In 2005, my partner, Carol Kearney, and I started our own firm, Momentum Realty. We embraced the decentralized model that so many other practitioners have selected and created good, solid home offices and no commercial presence (we have an office of record, as required by state law).
Technology has made this vision easier and easier to implement. Rarely is there anything at all that I can't do from my home office.
So what are my top 10 tools (technical and not), in no particular order?
- Smart Phone (currently a Blackberry, but considering an iPhone)
- HP All-in-one Printer/scanner/copier
- Docusign
- efax
- bluetooth
- Closing office doors and hanging the 'Do Not Disturb' sign
- Laptop
- Verizon Fios Connection
- ZipForms
- Digital Camera
- ActiveRain (oops, that is 11)
With these items, I can handle just about anything that comes along. Some of the value of this stuff is obvious, but let me explain a couple of items.
Docusign: Initially I began using for an out-of-town client. I have found it to be invaluable in every transaction since. Of course, now banks are asking for things to be resigned with authentic signatures, but it is still valuable for reaching agreement and getting contracts in place.
Efax: Sends all my faxes to my computer as .pdfs; I can save them to my hard drive for future use and email them to the interested parties.
Closing my office doors: I stayed home with my kids for 8 years; sometimes they need a reminder that my office is for working (and I need to not hear bickering and dogs wrestling)
ActiveRain: my virtual office where I can seek advice, bemoan a problem or make a new friend. It has become for me what land-based offices are for others.
If you ever need advice about products that I have used or configurations that I have set up to make my office productive, don't hesitate to ask. I would love to hear about tools that you use that allow you to present yourself professionally while working from home.
Working at home is a privilege for me; doing it well is high on my list of accomplishments!
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