administration to name just a few. Nowhere will you find higher standards of quality in research of this kind.

To date, NORC has conducted more than 1,000 surveys. This may not sound like a lot considering the thousands that are conducted for companies like Gallup. Unlike Gallup, though, NORC’s surveys are “longitudinal,” meaning the same people are surveyed over long periods of time. Over 1,000 part-time NORC interviewers are located in cities, towns, and rural areas throughout the United States. Many, but not all, are home-based. Each assignment is on a temporary, per-project basis. The average project lasts about 6 months. All interviewers must be available to work at least 20 hours a week. 40 hour weeks are common.

About half of the people working for NORC have been with the company at least 5 years. That’s an outstanding record in an industry where rapid employee turnover is the norm. Nevertheless, NORC is constantly seeking more qualified interviewers – especially in hard-to-staff metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Field Director Miriam Clarke says, “We look for someone who is people-oriented, outgoing, and somewhat aggressive. Someone who does not like to be tied to a desk is a good candidate actually. Being able to follow instructions precisely is important, too.”

An hour and a half of general training is provided at a central location. After that, project briefings are handled by email and phone.

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In today's high-tech atmosphere, it is even more important for businesses to keep in personal touch with their customers. Sending personalized greeting cards is an inexpensive, reliable means of doing just that. Amidst the hastily written e-mails and impersonal faxes, it's a greeting card that stands out.

Sharon Valdes of El Paso was a corporate manager who got tired of commuting two hours a day. She spent about a year looking for a home-based business so she could spend those two hours each day with her children. When she found CardSenders, she immediately fell in love with the concept.

"This was the most positive, uplifting thing out there," Sharon says. "I had to believe in what I was going to do. What I do is help companies foster loyalty by using greeting cards. Loyalty is so important in business. It is much cheaper to keep a customer than to get one. If you can get customers to perceive that they are wanted and their satisfaction is number one, then they will stay with you. I do that with thank you notes, anniversary and birthday cards." Sharon mostly sends birthday cards, not just to customers but to employees as well. "With employees it boosts morale and productivity."

Sharon says her business practically started itself. "I did everything CardSenders told me to do. It was not a hard thing to sell. I got my first customer when I went to get a rider on my insurance policy for my computer. I told my agent what I did and he said, 'Gee, I have to do that.' It's not like you have to sell something like screws or even an insurance policy. People understand the value of this intuitively. A lot of companies are already doing it for themselves so, for them, I don't even have to explain the concept. I just point out why I am less expensive and more efficient."

There are two elements that make the CardSenders system work: the great selection of cards and the proprietary software. Signatures and business logos are actually reproduced inside the cards, often using hand-written samples from the sender. The result looks amazingly real.

The software is used to address and maintain customer lists. Sharon says she can take small or big customers and give them the same cost effectiveness. "The value is so great, my customers love it." Sharon can save herself and her customers time, too, by using the company's new CardCare service. "It's perfect for my customers who are online.

"I will never ever work for somebody else again," Sharon insists. "For the price you can't beat this opportunity. But best of all is the time I get to spend with my kids. You can't put a price on that."

Closeup: MEDQUIST

With over 8,000 home-based medical transcribers associated with 100+ offices around the country, Medquist may be the largest home work organization in the U.S.

Founder and president Mark Forstein started the company in 1970, he says, “By happy accident.” It is by no accident, however, that Medquist (formerly known as Transcriptions Limited) reached its present level of success.

The company is now headed by David Cohen, CEO, who says home workers are a tremendous resource in the work force. Aside from the cost savings to employers like himself, he claims home workers are fiercely loyal and supportive of the work-at-home movement and each other.

Some transcribers have been with the company for many years. “These are mostly women who start out with us when they have young children. After the family is older, some of them want to get out of the house and back into the office routine for social contact. These women have been loyal to us and we return the trust by offering them the opportunity to come to work in our offices.”

The offices handle any overload that comes up. Since the transcribers are independent contractors, they can refuse work at any time, for any reason. This gives them some latitude (and greatly reduced stress) within the structure which requires a 24-hour turnaround time as a rule.

The company operates on a seven-day week, 24 hours a day. It is managed by key people on a management pyramid.

Inquiries from experienced transcribers are always welcome, but you should be prepared to prove your worth. Experience in acute care would be best and you will be given an extensive test in medical terminology.

The training session lasts only for a few hours – just long enough to get an overview of how things work and what is expected. “We do not offer the luxury of on-the-job training.” (Ed. Note: There are companies that do offer such training to beginners in this field, but one should expect much lower pay – this company pays top rates.)

If you know your stuff though, you can make good money. Pay is based on production and varies depending upon the part of the country you are in. In Chicago, for example, one woman reported to us that she made over $75,000 last year.

You don’t even need to own a computer or a transcriber. You can also choose the option of working part-time or full-time.

These options are the result of Cohen’s efforts over the years to comply with any and all aspects of using independent contractors. “Nothing,” he says, “has been left to chance.”

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It's obvious there is a great need for medical transcribers. You'll also notice this job requires knowledge and skill.

So how do you take advantage of such a large, growing opportunity? One option is by learning at home with At-Home Professions. The home study course was designed by people experienced in the field and can be completed in about four months. At-Home Professions boasts a successful at-home job placement service, but graduates say the service is unnecessary because once your skills are in place getting the work is easy.

Several years ago, Rochelle Wexler decided she wanted to have more flexibility in her schedule. Working in Manhattan for a publisher from nine to five had lost its appeal. She went looking for something that would have a demand in the future, something interesting. "I don't want to be bored to death," she says. "I have a problem with that. And what I didn't have was a burning desire to go back to school."

After seeing an ad for At-Home Professions in a magazine, Rochelle investigated the field of medical transcribing and found it met all her criteria.

The company checked out clean with the Better Business Bureau, still, it took a big leap of faith to go from a secure job to something totally new. "I depended on At-Home Professions to keep feeding me information and telling me 'you can do this.' I kept working in my job, studying the course in the evenings and on weekends."

Within a month of graduation, Rochelle had her first two clients (doctors). "When I started out I didn't want to say I had experience when I didn't so when I got uncomfortable I offered to do something for no charge." That technique worked well, and it wasn't long before Rochelle was working at home full-time. She does all of her own pick-up and delivery, but says she never has to leave the neighborhood. ("Doctors are everywhere!") The doctors give her the tapes that document their every action and Rochelle returns the transcribed copies within a few days.

Rochelle feels anyone could do this. "I was never a typist and had no interest in being a secretary. But now I have a computer and transcription machine and I make my living doing this. The work is piecework so the faster I type the more I make."

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People love seeing their names in print. Personalization is growing in popularity, but there are a lot of unique names these days. You can find a coffee mug that says "Jennifer" or "Kevin," but how about "Astara" or "Joaquin"? Personal Touch Products makes it possible for any name to embellish everyday items and keepsakes. The company goes a giant step further by incorporating hundreds of art backgrounds and an exclusive database of original poems marking any occasion.

Agnes Clay got involved in this business six years ago after quitting her job of 20 years. "I thought I'd be a lady of leisure and keep my rocker warm, but it turned out I'm not that type. I was delighted to find something like this, something that's actually fun and makes me feel good about what I'm doing."

Agnes spends her days helping people find appropriate gifts they will be proud to give the special people in their lives. She enjoys the creativity of putting together just the right combination of product, poem and artwork, then personalizing it. "A student might want to present her favorite teacher with a unique calendar or the local fire department might want to remember a fallen comrade with a commemorative plaque. It's my pleasure to help them do that."

Customers are everywhere. "I don't even have to advertise anymore," says Agnes. "Because the products are wonderful and very reasonably priced, and because I do my best to please my customers, I get a lot of referrals." Most people want to mark special occasions like weddings, new births, adoptions, birthdays, anniversaries, and Mother's Day. Agnes says it's obviously a nice gift idea, but it's surprising how many people buy for themselves.

The job of personalizing is done on the computer; something Agnes knew nothing about when she started. "I just set out to learn what I needed to get the job done and it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be," she says. The company's software was simple to learn and she needed no other skills or tools.

Today, Agnes does most of her business on the computer. She gets a lot of customers through her favorite outlet, eBay, and she's even opened her own online store. "I learned a lot, like how to keep an e-mail address list and send out specials to customers from time to time." Offline, she points out, there are also plenty of traditional marketing avenues that work just as well.

"I meet a lot of people on the computer," says Agnes. "I love it so much that I often sit up until 2:30 am working and writing to customers. I'm dealing with wonderful people. They all have good hearts; otherwise they wouldn?t be buying these things for another person."

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One of the many advantages of having a home-based business versus a storefront is the ability to pick up and go. This kind of flexibility is important in a mobile society such as ours. We Americans now move every three years on average.

Dawn Coolahan is married to a man who serves in active duty in the Air Force. As anyone in a military family knows, a lot of moving around comes with the territory. For a while Dawn tried various jobs, but eventually that became too difficult with three children at home. She started looking for a good home-based business, something that would be portable, fun, and would flourish near a military base. It wasn't long before she found what she was looking for.

"I actually started working with the idea of putting big, colorful cards in people's yards on my own," recalls Dawn. "Things like baby announcements, congratulations, and birthday greetings ? especially the over-the-hill kind ?seemed like a great idea. But as I was trying to get started, I heard about A Card in the Yard. They had already developed a business opportunity package along the same lines."

Dawn was quickly discovering that there was a lot to learn about the business. "I was just getting the card patterns together and trying to figure out what hardware to use. Then I was going to make the signs, figure out how to erect them on a lawn, come up with a way to market the service, and so on. On my own, that was a lot to figure out. A Card in the Yard had all of that already laid out along with the whole business concept. It's like any business, it looks simple once it's up and running, but starting from scratch is not so easy."

Dawn invested in the system and was happy that now she had all the answers without having to find them the hard way. After ten years, she is still in touch with the company. "I called with a million questions in the beginning and after all this time we still chat on the phone. They just have so much information to share."

The original idea of putting fun signs in yards has been expanded. Now there are displays available for every occasion and theme you can imagine, like Halloween and corporate functions. And it's much more than just a big sign, too. Each display includes a yard full of colorful props. It's a real traffic stopper.

Although Dawn has moved her business several times, she's found it's easy to start up again in a new location. "Once people start seeing the different displays, it really catches on fast," she says.

"The feedback is fabulous and I've never had a displeased customer. I do this because it's so much fun," she says. "I know I'm going to bring a smile to someone's face."

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If you're like Kristie Sullivan, you've searched long and hard for a way to earn good money without having to work long hours. All you want is something you can build and count on, but you may wonder if you'll ever find it. After years of hunting and scouring magazines, Kristie finally found just such a business in an ad for Blinds Shades & Shutters. "I could tell just by looking at the picture in the ad that this was it," she says. "Everyone has blinds, but who has the time to clean them?"

Obviously there is a market, but what really caught Kristie's attention was the mobile system that is designed so that even a 4'11" woman such as herself could use it alone with ease.

With millions of blinds, shades and shutters being sold and installed in homes and businesses, the demand for someone to clean and repair them is unlimited. While the market potential is large, to date, it is virtually untapped. There is very little competition and the ones that are around are usually ultrasonic cleaners, which may void manufacturers' warranties.

Kristie learned everything she needed to know to start her new business in 3 days. When she came home from her training, she promptly placed an ad in the free local paper. She was astonished by the response. "It scared me," she laughs. "That ad booked me for 5 weeks solid. It was that fast!"

Both homeowners and businesses clamored for Kristie's service. She has long-term contracts with Dairy Queen and Burger King. "Business owners love this because I don't take the blinds away to work on them, instead I take them right outside. Busy establishments appreciate that because it doesn't disrupt business. And homeowners don't have to worry about when or if they'll get their blinds back.

Ok, so the training is thorough, the competition is almost nonexistent, and the market is vast. What's the downside? "The hardest part is going up ladders if you are afraid of heights," laughs Kristie. "There was a time when I couldn't go up past the third step on a ladder, but now I don't even think about it."

And the best part? "The money is the best part. I don't work that long and it's just not hard. I didn't have to invest that much either. I didn't even need a truck; I pull the trailer behind my little car."

Business just keeps getting better for Kristie. She hasn't advertised for over a year now because word of mouth keeps her busy. "I actually have to be careful not to build up more than I can handle," she says. "Besides, I have to leave some time to spend the money and enjoy it."

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IDENT-A-KID, a franchise based in Florida, provides credit-card-sized ID cards for parents to carry; the card contains the photograph, fingerprint, weight, measurements, and other identifying information about their child. The cards sell for one dollar to five dollars depending on quantity. Since the service is primarily offered through schools, those quantities can run into the thousands.

Not only does IDENT-A-KID provide a much-needed service, but it offers the kind of flexibility necessary to have a fulfilling family life as well.

Before starting her franchise five years ago, Joyce Johnston, of Greensboro, North Carolina, worked as a supervisor for a mortgage corporation. As a single parent, getting home after six each night made her very unhappy. Now her schedule is hers to make as she sees fit.

"I work when I want to," she says. "I don't work on Monday, I reserve Fridays for computer work, and when the kids come home from school I'm done. With children you can't beat that."

Joyce's job is to take the photos and gather all the necessary data at the schools, then return home to produce the cards, a process that takes about four days. To further reduce her time away from home, she recently hired somebody to go out and do the photo shoot.

Joyce actually bought her franchise secondhand from an owner who had to move out of the area. She received the original package of computer, software, printer, laminating machine, camera equipment, and presentation video. She also got to take over the training and support from the parent company, something that you don't normally get when buying a non-franchise business.

"The company was great. I could call them and they would give me ideas. They had me up and working within a week."

As a parent, Joyce felt comfortable in the school and daycare environment. Her first order of business was to line up appointments to make her presentations. She has yet to be turned down and her business grew so fast she was working to capacity right away. She now services over 100 schools. "I do the schools during the school year and save the daycares for summer."

You might think that cutting down on hours means cutting down on income. But Joyce says, "You can't even compare incomes. My business went over $100,000 this year. I could never go back to working for someone else."