Work From Home

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May 23, 2022

5 Tips for Managing Finances as a Freelancer

You just started working as a freelancer. You have your first client…now what?

You’ve been a freelancer for a while, but finances are still a struggle…what should you do?

If you’re a brand new freelancer or a seasoned pro, finance tips are always helpful. We’ve compiled our top five tips for managing money below based on some of the most commonly asked questions we receive. Working as a freelancer can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be a little scary when it comes down to finances, and we hope these tips help ease some of those fears.

#1 Keep Business and Personal Separate

As a freelancer, or even as a small business owner operating as a DBA, it can be easy to mix your personal and business finances, but this can make it tricky to create a true budget to cover expenses for both options. You can move money around as needed, but keep separate accounts, separate cards, separate receipts, etc.

Make sure you’re keeping track of business expenses which can be written off of taxes later…

#2 Make Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments

Tax season can be a tense time as you wait to discover just how much you owe, but did you know that you can make payments throughout the year so that you owe less at the end of the year? These are called quarterly estimated tax payments. Work with an accountant to get quarterly vouchers created, and then make the estimated payments. These will cut down on how much you end up owing once tax season rolls around. Quarterly payments are mandatory if your tax burden exceeds $1,000 per year, so be sure to use a 1099 tax calculator that helps you make more accurate tax installments.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll also need to pay self-employment taxes, which are similar to FICA taxes. You’ll be responsible for paying both the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which currently total 15.3% of your net earnings from self-employment. However, you can deduct half of your self-employment tax on your income tax return. Be sure to factor in these additional taxes when making your quarterly estimated tax payments.

Depending on how much you bring in, those quarterly estimated payments can still seem like a large sum. If in doubt, using an invoice generator to track your earnings and ensure that you’re paid by clients is a good way to keep up with your tax obligations, and to avoid any admin errors in the process.

#3 Save Money

Yep, you’ve heard lots of people say this, but we aren’t just talking about squirreling away money for a rainy day. What we’re really talking about is creating a budget. Take those quarterly estimated tax payments and divide out how much you need to save each month, that way when the quarter rolls around and you have to send a check in, it’s not a last minute scramble.

The same can be said for taxes, fees, and expenses overall. Look up tax rates to get a rough estimate of what you might owe each year, and then calculate how much you need to save monthly. If you do this, tax season won’t be as stressful.

But this only covers you from year to year…

#4 Invest in Retirement Options

As a freelancer, you don’t get the option for a traditional 401k in most situations, which means you might not have a long term plan in place for retirement. You still have options available! There are IRAs, HSAs, or even special 401k plans for contractors and small business owners. Make sure to do research on which option is best for you.

And make sure to protect your investments…

#5 Get Insurance

Protect your business as you see fit with insurance, but don’t forget about other forms of insurance such as life insurance. It’s important to have some sort of emergency fund in place in case something happens to you, but also create a cash fund for those small unforeseen things that can happen such as a laptop breaking, new software needing to be purchased, or even a higher charge from an expense! Work this into your budget each month.

These five tips are just a place to start. There are still lots of other great tips out there, but the number one thing we suggest is sitting down with a financial expert. They can help you sort out what sort of insurance, investments, and budgeting needs to take place for you to accomplish your dreams while running a successful business.

Have a favorite finance tip you don’t see listed here? Tell us about it so we can share it!

Disclaimer. The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this site without seeking legal or other professional advice.

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May 16, 2022

A Checklist for Your Team Before Someone Leaves for Vacation

Besides managing the normal workflow, it’s that time of year when people head to the beach, the mountains, or wherever they want on vacations! While your team members are recharging at their favorite relaxation spots, vacation time for those that are still working can be very stressful.

Is your team ready for one of them to go on vacation? Even if it’s you as a manager and business owner (yes, you deserve time off too!)? Below is a checklist that should help you answer those questions with a resounding YES after you’ve completed it!

#1 Get the 411

As vacation time nears, schedule a time to sit down with your team. Discuss who is going on vacation, what they are working on, and what the plan is to handle that workload. Now is a great time to delegate tasks so that projects don’t slow down while employees are able to relax.

The sooner you do this, the better. That way small tasks can be handed off bit-by-bit rather than all at once in a mad dash on the final day before someone leaves for vacation. This allows your team to ask questions, get acquainted with new pieces of projects, and not feel so stressed.

#2 Get some ICE

We aren’t talking about the cold kind of ice; we’re talking about In Case of Emergency. Create an emergency vacation coverage plan just in case something goes wrong. What if a website you’re building for a client breaks in the middle of the night? What if in the middle of running an accounting report, the numbers just aren’t adding up? Don’t let it scare you. Run through those crazy what if scenarios. Come up with solutions on what to do so that (hopefully) you don’t have to disturb anyone’s vacation.

Also, get key contacts. If the website does go down, who do you call? Or, what if you normally manage a team of remote workers, do your other employees know how to get in contact with everyone else if it’s you going on vacation? Write it all down where everyone can get access to it. If you are working at a physical location, make sure people that need keys get them. You don’t want to wake up and realize your keys are on their way to the beach!

#3 Get out of the office

Besides literally getting out of the office, ask your employees to set out of office notifications on their emails, instant messages, calendars, and even voicemails. This will make sure that clients know what’s going on if they call; make sure to include who to contact while that employee is out of the office in the meantime!

#4 Get out of your head

A vacation is all about relaxing. If an employee is taking a break, make sure they stick to it. Everyone needs time to recharge, so they shouldn’t be worrying about work. The same goes for you as a manager! Don’t worry about work the whole time. Rest. Relax. Recharge. Get out of your head for a bit! Resist the urge to send that vacation email to your team.

By following this short checklist, vacation time should be a little more relaxing for everyone involved, but if your team is already stretched to the max, you can always look at outsourcing some of the work as well.

Now we need to know, did we miss anything on this checklist? Reach out to tell us about your procedures for employees taking a vacation!

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April 25, 2022

Do I need to respond to every applicant that applies for a job?

Are you familiar with the term ghosting? This refers to when someone just leaves a situation with absolutely no explanation. You may have experienced this when someone left you hanging and possibly puzzled you as to why.

Have you, as an employer, ghosted job candidates?

Everyone here understands the struggles of being a business owner: there’s never enough time in the day, never enough help when you need it, or there are days where nothing goes right.

All of that plays into how you go about the hiring process. As a small business, sometimes you just don’t have the manpower to do it all.

You’re probably asking, when is it considered ‘ghosting’ during the hiring process?

To be honest, there isn’t a clear cut line. What we can say is that the further someone makes it into the hiring process, the more they want to hear a response either way. Each company has its own steps to follow, but if you reach out to a candidate to express interest, it’s at this point that most job seekers start to experience ghosting.

77% of job applicants have been ghosted. That might be after an initial screening phone call, after one face-to-face interview, or after multiple interviews. In fact, some candidates have said they were ghosted by potential employers after a final job offer was submitted to them!

As an employer, ghosting comes down to a judgment call. There are lots of tools available to help you not leave job candidates out in the cold as to where their application stands. One thing we recommend is to write a generic template email saying thank you but no thank you. You can send this to all the candidates at once that aren’t moving to the next round, and that lets them know you aren’t ghosting them — which they will appreciate! You’ll appreciate it too because sometimes ghosting job seekers can lead to more of your time being eaten up when they reach out via phone and email to follow up on their application’s status.

But, what about the flip side?

What should you do as an employer if a candidate ghosts you?

In 2020, job seeker ghostings went up 18% from the previous year. The number one reason job seekers say they ghost employers is because they felt the job was not a good fit. Many applicants ghost early on in the process, but job seekers can wait until the last minute too. In fact, employers have reported that a quarter of new hires don’t show up for their first day on the job.

We’ve experienced this ourselves. We have even experienced new hires showing up for the first few days then ghosting with no explanation. In situations like this, what should employers do? Clearly communicate all expectations from day one. Do not close a job application (or, at least, do not stop the interview process) until a job seeker officially accepts a final offer from your company. Encourage applicants to ask questions. Once they are onboarded, schedule regular one-on-one meetings with them to continuously review expectations and allow them to voice how they are feeling. Be open, and they will follow your lead. If you’re looking for more tips, check out these 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring.

We also suggest checking out these 10 Qualities to Look for When Hiring Team Members. Look for these qualities and their consistency through the interview process, and that will help you to not get ghosted once you’ve hired someone.

In a world of technology where we are all connected, we have never seemed further apart. Ghosting is happening on both sides of the aisle, but it’s for the same reason: either an applicant decided the job was not a good fit OR an employer decided the applicant was not a good fit. We suggest using tools available to send short notes to job candidates to let them know what is happening with their application, and be open and honest with your communication.

Now we would love to know, do you send candidates something to inform them of your decision? How do you handle this process? Let us know!

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April 18, 2022

5 Tips for Applying to a Job Listing that Doesn’t Include the Pay Range

You find an interesting job listing…

The company sounds great…

Your experience matches the company’s required qualifications…

This job sounds great! There’s just one problem: the job doesn’t list the pay range. What does that mean? Should you apply, or should you find a different listing?

Why do companies not list the pay range?

There are several reasons as to why companies post listings without salaries. These reasons range from employers hoping to avoid potential questions from current employees to trying to avoid a wage war with competitors. However, the number one reason normally has to do with finding the most passionate job seekers: if a company does not list the pay range, they hope to attract job seekers that are more interested in the role itself than they are the money behind it.

This can be tricky for job seekers, though, as money is obviously a huge factor, and no one wants to waste their time going through the hiring process if salary expectations aren’t the same!

So, should I apply if a job listing doesn’t include the pay range?

In the end, it all comes down to your personal preference. If the job sounds like your dream job, then go for it (and use these tips to make sure your application stands out above the crowd). If the job doesn’t sound like an absolutely amazing fit and you’re on the fence about it, maybe see what else is out there. There’s no wrong answer here! But, if you do choose to apply to job listings without salaries…

Here are 5 tips for when you apply to a job that doesn’t mention wages:

#1. Research what other, similar positions are offering. The job title can help you figure out what the industry standard of pay is for that position. If it’s not quite what you’re hoping for, then figure out what job titles you should be searching for instead.

#2. Go ahead and apply! Take a chance and see what happens. This might just be the position of a lifetime! If not, it’s a great learning experience. Don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back from applying to a potentially great opportunity!

#3. Ask what the pay is! Communication is ALWAYS the key. Ask right away. Establish if this is a good fit for yourself and for the company.

#4. Plan to negotiate your salary. If no numbers are listed, this means the discussion about pay expectations is much more open than listings that include numbers.

#5. Be reasonable, but make sure this is a good fit for yourself. If you learn the pay range isn’t quite what you want, make sure to figure out if the position is truly a good fit beyond that. Consider time management, budget, experience, etc. Is this a position that will help you grow and achieve your career goals? If the answer is no, it’s probably time to apply to another listing.

As mentioned above, applying to a job with no pay range listed is completely a personal preference. We’ve worked with job seekers that did not like applying to those positions because they felt salary expectations were always less than they hoped for. On the other hand, we’ve worked with job seekers that have negotiated an amazing wage that they might not have received with a different job.

Money is a big factor when finding a job, but it’s not the only thing to think about! How does this job fit within your schedule? Does it give you the freedom to learn and grow? Does the company offer benefits that outweigh pay discrepancies?

Make sure you look at the job as a whole and not just the pay — and let us know: do you apply to listings that do NOT include the pay range, or do you pass them over?

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April 11, 2022

Surviving Summer: 4 Tips to Stay Productive

Do you remember what it was like, waking up on the first day of summer as a kid?

The morning air was cool with a hint of the heat to come. Dew covered the grass as morning doves cooed. You were excited; excited to feel the grass on your bare feet, or play your favorite video game, or catch up with friends, or maybe even go on a big family vacation.

You felt free.

As adults, the first day of summer looks a little different. We know you’re excited to spend time with your kiddos, but there’s some apprehension because you are working from home.

How are you going to balance working with creating a summer of freedom and fun for your kids?

After working from home for several years, and with several different aged kids, we have some experience in this area. Here are our four favorite tips on how to have a productive summer while your children are home on summer break.

#1 Schedule, schedule, schedule

The number one thing we recommend is to create a schedule for your summer. Map out your vacations, meetings, and even time that you need to set aside for yourself. Let’s be honest, there are so many distractions without kids, that summertime can seem daunting.

Writing everything down on a calendar will help you and your family. In fact, you should also make a summer calendar for your kids too. Block out times when you know they will be at a friend’s house, or when they like to play outside.

If your kiddo goes to a summer camp in the morning, schedule it! If you have a really important meeting you can’t miss, schedule it! Write it all down before the summer starts, but also remember that the best laid plans will encounter problems.

Plan on revisiting your schedule once per week. Sunday nights are a great time to evaluate the coming week.

Most importantly of all, when creating your summer plan, make sure to include lots of flexibility because you never know what the day will bring!

#2 Beat the heat

You’ve heard of the afternoon slump, but did you know a summer slump exists too? The heat tends to make people lethargic, and if you already find yourself experiencing afternoon slumps no matter the season, then summer will make you even more tired.

So, beat the heat! When you’re planning activities or creating your summer schedule, keep in mind what times of day you work best and what times of day you do not.

We recommend comparing that with your child’s sleep schedules.

If you work best in the morning and your child sleeps in, plan on working in the morning so you can spend afternoons playing (or napping together!). Have a productive summer switching your normal 9-5 schedule around.

#3 On the next episode of Kid Swap…

Remember that show, Wife Swap? While it produced some interesting characters, it also gave moms across the U.S. a great idea: let’s swap kids.

Seriously, it’s that simple. On days when you really need to be productive working from home during summer, ask your neighbors to watch the kids. Then, you can watch their kids when they need it.

Maybe even plan play dates with your child’s friends so that one week the kids go to your house, and the next they are at their friend’s house. As part of your summer calendar for your kids, they are sure to love it, and you will too when you get some time to yourself to power through work.

#4 Once upon a time at the library

Sure, you’re used to home based work, but what about working at the library? Find your nearest library, and check out what is available. Some libraries offer fun summer programs with different activities. Others have rooms you can rent to work out of while your children read books. No matter what, your local library has a kid’s section that can be fun for them to work on puzzles, read books, and play while you get access to wifi and a quiet location.

When you have a stay at home mom job, summer might seem extra stressful when you think about balancing productivity with spending time with your kids. We are here to say that you can do it, and have fun in the process.

There are lots of great resources available out there to help you create a schedule, track your productivity, swap kids, and even spend some time out of the house at the local library.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and remember that summers aren’t about huge vacations. Your kids will thank you for the small things like a surprise popsicle from an ice cream cart on an extra hot day, or spending time at their friend’s house building blanket forts.

As a kid, summer is all about freedom and free time. As an adult, that changes a bit, but that does not mean the summer has to be less fun for you! Put these four tips to use on how to have a productive summer, and you will find yourself balancing work and fun with your children just fine!

Do you have another tip you use to stay productive when kids are home for summer break? Let us know about it!

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April 4, 2022

What should I do if a company ghosts me during the hiring process?

It’s not even a spooky season, but you might find yourself encountering more and more ghosts on a regular basis.

Are you familiar with the term ghosting? This refers to when someone just leaves a situation with absolutely no explanation. At least, that’s what the kids are calling it these days! You may have experienced this yourself during the hiring process: you spent lots of time putting together the PERFECT résumé, answering questions in a phone interview, spending time through lots of face-to-face meetings, and then…NOTHING?!?

Ghosting is becoming an all too familiar phenomena in the world of job hunting. In fact, 77% of job seekers have said that potential employers ghosted them. There’s no clear cut line for where ghosting occurs, but you can probably agree that the further you make it in the process, the more a yes or no becomes important to you. But what should you do if you don’t hear back?

#1 Reach out!

Companies ghost candidates for a myriad of reasons, but sometimes they aren’t ghosting you — they’re just working their way through the hiring process which can take some time. It never hurts to reach out and ask about the status of your application. This can show the company your dedication and interest in the position, and it can also get you some peace of mind to know where you stand.

It’s important, though, to move on if the company is ghosting you. If you have tried to contact them several times with no response, that’s a good indicator they are going in a different direction.

#2 Never stop searching.

Until you have signed a final agreement with an employer, do not stop searching for jobs! This will make sure the hiring process is not at a stand still for you, and always work on innovating. Tweak your cover letter with these 5 tips to stand out to potential employers. Practice your interview skills with family and friends. Ask for feedback from companies that have been responsive to understand what you can do better.

#3 Don’t take it personally.

It helps to put things in perspective and understand that it wasn’t something personal that caused a company to ghost you. We’ve seen situations where companies received over 1,000 applications in a very short period of time which caused them to not be able to respond to everyone. We encourage employers (and employees alike) to communicate instead of ghosting, but there can be extenuating circumstances that prevent that.

One of the businesses that uses HireMyMom wanted to share with you what happens on the business side of things when ghosting might occur:

“As a business owner, I appreciate the tenacity of the person following up. My advice would be to continue that practice, while learning to let it go after a period of time. In my business, it is part of the process. Applying for a job is sales. You make your pitch, follow up, then move on to the next. It has never been my intention to ghost anyone. However, the very fact I came to HireMyMom to get help indicates my own inability to tend to every detail. At least from my side, it’s less about being rude than simply scattered and trying to keep too many plates spinning. Please don’t take it personally.”

Don’t worry, these sorts of ghosts won’t haunt you! If you’re getting ready to start your job search, check out these 14 résumé skills to help you stand out to potential employers. Ghosting is not 100% preventable, but you can refine your materials and skills to the best of your ability to stand out and make it hard for companies to ghost you! Just be open with your communication as to what you expect with your potential employer, remember that it’s just business, and always stay on the hunt for new job listings.

Are you getting ghosted a lot in your job hunt, or is this something you’ve never heard of before? Let us know!

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March 28, 2022

Find Your Passion Fast with These Four Easy Steps

A lot of career and business advice starts by advising that you “find your passion” and go from there. But, despite a widely held idea that passions strike like a bolt of lightning, for most people, passions are uncovered through a process of self-discovery.

Whether you dream of launching a business, would like to find a job that aligns with your passions, or are thinking of expanding an existing business, a few simple exercises can provide the insight you need to identify your passions.

In this blog, we offer our best ideas and some easy-to-do exercises to guide your journey of self-discovery.

What is Passion?

In our experience, people often misunderstand the meaning of the word passion.

Many people associate passion with doing something for a greater purpose. Sometimes, passions do evolve out of a desire to solve a problem or accomplish a goal. But, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, passion is simply “a strong feeling or emotion” or a “strong liking or desire.”

As you start to go through the process of finding your passion, don’t be discouraged if the things you uncover feel mundane. Passions that spring from pure enjoyment are just as valid as passions aimed at solving a problem.

We think that’s a critical perspective to keep in mind when exploring your passions.

Know Yourself

For all the romantic ideas associated with “finding your passion,” for most people, reflection and self-assessment pave the way to revealing passions. While this process may sound very serious, it’s usually fun and interesting.

Start by setting aside some quiet time to think about your life–as you’ve experienced it and how you hope to experience it. As you reflect, make a list that includes:

Moments that stand out. Include everything from a fun party you planned to a charity race you participated in to advice a manager shared with you that shaped your career.
Topics that interest you. You likely have a wide variety of interests that span several realms and could include everything from crafting to cooking to hiking. Write all of these interests down, no matter how obscure or ordinary they seem.
Things you enjoy doing. Consider the type of professional work you enjoy and activities that bring you joy outside of work. For example, maybe you love to cook or organize closets. Perhaps creating the perfect PowerPoint deck brings you joy. Don’t edit out anything that brings you joy–jot it all down.

Check-in with Others

After you take inventory of your important moments, topics that interest you, and activities you enjoy, talk to people close to you to get their impressions of you. Ask:

What do you see as my strengths?
When do I seem most engaged?
What topics/activities do I talk about most often with you?

The insights that come from others can yield important clues for you. To get the wisdom of others, ask three to five people the same questions, and look for themes in their answers.

Then:

Write down the answers you hear.
Compare what you hear to your list. For example, if your friend says you seem most engaged when discussing recipes and your list reflects cooking as an interest and something you enjoy, that’s a powerful clue about where your passion lies.
Make a new list that reflects all the intersections uncovered and the themes you found.

This list is likely a good representation of the areas where you have passion.

Get Down to Business

Next, review the list of your interests and consider how those activities could translate to a business opportunity or a job.

Here are some examples of how you can use your list to generate potential business opportunities:

If you identify that you enjoy organizing events and your friends say you seem happiest when pulling together parties, you may want to launch an event-planning business.
Suppose you notice that managing a family calendar is something you enjoy and your friends note your skills in keeping things organized for others. In that case, you may want to pursue a Virtual Assistant business or look for a job that uses those skills.
If you identify writing as something you enjoy and your friends point out that you produce stellar newsletters for the soccer team, blogging may be in your future.

Pay Attention to Your Journey

Regardless of what you find through this exercise, it’s essential to remember that your passions may change over time as your life changes. Those life changes can bring new passions.

For example, our founder, Lesley Pyle, found her passion through motherhood. Like many moms, she planned to return to work after her baby arrived. After her six-week maternity leave ended, she tried to return to work but found that she desperately missed her baby girl.

She loved her job but when her manager turned down her request for flexibility, she knew she had to leave.

Suspecting that she was not the only mom in this situation, she launched a website for moms working from home–or those who wanted to work from home–as a resource for networking, learning, and support. Her first site, Home-Based Working Moms, ran from 1996 to 2010.

In 2007, she launched HireMyMom.com, changing her website and business as the business world began to slowly embrace hiring off-site contractors and team members. More companies started seeing the benefits of hiring off-site workers, including choosing from a national pool of talent.

Through the process, she found her passion–connecting moms who want to work at home with businesses that need them. If her first boss had granted her the flexibility she asked for, her life would have taken a different path.

As your life changes, take stock of your interests, poignant moments, and the activities you enjoy. A new passion could be just around the corner.

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March 21, 2022

Business Need a Boost? A Complementary Partnership Could be Your Secret Sauce

If you’ve ever visited a fast food restaurant and purchased a kids meal with a movie-themed toy or bought a box of cereal to get the special gift inside, you understand the power of complementary partnerships. While many people think of these types of partnerships as strategies for large businesses, as a small business owner, you are perfectly positioned to harness their power and reap important benefits.

The right complementary partnership can change the trajectory of your business and open up a world of opportunity for you. The HireMyMom team has seen several small business owners successfully pursue this strategy with great success. In this blog, we share why these arrangements are so powerful and offer some tips to help consider if this approach is right for you.

Understanding Complementary Partnerships

Simply put, complementary partnerships happen when businesses team up to promote each other’s products or services. The terms complementary partnership and co-branding are generally interchangeable.

Complimentary partnerships allow businesses and organizations with different strengths to create something better than either could offer alone. It’s also a chance for sellers of products that are sold separately but used together to join forces and pursue customers together.

There are many ways to create these types of partnerships.

A business that offers a product can partner with a company that provides a different product that’s similar or different.
A business that offers a service can partner with another service provider or a company that provides a product.
Small businesses can team up with other small businesses, larger businesses, local groups, nonprofits.

Here are some examples of complementary partnerships for small businesses:

A bakery opens up a corner of the shop for a coffee kiosk, allowing customers to pick up coffee and pastries in one stop.
A t-shirt shop creates a partnership with a nearby school to provide spirit wear for students and families. The school promotes the shop, and the shop promotes the school with joint social media posts, signs, and other promotions.
An Etsy shop owner pairs up with an animal rescue organization to create a product line celebrating the organization’s work. The rescue organization sells the merchandise, and the two groups promote each other’s work.
A virtual assistant specializing in creating mailing lists creates a partnership with a writer who specializes in writing blogs and a social media manager who promotes small business accounts. The three promote each other’s services to clients but operate independent businesses. In many cases, they serve the same client and refer each other to clients who could use the services each provides.

There’s no limit to the ways you can work with your partners. In addition to promoting each other, you can jointly sponsor events, run contests where you feature each other’s business, share resources, introduce a shared rewards program, and even share a website or back-office service providers.

Benefits of Creating Complementary Partnerships

Creating complementary partnerships offer many benefits to business owners, including:

Increasing revenue through more business.
Helping small businesses survive and compete with more established companies by gaining a competitive edge and boosting brand recognition.
Offering opportunities to acquire new customers, engage more fully with established customers and provide a seamless experience.
Retaining current customers through enhanced offerings.
Sharing resources for greater reach with lower costs for each business.
Reducing the loneliness that often goes along with entrepreneurship.
Creating access to additional expertise from the partner and opportunities to share expertise.

Keys to Success

If you are thinking of entering into a complementary partnership, it’s important to do your homework before you begin seeking a partner.

Start by taking a critical look at your business to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what you bring to the table and what you’d like to find in a partner are essential to successful partnerships.

With a clear vision of what you have to offer and what you need, look for a partner business that fits the bill.

Networking is a great way to find potential partners. Attend local business meetups, reach out to the Chamber of Commerce, and attend trade shows to find potential partners. Also, be open to finding a partner closer to home. In some cases, a nearby business may fit the bill perfectly.

As you engage in conversations with potential partners, make sure that you feel comfortable with the partner personally, her approach to business, and her business practices. Even though you’ll be running separate business enterprises, as complementary partners, you will be working closely together, and that will be easier if you are comfortable with each other.

Once you and your patterner settle on a plan for a potential partnership, work together to create an agreement for your work together. Outline:

The parameters of your work together.
How you will communicate.
The level of transparency you plan to maintain.
How you will define success.
Who will manage which tasks.
Checkpoints where each business will assess the partnership’s future to determine if it still makes sense.

Please share!

Forming a complementary partnership is a fantastic way to move your business forward. If you enter into one, please drop us a line and share your experience.

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March 14, 2022

How a Great Elevator Pitch Can Win You New Clients

Imagine entering an elevator and finding that the only other person in the lift is your dream client or the hiring manager for your dream job. It’s just the two of you, and you are both riding to the 20th floor. You have about 30 seconds to introduce yourself and explain all the reasons why you–or your business–are the perfect fit for her needs.

You take a deep breath, smile, and deliver your best elevator pitch.

As you reach the 20th floor, the person hands you her card and asks you to call so you can talk more. Success!

If imagining this scenario has you wondering what in the heck an elevator pitch is and how to write one, this blog is for you.

The HireMyMom team has seen firsthand how an elevator pitch can launch a career or change the trajectory of a business. Here we explain what an elevator pitch is, and share our best tips for creating and delivering one that works for you.

What’s an Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is a short, well-rehearsed introduction of yourself and your skills/business. The pitch conveys all the vital information about you in around 30 seconds, using about 75 to 100 well-selected words.

It’s called an elevator pitch as a reference to a time when people generally worked in offices, and catching an executive in the elevator was an opportunity people sought.

Of course, the world has changed. In all likelihood, neither you nor your dream client is riding an elevator up to an office. But, the need for an elevator pitch remains as strong as ever, even if the pitch is delivered over Zoom or at a local networking event.

A good elevator pitch shows that you are comfortable taking the lead in conversations, makes it easy for you to introduce yourself to potential clients and employers, and helps you proceed with confidence when someone asks you to tell them about yourself.

The key is to develop an elevator pitch before you need it and then rehearse it, so you are ready to go when the opportunity arises.

How to Create an Elevator Pitch

Developing an effective elevator pitch is a process, and it takes some work and attention. But, the good news is that you are the world’s foremost expert on the topic of why you are a great find.

Write down some key points you want to include in your pitch to get started. In general, your elevator pitch should:

Start with an introduction. Include information about yourself. Share your name, add something about your education, and highlight your prior professional experiences.
Move on to a clear description of the problem your skill/business can solve.
Mention the customer/business who would most benefit from your skill/product.
Describe the benefits the customer/employer would enjoy from working with you.
Ask for a follow-up meeting.

Tell a (Short) Story

Once you identify your key points, start working them into a narrative that feels comfortable for you.

Here’s an example of an elevator pitch that someone launching a Virtual Assistant business might use.

“Hi, I’m Kate. It’s so nice to meet you! I have a degree in business administration and run a thriving Virtual Assistant business helping small business owners free up more time and space to focus on their core business. I do that by taking all the back-office tasks off their plates in a seamless way. I can book meetings, respond to customer requests, or take calls–I offer a fully customizable suite of services based on your needs. I’d love to talk more with you about how I can help make your business run more smoothly.”

Here’s another example of a pitch for a freelance graphic designer.

“Hi, I’m Lisa. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve always been interested in graphic design and recently earned a degree in the field. I’m particularly interested in creating gorgeous e-commerce sites for small business owners. I use my design and photography skills to make your products stand out. I’d love to talk with you about how we could work together if that’s Ok. Let me get your card or jot down your email and I’ll send you some additional information.”

Here’s an example of a pitch that would suit someone looking for a full-time job.

“Hi, I’m Joanna. After several years of bookkeeping, I earned a certificate in Accounting and am eager to find a full-time position where I can use my skills and experience. Your company has a great reputation in the industry. I’d love to join your team to contribute while I continue to learn and grow. Do you have a card to share? I’d love to send you a follow-up email or set aside time to talk about opportunities.”

Once you have a narrative you like, start saying it aloud. Try it out on a friend and make tweaks to sections that don’t feel comfortable. Pick up a pen (or keyboard) and make changes to sections that don’t feel natural or need a little polish.

After your tweaks, get out a timer and see how long it takes to deliver your pitch.

If it runs more than a minute, sharpen it a bit so you can comfortably deliver the message in under 60 seconds.
If your message takes less than 30 seconds, look for a way to beef it up.

Practice Make Perfect

Once you have your pitch ready to go, you are confident in the content, and you know how long it takes to deliver it, it’s time to practice. The more times you say it, the more comfortable you’ll feel delivering it.

As you say it out loud, you’ll get a sense of where you might stumble, the words you most want to emphasize, and the cadence that feels most comfortable. To get there faster:

Deliver the pitch to your spouse.
Share it with a friend.
Practice in the mirror.
Say it to yourself in the car.
Recite it as you pet the dog.

Tell Us

We’d love to hear about your elevator pitch. Tell us how you developed it, where you used it, and how it worked. We can’t wait to hear about it!

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March 7, 2022

Embrace change: Top 3 Talent Acquisition Trends for 2022

The lasting implications of the pandemic and ongoing digital transformations within our working cultures mean that HR managers are dealing with more challenges than ever. Government payouts and forced remote policies are complicating hiring processes, while reimagined trends and new standards for consumer interactions are shaping what employees have come to expect. This leaves us with the decision to lay off employees, reposition them, or hire people with different skill sets.

It’s undeniable that finding talent might get quite expensive and time-consuming. According to Employee Benefit News, employers spend around 33% of a worker’s annual salary during the replacement process. And it takes approximately 24 days to hire someone—not including reviewing resumes to find the best candidates.

Due to the Great Resignation, the talent pool is wider than ever. The crux of the matter is that many of millions of job seekers don’t have enough experience to do the new jobs requiring new skills. Employers are facing a maze of challenges—and they need to find a way out to stay competitive in the market.

I have worked for years to upskill women and help them find flexible work opportunities. But the current work market needs are broader than that. Here’s my take on what you should do to navigate today’s recruitment challenges, only aggravated by the Great Resignation, pandemic, and global competition over talent.

Upskilling and reskilling to optimize employee performance

Transitioning existing employees into new positions is more cost-effective than recruiting. Furthermore, workforce training allows companies to maximize employee potential and workers to keep their jobs by expanding their skills to different areas.

A Gartner report shows that 33% of the skills listed in a typical job posting in 2017 are no longer necessary, and new job posts require 10% more skills than previous years. For instance, collaboration platform management, data engineering, being bilingual, and customer empathy are some of the skills in demand for tech companies.

The first step is to identify what kind of skill sets you need to have to run your business effectively and successfully. Then, you can pinpoint what’s missing and find out whom you need to train to close current gaps. Ultimately, team leaders should outline the roadmap towards growth—employee plans should include goals, training schedules, and a target date for completion.

Second, inspire your employees to join upskilling programs. You might want to avoid employee burnout. Remember that they are already very busy and often feel that they don’t have time to learn new skills. By setting learning time into the workload, you can encourage your employees to improve their skills.

This way, you can have more qualified employees as well as foster loyalty. According to research by IBM, employees are 42% more likely to remain with a company long-term if they received training that helped them perform their work at a higher level.

As an added benefit, upskilling increases employees satisfaction and retention. The statistics are astounding. Companies with a comprehensive training program have a 218% higher income per employee than companies that don’t. They also have a 24% higher profit margin than companies that spend less on this kind of employee development.

Industry giants have already put a significant amount of money into upskilling. For instance, Amazon invested $700 million in training programs. I can hear you saying, ”After all, they have all the money—it’s Amazon.” You also have many options. Encourage knowledge sharing and empower collaborative work in your organization. Workshops can be more informative and inspiring than you might think. Creating a safe zone where constructive criticism and feedback are appreciated will help you point your employees in the right direction.

Take your time to explore platforms like Udemy, edX, or Coursera if you don’t have in-house training opportunities. Besides, some Ivy League universities share their lectures on YouTube. When you have the budget, you can offer to pay a certain percentage of tuition and fees towards a certificate or diploma in qualified fields of study.

Advance recruiter expertise for a better employer brand

According to Glassdoor, 86% of job seekers look at a company’s reviews before applying for a job—your reputation precedes you. But an interview with recruiters is the first personal connection with the company, putting significant responsibilities on recruiters’ shoulders. Not doing the job well means time and money lost as well as employer brand damage.

Make sure that your brand ambassadors—recruiters—represent the company in the best way possible. People say that ‘’The best interviews flow like a conversation rather than an interrogation.’’ It might be true—but it has some issues. You can go off the topic and leave some important questions unanswered. Moreover, being like-minded and having common interests can cloud one’s judgment.

A structured interview helps you be clear about the role, set your expectations and non-negotiables in a candidate, such as skills and traits. This way, it’s more likely that you provide a better candidate experience. Why does it matter? Because 26% of people decline an offer because they had a negative experience during the interview process.

Along with the skill sets, it’s key to identify if the candidate is a cultural fit for the team. In this context, I refer to goals and missions for both employers and employees. Choosing someone who is skilled but not a good match for your team can impact overall performance, success, and even disrupt company culture.

Ask the candidates what type of work environment they are most productive in and what management style motivates them. You can also ask if the candidate has any concerns about your company culture based on their research before the interview. The answers will help you understand what the applicants are looking for.

Lastly, word travels fast. Any negative experience will come back to you as comments on social media accounts, affecting your employer brand. If this has happened to you before, make sure that your HR team gives the appropriate answers. Job seekers are more likely to apply if your company actively manages its brand by responding to reviews and communicating on social media.

Remote work for freedom and flexibility

After getting a taste of freedom, many employees don’t want to go back to the office. One of the most notable benefits of working from home is being able to have a better work-life balance. On top of that, people can plan their days, have more flexible and appealing childcare and eldercare options as well as reduce some expenses.

From an employer’s perspective, offering remote work is rewarding. Some recruiters simply realize that virtual interviews and remote recruitment are time-saving and efficient methods. Most importantly, offering remote work makes your talent pool the talent ocean.

Even if we’ve been talking about the benefits of working remotely for some time, 44% of companies still don’t allow it—and these companies are limiting their talent pool by simply not offering remote work opportunities. Your ideal candidate might be miles away from you—don’t let distance come between you and top talent.

Digital nomads are living proof of rising remote work culture. There are more than 15 million digital nomads from the US alone. The ability to work from anywhere in the world, higher salary expectations, and flexibility won’t let digital nomad growth slow down.

Besides offering remote work, consider paying a competitive salary, offering out-of-the-box incentives and bonuses—while creating a work culture that attracts ideal candidates, you can boost employee satisfaction.

The bottom line is that the talent is out there, and you need to ensure that you set a productive environment for the arrival of future candidates and employees.

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