I know you probably don’t see yourself as a “business” at this point, but it’s still good to set yourself up before diving in. This will help you make sure that you present yourself professionally, meaning that your clients will take you more seriously. Much more important than that, however, is that you take yourself seriously, and that is crucial when working from home.
There are a few things you should do before putting yourself out there; they’re really simple adjustments, but they can help you immensely.
1. Get a business email account.
I recommend Gmail, since it allows you to switch accounts. Also, since I use Yahoo! for my personal email, I like having my business mail on a separate site – it helps me keep things organized.
I suggest using just your name – for instance, mine is jacob.elena@gmail.com. If your name is Tammy Fisher, then you should make an email address that goes off that, like “tammy.fisher@gmail.com”. Now if your name’s already been taken, you might want to add something professional-esque to it, so it might end up being “tfisher.freelance@gmail.com” or “fisher.writers@yahoo.com” – just make sure it’s simple and clean.
2. Use that email address to create your PayPal account.
It’s important that you have your own PayPal account – one no one else can get into. This money is yours and you’ll want to have full control over it, especially since this is basically your business earnings. It’s good to consolidate everything (or as much as you can) into one PayPal account for tax purposes. Keep in mind that you are going to have to pay taxes on what you earn, but as long as you keep things organized, it won’t be any trouble.
3. Set up a blog or website.
I said it last week but I’m going to repeat myself on this one: You’ll want some kind of page to present to the world, especially if you happen to be out and about somewhere and run into someone who needs a writer. I was so relieved I’d decided to put together RavenhartAssociates.com when I got my first personal client (i.e. not through a brokerage service), because I was able to direct her here so she could see some of what I’ve done. Honestly, I had thought at first that I wouldn’t bother, but I finally decided at the last minute that it would be useful, and I’m very thankful I did.
Setting up a website with your own domain name can be a little pricey, though. It’s really not as bad as you might think, but sometimes even $50 is a stretch. If that’s the case, or if you’re still a bit intimidated by the inner working of the Internet, then don’t stress over building yourself some super-professional website – just go to WordPress.com and sign up for a free blog. You’ll have “wordpress” in your domain name, but that’s really not a problem, and it won’t detract from your image. You can use the super user-friendly platform to create a great blog. Or, if you want a website, check out this page for some pointers on making a blog into a website – it’s very simple 
4. Set a small, attainable goal.
When you first start writing, you might feel a little lost. Feeling lost can stop you dead in your tracks, so to prevent that, just remember that this is your ball game and you make the rules. If you’re starting your first day “on the job” then set a small goal, like “I want to finish two articles today” or “I want to earn ten dollars today.”
By setting that little goal, you give yourself a means of knowing how much you’ve done and how much you still have to do. Then, you can gauge your performance against your goals. Did you only earn seven of the ten dollars you wanted, or did you double your goal and make twenty? This kind of conscious awareness of your actions will help you tweak your goals for the future and figure out what you need to do in order to be successful.
5. Set a large, attainable goal.
Speaking of success, you should decide now what you would consider “successful” earnings. I, for instance, have to pay my bills with writing, so I’m not “successful” unless I’ve earned at least $1,000 by the end of the month.
That may not be your situation, though – if you just want a little extra money for going out with friends or saving toward a new flat-screen, then maybe a successful month for you is $50 in earnings. Is this something you’re going to do full-time, or are you just hammering out a couple articles here and there in your spare time?
The beauty of this is it’s entirely up to you, so to start with, set a goal: “I want to make $100 by the end of this month.” Once you have that, you’ll feel like you have something to work toward. If you find that goal is too high or too low, adjust it – this is all a learning experience and it’s all up to you.
The best part is, all these steps can be completed in one lazy afternoon while you watch reruns of your favourite sitcom. It’s pretty simple, mindless work and you’ll find that it’ll help you tremendously to have yourself set up like this for writing. If you’ve already started writing, don’t stress – you can update your email account and add a website any time.
Get excited – this is just the beginning of a lucrative career of working in your fuzzy PJs from the comfort of your sofa. Stick with me, kid – you’ll go places 
