You’ve decided you want to be a telecommuter.  You want to work from home, make your own hours, and see more of your kids, your partner, your dog, your garden.  You want work-time flexibility and less stress.  Telecommuting will be your savior, it being the perfect solution to your problems with office politics, bureaucracy, backstabbing, waste, and all that “stuff” on the usual list of corporate fallacies.  Telecommuting will shield you from all that.  Right?  Maybe.

Will you be a telecommuting employee (as opposed to freelancer)?  If so, chances are you will still have to get up early, sit at the computer all day, and ignore your kids.  This is not only because your job may require you to be “on call” or accessible at a moment’s notice, but also because management styles have yet to catch-up with telecommuting sensibilities; simply put, your boss may still expect to see that you are “at your desk doing something” (often called “line-of-sight” management) rather than being satisfied with proof that you have fulfilled your work responsibilities (this would be “performance-oriented management”).

Let’s talk office politics.  Will you be one of a few in your group telecommuting out of a traditional office?  Then rest assured, you will not be free from the trials of gossip, posturing, and the like.  Even if you work at a “virtual company”, some employees will get along better than others, and it will become obvious in time that attitudes, even from a distance, can create a strained work environment.  

And how about that pesky boss: she’s always on your case, hovering over your shoulder, or asking you to do things that are way outside your job description, just because you’re around.  Unfortunately, your supervisor will still be your supervisor, and her management style and other personality “quirks” will be just as annoying online as they are in person.  On the positive side, you won’t have to blink through a steaming cocktail of coffee-cigarette-mint breath.

With all that said, are you still convinced you want to be a telecommuter?  Of course you are.  Who cares what it involves, who wouldn’t want to roll out of bed and work in their jammies (just say NO to videoconferencing!)?

Whether you will seek full-time employment with one company or hope to work with several organizations as a freelancer, here are 10 tips to get you on your way to realizing your telecommuting dream:

1. Don't worry about your job title
If you’re serious about meeting your goal to work from home, it will be much easier for you if you leave your ego at your (traditional) office.  Telecommuting gigs typically don’t carry much in the way of management roles or responsibilities.  So you will probably not be “Senior VP of Special Projects”.  But you will be doing what you want to do, and that’s what is important.  Later, you can approach the company about changing your title if it’s really essential (and it may be, for that all-important current résumé).

2. Exude Confidence and Enthusiasm
You’re the best!  And that, along with being positively brilliant at your job, is why anyone should be eager to hire you and trust you to work reliably from home.  Those employing telecommuters may still feel they are taking a big chance; they need to trust you, and your confidence can speak volumes.  

3. Find your niche
You’re the best at what?  Accounting?  Well, let’s be honest.  Chances are you’re not exactly the best but you’re still darn good.  It will help other people to recognize how you can be of value if you create a niche.  For example, as an Accountant, your specialties are construction industry and nonprofits-in-your-local-area (you can have more than one niche).  Now you’re one of a kind.  Or, at least one of a very few.

4. Define/refine your image
Along with finding your niche(s), it helps to define your working persona.  No, you don’t have to decide what your avatar is just yet, or whether you’re the type who uses emoticons or not.  But it doesn’t hurt to dress professionally, or to make sharp-looking personal contact cards.

5. Ask around, or “networking helps”
Join a group.  It could be an association, a club, or a semi-formal network of peers.   You will find, through your conversations with others, that there are plenty of opportunities out there to telecommute in your profession/specialty.  Ask, what do people want?  Then determine how your skills might help.

6. Prepare your workspace
You’ll need stuff to telecommute.  Even if the company you will work for is going to set you up with computer hardware, software, a desk, a chair, and a phone, there will be more things that you need that won’t be on their list.  Count on that and plan ahead by knowing what you need to be productive and comfortable.  Make a list of “must have’s” – down to paper clips and bookends, and if you look around your workspace and you “have not” – make a trip to the store.  You’ll be much happier in the long-run.

7. Tell your friends
Don’t take the understanding of your friends and family for granted.  Let your support network know that you will be working from home, and what you expect of them (don’t call during office hours!).  Your friends may also be a great source for job referrals or leads.

8. Work even when there's no work
Telecommuters have to show that they like to work.  To demonstrate how much you like work and are capable of doing copious amounts of stellar independent work, build-up your résumé with related charity work.   Keep an up-to-date binder of printed examples, samples, or references handy.

9. Take action – move forward
The decision to telecommute is risky if it’s something you’ve never done before, and especially so if you’re not certain how you will get a job.  Consider taking small steps forward – whether it’s investing in a professional skills class to make yourself more marketable, or doing the research needed to start your own business – and plan your long-range goal in order to do what you need to do to start telecommuting as soon as possible.  Take action and take risks, but remember the old adage “look before you leap”.

10. Commit to the lifestyle
You are the telecommuter; be the telecommuter.  You will not be some person who is in-between jobs, or who is taking a break from “work”.  You will telecommute; you will do something productive everyday.  Except in your jammies.