Moonlighting: Earn a Second Income at Home

By Jo Frohbieter-Mueller

Whether it is to make ends meet, be at home with the kids, or pursue a lifelong dream, more and more people are launching part-time, at-home businesses. Step by step, this comprehensive resource walks... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555714064
• ISBN13: 9781555714062
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Entrepreneur Pr
• Length: 209 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 0.8" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful info, but a bit dated

I picked this book up at my local bookstore the other day. I have been very frustrated with the lack of books that address the challenges of moonlighting. Most books that deal with home- based business assume that you will be working full- time, not doing side work to supplement your income from a primary job. For me, this book has been a valuable resource that speaks to my need to hold on to my full time job while branching out and starting another business (that hopefully will become my full- time job). My impressions about the book, taken part by part: Part One: Selecting the Right Business This section (in particular, chapter 2) can be skimmed over if you already have a type of business already in mind. Having said that, I am going into freelance writing, and I was VERY thrilled to see that Jo- Frohbieter- Mueller addressed this career in her book. Her advice on promoting your work as a writer gave me some additional information that I haven't even read in other books on freelancing. And her advice on visually mapping out how many hours of each day in the week you'll want to devote to your moonlighting work was helpful. Part Two: Now is the Time To Ask Questions. This is a short section, and for readers with little knowledge of partnerships, sole proprietorships, or S corporations, this will give a good overview of what the different types of organizations for businesses. I especially found Chapter 5 "Determine Goals and Write a Business Plan" to be helpful in organizing my business and putting it down on paper. Part 3: Money Matters This section leads you through the ways to establish credit for yourself and your potential clients. Chapter 7, "Pricing for Profit" provided me with a good formula to determine how much to charge my clients. Part 4: Getting Started Mueller provides a checklist for the typical workspace and equipment needed for home businesses. I found her suggestions on getting an 800 number to be helpful. Chapter 11, "Simple Bookkeeping Procedures" has invaluable advice, but I wish it were longer. Part 5: Getting and Keeping Customers This section of the book was most helpful to me. In this section, I got advice from Mueller that I haven't gotten from other sources. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even think of joining my local Chamber of Commerce until reading this book! I also got valuable advice on advertising via print, TV and radio ads. This section is where the book is most dated, however. Mueller, writing at the beginning of the e-mail era, briefly touches on the usefulness of e-mail and gives no advice on the value of running your own website. And with the recent anti- spam laws, readers should be careful to "cold call" via e-mail and be seen as spam messages. I really wish the publisher would provide an updated edition of this book, one that incorporates the usefulness of the Internet as a marketing tool. If anything, this omission is the only weakness in the book.