Category: Perspective

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Women & Social Media

Image Credit :http://www.webstarwest.com/Fairies/

Women_and_Social_Media

The outcome of social media has opened a door of opportunities to everyone. It has given people an ability to communicate, interact, access information, make new friends/contacts and a wide range of things that were not possible with other media. Be it the use of Social Networking using Facebook/Hi5 or social photo/video sharing using YouTube/Flickr. And what more- Social Bookmarking, Social News and Wikis…The connectivity social media has got to the lives of everyone cannot be neglected.

It’s seen in many data surveys that women make it as the maximum users of social media than men. Women can be seen using it as a major source of entertainment and a source of news, content and conversations. It has given them a chance to get connected to the world easily. Women, as we know are good net-workers naturally, and with social media, they are forming more and more women networks and running them successfully.

Anusha Jha Rohom, Freelance Writer/Consultant, Bangalore, says,

“Social media has empowered women to network and connect with people relevant to their profession/business. Not just professionals, even amateurs are leveraging social media to reach out to a larger audience.I don’t think social media offers any particular advantage to women exclusively… both the sexes benefit equally from social media.”

 There are many networks available online to connect women like, http://worldpulse.com/ , http://www.womenforwomen.org/, http://socialmediawomen.wordpress.com/

Also many groups are seen on Facebook/twitter like Fleximoms, mycity4kids, Sheroesindia, etc., to help women share their experiences, views, or find jobs. Social media is a great tool for young mothers too.

Deepa Govind says,

Deepa “We women have a natural tendency to connect and engage in small talk, have a reputation of being gossip mongers, and very good at that. May be, it is in our genetic makeup and Social Media seems to be the perfect platform for gossip. But it seems we have found a way to convert our vice into virtue.” She adds, “Woman mark her clients after observing a potential’s social media chatter. From here on, she would make attempts to small talk into the client’s needs, and pitch her services / business from a more strategic point of view. This way, she ensures that she is investing her time only on seemingly useful potentials, and not just blind calls.”

Women are specially seen making use of social media to start/expand the businesses. Be it a start-up business or an established one, women are seen advertising, blogging, etc. about it on the web.

Take example of women entrepreneurs like Pam Brossman Amazon #1 Best Selling Author or CEO of SheExperts.com making the right use of it. Or be it the organizing solutions provided by Alejandra at http://www.alejandra.tv/. They get a lot of turnover from their businesses; guess if it was not without social media.

Meet Jessie DSouza, Virtual Business Owner, Mangalore.  

JessieShe uses social media to communicate and connect with potential clients. She adds,“I use social media to share knowledge and expertise. I have a facebook group, “Work From Home Divas India” where I guide the aspiring work from home moms to start their own businesses from home”.

Take example of Jenny Hogan, Tech-Savvy news anchor at KIRO 7 EyeWitness News in Seattle. (Reference: http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-jenni-hogan/, December 5, 2012 by Ulara Nakagawa). Over the past few years, she’s learned how to harness the power of social media and her own celebrity to promote a worthy cause. In 2010, Jenny debuted, “The KIRO 7 Mobile Tweetup with Jenny Hogan,” which broke new ground as a TV news program that fuses social media outreach with local causes. The show, which Jenny both produces and hosts, has been an overwhelming success, winning an Emmy and getting her nominated for a Shorty Award. Now into its third year, the mobile tweetups have generated more than 75,000 items for babies and 6 truckloads of toys for kids benefiting Toys For Tots. And the most recent summer tweetup rose over $11,000 in donations in just three hours, to help support early cancer detection research.

Many parents today have started freelancing for income. We can find many “Mommy Bloggers” today, who make a living off their blogs, write books and even speak at conferences. These mommy bloggers share interesting and informative stories about parenting and are also approachable and open to comments.

Jenni-HoganJenny Hogan in an interview to Ulara Nakagawa also said

“I think women are more powerful than they think in social media. As a mother, I see other mothers multitasking, working full time, being CEO of their family and using technology to be more efficient. I think that we are the super users of technology being busy, working moms. Females, without even knowing it, are leaders in this area. Tech companies should let females be part of the discovery process rather than coming up with a product and saying ‘here’s how we think it’s going to be great for you.’ There are a lot of brilliant women out there and if tech companies just listen to what they’re saying, we could find some pretty cool jackpots that will help a lot of people in the future.”

To conclude, it’s seen that there is meaningful and impactful work being done by women using the social web. More and more women are finding their voice, confidence and careers online. Social media has given a safe place for women to learn, grow and aspire. Women have got freedom to define the scope of their life and achieve their full potential.

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Attn: Site Updates in progress

Dear Readers,
Homepreneur-online has been undergoing some site updates (Version and other background stuff) in the last few days. How-much-ever we try, lapses happen. So, in case you are receiving duplicate / multiple feedburner mails, I apologize for the inconvenience. Please bear with me. Please do let me know the “odd behavior”, so that I can get it fixed and we call can move on…
Thank you
Best Regards
Deepa Govind

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Homepreneur Success Tip: Invest Time, Manage Money

eZineBadge“Time and tide waits for no man”, so the saying goes. However, if you wait long enough, the tide will come to you.
People working from home (Homepreneurs) are popularly referred to as Virtual Assistants (VA). There is a wide variety of tasks assigned to VAs. Most popular ones being administrative assistance, customer support executive, transcriptionist, translator, online tutor, ghost writer and many many more.
The biggest lure for wannabe virtual assistants/freelancers is the possibility of being able to work form home, and, generating an income out of it. As a practicing virtual assistant (freelance developer/homepreneur) for the past 4 yrs, I frequently encounter prospective VAs with request to guide them in establishing a VA career
I am more than happy to share resources and respond to queries. Religiously, I respond back with links on articles, forum etc. 2 out of 10 people practice due diligence and come back to me after a couple of weeks to “discuss” about the things they have learnt. I am really happy for them knowing they have grasped the crux of being a VA.
However, 8 out of 10 on the other hand, spare no time in responding with, “Please teach me how to be a VA. I am a quick learner”. They view my repeated responses to access resource content, as, “washing my hands off” fearing competition.
There is no such thing as free lunch. Everything comes with a price tag. Becoming a VA is no different either. Monetary investment to launch your VA career is optional, not mandatory. However, this calls for another type of investment which no VA can deny. AN INVESTMWNT CALLED “-TIME-”
“Take care of the minutes, the hours will take care by themselves” is true to every word in a (aspiring) VA’s working hours. Things could swing both ways here. Spare a few minutes to learn something new, you could be hired(for $) to implement what you have learnt. Similarly, spend a few min on aimless chit-chat /fb’ing, it could be an hour lost to regain focus towards what you were initially working on.
Most VA aspirants tend to loose the initial drive much sooner than 8 weeks of their first attempt. 10 weeks later, they just give up on the idea. 12 weeks later, they conclude that “work from home is all scam”, & those who say otherwise are lying.
It has been my observation that such people approach VA opportunities in the conventional way (read as in the corporate way). If only they had taken the time to read (&comprehend) through the resource content (shared by a friend/goggling), the following could have been put to good use.

  • The knack of weeding out scam job postings and the real ones.
  • The art of presenting one’s VA profile (yes, it is no longer
    called resume or CV in the VA work environment)
  • The tact of using faceless communication (there is no body language to impress your interviewer/client; first level of screening the applicants is by assessing their email-etiquette; once this level is cleared, one is called for a voice chat/teleconference/video chat based on the nature of work.
  • The tools of trade for VAs (& specific ones depending on the nature of the job. Eg, graphic artist: Photoshop & flash, transcriptionist: express scribe etc)
  • The warning signals for non-paying /custom sample clients, and how you can protect your work without jeopardizing a prospective (genuine) gig.
  • The all important -how to handle payments, invoices, fund transfer to u r local currency, tax information et al.

Every VA aspirant should invest a huge chunk of their time to know the terrain, and how this part of the industry functions. By doing so, I do not guarantee that nothing will go wrong. Everyone will make a faux pas, and we are no exception. Even experienced VAs burn their fingers. At least, you will be prepared when such a situation arises (God forbid!!!).
So you see ······ time is a lot like money.
You need to invest a wee bit (may be you might have to stretch here and there)
···· so that, when you have projects at hand, you will have the privilege of managing it.
INVEST IN TIME BEFORE APPLYING FOR PROJECTS.
MANAGE MONEY (TIME=MONEY) WHEN THE PROJECT IS AWARDED TO YOU.

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Homepreneur @ 70+ : Meet Sri.Ramana Prasad – Translator, Editor, Writer

Howzzat for those of us (so called youngsters) who feel burnt out by the time we touch 40’s …
Sri.Ramana Prasad has had a fulfilling career as lecturer of History and Politics @ The Thiagarajar College, Madurai; Senior Teacher in History in reputed Hr.Sec.Schools in Madurai and Kodaikanal and retired as Principal, CSR Mat.School, Tirunagar, Madurai in 1998. During this time, he had translated text books for PUC History, B.A., Politics and History from English to Tamil. Post retirement, he was working as editor for Medical Transcription Agency and subsequently took up Editing, Writing and translating works.
Most often, soon after retirement people want to relax (read, disconnect from any kind of work). How is it that you are still at work 😉 ?

It is true that many people want to relax after retirement. But unless one has good hobbies or take up to some useful activities like social service, it becomes very boring for them to occupy their time with. For those who are obliged to do hard physical work, retirement is, of course, a relief. But for those engaged in mental activities throughout the life, it would be monotony unless they find some useful occupation during their retirement. As an academician, therefore, it is not a burden at all to carry on intellectual activities. Also the novelty of doing work through computer fascinated me.

Now, here is someone who has mastered ‘technology’ (read learning to work with computers) post retirement just for the fun of it. That’s “Learning for learning sake”. How many of us can aspire to be so much self-motivated past 60.. is a point to ponder. ~ D
How did the transition take place from teaching to translation?

It was not such a transition. Even during my regular career, I had translated a number of works and it is just a full time continuation of the same activity. Also, I am not exclusively doing translation work. Writing, editing, etc. are also there so it was not a difficult transition.

hmm.. a salable skill put to use at the right time. We too do lot of ‘other’ work (in addition to office-work), but rarely do we realise that it can be used / marketed as a saleable skill. Time to take a closer look at the things we do. We would surprise ourselves. ~ D
In India, freelancing is not a career choice, let alone post-retirement. How is it that you actually started on freelancing from home. Can you please share an anecdote.

You know that we are having these online facilities only for the last 10 to 12 years. It just coincided with my retirement. Though I could have taken up full or part-time teaching work, this attracted me because I had done enough vocal work for years! And sitting in home, doing work according to our own convenience had an added charm!

It so happened that a friend of mine asked me whether I would be interested in regular translation into Tamil for a website. It suited me well and in a couple of months I mastered Tamil Typing as well. Thereafter it was more a pleasure than an ardours work because for years I had translated the works by writing only! From that time I began to pick up other works and was able to keep myself as much occupied as I wanted to.

An unconventional choice by chance. I sincerely wish my readers will also get this privilege sooner than they expect. ~D
Please share information on the skills required & level of expertise to pursue a career in translation.

In my case, as I had taught at the degree level both in English and Tamil, I had acquired enough skill in quick translation. However, for those who are new to the field, it would take some time to get acquainted with the art and science of translation.

One has to read good books in English and Tamil (or the languages into which translations are to be done) so that a diction is unconsciously developed by oneself. So, hard work has to come. Of course, for technical words in many fields like medicine, engineering etc. at present we have a number of websites suggesting words. It is a question of persisting with gaining knowledge..

‘smack !!’ That was my english teacher for not coming prepared for the weekly reading exercise . If only I knew…. ~D
How much does a translation expert stand to earn, over time?

If one wants to take this up as a full-time career, one can earn as much Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000. But to achieve this one has to have the capacity to translate between 2500 and 3500 words per day. It all depends upon the area of specialisation, aptitude and willingness to work. One thing is certain. One can earn a reasonable income sitting in the cosy atmosphere of the home!

Let us not get carried away by the numbers… but yes… remember them. Reach for the sky, you will certainly grab a few stars. ~D
Can you share some resources for translation & translation based jobs for aspiring homeprenuers?

Personally I would suggest that the translator takes up on his own some standard authors’ work and refine his talent. Initially if would be tiresome, like people acquiring systematic reading habit. But one has to have a willingness to learn, work and do things perfectly. There are no magic formulas. Homeprenuers should not fight shy of constant reading and writing.

Read.. Assimilate.. Associate.. Articulate… Read Again !!! ~D
Would you recommend some trusted translation agencies / contacts that our readers can get in touch ?

There are many agencies. Cosmic Globe in Chennai comes to my mind as the first choice as it treats the translators with great respect. There are others and one can easily register with the number of agencies and get regular work.

Few other friends have suggested Translatorscafe. It is always better to exercise due diligence and caution. (I don’t mean to scare you.. just be on guard) ~D
An experienced freelancer demands funds (or at least a % of it ) upfront before commencing work. First time freelancers do not have this choice and are constantly bugged by non payment issues. How did you tackle this when you took up freelancing?

Everything has to be worked out. A beginner always is at a disadvantage over choice of work and non-payment issues. Even those who had sufficient experience were cheated from Canada to New Zealand to the tune of several millions by Bangalore Adit. It happens.

I must say it was a mixed bag as well. Many had not paid the amount. But fortunately all firms are not like that. If our output has quality and we keep up time schedule, many problems will disappear.

Punctuality and discipline will take us a long way. (.. 😕 wonder why we never paid attention to those “Moral Science” class ) ~D
Do you get to discuss freelancing as a viable income opportunity with your contemporaries & students. Does generation gap play a role in the thought process?

I didn’t have much time with my students as I had migrated from Madurai to Chennai. But most of the young translators with whom it has been my privilege to get in touch, are quite optimistic about future in this field. I know a couple of them who are engineering degree holders but have preferred to take this up as a good career at a young age.

True, present generation is not tied down by conventional notion of “job and salary” ~D
As a history teacher, do you foresee history-in-the-making @ job sector where young IIM graduates are refusing plum jobs to pursue entreprenuerial dreams. On the same note, brilliant-stay-at-home-minds ( child care / foreign soil ) are seriously considering freelancing from home as an option to tackle family and financial needs?

It is not only translation work that matters. Freelance writing and editing bring in good revenue as well. Stay-at-home minds, voluntarily or involuntarily, could certainly benefit from this source of income as money would flow in with hard work and ability.

I am not qualified to suggest to IIM graduates for their ambitions may differ. Let me remind you that I chose a college teaching career as it afforded plenty of leisure so that I could read quite a lot. Many in my background would have chosen pursuit of money to be a better option.

To each as one likes!

Indeed, To each as one likes! ~D
Kindly share your Twitter / facebook / linkedin profile for the benifit of our readers.

Actually Facebook helps me to keep in touch with my social contacts. I have had no time for twitter. Linked in has its potential vastly to improve your standing in the online base.

….. K. Ramana Prasad

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Shameless tactic by vWorker.com – poaching oDesk clients and providers

UPDATE on 28 Feb 2012

vWorker makes changes to its bid-alert mail

As any freelancer would agree, it is considered a smart move to sign up with multiple freelancing sites. The idea is to diversify and enable one’s (freelance) resume to be made visible to as many eyes as it can be. On the same note, clients (employers) also post the same project across multiple freelance sites to increase the chance of intelligent bids from serious freelancers…(oh yeah !.. and then, there is spam… but pros outweigh the cons)
Guess it comes as no surprise when I say that I had also signed up with odesk and vWorker (and few other freelance marketplaces as well), so that I have a steady stream of potentials. Predictably, I am subscribed to their bid alerts as well.
However, today I was taken aback completely when I read through their so-called referral campaign to their bid-alert mail.
vWorker_oDesk

Why should i even bother asking a client from Site1 to sign up at Site 2

I have active profiles in both oDesk and vWorker. Serious freelancers are busy bidding and actually working, rather than, cajole a client to sign up with a marketplace of (freelancer’s)choice. In other words, If i see a potential project on a different marketplace, I would promptly sign up at this new site and place my bid. All I care about is winning the project, and start working on it.. because.. thats what actually puts the copper in my wallet. Why should I go about telling the client to sign up with my-favourite site if he wants to work with me. It is likely that I might end up loosing a good project just for this one act.

Whatever happened to “healthy competition” ?

It is a thin line between competition and jealousy. Freelance marketplaces such as vWorker and oDesk (and other freelance sites) actively promote “healthy completion” between their users, so that the provider – the client – and – the site are mutually benefitted… which is in fact THE right thing to do. So, why take the Unhealthy route to boost one’s business?

Afraid of competition? Or, Last desperate attempt by vWorker?

Each freelancer has his / her favourite freelance site. There are scores of freelance marketplaces over the World Wide Web, and, each one of them are striving in their own way to get the provider’s and client’s attention. If oDesk works better for some, then vWorker works better for someone else. But it so appears that the user-base-at-oDesk is exponentially greater than the user-base-at-vWorker. But, this act by VWorker to poach oDesk users only comes across as a desperate attempt to boost their already declining user base.

… vWorker, are you really that desperate ?
… may be its time for vWorker to rethink their user-experience .

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RBI and Paypal India Issue : Transaction limit raised from 500$ to 3000 $

RBI and Paypal are finally seem to be seeing eye-to-eye on the online payment regulations. Indian users can now receive transactions uption 3000$ via paypal
Paypal Annoucement dated Oct 13 2011

We’ve been notified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that our merchants in India can receive export-related payments for goods and services into their PayPal account up to USD 3000 per transaction (raised from USD 500 per transaction), effective immediately.

RBI circular dated Oct 14 2011@ RBI website

Para 2: The present instructions have been reviewed in the context of requests received from exporters for suitable enhancement of the value of the transaction from USD 500. Accordingly, it has now been decided to increase the value per transaction from USD 500 to USD 3000 for export related remittances received through OPGSPS. The revised directions will come into force with immediate effect.

All other terms and conditions issued vide A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.17 dated November 16, 2010 shall remain unchanged

Para 2:vi – The balances held in the NOSTRO collection account shall be repatriated and credited to the respective exporter’s account with a bank in India immediately on receipt of the confirmation from the importer and, in no case, later than seven days from the date of credit to the NOSTRO collection account.

Although the news suggest that RBI and Paypal have been in “serious discussion” in this matter, my intuition strongly suggests that this could be the result of innumerable blog posts, comments, tweets, by our online community. RBI has never once in the past hinted at the impact the online community has over social issues, now we know that “we are being watched” and “ our opinion does make an impact”.
This is indeed a great news for most fellow freelancers, and SMBs. This raised limit will allow them to conduct business as usual, without having to cut a sorry face with clients saying “ Due to paypal restrictions….. please…blah blah blah….”
The RBI notification clearly states the transaction limit and the 7 day stipulation period. So, I think i understand when paypal has enforced auto-withdrawal , inclusion of PAN number, export code for all Paypal Indian users. However, what still boggles me is,
WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE USE OF OUR EXISTING PAYPAL BALANCE TO PAY FOR GOODS AND SERVICES

  1. Our Paypal account is linked to PAN
  2. Purpose code @ paypal ensures nature of transaction
  3. Paypal account retains history of transaction : remittance and payments.
  4. All of the above confirms a layman’s idea that every transaction can be traced back to the user.
  5. RBI notification does not mention anything about NOT USING PAYPAL BALANCE

WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE USE OF OUR EXISTING PAYPAL BALANCE TO PAY FOR GOODS AND SERVICES

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Silent Executioner & Hesitant Player: RBI – Paypal India Issue

The RBI – Pay pal issue has been discussed at length since their notification on Jan 2011, or perhaps, should I say since Feb 2010. However, here is a short recap.

Paypal claims that RBI regulations have forced them to make such a management decision, while RBI implies that Paypal is not complying with the rules and regulations needed to conduct business in India. However, the problem is, there seems to be no “official word” from RBI’s spokesperson in this matter. Never mind, we have money matters of concern here.
So, according to the latest Paypal Notice on Jan 2011

  1. Any remittance to paypal account should be withdrawn within 7 days of remittance.
  2. Indian users cannot accept payment for more than 500$
  3. Indian users cannot use existing paypal balance to pay for goods & services
  4. All payments should be routed through CCard > Paypal

This has raised two vital questions amongst the Indian paypal community.

  1. What will happen to my funds if I don’t withdraw within 7 days?
  2. Paypal withdrawal page clearly mentions that any withdrawal less than 7000/- will incur an additional service charge of 50/-

After repeated messages through “Contact us” @ Paypal, finally they have responded to my (our) queries. Here, I copy paste my queries and Paypal’s response

Sometimes, I receive as little as 5 $. It would be impossible to withdraw this amount given your service charge & conversion rate.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY FUNDS IF I DONOT WITHDRAW TO MY BANK ACCOUNT IN 7 DAYS?
Hello, my name is Joanna Marie from PayPal Customer Service.
To ensure full compliance with the RBI and all applicable India
regulations, we will be monitoring accounts closely as we expect our
PayPal members registered in India to withdraw their funds within 7 days
from the date the payment is received.
If funds are not withdrawn within
the said timeframe, we may take appropriate actions such as limiting
account features.
I donot understand. I have a verified paypal account. What limitations am I looking at?
Will my (non-withdrawn) funds be still be available
at a later date when i get a reasonable amount for withdrawal ?
Hello, my name is Joe Marie from PayPal Customer Services.
……. If you will not transfer the funds on the given time frame, our
system will automatically transfer the funds to your bank account.
If your balance is less than $10.00 USD (minimum withdrawal amount), our
system will not be able to automatically transfer the funds to your bank
account. Therefore, you will need to wait until your balance is enough
or more than the minimum withdrawal amount before you can transfer them
to your bank account.
………
The withdrawal section of paypal page says that,
Paypal charges a 50Rs fee on all withdrawals, where the final withdrawal amount is less than 7000 Rs.
So, given the min 10$ , roughly 10 * 42 = 420 Rs. (.. lets assume the exchange rate is 1$ = 42 Rs for this calculation)
Does that mean, I will be receiving only 420 – 50 = 370 Rupees only ?
Hello, my name is Ric from PayPal Customer Service.
….
In order to comply with RBI, we will be waiving all fees on withdrawals.
Even if you will be transferring funds lower than 50.00 INR, rest
assured that you will not incur any withdrawal fees.
….
There is no mention of this on the website, or anywhere else.
IS IT TRUE THAT THERE WILL BE BE NO “WITHDRWAL FEE” @ PAYPAL
EVEN IF THE FINAL WITHDRAWAL AMOUNT IS LESS THAN FIFTY RUPEES.
Sorry for the caps, but I have to ask for your confirmation again on this.
Hello, my name is Arnold from PayPal Customer Service.
The previous representative, Ric, is right. Let me confirm to you that
there will be no more withdrawal fee when you transfer funds to your
bank account. This is regardless of the amount.
Can u please direct me to the paypal’s page where these information is available to the public.
I have been searching for over a 4 weeks, and did not find the above information in paypal page.
Hello. My name is Paolo from PayPal Customer Service.
Just in case that you have questions please don’t
hesitate to ask us through the contact us link at the bottom of the
page.

I am not sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief, or wait with bated breath what their next “critical notice” would contain. The fact that, this waiver of fee is not a public info raises some serious red flags in my mind. But then, it might be just me & my paranoia.
For those who are interested to know more,

I am sure that other freelance forums are filled with rants and accusations against RBI as a knee-jerk reaction towards this notice ( A simple google search will give you more rants to read). At the same time, we also have arguments stating that Paypal has been violating RBI rules/ FEMA , and the latest notification is an attempt to wriggle their way out of complying with RBI guidelines.
Indian paypal user’s PAN card is lined to Paypal. There is practically no exchange of hard-cash. This should be proof enough to “trace” any transaction back to user.
That said, Do I have my own set of rants against Paypal & RBI ? Yes, I do.

  1. @Paypal: For every forced withdrawal, I am going to lose terribly on exchange rates. It is not secret that Paypal exchange rates are rip -off
  2. @Paypal: For every payment I make via my CC > Paypal; I incur additional service charge & also suffer the horrible exchange rate twice Earlier, when we make payment from paypal balance, the service fee is zero.
  3. @RBI : Is it so hard to issue an official response to the online-work-force who procure and deliver work via the internet?
  4. @RBI : Give us a date for public meting, we will be there personally with our queries. Help us understand your decision, try us, we (freelancers, SMBs) are far more sensible than you guys give us credit for.


PS: I am aware that, I am very seriously violating RBI’s “rules” @ their Disclaimer page
Yet, I am left with no choice. If the guys @ RBI can chart out regulations on online payment gateways; then, I guess you can very well understand why these two rules are just impossible to follow. “Or, do you need me to explain explicitly to you”?

Linking to the Home Page – You may link to the Home Page of this Web Site, http://www.rbi.org.in upon notifying RBI in writing.

For hyper-Linking to an internal page of this Web Site (not being the Home Page) the user must make a specific request for, and secure permission from RBI prior to hyper-linking to, or framing, this Web Site or any of the contents, or engaging in similar activities. RBI reserves the right to impose conditions when permitting any hyper-linking to, or framing of this Web Site or any of the contents.

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Homepreneurial opportunities: Age old concept, before the (i)nternet age.

It had been awfully cold this winter at Bangalore. I was down and out with a severe bout of cold – sore throat and breathlessness on account of blocked nose. Yet another time of the year, to remind my waking soul, about the “goodness”(read convenience) of being a homepreneur. This also gave me enough time to think about the crux of this post.
If you are someone who grew up watching regional cinemas (..regional movies from India..), I am sure you would agree that its rather easy to identify the plot of a movie, when the first few frames depict a frail woman (single parent) with malnourished kids trying to feed her children a decent meal, without trading her dignity & honour. In the next frame, you would see her hard at work on a sewing machine / Tanpura … the camera zooms in (.. to indicate passage of time…) , and soon she is an old lady & ( those malnourished) kids are now all grown up, and want to “give a life of dignity” to their mother…”Oh! Mother…. I salute thee… !”.
Plots such as these used to be the staple of almost all regional cinemas from India ( Hindi – Malayalam – Tamil – Telugu – Kannada – Gujarati – Bhojpuri.. and many more) from 1970’s – to- fag end of 1990’s. May be its the same with other regional cinemas such as French / Spanish / Italian movies. I wouldn’t know.
But, cliché’s & the theatrics apart, this does seem to make sense one way or the other. Here are some of the characters that make me re-think about homepreneurial opportunities. Teachers being predominant on the list

  1. Neighbourhood Music Teacher: We used to gang up at her place every day after school at 5:30 pm for an hour of music lesion, vocal / instrumental.
  2. Tuition Teacher: We used to see all kinds of tuition teachers, All subjects, Math only, Science only, College level Chemistry tuitions undertaken, etc. Some teachers start as early as 5:30 am, so that we kids have just enough time to come home – have breakfast – rush off to school. Some tuition teachers earn a reputation that is envied by schools & their employed staffs.
  3. Summer crafts: The same teacher would be teaching us painting, wax modelling, knitting, embroidery. These classes would typically start at 11:00 am and continue until 2:00 pm, keeping them engrossed during the whole of a (boring) afternoon.
  4. Home-made condiments: – Sometimes, womenfolk would try to supplement their family income by making condiments such as pickles, chips, pappads, snacks, sweets and savouries at home, and sell them in the neighbourhood. The fact that these are prepared at home-by-someone known to us ( ..or known to someone known to us..) add a bit of credibility to the product. Based on the response, they would call in help from their family members to increase production during festive times. Soon, a cottage-industry is born.
  5. Pico work on sarees: I have never seen my mother in salwar kameez, trousers or skirts. I am not sure if saree was her attire of choice or the lack of any other choice. Pico, is getting the edges stitched in a rather special way, so that the threads would not “peel out” from the corner. Sewing machines used for regular mending work cannot do this. (May be the fashion maker of today can do this as well). When a new saree is purchased, she would diligently visit the “pico aunty”, and only after the pico work, the saree is ready to be worn. “Pico aunty” will be in great demand during Diwali / Shakaranti when textile shopping is at its peak.

These are some of the few women I grew up watching. Little did I realise then that, these are the people who were practicing homepreneurship without even realising it all along. Unsurprisingly, I realised this myself just as I was drafting this post…. So much we see around us … yet so little we look at …..
That said, would this explanation convince “Work from home”- wannabes, I guess not. After all, we belong to the i-age… anything from the pre-internet era is Spartan….I am not passing a judgement, just an observation as it is on the face-value
So, for all those minds with -willing to try-attitude (…& with a stable internet connection & basic internet usage knowledge..), I will be coming up with homepreneurial opportunities that can be performed from the comfort of your home; one-per-week. I will try my best to give you an indepth information on the technical expertise needed, the (unwritten) code of conduct to follow, warning signals that might help identify scammers, so an on so forth.
PS: The above list stands true even today, emphasising the fact that, internet is a mere tool, its up to us on what we choose to do with this tool.

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Entrepreneur, Homepreneur, Freelancer, Employee- A comparative study series; Part 2

Disclaimer: This analysis/ study is my personal opinion based on the experiences i have had as a freelancer. This is not in any way an authoritative document. However, you are free to discuss your perspective with me. Will be glad to know what you think.
Part1 synopsis:

Becoming a freelancer is a transition, and not a degree/diploma.
Help yourself – Educate yourself – Make informed choices.
When in doubt, google it/him/them.. and… google some more.
Perseverance is the key.

Back in those days, when we moved into the suburbs of Chennai, we were the only family who had been to hindi-speaking-states. This was also the time, when schools, in addition to the state language ( Tamil) also allowed students to choose Hindi as the language option. It so happened that our neighbour’s kid wanted some help with her hindi and my mom offered to help…. the kind if favour we extend to neighbours. One thing led to another…soon… my mom had a new title “local Hindi teacher”. Neither she had any formal teacher’s training, nor was she working at some school… but her hindi was good & the kids were scoring good marks, taking part in Hindi essay writing completion et al.
Today, as I write this, it makes me wonder that perhaps this is my first introduction to homepreneurship. Our home was her “work space”, the dining table doubled up as the study table. Every inch of the floor is strewn with books, you could hear Kabir & Rahim’s dohas at every conceivable pitch. The frenzy of activities starts typically at 5:30pm and continues till 7:30 pm every weekday. Exam weeks are the only exception. There are special tests on weekend as well. The time 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm was of paramount importance to my mom. My dad used to back from work at about 8:00 pm, and we had to study as well. No amount of cajoling, lure of higher pay would convince my mom to work out of this schedule.

Typical Freelancer Homeprenuer
  • If he / she is the breadwinner of the family, there is tremendous pressure to get clients – work – get paid. Else, sees this as an additional source of income.
  • Also tend to fall into the trap of ” 24 hrs make a day, I can take work that fill all of this time”… often the realization of “we cannot be actually working all 24 hrs” sets in after he/she bite more than what one can chew.
  • Predominantly takes up solo contracts.
  • Has a great network of people who are great at other things… and team is called in to handle a project that needs wider skill set.
  • Choose their own “Time-to-work”.
  1. Time allotment ‘tend’ to change with each client.
  2. Temperamental with ASAP projects
  1. Has to consider chores at the house, family commitments before allocating time on a daily basis (eg: 1:00 pm – 4:00pm)
  2. Tries to accommodate clients within this time. For they rest, the homepreneur just has to pass.
  3. Accepts ASAP work under exceptional circumstances.

Between a typical freelancer and a homepreneur, the differences are not as stark as it is between an employee and freelancer. The difference lies in how they manage these similarities in their own unique way.

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